^ I THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, | | Z Princeton, N. J. J f # N^ PRINCETON, N. J. 1" r«Ta¥lwT/->i::<'T><-VKT KT I ^Mi PRESENTED BY THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION ■R L /(Ds/y n AN EXPOSITION ^t f pi0th lïf êaiut |aul COLOSSIANS. / BY THE REV. JEAN DAILLÊ, MINISTER OF THE FRENCH REFORMED CHURCH AT CHARENTON, A. D. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH, BY F. S. REVISED AND CORRECTED BY THE REV. JAMES SHEKMAN, MINISTER OF SURREY CHAPEL, LONDON. F 1 ! L â B I L F E Î 1 S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 821 Chestnut Street. THE AUTHOR'S DEDICATION. [PBEFIXED IN THE OKIGINAL TO THE PART CONTAINING CHAP. I.] TO MONSIEUE, MONSIEUR DU CANDAL, LOR» OF FONTINAILLE, COUNSELLOR AND SECRETARY OF THE KING, HOUSE, AND CROWN OF FRANCE. Sir : — I present you these sermons, conscious that I owe this acknowledgment to the friendship with which you honour me, and still more to the edification and good offices which the church where I preached them has for a long time received from your piety. For besides the noble example which your life gives us, a life full of virtue and honour, always steady and equal in the profession and holy exercises of the truth of the gos- pel ; there has been presented no occasion of doing service to the people of God, either in past or present times, but you have embraced with zeal, and managed with prudence. So likewise we see that the good and merciful Lord you serve has crowned your obedience with the benedictions of his grace. For in the vicissitudes of the times, and the variety of affairs, he has still rendered you acceptable, both to those within, and even to them without. And, which is the prin- cipal thing, he has preserved his covenant in your house, that neither the vanity of the world, nor the scandal of the time, has been able to make any of the breaches there which we see with grief in other families. To establish this precious heri- tage of piety in your race, his providence has added to it, by alliance, persons excellent in knowledge and in merit, in whose lineage you daily see your own life renew and flourish. It is true, sir, you have also had your trials, as no true be- (3) 4 EPISTLES DEDICATORY. lievers are exempted from them ; but those which God has dispensed to you have been so tempered with his goodness, as I believe you may truly say, that in this, more than in any other event of your life, he has exhibited the wonders of his grace towards you. Such was, some years ago, the bitter, un- timely, but blessed and happy, death of your eldest sou, who was removed in the flower and vigour of his age. This was, doubtless, a very grievous stroke, which cut down in a mo- ment the sweetest of your hopes, plucking from your embraces a son as worthy of love as he was beloved, and whose merit had already advanced him to the dignity of a senator in the chief of the parliaments of this kingdom. But however pain- ful his death was to you, it was, notwithstanding, accompanied with grace of God, so visible and ravishing, that I fear not to refresh your memory with it, well knowing that it is no less dear and precious to you for the piety and the noble and truly christian constancy which he showed in those last and happy moments of his life, than troublesome and bitter for the mourning and sadness which it left on your whole house. As soon as his disease appeared to be what indeed it was, he looked on death without perturbation ; he prepared himself for it with great courage ; and his deportment, his visage, and his discourses were full of resolution and contentment. He com- forted us all ; and, amid the tenderness and pangs of such a separation, maintained his mental vigour to the last. And though he left on earth some of the dearest and sweetest he could here possess or desire, yet he quitted it, not only without regret, but even with joy ; so firm was the hope, or to speak more correctly, so clear and assured the sight, which the Lord Jesus gave him of the bliss and delights to which he called him. He remained in this gracious and holy frame even to his last breath, with an unclouded spirit and a calm soul, speaking to us of his approaching happiness, and of the pres- ent grace of his Lord, with such efficacy, that it checked your tears, and repressed the expressions of your grief, that how just soever they were, you had, nevertheless, a secret shame to allow them to appear in the presence and on the account of so virtuous a person, as if lamentations would have offended his piety, and dishonoured the victory of his faith. The same EPISTLES DEDICATOEY. 5 God tbat loosed him so supernaturallj from earth, to raise him up to heaven, granted you to bear the affliction of hi3 departure with a patience worthy your vocation. After so severe a stroke, he has yet sustained you, and con- ducted you to an honourable old age, which few persons attain. And now, I doubt not, amidst the agitations of the present world, and the infirmities of age, your chief consolation is the assured hope you possess of arriving also one day at the gate of that blessed immortality, into which, contrary to the ordi- nary course of nature, you have seen this dear son enter be- fore you. If in the holy exercises of piety, by which you daily pre- pare yourself for that state, the reading of these sermons may find a place, and afford you consolation, I shall therein have extreme satisfaction ; at least I can well assure you, that it is one of my most ardent desires, who pray God to preserve you with all your family, in perfect prosperity ; and remain, in- violably. Sir, Your most humble and most obedient servant, DAILLE Paris, April 1, 1648. THE AUTHOR'S EPISTLE. [prefixed in the original to the part CONTAININa CHAP. H.] TO MONSIEUR, MONSIEUR BIGOT, LORD OF LAHONVILLE, COUNSELLOR OF THE KING IN HIS COUNSELS. INTENDANT, AND CONTROLLER-GEN- ERAL OF THE GABELS OF FRANCE. Sir : — Among the advantages which the reformation of the church, embraced by our fathers in these latter ages, has affor- ded us, we must, doubtless, ascribe the pre-eminence to the free use we have of the word of Christ, which he, of his abundant grace, has recovered for us. This divine taper, lighted up from heaven in the house of God to shine unto his people, to express it in the terms of the gospel, remained hid a long time Tinder a bushel. Matt. v. 15 ; the negligence and fraud of men keeping it in this shameful condition. It is now set anew in its candlestick, where it diffuses in every direction among us its enlivening and saving light; and that too in such abun- dance, as that we may truly say in this respect, the word of Christ dwelleth in us richW, Col. iii, 16. It reigns alone in our assemblies, where its voice, and no other, is continually heard to resound ; the fables and legends of men being alto- gether banished from them. It is read there in a familiar language, which every one understands ; whereas if it be read any where else, it is in a tongue dead, and barbarous, and unknown to the people. It is explained among us with all fidelity, sincerity, and diligence; whereas amidst the darkness of former ages, it was so unworthily treated by preachers, that, to read their sermons, one would think they had designed to make them openly ridiculous. I confess that those persons (6) EPISTLES DEDICATORY. 7 wlio abide in the erroneous opinions of their ancestors are somewhat ashamed of their gross and profanely licentious practice ; and they have in some measure reformed it. Yet there remain but too many defects among them still, and this one in particular, that they explain in public only some pieces, and, if it may be so said, shreds of Scripture, sometimes taken from one book, sometimes from another, never showing their hearers any complete body. For it cannot be denied that this manner of handling the word of God deprives the faithful of much'edification ; it being evident that the view and considera- tion of an entire book gives us a more complete knowledge and greater admiration of it than the view of any isolated part. This fault is so much the less pardonable in our adversaries, as, besides being less profitable, it is also contrary to the cus- tom and authority of those ancient doctors of the first ages of Christianity, whose true sons and legitimate successors these gentlemen boast that they are. For it was usual at that time for pastors to expound in the church whole books of Scripture throughout, by sermons continued upon the chain of the holy text, from the beginning of a volume to the very end, which is clearly proved by the remains of their writings. There are extant still the Sermons of St. John Chrysostom upon Gene- sis, upon the gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, upon the Acts of the Apostles, and upon all the fourteen Epistles of St. Paul, which were delivered by this great man, part of them in the church of Antioch, and part in the church of Constanti- nople, the greatest and most populous churches of all the East. And among the Latins, we have the Tractates of St. Augustine upon the whole Book of Psalms, and upon the gospel of St. John, and upon his First Epistle, which were in a similar manner made and delivered in the assemblies of his people. An evident sign that, about the beginning of the fifth century, when these two excellent and famous personages flourished, this custom was in repute among Christians. Whether then the thing be considered in itself, or the suffrages of the ancients be taken, it is manifest that our fathers and ourselves had the best reasons in the world to re-establish this sacred and just usage in the church. Now, sir, this book which I address to you is a fruit of it. 8 EPISTLES DEDICATORY. For having undertaken, in conformity to this order, to ex- pound in our holy assemblies the divine Epistle of the apostle Paul to the Colossians, and being come to the end of it, by the grace of our Lord, because the whole work could not be commodiously contracted into one volume, I have divided it into three parts, of which this is the second. The piety which has long flourished in your house, sir, and the exquisite knowledge that God has given you of his truth, induce me to believe that this book, which wholly treats of his divine mysteries, and nothing else, will not be displeasing to you. It is this that has given me the liberty to put your name upon it j a name which numerous excellent graces, with which God has adorned both your family and your person, render very dear and very honourable in our church. I am sorry that this' present is not more worthy of it. But such as it is, I do not despair of its obtaining from the dignity of its subject, and from the favour of your kindness, that acceptance to which it cannot pretend upon any merit of its own. Please you then to receive it as a sincere testimony of the respect I bear your virtue, and of the grateful sense I have of the friendship with which you honour me ; as well as an inviolable pledge of the prayers which I present unto God for your prosperity, and of the fervent affection I have to be, as long as I live, Sir, Your most humble and most obedient servant, DAILLÉ. Paris, April 1, 1643. THE AUTHOR'S EPISTLE DEDICATORY. [prefixed in the original to the part containing chap. III. IV.] TO MONSIEUR, MONSIEUR DE RAMBOUILLET, LORD OF LANCET, AND OF PLE3SIS-FRANC. Sir : — These sermons will not be new to you ; so little time having elapsed since you heard them at Charenton, no doubt you will recognize them at first sight. The support they then received "in our holy assembly emboldens them now to present themselves in public. Perhaps it had been better to rest con- tented with that favour which our people showed them, and not publish them again in'this form. For beside that the eye is much more delicate than the ear, and the defects of a discourse are far more easily observed on paper, where they remain, than in the air, where they do but pass ; there is also a great difference between an auditor, whom devotion obliges to hear you, and a reader, who owes you nothing. The one thinks he should sin against piety if he denied you his attention ; the other, that he does you a favour in heeding you, and may examine you without a crime. The judgment of the one is half made for you, whereas that of the other is at its full liberty. These reasons would have withheld me from hazard- ing the edition of these small books, if the matter had wholly depended upon my opinion. But the desires of my friends and the entreaties of the bookseller interposing, their violence has overcome my modesty. Yet I should have had vigour and firmness enough to defend myself against it, if the question had been simply of myself and my reputation. For as the present age is so polite and well informed, that the most 2 (9) 10 EPISTLES DEDICATOKY. eloquent speakers, and the most accomplished writers, can scarcely satisfy it ; I well know that, to please it, graces and perfections are needed which I do not possess. But that also is not the object I seek; my weakness, and the calling where- with God has honoured me, have abundantly secured me from such a passion. The motives which caused me to yield to the too favourable opinion of my friends, were the welfare of Christian souls, which they laid before me, and the service they believed this book might render them. The success will inform us whether they had reason to promise themselves so much from it. For my part, the thing being uncertain, I held myself obliged to give place to their judgment, and to prefer the profit which they imagine the faithful may receive from my poor labours to any other consideration. And if it be temerity to hope for this result, at least it is not a crime, but a laudable affection, to desire it. Of one thing, sir, I am well assured, that you will not dislike the gift I make you of this third and last part of my work. For, independently of that sweetness of spirit and obliging disposition which every one observes in you, and to say nothing of numerous evidences which I have received of your kindness towards me in par- ticular, I am confirmed in this opinion, by your piety, well known in our church, both by the excellent fruits of your charity in the ordinary course of your life, and by the services you rendered to our flock in the office of an elder, which you executed among us with much edification and honour. Per- suading myself, therefore, sir, may it please you, that you will receive this small present with your usual benevolence and readiness, there remains nothing but that I pray God to pre- serve you, with your worthy and noble family, in health and prosperity, and daily to augment his most precious blessings, both spiritual and temporal, to you and them. I beseech you to continue me the honour of your friendship, and to do me the favour to believe that I am devotedly, Sir, Your most humble and most obedient servant, DAILLÉ. Paris, April 1, 1648. EXPOSITION OF THB EPISTLE OP PAUL TO THE COLOSSIANS. SERMON I. CH APT ER I. VEKSES 1 — 5. Paul^ an apostle of Jesus Clirist by the will of God, and Timo- theus our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love tuhich ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the The assertion of the apostle Paul respecting the afflictions of the faithful, that they " work together for good to them that love God," Rom. viii. 28, is verified by constant experi- ence. Besides the excellent fruit which the afflicted them- selves receive from them, sooner or later acknowledging with the psalmist, that it was good for them to have been afflicted, Psal. cxix. 71, they are also serviceable to the edification of others. For as roses, the fairest and sweetest of flowers, grow on a rough and thorny stock ; so from the afflictions of the believer, rugged and piercing to the flesh, spring examples of their virtue and instances of their piety, the sweetest and most salutary of all productions. See what a rich store of benefits the trials of Job and of David have yielded us ! To them we owe that admirable book of the (11) 12 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. I. patience of the former, and a great part of the divine hymns of the latter. Had it not been for their afflictions, we should not now enjoy, after so many ages, those inestimable treasures of instruction and consolation. What shall I say of the suf- ferings of Paul, which spread the gospel all abroad, and con- verted the world to the knowledge of the true God ! His im- prisonment at Kome alone, under the government of JSTero, has done the church more good than the peace and prosperity of all the rest of the faithful of that age. It gave reputation to the gospel, and made it gloriously enter into the stateliest court in the world. It inspired j)reachers of the truth with heroic courage. It awakened the curiosity of some, and in- flamed the love of others, and filled all that great city with the name and odour of Jesus Christ. Nor was it of use to the Komans only. It imparted its celestial fruit to the remotest regions and generations. For it was in this very confinement that this holy man wrote several of his divine Epistles, which we read with so much edification to this day:' as those to Philemon, to Timothy, to the Ephesians ; and that directed to the Philippians, the exposition of which we last finished ; and the following Epistle to the Colossiaus, which we have now chosen to explain to you, if God permit. Paul's prison was a common reservoir, whence have issued those living springs which water and gladden the city of God, and will furnish it even to the end of the world with the streams it needs for its refreshment. Having then already drawn from one of these sweet springs that divine water with which we have endeavoured, according to the ministry committed to us of God, to irrigate the hea- venly plants of your faith and love, we now turn, my breth- ren, to another, a no less vital and plentiful one than the former. Bring ye to it, as the Lord requires, souls thirsting for his grace ; and he will give you, as he has promised, living water, which shall quench your drought for ever, and become in each of you a well springing up to eternal life. The church of the Colossians, to whom this Epistle is ad- dressed, having been happily planted by Epaphras, a faithful minister of Christ, the enemy failed not, by the hands of some seducers, immediately to sow his tares within it. These men would mingle Moses with our Saviour, and together with the gospel of the one retain and observe the ceremonies of the other. To make their error the more pleasing, they painted it over with the colours of philosophy, terms of science, curious spec- ulations, and other similar artifices. Epaphras, seeing the danger to which this profane medley exposed the faith and salvation of his dear Colossians, informs Paul of it, then a prisoner at Rome. The apostle, to draw them from so per- nicious an error, takes his pen and writes them this letter ; in CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 13 whicli he shows them that in Jesus Christ alone is all the ful- ness of our salvation, in such a manner that we should deeply injure him to seek any part of it out of him, since we possess abundant stores in his gospel wherewith to teach our faith and form our manners, without the addition of either the shadows of Moses or the vanities of philosophy. In the beginning he salutes and congratulates them for the communion which they had with God in his Son. Next he draws them a lively por- trait of the Lord Jesus, in which shine forth the dignity of his person, and the inexhaustible abundance of his benefits. Upon that he encounters the seducers, and refutes the unprofit- able additions with which they sophisticated the simplicity of the gospel. Afterwards, from dispute he passes to exhortation, conjuring these faithful people to live well and holily, conform- ing their deportment to a piety, honesty, and virtue worthy their vocation. He concludes with some particular afiairs, of which he speaks to them, and with recommendations which he of- fers to them, both on his own part and on the part of other faith- ful persons who were with him. But you will better understand the whole by the exposition of each part of the Epistle, if the Lord grant us to complete it. For the present, we propose to consider only the five verses which we have read ; the first two of which contain the inscription of the Epistle, and the other three the joy and thanksgivings of Paul to God for the faith and love of these Colossians. These shall be, God will- ing, the two points on which we will treat in this discourse. I. The inscription of the Epistle is contained in these words : "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse : Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." At this day it is customary to inscribe letters with the name of those to whom they are written, and within them, after the body of the letter, the name of those who write them ; for- merly this was not the custom ; for the writer wrote both the names within, at the head of the letter, with a brief salutation in these words. Such a one to such a one health ; as we learn by numerous Greek and Latin epistles, which are left us in the ancient books of the most renowned personages of those two nations. The apostle, who lived in those ages, uses the same form in all his Epistles, as you know, except that instead of wishing health and prosperity to those whom he addresses, he ordinarily wishes them peace, and the grace of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ. According to this form, the inscription of this Epistle contains, first, the names and qualities of those who write it, and of those to whom it is addressed ; and, secondly, the good and happy wish with which they salate them. 14 AN" EXPOSITION" OP [SERM. I The names of those who write it are Paul and Timothy, sufficiently known to all who are in the least degree versed in the New Testament. They are here described by certain qua- lities severally attributed to them. To Paul, that of " an apos- tle of Jesus Christ by the will of God." To Timothy simply that of " brother." The word, " apostle" signifies, in the Greek language, one deputed, a person sent by some one. But in the Scripture of the new covenant it is taken particularly for those first and highest ministers of the Lord Jesus, whom he sent with a sovereign and independent authority to preach the gospel and establish his church in the world : — the highest and noblest charge God ever gave to men : and to exercise it, it was necessary, 1. To have seen Jesus Christ alive after his death, that a good and lawful testimony might be given of his resurrection. 2. They must have received their commission immediately from the Lord himself. And, 3. They must have the Holy Spirit in an extraordinary measure, with the gifts of tongues and miracles. Whence it appears how illogical they are that attribute the glory of an apostleship to the bishop of Eome, who possesses none of these qualifications. It is also clear that this dignity is extraordinary, and was not insti- tuted but for the first establishment of the church ; the gov- ernment of which, after its plantation, the apostles put in the hands of an inferior order of ministers, who are indifferently called in Scripture either bishops, that is, overseers and super- intendents ; or presbyters, that is, elders. The history of the Acts informs us that to the twelve apos- tles before ordained our Lord added Paul ; having miracu- lously appeared to him, and sent him with the same power that they had to convert the Gentiles. He assumes therefore this glorious title at the entrance of this Epistle, and declares moreover that he is an apostle " by the will of God ;" signify- ing that it was the express order and mandate of the Lord which honoured him with this ministry, and not the suffrage and authority of men ; distinguishing himself by this means from those false teachers and troublers who had not been sent, but by the will of flesh and blood. The declaration of this his quality was here necessary for him, 1. To maintain his honour against the calumnies of seducers, who disparaged and slandered him as much as they could, under pretence that he had not lived, like the other apostles, in the company of Jesus Christ during the days of his flesh ; and, 2. To establish the liberty which he took of writing to the Colossians, and of proving to them their duty, as well in faith as in practice, it being evident that the apostles had a right to use this author- ity over all and each of the christian churches. To his own name he adds that of Timothy, whom he calls " brother," as having one and the same faith, and labouring in one and the CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 15 same work ; whether it were to «authorize his doctrine the more, by the consent of this holy man, every word being more firm in the mouth of two or three witnesses than in that of one; or to recommend him to these believers, that if he wrote to them, or ever visited them, they might re- ceive him as a person worthy of the fellowship of the apostles, and whose name deserved to accompany that of Paul. As for those to whom he directs this Epistle, he describes them next in these words : " To the saints and faithful breth- ren in Christ which are at Colosse^ I pass by, as childish and impertinent, the opinion of those who say that he means the isle and city of Ehodes, and that he calls it Colosse because of that prodigious statue of the sun which the Rhodians had erected at the mouth of their haven, and which the Greeks called the Colossus. What need is there of these frigid and ridiculous notions, since the ancients show that there was for- merly in Phrygia, a province of Asia Minor, a city called Colosse, not far from two others, Laodicea and Hierapolis, which the apostle also mentions in this Epistle, and recom- mends expressly to the Colossians the communicating this letter to the Laodiceans, after they themselves had read it 'i Afterwards this city of Colosse changed its name, and was called Chone. Here one of the most eminent writers of the latter times of Greece, Nicetas Choniates, received his birth, taking his surname from that place : he boasts in one of his works that the apostle honoured the inhabitants of Chone, his native city, by addressing to them this very Epistle.* Paul designates the christians at Colosse " saints and faithful brethren." He calls them " saints," a name he usually gives to all true christians, and which really belongs to them, since God, separating them from the rest of men by the effectuai working of his word, and by the sacrament of his baptism, cleanses and purifies them from the filth of sin, delivers them from the servitude of the flesh, and consecrates them to his own name and service, to be to him a peculiar people, devoted to good works. Hence the whole body of the faithful is called in the Creed, " The holy church." Mark this well, my brethren, and be assured that you cannot be christians except you be truly saints. Suffer not yourselves to be abused by the deceit- fulness of those who promise you this glorious name, provided only you make profession of faith in Christ, and that you live in the communion of their church, however evil and impious you are in other things. The body of the Lord is too vital and precious to have dead and putrid members. I confess that if you have the industry to hide your vices under the false ap- * In Thesaur. 1. 4. ch. '22. 16 AN EXPOSITION OP [SERM. I. pearances of an outward profession, you will induce men to give you tbe name of christians, and to reckon you among the members of the church ; as it might possibly be, that, among those whom the apostle honours here with the name of saints and faithful, there were some hypocrites. But God, who sees the secrets of our hearts, and upon whose judgment our whole condition depends, will never account you christians, or mem- bers of his Son, if you are not truly saints. Paul likewise, and the church, who by a charitable judgment now call you disciples of the Lord, will change their opinion, and rank you with profane men and worldlings, when they discover your hypocrisy. The title " faithful," which the apostle gives, in the second place, to the Colossians, is also common to all true christians, and is taken from that faith which they give to the gospel of the Lord. The word "brethren," that follows, signifies the holy communion which they had with the apostle, and with all other believers of whatever rank ; as persons all begotten of the same Father, that is, God ; all born of the same mother, Jerusalem from on high ; all partaking of the same divine nature ; all nursed in the same spiritual family ; all nurtured in the same hopes ; all destined to the same inheritance ; all ■consecrated by one and the same discipline. In fine, he adds, " in Christ," because it is of him, and by him, and in him, that we have all this sanctity, faith, and fraternal union, the titles of which he has given to the Colossians. After having thus described and designated the persons to whom he writes, he wishes them, according to his custom, *' grace and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ." By "grace," he means the favour and good- will of God, with the saving gifts and divine assistance with which he blesses those whom he loves in his Son. By " peace," he signifies that peace of God which is nothing else but the calm tranquillity of a soul that looks to the Lord with confidence, having remission of its sins by Jesus Christ, and is delivered by the effectual operation of his Spirit from the importunate tyranny of the lusts of the flesh. It is probable that, beside this first and chief peace, the apostle intends also peace with men ; a sweet and calm state, exempt from their hatred and persecutions ; that without offending them, or being troubled by them, they might lead a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. You also know that in the style of scripture the word peace signifies generally all kinds of welfare and pros- perity ; in which sense it may, without disadvantage, be inter- preted in this place. But he wishes them these benefits "from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ." " From God," because he is the first and highest spring of all good ; " the Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 17 and every perfect gift." " From Jesus Christ," for he is the channel by which the benefits of Grod stream down to us ; it being evident that without the death and resurrection, and, iu a word, without the mediation of Jesus, we could have no part of the graces of God. He calls God " our Father," because he has adopted us freely in his Son, and on account of this rela- tion he communicates his grace and peace to us ; whence it is that Jesus Christ has given us authority to call him " Our Father" in the prayer which he has taught us. He calls Jesus Christ " the Lord," because he is our Master, who has all power and authority over us, as well by the right of creation as by that of redemption. Such is the inscription of this Epistle. II. Let us now come to the second point of our text, in which the apostle congratulates the Colossians for the part they had in Jesus Christ : " We give thanks," he says, " to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is reserved for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel." Here is the preface or exordium of the Epistle, which extends as far as the 13th verse ; in which the apostle, by the true commendations which he gives the piety of the Colossians, wins their affectionate regard, and declares his cordial affection to them, to prepare them for a right and faithful reception of the instructions which he would hereafter propose to them, as proceeding from a soul desirous of their salvation. He protests therefore to them, 1. In general, that as often as he and Timothy prayed to God for them, they did so with most humble thanksgivings for the happy spiritual state in which they saw him. 2. He mentions more particularly the grounds of this thanks- giving, and proposes three of them. First, the faith of the Colossians. Secondly, their love. And in the last place, the inheritance reserved in heaven for them. Three particulars which comprise all the felicity of man. The part he takes in the happiness of the Colossians teaches us one of the most ne- cessary offices of our love, which is to interest ourselves in the affairs of our brethren ; " to mourn with them that mourn, to rejoice with them that rejoice ;" and to be as nearly touched with their good and evil as with our own. Far from our prac- tice be the envy and malignity of the men of this world, to whom the prosperity of others gives trouble, and their ad- versity gladness ; who feed themselves with their miseries, and are sad at their mercies. But the apostle also shows us, by this his example, that the joy which we have for the good of our neighbours should be elevated to God, who is its only source, to render him thanks for it. This is the just and rea- sonable tribute this liberal Lord demands of us for so many 3 18 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. I. benefits as he communicates daily to our brethren and our- selves. If our meanness and poverty render us incapable of any other acknowledgment, let us at least faithfully acquit ourselves of this one, which is so easy and so just, and say with the prophet, " What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me ? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord," Psal, cxvi. 12, 13. Let us study with so much the more care to render this sacred duty to the Lord, by how much more vile and detestable in this in- stance is the ingratitude of men. Far from blessing him for the benefits which he gives their neighbours, they scarcely thank him for those which they receive of him themselves. They impute them to their own industry or fortune, and, as says the prophet, " sacrifice to their net," Hab. i. 16, for the good successes that attend them ; yea, there are some so insen- sible, that they do not give the glory to godliness itself, but to their own will, and the strength of their free determination. But it is not enough to render thanks to God for our brethren, there must be also prayer for them. For as it is he who gives them all the good things they possess, so there is none but himself that can preserve or augment them : and thus our thanksgivings should be ever followed or accompanied with petitions ; as the apostle shows, in saying that he gives thanks to God for the Colossians, praying always for them. The title he gives to God, calling him "the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," is not put here in vain, but to distinguish and specify the object of our prayers and thanksgivings. The appellation of God under the Old Testament was, " the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob," the patriarchs with whom he con- tracted the old covenant, and to whom he promised the new. Now his name is "the Father of Jesus Christ," by whom he has abolished the old testament, and accomplished the new. Besides, by this Paul reminds us of that on which we can never sufficiently meditate, that it is by the means of this sweet and loving Saviour God has communicated himself to us ; and if we have the honour to be his children, it is by Jesus Christ, of whom he is properly the Father, having, not adopted him, as he has us, but begotten him, from all eternity, of his own substance ; by reason of which that also which he assumed to himself, in the womb of the virgin, has the same glory ; according to what the angel said to the holy virgin, " The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God," Luke i. 35. But the apostle proceeds to add what were those blessings of the Colossians for which he and Timothy so assiduously rendered their thanks to God, the Father of our Saviour: CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 19 " Having heard of your faith in Jesus Christ," he says, " and of the love which ye have towards all the saints." He had never been among them, as he says hereafter, placing them, according to the opinion of most interpreters, in the number of those " who had not seen his face in the flesh," Col. ii. 1. Therefore he says it was by hearing that he had knowledge of their faith and love. Here is, faithful brethren, the true matter of our rejoicings and thanksgivings for our neigh- bours ; not that God has given them vigorous health, abun- dance of riches, the favour of the great, the glory of fame, the knowledge of sciences, and other good things of this world ; which in truth are but figures, dreams, and shadows, that secure no person either from diseases of the body, or death, or from trouble and disquiet of conscience, or true misery ; but because Heaven has revealed Jesus Christ to them, and shed into their souls that " holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." For these two graces, faith and love, comprise the whole kingdom of God. Faith is the be- ginning of it, and love the accomplishment. The one clears our understandings, the other sanctifies our afiections. The one is the light of the soul, the other is the heat thereof. The one believes, and the other loves. The one begins, and the other finishes, the happiness of our life. Now faith respects generally the whole doctrine of God revealed in his word, believing it to be undoubtedly true ; but yet it fixes particularly on the promise he has made us, to give us eternal life in Jesus Christ his Son. It is this properly that renders faith saving and vivifying. Without this it would not differ at all from the faith of devils, who believe there is a God, and tremble. But this love of God, which it apprehends and embraces, gives it salvation, and enables it to produce in us all that is necessary for entering into the celestial kingdom; according to the assertions of Jesus Christ and his apostles in numerous places of Scripture, that whosoever believeth in the Lord is already passed from death to life ; that there is no con- demnation to him ; and that "being justified by faith we have peace with God." Hence Paul, to describe true faith, adds expressly these words, " faith in Jesus Christ." He shows us in the like manner the object of love, by saying, " the love which ye have towards all the saints ;" that is, as we have intimated before, towards all Christians, all the faithful. I confess that love extends itself to all men in general, there being none to whom we owe not love, and, when required, the services which a true and sincere affection is ever ready to yield ; since all men are the work and image of God ; since in Adam they all have one common nature with us, and are all called to the participation of faith and of eternity in Jesus Christ by the gospel, which, without distinction or 20 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. I. exception, invites all nations and persons to repentance and grace. But still love embraces not all men equally. It has various degrees in its affections, and loves its neighbours more or less, as it perceives more or less in them the marks of the hand of God, and the tokens of his Christ, and of his Spirit. Seeing then that they appear no where more clearly than in the saints, that is, in true believers, it is evident that these make the first and principal part of the object of love ; ac- cording to what the apostle says elsewhere, " Let us do good to all men, especially to them who are of the household of faith," Gal. vi. 10. Besides that union which we have with them, a much more strict and intimate one than with any others, their necessity also particularly obliges us to do so ; the hatred and persecution of the world putting them generally into such a condition that no creatures more need the offices of our love ; neither is there any object more worthy of the affection and succour of a good and generous soul, than inno- cence unjustly hated and oppressed : therefore it is that the apostle observes here by name the love of the Colossians towards all the saints. He joins these two virtues together, faith and love, because in fact they are inseparable ; it being neither possible nor imaginable, whatsoever error may please to say, that man should believe and truly embrace God, as his Saviour in Jesus Christ, without loving him, and his neighbours for his sake ; or that he should love him sincerely without believing in him. He puts faith before love, not because it is more ex- cellent, (on the contrary, he elsewhere openly gives the advan- tage to love, 1 Cor. xiii.,) but because it goes first in the order of things requisite to salvation. It is the blessed root from which love and all other christian virtues spring forth. It is the foundation of the spiritual building, the gate of the king- dom of heaven, the first-fruit of the workmanship of God, and the beginning of the second creation. As in the old creation light was the first thing he created, so in the new, faith is the first thing he produces ; which the apostle elsewhere thus divinely expresses : " God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," 2 Cor. iv. 6. After the faith and love of the Colossians, the apostle adds, in the third place, the happiness that was kept for them in heaven: "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven." Some join these words with what he had now said of the faith and love of the Colossians, and understand that these faithful people laboured with alacrity in the exercise of these virtues, for the hope they had of the celestial crown and re- ward ; according to what the apostle says elsewhere of Moses, CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 21 that " he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; and esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the trea- sures of Egypt; because," he says, "he had respect unto the recompense of reward," Heb. xi. 25, 26, And he teaches us in general, respecting all those that come to God, that they " must believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him," Heb. xi. 6. And hence it does not follow either that our works merit the glory of heaven, or that our affection is mercenary. If we might not hope for anything but what we merit, our hopes would be very misera- ble. But knowing that God is faithful and unchangeable, we hope with assurance for the bliss which he, of his mere grace, promises to us ; and the less we merit it, the more love we conceive towards God, who gives it to us ; and the greater acknowledgment and service ought we to render him for it. And for this gratuitous salary which he promises us, we look not on it as a prey after which we hunt, and without which we should have no love for the Lord : but as an excellent evidence of his infinite goodness, as a testimony of his admir- able liberality. That love of God, which is so resplendent in it, is the thing which most pleases and ravishes, and which inflames our faith, our zeal, and our affection for the service of so good and amiable a Lord. If we were to combine what the apostle says of the love of the Colossians with the hope which they had of the heavenly glory, we should speak in strict conformity to evangelical truth. But it seems to me more simple and more consistent with the context, to refer it to the 3rd verse, where he says that he gives thanks to God for the Colossians, having under- stood their faith and love, " for the hope," he adds now, " which is laid up in heaven for you." For considering the condition of these believers on the earth, there seemed no great cause to congratulate them for their faith and love ; the afflictions which they drew on them rendering them in appearance the most mis- erable of men. But though the flesh forms this judgment of them, the spirit, that sees, above all visible things, the crown of glory prepared for the faith and love of believers, es- teems them as the happiest of all creatures ; congratulates them, and renders thanks to God for the inestimable treasure that he has communicated to them. " I know (saith the apostle) that your piety has its trials and exercises in this world. But I cease not gratefully to bless the Lord that he has conferred on you that great favour. I know the bliss that is prepared for you on high, in the sanctuary of God." He takes the word "hope" here, as often elsewhere, for the thing hoped for ; that is, the blessed immortality and glory of the world to come. I confess we do not yet possess it, for hope is the ex- 22 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. L pectation of a future good. " We are saved," says the apostle, " by hope : but hope that is seen is not hope : for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for ?" Eom. viii. 24. But this good, though absent and future, is as certified to us as if we had it already in our hands. This the apostle shows when he adds that this hope is reserved in heaven for you. It is a trea- sure which God has set apart, having fully prepared it, and keeping it faithfully for us in his own bosom. Hence we are assured of this felicity, for he has deposited it in the hands of Jesus Christ, in whom is hid our life and immortality ; so that if we are assured of the safety of those things which a man of probity and honour keeps in trust for us, how much more certain should we be of the life and glory to come, see- ing God has put them for us into the keeping of so faithful and powerful a depositary ! The place where this rich treasure is kept for us confirms us yet more in the hope and the excel- lence of it ; for, saith the apostle, it is reserved for us in hea- ven. Fear not, ye faithful. Your bliss is not on earth, where the thief steals, or infidelity and violence spoliate ; where time itself ruins all things ; where crowns the best secured are subject to thousands of accidents. Yours is on high, in the heavens, in the sanctuary of eternity, elevated above all the capricious and uncertain changes of human af- fairs ; where neither vicissitudes, nor the causes that produce them, have any access. This same place shows you also the excellence and perfection of the bliss you hope for, since all celestial things are great and magnificent. Weakness, pov- erty and imperfection reside here ; heaven is the habitation of glory and felicity. In fine, the apostle mentions briefly, in the last words of this text, whence the Colossians had derived this sublime hope : " Of which," he says, " ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel." This sovereign bliss, which is reserved for us in heaven, is so highly raised above nature, that neither acuteness of sense, nor vivacity of reason, nor even the light of the law, could discover it to us, much less give us the hope of it. That same Jesus Christ who has destroyed death, hath " brought life and immortality to light through the gospel," 2 Tim. i. 10. Before this they were either entirely unperceived or imperfectly known and hoped for. It is therefore precisely from the gospel that we draw both the faith and the hope of them. He calls the gospel "the word of truth," not, as some have said, because it is the word of Jesus Christ, who is the truth and the life, an exposition more refined than solid, but because it is the most excellent of all truths; for those which are learned in the school of nature and of the law, are mean and unprofitable in comparison of those which the gospel dis- covers to us. We may justly conceive that the apostle de- CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 23 signs also secretly to oppose the doctrine of the gospel to those of the seducers, who still recommended shadows and figures, as we shall hear in the following chapter ; whereas the gospel presents to us the substance and the truth of things. And it seems to be in this sense that John, after he had said, " The law was given by Moses," adds, in a form of contrast, " but grace and truth came by Jesas Christ," John i. 17, because the law had only dark lineaments and shadows ; but, on the contrary the Lord Jesus brought us the lively image, the body, and the truth of celestial things. The apostle reminds the Colossians that they had "heard before this word of truth," as it were to protest to them that he would advance no novelty among them, having no design but to confirm them more and more in the holy doctrine which they had already received by faith, from Epaphras, and other ministers of the Lord. See, be- loved brethren, what we had to offer you for the exposition of this text. It remains that we briefly direct you to the principal sub- jects of reflection which we should gather from it, for the in- struction of our faith, the edification of our love, and the con- solation of our souls. As for faith, it is for its security that Paul tells us, at the commencement, that he is " an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God," apprizing us by the title which he assumes, that we required not to receive any doctrine into our belief which has not been announced by these great and highest ministers of the Lord. Let us try the spirits, and admit only the word of the apostles. If any one preaches a gospel beyond that which they have preached, let us hold him an Anathema. We have their Scriptures. Let us assuredly believe all that we read in them. Let the doctrine which ap- pears not there be suspected by us ; and praised be God that, according to this rule, we have banished from our religion that which error and superstition had thrust into Christianity. You know that the God, the Christ, the heaven, the worship and sacraments, which we preach, have been given to us by the apostles of the Lord, established by the will of God, and ap- pear in all their Gospels and Epistles ; whereas the mediators whom our adversaries invocate, the high priest which they acknowledge, the traditions which they maintain, the purga- tory which they fear, the greatest part of the sacraments which they celebrate, the adoration of the host, the veneration of im- ages, and the voluntary worship which they practise, are not found either in the Old or the New Testament. Let us therefore firmly retain our religion, as instituted by the will of God, and constantly reject what is beyond it, as coming from man, and not from the Lord ; from earth, and not from heaven. But it is not enough to make profession of it ; we must plant this doctrine in our hearts by a lively belief, in such a manner 2é AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. I. that we may be able to say with truth, that we have faith in Jesus Christ, and love towards all the saints. With the apostle, we render thanks to God that of his great mercies he has vouchsafed to communicate to us this treasure of his gospel ; and not in vain, since there are among us those who have truly profited by these spiritual riches. But the life of the greater part renders them unworthy of the praise which Paul here gives the Colossians. Is this to have faith in Jesus Christ, to serve him so remissly as we do? to evince so little zeal for his glory ? so little respect to his commandments ? so little belief of his doctrines ? and so little affection for the interests of his kingdom? As for love, I am ashamed to speak of it, so chilled is ours. For if we loved all the faithful, should we leave the lives of some of them, and the reputation of others, without succour? Should we injure them instead of defending them ? Should we take away their substance instead of communicating to them our own ? Should we vilify their honour instead of pre- serving it ? Would their prosperity offend us ? Would their miseries satiate us ? Faithful brethren, remember that they are the saints of God, his children, and the brethrea of his Christ. Respect those sacred names, and spare those persons who have the honour to be related so nearly to your Lord. He will judge you by the treatment which you give them, and charge to his own account the good and the evil which they shall receive from your hands, recom- pensing it or punishing it in the very same manner as if you had honoured or violated him in his own person. He will sever you from his communion if you do not carefully improve theirs, and will never avow you for his children if you ac- knowledge them not for your brethren. And allege not, I be- seech you, that you have faith. I know well that this divine light cannot dwell in souls which are cold and destitute of love. But suppose that this were possible, I solemnly tell you that all your pretended faith, though you possessed it in the highest degree, without love, would be but a shadow, an idol, and an illusion ; and, as James saith, a corrupt carcass, James ii. 26. Do all you will, have as much faith and know- ledge as you please, if you have not love, you are not a chris- tian ; you are but a false and deceitful image of one. Love is absolutely necessary to the perfection of a christian. It is the distinctive mark of this holy discipleship ; it is the honour and the glory of it ; and the apostle, as you see, sets it down here among its essential parts. Faith will cease in heaven, where vision will supersede believing. But love will remain for ever. Possess then a blessing so great and so necessary for you. If you have not hitherto realized it, ask it of God in- cessantly with prayers and tears, and leave him not before you CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 25 have obtained it. If you have it, thank him for it, more than for all the goods of the universe ; and forget not that in giv- ing you love, he has given you the life, the kingdom, and the crown of heaven. Exercise this precious gift continually ; let there be none of your neighbours without feeling it. Do good to all. Communicate what you have received : the light of your knowledge, to the ignorant ; the succour of your good offices, to the afflicted ; the sweetness of your patience, to en- emies ; the consolation of your visits, to the sick ; the assist- ance of your alms, to the needy ; the example of your inno- cence, to all with whom you converse. But have a particular care of saints, the members of the Lord Jesus, who serve him here with you, and however poor they are, yet have been re- deemed with his blood, and predestinated to his glory, as well as you. Dear brethren, your labour shall not be in vain ; your love will bring forth its fruits in their season with a most abundant interest. For terrestrial and perishing good things, which you sow here below, you will one day reap on high those that are celestial and immortal ; for a little bread and a little money that you now give to Jesus Christ, you will re- ceive from his liberal hand the delights of paradise, and the treasures of eternity. This is the hope which is reserved for you in heaven. It is not the word of weak and vain men which has promised you this. You have heard, by the gospel, the word of truth, which cannot lie. And as so magnificent a hope should inflame our love ; so should it comfort us in our tribulations, and render us in- vincible under the cross to which the name of Christ subjects us. Consider a little what the men of the world do and suffer for uncertain hopes, that whirl in the air, float on the sea, and depend on the wind and on fortune. To how many dangers they expose themselves ! to what toil and disquietude they condemn tjiemselves ! voluntarily passing nights and days in a most laborious servitude for an imaginary good, that has no existence, and perhaps never will have, and which, however successful in their designs, they will not enjoy at most but for a few years ! Christian, shall it be said that you have less zeal for heaven than they have for the world ? Their hope is doubt- ful ; yours is certain. Theirs depends on the will of men and the inconstancy of the elements ; yours is in heaven. Pursue then nobly so high and glorious a design. And since your hope is in heaven, have incessantly your heart, your affections, your thoughts there. Eegard no more either flesh or earth ; your bliss is not here. Jesus Christ has placed it on high at the right hand of the Father, iu the palace of his holiness. Let this excellent hope sweeten all the evil which you suffer here below. If you are not at ease here, if you are despised, if you have no part in the wealth or honours of the world, 4 26 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. II. think that neither is it here that Jesus Christ has promised you the rewards of your piety. That heaven which you see so fixed and immutable keeps them faithfully for you. You will there receive, on a future day, the honour, the glory, and the dignities which you now breathe after ; not to possess them during a few miserable months, as worldlings enjoy their boasted riches, but eternally, with perfect and unspeakable satisfaction, in the blessed communion of saints, of angels, and of Jesus Christ, the Lord of both. To whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the only true God, blessed for ever, be honour and glory to ages of ages. Amen. SEKMON II. VERSES 6 — 8. Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world ; and Iringeih ' forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth : as ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellow servant, ivho is for you a faithful minister of Christ ; who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. Dear brethren, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most excellent and most admirable doctrine that was ever pub- lished in the universe. It is the grand mystery of God, the wisdom of angels and of men, the glory of heaven, and the happiness of earth. It is the only seed of immortality, the perfection of our nature, the light of our understandings, and the sanctity of our affections. There is no philosophy, or other doctrine, but this, which is able to deliver us from the slavery of devils, and make us children of the Most High. It is this only that truly purifies us from the filth of sin, and clothes us with a complete righteousness ; that plucks us out of the hands of death and hell, and gives us access to the throne of God, there to receive of his bounty life and supreme felicity. All other religions, invented and followed by flesh and blood, are ways of perdition, instructions of error and vanity, that present themselves to wretched men in the thick darkness of their ignorance, as those seducing fires that some- times mislead travellers in the obscurity of night, conducting them into the deeps of death and eternal malediction. The law itself, though it descended from heaven, is as much beneath the dignity of the gospel as Sinai is beneath heaven, and Moses CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 27 beneatli Jesus Cbrist. The law affrights consciences, the gos- pel gives them confidence. The one slays the sinner, the other raises him up again. The one makes grace desirable, the other gives the enjoyment of it. The one presented the shadows and figures of truth, the other gives us the lively image, the very body of it. Whence you may judge, my brethren, how much it concerns us to know so saving and divine a doctrine, that we may embrace and obey it. The repose and happiness of our souls are based on it, which we shall unprofitably seek everywhere else. It is to inflame us with an ardent desire for this holy and blessed knowledge that the apostle Paul so often proposes to us in his Epistles the praises of the gospel ; scarcely ever naming it without immediately adding something in its commendation ; as the custom is of those that are ardently attached, never to speak of what they love without giving it some eulogy that testifies both its excellence and their estima- tion of it. Such is the manner of our Paul towards the gospel of his Master. He has his soul so full of the love and admira- tion of this heavenly doctrine, that he can neither pronounce nor write the name of it, but he accompanies it with praises, as the just and due attentions of its dignity. Of this we have an example in the text which you have now heard. For having said before that the Colossians had heard of the hope which is laid up for us in heaven by the word of truth, that is, the gospel ; he thence takes occasion to introduce in this verse something in its commendation, describing to us the dif- fusion and efficacy of this divine wsrd of life. " The gospel," he writes, " which is come unto you, as it is in all the world ; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth." In the two verses which follow, he commends Epaphras, who had by his ministry converted the Colossians to the knowledge of the Lord, bearing a strong testimony to his fidelity and goodness, and mingling with it his praises of the Colossians themselves: " As also ye have heard of Epaphras our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ ; who also hath declared unto us your love in the Spirit." This shall be, if it please the Lord, the subject of this sermon ; and to proceed with it in order, we shall consider the two particulars that pre- sent themselves in the text of Paul, that is, the praise of the gospel in the former verse, and that of Epaphras in the two next ; alluding also to what the apostle intermingles with them in commendation of the Colossians. I. As to the gospel, he touches on two points. First, its ad- mirable progress, and its great and sudden spread. It " is come unto you, as it is in all the world." And, secondly, its divine efficacy to convert men and change their courses of life : " And bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth." âS AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. II. He says therefore, first, that the gospel had come to the Co- lossians. Secondly, that it had also come into all the world. About the first there is no difficulty ; for as there was a church in the city of Colosse, it is evident that the gospel, by which christian churches are founded and builded, had been preached there. Only we should observe in this event the marvellous goodness of God towards the Colossians ; for they were a bar- barous and an idolatrous people, very far oif from the country and the religion of Israel ; a portion of Phrygia, a province infamous for its abominations, whence had issued the myste- ries and infernal devotions of Cybele, called by the Gen- tiles the mother of the gods, the most detestable of all pagan idols, and in whose service were committed the most unclean and shameful horrors. The Colossians, as other inhabitants of Phrygia, were immersed in this vile gulf, when the Lord vouchsafed to visit them, and make the light of his gospel to arise upon them. Whence it appears that the knowledge he gives us of his word is a donation from his mere grace, and not the payment of our vaunted merits. For what had the Colossians, in their deplorable condition, that could invite him to communicate to them this rich treasure ? what had they, on the contrary, that might not have diverted him from that design, all of them being saturated with an inveterate love of idols ? You see also the apostle says, not that they had come to the gospel, but that the gospel had come to them ; to show us that it is God who comes to us, who prevents us by his grace, according to the determinate purpose of his good plea- sure. The sick go or send to the physician, and solicit the aid of his skill. Here, perfectly contrary, the supreme Physician of souls seeks the sick. He comes to them in his benignity. He sends them his ministers, and presents to them his reme- dies, when they dream of nothing less than of their malady, and the cure necessary for them. " The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost," Luke xix. 10. He despatches his servants to Colosse, and other places, to bear thither his salvation to men who were intent on nothing but their own destruction. He causes himself to be " found of them that sought him not ;" and says " unto a nation that was not called by his name. Behold me, behold me," Isa. Ixv. 1. Let a man search as much as he pleases, he will never be able to find any reason of the dispensation of God in communica- ting his gospel at certain times, and to certain places, but his mere good pleasure. And that we may the more carefully note this truth, he often directs the light of his word to those who conducted themselves the worst of all men in the state of nature, and hides it from them who seemed less defiled than others. He imparts his gospel to the Colossians, to the Ephe- sians, to the Corinthians, and others, who were of all people CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE OOLOSSIANS. 29 the most abandoned to superstition and vice. He says nothing to the gymnosophists, the brahmins, or to various others, as well barbarians as Greeks, who at the time were esteemed the most innocent of all mankind, and who, in fact, appear from history to have possessed much more justice and integrity than any other people. Why has God taken this course ? Because if he had acted in a different manner, if he had called only those in whose religious systems and lives was seen a glimmer of exterior goodness, passing by those whose manners had nothing but what was detestable, we should have believed, without doubt, what some cannot even now forbear to say, that the works of men oblige God to call them, and impart to them his gospel ; and that, as they speak in the schools of Rome, if in rigour they are not worthy of this favour, yet they merit it at least in a seemliness of equity and congruity. The Lord therefore very often takes a perfectly opposite course, to make us understand that the persons whom he calls are as devoid of all merit as they are whom he leaves ; and that if he vouchsafes to illuminate any with the light of his gospel, he does so of the sole good pleasure of his grace, and not in the least degree for any of their merits. Indeed it is most certain that no man whatever, in his native depravity, can do any good work, the most splendid of their pretended virtues being only a deceitful daub, which by a fair appearance hides deformity and corruption. It was therefore a miracle of the divine goodness that this saving doctrine came to the Col- ossians, who, by their nature, were so far from it ; and the apostle remiods them of it, the more to excite their sincere gratitude to the Author of this great benefit. But that which he adds is much more strange and incredible, that the gospel was come into all the world. He makes the same assertion in a succeeding verse of this chapter ; " The gospel is preached to every creature that is under heaven." And in the 10th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, he applies to the ministers of the Lord Jesus what the psalmist had sung of the heavens ; " Their sound is gone forth through all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world," And in the 15th chapter of the same Epistle, speaking of himself, he says, "From Jerusalem, and round about it, even to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ ;" and after this he sowed the good seed in the isle of Malta, and at Rome. Now if the other twelve apostles, and the seventy disciples, and the evangelists, laboured each according to his measure in proportion with Paul, and that they did so is not to be doubted, it is not astonishing that by that time they should have carried the gospel through the whole world. We read also in the writings of the first Christians, Justin, Clement, Tertullian, and others, that in their time, that is, 3^ AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. II. about one hundred and thirty and one hundred and sixty years after the Lord's death, all places were filled with Christian churches, and that there was no nation among either the Greeks or the barbarians, nay, the very Scythians or Tartars, where Christ Jesus had not his servants. And though these testimo- nies cannot be rejected without extreme arrogance, there being no probability that either Paul, or the other writers now mentioned, would have asserted such a fact without reason ; yet, entirely to disarm incredulity, I will add, that the very same statement is made in the books of heathen authors of that age. For Tacitus, a Roman historian, a violent enemy to Christianity, though dispassionate in other things, and of great esteem among his countrymen, has recorded that in the eleventh year of Nero, that is, eight years after the date of this Epistle of Paul to the Colossians, a severe search having been made, there was found a very great multitude of Chris- tians at Rome.* This is sufficient to justify the statement of the apostle. For as the gospel in the west was able to pene- trate quite through the provinces that constituted, as it were, the heart of the Roman empire ; it would more easily extend itself to Parthia and the Indies, where Thomas conveyed it ; and other eastern parts, where its vestiges remain to this day ; and in Egypt and Ethiopia in the south, where, according to ecclesiastical history, Matthew preached it ; and towards the north, which occupied the attention of other disciples. This was almost the whole world that was then known by the Greeks and Romans ; and, without doubt, in this sense we are to understand the apostle's statement. For as to those ex- tensive countries discovered in the west, about one hundred and fifty years ago, which are commonly called the West Indies, or the New World, it is evident that the ancients had no certain knowledge of them, and it is very probable that they were not peopled at the apostle's time ; the memorials which those nations have preserved of their own history reaching back for not more than four or five hundred years at most. We may therefore conclude, that, taking the world, as it is commonly understood, for countries inhabited and known at the time, the gospel had, when the apostle addressed the Colos- sians, come into all the world. The apostle mentions this to the Colossians, first, to confirm them the more in the faith of the gospel. I confess that its truth depends not on the success attendant on its promulga- tion, nor on the number that believe it. Though all the world were to reject it, though heaven and earth were to persecute it, the faith of a Christian should continue firm and unshaken, founded, as it is, on the word of God, and not on the approba- * Anual. 1. 15, CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 31 tion of men ; as, on the contrary, though the universe main- tained error, it would be our duty to reject it, our condemna- tion to receive it. The command of God is in force for ever, " Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." But though this is true, yet it is a great consolation to a believer to see the extensive diffusion of the truth. And as the admirable power of the Lord is the more impressively manifest in pro- portion to the greater number of converts it brings to his Christ, so it is evident that this extension of the gospel con- firms our faith ; furnishing us with an eminent testimony of the power of God, and of the efficacy of his word, I add, also, that the success here mentioned by the apostle contains a strong argument for the divinity of the gospel, and that in two respects : First, if you consider the thing in itself ; it is so great and marvellous that it shows sufficiently that this doctrine is not only true, but even divine and celestial. "When Paul wrote this Epistle, it was not full thirty years after Jesus Christ had suffered death in Judea, and yet the gospel, as he says, had already come into all the world. How could it have made so much way in so little time, surmounted so many obstacles, flown into so many places infinitely distant, if it had not been of celestial origin, and was not carried by a divine power? Certainly, as the extension of the light of the sun, that in a short time illumines the whole hemisphere, and by its rapid motion visits all climes of the globe in four and twenty hours, evidently shows us that it is a work of God, and of a nature altogether different from that of earthly and elemen- tary things ; so the swift and sudden course of the evangelical doctrine, that filled the world in so little time, penetrated and dissipated its moral darkness, and so speedily made itself visible from one end of the heavens to the other, invincibly proves that it is a divine and not a human production. Look at all the systems of religion that have ever prevailed in the world, and you will not find one of them that was established in this manner, and that in so short a time was equally pro- gressive. The pagan religions existed only in the countries where they were generated ; and if sometimes they extended farther, their growth was owing rather to the love of novelty in travellers, who transported them from the place of their birth, than to their own native genius and energy. All the celebrated systems of philosophy among the Grecians lived only in the soil that produced them. And the doctrine which the popes of Rome have established in their communion ar- rived at the state in which we see it, only by a long succession of ages ; gaining something in every period, till it took its present consistence and form, and in which it is maintained, by the terror of inquisitions, the pomp of worldly power, and the favour of the mighty, who find their own interests 82 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IT. combined with it. It is only the gospel of the Lord that, from its birth, had the courage and the power to fly every way, penetrating with incredible swiftness all the regions of the habitable world in less than five and twenty years. And here let none allege the seduction of Mohammed, which in- fected the east, and the south, and a part of the west itself, in a very little time. For there is no similarity between the progress of these doctrines. I pass by other observable dif- ferences. I will touch upon only one of the most essential ; namely, that Mohammed and his successors were unable to advance their impostures but by the force of arms, and propa- gated their creed no where except in the countries which they conquered, and among the nations which they subjugated. It was their iron, and not their Koran, that passed through and devasted the world. Was there any thing marvellous or super- natural in their success ? or that a troop of robbers, whom their own necessities, or the cowardice and distractions of others, had fitted for enterprises, should, by force or stratagem, capture certain towns ? or that, elated with their first succes- ses, and receiving great accessions to their numbers, they still advanced, and, passing out of Arabia, they attacked the extremi- ties of the Roman empire, which at that time were almost defenceless ? and that, aided by the disunion and imbecility of their enemies, they found themselves, at the end of three or four score years, in possession of the east and the south ? Surely in all this there was nothing superhuman. In earlier times, Alexander the Macedonian was equally victorious in less than fifteen years, as was Sesostris also, and others both before and after him. It is then no miracle that the religion of the Saracens, borne, if I may so say, on the wings of their victorious ensigns, saw much of the world in fifty or sixty years. If we marvel at anything, it is at the success of their arms, not at the exploits of their Koran, which never gained admittance into any place whose gates were not opened for it by fire and sword. On the contrary, the gospel of the Lord Jesus was not sustained and advanced in the world by military force, the favour of arms, the successes of war, or the achieve- ments of any conqueror. It was not promoted either by the charms of eloquence or the subtilties of philosophy ; in one word, it had no conceivable human succour. Those who car- ried it were twelve or thirteen fishermen, with a small number of others of no higher rank in life ; without credit, without arms, without courage, without experience; the offscouring and refuse of the world ; mere weakness and imbecility ; who, far from invading the rights of other men, had renounced all their own ; who, instead of smiting and slaying, were scourged and stoned at every turn ; and, instead of attacking others, did not resist those who maltreated them ; living in very great CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 33 humility and innocence. With this poor equipage the gospel undertook the conquest of the world, and though it met every where with gates shut and walls garrisoned with all that was terrible to repel it ; though the Jews persecuted it, the Gentiles derided it, the great and the little held it in abomination ; though magistrates banished it, or put it under the most cruel punishments ; though all rent it by outrage and reproaches ; yet, unprotected as it was, it made itself room, and, in spite of so many dreadful obstructions, ran from east to west, and from south to north. Constantly despising all earthly aid, it reigned in a hundred and twenty years in every place, before it had one magistrate or captain on its side, and disarming them when it received any ; so far was it from making advantage of their arms or authority. We may affirm therefore that this progress of the gospel is a thing altogether peculiar to itself, never occurring at any time in the world, and with which neither Mohammedanism, nor any other religion, has any thing in common. It follows that this is an evidence of the truth and divinity of this holy doctrine, those that are human neither having nor being able to have that admirable power and energy which are here seen. This will be further evident, if we contemplate this event in another light, inasmuch as it was a manifest accomplishment of the ancient oracles, given by the Lord to his ancient people, and registered in his Scriptures, which foretell, in numerous places, that the Messiah would universally diffuse the know- ledge of the true God, which was before confined within the narrow limits of Judea ; that the nations should walk in his light, and that the " people walking in darkness should see a great light," Isa. ix. 2 ; words which the Lord Jesus, in the days of his flesh, had thus interpreted, " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world," Matt. xxiv. 14. These predictions, therefore, appearing at that time so punc- tually, so admirably, and in so short a time fulfilled, who can doubt any more whether the Lord Jesus is the true Christ ? and especially since he alone revealed the God of Israel and his service to the world, and declared that his apostles were the servants of this same God, who, having many ages before predicted these things, so mightily in the fulness of time execu- ted them by their ministry ? But besides the confirmation of the faith of the Colossians in general, I conceive that by this eulogy of the gospel, the apostle designed more particularly to fortify them against the new doctrines which some seducers were sowing in their church. For since other churches, founded in divers parts of the world, had heard nothing of these doctrines, it was very evident that they were not any part of the gospel, that is, of what the apostles preached. Whence we may deduce, as we pass ^ AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. II. on, an invincible proof, both of the truth of the doctrine which we believe, and of the vanity of that which we contest with our adversaries of Eome. For as to what we hold, it is evident that the apostles taught it in all the world, both by word of mouth and by writing, as all the necessary, positive, and atïirmative articles of our faith fully appear in the monu- ments of apostolic preaching; that is, both in the books which they wrote, and in the churches they founded. As for our ad- versaries, it is no less evident that they can never show that the monarchy or infallibility of their pope, or the adoration of their host, or the service of their images, or their invocation of saints, or purgatory, or the traffic of their indulgences, or any other of the points which we debate with them, was preached in all the world at the time of the holy apostle. Not a single trace of them can be found in any of the books or memorials remaining of that age, or of a long time beyond it; only a man may perceive them, some ages after, growing up, one in one place and another in another, at various times and in different regions ; an evident sign that they are not parts of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which was fully preached in all the world in Paul's lifetime, but the inventions and traditions of men that have arrived since. II. Having mentioned this sudden and admirable diffusion of the gospel, the apostle directs us, in the second place, to its eSicacy in the places where it had been preached. It is not only " come into all the world," but, which is more, it " brings forth fruit" there, " as it doth also in you." It bears the same fruits there which it has produced among you. You discern that these fruits of the gospel are nothing but that faith, love, integrity, modesty, temperance, and other spiritual graces, which it produces in the souls of those who hear it and receive it as they ought, and in which the sanctification of men con- sists. It is this energy of the gospel which the Lord would represent to us in the parable of the seed, to which he com- pares it. Matt. xiii. ; and which, according to the various pro- perties of the places where it fell, brought forth more or less fruit ; in some a hundred-fold, in other sixty, and elsewhere but thirty. Never was seen a thing more marvellous. In a few years the gospel transformed the whole earth. It crowned with flowers and fruits plants that were barren and accursed. It filled the deserts, the plains and the most desolate heaths with exquisite and delicious trees. That which the laws of nations, that which the most excellent philosophy had for many ages cultivated in vain, no sooner felt the hand of these evangelical vine-dressers and husbandmen, than, losing the austerity of its primitive juices, it became bland, and was laden with celestial fruits. Piety, sweetness, and pliilanthropy were seen to flourish where nothing had ever appeared but the CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. SO. horrors of superstition, of atheism, of cruelty, and of all other vices. This is the change which the Lord had foretold in Isaiah, in those figurative words, " I will plant in the wil- derness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree ; I will set in the desert the fir tree, the pine and the box tree together," Isa. xli. 19. And elsewhere, comparing the gospel to rain that waters the earth, and makes it bud and bring forth fruit, he says, " So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth : it shall not return unto me void, but it shall do all my pleasure, and prosper in the things for which I send it," Isa. Iv. 10, 11. And this divine fruitfulness of the evangelical doctrine, which miraculously changed the world, is also a most evident argument for its truth, and its heavenly origin ; for never has a system of religion or morals been known in our world possessing so animative and universal an efficacy. But the apostle particularly commends the fruits which it had brought forth among the Coiossians : " It bringeth forth in you, since the day that you heard and knew the grace of God in truth." He praises both their teachableness, for this word had produced fruit in them from the first day they heard it ; and their constancy, for it still continued to yield fruit. The earth produces not fruit as soon as it receives seed ; there must be time to mollify the grain, to make it germinate, to invig- orate it, and decorate it with fruits. It is not so in this spirit- ual husbandry. The gospel, from the very moment that it is rightly received into your heart, will produce fruit. Eeceive it, then, faithful brethren. Defer not till to-morrow. This day, while you hear the voice of the Lord, " harden not your hearts," Psal. xcv. 7, 8. It is one of the most pernicious arti- fices of the enemy, to suggest to men that they defer their conversion to the future. Give me, says he, this day, and give God the next. Give me the present and him the future ; to me the flower and vigour of thy life, to him the remnant and thine old age. So men find at last, when all has been given to Satan and the world, nothing remains for them to give the Lord, to whom they have left only the future, that is, what was not theirs ; disposing of the present, which alone was in their power, to the service of their mortal enemy. Christians, take ye heed of his wiles, and hasten out of his snares. Imitate these faithful Coiossians. Eeceive the word of God so deeply into your hearts, that it may bring forth fruit there from this very day. You cannot be the Lord's too soon. Put not off the design of being happy to another time ; consider that time flies, and life escapes, and death comes, while you deliberate. But if we are required at once to bear fruit worthy of the gospel, it follows not that we may soon after cease to do so, as certain trees, which, if they are the first ^ AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. II. to flourish, are also the first to fade. The plants of the Lord soon begin, but never cease to yield fruit. They bring forth fruit in the hoariness of old age ; and are even then " fat and flourishing," as the psalmist sings, Psal. xcii. 14. If you have embraced the gospel with ardour, retain it with invincible constancy. For salvation is prepared for none but those who per- severe, who retain the verdure of heavenly principles, in defiance of the scorching heats of summer and the chills of winter ; so that no season, however severe and adverse, ever strips them of their spiritual flowers and fruits. As to what remains, the apostle calls the faith of the gospel " the knowledge of the grace of God," because it is not possible to enjoy this heavenly doctrine, if a man has not received and ex- perienced the mercy which it offers us in Jesus Christ. This grace is the heart and substance of the gospel. Whence it ap- pears, that to thrust into it the doctrine of the satisfactions and the merits of men, is to corrupt it and to change its na- ture, for these things are wholly incompatible with grace, or such as at least extremely darken and enfeeble it. When he says that they " heard and knew the grace of God in truth," he means, either that they received it truly, in sincerity of heart, without hypocrisy, or that they knew that this grace was delivered to them pure and sincere, without any mixture, either of Pharisaical superstition or philosophical vanity ; or, finally, so as it is declared in the gospel, not in error, and in fictions, and lies, as in false religions, nor in shadow and in figure, as in the law of Moses ; but nakedly and simply, as it is in itself. Of these three expositions, all good and convenient, the first is commendatory of the Colossians, the second of Epa- phras their pastor, and the third is to the praise of the gospel itself. As to Epaphras, he speaks of him by name in the second part of this text, consisting of the last two verses. And to commend him to the Colossians, and secure to him their hearts and regard, he bears a strong testimony to his fidelity, his sin- cerity, and his goodness : "As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ, who also hath declared unto us your love in the Spirit." This holy apostle knew how very important it is that churches should, for their edification, have a good opinion of their pas- tors ; and with what artifices the enemy usually labours to decry the faithful servants of God, and ruin their reputation among their flocks : on this account he here exalts Epaphras as his piety deserved : and, to remove from the Colossians all suspicion against the purity of his teachings, expressly as- sures them that the doctrine which they had learned of him was the very same gospel of which he had spoken. And from this great anxiety of the apostle for the reputation of Epa- CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIAKS. Sf phras, the ministers of the Lord should learn the necessity of insuring the high and cordial esteem of their people; ab- staining not from evil only, but also from its appearances, and whatever might cause them to be suspected of it. It is not enough to obtain the approval of our own conscience, we should also be prepared to satisfy the judgment of our neigh- bours. Innocence is necessary for ourselves, and reputation for others. And since it serves to edify them, we are evidently bound to preserve, not only our own, but also the reputation of our fellow servants, whom God has appointed to the same office. And who does not see that, if we bite and rend one another, the disgraceful conduct of individuals will involve us all in one common infamy and ruin ? And you see also that as the reputation of pastors is a public good, tending to the edification of the whole church, each believer owes it a peculiar respect, and that the crime of those who unjustly vio- late it is a kind of sacrilege. It is robbing the church, stealing from it its means of edification, to calumniate the life and doc- trine of them who serve it, or to expose them to ridicule and contempt by your defamations. But to return to Epaphras ; the apostle honours him with two or three very great eulogies. First, he calls him his " dear fellow servant." Admire, I beseech you, the ingenu- ousness, the kindness, the humility, and modesty of this holy man. His ingenuousness ; for whereas there is commonly a jealousy between persons of the same profession, Paul, con- trarily, acknowledges and exalts the gifts and piety of this servant of God. His kindness ; for he tenderly loves him, and everywhere plainly shows that of all men there were none whom he more tenderly esteemed than the faithful ministers of the gospel. Finally, his humility; in that being raised to the throne of apostolic dignity, the highest in the church, he makes Epaphras, as it were, to sit there with him, owning him for his fellow. Next he styles him a " minister of Christ." It was much to be fellow servant with Paul, but it is much more to be the minister of Christ, the Lord of glory, the Head of the church, the sovereign Monarch of men and angels. Judge with what reason some of our adversaries deride the title that we assume, denominating ourselves ministers of Christ, or of his gospel, since it is the word that the apostle expressly uses here, to denote that holy service to which God has called us. But he calls not Epayihras simply a " minister of Christ," he says moreover that he is a " faithful minister :" the appellation of minister was his in common with many others, the praise of faithfulness with few. It is all that the apostle required in a good steward of the house of God : " Let a man so ac- count of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that 88 AN" EXPOSITION" OF [SEEM. IT. each one be found faithful," 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2. To have this praise the minister of the Lord must, first, seek the glory of his Master, and not his own : and, secondly, he must keep close to his orders ; not parsimoniously concealing from his sheep any of the things committed to him for their edification ; and without setting before them anything of his own inven- tion beyond, or contrary to, the will of the chief Shepherd. But though all these good qualities greatly recommended Epaphras to the Colossians, yet the apostle adds another, which, no less than the former, obliged them tenderly to love and cherish him, namely, that he employed the Master's tal- ents to their edification : " He is a faithful minister of Christ for your They ought therefore to love him both for the dig- nity of his office, and for the profit that thereby came to them. For though we are bound to love and respect all the faithful servants of God in general, yet, doubtless, we owe those par- ticular affection and reverence who specially consecrate their ministry to our edification. In fine, the apostle tells them that this holy servant of God had informed him of the pure and spiritual love they bore him. He " hath declared to us" (that is, both to him and to Timothy) " your love in the Spirit." I conceive that by love he means here, not the christian grace which we ordinarily call by this name, (for of the love of the Colossians, in that acceptation of the word, he had already spoken in the 4th verse,) but the affection which these be- lievers had for Paul. And he calls it a " love in Spirit," that is, spiritual ; because it was founded on the Spirit, and not on the flesh ; upon the interests of heaven, and not on those of earth. And here consider, I beseech you, how prompt and active Epaphras was to cement spiritual friendships. The Co- lossians had never seen Paul ; doubtless it was he who had re- counted to them the eminent virtue and piety of this great man, and by this means had enkindled in their souls that holy and spiritual love which they felt for him. And behold, also, how, by his narration of the love that these believers bore to him, he excites in his soul a corresponding affection for them. O holy and blessed tongue, that sowest nothing in the hearts of the faithful but charity and love, how far from thy candour and goodness, are those mouths of hell of these days, that in- spire nothing but hatred, and kindle nothing but animosity, envy, and revenge, in the souls of all on whom they breathe ; who busy themselves in making dissensions among brethren, in dividing and arming against each other those whom nature or grace has most strictly united ! But it is time to conclude this discourse. That which you have heard may, I think, suffice for your understanding this text. Nothing remains for me, but to conjure you to seek most earnestly to profit by it, and to draw from this subject CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 39 the holy uses which it contains, whether for correction in the duties of life, or the consolation of your souls. The gospel of Jesus Christ is come unto you ; the same gospel which aforetime changed the world, which abolished idolatry and paganism, and made the knowledge and service of the true God everywhere to flourish. The Lord has raised you up Epaphrases, faithful ministers of his word, who have pub- lished it to your fathers and to you with exquisite sincerity and truth entirely, as Paul preached it to the nations, without any leaven of superstition or error, acquitting themselves in their stewardship with so much uprightness of conscience, with so much zeal and ardour, that I assure myself, were the great apostle now on earth, he would do them the honour to own them for his dear fellow labourers. You have seen this sacred doctrine repeat the evidences of its divinity by the swiftness of its course, and its mighty efficacy. In a short time it flew through all Christendom, and, in spite of the op- positions of hell and earth, raised up everywhere noble and flourishing churches to the Lord. We may say particularly of your church, that the gospel yielded fruit in it from the day that it was heard there. The blood and the sufferings of so many of the faithful, who therewith nobly sealed its truth, their charity, their zeal, their good and holy works, still fresh in our memories, are unexceptionable testimonies of this fact. But I know not whether I may justly add what the apostle says here of his Colossians, that the gospel bringeth forth fruit still in you ; for those few fruits which it produces here are choked up with so many thorns and briers, so many sins and vices, that they scarcely deserve to be considered. I mean not that the gospel itself is changed. It has still that immor- tal energy which God gave it, to germinate, and grow up, and produce the fruits of righteousness and life. It is ever the in- corruptible seed of God, his word living and abiding for ever, full of efhcacy and vigour. Whence then comes this sterility ? Dear brethren, it comes from the bad quality of our ground, and not from the weakness of the heavenly seed. The gos- pel is not yielding fruit among us, because it falls in stony places, and by the highways, or among thorns; on souls full of worldly lusts or carnal cares ; or it is exposed to the feet of evil spirits, who are ever going to and fro in the land ; or it is frozen and hardened with the fear of temporal evils. This is, christians, the true cause of our barrenness. Let us then cleanse our hearts, and, as a prophet says, " break up our fallow grounds," Hos. x. 12 ; Jer. iv. 8. Let us pluck up the thorns which the world has planted there, avarice, the desire and deceitfulness of riches, ambition, and the love of our flesh, sensuality, and vanity. When you re- ceive the gospel into souls so prepared for it, it will not fail to éO AN- EXPOSITION OP [SERM. II. show its fecundity ; it will bring forth its fruit abundantly, in some an hundred for one, in others sixty, in others thirty. Without this it is in vain that we boast us of Jesus Christ and of his word ; his word is given to us that it may bring forth fruit. If we continue barren, far from proving beneficial to us, it will aggravate our condemnation, and draw upon us a judgment terrible in proportion to the plenty in which it was communicated to us. Remember that dreadful threatening, verified in the lamentable experience of multitudes, which the apostle denounced to the Hebrews : The earth that bringeth forth thorns and thistles " is rejected, and nigh unto cursing ; whose end is to be burned," Heb. vi. 8. " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," who is the most se- vere to punish the contempt of his word, when he has been the most liberal in imparting it to men. For not continuing to bear fruits worthy of their vocation, these very Colossians, whose faith and love the apostle here commends, and their neighbours, the Laodiceans and the people of Hierapolis, saw, some years afterwards, their cities demolished and buried by a tremendous earthquake. And all those noble churches of Asia, so much celebrated in the Acts and the Apocalypse, are at this day desolate, for not having profited by the gospel ; and God has already begun to avenge this contempt of his word in various places in Christendom, which the briers and thorns of the old superstition now cover again, instead of the gospel which lately flourished there. God forbid, dear brethren, that we should fall into the like condemnation. To prevent it, let us recover the zeal of our fathers ; let us do our first works. Let the gospel again be fruitful in the midst of us, abundantly prolific in love, meekness, honesty, peace, humility, patience, alms, prayer, fasting, sobriety, chastity, and the other fruits of the Spirit ; and above all, a spiritual love of Paul and the other apostles who report the gospel to us, that we may re- spect them and walk in their doctrine, and in concord and love among ourselves. If we make this use of the gospel, God will take pleasure in the midst of us. He will daily visit us, he will cherish us, as his paradise, his heritage, the garden of his delights. He will pour out upon us here below graces of all kinds, blessings in abundance. And after having seen us fruitful on earth, he will one day transplant us into heaven, that we may for ever live and flourish in the courts of his own blessed and eternal habitation. Amen. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 41 SEKMON III. VERSE 9. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might he filled with the hnoiuledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual under- standing. The love of beauty and excellence is so natural to us, that we cannot discover so much as the earliest germs of them any- where but with delight ; and the secret pleasure they excite within us always makes us wish for their growth and their perfection, unless envy, or some other malignant passion, check the natural emotions of our hearts. Thus, when we see lovely and docile children, there is no soul having any of the sympathies of man that is not delighted, and utters a similar prayer for them to that which Joseph offered for Benjamin, when he was presented to him by his brethren, " God be gra- cious unto thee, my son," Gen. xliii, 29. From such sentiments flow those benedictions which we cordially pronounce on per- sons that are employed in beneficial affairs, whether natural or civil ; as when, with the psalmist, we see the busy reapers of a luxuriant field in harvest time, and address them, "The blessing of the Lord be upon you; we bless you in the name of the Lord," Psal. cxxix. 8. But if natural beauty and perfection engage our affections and good wishes to those in whom we perceive them, the gifts of divine grace, which are incomparably more excellent, should much more affect us, and kindle in our hearts more ar- dent flames of love and of desire for those that possess them. For as high as heaven is above the earth, and as much as eter- nity is preferable to time, so much advantage have the beau- ties and perfections of grace above those of nature. If, therefore, we estimate them according to their worth, we cannot see them shine out in any without advancing towards them, and attaching ourselves to them as holy and as happy persons. An eminent example of this motion of christian love, we have in our text ; for the apostle Paul here shows us that he was no sooner informed by Epaphras of the faith and love of the Colossians, than his soul was seized with ardent love to them ; and being hindered by his absence from giving them other evidences of his affection, he presented incessant and earnest prayers to God for their advancement and perfec- tion in piety ; that is, for the continuation and the perpetuity of their felicity. 42 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. III. The sum of his desires for them is contained in three verses, each verse evidently relating to a distinct kind of benefits : for he wishes them, first, in the 9th verse, the benefits that respect a perfect knowledge of the truth ; then, in the 10th, those that respect the exercise of sanctity ; and, finally, in the 11th, such as concern perseverance in faith, and patience in afflictions. For the present, we will meditate only on the first of these three articles, deferring the two next to another discourse : " And for this cause," saith the apostle, " we also, since the day we heard it, cease not to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." For the right understanding of this text, we will consider in it three particulars, by the help of the grace of God, which we implore to produce this effect. First, the motive of the apostle's prayers. Secondly, their form, manner, and quality. And, finally, which is the most important, the subject of them, that is, the blessings which he requested of God for them. I. The motive that induced the apostle to pray for the Co- lossians, he expresses in these first words : "And for this cause, since the day we heard it, we cease not to pray for you." For these words sending us back to the former verses, with which they are connected, teach us that the information which the apostle had received from Epaphras, of the faith of the Colos- sians towards Jesus Christ, and of their love towards the saints, of their heavenly hope, and their other spiritual graces, of which he spake before, that this knowledge, I say, having filled him with love towards them, made him continually pour out prayers before God to complete their salvation. I confess the affection they bore him in particular, and which he mentions in the verse immediately preceding, contributed something to his anxiety to pray for them. But its principal cause was their piety and sanctification, because they had the first-fruits of the Spirit, and the beginnings of the kingdom of heaven. Seeing the foundations of the gospel, and of the building of God, so happily laid and established among them, he beseeches the supreme Master and Architect of this spiritual work by his power to finish it. The same reason made him also present his prayers to God for the Ephesians, as he testifies at the be- ginning of the Epistle which he wrote them, using almost all the same words that he does here. Having " heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers ; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of i^lory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and of reve- lation," Eph. i. 15 — 17. Faithful brethren, learn by this ex- ample of the apostle to pray to the Lord principally for those in whom you see the work of his Spirit manifest. Eejoice ye CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 43 for their faith and zeal, and love them for the integrity and purity of their life ; but remember that the first and principal office which your love owes them is the continual succour of your prayers. Object not that they are too far advanced to need them. During the course of this life, the progress of a christian is never so great that the prayers of his brethren for him are unnecessary. When he is most advanced, the ene- my makes most attempts, and lies most in ambush for him. The nearer he is to the crown, the more need he has of divine assistance. As there are none in the lists whom we favour more with our wishes, acclamations, and applause, than those who come nearest to victory ; so in this career of the gospel, we should love those most who run best, and accompany with our vows, prayers, and benedictions those who are nearest to the mark of the heavenly calling. "We never utter more wishes for a vessel than when, after a long and dangerous voy- age, it arrives near our coast, or we see it ready to come into the haven. When the believer having escaped the shoals and tempests of the world, steers the direct course for heaven, and makes, (if we may so say,) with oars and sails, for the port of salvation, it is then we should redouble our wishes and bene- dictions for his safety ; it is then we should fear more than ever lest some accident mar his progress, and bereave him of the reward of all his pains. II. But let us now consider, in the second place, the man- ner and quality of the apostle's prayers: " Since the day that we heard this good news, we cease not to pray for you." First, he did not pray alone. " We cease not to pray ;" where you see he speaks of more praying with him, comprising in this number Timothy, whom he had expressly named at the beginning of this Epistle, and the other believers who were at Rome with him. Urged by one and the same love, animated with one and the same desire, they all lifted up their hearts and voices to God with the apostle for the spiritual prosperity of the Colossians. As there is nothing on earth more grateful to the Lord than this divine concert of many souls thus min- gling their voices and supplications, so there is nothing more effectual to draw down his blessing and obtain his graces in the behalf of our neighbours. " If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they shall ask," saith our Lord, " it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven," Matt, xviii. 19. In addition to the conjunction of believers who prayed unanimously with the apostle for the Colossians, they had also two other qualities which gave them much power ; assiduity, and the devotion of heart from which they issued. He expresses their assiduity in prayer, when he says that he "ceased not to pray for them, since the day he heard of" their piety, of their zeal in the gospel. As soon as he was in- 44: AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. III. formed of it, he deferred not this duty to another time. He commenced praying for them immediately, and pleading with God for the completion of their faith ; so ardently did this holy soul love all who bore the badges of his Lord. But he was not satisfied with praying once or twice for the salvation of these dear disciples of his Master. He went on constantly, and ceased not to solicit the goodness of God for them. For it is not enough that Moses lifted up his hands once or twice for Joshua's victory : for the entire defeat of Amalek, this holy man must continue to hold his hands stretched out towards heaven. Hence Isaiah commands the watchmen of Jerusalem, that is, its pastors, not to hold their peace, nor give the Lord any rest, " till he establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth," Isa. Ixii. 6, 7. And our sovereign Master expressly teaches us in one of his evangelical parables that we " ought always to pray, and not to faint," Luke xviii. 1. And his apostle enjoins us to " continue in prayer," Col. iv. 2 ; and elsewhere, to " continue instant in prayer," Rom. xii. 12 ; and again in another place, to " pray without ceasing." 1 Thess. v. 17. So you see he very carefully practised himself what he commanded others. Think not that this holy man was on his knees from morning to evening, employing himself in nothing but the recital of prayers, as the Messalians or Euchites did, a sect of heretics condemned by the ancient church, who pro- fessed to be always in prayer, and under this fair mask con- cealed a most profound and infamous laziness. The greater part of the monks of the communion of Rome at this day, who retire to cloisters, as to so many refuges of idleness, pass their time in saying litanies and orisons, usually without any attention or devotion, and under pretext of this pretended ser- vice to the public unjustly draw the tribute of immense alms, righteously due to the true poor, and not to them, who are willingly so by a vow directly contrary to the command of God. The prayer of a believer interferes not with his other duties. The same Lord who commands him to pray orders him also to labour. He who obliges him to the one does not ex- empt him from the other. He intends that he acquit himself of them both. Let prayer begin, guide, and end his labour ; let his labour seal, follow, and accompany his prayer. Let him pray with his hand upon his work ; let him work with heart and eyes lifted up in prayer. Let these two exercises fill up his whole life ; parting its days and hours between them, and keeping faithful and indissoluble company to its end. Paul prayed ; but his devotion did not hinder him from preaching to them who were present, from writing to the absent, from in- structing the teachable, or reprehending transgressors ; from confirming them who were within, or drawing those without ; from fortifying the faithful, or convincing the adversaries ; CHAP. I,] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 45 and from employing his time in a multitude of good and holy actions. What means he then by saying that he ceased not to pray for the Colossians? He intends to say that he assid- uously pursued it, that he offered it as often as time and place permitted, that neither day nor night passed but he did them this charitable office. Not to allege here what Augustine ele- gantly says, that our desires being prayers, these are continual when our desires are continual.* This example of the apos- tle teaches pastors in particular, that beside preaching the word, they owe to their flocks the succour of their prayers, offered not only in public, but also in private. For how can they, without crime, forget persons who are so strictly united to them — their crown and their glory, the ground of their joy and the subject of their most precious labour ? But the apostle, besides the assiduity of his prayers for the Colossians, shows us their ardour and devotion, when he says that he prays and desires for them. For the first of those words signifies the elevation of the soul to Grod ; when fixing its eyes on the greatness of this supreme Majesty, it adores him, and gives him the glory of perfect goodness, power, and wisdom. This is as the exordium and preface of prayer, to move the Lord, that he give us favourable audience. Then follows that which the apostle calls here the desire ; that is, the very request we make to the Lord, beseeching him to give liberally to us, or to our brethren, the benefits we need. From which we observe, by the way, the order we should keep in our prayers, that they may be legitimate and grateful unto God ; namely, that at the entrance we present him a heart full of humble and affectionate respect to him, that reveres him as almighty and all-wise, that loves him as infinitely good, and praises and glorifies him as perfectly blessed. The requests which are heedlessly presented to him, without this prepara- tion, are more apt to provoke his wrath than attract his benefi- cence. After this, we should next make our requests with an ardent desire and filial confidence. Thus the apostle prayed for the Colossians. in. Let us now come to the third point, and see what was the matter or subject of his prayer : " We cease not," saith he, " to desire of God that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." It suffi- ciently appears, by the commendations he gave the Colossians before, that they were already much advanced to the knowledge of God, and of his gospel ; therefore he does not simply de- sire of the Lord that they may be made partakers of this knowledge, but that they may be filled with it. For there are great differences in knowledge ; first in regard of its extent, * Aufmstine in Psal. xxxvii. M AN EXPOSITION" OF [SERM. III. and next in regard of its degrees. For its extent, it compre- hends those things which can be known, which being almost infinite, it is evident a man may know some who does not know others. And as for its degrees, the same thing is known more clearly and more distinctly by one, more obscurely and con- fusedly by another. It is the same in this as in seeing; one sees and discovers more objects than another ; and of those who see one and the same object, one beholds it more clearly than another ; and whatever is the cause of this diversity, whether the inequality of their eyes, or the difference of their attention, or that of the light which irradiates them, so it is that their seeing is very different ; that of the one being im- perfect and defective in comparison of the other. The apostle therefore, beseeching the Lord that the Colossians might be filled with knowledge, intends that they might obtain of his goodness a perfection of both kinds : first, that if there were any points of the gospel not yet come to their knowledge, he would grant them grace to observe and comprehend them. And, secondly, that if they did not clearly enough comprehend the things they knew already, he would so shine on them by the light of his Spirit that they might plainly and distinctly perceive them. In these two points the fulness or perfection he wishes them in this place consists ; the one, not to be igno- rant of any of the necessary particulars of the mystery re- vealed to us by the gospel of Jesus Christ ; the other, to know each of these particulars clearly and distinctly, seeing the truth of them as in a resplendent light. Besides, we must re- member that as the state of a believer, during his journey in the world, differs from that which he will enjoy in heaven, where he will live in the bosom of God ; so the perfection of his knowledge is of two sorts, the one earthly, and the other hea- venly. This is his last and highest perfection ; that is but the propensity and beginning of it : the one is the perfection of his infancy, the other of his full age. And though the first may be in a sense truly termed fulness and perfection, yet in comparison with the other it is imperfect. Hence the apostle elsewhere puts these two kinds of knowledge in opposition to each other : " Now we know but in part, and see but darkly in a glass, whereas in the other world we shall see face to face, and know as we have been known," 1 Cor. xiii. And in the same place he compares the knowledge we have here below to the thoughts of a child, and that which we shall have on high to the thoughts and judgment of a perfect man. Then all the arguments of the truth of the gospel shall be so magnificently displayed before our eyes, that a doubt of it shall never be able to enter ; and whereas now we see but the images of things, then we shall touch the substance of them ; besides which the light of our understandings will be incomparably more clear and perfect CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE C0L0SSIAN3. ,47 than it is here below. But though, considering the thing in itself, only the knowledge of a believer enjoying the vision of his Lord in heaven can be called perfect, yet referring and ad- justing it to the state in which we now are, there is also on earth a sort of knowledge which may be called perfect, namely, the highest measure a believer can attain while he is here below. As, though the knowledge of a child is far below the understanding of a man, yet there is a certain form and measure of knowledge proportionate to the capacity of its age, to which, when the child has arrived, we say it is an accomplished child, yea, most accomplished. For every age has its perfec- tion, and every greatness its full height. It is then of this second kind of perfection and fulness that the apostle speaks, when he prays the Lord that the Colossians might be filled with knowledge ; that is, not that they might see the Lord face to face, (this is not given but in the other world,) but that they might receive of his goodness all the light necessary for their state on earth, and as great and rich a measure of knowledge as may be necessary for attaining one day the utmost degree in the kingdom of heaven. And remark here, by the way, the holy artifice of the apostle. By praying God that the Colos- sians might be filled, he secretly intimates to them that they yet wanted something, that he might render them teachable and attentive to the instructions he wished afterwards to give them. For those who think they are perfect, and have the consummation of knowledge, disdain instruction as superfluous and unprofitable. Therefore he seasonably removes this imagination from the Colossians, that they may patiently suffer him to instruct them, and finish in them what was only rough- drawn. To the same end, he adds, that they might be filled with the knowledge of the will of God. For by the will of God he rejects and removes far from this subject all the in- ventions and doctrines of men, the disputes and subtilties of philosophy, the voluntary devotions and superstitions which had been sowed among the Colossians by false teachers, as things rather contrary than useful to the perfection and hap- piness of man, and restrains all the knowledge he desires for them to the sole will of God, as its true object and its just measure. Upon which we have to remark, first, that the word which the apostle uses in the original, and which we have translated knowledge, signifies properly a great and ample knowledge ; and these holy authors employ it ordinarily to express that knowledge of God which is given us by the gospel of Jesus Christ. The law of Moses and the doctrine of the prophets teach what is the will of God. But they were not designed to declare it so clearly and so fully as the gospel. Hence Peter compares the light of the prophets to that of a candle shining *l§i AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. III. "in a dark place," and that of the gospel to the brightness of the day, 2 Pet. i, 19. And to this John had respect, when he said that " no man hath seen God at any time ; the only be- gotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath de- clared him," John i. 18; because the knowledge given of him before the manifestation of the Lord Jesus was so weak, that it is scarcely worthy of comparison with that which is given to us. It is therefore properly this evangelical and christian knowledge which the apostle wishes for the Colossiaus, op- posing it to that of the law, the rudiments of which some en- deavoured to re-establish among them. Secondly, we must observe what is the object of this know- ledge, the knowledge (saith he) of the will of God. All men naturally desire knowledge. Every kind of real knowledge is beautiful and grateful, and adds some ornament to our under- standing. Yet it must be confessed that generally none are capable of giving us the perfection and happiness we desire, and which are necessary for our nature. Such are all mundane sciences, discovered and cultivated by the sages of the world ; not only their philosophy about nature, and the motions of the heavens and elements, and about the properties and effects of things animate and inanimate, but also that part of their doc- trine which immediately concerns us, and explains what our conduct should be, both in private, and towards those who go- vern us, or are governed by us, either in the family or in the state. To say nothing of the variety and extreme uncertainty of their opinions, which change every day, and float in infinite doubts, no man, after having passed a whole life in this study, and made the utmost progress, becomes more contented, or happier, or more assured. All the pretended light of their school cannot dissipate from our minds either the horror of death or the fear of the judgment of God. The knowledge of the Lord alone can remove them from us, and by consequence it alone is necessary for us; the rest will not render us either more happy if we have them, or more miserable if we have them not. It is then only this knowledge which the apostle desires for the Colossians. But we must consider, in the third place, that he wishes them the knowledge, not of the nature, or the majesty, or the other essential perfections of God, but of his will. For as to the es- sence of this supreme and incomprehensible Lord, as to the im- mensity of his power, as to the ineffable manner of his under- standing, and the wonders of his judgment, it is not necessary for us to know them clearly. It is sufficient for us to adore them, and many have lost themselves in endeavouring to sound them. We must know his will to attain salvation, as the true rule of our duty and his judgment. He has fully declared it to us by the ministry of his heralds, the apostles and prophets, CHAP. L] the epistle TO THE COLOSSIANS. 49 who have published it by word of mouth, and consigned it to us in writing by the holy books which they have left us. We must seek it there, and not in the discourses of vain men. There we shall find it manifested, as far as it is necessary for us to know and do it. It has two principal parts, faith and obedi- ence. For the will of God, as the apostle understands it here, is nothing else but that which God would have us believe and do to be happy. For faith, his will is, says our Lord, that whosoever seeth the Son, and believeth in him, shall have eter- nal life, and be raised up at the last day, John vi. 40. For practice, " This is the will of God," says the apostle, "even your sanctification," 1 Thess. iv. 3. These are the two principal parts of the will of God, to which all other instructions in Scripture refer. In the knowledge of these things Paul prays God that the Colossians might be perfect and complete. He adds " in all wisdom and spiritual understanding." We call them wise men in the world who know how to obtain their end, who use means fit for this purpose, and skilfully avoid all that might hinder it ; so dexterously conducting their affairs that one of two things follows: either they accomplish that which they desire, or, if disappointed, some accident, and not their fault, has caused such ill success. But because they pro- pose to themselves ends vain, evil, and unprofitable to their happiness, however wise they are esteemed by the world, all their industry is nothing but folly and error. Those then, on the contrary, are wise after the Spirit who constantly hold the right course of piety, guiding themselves in it with such skil- fulness that they avoid scandals, and all that might divert them from their mark. And though the world commonly account them extravagant, yet their conduct evinces true wisdom, since, at the end, it will be found that none but they attain to salva- tion. It is then this skilfulness which the apostle terms here spiritual wisdom; both because it respects the things of the Spirit, which appertain to a celestial and spiritual life, and also because it is a gift of the Spirit of God, coming from on high, from the Father of lights. Neither the sense nor the reason of nature is able to bestow any knowledge of the divine will, which is the matter and subject of wisdom. Wis- dom is the use and employment of the knowledge of God. For to be wise after the Spirit it is not enough to know what is the will of God. There must be the use of this knowledge; first, by laying down, as a certain and unalterable maxim, that it is in this will our bliss consists ; and consequently, that it must be the limit of our desires. Secondly, by prac- tising what we know of this divine will, aiming at the mark it shows us, and, to attain it, employing the means which it prescribes, watching and labouring continually thereto. For certainly that servant in the parable, who knew his master's 50 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. III. will and did it not, was any thing but wise. In the last place, as for the spiritual understanding which the apostle desires for the Colossians, it is real and exquisite prudence, to judge aright of things which are presented to us, and to discern the good from the evil, the true from the false, and the real from the ap- parent ; and this gift, you perceive, is also a fruit of the know- ledge of God, and consists only in a strict application of what we know of his will to the doctrines and counsels which the flesh and its ministers set before us to turn us out of the way of salvation. This Eve wanted when she was seduced by the serpent, and the Galatians when they were misled by those im- postors. The apostle feared lest the same should befall the Co- lossians, and, to divert this fatal blow, supplicates the Lord to give them the understanding necessary for happily distinguish- ing the false colours, the dissimulations and enticements of error, from the simplicity that is in Christ. Therefore he desires of God not only that they might be filled with the knowledge of his will in wisdom and understanding, but in all wisdom and understanding ; that is to say, very abundantly, in so great and rich a measure, that none of the parts or operations of this di- vine ability should be deficient in them ; after the same man- ner as when he asks elsewhere, "Have all faith?" to signify so high and elevated a measure of it, that no kind or degree of faith is wanting. Such is, well-beloved brethren, the ardent and affectionate prayer which the apostle continually offered for these Colossians, that they might be filled with the know- ledge of the will of God " in all wisdom and spiritual under- standing;" that is, in such a manner that this knowledge might form in them an accurate spiritual prudence. To conclude. It remains that we briefly touch upon the principal lessons .which we are to derive from it for the in- struction of our faith and the amendment of our practice. First, you see how far the judgment of the apostle is from the doctrine and practice of Kome. The apostle wishes the faith- ful to know the will of God, that they may be filled with this knowledge. Home teaches that their faith is better defined by ignorance than by knowledge, and that it is sufficient for them to have I know not what implicit faith, (as they call it,) which, without knowing anything itself, refers us to the foith of another. The apostle desires that believers be endowed with . all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Eome fears nothing so much as this, and commands the people, without knowing or understanding anything themselves, to leave this whole study to their clergy ; contented with saying they believe what the church believes, not knowing in the meantime what it does believe. Darkness is not more contrary to light, than this pretended faith to wisdom and understanding. Their prac- tice is conformable to their doctrine. For they hide the Scrip- CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 51 ture from their people, the sacred and authentic evidence of the will of Grod, the living and teeming source of all wisdom and heavenly understanding ; and if in their service they re- peat any passages of it, they repeat them in a strange language, that their people may hear and not understand it. Faithful breth- ren, thank God that he has withdrawn you from this kingdom of darkness ; enjoy with gratitude the light he has set up among you. Learn, in the brightness thereof, what is the will of the Lord, the head and the foundation of true wisdom. Esteem this knowledge as the gate of heaven, the entrance of eternity, the seed of the divine nature, and the principle of celestial life. Without it, how will you love God ? as no one loves what he knows not. Without it, how will you obey God ? since to obey him is only to do his will. Without it, how will you resist the en- emy ? how will you free yourselves from his wiles ? how will you discern his frauds from divine truth? Judge how the apostle estimates it, since it is the first thing he asked of God for these Colossians, whom he so ardently loved. If you will attain the . salvation to which he directs them, possess that which he with so much earnestness desires for them. Remem- ber you are the people of the Sun of righteousness, of the eternal Wisdom and Word, the workmanship of his Comfor- ter, who is a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding ; and that one of the greatest reproaches God ever gave to his Israel, was his calling them a " foolish people and unwise," Deut. xxxii. 6; Isa. i. 3, who had neither knowledge nor understanding. And since you see that the apostle asks of God this divine wisdom for the Colossians, address yourselves also to that Fa- ther of lights from whom comes down every good gift and every perfect gift. Press him ; importune him ; quit him not till he has revealed his mysteries to you, till he has enlight- ened your eyes and your hearts to make you see the wonders of his wisdom. But to prayer add study ; read and hear his word carefully ; meditate on it here and at home ; render it familiar ; commune about it with your neighbours, and in- struct your children in it. I grant that without the grace of of the Lord this labour is unprofitable, but I maintain that with it it is most efficacious. Paul would preach to Lydia in vain, if God were not to open her heart. But if God set to his hand, it is not without success that Paul labours for it. And to attract this saving hand of the Lord, join to prayer the offerings of your alms, the perfume of a good and holy life. Make use of what you know. Manage these first-fruits of light which you have received already. Employ the talent that has been given you, and the Master will add to it others and greater. How can you think he will communicate new graces to people who so vilely abuse the first? You know his will, and do that of Satan and of the flesh. He has made 52 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IV. you a present of the gospel, and you drag it in the dirt. He has marked you with his seals, and you pollute them with the filth of vice. You shamelessly wear his livery amidst the debauches of the world, and the disciples of heaven are as ar- dent as the children of this generation after the dissipations of time. God forbid that "wisdom and spiritual understand- ing" should lodge in hearts so profane. They are jewels too precious to shine anywhere but in heaven, that is, in pure and holy souls. So far will you be from increasing your light, if you change not your conduct, that God will take away the little which remains, and let you return into Egypt to live once more in its miserable darkness. But God keep us from so great an unhappiness, my beloved brethren ; and to prevent it let us in good earnest turn to him, renouncing the lusts of the world and the filth of the flesh, living in exemplary purity and righteousness, that the Lord may take pleasure in us, that he may make the knowledge of his will abound in us " in all wisdom and spiritual understanding ;" and, after the faith and hope of this life, receive us, in the eternity of the other, to the vision and fruition of his glory. So be it ; and unto him, the Father, Son, and Spirit, the true God blessed for ever, be all honour and praise. Amen. SERMON IV. VERSES 10, 11. That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing^ being fruitful in every good toork, and increasing in the knoioledge of Ood : strengthened loith all mighty according to his glorious •power ^ unto all patience and long-suffering with joy fulness. Philosophers, pagan as well as christian, commonly divide the sciences into two kinds ; the speculative, which aim only at the understanding of their subject, resting there, when they have once acquired it, without going any further ; and the practical, which aim at action, and regard things only with re- spect to the use made of them. Of the first kind is astron- omy, whose only design is to comprehend the motions of the heavenly bodies ; and the mathematics, which relate to the study of magnitude and number, without any other end than a knowledge of them. Of the second kind is moral science, which teaches us for practical purposes, and shows us the na- ture of each virtue, that we may practise it, and live according CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 53 to the rules slie gives us. It is disputed in the schools to which of these two kinds of sciences belongs sacred theology ; that is, the doctrine of divine things revealed to us in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. For on one hand it teaches us several things of the nature of God and of angels, and of the world to come, and other mysteries, which seem to be merely objects of contemplation, and not of action ; on the other hand it gives us divers rules for practice : and this mix- ture has induced some to think that it is a discipline not sim- ple and uniform, but miscellaneous, and composed of both kinds. Our apostle, in my opinion, clearly decides the ques- tion in this place. For having before wished the Colossians a rich and full knowledge of this divine doctrine " in all wis- dom and spiritual understanding," he stays not there, but adds, in the text we have read, the end to which it is subservient: " That ye may walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work." Here he states expressly that the end of this knowledge is practice ; holy walking and fruitfulness in every good work being evidently practical. Consequently it ought to be placed among the active sciences, Biuce they are characterized by their end, and that which prop- erly gives them the rank they are to hold. I grant that it treats of the essence and attributes of God, but it is with the design to carry us by such means to the love and service of his divine Majesty, that is, unto action ; whence it is that in Scripture, knowledge of God is almost always taken for obedience to him, as far as he has revealed himself to us. But it is of no great importance for us to know the rank of this heavenly discipline among the sciences, provided we hold fast this principle of the apostle, that the end of our instruc- tion in the knowledge of God is a godly life, and not our mental amusement, or the gratification of our curiosity with a vain delight ; much less the being able to divert our com- panions with such high mysteries. We do not call that man an architect who can fluently discourse of buildings, but him who has the art to erect them ; and we do not give the name and glory of a captain to one who can eloquently speak of war, but to him who can manage it, and is able to conduct an army skilfully, and can withstand and fight an enemy, and ac- quit himself in all the functions of a military command ; nor can we regard him as a christian who knows the duties of the faithful, and can pertinently explain them, but him who per- forms them. This science consists in the life, and not in talk; in the heart and in the doings, not in the brain and in the tongue. Let this then be our sole aim in this holy study. Let us learn not simply to know or to speak, but to do, care- fully reducing to practice all the precepts of this heavenly doctrine. And that we may duly comprehend this legitimate 54 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IV. end of our knowledge, let us meditate on the lesson whicli the apostle now gives us concerning it. It contains two partic- ulars : First, the nature of the life and practice at which we are to aim. And, secondly, the constancy and patience with which we should persevere in them. These shall be, God wil- ling, the two subjects we will treat of in the present service. I. The apostle explains the former of these in the 10th verse, " That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleas- ing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." In these words he shows us, first, the end of the knowledge of the gospel in general, which is a walking worthy of the Lord. Next he sets before us the principal parts of this worthy walking. The first respects the object proposed, the pleasing of God in all things. The sec- ond, the manner in which it ought to be attempted, by be- coming fruitful in every good work. The third, its progress, advancing in the knowledge of God. Here then, christian, in the first place, is the proper and sole end of that heavenly light which has been communicated to you, that you " walk worthy of the Lord." You do not re- quire to be informed that the Scripture often compares the life of man to a journey, and his designs and occupations to a path, or way. The simple fact is, that having entered the world, at once we leave the moment of our nativity, as a start- ing place, and incessantly advance towards death, as a com- mon habitation, where, sooner or later, all men meet. Other travellers may, if they please, delay their journey, or retrace their steps ; but we cannot do either. Time, infolding us from the first moment of our life, perpetually carries us forward, whether we wake or sleep, whether we consent to it or resist, without permitting us to turn back, or indulge in the shortest re]:)Ose. We are like him on board a vessel propelled by sea and wind, whose personal motion does not arrest or abate his course. But as the roads and projects of travellers are very different, so there is a great diversity of habits and manners in men's lives. Wicked men follow one way, and good men another. The Pagan steers one course, the Jew another, the Mohammedan another, and the Christian another, each wholly different from the others. This is what the Scripture calls " the way of man ;" that is, the fashion and method of life which each man follows. And suitably to this expressive figure, it often makes use of the word walking^ to signify a regulating and framing of the life after some certain manner, whether good or evil ; meaning the tenor of our lives, and our custo- mary deportment. There is nothing more common in the Psalms, and in the Proverbs, than these forms of speech ; " to walk in integrity ;" or, on the contrary, " to walk in fraud and iniquity :" and in the writings of the New Testament, " to walk CHAP. 1.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 55 in light," or, " in darkness ;" " after the Spirit," or, " after the flesh ;" with other similar phrases, all signifying a certain manner and condition of life, good or evil, as it is qualified. Agreeably to this scriptural style, the apostle says here, "that ye might walk ;" meaning, that you may live, that you may regulate and form your lives. But how does he wish us to walk ? " Worthy of the Lord." It is word for word in the original, worthily of the Lord ; or, in a manner worthy of the Lord. The apostle intends that we should lead a life corresponding to our honour, as the children and disciples of Jesus the Lord ; his co-heirs, and heirs of his Father. He often uses this manner of speaking, or others very similar to it. As when he exhorts the Philippians to conduct themselves in a way that " becometh the gospel of Christ," Phil. i. 27; and the Ephesians to " walk worthy of the voca- tion wherewith they were called," Eph. iv. 1 ; and when he adjures the Thessalonians " to walk worthy of God, who has called them to his kingdom and glory," 1 Thess. ii. 12. The teachers of human merits have drawn from these passages that superb denomination which they commonly give them, calling them "merits of condignity ;" pretending that to walk worthy of God, signifies, a meriting of life by their works, in a proper sense, and according to strict justice. But they are evidently deceived. For not to speak of the vanity of this presumption, which Scripture and reason itself strike as with a thousand lightnings, it is plain that to be worthy of anything does not in the least degree mean, in any of these passages, to merit it properly and strictly. For who would interpret in this manner the apostle's words, "walk worthy of God," that is, "lead a life that merits God ?" There are persons found, who have so sublime an opinion of themselves, as to imagine that they merit heaven, and the glory of the life to come. No one has yet been seen, that I know of, who vaunted that he merited God. This language would be monstrous, and surpass the pride of devils themselves. It is very presuming to affirm that any man merits even the gifts of God. Common sense permits not any one to think, or sa}'", that he merits God. No more will what the apostle says elsewhere suffer this comment : "Let your conversation be worthy of the gospel ;" and, " Walk worthy of the vocation of God." For who ever affirmed that our works merit the gospel, or the vocation of God — a thing which was past, and which we received from the liberality of the Lord, before the performance of any one good work ? It is clear that, in all these places, the worthiness of which the apostle speaks is nothing but a certain seemliness, arising from our corresponding with those things of which he says we are worthy. Just as when John the Baptist exhorts the Jews to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, he means, not that 56 AN" EXPOSITION OF [SEKM. IV. merit repentance, but that answer to it ; that are suitable to the sense we have of our own sin, and of the grace of God. In like manner here, an eminently holy and pious life, abound- ing in good works, is worthy of God, not because it merits him, but because it has some suitableness with his sanctity and glory. It is worthy of the gospel, because it is correspondent to it, and conformable to what it requires of us. It is worthy of the vocation of God, because it is incited to those things to which he calls us, and produces the fruits which he demands of us. Do you wish then to know, 0 christian, how you should live ? Live worthy of the Lord. Paul has comprised all in these few words. When it was demanded of a prince, who had fallen into the hands of his enemy, how he would be treated, he answered, "As a king," signifying by that one word all the forbearance and generosity he desired should be used towards him. So the apostle, in these two words, embraces the whole model of our behaviour. How shall we live ? Lead, says he, a life that is worthy of the Lord. This is enough to let us understand that avarice, cruelty, hatred, envy, or any other of the passions of the world, can have no place in us ; but that justice, kindness, and all other pure and celestial affections, should be resplendent in us : that nothing base or abject should be mingled with them ; but that all should be great, and gene- rous, and elevated above the dunghills of the flesh. Keep then, believer, this supreme Lord continually before your eyes. Ask your conscience, upon everything presented to you, whether it is worthy of him ; and do not anything that may not be so accounted. Flee all that is repugnant to the noble birth of his disciple ; all that deviates from the rule which he has given you ; all that diverts you from the kingdom to which he conducts you. This Lord is purity and holiness itself; he is entirely separate from sinners ; he never had any communion with sin. This Lord is supremely good ; he hates no man ; he prayed even for them who crucified him, and conferred in- finite benefits on them who injured and blasphemed him. This Lord neither possessed nor coveted the honours and grandeurs of the world. All his glory is divine, and his grandeur celestial. His discipline is like his life ; he invariably enjoins us nothing but eminent innocence, sanctity, and good- ness : and the good things he promises us are spiritual, and not carnal ; the inheritance he has purchased for us, and to the possession of which he lead us, is in heaven, and not on the earth. From this it is easy to conceive what is this manner of life worthy of him which the apostle commands us. It is a life resembling his life, in which shine forth the examples of his divine excellencies, and the characteristics of his doctrine, and the badges of his house, and the first-fruits of his glory. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 57 It is a life that treads under foot all the villanies of sin ; that disdains what the flesh and the world promise to their slaves; and, beholding with contempt all that the world adores, is ardent only in the pursuit of heaven. It is a sweet, humble, and inofi'ensive life, obliging all men, and injurious to none; that, without turning to the right hand or the left, glides on, incessantly advancing towards the mark of the celestial calling. It is thus you must live, believer, if you would not depreciate the light you have received of the knowledge of God. It is, I confess, a high design. But then it is not for mean and common things that God has given you his Son and his Spirit. If our infirmity makes us fear, let the power and the might of the Lord imbolden us. And if sometimes any act escapes us that is unworthy of him, as in this flesh wherewith we are clothed too many do escape us, let us combat our own weak- nesses, and have recourse to the grace of God, who, pardoning us what is past, will fortify us for the future. But the apostle, after having enjoined us in general that our life should be worthy of the Lord, treats, in the second place, of the principal duties we have to perform, that such may be our lives. First, he specifies that we should wholly aim to please him; that is, that in all things we should seek to please the Lord, attempting nothing but what will be acceptable to him, that this be the scope of our life. Consequently the first point of a celestial life, a life truly worthy of the Lord, is to take his will for our supreme rule, conforming to it all our thoughts, words, and actions. For this is the apostle's meaning, when he says we must entirely please him ; that is, in all things, in all the parts of life ; both in what respects the sentiments of our hearts, and in what concerns the words of our mouths, or our external actions. This is as the soul of the service of God. You serve a man, or yourselves, and not the Lord, when you act to please yourselves, or others. The best action, and in itself most holy, loses its worth when the design of pleasing God is wanting. Let us then banish from our life, first, all those things which God has not instituted. For however noble , their appearance, we cannot assure ourselves that they please the Lord, if he has not ordained them. Let us not suffer our- selves to be beguiled by the paint and tinsel of human devo- tion. Since the question is of pleasing God, we must give ourselves to the study and practice of that, which himself has expressly commanded in his word. This, I am most certain, is acceptable to him. But for that which superstition or the pretended wisdom of men has invented, I cannot be assured whether it please the Lord or not. Then next, in the very per- formance of the things which he has commanded, let us aim still to please him. Let us offer not our sacrifices but to his Deity alone. If our actions are also acceptable to men, so let 58 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IV. them : this will not offend us. But in whatever way they judge of us, let us ever aim to please the Lord, Provided that our oblations are grateful to him, let the world judge of them as it pleases. We have what we sought, and it suffices us to have found favour in the eyes of our Master. Let us renounce our own wills, and regard his alone, wishing daily that it might be done by us and by all other creatures, as the Lord Jesus has commanded. The apostle adds, secondly, the productions of Christian life: " Being fruitful (saith he) in every good work." This necessa- rily follows from the affection which he has recommended to us. For if we entirely study to please the Lord, we shall certainly addict ourselves to good works, as they only can be acceptable to him. But to denote this production the apostle uses a remarkable term ; " being fruitful in every good work." The Scripture often compares believers to trees, because they are planted by the hand of God, having sprung from his celes- tial and incorruptible seed, that is, his word ; and you know how the prophet, in the first Psalm, describes to us a good man, and one fearing God, under the image of a tree planted by a stream of living water, yielding its fruit in its season, and crowned with a green and grateful foliage which never fades. And elsewhere he compares him to a flourishing and fruitful palm tree in the courts of the Lord, Psal. xcii. 12 — 14. Jesus Christ says in John, chap, xv., that he is the Yine, and we are the branches; and Paul compares the Israel of God, that is, the whole society of his children, to a true olive, into which each of them is grafted to partake of its sap and fatness, Rom. xi. Suitably to these metaphors, with much beauty and pro- priety, the apostle says. Be fruitful, to express the production of our good works. That immortal sap which has been poured into us from on high by the word and Spirit obliges us to this fecundity; it having been communicated to us only to produce in us the fruits of righteousness and holiness. This the Lord expects from his mystical vineyard, and demands it as the just recompense of his assiduous cultivation. And as we prize trees which do not unprofitably occupy our ground, but yield us an abundance of fruit as well as leaves and bloom ; so is it with the heavenly Vineyard-keeper. He seeks for fruit on his spiritual trees. The fig tree that bears none he condemns to the fire. He loves and purges that which bears. Good works are the fruits he requires of us ; yea, every sort of good works : " being fruitful in every good work." Nature imparts not to any of its trees the faculty of bearing more than one kind of fruit, because the seed of which they grow is earthly and ma- terial. But grace, which originates the Lord's mystical plants of a spiritual and divine seed, makes them capable of bearing infinite fruits of every sort. These the apostle calls good CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 59 works, commanded by God in his word, useful for the ad- vancement of his glory and the edification of our neighbour. Let no one flatter himself that the fruitless verdure of leaves, the outward profession of Christianity, would suffice him to be numbered among the plants of the Lord. He acknowledges no trees but those that bear fruit. This is not all. It is not enough to bear one kind of fruit, there must be a fertility "in every good work." Your alms will not serve you if they are not accompanied with the fruits of integrity and sanctification. In vain will you be adorned with meekness and gentleness, if you have not also chastity and beneficence. The apostle requires, in the third and last place, that we increase in the knowledge of the Lord. See, faithful brethren, how this holy man every where combines knowledge and action, faith and love. He begs of God that the Colossians might be perfect in wisdom and spiritual understanding ; to the end that they may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, and be " fruitful in every good work." But lest they should imagine that they had no need to acquire any more knowledge, he returns to the topic, and adds, " increasing in the know- ledge of God." For as our sanctification is during life imper- fect, so there is always a deficiency in our knowledge. "We must endeavour equally to attain the one and the other. And as the light of knowledge incites and directs us to the practice of good works, so the exercise of good works cleanses the eyes of our understandings, and increases true wisdom : on the con- trary, the neglect of sanctification diminishes this divine perspi- cacity in us, and gradually brings back the darkness of ignor- ance. For as the Lord gives new graces to him who faithfully employs his first donations, so he takes away his talent from him that abuses it. They who cast away a good conscience make shipwreck also of faith ; and they who hold the truth in unrighteousness are given up to a mind despoiled of all judg- ment; and God sends them strong delusions who receive not his holy doctrine in love. On the contrary, he reveals his secret to them, and augments their light, who seek his com- mandments, and are inclined to do his will. Let us hold fast therefore these two precious gifts of the Lord, knowledge and practice, faith and love, and study to increase in both, medita- ting on the mysteries of God, and learning them that we may obey his will, and obey his will that we may confirm ourselves more and more in the knowledge of his mysteries. II. Dear brethren, that which the apostle desired for his Colossians is no trivial thing ; it is a complete knowledge of the divine will, a life worthy of the Lord, a spiritual fecundity, a " being fruitful in every good work," and a continual ad- vancement in heavenly wisdom. Yet this is not all. For great and excellent as these things are, they suffice not without 60' AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IV. perseverance to conduct us to salvation, and it is impossible to persevere in them without supernatural strength and courage. Therefore Paul desires, in the last place, that these believers " may be strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness." This succour is necessary for us, as well because of our own infirmities as for the multitude, violence, and obstinacy of our enemies. For as to ourselves, though that Divine Spirit, with which God baptizes us at the beginning of our vocation, invests us with a new vigour, yet there remains much weakness in us while we live on earth, our inward man being yet but in its infancy ; a weak age, and quite unable to stand if not sustained. And as for our enemies, they are multitudinous ; they watch night and day to destroy us ; and arranged in divers bands, under the ensigns of the devil, the world, and the flesh, the chief commanders of this black army, sworn to effect our ruin, they cease not to trouble us, leaving neither wile nor assault, neither malice nor violence, neither threatening nor promise, unemployed against us. If we repulse one of them, he returns with many others, who on all sides attack us, spy where we are weak, and often turn our own weapons against us. If we overthrow avarice, voluptuousness presents itself. If that is defeated also, ambition enters in its place ; hatred unites with it; desire of revenge urges us on; wrath provokes us; envy assails us ; persecution troubles us ; prosperity elates us ; the success of our own conflicts gratifies our vanity. Often that which helps us on one hand hurts us on the other ; as in a complication of diseases, when the remedies counteract each other, or that which is good for the liver is detrimental to the stomach. Who sees not that to preserve ourselves in so mixed a conflict, and against so many confused and obstinate attacks, (for they last as long as our lives,) we, who are so weak that we are insufficient even for one good thought, require an ex- traordinary degree of might? But. God arms us with the power of his Spirit as with an impenetrable shield, and under this covert we stand secure amid the tempest of blows that falls continually around us. This is that divine power which the apostle desires for the Colossians, when he prays that they might " be strengthened with all might ;" that their souls might be confirmed, their hearts hardened as a diamond to resist all assaults ; their courage vested with an heroic ardour and con- stancy, which all the violences of hell and earth may never be able to overcome. He prays they may be " strengthened with all might ;" be- cause, as we have to do with various enemies, and are sick of divers infirmities, we need not one or two kinds of strength only, but strength of every kind. For, as you see in nature, the strength of bodies is different ; one resisting one thing, and CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 61 yielding to another ; one having the virtue to repulse the force of one element, but not to guard itself from another: so in a manner is it in the souls of men. One will bravel}^ liberate himself from the temptation of one vice, who is not able to de- fend himself from another. A man who resists the assaults of the world yields to the charms of its caresses. And as they lose a victory who are overcome, though by only one of innu- merable enemies, it is with great reason the apostle prayed that these Colossians might be blessed "with all might," lest the honour of their crown and triumph should be endangered; that is, a perfect strength, which would be proof against all the strokes of the enemy ; which might boldly undertake good and holy services, however high and difficult; which might va- liantly combat all sin, resolutely despise earthly things, vig- orously repel temptations, and nobly suffer afflictions. He shows us also, as he proceeds, the source of this heavenly might, when, having expressed his desire that the Colossians might be " strengthened with all might," he adds, " according to his glorious power." Whence do these faithful people re- ceive this admirable strength necessary for their salvation ? From the "glorious power" of the Lord, says the apostle; that immense and efficacious might of God which nothing can re- sist. The Holy Spirit is so styled in Luke, chap. xxiv. 49, where the Lord commands his apostles to tarry at Jerusalem until they were " endued with power from on high," that is, the Spirit he had promised them. And Paul, making a request for the Ephesians very similar to that which he here presents to God for the Colossians, distinctly calls that the Spirit of God which in this passage he calls the virtue or power of his glory. God grant, says he, that you may be " strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man," Eph. iii. 16. He calls this power of the Spirit of God " glorious," to express its admirable and invincible energy, which magnificently triumphs over all that opposes its operation ; which with the weakest means accomplishes the greatest things ; which changes, when it pleases, shepherds into legislators and kings, herdsmen into prophets, and persecutors into apostles ; which demolishes the proudest fierceness, and preserves invincible the most despica- ble weakness ; which hardens the bodies of its humble warriors as steel, sustains them in the flames, and confounds with their lowness the fury of men, of elements, and of devils. For this is what the sacred writers usually call glory, even an abundance of beauty, of power, and perfection, so rich that it overpowers our senses, and bends beneath it all the vigour of our spirits, reducing them to admiration and astonishment. And Paul not unfrequently uses the word in this sense, as when he says that " Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father," Rom. vi. 4, that is, by his great and unspeakable 62 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IV. power. We learn from this that the virtue which converts us to God, and that which preserves us in his grace, is not a com- mon and ordinary power, but an invincible efficacy which nothing can resist. Seek it not in your own nature, 0 chris- tian, seek it in God ; and, acknowledging your weakness, ask of him the remedy for it. Whenever you resist the enemy, and remain victorious in combat, render all the glory of it to this sovereign Lord, without attributing it, in the least degree, to yourself. Bat the apostle shows us, in what follows, what is the use and effect of the succour which the glorious power of the Lord affords us : " Strengthened with all might, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness." These are the two pro- ductions of the Spirit of God in a believer, " patience," and "long-suffering." or long-waiting, in which principally our strength consists. These are as the two hands of heaven that sustain us in perils, and keep us from sinking under the weight of those evils with which we often find ourselves sur- charged. And though they are of a very similar nature, yet each of them has something peculiar to itself. Patience bears the evil without bending, humbly submitting to its infliction, and firmly standing under this heavy load. The Spirit, which is long-suffering, or long- waiting, (for so the word used here in the original properly signifies,) afterwards assists it, and with- out murmuring expects deliverance from the evil felt, and the enjoyment of future good. Patience respects the weight of the affliction. The long-suffering, or the long-waiting, of the patient spirit respects its duration. These two excellences are absolutely necessary for a christian ; for without them how should he bear either the chastisements of God or the persecu- tions of the world? How could he be steadfast in the exer- cise of other graces, to discharge the duties attendant on them, against the impediments that hourly thwart him ? Patience, says Tertullian, is the superintendent of all the affairs of God, and without it, it is not possible to execute his commands or to wait for his promises. It defeats all its enemies without toil. Its repose is more efficacious than the movements and deeds of others. It renders those things salutary to us which, of their own nature, are most pernicious. It changes poisons into remedies, and defeats into victories. It rejoices the an- gels, it confounds devils, it overcomes the world. It subdues the greatest courage, and converts the most obstinate hearts. It is the strength and the triumph of the church, according to the saying of the ancient oracle, " In returning and rest shall ye be saved ; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength," Isa. xxx. 15. But to show us what this patience is to which the Spirit of God conforms his children, the apostle says that it is " Avith CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 63 joyful ness," This is the true character of christian patience. Sometimes the hypocrite suffers, but not without murmuring ; and the ancient philosophers made a great show of their pa- tience ; but this was only an effect, either of their pride or of their insensibility, which was not in any degree accompanied with the joy which the Holy Ghost pours into the souls of those who suSer for the name of God. Not that they are in- sensible, or that they receive without pain the evil brought on them. But if the evil they bear makes them sorrowful, this very thing rejoices them, that by the grace of their Lord they have the strength and the courage to bear it, and know that their suffering shall turn to their good, and that from these thorns they shall one day reap the flowers and fruits of a blessed immortality. To which may be added the sweetness which is then shed into the heart by the lively and profound impression of that inestimable Comforter, who, on such occa- sions, communicates himself to them more freely than ever, and by the ineffable virtue of his balm assuages their most painful wounds. This is what, dear brethren, we had to say to you on this text of the holy apostle. Let us receive his doctrine with faith, and religiously obey his voice. He shows us what our task is here below ; let us acquit ourselves in it with care. God of his grace has raised up among us a great light of knowledge ; let us use it for its true purpose, and walk with it in such a manner as is worthy of so holy and merciful a Lord, whose name we bear. Let this great name awaken our senses and affections ; let it draw them off from the earth, and elevate them to heaven, where he reigns who has given it to us. Let this name put into our hearts a secret shame to do or think anything that may be un- worthy of it. Brethren, remember, whenever the flesh or the world solicits you to evil, that you are christians. Give up the world. It is not to please it that you have been regene- rated by the Spirit from on high. The world is so unjust, so capricious, and so mutable, that it is impossible to satisfy it. See in what continual pain and torment they live who attempt it. And though you should effect it, the success would cost you dear. By pleasing the world you would displease your own conscience ; to satisfy which is infinitely more important to you than any other thing. It is quite otherwise with God. His will is constant and always the same, without any varia- tion. Nothing is pleasing to him but what is just and reason- able. Your conscience will find in it its entire satisfaction, and will never reproach you for having served so good a Mas- ter. Not to allege to you, that the world, after you shall have killed yourself to serve it, will pay you only with ingratitude and contempt, as experience daily shows us; whereas the Lord will magnificently reward the care you shall have taken to do 64 AN EXPOSITION- OF [SEEM. IV. his will ; comforting and blessing you in this world, crowning and glorifying you in the next. If you demand what must be done to please him, the apostle shows you in a word, " Be fruit- ful in every good work." As often as the Lord shall cast his eyes on this vineyard, let him see it always laden with good fruits. Let him never have cause to complain of it, as he formerly did of that of Israel. " I looked," says he, " that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes," Isa. v. Surely he has had no less care of ours than of theirs. He has planted it, in like manner, with the choicest vines ; he has also encom- passed it with a lofty and admirable hedge ; he has watered it with the rain of his clouds, and made the beams of his Sun of righteousness to shine on it, and ma}'- justly say of it, " What could be done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it ?" Let us not be ungrateful to so sweet a Master. Let not our sterility confound his expectation. Let our fruits be an- swerable to his cares, and our fecundity to his husbandry. Let there be no soul barren and unprofitable among us : let every one be fruitful of what he has, every one improve the dressing and sap the Lord has given us. Let the sinner present him his repentance ; the just, his perseverance ; the rich, his alms ; the poor, his praises; old age, its prudence; youth, its zeal. Let the learned abound in instruction, the strong in modesty, the weak in humility, and all together in love. And as it is the good pleasure of our heavenly Father that here we should have many conflicts, as none can live piously without persecu- tion, let us prepare also for this part of our duty, and, with the apostle, supplicate the Lord that he may strengthen us with all might, according to his glorious power ; that he may grant us firm and unmovable patience, to persevere constantly in the holy communion of his Son ; so that neither the promises nor the threatenings of the world, neither the lusts nor the fears of flesh, may be ever able to entice us from his service. 0 God, our task is great, and we are feeble. Our enemies are giants, and we but dwarfs. Therefore, do thou thyself perform within us, merciful Lord, the work which thou commandest us. Perfect thy glorious power in our infirmities. Strength- en our hands, and confirm our hearts, that we may fight vig- orously, and achieve great things in thy name ; and, after the trials and temptations of this life, may hereafter receive from the sacred and sweet hand of thy Son the glorious crown of immortality, for which we ardently breathe. So be it. CHAP, I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 65 SERMON V. VERSES 12, 13. Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to he partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. Dear brethren, the first creation of man is a most illus- trious masterpiece of the goodness, power, and wisdom of God, when this great artificer made Adam of the dust, and formed him after his own image, to live and reign on the earth in sov- ereign felicity ; yet it must be confessed that our restoration by Jesus Christ is much more excellent and admirable. For whether you consider the things themselves which have been given us, or have respect to the condition of those to whom they have been communicated, or to what the Lord did for communicating them, you will see that in every way the se- cond of these divine benefits surpasses the first. The first gave us a human nature, the second has communicated to us a divine one. The first made us a living soul, the second makes us a quickening spirit. By the one, we had an earthly and animal being; by the other, we receive a spiritual and heavenly one. The one placed us in the garden of Eden, the other elevates us to the heaven of glory. There we had do- minion over animals, and the empire of the earth ; here we have the fraternity of angels, and the kingdom of heaven. There we enjoyed a life full of delight, but not stable, and de- pendent, like that of other living creatures, on the use of meat, and drink, and sleep ; here we possess a life full of vigour and strength, which, like that of blessed spirits, is sustained by its own virtue, requiring no other nourishment. The one was subject to change, as the event has declared ; the other is truly immortal and immutable, and above the accidents which al- tered the first. The advantage of the first man was, that he might not have died ; the privilege of the second is, that he cannot die. But the difference will appear no less in the dis- position of the persons to whom the Lord has communicated these benefits, if you attentively consider it. I confess that the dust which God invested with a human form did not merit a condition so excellent, and received it from the mere liberal- ity of the Creator. But if it was not worthy of such a favour, certainly there was nothing in it which, in the rigour of justice, rendered it incapable of it ; whereas we not only have not merited the salvation which God gives us in his Son, but have •66 AN EXPOSITION- OF [SERM. V. most abundantly merited that death which is opposite to it. If the matter on which the Lord wrought, in the first creation of man, had no disposition for the form he gave it, so neither had it any repugnance to it ; but in our second creation, that is, in our redemption by Jesus Christ, he finds in us souls so far from complying with his operation, that they powerfully resist it. So you see that, to effect the first work, he merely is- sued his will and word ; but, for creating the second, it was necessary that he should shake the heavens, send down his Son to earth, deliver him up to death, and do miracles that aston- ished men and angels. With this grand and incomprehensible mystery of God the apostle now engages our attention, my brethren, in the text which you have heard. For having fin- ished the exordium, or the preface, of this Epistle ; and intend- ing thence to enter on his principal subject, in order to glide the more gently into it, after mentioning to the Colossians the prayers that he offered to God for them, he now adds the thanks which he ofiered him for their common salvation ; and by this means opens his disquisition, touching the sufficiency and inexhaustible abundance of Jesus Christ for the salvation of believers, which renders it unnecessary to make any addi- tion to his gospel. " Giving thanks unto the Father," says he, " who," &c. As this text consists of two verses, so it may be divided into two articles. In the first the apostle gives thanks unto God, who " hath made us meet to be partakers of the in- heritance of his saints." In the second is proposed what he has done to make us meet for this happiness; namely, "de- livered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." These are the two points we will handle, if it please the Lord, in this discourse; humbly beseeching him to guide us in meditating on this sacred sub- ject, and to touch our hearts so vividly with it, that it may effectually promote our edification and consolation. I. The benefit of our redemption being very great, and most admirable in all respects, (as we intimated,) it is with great propriety that the apostle begins his discourse concerning it by giving thanks to God. And in his Epistles he scarcely ever speaks of it without extolling it, or admiring the good- ness of the Lord. He directs his thanksgiving to the Father, as the first and supreme author of this excellent work. Think not that he denies the Son or the Spirit their part in it, or that he would deprive them of the glory due to them for it. For as these three persons are only one and the same God, the works of the Deity appertain to all three of them. But as they subsist in a certain order, the Father of himself, the Son of the Father, who generated him, the Holy Spirit of the Fa- ther and the Son, from whom he proceeds from all eternity ; so likewise they act in the same manner. And as the Father is CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 67 the first in this order of their subsistence and of their opera- tion, Paul addresses his benedictions particularly to him, as the prime and sovereign source of the Deity, whence originally has flowed down to us all the good and grace that we have re- ceived in our redemption. But let us see how the apostle describes this work of our salvation for which he gives the Lord thanks : " He hath made us meet," saith he, " to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." After sin had made a separation between God and us, it was naturally impossible for us to have a part in any of his blessings : the Lord, therefore, designing to save us, took care first of all to remove this obstacle to our communi- cation with him. This he did, satisfying his justice by the expiation of sin through the death of his Son Jesus Christ. By this means that free commerce between his goodness and our poor nature which our sin had interrupted was again opened, so that now there is no obstruction, except on man's own part, to his approaches to God, and participation of his grace through faith and repentance. Bnt this is not what the apos- tle intends, when he says that the Father has made us meet to have a part in his inheritance. For this grace, by which he has opened a way to the throne of his beneficence through the expiation of sin, generally respects all men ; nor is there any one who will not find free access if he present himself with faith and repentance : but the grace of which the apostle here speaks is appropriate to him and the Colossians, and such as resemble them ; that is, in a word, it is peculiar to true be- lievers, and not common to all men. It must be observed, therefore, in the second place, that besides this first impedi- ment, which shut the gate of God's house against us, I mean the inexorable severity of his avenging justice ; there is another and as difficult to be surmounted as the former, though it is of another kind, and of a different nature. It is the malig- nancy, the insensibility, and the blindness of our corrupt nature. For as the justice of God would not permit a crea- ture polluted with sin to approach him except its sin were ex- piated ; so his wisdom could not suffer it to touch any of his divine favours, except it repented of having offended him, and believed his promises. But in our fallen state our souls are so depraved by sin, that they are incapable of themselves either to think aright of God, or to put affiance iu his good- ness ; and so this great miracle of the love of God towards us (I mean the expiation of sin by the death of his Son) would remain without any saving effect with respect to us, if, leav- ing us in our native condition, he simply presented to us in ex- ternal means, the declarations of his grace. And therefore this kind and compassionate Lord, not satisfied with having opened the gate of his bounty by the cross of Christ, also delivers us 68 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IV. from the grave of our impiety, and gives us the will and the strength to come to himself. It is properly this second benefit, peculiar to those who believe, which the apostle intends, when he says that God hath made us capable to partake of his inhe- ritance. The first gift of the Father capacitated his hand to communicate his treasures to us ; and the second capacitates us to enjoy them. "Without the death of his dear Son he could not give us life ; and without his effectual calling we could not receive it from him. Faithful brethren, mark well this lesson of the apostle, who gives thanks to God that he hath made us meet to partake of his inheritance. He first brings down, by this means, the pride of those who give this glory to free-will, boasting that they have made themselves meet for salvation, either by some kind of predispositions which oblige God at least by the way of decency to give them his grace, or by the proper manage- ment of afflictions, as well as the pride of all those in gen- eral who pretend that it is in a man's own power to prepare himself for the heavenly inheritance. No, says the apostle, this wholly appertains to God. It is he that " hath made us meet." Of ourselves we cannot so much as think a good thought ; so he elsewhere affirms, 2 Cor. iii. 5. I confess that this impo- tency of man is voluntary, and consequently criminal ; it pro- ceeds from the extreme wickedness of his heart, and from no de- fect in any of those things which are necessary from without for producing this effect. For what besides his own rebelliousness hinders him from believing in God, and embracing with re- pentance the exhibitions of divine grace which are presented to him, either in the course of nature, or in the law, or by the gospel ? Yet so it is, that however voluntary this his wicked- ness, it is also invincible, and altogether refractory. It is no longer a weakness. It is a formed impotency, which nature is not able to correct. And the Scripture always speaks of it in this sense. " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned," 1 Cor. ii. 14. And, " The carnal mind is enmity against God : for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be," Rom. viii. 7. John, speaking of the Jews, says, " They could not be- lieve," John xii. 39. And Jeremiah of their ancestors, " Their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken," Jer. vi. 10. " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also do good, who are accustomed to do evil," Jer. xiii. 23. Such is by nature the miserable state of all men. Let us learn then, in the second place, to give the Lord alone the whole glory of all that we are in his Son, as in re- ality it belongs to none but him. He has not only given us this rich inheritance, the purchase of the blood of his Son CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 6^ Christ, he has even given us the meetness to enter into it, and possess our part of it. Besides his making us the gift, he has also imparted to us the strength to receive it. For it is not with the inheritance of God as with the honours of earthly princes ; these often fall into the hands of persons most inca- pable of enjoying them. That divine honour of the heavenly inheritance is given to none but those that are " meet" for it ; that is, who have the circumstances requisite for partaking of it, which are faith and repentance. But the same God who has prepared the heritage for us, gives us also the preparation which is necessary for entering into it ; according to what the apostle says elsewhere, "Our" meetness, or "sufficiency, is of God," 2 Cor. iii. 5 ; and what our Lord himself avers in John, " No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him," John vi. 44. This also is what the apostle intends in the Epistle to the Philippians: "It is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure," Phil. ii. 13. And elsewhere he comprises this whole work of the grace of God in one only word, saying, " He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God," 2 Cor. v. 5. There- fore he calls us, in one place, the workmanship of God, and his creation in Jesus Christ, Eph. ii. 10 ; and in another, his husbandry and his building, 1 Cor. iii. 9. Consequently it appears that the offer of grace, which is made to all by the gospel, if there be nothing else, gives us not a part in the hea- venly inheritance. I grant that it is sufficient in itself, and would produce its effect in man, if the wickedness of his heart had not blinded him. But this deplorable blindness obstructs the effect which these offers of the divine grace should produce. Wherefore God himself makes us capable of them, by that in- ward operation of his Spirit with which he accompanies the preaching of the gospel in the hearts of his elect, by reason of which they are called the " taught of God," John vi. 45, It is this teaching which renders them meet for entering into the communion of his Son, according to what he says in John, " Whoever hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me," John vi. 45. Thus he made Lydia capable of having part in his inheritance, opening her heart to understand the things that were spoken by Paul, as the sacred history informs us. Acts xvi. 14. Doubtless, in the same manner, he also made both Paul and these Colossians, and all the rest of the faithful, capable of the same effect, inwardly enlightening them, and leading captive their hearts into the yoke of the gospel. In fine, we may again observe how contrary to apostolic doctrine is the presumption of those who boast of meriting salvation. If there is anything in us to which merit can be attributed, without doubt it is our capacity and sufficiency, that we are meet to partake of the kingdom of God. Bat this very 70 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. V. thing is a donation from God, for which we owe him most humble thanks. How then and by what right can we in jus- tice demand wages for it ? Would it not be as preposterous as if a patient were to enter action against his physician, and in- sist on compensation for being cured by his art? or as if a poor man were to demand wages of us for receiving our alms ? or a prisoner for having been redeemed with our money ? Let a man turn and transform things as much as he pleases, it is clear that grace and merit are incompatible ; and that he who is justly obliged to render thanks cannot, without folly, pretend to have merited that very thing for which he renders thanks. Our sufficiency or meetness is a gift of God, or it is not. If it is his gift, why maintain ye that it is meritorious ? If it is not, why does the apostle thank our Lord for having made us meet to have part in his inheritance ? The word inheritance, which the apostle here employs, evidently confirms the same truth, as an ancient instructor of the church has well observed. Why is it, says he, that the apostle uses the word inheritance? To show us that no man obtains the kingdom of heaven by his own works or performances. But as an inheritance de- pends upon happiness, and not upon merit, so is it in this matter. None can exhibit a manner of life and conversation so excellent as to be worthy of the kingdom. The whole is derived from the gift of God.* To proceed, I doubt not but Paul took this term from the Old Testament. There we find that the land of Canaan, des- tined and given to the children of Israel for an inheritance, according to the promises made to their fathers, was the figure of this blessed, spiritual, and divine life, which God puts us into possession of by the gospel of his Son, beginning it here below by the consolation and sanctification of his Spirit, and designing to complete it on a future day in the highest hea- vens, by the communication of his immortal glory. For as each Israelite had his portion in the land of Canaan, the same in substance with the rest, but diversely qualified ; so each believer has his share in celestial life ; but in such a manner, that though all substantially possess the same life, yet it is variously proportioned and attempered to each of them. Again, as none but the children of Abraham had right and title to that ancient inheritance ; so there are none but the children of the promise who are born of the word of God, and not of flesh or of blood, that have part in the new. For this cause the apostle entitles it the inheritance of the saints. Depart, ye unbelieving and profane. It is not for you that God has prepared this glorious inheritance. "Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulter- * Chrysostom iu loc. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 71 ers, nor effeminate, nor thieves, nor covetous persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God," 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. It is designed for saints alone. The portion of the profane and ungodly is elsewhere ; during this life, in the world, and in its wretched delights ; and when life shall pass away, in the lake of fire and brim- stone. But the apostle having styled that salvation which God com- municates to us in his Son " the inheritance of the saints," adds further, " in light." As light is in Scripture the symbol of two things, knowledge and glory, so it may be taken here two ways ; either for the knowledge of those divine things which God reveals in his gospel, or for that sovereign joy and fe- licity which we shall possess on high in the heavens. It is best, in my opinion, to conjoin these two expositions, that so we may comprehend the entire state of the whole inheritance of the saints, who, after they are once united to Jesus Christ, always live in light; first, in that of grace, during their pil- grimage on earth ; afterwards, in that of glory, when they shall be elevated to that blessed city, "which hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it ; for the glory of God hath lightened it, and the Lamb is the light thereof," Rev. xxi. 23. For this cause all the divine denizens of this heavenly state are called " children of light and of the day," 1 Thess, V. 5 ; which should shine as lights in the midst of a perverse generation, Phil. ii. 15, and be " the light of the world," Matt. V. 14 : as persons born of the light of the Spirit and the word of God, who, being led by the rays of the Sun of righteousness, walk on straight towards the supreme source of lights; where arrived, they shall eternally dwell in that brightness which will transform them into the image of their Lord, from glory to glory, by the power of his omnipotent Spirit. II. But it is time to come to the other verse, in which the apostle adds what the Father has done to make us thus meet for the inheritance of the saints in light: "He hath delivered us," says he, " from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." By " darkness " the Scrip-, ture ordinarily means ignorance and misery ; the two contraries of knowledge and joy, which it expresses by light, as we just now said. For ignorance and error hide the true and proper form of things from our understandings, just as darkness con- ceals visible objects from our bodily eyes. And because there is nothing more unpleasant to men, nor more terrifying, than the obscurity of darkness ; the term is also used to represent horror, trouble, and misery. So " the power of darkness " is nothing else than that tyranny which the devil and sin exercise over their slaves, filling their spirits with deadly errors and brutish ignorance, and their consciences either with terror or 72 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. V insensibility, and drawing them on by little and little under this dismal yoke into the horrors of eternal death, which our Lord often calls outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. For as knowledge and truth are a light necessary for the attainment of salvation, so error and igno- rance infallibly lead to death. Therefore the devil, the sworn enemy of our good, blinds men to the utmost of his ability, spreading before them gross and thick mists, which hide heaven and its blessed brightness from them. This is the sum of his artifices. The well of his abyss ever vomits forth into our air a black vapour, to render our senses useless. By this means be turned, in former ages, the nations of the earth from the service of their Creator, obscuring and smothering by his illu- sions those sparks of the knowledge of him which they possessed, and plunging them, and holding them down, in such profound ignorance, that these miserable men were not ashamed to adore the work of their own hands, and "change the glory of the in- corruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things," Rom. i. 23. As for justice and moral deportment, this impostor had so extinguished the lights which Providence had kindled for them in their hearts, and so disordered all their knowledge by his seductions, that the vilest abominations passed among them for matters of indifference. Walking on in such thick dark- ness, it is no wonder if they were in continual fear; they knew not where they were walking, nor whither they were going, and, after much stumbling and staggering, fell at last over the precipice of eternal perdition. And would to God the prince of error did not in the same manner still abuse the world! Certainly the darkness of ancient paganism was not more gross nor shameful than that which at this very day covers the greater part of the earth. But as the apostle calls that error wherein the devil keeps men " the power of darkness," and, not simply darkness ; this teaches us that that accursed one works effectually in them, doing with their hearts what seemeth him good, and planting all deceit and ignorance in them at his will, so that these wretches cannot defend themselves. The same thing the apostle teaches us in his Epistle to the Ephesians, when he says that this evil "spirit now worketh in the children of disobedience," Eph. ii. 2. Not that he has naturally any just dominion over the souls of men, but their sin brings them under his sceptre ; and their hearts being of themselves full of unclean and unjust affections, it follows, through the excess of their corruption, that he never tempts them in vain. And all this domination over them is founded merely on imposture, error, and ignorance; so that it is with great truth and elegance that Paul here calls it "the power of darkness." This is, faithful brethren, the sad and CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 73' pitiable state in whicli naturally men lie. Let not the paint and tinsel of their pretended wisdom and justice dazzle your eyes. In the sight of God it is but darkness, and for this rea- son the Scripture calls them darkness itself. " Ye were some- times darkness," says the apostle to the Ephesians, chap. v. 8. Judge by this how horrible is the error of those who dogma- tize that liberty is so very natural to men, that they cannot conceive how they could be men without it. Let them philo- sophize upon this subject as they please, they will never be able to show that a man can be, at the same time, both at lib- erty and under the power of darkness. He that is under the power of another is not free. Only God can enfranchise men, and take them from this miserable servitude, and bind that strong tyrant who held them captive. To this sovereign Lord the apostle here gives the glory both of his own liberation and of that of the Colossians : "He," says the apostle, " hath delivered us from the power of darkness." But the Greek word,* which he uses in the original, has more emphasis than this, signify- ing that he delivered us by an exertion of power, drawing us, and, if I may so speak, plucking us by force out of our irons; by which he represents to us, on the one hand, how strong and strait were the bonds of our slavery, and, on the other, how excellent and admirable is the power which God has displayed in bringing us out of this spiritual Egypt. For we daily ex- perience, that though nothing is more sordid and shameful than the tyranny of error, yet we all naturally love it, so hor- rible is our depravity. The most of them adore their fetters, and leave not the darkness of Egypt and the horrors of Sodom but with regret ; and, to draw them out, God must descend from heaven, and take them by the hand, as of old he did to Lot and his children. You know he delivers them from this black power of darkness when he dissipates their error and ignorance, causing his sacred truth to shine into their hearts, in so vivifying and so glorious a manner, that they discern it, maugre all the illusions of Satan and the world. Then the domination which this impostor exercised over them vanishes. They wonder how such mists could hide from them so resplen- dent a light; and this new flame, or, to speak more correctly, this new sun, discovering to them the true face of things, the false colours wherewith the devil and the flesh endeavour to disguise them, have no more efficacy on them. They then see the naked turpitude and horror of idolatry, of superstition, and of vice ; and, on the other side, clearly perceive the verity, the beauty, and the excellence of piety and holiness. This deliverance is absolutely necessary for a participation in the inheritance of saints, unto which none is received who 10 * E/j'/Jio-aro. 74 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. V. is not a child of ligbt, and has not renounced the servitude of error and sin. And I confess that to have shaken off the yoke of darkness, and to have issued from its power, is a great thing. But this is not all. If the Lord were to stop there, we, for all this, should have no share in the divine glory of the heavenly Canaan. It is of absolute necessity for admis- sion there, that we bear the marks of the Lamb, and on our going out of darkness enter into his holy light. For this cause the apostle, after he had said that the Father hath " de- livered us from the power of darkness," immediately adds, " and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." For though, in fact, these two divine benefits are inseparably united, yet they constitute two difierent graces. It is his goodness, and not anything in them, that has thus combined them. Had not the counsel of his love otherwise ordered, a man might be delivered from the power of darkness, and yet not enter into the kingdom of his Son, but remain in such a liberty as Adam's was before he fell. But now as no man has remission of his sins without becoming a member of Jesus Christ by faith ; and as all who have this honour are predes- tined by the good pleasure of the Father to be conformed to the image of their Head, and consequently to have a part in his kingdom and glory; there must of necessity be an enter- ing into his kingdom, or an eternal abiding under the power of darkness. The apostle, by the kingdom of the Son of God, means that very thing which the evangelists ordinarily call the kingdom of heaven ; that is, the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, that blessed city builded by the ministry of the apostles and prophets upon the Son of God, its only eternal and im- movable foundation, the state of the Messiah, the new republic of God, his royalty and priesthood. Very pertinently, he here calls the inheritance of the saints, the kingdom of the Son of God, because no one but a child of God can have a part in it: this teaches us that we cannot obtain this right except in the kingdom of Jesus Christ ; as none but he, the true and proper Son of God, is able to convey divine adoption to us; and it is for a like reason that he styles him the dear or well-beloved Son of God, that we might confidently hope for all the grace and glory which the Father promises us ; inasmuch as we have the honour of being related to his well-beloved, him in whom he is well pleased, whom he most peculiarly loves, and as perfectly as he loves himself, his eternal delight and love. Besides, I doubt not but the apostle designed to heighten the grace which the Father has shown us by this fine and impres- sive contrast between the kingdom of his well-beloved Son, into which he has translated us, and that power of darkness, the dominion of his enemy, from which he has delivered us. God brought us into this blessed kingdom when he gave us CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 75 the faith of his gospel, the righteousness of his Son, and the consolation of his Spirit, designating us by the badges of his house, and sealing us with his holy baptism. But the word "translated," which the apostle uses, represents also the strength and efficacy of this act by which God has brought us into the communion of his Son. I acknowledge that the operation of this divine grace is sweet and pleasant, for it persuades, it wins the heart, it is accompanied with the extreme joy of him who receives it: still it is potent and effectual: nothing can resist it. There is no rebellion nor hardness of heart but it subdues ; it draws men to Jesus Christ, as himself expresses it, John vi. 44 ; or, as his apostle says here, it translates them into his kingdom. Thus, beloved brethren, we have delivered to you the expo- sition of this text. I wish that the same Spirit which of old indited it to the pen of the apostle, would please to engrave it in the lowest depth of our hearts, with the point of a diamond, in characters that could not be effaced, that we might have it day and night before our eyes, that we might carefully peruse it and consult it in all the occurrences of our life. This medita- tion would suffice to preserve us in a constant and happy exercise of christian piety, and to guard us from all that in- terrupts our sanctification or our comfort. First, it would inflame us with an ardent love to God, and excite us to a vivid and sincere acknowledgment of his benefits. For what love, what reverence, and what services do we not owe to this sovereign Lord, who has vouchsafed to display on us so much mercy and goodness — who has called us from that eternal death wherein we were sunk with the damned, to the possession of the inheritance of his saints — who has made us meet to enter into the fruition of his light — who, by a miracle of his power and wisdom, has plucked us from the yoke of the devil ; has delivered us from the unrighteous and murderous power of darkness ; and, to crown all his other favours, has translated us into the blessed kingdom of the Son of his love — who, from brands of hell, that we were, has changed us into living and lightsome stars in his firmament — of dead dogs, has made us the first fruits of his creatures ; and from slaves of demons transformed us into angels ; and from the accursed state of Satan raised us to the sacred fellowship of his Son, to be hence- forth his free-men, his brethren, and his members — 0 love ! O goodness incomprehensible ! How have we the heart to still offend a Lord so merciful, so admirable ? How is it that his most divine beneficence does not transport our spirits — does not win to his service all our thoughts, and affections, and emo- tions ? Christians, all the acknowledgment he demands of you for his vast goodness is only that you lead holy lives. Refuse him not so just and so reasonable a due. He has made 76 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. V. you to partake of the inheritance of the saints ; be not so ungrateful as to mix with the profane. Be ye separate from them, and have no communion with the impurity and filth of their sins. Despise not, as Esau, the title you have to so precious an inheritance ; let it be dearer to you than all the perishing viands and delights of the earth, none of which are better than that contemptible pottage of lentils for which the profane man bartered his birthright. This inheritance is in light. Live, then, as children of light. Let your conversation be all radiant with those divine and heavenly excellences which the gospel of our Saviour recom- mends to you. The darkness is now passed. The Sun of righteousness is at its full height. Let that infamous power of darkness, under which you formerly groaned, have no longer authority over you. Open all your understanding, that you may perceive the glory of the Lord, and suffer no more abuse by the illusions of error. Labour to increase your light, being assiduous at the Scriptures of God, the living spring of all spiritual illumination, the inexhaustible treasure of saving knowledge. But let this light shine also in your deportment ; for it is to no purpose that you renounce the darkness of superstition, if you remain in that of sin. " He that hateth his brother," says John, " is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth ; for darkness hath blinded his eyes," 1 John ii. 11. Remember, you are no longer in the school of Satan, the prince of darkness ; you are in the king- dom of the Son of God. Think and act worthily of so glorious a condition. Let it purify your life of all that is filthy and sordid. Let it elevate your hearts above mortal things, and set them in heaven, the residence of this divine royalt3\ But, dear brethren, as this text obliges us to make sanctifica- tion a special study ; so it opens to us a living source of conso- lation and joy. For if we knew our blessings, and that wonder- ful grace which the Father has shown us, who would equal us in felicity ? We have a part in the heritage of the saints. The kingdom of the beloved Son of God has been given us. O great and magnificent portion ! Let the world boast of and adore its gold, its honours, and its delights, as much as it plea- ses ; we have that better part, which is sufficient to make us eter- nally happy, though we should be deprived of all other things. Christian, if the world were to bereave you of what you have within its jurisdiction, consider, it cannot take from you the inheritance of the saints. If it denies you its leeks, and onions, and flesh-pots, it cannot debar you from that divine light which shines on you, and which, in spite of all its attempts, will con- duct you to your blissful Canaan. If it takes from you its honours, should it drive you even out of its dominions, it will not be able to wrest from you the kingdom of the Son of God, CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 77 nor the dignity and glory you possess in it. This is not a corruptible kingdom; it is not like those of the earth, that are subject to a thousand and a thousand dishonours, miseries, and mutations. It is an immortal kingdom, firmer than the heavens ; so abundant in glory and in goodness, that it changes all those who partake of it into kings and priests. Faithful brethren, let us be contented with so advantageous a portion. Let us enjoy it for the present by a lively and established hope, meekly bearing the inconveniences of this brief journey we are taking to attain it, and patiently except that blessed day, when our heavenly Father, having finished the work of his grace, will elevate us all into his glory, and put on our heads the crowns of life and immortality, which he has promised us in the eternal communion of his well-beloved Son ; to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the true and only God, blessed for ever, be all honour and praise, for ever and ever. Amen. SEKMON VI VEESE 14. In whom we have redemption through his bloody even the for give- 7iess of sins. Dear brethren, as a true and extensive knowledge of that great and glorious Eedeemer, whose remembrance we are this day to celebrate, is the only foundation of the religion and salvation of men ; so, on the contrary, ignorance of his person, of his offices, and of his benefits, is the source of those errors and abuses which have corrupted religion, and consequently of that uuhappiness into which the unbelieving, the profane, the superstitious, and the heretical are ever falling. We may say to all these people, as our Lord formerly did to the woman of Samaria, If ye knew who he is that speaks to you in our gospel, ye would ask of him the refreshment and consolation of your souls ; and he would give you living water, springing up to everlasting life, John iv. 10. And as Paul said of the ancient Jews, that if they had known the wisdom of God, "they would not have crucified the Lord of glory ;" 1 Cor. ii. 8 ; so may we say of all the enemies of godliness in general, that if they knew Jesus, the wisdom and word of the Father, they would not injure either his truth, or those that make a pro- fession of it. Jesus truly and fully known, believed, and apprehended, suffices to expel error, doubt, superstition, sin 78 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VI. and death from our hearts; and to establish in their room truth, peace, joy, holiness, and salvation. Accordingly, you see that Paul, the instructor of the whole world, the minister of truth, the teacher of life and happiness, protests that to execute this high commission, and to open the eyes of the Gen- tiles, and bring them from the power of Satan unto God, he determined to know nothing among them but "Jesus Christ and him crucified," 1 Cor. ii. 2. He finds in this rich and inexhaustible subject all that is necessary for him to convert infidels, to confirm believers, to comfort the afflicted, to reclaim them who had been misled, and recover them who had erred. He finds in it wherewith to confute the philosophy of the pagans, wherewith to abase the presumption of the Jews, where- with to instruct the ignorant, and to convince the learned. It is with the mere science of this Jesus, that he wrests men from idolatry, and liberates them from the slavery of sin. With this also he reforms the abuses and cures the wounds which error has caused in the church. It is his weapon against enemies without, and against the factious within. With this knowledge he builds the house of God ; and with this he cleanses and keeps it pure. Whatever enemy appears, he op- poses to him nothing whatever but his crucified Jesus. For as in nature no sooner does the sun appear in our horizon, showing his beautiful and luminous visage to the world, but the shades and clouds that filled the air immediately vanish ; so in the church, when the Lord Jesus arises in the hearts of men, there diffusing the riches of his saving light, and display- ing his beauty, at the same instant error and misconception disappear, unable to sustain the force of this divine brightness; and, as the psalmist sings on another occasion. When he arises his enemies are dispersed, and they that hate him flee before him. He driveth them away as wind driveth the smoke, Psal. Ixviii. 1, 2. This then is the only certain means either to preserve or to recover the truth and the purity of heavenly doctrine; that is, to propose Jesus Christ incessantly to believ- ers, and diligently show them all his riches, all his power and his grace. This is the apostle's method. Thus he acts on every occasion, always taking back his scholars to Jesus Christ. So you see in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that he might put aside the shadows of the Jewish law, with which some of that nation endeavoured to darken the gospel, he shows them at the beginning the majesty and divinity of the Lord Jesus, setting him up above men and angels on the throne of a super- eminent glory. He does the same in this Epistle, and indeed he combats here a similar error. For after he had saluted the Colossians, and given them some evidences of the affection he bore them, as you have already heard, he now begins to speak to tiiem of Jesus Christ, discovering his divine glory, CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 79 and the fulness of his goodness to them, that, being satisfied with so rich a treasure, they might not go to beg either the succour of Moses, or the assistance of philosophy, for the saving of their souls. It is precisely at the text which we have read that he begins this excellent discourse. For having before thanked God for the grace that he had shown the Colos- sians in translating them into the kingdom of his well-beloved Son, he thence takes occasion to speak of him, adding, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the for- giveness of sins." This is the great benefit which we have received from God by means of Jesus Christ. Then he des- cribes, in connection with this, the excellency and divinity of his person : "Who is," says he, "the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature." But at this time we shall be satisfied with the first topic. You see, my brethren, that meditation on the subject is very suitable to the service of the holy supper to which we are in- vited, where the remission of sins, which we have in Jesus Christ, is sealed to us by his sacrament ; where the blood, by which he has purchased it, is represented and communicated to us ; where Jesus the author of this benefit, is portrayed be- fore our eyes as broken and dead for us, and as feeding us to everlasting life. Let us, then, lift up our hearts with devout earnestness, that having well comprehended the greatness of the grace of God, and the excellency of his Christ, we may present to him souls strongly affected with a sense of his good- ness, and may afterwards receive that joy and blessed life which he promises to all them who approach him with such a disposition. To aid you in so necessary a meditation, I will examine, if the Lord pleases, what the apostle teaches us con- cerning the benefit which we receive of God in his Son ; " In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the for- giveness of sins." In these words he briefly points out the author of " redemp- tion," that is, Jesus Christ ; what is its nature, " the forgive- ness of sins ;" what the means by which Jesus Christ has ob- tained it for us, " through his blood ;" and, lastly, who they are that receive it from God, namely, " we ;" that is, believers. I. He had said before that God hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into his kingdom. Now he shows us by whom he effected that great work, adding that, we have redemption in Jesus Christ, He is the author of our redemption, our only Deliverer, the Prince of our salvation. The apostle says that it is in him we have redemption ; this may be taken two ways, both of them good and suitable : first, as signifying that it is by him we have been delivered. For it is a Hebraism frequent in Scripture to say in instead of hy. And in this sense the apostle declares that it is by Jesus Christ 80 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. VI. his Son that God has accomplished the work of his good plea- sure towards us, having constituted him the Mediator of man- kind, who, according to the will of him who sent him, per- fectly executed all things that were necessary to put us in pos- session of salvation. But this word " in" may also be taken in the sense it has in our usual language, as signifying our spiritual communion with the Lord, by reason of which we are said to be in him, and he in us. For though " he is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world," 1 John ii, 2, and the worth of his sacrifice so great that it abundantly suffices to expiate all the crimes of the universe ; and although the salvation obtained by him is really offered, and by his will, unto all men ; yet none actually enjoy it but those that enter into his communion by faith, and are by that means in him, as that clause of his covenant expressly imports, " God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," John iii. 16. Whence it is that John proclaims, " He that hath the Son hath life ; he that hath not the Son of God hath not life," 1 John v. 12 ; which amounts to this, He that is in Jesus Christ hath life, and he that is not in him hath not life; ac- cording to what our Lord himself said to his apostles, " Out of me ye can do nothing," John xv. 5. This sense is, as you perceive, grand and lucid, and contains an excellent truth, that to enjoy salvation by Jesus Christ we must be in him. But because the apostle's design is to show us what the Lord has done for our salvation, rather than what he requires of us for our participating it, I prefer the first acceptation of the words, " in whom," that is, by whom, " we have redemption." And this indeed is the most common exposition of the best interpreters, both ancient and modern. II. Let us next consider what is the divine benefit which we have by Jesus Christ. The original word* used by the apos- tle particularly signifies a deliverance, effected by some ran- som given for bringing him who is delivered out of his mis- erable condition, and is strictly that which we call redemption. For a man may be delivered many ways : as by being simply taken out of his affliction ; as when a master enfranchises his slave, of his good-will setting him at liberty ; or when a cred- itor lets his debtor out of prison, forgiving him the debt ; or by exchange, as when one prisoner of war is alienated for another ; or by forcible recovery, as when Abraham delivered Lot, by defeating his enemies, and David his people, who had been taken by the Amalekites. The deliverance we have by Jesus Christ is not of this kind. He has procured it by the ransom which he gave for us, and this is the meaning of the * 'A-o. vrpuiats. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 81 word " redemption" here used by the apostle. But tbe same term teaches us also that the benefit which we have received from him is not simply the gift of life. It is a deliverance which brings us out of some misery, God gave life and im- mortality to the angels, but he gave them no deliverance, since they never were in sin or misery ; and indeed he promised life to Adam prior to his fall, but not salvation and redemp- tion, because man was then in his integrity without sin and misery. The benefit that we receive from him by Jesus Christ is not simply life and immortality ; it is a deliverance, a sal- vation, a redem.ption, that not only confers on us some good, but takes us out of sin, and wrests us from misery. This the apostle explains more particularly, when he adds that this redemption which we have in Jesus Christ is " the remission of sins." True it is that the word " redemption" is of general import, comprising deliverance from any kind of evil ; it is also certain that the number of our evils is great, and that Jesus Christ has delivered us not merely from one or two evils, but from all. He has delivered us from the ignorance in which we were by nature overwhelmed. He has delivered us from the bondage of the flesh, the lusts whereof exercised a horrible tyranny in our members. He has delivered us from that death to which we were subjected, and from the curse of the eternal Father which we had deserved. For which cause the apostle elsewhere says that "Jesus Christ is made unto us," not simply "righteousness," but also "wisdom, sanctification, and redemption ;" and in a multitude of places, that he has brought us out of darkness, and delivered us from the tyrannous power of sin and death. All this is most certain. But in this place he restrains the redemption which we have in Jesus Christ to the remission of sins, and that, I think, for two reasons : First, because remission of sin is the first and the principal of his benefits, the basis and foundation of all the rest, which infallibly attracts them, and without which it is impossible to touch any of them. For sin, as you know, is expressly that which separates between God and us. The cause why this most merciful and all-powerful Euler of the world withholds from us the light of his knowledge and the communication of his goodness, leaving us in the darkness of error and in mis- ery, is not a hatred, or contempt, or disdain of his creatures. It is nothing but our sin, his justice and sovereign equity not permitting him to reward the guilty with his favours. Jesus Christ therefore intervening and procuring for us the remis- sion of our sins, thereby brings us out of our miserable con- dition, and o])ens the fountain of celestial good, which before was closed by justice. This obstacle being removed, this sluice, if I may so say, opened, divine goodness recovering its 11 82 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VI. natural course, flows forth upon us, and pours into us light, peace, holiness, and life. It is not then to exclude these other benefits of the redemption which is by Jesus Christ that the apostle defines it " the forgiveness of sins," (for it comprises them all, none having this remission who do not after that re- ceive all other divine graces,) but to show us the due order of all the parts of this redemption, of which remission of sin is the first and principal. Secondly, the apostle does this because the ransom which the word " redemption" implies was not strictly necessary, ex- cept for obtaining the remission of sins. But for this there was no need that Jesus Christ should lay down his life for us. For supposing that a pure and sinless creature should have lain in ignorance and misery, and, if you will, even in death itself, there would have been no necessity that the Son of God should have shed his blood or suffered death to have rescued it. It would have sufficed that he loved it. His good- will would have immediately excited his power to display itself in its behalf, and deliver it out of its distress. There was no- thing to hinder this natural operation of his goodness, and so the happiness of such a creature would have been simply a de- liverance, and not a redemption. But as we were sinners, it was necessary for our recovery that Jesus Christ should make his soul an offering for sin, and pay the ransom of our liberty. Whence it follows, that, to speak properly and exactly, no- thing but the remission of sins should be called redemption, as the apostle here defines it; the other deliverances which we obtain by our Lord being only the fruits and results of the re- mission of sin. This then is the grand achievement of the Son of God, the miracle of his goodness and love, that he has procured and obtained for us the forgiveness of our sins. This is our true redemption. Without this redemption we should still be ene- mies of God ; we should have no part either in his grace or in his glory. Be in other respects al] that you can desire ; possess all the goods of the earth, all perfections of body and mind ; be monarch of the whole world ; have (if it be pos- sible) the light of angels and the riches of their knowledge : if you possess not the remission of your sins, you are a bond- man and a wretch, a slave to devils, and vanity, and death ; for true redemption is the remission of sins. But as without it, it is impossible to be otherwise than infinitely wretched, so with it, it is not possible to be otherwise than infinitely happy, The repose of the conscience, the illumination of the under- standing, the jewel of sanctification, the graces of the Holy Spirit, life and immortality, inseparably follow it. " Go in peace," said the Lord Jesus to those whose sins he pardoned ; as if he had said, Thou hast nothing more to fear, as tliy sin CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 83 is forgiven thee. There is no longer any evil that can hurt thee, or good that can be denied thee, if profitable for thy salvation. Away with that cruel and extravagant doctrine which insists that God remits the fault without remitting the punishment. This is repugnant to common sense and reason ; for what is it to remit a sin, but not to punish it, and treat him who has committed it as if he had not been culpable ? This is to contradict the apostle, who elsewhere proclaims that " there is now no condemnation to them who are in Jesus Christ," Rom. viii. 1 ; and here, that the forgiveness of our sins is a redemption. For if God punishes believers, as it is presumed, he does so after having condemned them to suffer ; for, being most just, he neither punishes nor absolves any without judgment. And if notwithstanding our forgiveness we escape not burning in the fire of a pretended purgatory, how is our forgiveness a redemption ? Is a criminal ransomed by burning him ? I grant that believers, after receiving this remission, are not freed from divers afflictions during their temporary abode here below. But I affirm that their suffer- ings are exercises or chastisements, and not properly pun- ishments of their sin. The Lord sends to them these not in his wrath, but in his grace ; not to punish them, but either to amend them or to prove them, and to conform them to the image of his Son, who in the days of his flesh was conse- crated by afflictions. Such is this forgiveness of sins, the re- demption which we have in Jesus Christ. III. Let us now see by what means he has obtained it for us. The apostle teaches us that we have it by his blood. We have already said that the word " redemption," here used, shows that our deliverance was effected by the payment of a ransom. This he expressly asserts in another place, saying, " Ye are bought with a price," 1 Cor. vi. 20. Now here he de- clares what this price is, what this ransom of our deliverance, even the blood of Jesus Christ. Peter insists likewise on the same important topic : " Ye have been redeemed," says he, " not with corruptible things, as silver and gold ; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot," 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. And the Lord Jesus dis- tinctly teaches us the same thing, when speaking of the end and design of his mission to the world, he says that he " came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many," Matt. xx. 28. In a like manner Paul states that Jesus Christ "gave himself a ransom for all," 1 Tim. ii. 6. And in this sense we must understand what the spirits of the blessed say when they glorify the Lamb for having redeemed them to God by his blood, Eev. v. 9 ; and Paul in the Acts, that God has purchased the clmrch by his own blood, chap. xx. 28. By these passages, and a multitude 84 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VI. of Others of similar import, it is evident that the apostle, both in this place and in the first chapter of his Epistle to the Ephesians, where he repeats the words, " through the blood of Christ," means the violent death the Son of God suffered on the cross, with the effusion of his blood, which he shed forth in great abundance through the wounds of his feet, of his hands, and of his side. And it is a thing common in all lan- guages to express life by blood, and the loss of life by a shed- ding of blood. But the Holy Ghost particularly uses this manner of speaking when there is reference to a sacrifice. For in such cases the blood of the victim is almost always put for the life which it loses when offered. It cannot therefore be thought strange that these divine authors say, " the blood" of Christ, (who is the only Lamb and most perfect oblation, which all the old sacrifices typified,) when they mean the life that he poured out for us on the cross, offering it to the Father as the propitiation for our sins. This now is the great mystery of the gospel, which was not known to men or angels, nor could have been ever thought of or conceived by any but the su- preme and infinite wisdom of God, that Jesus Christ, the well- beloved of the Father, the most holy One, should lay down his life for us, be put in our stead, and bear our sins in his own body on the tree, and suffer in his sacred flesh, and in his most holy soul, the pains and sorrows which we had mer- ited, to exempt us from them. This is precisely what we mean, when we affirm that he satis- fied the justice of God for us. And the apostle, in these words, furnishes us wherewith to preserve this glory to our Lord, against two sorts of adversaries : one of them that impudently deny his having satisfied for us at all ; the other, of those who grant his satisfaction, but extend this honour to others also, and insist that it pertains likewise to saints, and even to our- selves. As for the first, they deserve not to be accounted christians, since they reject a truth so clearly and so frequently asserted in the gospel, confessed by all the church, and which is also the source of our comfort in life and death, and the only foundation of all our hopes. For if Jesus Christ satisfied not for us, what mean the prophets and apostles who proclaim at the beginning, in the midst, and at the end of all their preach- ing, that he " died for our sins," " was wounded for our trans- gressions, and bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed?" that his soul was made "an offering for sin?" that he is our "propitiation, through faith in his blood?" that he is "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world?" that he offered up himself a sacrifice for sin, and sanctified us through this offering, and purged away our sins by himself? 1 Cor, XV. 3 ; Isa. liii. 5, 10 ; Eom. iii. 25 ; John i. 29 ; Heb. ix. 28; CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 85 X. 10; i. 3. I omit, at present, other places, of which the num- ber is infinite; these are sufficient to settle the truth. For, first, as our deliverance is called a redemption, it must needs be that Jesus Christ has purchased it for us, by some ransom which he gave in our behalf. But he gave none at all, unless in dying he expended his life and his blood for us, and in our stead. Again, if it is not thus, why says the apostle, it is by the blood of Christ that we have remission of our sins ? If his blood is not a satisfaction for our sins, it is evidently of no use whatever to obtain for us the remission of them. In this case we should have it, not by the blood or death of Christ, which, according to this notion, would have contributed nothing to it, but by the mere goodness of God or of his Son. For to say that the remission of sins is attributed to the blood and death of our Lord, because he by dying sealed the truth of what he preached in his life ; this is evidently to mock the world. His miracles also confirmed his doctrine, and yet neither Scripture nor any wise man ever said that we have remission of sins by his miracles, as Paul says here, and in many other places, that we have it by his blood and by his death. Besides, if this rea- son is valid, as the martyrs suffered to seal the same doctrine, it may be also said that we have redemption and remission of sins by their blood, which we can nowhere read. On the contrary, the apostle vehemently denies that he or any other was crucified for us, but Christ alone, 1 Cor. i. 13. These reasons destroy also another subterfuge used by these people ; namely, that we have salvation by the death of Jesus Christ, because in dying he gave us an example of patience and perfect obedience. For, according to this sentiment, the martyrs, in whose sufferings were the like patterns, should have saved us as well as Christ. We add that patience and obedi- ence constitute part of our sanctification ; but the apostle says we have in Jesus Christ, by his blood, the remission of sins, and not simply sanctification. Their third evasion is no better ; that Christ has acquired by his death the right of pardoning sins. For either their meaning is that the Lord has rendered sin remissible by the satisfaction he has made for it, or they simply intend that Christ obtained by his death the power of pardoning sins, which he had not before. If they answer, the first, they grant us the very thing that we demand. If the se- cond, they contradict the gospel, which testifies that our Lord often remitted the sins of men prior to his death, and said ex- pressly that he had authority on earth to forgive them. Their last resort (and which nothing but despair of so bad a cause could suggest) is of no more validity ; namely, that the remis- sion of our sins is attributed to the death of Christ because it preceded his resurrection, the glory of which enkindles faith and repentance in us, the true causes of that remission. But 86 AN EXPOSITION" OF [SEEM. VI. they cannot produce any one example of so strange a manner of speaking ; and to say that the blood of Christ washes away our sins because it was shed prior to his resurrection, the cause of that faith by which we obtain pardon, this is as absurd, if not more so, than if you were to say that by the darkness of the night we are enlightened during the day, because the light of the sun, which then shines on us, was preceded by the dark- ness of the night. If this were correct, the remission of our sins should be everywhere attributed to the resurrection of Christ Jesus, to his ascension to heaven, and to the miracles of his apostles, and not to his death ; but, in perfect opposition to this, it is ever constantly referred to the death, to the blood, and to the cross of the Lord, as to its true cause, and not ever to his resurrection. As to the statement of the apostle, that Christ rose "again for our justification," his meaning is not that our sins obliged him to rise, as they had obliged him to die, according to what he had afiirmed, that he " was delivered for our offences," Eom. iv. 25 ; but, that he might apply to men the fruit of his death in justifying them by the virtue of his blood, he was raised from the grave, and crowned with the highest glory ; this being necessary for the production of those divine effects in the world. We say then, that by pouring out his blood and his life on the cross, the Lord truly satisfied the avenging justice of the Father, undergoing for us, and in our room, that death which we deserved; and until this be admitted, there can be no rational ground for asserting, as the apostle does here and in many other places, that we have remission of sins in Jesus Christ by his blood. But from the same apostolical assertion it is also very evi- dent, that none but our Lord is capable of satisfying for us. For as- the forgiveness of sins is our redemption, who sees not that if any one procures it for us he must be our redeemer? a title which, by the unanimous consent of all christians, per- tains singly to Jesus Christ. Moreover, by the blood of our Lord this forgiveness has been purchased ; so that neither Paul, nor Cephas, nor any other having been crucified for us, it fol- lows that no one of them has either satisfied God for us, or merited the remission of sins. Though their death was pre- cious in the sight of God, said an ancient writer,* yet there were none of them, however innocent, whose suffering could be the propitiation of the world. The just have received crowns, not given them ; and from their constancy and steadfastness in the faith have grown up examples of patience, not gifts of right- eousness. This glory is due to nothing but the blood of Christ. And as he is the only victim that was offered for our sins, so is it sufficient to expiate them all. Never man found favour * Leo Mag. Serm. 12, de Passion. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 87 but through this sacrifice. Never did the sword of God spare any, but for the sake of this blood. This Paul teaches us in our text, and this is the last particular which we have to ob- serve upon it. For when he says " we have redemption in Jesus Christ by his blood," he intends not to speak singly of himself and the Colossians, but of all believers that were on the earth, and even of those that had lived from the beginning of the world to that time. There neither was nor ever had been, salvation in any other but in him. And as sin and death de- scended from Adam on all men, so the righteousness and life of all believers come from Jesus Christ. He is " the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world," Eev. xiii. 8, and his death intervened " for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the old testament," as well as of those that are committed under the new, Heb. ix. 15. His blood is the re- mission of the sins both of the one and the other people. That it was to be shed in due time gave it the same efficacy for the generations that preceded his cross, which it had by its actual effusion in those that succeeded. God the Father, appeased by this sacrifice, ever present in his sight, as well before as after its oblation, communicated the fruit and merit of it, that is to say, grace and remission, to all those who believed in him, under the one and the other testament. Behold, beloved brethren, that which we had to say to you concerning the redemption which we have in Jesus Christ. This the text of the apostle teaches us, and the table of the Lord represents it to us. This is the mystery of the bread which we there break, and of the cup we there bless in remembrance and for the communicating of that sacred body which was broken for us, and of that divine blood which was shed for the remis- sion of our sins. Let us carefully improve a doctrine so neces- sary, and which is so diligently inculcated on us in the word and in the sacraments of our Lord, applying it for our edifica- tion and comfort. We learn from it, first, the horror of sin ; a spot so black that it could not be washed out but by the blood of Jesus Christ. That remission of it might be given us, it was neces- sary that the Father should deliver up his dear Son to die, and the Son give his blood, the most precious jewel of the universe, a thousand times more worth than heaven and earth, and all the glory of them. From this meditation conceive a just hatred against sin ; as it is so abominable in the eyes of this sove- reign Lord, on whose communion alone depends all your bliss, shun it, and pluck it out of your consciences and your hearts. As for sins already committed, seek the remission of them in the blood of Christ. Give yourselves no rest till you have found it, till you have obtained grace, till it be confirmed in your souls by the hand and seal of the Holy Ghost. Lay 88 AN EXPOSITION OP [SERM. VI. aside the pretended satisfactions and merits of men. Have no recourse but to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which alone is able to cover our shame and render ns acceptable to God. But having once obtained pardon for the time past, return not to sin for the future. When sin shall present itself to you, courageously repel it, opposing to all its temptations this holy and salutary consideration : It is my Master's tormentor, the murderer of the Lord of glory ; it is the accursed serpent that separated man from God, that put enmity between heaven and earth, that sowed misery and death in the world, and obliged the Father to deliver up his Son to the sufferings of the cross. God forbid I should take into my bosom so cruel, so deadly an enemy. But from this same source we may also draw unspeakable consolation against the gnawing guilt of sin, and the troubles of conscience. For, as it is by the blood of the Son of God that we have been redeemed, what cause is there to doubt but that our remisssion is secured ? The superstitious have rea- son to be in continual fear, for man, in whom they put their confidence, is but vanity. The propitiation which I present to you, 0 believer, is not the blood of a man or of an angel, creatures finite and incapable of sustaining the eternal burn- ings of the wrath of the Almighty ; it is the blood of God's own Son, who also is himself God blessed for ever. It is blood of infinite value, and truly capable of counterpoising and pre- vailing against the infinite demerit of your crimes. Come, then, sinner, whoever you are ; come with assurance. How- ever foul your transgressions, this blood will cleanse them away. However ardent the displeasure of God against you, this blood will quench it. Only bedew your soul with it. Make an aspersion of it on your hearts with a lively faith, and you need no more fear the sword of the executioner of the vengeance of God. But, believing brethren, having thus assured your conscience by meditation on this divine blood of our Lord, admire ye also his infinite love, which he so clearly shows us and con- firms to us. This King of glory has so loved you, that when your sins could not be pardoned without the effusion of his blood, he would die upon a cross rather than see you perish in hell. He poured out his blood to keep in yours, and under- went the curse of God that you might partake of his blessings. Oh great and incomprehensible love ! the singular miracle of heaven, ravishing men and angels ! what should we fear henceforth, as this great God has so loved us ? Who shall condemn us, as he is our Surety ? Who shall accuse us, as he is our Advocate ? He has given us his own blood ; what can he any longer refuse to bestow on us ? He has laid down his soul for us ; how much more will he grant us all other things CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 89 that are necessary for our salvation ! But as tbis thought com- forts us, so ought it to sanctify us. Of what hells shall not we be worthy, if we love not a Lord who has so ardently loved us — if we obey not his commandments who hath blotted out our sins — if for this precious blood which he has given us we do not render ours to him, and consecrate to his glory a life which he has redeemed by offering his own in sacrifice for our salvation ? And after an example of such admirable goodness, how can we be ill affected to any man ? Christians, God has forgiven you a thousand and a thousand most enormous sins ; have you the heart to deny your neighbour the pardon of one slight offence ? He has given you his blood, you that were his ene- mies ; how can you refuse a small alms to him that is your brother, both by nature and grace ? Let the goodness of the Lord Jesus mollify the hardness of your heart ; let the virtue of his blood melt your bowels into sweetness, into charity, and into love towards him and towards his members. Dismiss you this very day, at his table, all the bitter passions of your flesh. Put off there pride, hatred, and envy ; and there clothe your- selves with his humility and his gentleness. Do him new homage, and bind yourselves by oath to be never any other's but his alone ; presenting yourselves with deepest reverence before this throne of his grace. Eemember at this time, and ever after, that blood by which he has obtained redemption for you, that is, the forgiveness of your sins. This blood is the peace of heaven and of earth. This blood has brought us out of hell, and opened paradise unto us. It has delivered us from death, and given us life. This blood has blotted out the sentence of our curse that stood registered in the law of God ; it has stopped the mouth of our accusers, and pacified our Judge. This blood has effected a renovation of the world. It has quickened the dead, and animated the dust, and changed our mortal flesh into a heavenly and divine nature. Dear bre- thren, God forbid we should tread under foot a thing so holy, or account such precious blood profane or common. Let us reverence it, and receive it into our hearts with ardent devo- tion. And may it display its admirable efficacy in them, caus- ing the royal image of God, even holiness and righteousness, to flourish there, to the glory of the Lord and our own conso- lation and salvation. Amen. 12 90 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. VII. SERMON VII. VERSE 15. Who is the image of the invisible God, the first -born of every creature. Dear brethren, as tlie salvation of mankind, the true end of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world, obliged him to expiate sin, and destroy the dominion of Satan ; so the performing of these great works required an infinite dignity and power in his person. For as it was not possible that he should give us eternal life without obliterating our guilt, and satisfying the justice of the Father, and delivering us from the grasp of devils ; so it was equally impossible that he could perfect these achievements without an infinite merit and a divine strength ; that is, without being God ; none but a true God possessing an infinite dignity or an infinite power. As then the streams conduct us to their spring, branches to their stock and root, the house to the foundation that sustains it ; so the salvation which is of the Lord Jesus leads us to the deeds by which he obtained it for us, and thence to the dignity that was necessary in his person for executing those acts. Salva- tion is the fruit of this tree of life. The infinite merit of his cross is as the branch which yielded this noble fruit ; and his almighty, most holy, and most divine person is the stock or root that shot forth this beautiful and blessed branch. This order the apostle observes here in the consideration of our Lord Jesus Christ. He sets forth to us, first, his fruit, that is, our salvation or redemption ; the end of his whole mediation. Next he represents the means by which he acquired this sal- vation for us ; that is, the effusion of his blood for the remis- sion of our sins. Thence he now ascends to the dignity of his person, which he magnificently describes in the text that you have heard, saying that he " is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature ;" forasmuch as " by him were all things created." Wonder not, faithful brethren, that Jesus should give us life and eternity ; us, I say, poor sinners, who had deserved death and the curse of God. For he purchased remission of our sins by his blood, and by the sweet savour of his sacrifice perfectly appeased the wrath of God, which alone withstood our entering into his heavenly kingdom. Neither account it any more strange that this Jesus, so infirm, clothed with frail flesh, subject to all our sufferings, should be able to ofi:er so great and so precious a sacrifice to God. For however weak and despicable was that form under which he appeared CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 9l here below, yet he is in reality the true Son of God ; his wis- dom, his word, and his power ; the perfect portrait of his per- son, his living and essential image, the sovereign Lord and Creator of the universe. In this description of the dignity and excellency of the Lord Jesus, the apostle compares him, first, with God the Father, saying that he " is the image of the invisible God." In the second place, with the creatures, saying, that he " is the first- born of them ;" and adds the reason of it in the two following verses, which is taken from his having made and established them all, as their Creator, their Preserver, their last and highest end. And, finally, he proposes his relation to the church, saying, in the 18th verse, that he is " the Head thereof," the " Beginning," and ** the First-born from the dead," having the first place in all things. You see in these three points com- prised the sovereign dignity and excellency of the Saviour of the world. But because it would be difiicult to explain them all three in a single sermon, the richness and profundity of the matter constrains us to fix, for this time, on the first two, and to defer the remainder to another time. We have then to handle in this discourse the two heads contained in the verse which we have read. One, that Jesus Christ " is the image of the invisible God ;" the other, that he is " the first-born of every creature." May the same Lord who, by his grace, will be the subject of our discourse, please to be also our direction and light, inspiring us with conceptions and expressions worthy of him, illuminating our understandings with the knowledge of his high and supereminent majesty, and inflaming our hearts with a fervent love to himself for the glory of his own great name and our salvation. I. As for the first head, the apostle asserts two things in it : the one is, that Jesus Christ " is the image of God ;" the other, that the God whose image Jesus Christ is, is " invisible." For understanding aright how the Lord Jesus is the image of God, we must premise that the word " image" is of great extent, sig- nifying generally anything that represents another; so that things being very variously represented, it happens that there is a great variety and difference of images. Some are perfect, which have in them an entire, an exact, and adequate resem- blance of the subjects which they represent ; others are imper- fect, and express but some particular, nay, that too with some defect, having not properly in them the same features and es- sence which are in their original. I place in this second rank all artificial images, whether drawn by painters, or engraven or carved by sculptors, or cast by founders, or figured by em- broiderers and workers of tapestry ; which represent only the colour, the figure, and the lineaments of men, and animals, and plants, and similar subjects, and indeed have nothing of their J9i AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VII. life and nature. To this same order must be reduced that which Moses writes, that Adam was made after the image of God. It is not to be thought he had such an essence as God has ; but this is said because the conditions of his nature had some resemblance to the properties of God ; namely, in that he was endowed with intellect and will, and was the master and lord of animals and earthly creatures. In the same manner must we take what Paul says, when, comparing the two sexes of our nature, he terms the man "the image and the glory of God ;" but the woman " the glory of the man," 1 Cor. xi. 7. He calls the man " the image of God," because of the advan- tage and superiority he has over the woman, having no one above himself but God, who is his Head : but man is the head of the woman, because she was created of him and for him, as the apostle teaches. But besides these kinds of images, which but imperfectly represent their originals, there are others that have a perfect resemblance to them. Thus we call a child the image of his father, a prince the image of his predecessor. For a son has not merely the shadow, or the colour, or the figure of his father, he has his nature, his qualities, and properties, and, if we may so say, the whole fulness of his being, a soul, a body, a life, all of the same several species with those of his father, A prince, in like manner, has not only the shadow or the appearance of the authority and power of his predecessor, but the whole sub- stance and reality. Thus it is that Moses says Adam begat Seth his son " in his own likeness, after his image," Gen. v. 3 ; by which he suggests that Seth had a nature the same in all things with Adam's. Now the question is, in which of these two senses must we take the word " image," when the apostle says here, and also elsewhere, that Jesus Christ is " the image of God," 2 Cor. iv. 4. The very nature of the subject in ques- tion shows us so clearly that we must apprehend it in the second and not in the first sense, that even those who oppose it dare not say that Jesus Christ is an imperfect image of his Father. For where is the christian ear that could tolerate a blasphemy so horrible, and so contrary to all holy Scripture ? Surely when the apostle says of our Lord that he is "the image of God," he thereby means quite another thing than when he says elsewhere that man is " the image of God." For, intending here to exalt the Lord Jesus, and to demonstrate that his dignity is so high as to capacitate him to save us, he would ill suit this design if he attributed no more to him than what holds good of any man, whoever he is. But if you do not admit that Jesus Christ is a perfect image of God, the apostle affirms nothing more of him here than he asserts elsewhere of man, when he says he is "the image of God." Beside the apostle's design, the thing he expressly mentions evidently CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS, 93 shows US this. For our Lord informs us that he who hath seen him hath seen the Father ; and that he who beholdeth him beholdeth him that sent him, John xiv. 9 ; xii. 45. Where is the portrait of which it may be said, that he who has seen it has seen the subject which it represents ? This evidently cannot be found but in such an image as is most perfect, and which fully contains all the nature of its original. Whence it ap- pears that it is in this sense that Jesus Christ is " the image of God." And for our understanding it the better, the apostle has a passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which in scope, and terms, and sense very much resembles this before us ; there he saith that Jesus Christ is the resplendence of the glory of his Father, and the image, or the character, or engraven stamp of his person, Heb. i. 3 ; terms exceedingly elegant and ex- pressive, and such as clearly decide this case, that the Lord is the image of God in a manner that man is not, and that the same glory which shines in the Father is resplendent also in the Son, and that the same nature which is in the person of the one is likewise in the person of the other. We say therefore, according to the analogy of this doctrine, and the reason of the thing itself, that Jesus Christ is the image of God his Father, but a perfect one, yea, as perfect as an image can pos- sibly be; an image which exhibits to us and represents, not the colour or the shadow, but the truth and substance of the Deity. The Scripture, our only guide in these high mysteries, clearly teaches this. And to aid you in comprehending it, though the Godhead is most simple in itself, exempt from all mixture and composition, yet speaking of it according to the weakness of our understanding, to which God has not disdained to accommodate himself in his word, we will consider three things of him; the nature, the properties, or qualities, (which divines commonly call his attributes,) and his works. As for his nature^ it is most perfectly represented in Jesus Christ ; for he has really and veritably the same essence and substance with God the Father ; as a child, whom we call the image of his father, has the same nature with him, being as truly man as he is. The Scripture teaches us this truth in very many places, where it says that Jesus Christ is God ; that he is "the true God;" our " great God and Saviour ;" God blessed above all ; Jehovah, of old tempted by the Israelites in the desert ; he whose glory Isaiah saw in the vision described in the sixth chapter of his prophecies ; 1 John v. 20 ; Tit. ii. 13 ; Rom. ix. 5 ; 1 Cor. x. 9 ; John xii. 41. It lays down the same thing also whenever it presents him to us as a proper object of our adoration ; saying that all men ought to honour him " even as they honour the Father," John v. 23 ; and that the very "angels worship him," Ileb. i. 6 ; it being evident that, according to Scripture, there is nothing but a nature truly divine to whom adoration may be lawfully given. M AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VIT. But the Lord Jésus no less perfectly represents the Father in his properties than in his nature. The Father is eternal, so is the Son ; and Isaiah calls him upon this account the Father of eternity, Isa. ix, 6. " Before Abraham was I am," John viii. 58. He was from the beginning with God ; and before the world was created, even then he was in the bosom of the Father, his love and his delight. The heavens shall perish, but he is permanent. The heavens shall wax old as a gar- ment, and be folded up as a vesture, and be changed ; but Jesus is the same, and his years shall not fail, Heb. i. 11, 12. The Father is immutable, without ever receiving any alteration or change, either in his being or in his will. The Son is " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever," Heb. xiii. 8. The Father is infinite, filling heaven and earth ; neither is there anything within or without the world that limits the presence of his being. The Son is in like manner infinite. He is in heaven while he speaks to Nicodemus on earth, John iii. 13. He is here below on earth, in our hearts, and in our assemblies, at the same instant that he is sitting at the right hand of the Father in the highest room of the universe ; and though the heavens contain that body and human nature which he as- sumed, yet they do not enclose his majesty and omnipresent divinity. The Father has a sovereign understanding, knowing all things, present, past, and to come. The Son is wisdom itself. He knows all things ; and if on one occasion he says that he knows not the day of judgment, his words are to be understood in respect of his human nature, and not in respect of his divine intelligence. He trieth the reins, and knoweth the heart of man, Kev. ii. 23 ; a power which the Scripture sets down as the character and specific mark of the knowledge of God, asserting that it is only he who knoweth the hearts of men. The Father knows himself, and no man or angel, to speak properly, ever saw him. The Son so perfectly knows him that he has even declared and revealed him unto men. The Father is almighty, and does whatsoever he will. The Son has all power in heaven and in earth, and there is nothing difficult to him. The Father is supremely good, hating evil and loving rectitude and justice. The Son is the Saint of saints, entirely separate from sinners ; goodness itself, justice itself The Father is merciful and inclined to pity. The Son is the fountain of compassion. The Father maketh his sun to shine on, and his rain to bedew, even the men that blaspheme him. The Son died for his enemies, and prayed for those who crucified him. In short, the Father has not any other essential quality, but the Son likewise has it, and in the same measure with the Father. I come to his works. Certainly the Son himself informs us that he perfectly represents the Father in this respect ; saying, CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 95' in general, that "what things soever the Father doeth, the same doeth the Son likewise," John v. 19. The Father created the universe. The Son " laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of his hands," Heb. i. 10. "All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made," John i. 3. The Father preserves the world by his providence ; the Son sustains all things by the word of his power. The Father has set up the princes and magistrates who govern mankind ; and there is no power but of him. It is by the Son that " kings reign and princes decree justice," Prov. viii. 15. The Father saved and redeemed the church ; the Son is our righteousness, our wisdom, and our re- demption. The Father loved us, and delivered up his Son to death for us ; the Son gave himself a ransom for our sins. If the Father raised up the Son, the Son also raised again his own temple when the fury of the Jews had beaten it down. If the Father quickens the dead, the Son also quickens them ; and the last judgment, the punishing of the wicked in hell, the glory of the faithful in heaven, and all that refers to it, is the work of the one and the other. The Father hath elected us ; so likewise hath the Son. " I know," he says, " whom I have chosen," John xiii. 18. It is the same in all the other operations of the divine nature. If you accurately read the Scriptures, you will not see any of them attributed to the Father which are not likewise attributed to the Son. And as for that right and sovereign authority over all things which accrues to God from these great and high qualities and operations, this glory shines in the person of the Son as it does in the person of the Father. If the Father is Judge of the earth. King of ages, and Monarch of the world, the Son is, in like manner, the Lord of glory, the Commander of the armies of heaven, the Prince of men and angels, the Judge of all flesh. If the name of the Father is great and awful, that of the Son is above every name which is named in this world or in the world to come. If all creatures, both superior, intermedial, and inferior, owe sovereign homage to the Father, and cast down themselves before him, adoring his majesty with the profoundest reverence of which they are capable ; so it is clear that before Jesus every knee bows, both of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, the Father himself proclaiming when he bringeth him into the world, " Let all the angels of God worship him," Heb. i. 6. So you see, dear brethren, that the Lord Jesus is trul}^ the image of his Father, as he has, and perfectly displays in himself, the nature, the properties, and the works of the Father ; an admirable, a singular, and a truly divine image, which posses- ses the whole form of its original, without any variation, and faithfully and naturally represents all the features of it in ^ AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. VII. their true and just greatness, measure and nature. I confess that among men there are sons who resemble, in some degree, their fathers ; but there are none in whom such resemblance is comparable with that of the Son of God to his eternal Father. If our sons express our nature and manners, it is always with some difference, which a penetrating eye may easily ob- serve ; and after all there are none who in their life entirely express the lives of their fathers, with every one of their actions and operations. But the Son of God is a most perfect image both of the nature and the life of his Father, (if we may speak in this manner of these mysteries,) all the works of the one, whether small or great, being also the works of the other. This sacred truth here taught by the apostle overthrows two heresies, which, though contrary to each other, were at one time equally afflicting to the church of God. I mean, that of the Sabellians, and that of the Arians. The former confounded the Son with the Father, the latter rent them asunder. Those took from the Son his person ; these his nature. For the Sa- bellians dogmatically insisted that the Father and the Son were but one and the selfsame person, who according to the various ways and designs of his manifestations assumed sometimes the name of Father, sometimes the name of Son. So that in their account it is the Father who suffered on the cross, and it is the Son who sent him that suffered. Paul demolishes their error, by saying that Jesus Christ is the image of the Father. For no one is the image of himself; and however great and exact the resemblance of the image may be to its original, it has of necessity a subsistence distinct from that of its original. A son has the same nature with the father whose image he is said to be ; but nevertheless the person of the father is one, and that of the child another. Since then the apostle declares here and elsewhere, that Jesus Christ is " the image of God," (that is to say, of the Father,) we must either desert his doctrine, or acknowledge that Jesus Christ is another person than the Father. But if you distinguish their persons, it follows not that you must divide their nature, as did the Arians, who made it their position, that the nature of the Father is of one kind, and that of the Son of another ; the one uncreated and infinite, the other created and finite. These are two shores which we must equally avoid, steering our course straight between them ; shunning on one side the confusion of Sabel- lius, and on the other the division of Arius. Jesus Christ, saith the apostle, is the image of God his Father. He could not be his image, if he were one and the same person with him. He could not be his perfect image, if he had a nature different from the nature of the Father. How could he represent his eternity, if he had been created in time ? how his immensity, if he had a limited essence ? how his majesty and glory, if he CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 97 were but a creature ? Let us then hold fast this truth full and entire ; and believing that the Son of God is a person dis- tinct from that of the Father, let us acknowledge that his divine nature is the same with that of the Father ; that is to say, that he is one only and the same God with him, blessed for ever ; as without this the doctrine of the apostle, that Jesus Christ is "the image of God," cannot be fully and firmly established. But let us now consider how and why he here declares God the Father, whose image Jesus Christ is, to be " invisible." Truly the divine nature is spiritual, as our Lord said to the woman of Samaria, " God is a Spirit," and every spiritual na- ture is invisible ; it being clear that the eye sees no objects but such as are corporeal, such as have some figure and colour, and cast forth from them some kind of species into the air, and into other diaphanous and transparent bodies, through which they gliding with incredible swiftness, come to strike our senses ; things which have none of them any place in spiritual and immaterial substances. For this cause Moses, when he would teach the Israelites that there is nothing gross or ma- terial in the divine essence, nothing that might be represented by the pencil or the chisel in visible images, expressly remon- strates to them, that on the day the Most High manifested himself, giving them the law upon Mount Sinai, they "heard the voice of words, but saw no similitude," Deut. iv. 12, 15, &,G. Whence he infers that they should take good heed to make no graven image, or the likeness of any kind of thing ; no image of any form whatever for a religious use, as a repre- sentation of God ; as the nations then did, and almost all do to this day. This truth is clear and undoubted, nor was it ever contested but by the Anthropomorphites, who attributed to God a human body and members ; an extravagance long since condemned and abolished in all Christendom. But the apostle here styling God invisible, intends not only that neither our eyes nor our other senses can apprehend the form of his nature, but that our very understandings cannot comprehend it, and that it is hidden from all our conceptions. For it is usual in Scripture to put seeing for knowing, and to express the apprehensions and conceptions of the mind by the names of the senses of the body. And on this principle we understand what the apostle says elsewhere, that God, the King of ages, is invisible ; and in another place, that he dwelleth in inaccessible light, and that " no man hath seen or can see him," 1 Tim. vi. 16. The angels themselves, however superior their understanding is to ours, cannot comprehend the true form and nature of this supreme and most glorious majesty, because his essence is infinite, and no finite being can comprehend an infinite being. And therefore the seraphim, in Isaiah, standing before God, covered their faces with two of 9è AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VII. tlieir wings, to testify that they could not bear the splendour of his glory, Isa. vi. 2. I grant that, through his grace, we know something of his nature ; and this the Scripture means, when it says of Moses and other believers, that they saw God in proportion to the various degrees of knowledge which he gave them of himself; of which the highest degrees will be those which we shall attain in the kingdom of heaven ; and the Holy Ghost, to express this to us, says that we shall see God as he is, that we shall see him face to face, and know him as we are known, 1 John iii. 2 ; 1 Cor. xiii. 12. But however fair, and clear, and excellent all this knowledge of God which believers and holy angels have in this world or the other, it is not, to speak strictly, a seeing ; that is, an apprehension which reaches and conceives the true and proper form of its object; so that this remains still firm, that God, to speak properly, is invisible. But why does the apostle ascribe this quality to God the Father, particularly in this place ? Dear brethren, he does so with great propriety, and thereby shows us how it is that God has manifested himself to us by Jesus Christ his Son. For there is a secret opposition between the word image and invi- sible. God is invisible, says the apostle, but Jesus Christ is the image of him. This eternal Father has a nature so sub- lime, and so impenetrable by any of our senses, that without this his image, which shines forth in his Son, neither men nor an- gels would have known aught of him; he would have remained eternally veiled in that inaccessible light in which he dwells, without being known by any but himself. But now he has vouchsafed to manifest to us that which may be known of him by this eternal and most perfect image of his person, that is to say, by his Son. For first, it is by him he made the world, the theatre of his wonders. And it is by him also he pre- serves and governs it in so admirable a manner. It is to him likewise that we must refer the revelations of God under the Old Testament. It is the Son, as most of the ancient teachers of the church have very well observed, that appeared to Abra- ham and the other patriarchs ; that led Israel through the wil- derness, and inspired their prophets. But the apostle, in this passage, has respect particularly and properly to the manifes- tation of God in the fulness of time, when his eternal and es- sential image discovered all his glory to the Jews first, and afterwards to the other nations of the world, rendering it, in- visible as it was in itself, visible in that flesh with which he vested himself in the blessed virgin's womb. It was then pro- perly that the Son appeared before our eyes, as he is in reality from all eternity, the image of the invisible God, the bright- ness of his glory, and the engraven character or express image of his person. For the office of an image is to represent that CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 99 of which it is the figure. Now it was principally in this last manifestation that the Son made us see all the wonders of his Father, the abysses of his justice and of his mercy, the depths of his wisdom and his infinite power, of which the world knew not before. The creatures of this universe show us only the edges, as it were, and the footsteps, and the stronger lineaments of them ; Jesus Christ has unfolded them all to our view in their very nature. The world, and even the law itself, were but imperfect draughts and obscure shadows ; Jesus Christ is that living image, in which the majesty, the nature, and the goodness of God appear with all their fulness. II. But it is time now to come to the second point, in which the apostle, having compared Jesus Christ with God his Father, of whom he is the image, considers him with respect to the creatures, and expresses the relation he has to them, by saying that he " is the first-born of every creature." This passage has variously exercised the heretics. Those of them who deny that the Son of God subsisted at all before he was born of the holy virgin, perceiving that these words place him before all the creatures, to support their error, corrupt the word creature, and insist that in this place it signifies the faithful, who believed the gospel of our Lord. Wretched unbelief; to what extravagancies dost thou lead miserable men ! For what delirium can produce anything less substan- tial and more suspicious than this exposition ? First, it renders the apostle's conception frigid and absurd. If you believe these people, the apostle informs the Colossians that Jesus Christ was born before men believed what he preached ; is not this a great secret, and highly conducive to the apostle's design ? Then again, who gave them the authority which they claim to change the sense of the words of God ? Paul says that the Lord "is the first-born of every creature." By what right do they restrain a subject of such vast extent to the faith- ful alone ? The faithful, say they, are created anew of the Lord ! Who doubts it ? Paul teaches us that they are the " workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works," Eph. ii. 20 ; and elsewhere, that " if any one be in Christ, he is a new creature." But it follows not thence that the word creature, without any adjunct, must be taken merely for the disciples of Jesus Christ and his apostles. The Scrip- ture never uses the term in that sense. As for the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, where they pretend that the apostle means the faithful alone by all the crea- tures which " groan and travail in pain together," ver. 22, this is a new dream, no less absurd than the former; it being clear by all the circumstances of the passage, that the creatures there mentioned are not the children of God but of another kind. Paul plainly distinguishes them, say- lOO AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM, VII. ing of those, that they " also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God : and that not only they, but we also, ( that is, all the faithful,) who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves," ver. 21, 23. All those creatures are no other than the universe, the heavens and the elements, which shall one day be set free from the vanity under which they now groan, and to which they were made subject by sin. That which they allege out of the third of the Revelation, is in no degree more to the purpose ; Jesus Christ styles himself there, the begin- ning or principal of the creature or creation of God, ver. 14. But nothing obliges us to take the creature of God in this place for the faithful alone, any more than in the other. The Lord means all the things which God has created, either in the first or in the second world, he being the principal of the one and of the other, according to what he had said in the same book generally and indefinitely, "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last," Rev. i. 8. Besides, though the creature of God should signify the faithful in this place, we are not to infer that the words " every creature" here must be taken for the faithful alone ; as when the Scripture calls them men of God, it follows not thence that when we mean the faithful alone we must say all men. The term, " of God," is put there for an adjective epithet, as grammarians speak, according to the use of the holy tongue; the creature of God, that is, a divine and celestial creature ; a quality which evidently restrains the sense of the word creature, to which it is annexed, to the most excellent kind of creatures, that is, the faithful. Whereas Paul says here simply, " every creature," without adding, " of God," or "divine" or any other word that might contract the signification of the general term creature to merely one of its species, that is, the faithful. Rejecting therefore the gloss of these critics as impertinent, and contrary both to the scope and style of the apostle, we say that by " every creature" he intends what the Scripture and all the languages of men ordi- narily intend by these words, namely, created things, "the heavens and the earth, and all that in them is." But here rise up the Arians, another kind of heretics, who, insisting upon this interpretation, infer that the Son of God is a creature, as he is called the first-born of them ; alleging that the first-born is of the same nature with his brethren ; and adding, to fortify their pretension, that in fact, the supreme Wisdom, which is no other than the Son, says in the Proverbs, that God possessed or created it " in the beginning of his ways, before his works of old," Prov. viii. 22 ; which is nothing else, as they affirm, but what Paul says here, that the Son is the first-born of every creature ; and they adjoin also that which is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that Jesus Christ is faith- CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 101 ful to him who appointed or made him, Heb. iii. 2 ; that is, as they pretend, to God, who created him. But God forbid that we should rank him with creatures, to whom the Scripture ascribes the glory of having created them all, and to whom it commands us to give that supreme adoration which is due to God alone, and not to any creature. The apostle, in this very place which they abuse, makes a most evident distinction be- tween the Son and other things ; for whereas he calls them creatures, he says of the Son that he is, not the first-created, (as should have been said, if he were of their order,) but the first- born; an evident sign that he received his beginning of the Father by a divine and ineffable generation, and cot by crea- tion. As for that which they cite out of the Proverbs, not to urge another exposition of it, the original text imports that God possessed wisdom in the beginning of his ways, (as our Bibles have well rendered it,) and not that he created it, as the Greek interpreters have improperly taken it. And as to what Paul says in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that God made Christ, he means not that he created him, (a notion which would be quite beside his purpose,) but that he ordained and established him High Priest in his church. Even as when Samuel says that God appointed or made Moses and Aaron, 1 Sam. xii. 6, he intends that he established them in the charges which they bore among his people. And in this sense we must understand Peter's language in the Acts, " that God hath made Jesus both Lord and Christ," Acts ii. 36; that is, has ordained him to these great dignities. And so from these passages it strictly follows that the Son of God was called the Anointed, and settled in his ofiice of Mediator, (which we confess,) but not that his divine nature was created (which we utterly deny.) In fine, for these words of Paul, some answer that by saying Jesus Christ "is the first-born of every creature," he means no more than that he was born before all creatures ; and perhaps it would be very difficult, that I may not say impossible, to refute this exposi- tion. Yet there is another which I judge more suitable both to the scope and to the sequel of this text: it is that by the "first-born" is meant the Owner, the Lord, and the Prince of every crea- ture. That which the apostle adds, "for by him were created all things in heaven and in earth," perfectly accords with this sense; it being evident that the creation of things is a true and solid title to that power and lordship which God has over them. Why is the Son of God the Lord of every creature ? Because there is not any of them which he did not create; and it is most reasonable that he should dispose of them and govern them at his pleasure, since he gave them all the being or life that they have. And that the word " first-born " may be taken to signify master and lord, is evident both by examples in 102 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VII. Scripture, and by the reason of the thing itself. For the Lord promises in the Psahns to make David the first-born of the kings of the earth, Psal. Ixxxix. 27 ; that is, as every one sees, to make him master and the chief of kings ; it being evi- dent that, to speak properly, he was not their elder brother, being neither the brother to other kings, nor more aged than they. Isaiah says also in his prophecy, chap. xiv. 30, "the first-born of the poor," to signify the veriest poor, those that (if I may so say) carry away the prize for poverty, though otherwise they were not born before others, nor of the same family with them. But the passage in Job is more remarkable than any other, where mention is of " the first-born of death," Job xviii. 13. He is meant who has the power and the admin- istration of death, the Angel and Prince of death, and (as the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks) "he that hath the power of death." The reason of this manner of speaking is also perfectly evident. For the eldest born, by the law and custom of most nations, formerly were, and to this day are, the principal of the family, the heads, and in a manner lords, as well of their bre- thren as of the slaves and goods ; hence originated this kind of language, putting eldest or first-born, to signify the head, the lord, and the master. We say, therefore, that it is in this sense we must understand the apostle's words, Christ " is the first-born of every creature," that is, the Master and Lord of them ; which no way implies that he himself is a creature ; lords not being always of the same extraction and lineage with their subjects, but most frequently of another very different. And as it would be ridiculous reasoning to conclude that he who has the dominion of death is death itself, under the colour that Job terms him, "the first-born of death;" so is it most im- pertinent arguing to infer that the Lord is a creature, because the apostle says here, that he " is the first-born of every crea- ture." We have a passage exactly parallel with this in the beginning of the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the apostle says that God has appointed his Son "heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds," chap. i. 2. Here you see, first, that he expresses the Lordship which Jesus Christ has over all the creatures, by a figurative word, styling him the heir of them. For that the word heir was taken by the ancients to mean lord and master, the civilians themselves have ob- served.* And, secondly, you see further, that the apostle, after the same manner as in the text, founds the dominion which Jesus Christ has over the whole universe upon his being the Creator of it. For this he means when he says that "by him God made the worlds." Be it then concluded that this primo- geniture of the Lord Jesus over every creature is nothing * Instit. 1. 2, tit. 19, s. ult. CHAP. I.] THE, EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 103 else but that glorious and sovereign empire which he has over the whole world, and every one of its parts, by the right of creation ; being its supreme and absolute Lord, as he that brought all creatures out of nothing, and gave them every de- gree of that being which they possess. Thus, dear brethren, we have given you the exposition of this text. Let us profit by it and extract the practical uses that it contains, and the succour it may give us against sin and error. First, it furnishes us with an answer to those who censure us for having no images among us. Tell them that Jesus Christ, the only most perfect image of God, suffices us. This is an image that we safely honour without fear of offending God, because it is a true one, and shows us to the life, and in reality, all the perfections of the Father; while all other images offered to us are the work of men's hands, inventions of their super- stition, and images, not of God, but of their own vain imagi- nations. Even their visibility discovers their falsity, as God is invisible. For to represent an invisible nature by colours, is much worse than if you should paint anything white with, charcoal, or light with darkness. Your images, 0 adversaries, are dead and insensible, destitute of the advantages which na- ture has given to the least and lowest animals. Ours is alive and intelligent, the source of life and wisdom. Yours are in- capable of seeing or rewarding the service which you do them. Ours knows our hearts, and has infinite goodness and power. For Jesus, the image of God, whom we adore, " is the first-born of every creature," the sovereign Master of the universe. Let us boldly address our most religious services to him. And since it is in him that God manifests himself to us, let us have him ever before our eyes, seeking the true knowledge of God in him alone. There we shall see him as he is. But let this seeing by no means be idle : he does not set be- fore us this most perfect picture of his perfections, which he has drawn to the life in his Christ, that we may un profitably gaze on it ; but that each of us may imitate him according to his small ability, and express in his soul a draught of that perfect goodness and holiness which shines so gloriously in him, and gradually become an exact and lively image of our Lord. Consider, how he was obedient to the Father, bountiful to men, helpful to the afflicted, compassionate to sinners, mild and kind to enemies. There, christian, is the pattern of your life. Follow these sacred examples. Serve God, like him, pa- tiently bearing all that he lays on you, courageously marching on all occasions wherever he calls you. Love men as he loved them, cheerfully employing all that you are and all you can do for their edification ; communicating your goods to the poor, your light to the ignorant, your assistance to the op- 104 AN EXPOSITION OF ^ [SERM. VIL pressed. Let not their malevolence obstruct your kindness. If they offend you, pardon them, and pray for them ; and remember, as the Lord said, that they know not what they do. Let neither their injuries nor their caresses ever turn you from a pious course. Fear neither the hatred nor the forces of the world. Ee- member that as this Jesus whom you serve is " the image of God," so he is likewise " the first-born of every creature." He has them all in his hand. He commands the heavens and the elements ; he governs men and beasts. All the parts of nature owe him and render him a prompt obedience, and, will they nill they, do nothing against his orders. Having the Master of all things for your Head and Saviour, how is it that you are not ashamed of your timidity ? The wind makes us tremble as the leaves of the wood. The least sound affrights us,' and instead of glorifying the Lord here in his palace, in peace and joy, while his voice makes the world tremble, we tremble while the world is in repose. Is it this that we promised Jesus Christ ? Is this to bear his cross with patience, and re- sist for his sake even unto blood ? Is this that lively and un- movable faith of which we make profession, which should carry us unappalled through waters and through flames ? If the providence of the Lord were unknown to us, our weak- ness would be less inexcusable ; but having lived for so long a time by continual miracles of his goodness, why doubt we so readily of a care and fidelity which we have so many a time experienced? You see, on the present conjuncture, what thoughts he has inspired on our behalf into the sacred powers that govern us, and even the supreme among them ; what order they have taken for our safety ; and what care they de- clare themselves resolved to take of it for the future, receiving us under the protection of their edicts. Dear brethren, it is. an admirable effect of the love with which the Lord regarda us. Let us enjoy it with perfect thankfulness both towards him and towards his ministers, the princes of whom he is the first-born in a particular manner. Let us not disturb the work of his grace by our fears and diffidences, but, assured of his infinite goodness and power, let us rely upon the truth of his promises, and rest upon his favourable providence, quietly and comfortably finishing this short journey which we have be- gun ; waiting till this holy and merciful Lord, after having conducted and comforted us in this desert, shall raise us up on high to the mountain of his holiness ; where, far from evils, and from dangers, and from fears, we shall glorify him eternally, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the true and only God, blessed for ever. Amen. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 105 SERMON VIII. VERSES 16, 17. For hy him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, ivhether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers : all things ivere created hy him, and for him : and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Among all the reasons which establish our right to the things that we possess, none is more just or more natural than that which arises from the production of them ; it being evi- dent that what issues from us should depend upon us, and that it is just every one should dispose of what he has made. Thus among all the nations of the earth children belong to the pa- rents that begat them, and works either of the mind or body are theirs who formed them and set them forth. This right ia the first and the most ancient foundation of all human posses- sions and dominions ; the power which men have to give, to sell, or exchange things proceeding from this, that they, or those of whom they received them, gave them, or preserved their existence. For if you go back to the first sources of hu- man laws and institutions, you will find that men assumed not dominion or possession, save of the persons whom they had either naturally begotten, or saved in war, by preserving and giving the life they might have taken from them ; and of things which they had either made and composed, as buildings, or at least improved and cultivated, as the ground they cleared and tilled. It is from thence that were formed, by little and little, those good and just establishments of families, of cities, and of states, and of laws necessary for their government, which have maintained mankind to this present time. You see likewise that God our sovereign Lord, to justify the right he has to dispose of us as seemeth him good, and the obliga- tion we have to serve him, ordinarily urges this reason, that he has created us. " It is he that hath made us," saith his pro- phet, "and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture," Psalm c. 3. By the same consideration he silences the refractory and profane, who have the insolence to censure his disposals : " Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it. Why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour ?" Romans ix. 20, 21. It is further by the same reason, my brethren, the apostle 14 106 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VIH. proves in this place that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the Lord of all things. Having said that he is " the first-born (that is, the Master) of every creature," he now alleges the proof of it, taken from his being the Creator of all things. " For by him," says he, " were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers : all things were created by him, and for him : and he is before all things, and by him all things consist." This reason is evident and invincible. For if man, who gives to the things he makes only the form of their being, working in all his operations on borrowed matter, does yet acquire thereby a right of dominion over them, as we said even now, so that he may dispose of them as he will, how much more justly is the Son of God the Master and Lord of all the creatures, as he created them, that is, gave them the whole of their being; not the form only, but the matter also of which they consist ; having brought thera out of nothing, having entirely made and formed them by the sole might of his power, without any subject for his display- ing it upon, existent when he first created them ! And this proof clearly determines that which we laid down in the pre- ceding sermon ; that is, that when the apostle calls Jesus Christ the " first-born of every creature," he means simply that he is the Master of thera, and not (as heretics assert) that he is a creature as they are, and only created before thera. For the reason which Paul annexes, taken from his having created them, fully evinces that he is Master of them, but not that he was created himself Otherwise, it must, from the same premises, be inferred that the Father, who created all things, was also created himself; a blasphemy which the most shame- less heretics would abhor. For if the apostle's discourse is good and pertinent, (as all christians confess,) he reasons thus : Whoever has created all things, the same is " the first-born of every creature ;" but the Lord Jesus has created all things, he is therefore " the first-born of every creature." You see clearly that this first proposition, Whoever has created all things is " the first-born of every creature," cannot be true except in this sense, that he is the master ^of every creature ; but it is evidently false in the sense that the heretics take of the words "first-born of every creature," that is, created before every other creature ; for the Father, who created all things, is eter- nal and irarautable, and was not created. It must, tlierefore, of necessity be said that the apostle, by "the first-born of every creature," raeans their Lord and Master. Otherwise his discourse would not be pertinent. But having in our last discourse sufficiently explained and justified this conclusion of Paul, that the Son of God is "the first-born of every creature," let us consider now the reason he CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 107 alleges, drawn from hence, viz : that he created all things, and that they are all for him, and all subsist by him ; that is to say, he is the Author, the End, and the Conserver of them. It is a truth of infinite importance in the christian religion, both of itself and for its own merit, as also for the great contradic- tions it has suffered at all times from the enemies of the divin- ity of Jesus Christ, both ancient and modern, who have ap- plied all their force either to overthrow, or at least to shake it. For this cause we are obliged to examine the present text, where it is so majestically stated, with so much the more care ; and that we may omit nothing which is necessary for clearing it, we will consider, in the first place, what the apostle says of the Son of God ; that " all things were created by him, and for him ;" and that " he is before all things," and that they " all consist by him." In the second place, the division that he makes of all these things which the Lord created ; some, they "that are in heaven," others, they "that are in earth;" some, " visible," others, " invisible," as " thrones, dominions, princi- palities, and powers." These shall be, if the Lord will, the two parts, and, as it were, the two articles, of this discourse. May it please God to guide our meditations by his Spirit on this sublime subject, and to enable us by his grace to aim at his glory and our own edification. I. In the former of these two articles the apostle says, first, that all things were created by Jesus Christ; secondly, that they were all created for him ; in the third place, that he is before all things ; and lastly, that they all consist by him. For though these four points nearly resemble each other, and are necessarily combined, yet they are actually distinct, and ought to come severally under consideration ; there being none of them but contributes something particular to the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. The first is plain, that all things were created by Jesus Christ. For where is the christian who understands not this, and knows not that to create signifies, in the use of Scripture, to make a thing, either of nothing, or of a matter which had no disposeduess to the form that it receives? And as there is no power but the divine that is capable of such an action or operation, this word is never attributed to any but God only. No one but he creates things. For this cause, among the other titles which are given him for marks of his glory, he is styled, The Creator, this title pertaining to him alone. When the apostle then says here, and twice repeats it, that all things were created by the Son, he means that from him they received all the being they have; that it is he who by this noble and divine manner of working, which the Scripture calls creation, brought them from non-being into being, who, by his infinite power, produced the matter of which they consist, prepared WS AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VIII. it and fitted it as it now is, investing it with those forms and admirable qualities on which all the motions of their nature depend ; that is to say, in one word, the Lord Jesus is the Creator of the universe. It was not possible to express more clearly this truth. And in this sense all christians always received this passage, till those new enemies of the divinity of our Lord appeared, who blasphemously say that he had no actual subsistence in the universe prior to his birth of the holy virgin. Unable to bear so resplendent a light, they have endeavoured to ob- scure it by the fumes of their frivolous and false glosses, and say therefore that the word create signifies in this place merely to reform and re-establish things, to put them in a better state than they were in, and not to bring them out of nothing, and give them their whole being. They insist that the apostle, by saying all things were created by Jesus, intends not the first creation of the world, when arising out of nothing it received its natural being and form from the Creator ; but the renova- tion of the world, wrought by the preaching of the gospel, and by the word of the apostles, whom the Lord sent to re- form the nations, and to put things in an incomparably better and happier state than they were before. Enslaved they were to the empire of sin and Satan, but by the doctrine and power of the Lord Jesus they have now been consecrated to God and sanctified to his glory. To this I answer, that it is true the world was renewed by the gospel ; inasmuch as this holy doc- trine abolished the ceremonial discipline of Moses, and the false religions of the heathen, and formed in the whole earth a new people serving God in spirit and in truth, being created in righteousness and holiness. I acknowledge also that this renovation is the work of divine power, and could not have been effected by any human or angelic strength, and on this account it may and ought to be called a creation ; it being certain that no less virtue was needful to reform the world than to create it. And, finally, I grant too that Jesus, the Son of God, is the true and sole author of this second creation. But to this I adjoin two things : first, that though this pas- sage might be understood of this reformation of the world, yet it would of necessity infer that Jesus, to whom it is attri- buted, is the true eternal God. For as this work is no less, nay, as it is greater, than that of creation, it is evident that none but the true God could be the author of it, for creation is proposed to us in Scripture (a point to which we shall have to return) as an argument of true and eternal divinity. And the thing speaks for itself. For as a divine and infinite power is requi- site to regenerate men and destroy the servitude of sin and Sa- tan, it must of necessity be acknowledged that Jesus, the author of this great work, has an infinite power, that is to say, is truly CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 109 God; no finite subject being capable of an infinite power, and none being infinite but God alone. Thus you see that these here- tics toil in vain ; their own interpretation (if it were admitted) necessarily establishes the thing which they oppose; namely, that Jesus is very God, infinite and eternal, and subsisting be- fore all ages. But I say, in the second place, that this text cannot be understood of the reparation or second creation of the world : first, because the apostle will soon speak of that in the three verses immediately following; where he sub- limely describes it, saying that Jesus Christ " is the Head of the body, the church ; the Beginning, the First-born from the dead ;" by whom the Father has reconciled all things unto himself, as well celestial as terrestrial, " having made peace through the blood of his cross." Now unless we render Paul guilty of vain babbling and useless repetition, we must con- fess that as in this second place he speaks of the reparation and renovation of things, so in the former he spake of their first creation. Secondly, this is further evident from his ex- pressly reckoning the angels among the things created by Jesus Christ ; yea, he insists on them more than on the rest, (as we shall see hereafter,) saying that " by him were created things in heaven, thrones, dominions, principalities, and pow- ers." But the angels were not renewed nor restored by Jesus Christ, for sin did not ruin their nature, nor make it wax old, nor subject it to vanity. We must therefore conclude that the apostle speaks here not of the reparation of things, but of the first creation of them ; it being most certain that the angels are created beings, their nature yet being not eternal and with- out beginning. I grant, that by the salvation which we have received from Jesus Christ the angels have been reunited to us, and settled again in peace and amity with us, from whom our sin had separated and estranged them ; and this is what the apostle means when he says here beneath, that God has re- conciled things in heaven and things in earth by the blood of Jesus Christ, ver. 20; and elsewhere, that he has recapitulated or gathered "together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth," Eph. i. 10. But this is not to be called a creating of the angels, nor can any exam- ple of such extravagant language be produced, that a creating of persons was employed to signify a reconciling them to those whom they hated, and whose communion they avoided ; otherwise, as Jesus Christ reconciled us also to God the Fa- ther, incorporating us into his family, so as he is thei'eby be- come our Father, and we his children, in the same manner that we are brethren with the angels ; it might, to express this, be also said that Jesus Christ created God the Father, which no ear, I say not christian, but that is ever so little rational, could possibly endure. Finally, the context itself of the apostle's lîO AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VIII. words evidently shows that they must be necessarily under- stood of the first, and not of the second, creation of things. I confess the Holy Ghost sometimes uses the word create to signify the production of the second work of God, that is, the work of his grace in Jesus Christ. But he never does this without some addition and restriction, that evidently limits the word to such a sense ; as, for example, when he says in Isaiah that he is about to " create new heavens and a new earth ;" and that he is about to create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people gladness, Isa. Ixv. 17, 18 ; the very form of this language, put in the future tense, as you see, and those new heavens and that Jerusalem, which he says he is about to create, evidently showed that he is not speaking of the first creation of the world. So when the apostle says that God has created them twain (that is, the Jews and the Gentiles) in him- self into one new man, Eph. ii. 15 ; this latter word, " new," admits no doubt that he means here the second operation of God, by which Jews and Gentiles were united into one peo- ple ; and not of the first, by which they were brought into their natural existence. And likewise, when he says in the same chapter, that " we are created in Jesus Christ unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." The persons of whom he speaks, ws, that is, be- lievers, distinguished from other men ; and the end of this work of God, good works ; these sufficiently prove that the creation there meant is the second, and not the first, nor can any reasonable man doubt it. In these places, and others like them, if there are any, the word create is still limited and cir- cumstantiated. When it is used simply and absolutely, it is to be taken only for the first creation, as when Isaiah says that " God created the heavens," Isa. xlii. 5 ; and John, in the Revelation, that the " Lord created all things," Rev. iv. 11 ; and in a multitude of similar places ; neither can any one be adduced to the contrary. For as to that which the adver- saries allege out of the Epistle to the Ephesians, where they insist that the apostle's words, " God created all things by Jesus Christ," Eph. iii. 9, must be expounded of the second, and not the first creation ; in this they do not prove, but take for granted, the thing mooted ; nothing obliging us to depart in this place, more than in the others, from the common sig- nification of the word. As then in our text this term create is used simply and in- definitely, without any limitation or restriction, the apostle saying and twice repeating that all things were created by the Son of God, nay, adding, to show more fully the extent of this subject, " both things which are in heaven, and things which are in earth, visible and invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers," we conclude that the word means, CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. Ill as in other places where it is employed in the same manner, simply and absolutely, that is to say, it must be taken for the first, and not the second creation. If we are at liberty to do otherwise, and to give it anywhere the sense we please, with no other reason than that of our caprice, who sees not but that by such an opening there would no longer be anything fixed or certain left in Scripture ? For as these heretics, by this frivolous gloss, would deprive the Lord Jesus of the glory of the first creation ; another might, by the same expedient, wrest it from the Father; interpreting those passages of Scrip- ture which affirm that God created the world, not of its first production, by which it issued out of nothing into being, but merely of a reparation, or a renovation of the universe ; and in consequence hereof pretend, with some philosophers, that it was assuredly created long before, but not in the condition and the form it afterwards obtained. But God forbid that christians should ever suifer impiety to have such a power over the word of God. Let us sacredly keep to the truths which the Scriptures teach us, and receive their language with a candid and sincere belief. Let heresy rise in commotion, and be as restless as it will, as the apostle, the mouth of heaven and the trumpet of God, proclaims that all things were created by the Lord Jesus, let us receive this sacred verity ; believe it and confess it so much the more, be- cause not only here does Scripture teach us this, but in nume- rous other places. For, not to repeat what has been already advanced out of the Epistle to the Ephesians, where it is said that the Father " created all things by Jesus Christ," what can be more explicit than the beginning of John, where this divine author, speaking of the Word which was made flesh, and whose glory he and his fellow brethren had seen, and who was in the beginning with God, proclaims, " All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. And the world was made by him," John i. 3, 10. What more can be uttered or conceived than what we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the apostle, not satisfied with having said at the entrance that the Father made the worlds by his Son, says of the Son a little after, what the prophet sings, " Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth ; and the heavens are the works of thine hands," Heb. i. 10. Certainly this proof is so firm that all the devils of hell will never be able to pluck it from us. And nothing more gross can be imagined than that evasion with which despair has here inspired the heretics: Though, say they, the apostle has alleged these words of the Psalm, yet his intention was not to apply them to Christ, but the following words only, " Thou remainest, and art the same, and thy years shall not fail :" for is not this a plain contradiction of the apostle, who loudly 112 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. YIU. affirms that it is to the Son the Holy Spirit says, " Lord, in the beginning thou hast laid the foundations of the earth ?" Be- sides, if this quotation from the Psalm decides nothing more than that the Son is permanent, and shall not fail, it is inap- plicable, and does not at all suffice for the apostle's design. For his aim is to exalt the Son above the angels; but if the passage he brings for this purpose proves only that the Son is immortal and immutable, who sees not that by this procedure he attributes no more to him than what is equally true of the angels, whose nature is likewise incorruptible and immutable ? As then the scope of the apostle is to show that Jesus Christ has excellences which do not belong to the angels ; and as, on the contrary, the passage he alleges expresses nothing of that kind, but the creating of the world ; it must of necessity be acknowledged that it is the holy apostle's intention to apply particularly to the Lord this first part of the quotation, wherein it is said that he has founded the earth, and that the heavens are the work of his hands. And so you see that the supreme Wisdom, begotten of the Father before all ages, which neither is nor can be any other than the Lord Jesus, protests in the book of Proverbs, chap, viii., that it was with God, its eternal Father, when he created the world, to show us that it was the Governor and Superintendent of that great work. And Moses, in the beginning of Genesis, expresses the same thing, as far as the nature of the time and of the old testament would permit. For he states that God did not create anything but by his word. He represents him as speaking at every part of his •work ; " God said. Let there be light. God said. Let there be a firmament. God said, Let the waters be divided, and let the dry land appear ;" and so in all the rest. Why does so sage a •writer make this supreme and unspeakable nature speak thus for the creating of each of his works? Let the Jew weary himself to the utmost, he will never be able to give us such a good and pertinent reason of it as can satisfy our minds. But John calling the Son of God the Word, chap. i. 1, unveils this secret to us, showing us that it is by this his Word that the Father created the world. And Moses, obscurely intimating this, and in a manner accordant with that time, represents God as not creating anything except by speaking. It must then be concluded, against the obstinate fury of heretics, that the Lord Jesus is the Creator of all things. And this is so evident, that a majority of those very men who deny his eternal divinity have not refused to acknowledge it ; and they in particular who, after the name of their old leader, are commonly called Arians, who, while they admit that by him the Father created the universe at the beginning, yet pertinaciously deny that he is eternal God, of the same es- sence with the Father. In this, as I confess, they show more CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 113 modesty than the rest, not having the forehead to reject what the Scripture so clearly exhibits ; at the same time I must say they discover less common sense and acuteness, admitting a truth incompatible with their own error. For if the Lord Jesus created the universe, as they, in concurrence with the Scripture, confess, it must of necessity be granted that he is very Jehovah, who in time past was worshipped by the Israel- ites, which, notwithstanding, is the thing that they oppose. From what we have observed, it follows, first, that the Scrip- ture never ascribes the creating to any one but God, Secondly, that in Isaiah the title of Creator is given to the true God to distinguish him from creatures, as being incommunicable to any other besides him. It is I, says he, who have made the earth, and who have stretched out the heavens, Isa. xlii. 5 ; xlv. 12; xlviii. 13 ; li. 13. Finally, the thing speaks for itself. For the power requisite to create the world (that is, to make it of nothing) is so great and so infinite, that the philosophers, with all the light of their reason, could not comprehend it, but were so far from attributing it to any creature, that they denied it unto God himself. Whence we infer that if there is any part of divine glory proper and essential to God, it is most indubitably this. Seeing then it is found in the Lord Jesus, we must necessarily confess that he is in truth the great God, most high, eternal, and blessed for ever above all things. As for the distinction they advance to cover their error, al- leging that the Son was but the instrument and minister of the Father in the work of creation, not the first and principal cause, it is vain and frivolous. For this creative power being infinite, it cannot be but in an infinite subject, and in a sove- reign and principal agent. It cannot be communicated to an instrument, for every instrument being finite, is consequently incapable of receiving and containing an infinite power; and as it is in the person of the Son, it unavoidably follows that he is not, as they say, the instrumental, but the first and the principal cause in the work of creation. And this John clearly shows in the Revelation, where he says that he is " Alpha and Omega, the first and the last," Rev. i. 11 ; a thing that cannot be said of an instrumental cause, which has necessarily another and superior agent of a different nature. The apostle also completely refutes this interpretation, when he appropriates that to Jesus Christ which the prophet evidently uttered of the first, the principal, and sovereign cause of the creation ; "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth ; and the heavens are the works of thine hands ;" an application which would be evidently false and incongruous if Jesus Christ were only the instrumental cause of the creation. The ob- servation on which they pretend to ground this distinction is equally futile ; I mean, that the Scripture says indeed the world 114 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VIII. was created by the Son, but not that the Son created the world. For, first, Paul says in express terms that the Son " laid the foundation of the earth ;" and though he had not said it, who sees not that the one expression is equivalent to the other, and that his words, " all things were created by the Son," are tanta- mount to his saying that the Son created all things? But if this form of speech proves that the Son is not the first and principal ef&cient of the creation, the same must be concluded also of the Father, as Paul, speaking of him, says, in like manner, all things are of him, and by him, and for him. But, secondly, what he says here oif Jesus Christ, " all things were created for him," further demonstrates, and most clearly, the same truth. For these words declare that the Son is the last and supreme end of the creation of things, a matter which pertains only to the principal cause, and not to the instrument it uses for the effecting of its work. It is indisputable that the true God is the ultimate end for which all things were created, that the glory of his divine excellencies might be manifested, so that he might be known and worthily served. This cannot be contested. As therefore it is for the Son that all things were created, it must be acknowledged that he is the true eternal God, as it is not possible that a creature should be the end for which all things were created. Thence the apostle concludes, in the third place, that Jesus Christ " is before all things." For as he created them all, he must necessarily have existed before they existed. And he expressly notices this, that none might suspect him of novelty, as if he had existed only since Moses, under the plea of his having not been manifested till the fulness of time. He is not only before Moses and Abraham, (as he speaks of himself in John, chap, viii.,) but before all things, from the beginning, before there was any thing created, " before the mountains were settled, and before the hills was I brought forth," as says Wisdom, that is, the Son himself, in the book of Proverbs, chap. viii. 25. But the apostle, after having thus given to the Lord Jesus the glory of creating all things, proceeds, fourthly, to attribute to him their preservation: " All things consist by him." This he elsewhere expresses in other terms, when he says that he " upholdeth all things by the word of his power," Heb. i. 3 ; that is, he preserves them by his providence, as he created them by his virtue ; their being, their life, and their motion, so depending on him, that when " he hides his face they are troubled," and utterly fail, and return to their dust, or their original nothingness, Psal. civ. 29. Here we have additional proof that he is the true God, the eterucil One, blessed for ever with the Father ; for this preservation of the universe is one of the highest and most incommunicable glories of the Deity. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 115 II. Let us now consider, in the second place, what are those things whose creation and conservation the apostle attributes to the Son of God : " All things were created by him, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers." He leaves not any creature, of the highest, or lowest, or inter- medial rank, without the reach of his assertion ; and for the enclosing of them all within it he makes use, first, of a division taken from their elements, I mean the places where their natural abode is, saying, "things in heaven, and things in earth." The Scripture often speaks of them in the same man- ner. As when we are forbidden, in the decalogue, to make a religious use of any image, or the likeness of anything what- ever: "Thou shalt not make to thyself," says the Lord, "any image, of things that are in heaven above, or in the earth be- neath, or in the waters under the earth." By " heaven," he means not only the vast region where we see the sun and the other luminaries ; but also paradise, the habitation of angels, and of the souls of men made perfect ; and this void space, where the fowls fly, and where are formed the showers, and the thunders, and the other meteors. By " earth," he means this whole globe in which we live, with the waters that ebb and flow. As there is then no creature that is not in one of these two places, he evidently comprises them all by saying the " things that are in heaven, and that are in earth." But he adds yet another division no less general, taken from the quality of the things themselves, which all are either visible, as the heavens, the elements, the plants, and the animals ; or in- visible, as the devils, and the angels, and the souls of men. And that none might imagine the good angels, by reason of the excellency of their admirable nature, were excepted from this number, the apostle makes the most express mention of them, reflecting on the false teachers thereby, who taught the worshipping of angels, as he will hereafter show. To refute this error, he ranks them by name among the things that were created by Jesus Christ, and that depend on him, and were made for him. For there is no doubt but they are the holy angels whom he here calls " thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers ;" and he uses these words so often in this sense as Eom. viii. 38 ; Eph. i. 21, and elsewhere, that I wonder not a little at some expositors who apply them to another subject. It is very probable that this diversity of names expresses a great diversity among the angels. Indeed, there are no crea- tures of this kind, in the whole universe, which have not amongst them an admirable variety ; that sovereign Wisdom which formed them having pleased to set forth the infinite riches of his power and understanding in the diversity of those ranks, qualities, and functions, by which he has distin- 116 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. VIII. guished things which are otherwise of a like, yea, of the same nature. To pass by the rest, who can reckon up the differ- ences of states, of conditions, of temperaments and inclinations, which are observed among men ? All of them have the same nature, none have the same form nor the same countenance. Doubtless there is something similar to this among the angels, and in their intellectual world there is some semblance of that variety which renders our visible one so beautiful and so marvellous. To express this diversity of their orders, the apostle uses the names of those degrees which are found in the states and polities of the world : there are "thrones," that is, monarchs and kings; "dominions," that is, dignities, which though very high, yet are beneath kings, as dukes and arch- dukes ; then " principalities," as the governors of cities and provinces ; and lastly, " powers," such as inferior magistrates are, whom the Latins, in the apostle's time, called by the very name that we read here, and it is yet in use among the people of Italy.* From this, in my opinion, it may be with reason concluded that there is a diversity of charges and ministries among the angels. If you ask me what are their orders, and how many, and what is the difference between them, and whether it consists in the qualities of their nature, or only in the employments God has given them, I am not ashamed freely to confess to you, with Augustine,t that I cannot tell ; the Scripture, which alone could inform us, having declared nothing about it. That which the Eoman schools chatter on this matter, of nine orders of the celestial hierarchy, is but the fancyings of a man of too much leisure, who amused himself to fashion it, as skilfully as he could, in imitation of some fond Jewish imaginations of like nature ; and, to give them the more weight, set them forth under the holy and venerable name of Dionysius the Areopagite. The impotent frothiness of his tumid style, his quirks, and his vanity, and his whole air, be- ing infinitely far from the gravity, modesty, and simplicity of a scholar of the apostles, sufficiently show that he is anything rather than what he affirms of himself; and indeed, long since, some testimonies urged out of his books by heretics have been rejected by the orthodox as apocryphal and uncertain, and such as were not written by St, Denys at all.:}: Laying aside, therefore, beloved brethren, the empty and vain authorities of human opinion, let us be satisfied with what the apostle has told us on this subject, and diligently seek to profit by his divine instructions. Let us learn from them, first, to adore the Lord Jesus as Creator of the universe, and to acknowledge by this work of his, * II podesta. f Enchirid. c. 58. X Ooncil. torn. 3, p. 855. Ep. Joan. Maronias Episc. A. C. 532. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 117 his true and eternal divinity. Let no objection or carnal diffi- culty, let no heretical subtilty, ever pluck up this sacred truth out of our hearts. Let us oppose the apostle's authority against all that men and devils can say or invent to the contrary. And let us constantly admire the goodness and the wisdom of the Father, who gave us such a Saviour as our necessitA'- required. For none was able to recover us but he who first made us, and the hand alone which created us could restore us to that blessed state whence we had fallen by sin. And as God has given us him for Mediator and Prince of our salvation, whom this great frame had for its Creator, let us embrace him with a firm belief. Let us delight in his fulness, and regard none beside him in heaven or in earth. However sublime their na- ture and their dignity, the angels, after all, are but creatures ; not to speak of men, who, beside the infirmity of their being, were all conceived in sin. But it is not enough to confess that the Lord Jesus is the Creator of all things, and to acknowledge him for our only Saviour and Mediator; this faith must work and bring forth fruit in us ; it must spread itself into all parts of our life, must sanctify our affections and actions, arm us against all the temptations of the enemy, comfort us in affliction, and assure us against every fear. For as Jesus created this grand universe, as thrones and dominions are the work of his hands, as it is by his providence that this all subsists in its present state; who sees not with what devotion we should serve so puissant a Monarch ? This earth that bears you, this air that you breathe, these heavens that shine on you, these plants and these ani- mals that nourish or refresh you, and these celestial powers which encamp about you ; all these things are productions of his power and presents from his bounty. In like manner, your own nature, this body so skilfully composed, and that soul which enlivens it, are works of his providence, which neither were created, nor do now subsist, but by him. Is it not reasonable that you should consecrate to his glory what you hold only from his grace? Remember also what the apostle adds, that as all things were created by him, so they were made for him. Do not frustrate your Creator of his intentions. Live for his glory, as it was for that you were created. For if the heavens, and the elements, and the winds, and the meteors, and the plants, things deaf, and dumb, and inanimate, preach and celebrate the wonders of their Lord, all of them obeying his voice, and faithfully serving his designs ; what will our ingratitude be, if, with these senses and this excellent reason he has given us, we alone of all his creatures should cross his counsels and dishonour his name, instead of glorifying it ! The glory he requires of us is only that we walk in his commandments ; that we abound in good and holy 118 AN EXPOSITION" OF [SERM. IX. works ; that we depart from all evil, and live in sucH manner as may oblige our neighbours to acknowledge that this Jesus whom we serve is truly a great God. Let us then faithfully acquit ourselves of these duties, and assure ourselves that if we advance his glory, he will provide for our bliss, and guard us from all that opposes it. For as all things, celestial and terrestrial, visible and invisible, were created, and do still sub- sist, by him, nothing in the whole world should make us afraid. All the armies of heaven, of the elements, and of na- ture, are in our Master's pay, and neither war nor work, but for his interests and by his order. These very thrones, these principalities, these powers and these dominions, which he has exalted above all his other creatures, do not employ the might and the glory of their nature but for him and for those who fear him. They are ministering spirits, sent forth to serve for their sakes who shall receive the inheritance of salva- tion. They keep us in all our ways. They defend us in life, they assist us at death, and convey us up into the bosom of our true Abraham. Let us live in confidence under the pro- tection of so good and so great a Lord, that we may one day receive at his hand a most blissful immortality, the great and last donative of his benignity. To him, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the true God, blessed over all things, be for ever honour, glory, and praise. Amen SERMON IX. VERSE 18. And he is the head of the hody^ the church : who is the heginning, the first-horn from the dead ; that in all things he might have the 'pre-eminence. It is not without just cause, beloved brethren, that, speaking of the union of Jesus Christ and his church, Avhich was re- presented at the beginning of the world by the marriage of Adam and Eve, the apostle Paul affirms it to be a great secret, Eph. V. 32. For truly there is nothing in this mystery, what- ever view you take of it, but what is most grand and worthy of the admiration of men and angels. First, if you regard the thing itself, is it not wonderful, astonishing, and unheard of in the world, that the Creator should unite himself with the creature — the Lord of glory with worms — the King of heaven with dust and ashes — the Saint of saints with sinners ? Then CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 119 again consider the foundation of this union ; what can be con- ceived of more ecstatic than the birth and the death of the Son of God, on which this divine alliance was contracted ? this mystical Spouse having had so vehement a passion for the church, that to make her his own he made himself a man like us, and poured out his blood upon a cross ! Contemplate the nature of this union ; it is so strict and intimate, that it per- fectly commingles the parties whom it unites, and makes them only one body, one flesh, and one spirit ; combining their per- sons and their affairs, and in such manner identifying their interests, that Jesus Christ is wholly his church's, and the church wholly her Christ's. The firmness of this union is no less admirable, being such that all the powers of earth, of hell, or of heaven, are not able to dissolve it ; and while nature has bound nothing in the whole universe, that time does not in the end separate, innumerable ages will never dissolve, as they roll on, the sacred ties of this eternal union of the church with her Lord, either in this world or that which is to come. Finally, behold its effects ; what can be mentioned more glo- rious and beneficial than the fruits which it produces ? It fills our understanding with light ; it purifies our affections ; it sanctifies our hearts ; it keeps the peace of God in them ; it changes slaves of devils into children of the Most High; it transforms earth into heaven ; and instead of that death and curse which we deserved, it gives us eternity and glory. From this only flow all those divine graces which we enjoy in this world, and all the advantages and felicities we hope for in the other. No wonder therefore that the Scripture employs so many different similitudes to figure out to us so excellent and so rich a subject ; no one being by itself suflSciently perfect to represent us all the wonders of it. For this cause it borrows all the unions that nature, or art, or human society affords us, to express this one union : comparing it sometimes to the union of a vine with its branches, or of an olive with the scions that are grafted on its stock ; sometimes to that of a foundation with the building which it sustains, or of a corner- stone with the two walls which it binds together; at other times to the conjunction of a prince with his subjects, or of an elder brother with the younger, or of a husband with his wife. But, my brethren, among all these sacred pictures of our union with the Lord, none are more expressive, or more simple and beautiful, than the two similitudes which the Lord now sets before you ; the one in those words of his apostle which we have read to you, and the other on that sacred table whither you are invited to the feast of his Lamb. The first is drawn from the natural union of the head with its members ; and the second, from the union of bread and drink with the bodies 120 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. IX. which they nourish. According to the one, Christ is our Head, and we are his body. According to the other, he is called our bread, our meat, and our drink, and we the creatures whom he feeds and quickens. And though in other respects these two images are very dissimilar, yet in this particular they agree, that they excellently represent to us both our union with the Lord, and the life which is thence derived to us ; for it is evident that the head and food give life, though in dif- ferent manners, to the bodies with which they are united. This has induced me to believe that the meditation of this text will be suitable for the service of the holy supper, for which we are now preparing ; since for the main it sets before our eyes, though under a different figure, that same mystery of our union with the Lord which is represented and commu- nicated to us at his holy table. For to accomplish his design, and fully show us the infinite excellence and dignity of Jesus Christ our Saviour, the apostle, after he has told us what he is in regard of the Father, namely, " the image of the invisible God," and what in regard of the works of the first creation, that is, " the first-born," or the Prince and Master, of all the creatures, as having created them all, made and formed them, from the very lowest of them to the highest, considers him, finally, in regard of the new creatures, that is to say, the church ; and informs us that he is the Head thereof, and the church is his body ; and, for the greater illustration of it, adds, that he is " the beginning, and the first-born from the dead," whence he deduces this conclusion, that so he has "the pre-eminence in all things." These are the three points which we purpose, the grace of God assisting, to treat of in this discourse, for the exposition of this text and your edifi- cation. The first, that Jesus Christ is " the head of the body, the church ;" the second, that he is " the beginning and the first-born from the dead ;" and the third and last, that he has "in all things the pre-eminence." I. As for the first of these three points, it is not only here that the apostle calls Jesus Christ the " head of the church." He uses the same language in divers other places of his Epistles, as in that addressed to the Ephesians, where he says that the Father hath set his Son above all things, "to be head of the church, which is his body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all," Eph. i. 22, 23 ; and again, that " Christ is the head, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love," Eph. iv. 15, 16. And a few verses after our text, we find him repeating that " the church is the body of Christ;" and in the First Epistle to the Corinthians speaking to believers, " ye are," says he, " the CHAP. I,] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 121 body of Christ, and members in particular," 1 Cor. xii. 27. In- deed, it is a figure very common in all languages, to call him the head of a society who guides and governs it, or who, at least, possesses the first place in it ; as you see that every one calls a king the head of his estate, and a general the head of the army that he commands, and those the heads of their regi- ments or companies who conduct them. Hence is derived our common word captain, which signifies nothing else but the head. The master of a household is in like manner termed the head of it, and so in all other societies of whatever nature. But this manner of speaking is exceedingly familiar with the He- brews, as you may see in very many places of the Old Testa- ment, where everything that has the first place, whether for its authority or for its excellence, or even for its birth, and mere precedency in time, is called the head of other things of the same kind. And the reason of this figure is evident. For the head standing highest of all the parts of the body of man, and having the conduct of it, because it is the seat of the eyes, and other senses, on which depends the directing of our life ; the word is very justly used to express, by way of similitude, what- ever holds the first place in any society, and consequently has, in this respect, a manifest resemblance to the head, properly so called. It is not therefore strange that this holy apostle makes use of this figure to express the superiority, the dignity, and imperial power which Jesus Christ has over the church, saying that he is its Head. And certainly, if there is a superior in the whole universe, who may and ought to be called head of the society which is under him, Jesus Christ merits it in- finitely beyond any other, for in no other do there conspire the same abundant reasons and respects which are necessary to confirm this appellation as in him. For all the qualities, ac- tions, and functions proper to the head of the body of man, which give it its name and dignity, Jesus Christ possesses and exercises much more nobly and magnificently than any general does in reference to his army, or any monarch in reference to his state. The first and most known service which the head performs for the members, is to direct and guide them in their operations, and govern their motion and their rest by the light of its eyes, and the perceptions of its other senses. Now princes and cap- tains have some shadow of this perfection, in that they observe and reconnoitre those things that concern the communities they govern, watching, and viewing, and scenting afar off what- ever respects their interests; their people, in mean time, quietly labouring each of them in his own employment. But Jesus Christ doth these offices to his church much better, and more perfectly. For all the light of this mystical body resides in him. He considers not only its interests in general, but knows 16 122 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IX. all that concerns the least of his members. " He never slum- bereth nor sleepeth." His eyes and senses are always open. He sees all the parts of this his state, and discerns the posture and disposition of all, whether its friends or foes, whether nearer hand or further off. He carefully preserves it by his provi- dence, and so prudently governs it, that there is no danger from which he does not deliver it, nor any dif&culty but he surmounts it. It is he who conducts his people's wars, over- rules their battles, dispenses their truces, and will one day give them an entire and eternal peace. The second duty which the head performs to the body, is that of infusing into all its members impulse and sensation by means of the animal spirits, which, issuing thence, spread them- selves through the whole body, flowing in the nerves as in so many channels which nature has cut out and laid forth for the maintenance of this communication. And I acknowledge that the authority and privileges which a prince distributes into all the parts of his state, causing his subjects, according to what they individually receive, to pursue various occupations ; I say, this very strongly resembles the way in which the head governs the body. But it is far inferior to what we find in the conduct of the Lord Jesus towards his church. For he en- livens all its members, from the greatest even to the least ; and gives them not power and authority only as princes give their subjects, but the very strength and ability to act, communicating to each of his faithful ones such a measure of his Spirit as is necessary for sensation and motion, and all the other functions of heavenly life, as Paul teaches us in the Epistle to the Ephe- sians, chap, iv., and more at large in the First to the Corinth- ians, chap. xii. Moreover, the head hath this advantage above the rest of the body, that it is more exquisitely constituted and attempered than the other members, according to the rule which nature prudently observes in general, that is, to frame those things best which are designed for the most eminent purposes. Kings and captains deserve also the name of heads in this respect, their dignity being very elevated above their subjects. But their advantage in this particular is nothing in comparison of that which Jesus Christ has above his church; not only by his being incomparably more holy, more wise, and more powerful than any of all the faithful ; but especially, in that he is God blessed for ever. Finally, as you see the head is placed highest in the body of man, this situation being necessary for its commodious exer- cise of the functions of its government ; a thing that kings and princes imitate, dwelling ordinarily in palaces, sitting on thrones, raised above the houses and seats of their subjects : so Jesus Christ has this advantage, but in a far greater degree ; CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 123' for lie sits on high in the heavens, on the throne of God, above the whole church, both militant and triumphant. And if he conversed of old on the earth, that was only for awhile, and by dispensation for the good of his body, which obliged him to do it ; even as the head sometimes bows down itself, when the ne- cessity of any of its members requires it. But the proper and natural place of Jesus Christ is that lofty sanctuary of immor- tality, where he now appears in highest glory ; thence govern- ing by his Spirit all the parts of this mystical body, the church, both those which are in heaven, and those which are yet on earth. Thus, my brethren, you see wherein this dignity of our Lord Jesus consists, and with how much reason Paul expresses it here and elsewhere, by saying that "he is the head of the church." Whence evidently follows what the apostle expressly says, that the church is the body of Christ. For if Jesus Christ is called the Head thereof, for having and exercising towards it all the functions and prerogatives of a natural head towards its mem- bers, then certainly the church must also be called his body ; as this whole divine society depends on Jesus Christ, and re- ceives of him all the light, all the aptitude, all the sense and motion, that it possesses. This doctrine of the apostle leads us to the consideration of various things before we pass any further. First, by laying down this proposition, that Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, he opportunely fortifies the Colossians against that error which hereafter we shall find him expressly opposing, the error of those that would subject believers to angels and to Moses, introducing into the church the worshipping of the one, and the pedagogy of the other. For as the Son of God is the head of this sacred society, who sees not that it ought to depend on him alone ? that it is to him it owes its obedi- ence and service, and from him it ought to receive its disci- pline and guidance ? But it must also be observed, that the apostle gives this title to Jesus Christ with a design to glorify him, enrolling it among the other praises of his sovereign dignity. Indeed, as the church is the most divine society in the world, as it is a company of kings, of priests, and of prophets, the assembly of the first-fruits of the creatures, and a new world, much more excellent than the old, a world im- mortal and incorruptible, it is evident that to be its Head is a dignity more sublime than to have been the Creator and Prince of the original universe. Whereby you see, moreover, how unjust (to say no more) is the temerity of those who give this name to another beside Jesus Christ, acknowledging a mortal man for the true head of the universal church. Let them colour this outrage as they please, they will not be able to justify it. This is evidently to despoil Jesus Christ of his 124 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IX. royal robe, and to take the diadem from him, which none but he can bear. They allege that the Scripture communicates to others, as well as to Jesus Christ, the names of pastor, of priest, and of teacher, and of light, and various others. It is true ; but it never gives that of " head of the church" to any but him. And the difference of these titles is evident, the former signifying charges whereof the faithful exercise some portion and some shadow, whereas that of " head of the church" signifies the supremacy which is incommunicable to any other but the Son of God. As you see that in a state the names of prince, and of governor, and captain, and others of like sort, are not given to the king only, they pertain to others also ; but no other may be called the sovereign, or the head of the state, besides him, without incurring the guilt of sacrilege or treason. Yet they endeavour to excuse themselves, and say they make the pope only the ministerial and subordinate head, not an essential and sovereign one. But this is nothing but words arising from their interest, and not founded in the truth of things. There is no prince wlio would be satisfied with such language, if any one of his subjects, making himself the head and monarch of his state, were to allege in excuse that he had no other intention than to pass for a ministerial head. In the nature of men, whence this similitude is taken, we see no bodies that have two heads of a different rank ; and if any such be found at any time, they are accounted monsters, which cannot be said of the church, the most perfect master-piece of all the works of God. In a word, it is not enough to say that the pope is the ministerial head of the church, it must be proved. We plainly read in Scripture that Jesus Christ is " head of the church." Let us believe it, and adore him under that title. But that there is another head in the church, whether visible or invisible, whether ministerial or sovereign, of this we meet with nothing whatever in the writings of the apostles, not to say that we meet there with many things in- compatible with such a doctrine. " Faith cometh by hear- ing, and hearing by the word of God." Permit us then to suspend our believing this other pretended head of the church, as we hear nothing of it in the word of God. But that which the apostle adds, namely, that the church is the body of Christ, demonstrates that none but Christ is the Head of it. For if the pope, for example, were head of it, the universal church would be the pope's body, as it is the Lord's. But where is the christian ear that that doth not tingle at language so strange, so unheard of, and so profane ? And so we see, however ve- hement and inordinate has been the desire of men for this title of " head of the church," no man has ever hitherto called the church his " body ;" every one confessing that it is not the body of any one except Jesus Christ. On a similar principle, CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 125 thej should grant that no one is its head but he, for it cannot have any one for its head but him whose body it is. I request you to observe, in the next place, in opposition to another error of our adversaries, that Christ's being " head of the church" does not at all prove that there is a corporal connection between the church and him, or that the bodies of the faithful are properly and substantially joined to him, as the members of a natural body are joined to their head. Every one admits that this must be understood figuratively and spiritually, and as all men usually take other expressions by which our union with the Lord is represented ; as when he is called the foundation of the church, the corner-stone, the vine-stock of believers, and their raiment. No one concludes from these passages, that our bodies must really touch his substance. Why then will they infer it from other places where, to set forth the same mystery, it is said that he is our bread, our meat, and our drink ? If he is our head, if he is our raiment, if he governs and clothes us, without touching our bodies with his, why may not he be our bread, and nourish us, without actually entering into our bodily throat and stomach ? If the one is spiritually and figuratively understood, why will you force me to understand the other corporally and literally ? I say the same on the apostle's ex- press declaration, that the church is the body of Christ. Our adversaries do not deduce from this any transubstantiation ; and they confess that to maintain the truth of these words there is no need that either the church should lose its own sub- stance and nature, or be really changed into the substance of the body of Christ. Nevertheless, they pertinaciously insist that where the gospel calls the bread which our Lord took, his body, there a real and literal transubstantiation of the nature of the bread into that of the body of Christ is implied. As if it were not rational and easy to say that the bread, as well as the church, is figuratively and spiritually the body of Christ. If they admit this sense in one of these places, why do they reject it in the other, where the nature of things them- selves and the truth of heavenly doctrine no less necessarily require it. In fine, not to make any longer stay here, Paul clears up to us, in two words, another question which Eoman zeal has so horribly perplexed in these latter times, namely, What is the nature and the true definition of the church ? The church is, saith he, the body of Christ. These two words overthrow all the philosophizing of our adversaries on this subject, in order to contract or enlarge the communion of the church beyond what is proper. I say contracting, for they permit none to possess this name but those who acknowledge the bishop of Rome ; whereas Paul gives it to all who belong to Jesus 126 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. IX. Christ, and have his Spirit, for of such there is no one who does not belong to his body, and consequently to his church, wherever he lives, and whoever are his pastors. I say also enlarging it ; for these doctors, who are so severe on the one hand, that they give the name of the church only to the Koman communion, are so lax and so very indulgent on the other, that they freely impart it to the most debauched and profane hypocrites, provided they attach themselves to their pope; not requiring, as they affirm,* any interior virtue in them to be members of the true church, but only an exterior profession of the Koman belief and communion. But Paul anathematizes this no less impious than extravagant doctrine, by saying that the church is the body of Christ. For no one can be of his body without being quickened by his Spirit. " He that hath not the Spirit of Christ," says the same apostle elsewhere, " is none of his." Eom. viii. 9. Certainly then it is not that the profane or hypocritical are parts of the church. There is no communion between Christ and Belial. The body and the members of the one cannot be the body and members of the other. Because the church is the body of Christ, it must of necessity be concluded that these people, of whom our adversaries compose their church, which on their own ad- mission have not any piety or internal virtue, and consequently are members of Belial, may very well be, since they will have it so, true members of the Eoman, but assuredly not of the christian church ; and if the pope owns them for his sheep, we are very certain that the Lord Jesus will never avouch them for his. II, But it is time to notice, in the second place, the two other titles which the apostle here gives to our Lord Jesus Christ, namely, that he is "the beginning," or the principle, and " the first-born from the dead." Even as when he had said before that Jesus Christ is " the first-born," that is, the Lord " of every creature," he at once assigned this reason for it, that all things were created by him. In like manner now, having said that he is " the head of the church," he establishes this truth on his being the author of the church, he that formed and constituted it ; and the Prince of this new generation, he that will give it its true and utmost perfection of being. For the word which we have rendered "the beginning," signifies also the principle, that is to say, the cause and origin of a thing; and "first-born" denotes both him who is born before the rest, and him who is the master or the prince of the rest ; he says therefore, first, that the Lord Jesus is " the begin- ning," or the principle. Certainly this belongs to him on account of the first creation, as he is the author of it, the Word * Bellarm. 3. de Eccles. milit. c. 2. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 127 and Wisdom which produced the universe ; and it may be in this sense that he calls himself, in the Apocalypse, " the begin- ning of the creation of God," Eev. iii. 14 ; and elsewhere in the same book, " Alpha and Om.ega, the beginning and the end," Eev. i. 8 ; xxi. 6 ; xxii. 13, But as these words relate to the church and the resurrection, the word " beginning" must be restrained to them, and we are here precisely to understand by it that he is the beginning of this second work of God. Jesus Christ, the eternal Wisdom, may say in respect of this second creation, as of the first, that the Father " possessed him in the beginning of his ways ;" and that it is the same wisdom that projected, prepared, and executed all this great design of the renovation of the world. First, then, it is the Son of God, who, interposing at the be- ginning in the counsel of the Father, took upon him the ex- piating of sin, without which it was not possible to found this second universe; and though he actually did it not, till the fulness of time, yet his engaging his word for it being then accepted of the Father, it had as much efficacy as if the thing itself had been immediately executed ; which makes the apos- tle elsewhere say that " Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to- day, and for ever." He has always the same efficacy, as well before as after his manifestation. Without this, not a man could have been called into the state of grace. Therefore Paul says, in another place, that God hath chosen us in Christ, Eph. i. 4 ; considering him as the foundation of our election, because out of him there could not be salvation or happiness for any one of us. He is therefore truly the beginning of this work, as his merit is the foundation of the counsel God has taken to plan and form it ; as Peter also observes, when speak- ing of the redemption wrought by the blood of the Lamb, he says expressly that he " was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world," 1 Pet, i. 20. But beside the merit of his cross, which was ever present in the counsel of God, he is also " the beginning," or the principle, of the church another way, for, by the operation and efficacy of his power he has called to God all believers that ever were. It is he who brought Abra- ham out of Chaldea ; it is he who appeared to the patriarchs, and who led Israel in the desert, and who inspired the pro- phets. Whence it is that David calls him his Lord, Psal. ex. 1, He builded and kept up that whole ancient church, as well as the latter, by the virtue of his word and Spirit. But he is again the beginning of the church, in the quality of an exem- plar and causal pattern ; all the faithful of every age having been, as it were, cast into his mould, as the apostle teaches in the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Eomans ; " Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." And it is to no purpose to object, that this 128 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IX. cannot be said of that time, when lie had not yet assumed that human nature, tempted on earth and crowned in heaven, unto which we are conformed. For to this I answer, first, that though that nature was not really yet in being, it is enough that its idea and image were in the mind of God, for the assim- ilating and conforming his work to it. This suffices to show that he is the beginning and principle of it. But I adjoin, in the second place, that this work of the church may be considered two ways : either in its beginnings, while being formed ; or in its perfection, as finished, when it shall have received all the touches requisite to give it the high- est degree of excellence, in which it must abide. I avow that the church, under the first consideration, had its being before the Son of God was made man and raised up to heaven. But if you take it under the second, it is evident that in this respect he is truly the beginning of this divine work; for no one was perfect before him. He is, if I may so say, the first piece fully ended that ever came out of the Father's hand and his own. No one of the rest is absolutely completed. Their bodies are yet under the power of death, the last of our ene- mies. Christ is the only one that has altogether broken its bonds, and raised up his body from the grave, and clothed it with a glorious immortality. He is the first man of the new world that the universe ever saw, and in him has been shown us the true form of that second nature which we hope for in the time to come, but which no one has, or shall have at the present, save Jesus Christ. This seems to be the strict mean- ing of the apostle here, when he calls him "the beginning," or principle, because he adds, "the first-born from the dead;" which words, as you see, evidently correspond with this sense. John also gives this title to the Lord : " Grace be unto you, and peace from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first-begotten of the dead," Eev. i. 5. And Paul illustrates this expression elsewhere, saying to the same purpose, that Jesus Christ being raised from the dead, was "become the first-fruits of them that sleep." And a little after. In Jesus Christ shall all be made alive; "but every man in his own order : Christ the first-fruits ; afterwards, they that are Christ's," 1 Cor. XV. 20, 22, 23. And in the Acts he saith, it was neces- sary that Christ should be the first to rise from the dead, that he might show light to the people. Acts xxvi. 23. From all these places it sufficiently appears what the apostle signifies when he saith that Jesus Christ is " the beginning, and the first-born from the dead," namely, that he is the first of all mankind who was raised from the state of the dead, and set- tled in glorious immortality, that he is the first ear of this blessed harvest, that was carried up into the sanctuary, and offered in due season to the eternal Father, until the rest bo- CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 129 come ripe. This truth is thoroughly evident. For of what other man but the Lord Jesus was it ever heard say that he arose from the dead, and ascended into heaven ? I know the Scriptures tell us of some dead who were raised before the re- surrection of the Lord, but this does not at all deprive him of the glory which the apostle here gives him. For though I might allege that those persons were raised from the grave, not by their own power and virtue, as Jesus Christ, but by the touching or prayer of Elijah and Elisha, and by God's com- mand, I say that the resurrection which Paul understands is the rising again to glory and immortality. It is a being born again, not to the former life, which is terrene and fading, but to the other, which is celestial and incorruptible. Who seeth not that in this respect there never was any one raised again, except the Lord Jesus alone ? For the son of the Shunam- mite, Lazarus, and others of similar constitution, at their com- ing forth from the grave, reassumed the same natural and perishing life which they had laid down, a life subject to the same infirmities, and to the same necessity of dying ; and, in- deed, they died after they had lived again awhile. Their death was rather deferred than abolished. Their bodies corrupted and, in the end, returned to that dust from which they were preserved for some years. But with Jesus Christ it was not so. He, in coming forth from the dead, retook not the life he had quitted, that is, the life of the first Adam, that infirm, na- tural, and earthly life, a life still subject to death. He left it in the sepulchre, where it must remain, as in eternal oblivion. He put on a new life and nature, such as is spiritual and celes- tial, as the apostle elsewhere describes it ; a life full of strength and glory ; not subject either to the use of meat or sleep ; not subject to dolour or death ; a life appropriate to the second world, and not to the first ; a nature peculiar to the future age, not to the present. Accordingly, you see, that being invested therewith, he remained not on the earth ; this is the old Adam's element, the habitation of corruption and death ; but having only sojourned there forty days, as long as was needful to assure his apostles of the truth of his resurrec- tion, and to show them, in his own person, the first-fruits of the mystical Canaan, he ascended up above the heavens, to the true element of the new man, and the sanctuary of eternity. We conclude, then, that he is truly " the beginning, and the first-born from the dead," since he is the first of all the dead that was born and raised again in incorruption. But these ti- tles signify yet another thing, namely, that it is he who shall raise again all the members of the church in like glory ; that he is the Master and the Lord of the dead, for investing them one day in their order with a nature resembling his own, ac- cording to what Paul says, that he will fashion our vile body 17 130 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IS. "like unto his own glorious body," Phil. iii. 21. For he would not be " the first-born from the dead," if he did not com- municate the privilege and the possession of this second birth to all his brethren, that is to say, to all the faithful. The apostle adds, in the third place, " that in all things he might have the pre-eminence." Those who are well versed in the reading of these divine books, know the word " that " is often put in them for " so as that," or " in such a manner as ;" to signify the event and consequence of an action, rather than the intention or design of the agent: I presume it must be so taken in this place. For the intention of our Lord in being made Head of the church, and the beginning of the new life, was rather to save us and glorify his Father, than to obtain for himself the pre-eminence. Yet true it is that such was the success of his undertaking, that he actually has the pre-emi- nence in all things. For there are but two sorts of things, one of those which pertain to the first world and its creation, the other of those which are of the second world and of the re- generation. Christ, therefore, being already the Master and Creator of the former, it is evident that, having been also established Head of the church, (which is the state that con- sists of the latter,) and the beginning, and first-born of the re- surrection of the dead, he obtains, by this means, the pre-emi- nence in all things ; that is to say, both in those of the first creation, of which he is the Author, and in those of the second, of which he is the Head. This is the conclusion which the apostle deduces from his whole preceding discourse: there he said that the Lord is " the image of the invisible God, the first- born of every creature," the Creator of the elements and the angels ; and moreover the Head of the church, the principle and the first-fruits of the new creation ; now he adds, "that in all things he might have the pre-eminence." This, as it ap- pears to me from hence, being clear enough, there is no neces- sity that we should dwell any longer upon the exposition of this text. To conclude, it remains that we briefly touch upon the duties to which the doctrine of the apostle obliges us, and the com- forts which it affords us. Jesus Christ "is the head of the body, the church." These few words, if we meditate on them as we ought, will teach us all what we owe of obedience to the Lord, of charity to our brethren, and of care and respect to ourselves. As for the Lord, since he has vouchsafed to be- come our Head, it is evident we ought to honour him with the utmost devotion and submit all the actions of our life to his direction. See with what promptitude the body obeys the head, and with how absolute a submission it follows all its vo- litions. The body neither stirs nor rests but as the head orders. It depends entirely on its guidance, and never crosses its orders CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSI ANS. 131 or resists its commands. The head has no sooner conceived a thing, but the spirits immediately present themselves at the place it desires, and each of the members employs all its vigour and strength to execute its will. This is an image of that obedience which the Lord, our mystical head, demands of us; and this is that which the apostle means when he saith that the church is subject to him, Eph. v. 24. In vain therefore they boast themselves to be the church, who act contrary to what the Lord ordains, who are subject to another beside him, and instead of his orders follow the will of a mortal man ; owning another head, adoring another oracle, and keeping what he has forbidden. Blessed be his name that he has taught us to dis- claim their error, and to hang all our religion upon his sacred lips; believing only that truth which he has revealed to us in his gospel, and engraven in our hearts by his Spirit. But what will it profit us to follow him in our faith, if we resist him in our manners ? How can he avouch for his church a body subject to mammon, to pleasure, to ambition, and other idols of the world — a body wholly bended down to the earth, whereas this Divine Head is exalted above the heavens ? Dear brethren, let us not deceive ourselves. We cannot be the church of Christ except we are his body, and we cannot be his body except we depend absolutely on him; except we cast out of our members the spirit of the flesh and of the world, and take in his Spirit, to follow its light, and obey its movings. Hence- forth then let us so regulate our life that it does not contradict our profession. Let the Lord Jesus be truly our Head ; let him be still above us; let him preside in all our designs, let him conduct our steps, let him govern our actions, and inspire all the sentiments we have. Let there appear nothing in our words, in our affections, or our works, but what is his. But this lesson of the apostle no less recommends to us charity towards our neighbour than submission towards Jesus Christ. For since the church is a body, and even the body of Christ, that is, the fairest and most perfect body in the world, judge ye, what ought to be the union and the love of all the faithful who compose it ? Look upon the body of man, from which this resemblance is taken ; how great is the zeal of all the parts for the conservation of the whole! how they love it, and conspire for its good ! how they act and suffer all things, and each in its rank exposes his life and being for it! Such, ye faithful, ought to be your affection for the church, this di- vine body of the Lord, whereof you are members. Its peace, its preservation, and its glory, should be the object of your highest and most urgent desires. There is nothing that should not be cheerfully employed in so noble a design. \Voe to them that feel not the wounds of this sacred body, that are not affected with its bruises, and look upon the breaches of it unmoved; 132 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. IX. who are so far from groaning at them, and endeavouring to re- pair them, that they inflict more, rending with extreme impiety and inhumanity the most innocent body in the world, and most beloved of God, the body of his Son, which he hath redeemed at the price of his own blood I But besides the affection we ought to have for the church in general, this similitude teaches us also to love ardently each of the faithful in particular. Paul treats of this expressly in 1 Cor. xii. 25 — 27: There is no division in the body ; the mem- bers have a mutual care one for another ; and if one of the members suffer anything, all the members suffer with it ; or if one of the members be honoured, all the members rejoice to- gether in it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and his members, each one on his part. 0 God ! how great would be our happi- ness and our glory, if the union and concord of our flock an- swered this beautiful and glowing picture; if, knit together by a holy and inviolable love, and having but one heart and one soul, as we have but one Head, we amiably conversed together, tenderly resenting the good and evil of each other, and each of us exerting his power to preserve and increase the good of our brethren and to comfort and cure their evils! But, alas! in- stead of this sweet and grateful spectacle, which would ravish heaven and earth, we behold little among us but quarrels, and coldness, and hatred, and animosities. The welfare of our bre- thren displeases us, and their adversity does not afflict us. The former raises our envy, and the latter stirs not our compassion. Vanity and self-love make us either disdain or hate all others. There are no bonds which our fierceness does not break, it equally violates both those of nature and those of grace. Is this that great name, the body of Christ, by which we glory to be called? Christ is nothing but sweetness and love. He has laid down his life for his enemies. How are we his, ive that hate and persecute our brethren ? And how are we his body, since we rend one another? Were ever the members of the same body seen at war together, the hand assaulting the foot, and the teeth falling on the hand? If such a thing appear, is it not regarded as the effect of extreme rage, or as a horrible prodigy? Oh! how ordinary is this rage and this prodigy among us, who, being members of the same body, and (which infinitely augments our shame) of the body of Christ, the Saviour of the world, have yet no horror at biting and con- suming one another, as if we were a herd of cannibals, and not the flock of the Lord Jesus ! I well know that none of us want plausible reasons to palliate our faults, passion itself making us witty in the defence of this bad cause. But let our own conscience be our judge, let it remember it has to do with Jesus Christ and not with men ; if it beguile us, it cannot deceive God. Renounce we then unfeignedly all this kind of vices, CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSI ANS. 133 and cordially loving our brethren, succouring the afflicted, assisting the poor, comforting the sick, and living in concord with all, let us truly be, as we say we are, the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. This peculiarly the bread and the wine of our Lord, the sacred emblems of our mystical union, require of us ; they remind us, as the apostle represents it, that we are but one bread and one body, 1 Cor. x. Finally, this doctrine further shows us with what purity and sanctity we ought to keep our own persons, since all being the body of Christ, we are each one members of hira. Against every arrow of temptation that sin shall let fly at us, let us take up this consideration for our succour ; say, Shall I take the members of Christ to make them members of Satan ? Shall I defile that body in the filth of incontinency, drunkenness, or any other kind of debauch, which the Son of God has cleansed with his blood, which he has united and joined to himself, and of which he is become the Head ? Far be it from me to com- mit so vile a deed. It is thus, my brethren, that we ought to regulate our whole life, that we may be truly the body of Christ. And doubt not, if we be so, this Divine Head will love us and tenderly preserve us. For no one ever yet hated his own flesh. He will feed us, and set us at his own table, and give us the bread and wine of heaven ; and after the combats and trials of this life, will clothe us with his own glory and immortality, as being "the first-born from the dead." To him, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the true God, blessed for ever, be honour and glory to ages of ages. Amen. SERMON X, VEESES 19, 20. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness divell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to re- concile all things unto himself ; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. As in the frame of nature God has appointed only one great light, namely, the sun, and has united in the body of this ad- mirable luminary all the brightness spread through the uni- verse, that it might enlighten the heavens and the earth, and that from it, as from a common source, all the light and warmth which all things receive might stream forth ; so likewise in the kingdom of grace, the same God has given us only one Jesus Christ, the true Sun of righteousness, whom he has filled 134 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. X. witli all the treasures of wisdom and life, that he might be an exceeding, abundant and inexhaustible fountain of joy and im- mortality ; whence are diffused upon all the parts of the new world, which is created in righteousness and in holiness, all the spiritual perfections and blessings it possesses. This is that heavenly doctrine, dear brethren, which the apostle teaches us in the text you have now heard ; where, speaking of the Lord Jesus, he saith, " it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." He represented to us in the former words the excellency of the person of the Lord Jesus, that he is "the image of God," the Lord and the Creator of all things, visible and invisible; then next his dignity, that he is "the Head of the church, the beginning, and the first-born from the dead;" concluding that he has the pre-eminence in all things. The apostle now produces the reason of it, taken from the decree and will of the eternal Father : " For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." And that we might discern the wisdom of the Father in the disposal of this fulness, he sets before us, in the words following, the work, to accomplish which he designed and sent his Son ; a work so great and so wonder- ful, that it is evident without this fulness, which he caused to dwell in him, it was not possible it should be perfected. For by him he purposed to reconcile, and actually did reconcile, all things to himself, those that are in heaven, as well as those that are in earth. And for the more full discovery of the greatness of this divine master-piece, he touches also the means by which it was accomplished, namely, peace, which he made by the blood of his Son's cross. It was not possible to reunite heaven and earth, and reconcile these parts of the universe, that were divided each from other, but by making peace, by extinguishing their hate, and removing the cause of their en- mities. Neither was it possible to procure this peace other- wise than by the shedding of divine blood, and the offering up a sacrifice of infinite worth, and by the intervention of a Medi- ator, who should have in him all the perfections and excellences of the parties who were to be reconciled. The greatness of the work shows us the quality of the means requisite to finish it ; and the quality of the means regulates the faculties and nature of the person necessary to perform it. To reconcile earthly and heavenly things in God, there was need to make peace ; to make peace, there was need of a blood and a sacrifice of infinite value; to offer such a sacrifice, there was need of a person in whom all fulness dwelt; that is, who had in him fully and perfectly all the graces and excellences of heaven and earth. Certainly, then, it was an order highly reasonable, and most worthy of the divine wisdom of the Father, to make all fulness dwell in his Christ for the reconciling of heaven and earth, by making peace through the blood of liis cross. That we may CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 135 have a fuller view of it, for his glory and our own consolation, we will consider, by his grace, in this sermon, those three points which are distinctly proposed us in the text. First, the good pleasure of the Father, that all fulness should dwell in Christ. Secondly, the work he has wrought by the hand of his Christ thus qualified; namely, the reconciling of all things to himself, both which are in earth and in heaven. And finally, the means by which he has executed this great design, namely, making peace by the blood of the cross of his well- beloved Son. For a right understanding of the first of these three points, we must inquire, at the entrance, what this " fulness" is which the good pleasure of the Father has made to dwell wholly in Christ, especially seeing that interpreters do not agree about it ; some referring it to the divinity of our Lord, others to the graces which were accumulated on him after his manifestation in our flesh. It is certain that the word fulness is variously understood in the Scripture ; and, not to speak of other senses, which are beside our purpose, it is sometimes referred to the greatness of things, and signifies their just, their whole and due measure. As when it is said that Saul " fell on the earth" to the fulness of his stature, 1 Sam. xxviii. 20 ; that is, all along, so as his whole body lay stretched out on the ground : and it is very likely that thus Paul calls the church the "ful- ness," or the completeness, of Christ, Eph. i. 23 ; forasmuch as being his body, in it his just and due magnitude consists. Without the church, he would be a Head without a body, that is, without a magnitude and a stature proportionate to his pre-eminent majesty. It seems we might so take the " ful- ness" mentioned in this text, as signifying all the graces and excellences requisite to the full and entire greatness that be- comes the Christ of God; but the word "dwell" which is an- nexed to it does not comport with it ; for it would be a harsh phrase, and without example in any language, to say that a man's stature dwells in him. For the same reason, I exclude another sense, which else would not ill comport with the mat- ter ; I mean that which the term fulness has, when it is put for a full and whole measure, and such as wants nothing. We are to observe therefore, beside what has been said, that the word fulness very commonly in Scripture sets forth that which fills anything; as when one prophet styles men, and other creatures of which the earth is full, the fulness of the earth, Psal. xxiv. 1 ; and another, the fulness of a city, Amos vi. 8, all the people that dwell in it ; and again another, the fulness of the sea, the isles, of which the sea is full, with all their inhabitants, Isa. xlii. 10. And, as philosophers speak, because the contents, perfections, and qualities of things fill up their forms and give them all their beauty, as plants and living 136 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. X. creatures are the ornament of the earth, people the glory of cities, and isles so many crowns of the sea, it is common by a very elegant ligure, to term the graces and perfections of such or such a subject its fulness ; for without them it would be empty, and in such a condition as that rude and uncouth mass whicli Moses describes in the beginning of Genesis, "the earth was without form and void," Gen. i. 2, before the Lord clothed it with the stately ornaments, and filled it with that rich abun- dance, which we now behold upon it. In this sense, the apos- tle John gives the name of the fulness of Christ to that total abundance of perfections and divine graces which dwelt in him, his wisdom, his righteousness, his sanctification, and his re- demption, when he saith that " of his fulness have all we re- ceived," John i. 16. And it is after the same manner that Paul, by " the fulness of the Godhead," means all the qualities or properties of the divine nature ; its understanding, its wisdom, its omnipotence, its goodness, and infinite justice, saying, that " in Jesus Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," Col. ii. 9. It is therefore in this sense also, as it ap- pears to me, that we must take the word fulness in this text ; referring it to the things of which the apostle had just spoken, when he affirmed Jesus Christ to be " the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature," by whom all things were created and subsist ; " the head of the church, the begin- ning, and the first-born from the dead," having the pre-emin- ence in all things. For you perceive these qualities are the perfections and excellences, partly of the divine nature, and partly of the human ; the former, namely, his being " the im- age of God," and the Author and Governor of the creatures, pertaining to the divine; the latter, namely, his being "the head of the church," and "the first born from the dead," to the human : so after these things, when the apostle now adds, "For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell," it is as much as if he had said it was the Father's will that there should appear in his Christ a rich and a complete abundance of all divine and human perfections ; all the beauty, dignity, and excellency that replenish heaven and earth, that adorn the nature of God and of men. Thus the question which inter- preters debate, whether this fulness should be referred to the divinity or to the humanity of our Lord, is answered ; for this exposition comprises them both ; the eternal wisdom and power of the one, with all its attributes ; the sanctity and love of the other, with all the graces which were given to it with- out measure. This is the all-fulness that dwells in Jesus Christ. And the word dwell has here a vast emphasis. For in the style of Scripture, it signifies an abode, not transient, and for a time only, but such as is firm, constant, and durable ; so that CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS, 137 the apostle saying that all fulness dwells in Christ, thereby shows us that this rich abundance of all divine and human perfections shall eternally be in him ; not as the divine glory and majesty was formerly in the tabernacle of Moses, and in the temple of Solomon, where it lodged but for a space ; not as the irradiations of the Deity in the souls of the prophets, which they filled but for some hours ; finally, not as the graces and perfections which, for some years only, enrich the bodies and spirits of mortal men, of which old age, and a thousand other accidents, and in the end death itself, quickly despoils them, which makes the sacred writers say that the comeliness of flesh and the fashion of this world pass away ; that they are like flowers and herbs, in whom beauty tarries but a few days ; time, without delay, plucking it from them, and defacing all its lineaments. Our Christ is an eternal temple, which the glory of God fills both continually and for ever. It does not merely lodge there, it dwells there as in its true and incor- ruptible sanctuary. Never shall that sanctuary lose it. This fulness shall abide eternally in him. But the apostle saith that " it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell," By the pleasure of the Father, he means, according to the ordinary style of Scripture, the deter- mination and order of the eternal wisdom of God. For Christ did not violently snatch up this glory, nor reassume it of him- self He received it by the will of the Father, who gave him to man, and sent him into the world, pouring into him all the treasures of his graces, that we might draw from his fulness all the good we need for our happiness. But it must be re- membered that the apostle considers the Lord Jesus here as Christ and Mediator, and not simply as the Son of God ; he considers him in regard of his ofîice, and not in respect to his first and original nature ; for if you look upon him this second way, it is clear that, being God eternal with the Father, he re- ceived of him his divine essence, with all its fulness, not by any decree of his will, or of his good pleasure, but by a natu- ral communication, that is to say, by an eternal, ineflable, and incomprehensible generation. The creation of the world is a work of the good pleasure of God ; the generation of the Son is a natural act of the person of the Father. The first was done in time, the other is before all time. The world, which is the eflect of creation, had a commencement of being; the . Son, who is the fruit of the generation of the Father, is eternal, without beginning, as well as without end of days. But this Son, who is God by nature, is Christ by the will of the Father ; for the name Christ signifies an office, and not strictly an es- sence or a nature. Originally this office was not attached to the person of the Son. He might have been the Son without being our Mediator, and would have so subsisted if the sin of 18 138 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. X. man had not intervened, or if the justice of God had left us in the misery into which sin had precipitated us. But this good and gracious Lord having had compassion on us, and resolved thereupon to bring us up from those depths of death in which we lay, ordained a Mediator who might effect this great work, and invested him with all the qualities and perfections that were necessary for this end. It is therefore precisely in this respect that the apostle considers Jesus Christ here, when he saith it was the good pleasure of " the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." He thereby means it was the Father's will, that in this sacred person of the Mediator, who was or- dained and appointed for our salvation, all perfection, richness, grace, and excellency should meet together. Divinity and hu- manity, filled with the infinite abundance of all the qualities and properties which pertain to them, should concur. Such being his good pleasure, he chose his Son, God co-eternal and co-essential with himself, who, uniting all the riches of his Deity with the human nature which he assumed, constitutes one only person, in the bosom of which dwells all this fulness that is necessary for his office as Mediator, Whence it appears how vain is the cavil of heretics, who conclude from this passage that the Deity of the Son is not eternal and co-essential with the Father's,* but created and made by the will and good plea- sure of the Father. For the apostle does not speak here of the origin of the perfections which are found in Christ, but of their being united and met together in one and the same subject. I acknowledge, it is by the good pleasure of the Father, and by the order of his will, that the Godhead of the Son dwells in the Mediator. But it thence follows that this Godhead of his is an effect of the Father's will. It was, before it filled the Mediator. The same Father who by his will united it to our flesh, for the making up, together with that flesh, the person of Christ, had communicated it to his Son from all eternity by a natural act of his eternal understanding, that is to say, by a divine generation. Now it is not in vain that the apostle here advances this as- sertion, that it pleased the Father all fulness should dwell in his Christ. He does it with design to confirm our consciences in the religion of the Lord Jesus only. For these Colossians (as we shall see hereafter) were tampered with by seducers, who mingled the Mosaical ceremonies with the gospel, and the wor- shipping of angels with the service of the Lord. The apostle, therefore, here seasonably fortifies these believers against this error, and that by two excellent reasons : the first taken from the dwelling of all fulness in Jesus Christ. Poor men, saith he, what seek you for, either in Moses or in angels ? we huve * As the whole church believes. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 139 all in Jesus Christ. There is no good, no perfection, nor ex- cellency, either in God or in the creature, but dwells in this sovereign Lord. Having him, we have no need to go to others, since in him we find all. The other reason is taken from the will of God, the supreme rule of religion, the only thing that is sufficient to settle the agitation and natural distrust of our consciences. As for Jesus Christ, saith he, it was the good pleasure of God "that in him should all fulness dwell." The Father has set up him to be the spring of our salvation. But as for Moses and angels, we do not see that ever it was the will of the Father to give them such a dignity. Dear brethren, now that our faith is fought against with similar errors, let ua arm it also with the same reasons. If the adversary send us to angels and saints, let us answer him, that the Lord Jesus sufficeth us ; that having him we can want nothing, since all fulness dwells in him. I will not inquire for the present what these angels and saints are, whom you recommend to me ; whether they have indeed that merit, and that righteousness, and that authority which I need for the expiation of my sin, and for the opening the mansions of God to me. How rich and how abounding soever you represent them to me, I may dispense with their store, since this Christ whom I embrace has all fulness dwelling in him. Let them be all that you please, they will want, however, some part of that infinite plentifulness which overflows in our Christ. And how zealous soever you are for their glory, yet you durst not presume to say that all fulness dwells in them. How great is your im- prudence, to go hither and thither groping in pits and cisterns, while you have near you such a living and inexhaustible foun- tain ! Grant that the worshipping of saints is not criminal, (which it evidently is,) it is notwithstanding superfluous, for- asmuch as it has nothing in it but we find it surpassed in the fulness of Jesus Christ. But the other consideration which the apostle sets before us here is of no less force, that it was the good pleasure of the Father all fulness should dwell in his Christ. My faith attends on the will of God. This will is its object and its rule. I cannot relish either doctrine or service that does not conform thereto. Tell me how you know it is the good pleasure of God, that this fulness of merit and power, which you ascribe sometimes to saints departed, sometimes to your pope and his ministers, does indeed dwell in them. As for the Lord Jesus, whom I adore, and in whom I seek all my bliss, the Father has proclaimed from heaven, that he is his well-beloved Son ; his Scriptures declare, that he has committed all judgment to him, and that all fulness dwells in him. But as for those others, whom you have taken for objects of your devotion, and to whom you have recourse for your salvation, you cannot show me anything that bears a resemblance of these 140 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. X. statements. Certainly, then, it must be affirmed that all your devotion in this behalf is but will-worship, founded only on your own passion, and the imagination of your leaders, not upon the good pleasure of the Father. It is strange fire which has issued out of the earth, and was not kindled from heaven ; such as cannot, without guilt, either enter into or be used in the sanctuary of God. II. But I return to the apostle, who, having said that it pleased the Father all fulness should dwell in Christ, adds, in the second place, and " by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." This is the great master-piece of the good pleasure of God ; the end for which his will was, that the ful- ness of all divine and human perfections should be seated in Christ. The particle " and," used by the apostle, signifies this. It does not merely connect the two parts of his discourse, but imports the consecution and dependence of the latter on the former ; as if he had said it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Jesus Christ should all fulness dwell, to the end that he might reconcile all things by him. For all this fulness which the Father would that his Christ should have dwelling in him was necessary for his effecting this reconciliation. He needed the power, and the holiness, and the wisdom of the Divinity ; and together with it the humility, and the obedience, and the meritorious sufferings of the humanity, that he might finish this design : he could not have been able to reunite heaven and earth with less preparations. Let us see then what this work is, this reconciling, of which the apostle speaks, of all things terrestrial and celestial in God by Jesus Christ. It is clear by the Scriptures that Jesus Christ has by his death reconciled men to God, has appeased his wrath, and opened to us the throne of his grace, as the apostle teaches us in various places, and particularly in Rom. v. 10, 11, where he saith that we have been "reconciled to God by the death of his Son ;" and in 2 Cor. v. 18, that God " hath recon- ciled us to himself by Jesus Christ." But it seems that this is not precisely that reconciliation which Paul means here ; first, because the things in heaven, which he expressly puts among the parties reconciled, have no part therein ; the an- gels that dwell in the heavens, pure and holy as they are, having never fallen into any alienation from God. Secondly, because of that reconciliation the apostle speaks in the words immediately following, in which he saith, " having made peace by the blood of his cross ;" so that the former words must of necessity be referred to some other reconciliation, except we render the language of this divine writer culpable of a vain and fruitless repetition. The truth is, they that understand these words of reconciliation with God find themselves much en- CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 141 tangled in the matter, and liave recourse to divers means for clearing them of this difficulty. Some affirm, that though the angels are holy and blessed, yet they were not exempt from needing the death of Jesus Christ to merit and obtain their confirmation and perseverance in that state ; a bold doctrine, and such as it is difficult to find any foundation for in the Scripture. For by this reckoning Jesus Christ should also be the Mediator of angels ; a thing that seems to oppose the end and true nature of this office; first, because a Mediator should partake of the nature of the parties whom he reconciles, as you see that Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and men, is God and man ; whereas he took not the nature of angels. Secondly, because every mediator intervenes between parties who are at difference ; whereas the angels are, and ever were, at perfect accord with God, holily obeying his will. Lastly, because the blood of Jesus Christ was shed only to wash away sin, and the Scripture everywhere represents the people of God's covenant, his redeemed ones, and those whom he has saved, as justified and cleansed from their filth ; for which there was no place in the nature of angels, they being pure and free from all sin. As to that passage in Job, that God putteth "no trust in his servants, and his angels he charged with folly," Job iv. 18, it is evident, and acknowledged by all christians, that this is not said to accuse those blessed spirits, or to suggest that if they were tried by the ordinary and strict justice of God, they would be found guilty, and have need of pardon ; but rather to signify either that the authority of God over his creatures is so great and so absolute, that he owes nothing to the angels themselves, how exquisite soever their sanctity, the light of glory wherewith he crowns them being a gift from his own bounty, and not the due reward of their merit ; or else that the infinite purity of this supreme Majesty is so splendid and so glorious, that the light of the most holy spirits fades before him, and is found dusky and defective in comparison of his ; as the shining of our lights, and of the stars themselves, disappears at the brightness of the sun. Others, not able to approve of this interpretation, (and I think justly,) that the angels were reconciled to God by Jesus Christ, in order to exclude them from this passage, restrain the apostle's words to men only ; understanding by the " things that are in heaven," the already hallowed spirits of the faithful, which death had taken out of this world ; and by " the things that are on earth," the faithful that yet live here in flesh. But, not to dissemble, this exposition seems both forced and frigid. Forced, because the Scripture, by " things in heaven," ordi- narily means the angels, whose element and natural habitation the heavens are ; whereas souls separated from their bodies are received in and lodged there by a supernatural grace and 142 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. X. dispensation. Frigid, because the sense it attributes to tbe apostle no way answers the sublimity and dignity of his words. For if his aim were to express nothing but that the faithful are reconciled to God, what need was there to divide them into two ranks, some who are on earth, others who are in heaven? Who doubts but he reconciled these as well as those? But without question he purposed to magnify this work of God by Jesus Christ, and to this end saith that it extends not to men alone, who are reconciled to the Father by the efficacy of the cross of the Lord, but that it exerts an influence in heaven itself, reuniting and reconciling the things that are there. What shall we say then to these difficulties, and in what sense shall we take the apostle's words, that God hath recon- ciled all things in himself, both those that are on earth, and those that are in heaven ? Dear brethren, we will leave them in their genuine and ordinary sense, and say that these ex- pressions signify the recomposing and reuniting of the crea- tures, both terrestrial and celestial ; not with God, but among themselves, with each other. For as in a state the subjects have a twofold union; one with their prince, on whom they all depend; another among themselves, as members of the same political body, joined together by the bond of mutual concord, amity, and correspondence : in like manner is it with things celestial and terrestrial, the two principal parties of this great state of God, which we call the universe. Besides the union they have with God as their sovereign Monarch, from whose bounty they receive the being and the life they enjoy ; they have another alliance and conjunction one with the other, as parts of one corporation, having been formed and qualified for mutual fellowship. It is in this relation, and in this union, that the beauty and perfection of the universe consists, when heaven and earth have amicable intercourse, and conspire to one and the same end, with a holy and reciprocal affection. Sin having broken the first union, and separated man from his Creator, by the same means dissolved the second, loosening us from the creatures. As in a state, when some of the subjects rise against the sovereign, those who remain loyal presently disunite from the rebels, and instead of the intercourse they held before with them, make implacable war upon them, while they continue in their disobedience. Such the event proved in the world. Man had no sooner rebelled against God, but heaven, and all that remained in obedience, separated from man. All nature took up arms against this rebel, and would even then have utterly ruined him, if the counsel of God, who would not destroy us, had not hindered it. And as from one disorder there never fail to spring up many others, this first rupture of man with God and the good creatures brought forth innumerable others, rending mankind itself into several CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 143 pieces, dividing one from the other by diversity of religions, and the aversions and animosities that attend them. Such was the sad and dismal state of the world, the end of which could be nothing else but ruin and eternal perdition ; there- fore God, to restore its primitive beauty, yea, to raise it to a perfection higher than that of its first original, reconciled all things by his Christ, both terrestrial and celestial. He took away the wars, hatreds, and aversions that divided them, and re- duced them all into that union which they ought to have for his glory and their own good. As to things on earth, you know the enmity of the Jews and the separation of the Gentiles, whom the law, as a partition wall, prohibited from the fellow- ship of the people of God. Christ laid this enclosure even with the ground, and recalling the Gentiles, associated and re- allied them with the Jews, to make them thenceforth one and the same people. He did as much to the distinctions which separated the more polite nations from the barbarous, the Latins from the Greeks, the east from the west, the north from the south. He removed all these marks and differences, and united all nations, sects, and conditions into one only people, into one body, namely, his church. Thus " things on earth" were reconciled. As for " things in heaven," it was the good plea- sure of the Father to reconcile them also by his Son. For after sin entered, the angels, the true citizens of heaven, were our foes ; whereas they are henceforth our friends and allies, united with us under Jesus Christ, our common Head. Afore- time they were armed against us with a flaming sword ; now they fight for us, and encamp about us. They drove us away from the entrance into Paradise ; now they bear our souls thither, at their departure from this life. They take part in our interests, are sad at our disasters, and rejoice at our re- pentance. And to testify how delightful this reconciliation is to them, they saluted the birth of our Lord, who came to make it, with their songs and melodies. For it they glorified God, and blessed and congratulated men. But as the mischief of our sin communicated itself to all parts of the universe, even to those which are without life, putting them all in disorder, and subjecting them to vanity ; so 1 account that this blessed reconciliation must be extended also to them. The will of God was to comprehend them also in it ; reuniting the heavens with our earth, and all the elements with us. For heaven, which had nothing but lightnings and thunder for us, and that would rather have reduced us to nothing than receive us into its courts, is now liberal towards us of its comfortable light, and opens to us the most secret sanctuaries of its glory. Life is at agreement with us, immortality is in good understanding with our flesh, the grave is no longer our enemy, the elements shall be serviceable to our welfare, they shall work no more H4 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. X. against us. Tims you see how the will of God was to recon- cile things on earth and things in heaven by his Son ; and re- duce all the parts of the universe to good terms each with other. This great work is begun, the foundations of it are laid, the pledges of it are given us. But it will not be per- fectly accomplished till the latter day, when the world, freed from the bondage under which it yet groans, shall appear entirely changed ; its new heavens, and its new earth, and its new ele- ments, with the angels and saints, and all its other parts, con- spiring together in an eternal concord, and an inviolable in- tercourse, to the glory of their common Creator, who shall then be " all in all," as the apostle declares, 1 Cor. xv. 28. And, in my opinion, he specially means this in this place, when he saith that the Father would reconcile all things in himself, as the original precisely means. For these words sig- nify, not the term, but the end and event of this reconcilia- tion ; that is to say, that it shall be made, not with God, (as the greater part of expositors have understood it,) but for the glory of God. For it is plain that heavenly things were not reconciled to God, for they never were opposed to him. But it is no less evident that their reconciliation with us, in the sense we have explained it, will redound to the glory of God, when this whole universe shall return entirely to its true and due union. When therefore the apostle saith, that it is the good pleasure of the Father to reconcile all things in himself, he intends it shall be for himself, that is, for his own glory. III. It remains now that we speak of the means which God used to bring this great work of the reconciliation of the world to its end. Paul shows this to us, when he adds, having made peace by the blood of the cross of Christ. The war that man had with God, in consequence of his sin, was the true and only cause of the bad understanding which existed between us, the angels, and the other parts of the world. Whence it is clear that, to make the latter cease, it was only necessary to extinguish the former ; that is, to reconcile us with the creatures, it required only to recover us to the favour of the Creator. This is the means which the Father in his sovereign wisdom used, and which the apostle means, when he saith that he " made peace ;" that is, our peace, having pacified his own justice, and quenched all the fire of his wrath against us. By the sacrifice that Jesus Christ offered on his cross this miraculous change was wrought. This precious blood satisfied the justice of the Father, and the odour of this di- vine burnt-oftering sweetened his Spirit ; and, severe and inexorable as he was, rendered him propitious and favourable to us. Instead of fulminating his vengeance, he tenders us the arms of his love ; and no man is so wretched but he is ready to receive him, provided he accept the promise of his mercy CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS, 145 with a humble faith. Not long since, upon one ot the fore- going texts, we treated of the reality, the worthiness, and necessity of this satisfaction, by which the Lord Jesus made our peace with the Father, through the shedding of his blood on the cross, and his voluntarily suffering there, in our room, the curse which our sins deserved. Therefore we will dis- pense with speaking more of it at this time ; and, to conclude the exercise, will content ourselves with briefly remarking upon each of the three points explained, the principal heads of consolation and edification which they contain. And here, dear brethren, which shall we most admire — the goodness of the Father, and the will he had to raise us up from our fall, and to reconcile us with the whole creation, whose hatred and aversion we had incurred ; or his unspeak- able wisdom, in ordering this great word, and in the means he elected and employed to compass it ; or the love of the Son, who for our welfare spared not his own blood ? Sinner, ap- proach the throne of God with boldness. He is no longer environed with flames and lightning flashes. He is full of grace and clemency. Fear not his indignation or his severity ; peace is made. Your rebellions are expiated, your sins are purged. God requires nothing of you but faith and repent- ance. His justice is satisfied, and doubt not but the satisfac- tion it hath received is sufficient. He that made it for you is the well-beloved of the Father, the Lord of glory, in whom all fulness dwells. You will find abundantly in him all the good things which are necessary for your felicity ; the light of wisdom, to dissipate your darkness, and illuminate your understandings to a perfect knowledge of divine things ; a righteousness most complete, and sufficient every way to jus- tify and exempt you from the curse of the law, and to open the entrance of the tribunal of God to you ; a most efficacious sanctification, to mortify the lusts of your flesh, and fill you with love, honesty, and purity ; and a most plentiful redemp- tion, to deliver you from death, and from all the evils that have connection with it, and put you in eternal possession of immortality. Make your advantage of this divine well of life. Give no ear to them that call you anywhere else. You are happy enough, if you possess the Lord Jesus. He is the only Prince of salvation, the way, the truth, and the life. And as for creatures, whether earthly or heavenly, fear them not. If you are Jesus Christ's, they shall do you no evil. He has re- conciled them all to you. He has taken from them all the will and power they had to hurt you. They desire your good, and secretly favour you, owning you for their friends and allies. Heaven looks down on you in peace, and calls you up into its holy place. The angels bless you, and direct all your ways. This earth will hold you no longer than your common 19 146 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. X. Lord shall judge expedient for his own glory and your salva- tion. But if this general peace which you have now with God and the world rejoice you, the means by which it was procured should no less ravish you ; even that blood of Christ shed upon the cross, the grand miracle of God, the price of your liberty, the salvation and the glory of the universe. What and how ardent was that love which gave so rich and so admi- rable a ransom for you ! What will he deny you, who has not kept back his own blood from you ! who to make you happy, abhorred not a cross, the most infamous of all punish- ments ! who, to raise you up to the most eminent contentment, underwent the extremest dolours ; the lowest disgrace, to bring you to the highest glory ; the malediction of God, to commu- nicate to you his benediction ! Oh, over-happy christians, if you could discern your bliss ! Where is the anguish of spirit or the trouble of conscience, or the loss, or the suffering, or the reproach, which the meditation of this love should not console? Who shall condemn us, since the Son of God died to merit our absolution? Who shall accuse us, since his blood and his cross defend us ? Who shall take from us the benevolence of the Father, since he has obtained it for us, and preserves it for us ? Who shall pluck out of our hands a life he has given us, a salvation that he has so dearly bought ? Dear brethren, these considerations, which open to us so rich a source of consolation, oblige us also to a peculiar sanc- tification. For how great will be the hardness of our hearts, if these great evidences which God has given us of his love do not affect us ! if they kindle not in us an ardent affection towards a God who has so loved us, a sacred and inviolable respect towards a Eedeemer who has done so much for us ! He has reconciled and reunited all things in him, both terres- trial and celestial. Let us live then henceforth in such a manner as may answer this happy alliance. Let us no more afflict heaven, no more scandalize the earth, by the impurity of our deportment. Let us labour, in conjunction with all the creatures, for the service and to the glory of our common Lord. Let us imitate the purity, the zeal, and the obedience of those celestial spirits, into whose society we are entered by the benefit of this reconciliation. Let us be clothed as they are, with a beautiful and pleasing light. Our lot is, to be one day like them, in immortality ; let us be so, for the present, in sanctity. Our peace is made with God, Let us not make war upon him any more. He has pardoned us all the enor- mity and rage of our rebellion ; let us never turn to any of them again. He will be our good Lord and gracious Master. Let us be his faithful subjects and obedient servants. Let the CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIÀNS. 147 blood of Christ wipe away both our guilt and our filth. Let us fasten our old man to his cross ; let the nails that there pierced his flesh pierce also the members of ours. Let the cross that made him die make all our lusts die, and extinguish by little and little in us that earthly, carnal and vicious life which we derive from the first Adam, to regenerate and raise us up again with the Second, to a new, holy and spiritual life, worthy of that blood by which he has purchased it for us, and of that Spirit by whom he has communicated the beginning of it to us, and of that sanctuary of immortality, where he will fully finish it one day to his own glory and our eternal blessed- ness. Amen. SERMON XI VERSES 21, 22. And you^ that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked zuorJcs, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his fiesh through death^ to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight. Dear brethren, it was long since observed by philosophers, and we still find it by experience, that general things actuate the spirits of men but very little. The cause is, that being naturally bound too closely, every one to his particular inter- ests, they mind only that which affects them, and are not soli- citous about a common concern, till by some means they are made painfully sensible that they have a part in it. The min- isters of the church therefore should not content themselves with proposing the maxims of heavenly doctrine collectively, and in general terms only, to the souls whose edification is committed to them ; but that they may get hold of them, and produce some good effect upon them, they must apply to them in particular each of those divine verities. Paul, whose exam- ple should serve as a rule to all the true servants of God, takes this course in several places in his Epistles ; and particularly in the text we have now read. For having before represented to the Colossians the reconciliation of things on earth and things in heaven, by means of the peace which was made through the blood of Christ, according to the good pleasure of the Father, he now descends from general things to particular cases ; and to excite in the hearts of these faithful persons a more lively feeling of this grace of God, he reminds them by 148 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. XI. name of the part wliich thev had in it ; inasmuch as the effi- cacy of this grace had been displayed upon them, in drawing them out from perdition, and advancing them to the highest happiness. " And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight," To heighten the excellency of the benefit God had conferred on them, he first sets before their eyes their miserable estate by nature, before the gospel was preached unto them. You were, saith he, formerly alienated from God, " and enemies in your mind by wicked works," Next, he sets forth the favour which God afterward showed them, notwithstanding all their unwor- thiness. And "yet now," says he, "hath he reconciled you in the body of his flesh through death." Finally, to induce them to pursue a complete sanctification, he represents to them the purpose or end of their reconciliation with God : " to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight." These three points we will handle, God willing, in this ser- mon, distinctly, one after the other. The first and natural estate of the Colossians before grace ; their reconciliation with God, made in the body of the flesh of Christ, by his death ; and the end of this reconciliation, to be holy and unreprovable before him. I. Certainly, since the sin of Adam corrupted and infected our nature, there are no men born into the world whose con- dition of itself is not most wretched. Yet their misery is no- where so clearly discovered as in the heathen, who are born and live without the covenant of God, For as to those whom he prevents with his grace, by training them up in his church from the beginning of their life, his light and his goodness encompassing them from their nativity, hinder them from discerning so fully the horrid corruption of our nature. Whereas, heathens having no other guide but that nature, its state and strength is to be manifestly seen in them. The Co- lossians, to whom Paul writes, were of this order. Gentiles by extraction, by religion, and in manners, before Jesus Christ enlightened them. Let us behold in them an image of the con- dition in which we should be if God had not separated us from the rest of men, and seasonably drawn us out of our original misery. The apostle saith, first, that "sometime," that is, before their conversion, they were " alienated," that is, estranged from God, from his covenant, and from his people, as he explains it more largely elsewhere. Eemember, says he to the Ephesians, " that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world," Eph, ii, 12. They had no communion with CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 149 the true God ; were so far from adoring him, that they not even so much as thought on him, and derided the only nation in the world that knew and served him. This is clear from the books of the ancient heathens which are still extant, as well as from the ignorance and idolatry of the modern. But the apostle goes further still, and adds, that at that time they were enemies of God ; which comprehends two things : first, that they hated God, and warred against him ; the second, that God accounted and pursued them as his enemies. And, first, Paul declares this expressly in the Epistle to the Eomans, where, among other characters which he gives the heathen, he mentions that they were " full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity ; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God," Eom. i. 29, 30 ; upon which a question arises, how it is true that the heathen hated God. For either they knew him, or they knew him not. If they knew him not, how did they hate him, since love and hatred are two passions which cannot be exercised but towards objects known, it being as impossible to hate as it is to love that which we know not ? And if they knew him, seeing he is the chief good, how is it possible they should hate him, since our will is not capable of hating any known good ? To this I answer, first, that when the Scrip- ture says the heathen hated God, it does not mean that God was the proper and formal object of their hatred. For it is certain that in this sense the Deity cannot be hated by them who are ignorant of him, nor can he be otherwise than loved by those who know him. But the Holy Ghost thus speaks, to signify that these wretches act altogether as if they hated God. It is a form of speech familiar enough, to put the cause for the effect, and the antecedent for the consequent. Now these peo- ple, in their blindness, defaced the glory of God as much as they could. They battered down the most illustrious marks of his Godhead ; they blasphemed his providence, they reviled his nature. They robbed him of the honour of creating and preserving the universe, and gave it to monsters. They de- spised his will, and reversed all his orders. They passion- ately loved that which he most abhorred, and abhorred that with which he is best pleased. Are not these the ordinary and natural effects of hatred ? It is, therefore, with great propri- ety that the Scripture, to set forth the impiety and fury of the heathens, says that they hated God, since they treated hira in the very same manner as if they had directly hated him. As when the wise man says, that the wicked hate their own soul, or their own life. Pro v. xxix. 24 ; viii. 36, it is not to signify that their will has, properly, any aversion to their own life ; on the contrary, they love it too much : but to declare that they conduct themselves just as if they expressly hated it, lov- ing and practising, with extreme vehemency, the things that 150 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XI. cause their ruin, and neglecting and abhorring those which would lead them to salvation. Secondly, though the heathen have some knowledge of God, yet because they suppose him to be quite opposed to that which he really is, they may with propriety be said to hate him. For though it be not possible for us to hate good, so far as it is good ; nevertheless it often happens, that error re- presenting things to us as quite contrary to what they are in themselves, we love that which is indeed worthy of hatred, and we hate that which is in truth most worthy to be loved. From such an illusion did the pagans' hatred of God arise. For imagining him a tyrant, full of cruelty and injustice; or an idle king, who has no care of his state ; it needs not to be wondered at that, their understanding falsely conceiving him un- der so monstrous a likeness, their will should be influenced to hate him, rather than to love him. And those among them who had a better opinion of him, nevertheless loved him not ; for by an extreme perversion of mind, which placed their su- preme happiness in the enjoyment of pleasures and vices, while sensible that God hated them and punished them, they considered him as an enemy to their felicity. Thus the love of vice induced them to hate him. Whence it followed, that God on his side being supremely good and just, condemned their impiety, and resolved to punish it. This is what the Scripture figuratively calls God's hatred ; and this is what the apostle means, when he says that the Colossians in their pa- ganism were enemies of God. But to show us how deeply this enmity was rooted in them, having said that they were enemies, he adds, " in their minds" or understanding. The understanding is the principal and highest faculty of our soul, which moves and guides our wills and affections, and is consequently the governor of our whole life. The apostle says, therefore, that rebellion and enmity against God have taken up their seat in the understanding ; seizing, if we may so speak, on this grand citadel of our na- ture, and from thence continually making war against God. This war, the apostle intends, when he adds, " by wicked works." I should never finish if I were to attempt now to de- scribe all the enormities of the lives of the heathen. Paul gives us an epitome of them in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans : he there expatiates upon the principal fruits of their impiety, their injustice, their uncleanness, and their abominations ; vice being grown to such a height among them, that they not only committed it, but also favoured it, and took no shame to adore the very persons whom they con- fessed to have been extremely imbued with it. This dissolute- ness and abandonment to wicked works was a clear conviction of their enmity against God, and renders them altogether in- CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 151 excusable; because however great and universal their corrup- tion, yet they were not ignorant, as the apostle says shortly afterwards, "that they which commit such things are worthy of death," Eom. i. 32. This doctrine, touching the state of the heathens, deserves great consideration. For it teaches us two things of very great importance : first, the quality of the corruption of our nature by sin ; and secondly, its extent. Respecting its quality, you see it is so horrible, that it sets us far from God, and makes us strangers and enemies to him ; it is so deep, that it has insin- uated itself into all the faculties of our souls, even the under- standing itself, the noblest of them all ; and finally, it is so contagious, that it infects all our works with its venom, none issuing forth but wicked ones. Hence it appears, first, how false and pernicious is the imagination of those who place this corruption in the lower part of the soul only, in the affections and sensual appetites, and in their resistance of reason ; and assert that the understanding has remained in its integrity. Paul plainly declares the contrary, lodging enmity and rebel- lion against God in the understanding of the heathens ; and this truth he testifies in various places : as when he says, that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them," 1 Cor. ii. 14; and that "the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be," Rom. viii. T. And in the Epistle to the Ephe- sians, that the Gentiles have their " understanding darkened," Eph. iv. 18. We confess, then, that this evil is universal ; that it has depraved our whole nature, and left nothing sound or whole in us, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head. It has extinguished the light of the understanding, and filled it with the thickest darkness. It has made the motions of the will irregular, and dreadfully disordered all the passions and affections. And so palpable is this, that the two masters of pa- gan philosophy have in some degree perceived it, and as it were, felt it, while they were groping in their darkness. One of them records in writing, that the soul of man is sick of two maladies, ignorance and wickedness ; and the other, that there is something in our nature, I know not what, which resists right reason.* On the same ground you may observe again, how vain is the conceit of those who ascribe I know not what merits of congruity, as they call them, to men out of the state of grace. Would you know how the Colossians invited God to gratify them with the light of his gospel ? They were, says the apostle, " alienated and enemies in their minds by wicked works." If a subject merits the favour of his sovereign, by * Plato in Soph. Aristotle, Ethic. I. 1. 152 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XI. turning his back upon him and departing from him ; if rebel- lion and enmity constrain him to be gracious; if wicked works incline the goodness of God to communicate itself to men ; then I confess that they who are out of his covenant may merit his grace. But since it is quite the contrary, and everybody well knows that such conduct evidently provokes justice, and enforces punishment ; who does not see that man, while he is in the corruption of his nature, merits nothing, either by way of condignity or of congruity, but the cui-se of God, according to what the apostle says in another place, that " by nature we are children of wrath ?" Eph. ii. 3. Secondly, this text discloses to us the extent of this corrup- tion. For if any sort of men could be found exempted from it, in all probability it would be the Greeks, the most polite and civilized of all people. Nevertheless the apostle involves them here in this universal misery. From this it appears how much some of the most ancient writers of Christianity were mistaken, whom the love of learning and secular erudition so charmed, that they hesitated not to say that the Gentiles, by means of their philosophy, might become acceptable to God, and attain salvation.* I admit that they had a very quick un- derstanding, as we discover by their books, in which they have left us admirable specimens of the acuteness of their minds. Neither do I deny that God presented them, both in the nature and government of this vast universe, with very clear and most illustrious arguments of his power, wisdom, goodness, and providence ; as Paul says, " He left not himself without witness," Acts xiv. 17 ; and again, "That which may be known of God is manifested in them," &c., Rom. i. 19, 20. But all this light only shows us the greatness of their corruption. For they, with all the vivacity of their spirits, made no proficiency in the school of providence toward fearing God and serving him, but became vain in their imaginations, and miserably abused the gifts of heaven ; so that the only result of this dispensation was, that they were thereby rendered inexcusable. We con- clude, then, that all men generally, not one excepted, are by nature such as the apostle here describes the Colossians, alien- ated, and enemies in their minds by wicked works. There is nothing but the word of the Lord which is able to bring them out of this state by the saving grace of his Spirit with which God accompanies it. And this the apostle represents here to the Colossians, in the second place. For having minded them of their former condition, he adds, " yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh," that is, the flesh of Jesus Christ, through his death. Their former condition was very miserable. For what can * Clem. Alexaud. Strom. 6. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 153 be imagined more wretched tlian men far from God and stran- gers to Him, in whose communion alone all their welfare con- sists— men, enemies to Him without whose love they can have no true good ? Yet, in addition to misery, there was also horror in their case. Misery ordinarily stirs up pity ; theirs was worthy of abhorrence and hatred. For what is there in the world that less deserves the compassion of God and men, or is more worthy of the execration of heaven and earth, than a subject who withdraws from his sovereign ; who hates him, and wars against him ; who insolently violates all his laws, and abandons himself to all the crimes he has forbidden ; especially if the sovereign be gracious and beneficent, as the Lord is, the only author of all our being, life, and motion ? But, 0 inesti- mable and incomprehensible goodness ! God, for all this, did not forbear to have pity on the Colossians. He sought them when they were alienated from him ; he offered them peace when they made war upon him ; he took them for his friends, and chose them for his children, when they showed him the greatest hatred and enmity. Their wicked works deserved his curse, and he bestowed on them his grace. Their rebellion deserved his direful flashes, and he sent them his comfortable light. II. This contrast the apostle here indicates when he says, " yet now hath he reconciled." A similar contrast he expresses elsewhere, upon the same subject, saying, "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," Rom. v. 8. To set forth this great grace of God towards these faithful people, he says that God hath reconciled them. Having spoken of their estrangement and of their en- mity with God, with great propriety he uses the word recon- cile to signify bringing them again into his love and favour. It happens sometimes, in the misunderstandings of men, that aversion and hatred are only on one side, one of the parties seeking the favour of the other. Here, as we have before inti- mated, the aversion was mutual. For we hated God, and he, because of our sins, hated us. It was necessary, therefore, for our restoration, that both the one and the other of these pas- sions should be remedied ; that is, that the wrath of God against us should be appeased, and our hatred and enmity against him extinguished. The word reconcile, of itself, comprehends both ; but in the apostle's writings it refers principally to the first, that is, the mitigation and appeasing of the wrath of God ; and indeed this is the principal point of our reconciliation. For God being our sovereign Lord, it would not benefit us at all to change our will towards him if his did not operate favourably towards us ; as the repentance and tears of a subject are vain, if his prince reject them, and remain still angry with him. Again, the word reconcile, as also most words of the same 20 154 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. XI. form and nature, is taken two ways. For either it signifies simply the action which has the virtue necessary to make re- conciliation, or it comprises the effect of it also. It is in the first sense that the apostle used it before, when he said that God hath reconciled all things, celestial and terrestrial, in himself, or for himself, having made peace through the blood of the cross of Christ, For he means simply that God has taken away the causes of hatred and enmity, and opened the way of reconcilia- tion ; not that all things are already actually reconciled. It is thus again that we must understand that which he says in ano- ther place, "that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himsel]^ not imputiug their trespasses unto them," 2 Cor. v. 19. But the apostle uses the word reconcile in the second sense, when he says that we have obtained reconciliation by Christ; and when he beseeches us to " be reconciled to God ;" it being evident that in these places he intends not the right and power only, but the very efî'ect and actual possession of reconciliation. According to this import we must understand the word recon- cile in the text. For this reconciliation may be again consid- ered two ways : first, in general, as made by Jesus Christ on the cross ; and secondly, in particular, as applied to each of us by faith. In the first consideration it is presented to all men as sufficient for their salvation, according to the doctrine of the apostle, that "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men," Tit. ii. 11; and that also of John, that Jesus Christ " is the propitiation for our sins : and not for ours only, but also for the sms of the whole world," 1 John ii. 2. Under the second consideration it appertains only to the be- liever, according to that clause of the covenant which declares that the only begotten Son was given to the world, "that who- soever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," John iii. 16. Precisely in this sense the apostle here says that God had reconciled the Colossians; he means, not simply that God had not only prepared the way through the cross of his Son for their reconciliation to him by believing, but also that he had effectively reconciled them to himself, and put them in real possession of the benefits that were purchased for us by the merit of Christ ; embracing them as his children, pardoning all their sins, and obliviating all his wrath and aversion against them which their offences had enkindled. But again, the apostle here informs them of the means by which this reconciliation was effected, it being a subject of infinite importance both to the glory of God and their edifica- tion. He hath reconciled you, he says, " in the body of his flesh" (that is to say, of the flesh of his Christ) " through death." There is not one of these words that does not possess very great force. First, when he speaks here of the body of our Lord, he intimates to us the mystery of his incarnation. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 155 As if he had said that God so loved us, that he would have his own Son to become man, to reunite and reconcile us to himself. He would have this divine person, whose essence is spiritual and infinite, to assume a visible and finite body. He shows us also by this expression the sacrifice by which the wrath of God was appeased, and our crimes expiated. For it is properly for this that the Son of God had a body, as the apostle teaches us, when, opposing this body of the Lord to sacrifices of living creatures, that were unprofitable and incapable of satisfying the justice of the Father, he introduces him saying, "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me;" and further he adds, "by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ," Heb. x. 5, 10. But the apostle does not say simply the body of Christ; he adds, " the body of his flesh," that is according to the style of the Hebrews, his fleshy body, his body of flesh. At first it may appear to you that this addition is needless, and to no purpose; but it is far otherwise. For in the language of Scripture every body is not flesh. It gives this name only to a feeble and mortal body. He means therefore that the Lord, to reconcile us, not only assumed a body, which indeed is very marvellous, but that he took a feeble and mortal body, a body sustaining itself by meat and drink, a body like ours, and subject to all their meannesses and infirmities. A consid- eration, as you perceive, that exceedingly enhances both the excellency of his love towards us, and the value of the means by which he reconciled us ; the King of glory, who is the Author and Mediator of this work, having invested himself with poor flesh to compass his design. And this is the reason why the sacred writers so often use this word to signify our Lord's human nature ; they say that "God was manifested in the flesh ;" that " the Word was made flesh ;" that the Son partook of flesh and blood, 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; John i. 14 ; Heb. ii. 14. Indeed, this qualification of the body of Christ was necessary for the expiation of our sins, since this could not be effected but by sufferings, of which a fleshy body only is capable. Hence it follows that, in the 6th chapter of John, where he himself speaks of the virtue he has to quicken us, he also uses these very words, " My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed ;" and "The bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world," ver. 51, 55. From this I understand this passage as referring to the natural body of Christ, and not to his mystical body, to which some suppose it to refer. I acknowledge that the Lord receives into the union of his mystical body, his church that is, all those who, applying to themselves the promises of his gospel by faith, are effectually reconciled to God. Yet this is not the 156 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XI. body to which the apostle here alludes, since the body he speaks of is the body of the flesh of the Lord, which cannot be affirmed of his mystical body. When he says, therefore, that God hath reconciled us in his body, it must be understood as though he had said; by his body. For, as we have often in- formed you, it is the ordinary practice of Scripture to put in for by. And hence it appears how extravagant was the im- agination of some ancient heretics, who authoritatively affirmed that Jesus Christ had but a vain and false appearance of a body, and not a real, solid, and true body ; as was also the error of those who confessed he had a true body, but held it to be celestial, and of quite a different matter and substance from ours. The apostle refutes these foolish fancies by terming the body of our Lord " the body of his flesh." Having said that we were " reconciled in the body of his flesh," the apostle adds, in the last place, " through death." It was not enough, my christian brethren, that the King of glory, the Prince of life, assumed to himself a body, and even a body of flesh, vile and infirm as yours, to reconcile you to God ; it was necessary that he should die. His flesh would have profited you nothing, if it had not suffered that death which you deserved. But of this death of the Lord, of its necessity and efficacy, we have spoken largely, upon the preceding texts. Here we will only make two remarks before we proceed further. The first is, that Christ satisfied the justice of his Father for us, since it is by his death that he reconciled us ; for unless this be asserted, it is evident his death will have contributed nothing to our reconciliation; in this respect he would have died in vain. Let it be granted that it was needful that he should die to confirm his doctrine, and to give us an example of patience; though in truth this does not appear to be a sufficient reason why the Son of God should die, still upon this supposition his death will have contributed nothing to our reconciliation with the Father. His own mercy alone, and not any consideration of this death, would have appeased him towards us. And nevertheless, the apostle says expressly, we were reconciled through that death which the Lord suffered in the body of his flesh. Surely then it must be acknowledged that it quenched the wrath of the Father ; . that is to say, it satisfied his justice for us. The other particular Avhich I would notice here is, that the body of the Lord made propitiation for our sins only as it was mortal flesh that suffered death. Every one confesses that now he dieth no more; yea, that he is in- vested with a sovereign glory, having for ever put off" the infirmity and mortality of the flesh. Certainly then it is vainly and without reason that some imagine that his body is still offered to this day for the reconciling of sinners unto God. It is through death that he hath reconciled us, says Paul ; and CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 157 being now " raised from the dead," he again says, he " dietli no more," Kom, vi. 9. III. But I come to the third and last particular in our text, in which the apostle asserts that it is " to present us holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight" that God hath reconciled us by the death of his Son. It is strictly in the original, to present us, or to make us stand and appear, before him holy, unblamable, and unreprovable, which has given occasion to some of our expositors to refer these words also to our justification before God ; as if the apostle meant that he made our peace, and abolished the enmity, that being purified by the virtue of the sacrifice of his Son, and clothed with his righteousness, by faith, we might appear before the tribunal of his grace, without condemnation and without confusion. But there is nothing to induce us to fix on this interpretation ; it is much better, in my judgment, to consider it as referring to our sanctification than to our justification. First, because the words themselves agree with it much better ; the Scripture, as you know, ordinarily expressing the gift of regeneration by the word holiness ; whereas it uses the word justify, or pardon of our sins, and not imputing them unto us, when it would signify the first benefit of God which we obtain by the im- putation of the righteousness of Christ. Secondly, because the apostle having already represented it unto us in those words, that God hath reconciled us in the body of the flesh of his Son, through death, which signify that he has received us into favour, pardoning all our sins, as has been explained, it seems needless to repeat the same thing again. And finally, because both Paul and the other sacred writers are accustomed to join those two gifts of God, our justification and sanctification, to- gether, as two inseparable graces, which are never without each other; so that having spoken to us of one, it was not only convenient, but also in some degree necessary, that he should annex the other ; just as, elsewhere, having said that " Christ is made unto us righteousness," he immediately adds, " and sanctification," 1 Cor. i. 30 ; and again, in another place, where having touched thefilthiness of the former life of the Corinthians, as here that of the Colossians, he says, " But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified," 1 Cor. vi. 11. Here the apostle not only knits these two graces together, but shows us the order and re- lation which they have to each other; that the second, namely, " sanctification," is the end of the former, that is, of "justifica- tion." He hath reconciled us, says he, through the death of his Son, to present us "holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight." The Scripture teaches us the same thing in various other places; as in Luke, where Zacharias says, " That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him," 158 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XI. Luke i. 74, 75. And Peter, in his First Epistle, says, " Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness," 1 Pet. ii. 24. And Paul tells us that Jesus Christ " died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again," 2 Cor. v. 15 ; and again, he says that Christ " gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works," Tit. ii. 14 ; and in another passage similar to that which we are discussing, he says, "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it ; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy, and without blemish," Eph. V. 25—27. I insist upon this point, because it is of exceeding great im- portance. First, you see by it what is the dignity of holiness. For since the end is of necessity always more excellent than the means which are used to compass it, it is clear that sanc- tification, being the last end of all the things that the Lord employs for our salvation, is the greatest and most excellent of all his graces. And you know that Paul positively de- clares that charity, which is in substance nothing else than sanctity, is more excellent than either faith or hope ; and he proves it, because neither of these virtues shall have any place in heaven, they being but means and helps for conducting us thither ; whereas charity, the last and highest perfection of our being, shall eternally remain. Secondly, from hence it appears how much carnal christians deceive themselves, who pretend to salvation without sancti- fication. Wretched men, what are you doing! Your pre- tension is a vain chimera. You pursue an impossibility. For that salvation which you desire is substantially that very holi- ness which you refuse. Both that faith, and those other qual- ities which you say you possess, serve only to sanctify men ; without this they are unprofitable things. Suppose then that you have them ; if they do not change you, if they do not fill your heart with love to God and with charity to your neighbour, in short, if they do not render you holy, they will profit you nothing. So far from giving you immortality, they will aggravate your misery, and sink you deeper into the abyss of death. Never believe that God gave us his own Son, that he clothed him with a body of flesh, that he delivered him up to the death of the cross, that he reconciled us by such pre- cious blood, that he wrought all those grand wonders which ravished heaven and earth, that he might procure for us the privilege of sinning freely ; far be it from so wise and so holy CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 159 a Deity, that he should be thought ever to have entertained such an extravagant and infamous a design. He has shed upon us all the blessings of his grace and love, that he might restore his own image in our nature, that he might abolish sin in it, and transform us into new creatures, pure and holy, so as in some measure to resemble himself and his Son. I confess that the description which the apostle here gives us of this grace of God in us is high and magnificent, and that it seems to surmount the reach of believers while they are in the present life; for of which of them can it be truly said, while he remains in this world, that he is holy, and unblam- able, and unreprovable in the sight of God ? But to this I answer, first, that the apostle does not affirm that this great work of the Lord's in us is completed in this life ; he shows us only his purpose, and the end of his grace, and how good and glorious that holiness is with which he will clothe us. For if we be truly his, he will not leave us till he has made us such as the apostle's text imports, even holy, without blame, and unreprovable. Secondly, I observe that though the high- est degree of sanctification in this life is much beneath that which shall adorn us in the next, and that the former is de- fective in comparison with the latter ; yet it is nevertheless true, and has all its parts, though in an inferior degree. It is sincere and without hypocrisy, and such in substance as is agreeable with the words of the apostle. For true believers, while here below, put off the habits of sin, and put on those of holiness, for which reason they are justly called holy ; though at times, through infirmity, they are led to the com- mission of some acts which are contrary to the christian char- acter. They are washed from those foul and odious spots which before deformed their whole life, and an adversary cannot observe or censure anything in their deportment that is contrary to the profession which they make of the covenant of grace. And with respect to that which the apostle adds, that they are such before God, it is only to signify that their piety is true and real, not feigned nor dissembled ; that it is not a mask, which deceives the eyes of men, but a disposition of heart which God discerns within them, as men behold the evidences of it without upon them ; in the same sense that Luke said of Zacharias and Elisabeth that they " were both righteous before God." Here, beloved brethren, we close our remarks upon this text. The severity of the weather obliging us to conclude this discourse, I will only touch in a few words upon the lessons which we should deduce from it for our edification, referring it to your diligence to meditate upon each of them, and above all to reduce them carefully to practice. Remember, first, the miserable state in which you were be- 160 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XI. fore God prevented you by his grace ; and reflect, that it is to you also the apostle says, " Ye were sometime alienated and enemies in yclkr mind by wicked works," For our ancestors, before the Sun of righteousness shone on these countries, were in the same, or rather in a worse, condition than the Colos- sians. Our fathers were Hittites, and our mothers Amorites, living in the darkness of paganism, serving a Hesus, and a Belenus, and a Tautates, and I know not what other vanities, sacrificing men to them, and weltering in the filth of the most infamous vices. Being, by the great benignity of God, drawn out of this gulf, we were again cast into another, in which, under other names, we committed the like crimes ; adoring an insensible and inanimate thing, and bending down ourselves before wood and stone, and dumb images, and giving to a mortal man the glorious names which belong only to the Son of God ; being corrupted both in our thoughts and in our deeds. These faults were so much worse than the former, by how much less ignorant we previously were of our Master's will. Admire next the goodness of God, who seeing us in this abyss, though our ingratitude and rebellion merited his heav- iest vengeance, yet had pity on us ; and visiting us in his infinite mercies, has reconciled us by the body of the flesh of his Son, through his death. He has sent to us Epaphrases, as he did to the Colossians, ministers of his word, who have made the voice of Paul and of the other apostles to resound among us. He has purified us, and washed all our filth in the blood of his Christ. With this he has bedewed our hearts, abolished our enmity, extinguished our hatred, and reunited us unto himself; communicating to us the divine body of his Son, nailed for us to the cross, the source of our salvation, and the treasury of all the good things of heaven. His death has been our life, and his malediction our benediction. Let us acknowledge this great goodness of our God with profound gratitude. Let us give him the glory of all the good that may be in us. If there be any light in our understandings, any peace in our consciences, any pureness in our affections, any rectitude in our conduct, let us bless the kindness of this sovereign Lord, who has vouchsafed to illuminate, to reconcile, and to cleanse us. Without this favourable beaming forth of his grace, we should be yet strangers and enemies, in the bondage and darkness of Egypt, or under the yoke and in the captivity of Chaldea. Let us now make use of the benefits he has conferred upon us. Let us continue united to him, so as that nothing may remove us to a distance from him. Let us love him fervently and serve him diligently, lest we become agaiti his enemies. Let those understandings which were for- merly the heads of that wicked war which we made against CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 161 him, strictly maintain that holy and happy peace which he has vouchsafed to conclude with us. Let us banish thence all thoughts of rebellion. Let us still have before our eyes that sacred flesh with which the King of glory was clothed for us, the blood wherewith he purchased our peace, and the death which he underwent to reconcile us unto God his Father. Let us not profane a blessing which cost him so dear. Let us imitate also his goodness. Let us treat our neighbours as he treated us. If they avoid us, let us seek them ; for we also were enemies to God, and warred against him, when he called us to the communion of his grace. Above all, let us remember that the end of all the wonders God has wrought on our be- half is to make us holy, unblamable, and unreprovable in his sight. Let us not oppose so admirable and reasonable a de- sign. Let us not frustrate the intentions of so good and mer- ciful a Lord. Dear brethren, I might here make great com- plaints of the profaneness of some, of the looseness of others, and of the falterings of us all, who labour after nothing less than that high and accomplished sanctification to which God calls us. But I would much rather end with entreaties than with complaints, and conjure you in the name of the Lord, and by your own salvation, that you would judge yourselves ; and that renouncing all the faults of the time past, and all the impieties and lusts of this world, you would live henceforth soberly, righteously, and godly, and keep yourselves holy, unblamable, and unreprovable, to the glory of God, the edifi- cation of men, and your own salvation. Amen. SERMON XII. VERSE 23. If y& continue in the faith grounded and settled, and he not moved away from the hojie of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which ivas preached to every creature which is under heaven ; whereof I Paul am made a minister. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the gospel according to Matthew, tells us of two sorts of people who hear his doctrine and fre- quent his school : the one, those who put his words in prac- tice ; that is, those who, embracing the gospel with a true and lively faith, render him the obedience he demands of them : the other, they who hear, but put not in practice, what he says to them ; that is, those who, giving but little or no belief in 162 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM, XII. liis divine truth, take no care to perform what he commands, but content themselves with a vain outside profession, and are not inwardly afîected and changed as they ought to be. He compares the former to a wise and prudent man that has built his house upon a rock ; and when " the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, it fell not ; for it was founded upon a rock." But, on the con- trary, he compares the latter to a foolish man that built upon the sand; and, when "the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, it fell ; and great was the fall thereof." Dear brethren, this is an excellent parable, and worthy to be deeply engraven on the hearts of true believers ; for it shows us, first, that to have part in the Lord's salvation, it is not enough to call him our Master, and make profession of his doctrines. Those who have but this will sooner or later fall, and be infallibly ruined. Secondly, it further teaches us that it is not sufficient to begin, except a man persevere to the end. And lastly, it declares to us, what is the cause both of the perseverance of some, and the revolt and fall of others : those who are founded on the rock stand firm, and resist the scandals with which the devil and the world combat the truth ; those who are built only on the sand, are easily borne down, even at the first assaults which are made upon them by the adverse powers. This doctrine Paul repre- sented to the Colossians in the text which we have now read. In the foregoing words, as you have heard, he set before their eyes the wonders of the love of God, which had been glo- riously showed upon them by Jesus Christ their Saviour, who had called them to his communion, and of strangers and ene- mies, as they were, made them friends of his Father, reconcil- ing them in the body of his flesh, through death, to render them holy, unblamable, and unreprovable in his sight. But the apostle knowing there were seducers and deceitful workers among them, who laboured to turn them away from the purity and simplicity of the gospel, in order that they might be pre- served from the poison of those men, now informs them that this great salvation of which he had spoken could not be as- sured to them without perseverance. Qualifying, and in some degree correcting, his simple and absolute assertion, that God had reconciled them to himself, he adds the condition upon which this divine grace was promised to them: "If ye con- tinue in the faith grounded and settled," &;c. This lesson, my brethren, is no less necessary for us than it was for the Colos- sians, since the floods, the winds and storms, which were then raised against the edifice of their faith, in like manner at this day beat upon ours ; various deceitful workers, both without and within, endeavouring to overthrow it. Let us, therefore, bring this sacred preservative which the apostle here gives us CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 163 against their malice ; and that we may the better profit by it, let us meditate in order upon the three particulars which his instruction contains. To confirm the Colossians in perseve- rance, he shows them, First, the necessity and the manner of it ; " If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard." Secondly, he sets before them an excellent argument of the truth of that gospel which they had heard ; namely, " that it was preached to every creature under heaven." And lastly, he alleges a second proof of its verity, taken from his own ministry ; " whereof," says he, " I am made a minister." These are the three points which we will handle, if it please God, in this discourse, briefly touching upon each of them, as we shall judge most proper for our edification and consola- tion. I. The apostle explains the necessity and manner of this perseverance in these terms ; " If ye continue in the faith," &c. Where you perceive he lays it down first, that faith is the means by which we enter into the possession and use of the good things of God, which he promises to us in his Son. The old covenant had also its good things, but the condition which it required of men for obtaining them was quite differ- ent to that of the new ; for it demanded of them an exact and perfect obedience to the law, and upon any failure of an entire accomplishment of it threatened a curse, leaving the sinner no hope of life; according to that dreadful clause, "This do and thou shalt live ;" and, " Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." But the gospel differs from the law especially in this, that not only are the good things which it sets before us much greater and more divine than those of the law, but it demands of men for possessing them nothing but faith alone, according to our Saviour's own words, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This the apostle here shows us with much clearness, when, having said that God hath reconciled us to himself in the body of the flesh of his Son, to render us holy and unreprovable, he adds, "If ye continue in the faith." This connection of the two parts of his discourse evidently infers that it is faith which causes us to participate in the reconcilia- tion and peace of God, and in the holiness which the gospel imparts. You know, likewise, that in a multitude of other places the Scripture expressly informs us, that it is by faith we are justified and have peace with God, and that it is by faith our hearts are purified. Faith is the means of our union with God ; it is the root of our love, the source of our com- fort, and, in a word, the only cause of our felicity. For as a medicine, however excellent and healthful it may be, does no 164 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XII. good except to tliose who take it ; so the redemption of our Saviour, and the virtue of his sacrifice, however great and in- finite, though able to heal all our sins, and to give us eternal life, and that not to us alone, but to all the men in the world, will communicate none of those benefits to us, except we re- ceive it by faith. It is faith that applies it to us, and sheds abroad its efficacy into all the parts of our nature. But as many deceive themselves in this matter, and take that for true faith which has only the shadow and name of it ; the apostle tells us that, to have part in the salvation of Jesus Christ, our faith must be constant and persevering. For as in games and combats for prizes none are crowned but those who hold out to the end ; so in the heavenly lists or race, God glorifies them only who run with constancy to the goal. Those that turn aside, or stop in the midst of the course, lose their labour; ac- cording to the declaration of our Lord, " He that endureth to the end shall be saved," And the apostle, therefore, in another place, when assuring himself of the crown, among other causes on which he grounded this assurance, says particularly that he had " kept the faith," 2 Tim. iv. 7. From this it appears that there are two sorts of persons who shall be excluded from the salvation of God, purchased by the merit of Jesus Christ. First, all the rebellious and unbeliev- ing, who have no faith in the promises and declarations of the bounty of God ; as our Saviour said, " He that believeth not shall be damned," Mark xvi. 16. " He that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him," John iii. 36. Secondly, they who believe, but their faith is only for a time ; such as abide not in the faith, but having re- ceived it at the beginning, afterwards quit and reject it. Either the scorching heat of persecution dries up and consumes the tender bud, or the overflowing irruption of pleasures or of worldly affairs carries it away. The cares of covetousness or ambition suffocate it ; or the deceitfulness of error, and the hand of false teachers, pluck it out of their heart. The apos- tle therefore requires of the Colossians, in order that they might be partakers of the salvation of God, that they not only have faith, but tiiat they persevere in it. " If," says he, " ye continue in the faith." But this is not all ; he would have them also to be " ground- ed and settled." I acknowledge that it seldom happens that this vain and feeble faith, which consists only in a bare pro- fession and some slight movings of heart, endures to the end in those who have it. Persecution or temptation generally plucks off" their mask, and openly carries them out of the fel- lowship of the church. Yet it appears not impossible for them to continue in this state even to the last. As a little chaff" may abide in the floor, if the wind does not blow ; so there is some CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 165 probability tliat these persons may, in like manner, remain mingled with true believers even until death, if persecution or offence does not seize upon them. But suppose that this really happens, still they shall not be saved ; because the faith which they possess, and in which they will have persisted, is a nullit}'' to which God has promised nothing; it is the shadow and the image, not the substance and reality of faith. It fol- lows, therefore, that as chaff, though it remain in the floor, is not locked up in the granary with the wheat, but is left out or burned, as a useless thing ; so likewise these people who have only this vain faith, should they abide in God's floor, that is, in the external communion of the church, unto the end, still they shall not enter into his heavenly garner, that is, his king- dom, but shall be rejected and excluded therefrom, as having no lot or portion with true believers. They will think it suf- ficient to allege that they have lived in the church of Christ, that they have perhaps even prophesied, and cast out devils, and done wonderful works in his name ; but the Lord will openly tell them, " I never knew you : depart from me, ye that work iniquity," Matt. vii. 22, 23. The apostle, therefore, to show that he speaks of perseverance, not in this vain sha- dow of faith, but in true faith, does not simply say, " if ye con- tinue in the faith," but adds, " grounded and settled." If the hypocrite or the formalist continue in the profession or in the rudiments of piety, it is not because they are ground- ed, but because they are not tempted ; as a woman that re- mains chaste only because she has not been solicited to evil. They owe their perseverance to the forbearance of their ene- mies, and not to their own firmness. This false constancy may deceive a man, who sees only the outside and the event of things, but it cannot deceive God, who knows the inside of them, and who searches the heart, and judges of things by what they are, not by what they appear to be, or by their events. The apostle, therefore, directs that, in order to partake of his salvation, we have true perseverance, and continue in the faith, not simply and in any manner, but being grounded and settled in it. God saves such only. It is but for them that he has prepared his kingdom. The former of these words, here used by the apostle, is taken from buildings, which being fixed deep in the earth upon a rock, are firm and solid, and proof against time and storms ; whereas buildings which have no foundation, or are built only on sand, are feeble, and unable to resist the shock. Our Lord made use of this same compa- rison in the parable which we touched upon at the commence- ment ; and he employs it too in that famous promise which he made to Peter, of building his church in such a manner on the rock, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The other word which the apostle uses has the same meaning, 166 AN EXPOSITION OP fSERM. XII. and, properly, signifies in the original a tiling in such a state of settlement as that it is difficult to move or shake it ; a thing that is fixedly seated and placed, and neither totters nor changes. This is the settlement of true believers, who shall have part in the salvation of God. Their faith, grounded on the eternal Eock, Jesus Christ their Lord, seated and placed upon this immovable basis, abides firm and cannot be shaken. The torrents and the winds assault it in vain ; the tempests and the floods may beat upon it, but they cannot overthrow it. Upon this doctrine of the apostle we shall raise two obser- vations. First, that the faith of those who persevere in the sense he intends differs from the faith of those who revolt, not only in the event, inasmuch as one fails, and the other persists and abides, but also in the nature of the thing itself. For the one is grounded and settled, and the other is not so. Who does not see that there is a great difference between a house which is well founded, and one which is but built upon the sand ? Jesus Christ and his apostle expressly declare that such as stand are founded, and that such as fall are not so. Certainly, then, the faith of the former is quite different from that of the latter ; and this difference in their results, in that one falls and the other bears up, discloses to us the distinc- tion which is between them, but it does not produce it. It is the effect of it, not the cause ; an argument of it, not the orig- inal. The same thing also appears from the comparison else- where, of the one to wheat, and the other to chaff. The wheat is not wheat merely because it abides in the floor, but, on the contrary, it abides in the floor because it is wheat ; and in like manner the chaff does not become chaff because it goes out of the floor, but, on the contrary, it is driven out because it is chaff. This diversity of events proves the weight and firm- ness of the one, and the inconstancy of the other. Even such is the case with true believers, and such as are merely profes- sors. Persecution and offence make not the difference which is discovered between them, when the former retain the gospel, and the latter quit it : this event only shows that the one were God's wheat, and the others but chaff; according to what John says of apostates, " They went out from us, but they were not of us ; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us : but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us," 1 John ii. 19. The same is further to be evidently seen in the parable of the sower, where the Lord says expressly that those " on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, kept it," Luke viii. 15. Whereas he says of those who revolt, that one heai'd but understood it not; and another had no root in himself; an evident sign that their CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS, 167 disposition was different at first, before the perseverance of the one and the fall of the others. From whence it appears how impertinent is the argument which our adversaries draw from the apostasy of the latter, to prove that the faith of the former may fail ; and the contrary. For if the wind carry away the chaff, it does not therefore follow that it shall also hear away the corn ; and if the storm beat down a house that is planted on two or three stakes, it is not to be said that it will do as much to a house that is founded on a rock. If the blade that shoots forth and grows up suddenly in the sand, without any root, happens to wither at the first extreme heat that smites it, this does not imply that the same might hap- pen to the corn which is deeply rooted in a good and fertile soil. The other point which we have to notice is the assurance of true faith, excellently represented here by the apostle in these words, which possess a singular emphasis, "If ye con- tinue in the faith, grounded and settled ;" contrary to what is taught in the church of Rome, that faith is in a continual agitation, so that a believer can have no assurance that he is at present in a state of grace, and much less that he shall per- severe in it for the future. In conscience, can it be said of these people, as the apostle here says of the Lord's true disci- ples, that they are " grounded and settled ?" How can it be, seeing that they incessantly float in doubt and uncertainty, and are miserably in suspense between the hope of heaven and the fear of hell ? I pass by their other error, which is yet more contrary to the apostle's doctrine, namely, that the choicest faith may fail. If this be true, how can it be afl&rmed that those who have it are " grounded and settled ?" Let us then hold fast the truth that is taught us here and in divers other places of Scripture, namely, that faith abides continually ; and that, being founded on the merits, death, and intercession of Jesus Christ, it never can fail. The wind causes only the chaff to fly away ; it does not prevail upon good grain. It overthrows only the trees that are feeble and ill-grounded ; it leaves in their places those which are firm, and have good and deep-grown roots. And as an ancient once said, We must not account them prudent or faithful whom heresy has been suf- fered to change. None is a christian but he who perseveres to the end.* But I return to the apostle, who, the more fully to explain this firm and unshaken faith which he requires in us, for ob- taining salvation, adds further, "and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel." Thus justly does he join hope to faith ; these two virtues being so closely linked together, that they * Tertul. de Perse. 168 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XII mutually succour each other, and the one cannot be obtained or lost without the other. For, first, hope is the suit of faith, expecting with assurance the fruition of the things which we believe; so that when the persuasion which we have of them begins to totter, it is impossible but that the hope which was founded on it must come to ruin. Again in the combats which we sustain for the faith, hope is one of our principal supports ; while it is firm and vigorous, it repels without difficulty all the strokes of the enemy, opposing to the fear of the evils with which he threatens us, and to the desire of the good he pro- mises us, the incomparable excellency of the glory and felicity for which we look in the other world. He that hopes for hea- ven cannot be tempted by the paintings and appearances of the earth. For this cause the apostle, in another place, compares hope to an anchor, which, penetrating within the veil, fastened and grounded in heaven, holds our vessel firm and steady, amid the waves and agitations of this tempestuous sea on which we sail below. And it is this, in my opinion, at which the apostle here aims ; that believers might be established in the faith, he desires them to have still in their hearts the hope of heavenly bliss and never to suffer this sacred and divine anchor to be taken from them. They are in safety while it holds them fast. But, the better to express it, he calls it peculiarly " the hope of the gospel ;" that is, the hope which the gospel has wrought in us, the expectation of those good things which it promises. And so you see he refers hope to the gospel as to its true and genuine object. All the hopes which we conceive from other grounds are vain and failing. There are no hopes but those which embrace the promises of Jesus Christ that are firm and solid, and they are such as never confound those who wait for their fulfilment. The gospel promises us, first, the entire ex- piation of our sins, and the peace of God in Jesus Christ his Son. They therefore that seek this blessing in the ceremonies and shadows of the law, as the Galatians and false teachei's, who would have seduced the Colossians, did ; or that seek it in their own merits, and the merits of creatures ; all of them, I say, and all that are like them, sufter themselves to be carried away from the hope of the gospel. Then again, the gospel pro- mises us eternal life in heaven by the grace of God in his Son. Those therefore who seek their felicity, either in the earth or in heaven, otherwise than through the Lord Jesus alone, quit this hope. Whereby it appears how very pertinently Paul recom- mends this hope of the gospel to the Colossians. For in the combat in which they were engaged, it was sufficient to preserve them from all the attempts of impostors. What have I to do (says this hope) with the observations of your disciplines, or the subtilties of your philosophy, since I abundantly have in my gospel all the good things which you vainly promise me ? CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 169 But as it is common for false teachers to abuse the gospel, and to give that name to the fopperies and vanities which they preach, Paul, to put the Colossians out of all doubt and uncer- tainty, indicates expressly what this gospel is of which he speaks, that, says he, " which ye have heard," namely of Epa- phras, who had preached it among them, and to whom he be- fore gave an excellent testimonial for fidelity and sincerity. I mean, says he, the gospel which you received at the beginning, from the mouth of true servants of God, and not these vain and dangerous doctrines, which evil workers would wish you to re- ceive as the gospel of Christ. II. But to confirm them the more in the faith, he sets before them in the second place, an excellent encomium of the gospel, which contains a clear proof of its truth, saying that it is "the gospel which was preached to every creature which is under heaven." It is not the doctrine which these false apostles sowed here and there in some out-quarters, whispering and privily advancing among light and unstable spirits. It is the true word of the Son of God, which had been proclaimed through the whole universe by his command, and according to the oracles of his ancient prophets; that word which, going forth from Jerusalem, spread itself every way in a very little time ; and, being accom- panied with the power of its author, made itself heard and be- lieved in all the provinces of the habitable earth, in spite of the contradictions of hell and the world. His assertion, that the gospel was " preached to every creature which is under hea- ven," may be expounded two ways, but both of them amount to the same sense. First, by a figure very common in divine and human speech, the word "creature" may be taken for man, the noblest and most excellent of all the creatures. And our Lord so used the word before upon the same subject, when he commanded his apostles to do what Paul magnifies in this place : " Go ye," said he, " into all the world, and preach the gospel to every crea- ture;" where it is evident that by "every creature" he means men, who alone are capable of hearing and receiving what is preached. In this sense when Paul says that " the gospel was preached to every creature," it is as much as if he had said, to all mankind, and among all sorts of men ; agreeably to what he says here shortly afterwards, when speaking of himself, "warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom," ver. 28. Secondly, these words, " to every creature," may, in my opi- nion, be also taken as signifying in all the world ; and the more so, because it is literally in the original, in all the creature, with tlie article the^ and not simply " to every creature," Now that Paul sometimes uses this term, "the creature," to signify the world, this great body and collection of all things which 22 170 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XII. God has created, is manifestly seen in the Epistle to the Ro- mans, where he says, " The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God ;" and again, "The creature was made subject to vanity;" and also shortly after, " We know that the whole creation," or all the creature, "groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now," Rom. viii. 19, 20, 22, where it is clear, and confessed by most inter- preters, that " the creature " signifies the world ; and our Bibles, to make us understand it the better, change the singular number into the plural, rendering it {les créatures, and toutes les créatures) the creatures, and all the creatures ; whereas the original reads simply the creature, and all the creature. Taking it thus there- fore in this place, when the apostle saith the gospel "was preached in all the creature which is under heaven," he means in all the world wherein we dwell, wherein God has seated mankind beneath the heavens. I will not stay here now to show you how it might be truly said in Paul's" time, that the gospel of our Lord was then preached to all mankind, or in all the habitable world, or how this event is a clear and solid proof of its truth. We have already handled both of these particulars in expounding, if you remember, the 6th verse of this chapter, which affirmed that the gospel was come unto all the world. Upon that text, which signifies nothing else than what the apostle says here, namely, that the gospel has been " preached in all the creature which is under heaven," we showed, first, by good and irrefragable testimonies of ancient writers, both christian and pagan, that the heavenly word had been preached within the apostle's days in all countries then known either to the Greeks or Romans, and received generally with profit ; so that taking the word world (according to the style of all languages) not simply and absolutely for all the parts of this terrestrial globe, but only for those which at that time were known to men, and which they understood to be inhabited, it might be said with truth, and without any over-reaching hy- perbole, as Paul declares here, that the gospel had been " preached in all the creature which is under heaven," that is, in all the world. And, in the second place, we proved, both by the im- portance of the thing itself, and by the respect it has to tlie ora- cles of the Old Testament, which had predicted it many ages before its event, that this swift, sudden, and admirable progress of the gospel through all the world, in so few years, is a certain and infallible evidence of the truth and divinity of this holy doctrine ; obliging, consequently, both the Colossians at that time, and us at the present, to hold fast and persevere in the faith which we have reposed in it, without suffering ourselves ever to be moved away from it, either by the cheating arts of false teachers and their crafty seducements, or by the threaten- ings and persecutions of the world. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. ïif III, These things having before been explained at large, lest the repetition of them should be irksome, I will pass to the third head of our text, in which the apostle sets before the Colossians another character of true christian doctrine, namely, that it is the word, the ministry whereof was com- mitted to him. It is, says he, the gospel, of which " I Paul am made a minister." He opposes his heavenly call to the temerity of false teach- ers, who ran without having been sent, and preached not that which heaven commanded them, but that with which earth in- spired them ; their impulsions and instructions being from flesh and blood, and not from the Lord Jesus. It was other- wise with Paul ; all the faithful knew him to have been called from heaven, and suddenly changed by the efficacy of divine power from a wolf into a pastor ; made a herald and witness of the gospel immediately by the Lord Jesus ; instructed in his miraculous school, and illuminated and consecrated by his Spirit. Who could doubt but that it was from the mouth of this holy man that the mysteries of God should be learned, and that what was contrary to his doctrine ought to be judged false and vain ? I confess that his mission was extraordinary and miraculous, and is not to be made a precedent for others ; still that which he here says of it affords us two instructions which concern pastors generally. The first is, that they should never intrude themselves into this sacred office, if God call them not, so as that they may say with a good conscience, as Paul does in this place, that they have been made ministers of the gospel. It is true, Jesus Christ now speaks not to men from heaven, as he before did to Paul, to call them unto his work. But this much he does, he makes us perceive his will ; first, by the moving of his Spirit within us, which never fails to incite us to his work when God calls us to it ; and secondly, by the voice and authority of his church, that is to say, of his faith- ful people, to the body and community of whom he has given the power to apply the right of his ministry to such as they discern to be meet for it, as the examples of the primitive church, registered in the book of the Acts and elsewhere, show us. And as for ordination, as it is called, which is done by the imposition of the hands of other ministers already established, I confess that this also ought to intervene for the completion and crowning of the call ; accordingly you see that it is se- riously practised among us. But I add, that it is not so ab- solutely requisite, but that in case of extreme and invincible necessity, as in places and times when there are no true min- isters of Jesus Christ to be found to give it, the call of the church, that is of a body of faithful people, may suffice to a valid instituting of a pastor, supposing the person to have the ability and inclination requisite for such a charge. 172 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XII. The other particular which we have to- learn here is, that all pastors, of whatever rank they may be, are ministers, and not masters, of the gospel. It is the title which the apostle here assumes according to the declaration he makes elsewhere, that he has no dominion over the faith of believers, but is a helper of their joy, 2 Cor. i. 2-i, The duty of a minister is to pro- pose what has been committed to him, what he has received of the Master. If he go beyond it, and will have his own will and his private imaginations to bear sway, he is no longer a minister ; he does the act of a master, and consequently sets up a tyranny, since the church neither has nor can have any lawful master but Jesus Christ. Thus, dear brethren, we have expounded this exhortation of the apostle to the Colossians. Remember, that it is to you also he directs it. Amid the persecutions which Satan casts in the way of your faith, and the temptations he offers to turn you out of it, retain still in your hearts and in your ears this sacred voice which cries aloud from heaven to you, " Continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven ; whereof I Paul am made a minister." Oppose the authority of this divine command to the seducements and illusions of the world, to the flatteries and babble of sophisters, to the suggestions and lusts of the flesh. From whatever coast there come counsels contrary to it, whether from within or from without, judge them impious and abominable. And blessed be God, who has hitherto so settled you in the belief of his word, that neither the forcible attempts of open enemies, nor the fraud of false friends, has been able to remove you. But, dear brethren, it is not enough to have stood fast hitherto; there must be a preparation for combats which are still to come. For we have to do with enemies with whom we must look for neither peace nor truce. They will be still setting to work one engine or another ; and if repulsed on one side, they will not fail to attack us immediately on another. Let us be there- fore as vigilant in our defence. Let us have no less zeal and constancy for our preservation, than they have rage and reso- lution for our ruin. Let us fortify our faith daily. Arm it with proof armour. Found it on the eternal Rock, and so fasten it that nothing may be able to pluck it out of our hearts. For this purpose let us continually read and meditate that heavenly word from which we have drawn it. Let us fill our souls with this divine wisdom, and render it familiar to us. Let us instruct our youth in it. Let us cause it to abound everywhere among us. Let it be the matter of our mutual entertainments, and the usual subject of our medita- tions. For, as an ancient ouce very prudently said, " The CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 173 reading of tlie boly Scriptures is an excellent and an assured preservative to keep us from falling into sin ; and ignorance of the Scriptures is a huge precipice, a deep gulf of perdi- tion."* In the design of our perseverance, let us particularly make use of the two means with which Paul here furnisheth us. The one, that the gospel which we have heard has been preached in the whole world ; the other, that it is the same which was committed to our apostle. It is in the belief of this gospel that he would have us abide firm. It is to this faith that he promises the peace of God, his favour and his eternity. God, says he, has " reconciled you to himself, that he might present you holy, unblamable, and unreprovable ; if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel." From whence it follows, that if we have this gospel among us, we may cer- tainly assure ourselves that by retaining it we shall obtain the peace and the salvation of God. The only question therefore is, whether the doctrine which we have embraced be truly this gospel or not. If it is, I have no further search to make. I am content to have found that which is sufficient for me, that I may appear before my God without confusion, and re- ceive of him life everlasting. But that the doctrine of which we make profession is the same gospel that Paul preached, the same that he and the other apostles sowed in the world, and which the world, being overcome by the force of its truth, in the end received and adored, is so clear, that I do not think the devil himself, hardened in impudence as he is, can deny it. For do not the God whom we serve, and the Christ whom we adore, and his merit in which we trust, and the wor- ship we give him in spirit and in truth, and the heaven we hope for, and the sacraments we celebrate, and all the other articles of our religion, everywhere appear in the books of Paul, and of the other apostles? Are they not to be seen in all the monuments of these great men, as well in their wri- tings as in the churches which they planted through the earth? Let us therefore, my brethren, abide firm in this faith, since it most assuredly is the gospel which was heretofore preached in all the world, and was committed to Paul's ministration. And if those of Rome confront us with their devotions and traditions, let us boldly tell them, that if those things were any part of the gospel, they would appear in what the apos- tles preached, to whom Jesus Christ gave the ministry thereof. Whereas there is not any one of them found in the sacred volumes, which they have left us to be the rule of our faith ; neither the adoration of the host, the veneration of images, * Chrys. Horn. 3, de Lazaro. 174 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XII. the invocation of departed saints, nor the other points for which they have excommunicated us. And herein their head evidently shows how apostolical he is, to banish those from his communion whom Paul here expressly declares to be at peace with God, holy and unreprovable before him. For, to have this happiness, he does not oblige us to believe or prac- tise this pretended gospel of Rome. He requires us only to abide firm in the belief of the gospel which he preached to the faithful and left in his Epistles. In them our religion is to be seen, full and whole, but not one article of that which Rome would by all means constrain us to receive. But there is no necessity for us further to dwell upon this matter ; the truth of that doctrine which we embrace being so clear, that no man who understands Christianity, and owns the divinity of it, can call it into question ; and, on the other hand, the absurdity of the doctrine we reject is so palpable, and so rudely beats against the foundations of reason and Scripture that it is very difficult for a man who has had any taste of the gospel ever to yield up his consent to the errors we contest, exce})t God has blinded him by way of punishment for his ingratitude. The great combat which we have most cause to fear is that of the passions of our flesh. It is these properly that enfeeble faith, that darken its light, that hide the truth from its view, and embellish error. These are the true causes of their change who desert us, and of the offence of many that are infirm amongst us. Experience shows it daily. And accordingly you see our Saviour warned us of it, having said, in one of his parables, Matt. xiii. 21, 22, that it is either the fear of per- secution, or the cares of this world, or the deceitful ness of riches, that makes the seed of heaven unfruitful in the hearts of men, and obstructs their perseverance. And Paul some- where informs us, that they who reject a good conscience make shipwreck also of faith, 2 Tim. i. 19. When a man is once sold over to pleasure, or avarice, or ambition, it is no wonder if, in the sequel, he should loathe the truth and fall into error. The passage from the one to the other is easy. Besides, the slaves of sin not finding the contentment of their passions in the profession of truth, which is generally under the cross, their interest leads them to seek their satisfaction in the world ; this gives a violent shake to their minds, and brings them by degrees to relish the side and party of the world, as it is natural to us easily to believe the things we desire. It is for this reason, dear brethren, that we must use every effort and fight in good earnest, if we would continue firm in the faith. Give me a man that, embracing Jesus Christ, has cast off the lusts of the flesh and the world, and I will be security for his per- severance. Take me away the colours wherewith avarice, am- bition, and vanity adorn error in the thoughts of the wordlv- CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSI ANS. 175 minded, and I will not fear its seducing any. Cleanse your conscience, and your faith will be out of danger. The devil, without doubt, made use of his best weapons against our Lord ; and you know that, having represented to him the hunger and the necessity he was in, he omitted not to spread before his eyes the pomp of the grandeurs and riches of the world. It is a stratagem he still puts in practice, and his ministers do not forget this piece of his device; they fail not to tell those whom they would destroy that they will give them wonders. Faithful brethren, let us fortify ourselves seasonably against this temptation. Let us mortify in ourselves all the lusts of flesh and earth. Let us accustom ourselves to welcome the cross and sufferings of our Lord. Let us not suffer the world to dazzle our eyes, but let us look upon it as a deceitful show, unable to content its own adorers. To the false goods with which it feeds its bond-servants, let us oppose the true ones which the gospel promises. Let the sweet and noble hope of these inflame our souls with an ardent desire of heaven and immortality. Let it sweeten all the bitterness that attends our profession, and make execrable to us all that tends to turn us away from so blessed a design. Courage, christian; yet a little patience, and you will have overcome. Your faith, if you abide firm in it, will open in your heart in the present time a living spring of such joy as is a thousand times sweeter than all the pleasures of worldlings ; and it shall be crowned one day with that pre-eminent and immortal glory which the gos- pel that you have believed promises to all those who constantly persevere in the vocation of the Lord Jesus ; to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the true and only God, blessed for ever, be all honour and praise, to ages of ages. Amen. SERMON XIII VERSE 24. Who now rejoice in my Bufferings for you^ and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his hody''s sake, which is the church. The gospel of the Lord Jesus possesses many admirable evidences of its divinity, and among them the sufferings of its confessors and martyrs are, in my opinion, not the least illus- trious. For if you seriously consider them, you will find that there never was any doctrine in the world that drew more persecutions upon its followers, or that inspired them with so 176 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. XIII. mucli courage and resolution to endure them, or was, in effect, sealed with so much blood and patience. Other religions, as thej sprung from the earth, are welcome there, and the world, that well knows its own nature and spirit, shows them kind- ness, and receives them gladly. The alliance also which there is between them, being all of them fruits and productions of the flesh, makes them mutually bear with each other. And if a little jealousy at times raise in any of them some aversion for the rest, this passion seldom carries them so far as to an open persecution. But as soon as Christianity appeared, they all turned their hatred and their violence against it, as against a religion which was a stranger, and of quite a different origin and extraction from theirs. Who is able to describe the furious excesses of the world against this innocent discipline, and the horrid calamities to which it condemned its professors, banish- ing them out of all its countries, stripping them of all its honours and possessions, burning them, torturing them, and mercilessly employing its brute creatures and its elements against them ! Yet these cruelties did not confound the faith- ful ; they bore them magnanimously, and would rather lose all that was dear to them, even their very blood and life itself, than renounce Jesus Christ. Of all the false religions that were propagated among men in the time of paganism, name one that was consecrated in such a manner. Of all the sects of philosophy which Greece brought forth, and of which the old sages so haughtily boasted, show me one that gave to its disciples the courage to suffer for it, or that was watered with their blood. I will not deny that some persons have suffered, and still are found to suffer, for false religions. But, first, this never happens except when long use, and the superstition of many generations, have authorized their belief; whereas the faithful suffered for Christianity at its first springing forth, before the consent of the people or the authority of princes had strengthened it, or any other human considerations made it plausible. Then, again, those sufferings for error are very rare ; they are the sufferings of a few persons only, one here and another there, whom vanity or melancholy may push on so far ; whereas christians suffered by thousands, of all ages, of each sex, of every rank and condition, so that their resolution can be attributed to no other motive but their religion. Who can doubt that Mahommedanism and paganism would have been immediately extinguished if they had been exposed to the same trials ? Whereas Christianity was established by them ; it flourished in the flames ; and the ruder were the shocks that persecution gave it, the deeper root it took. And this character is so essential to this divine doctrine, that in the time of our fathers, when God caused it to come forth again into public light, it did not escape the same treatment that it had CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 177 anciently experienced, nor did it fail to confirm its truth by the same sufferings, confessions, and martyrdoms which had accompanied its first introduction. To this I further add, that the sufierings for other religions, when any happen, are with constraint and fear, or mixed with pride and obstinate ferocity; whereas in those for the gospel there shine forth humility and modesty, charity and sweetness, celestial consolation and joy. Such, at the erection of Christianity, were the sufferings of the apostles and the disciples. For this reason Paul speaks of his sufferings to the Colossians, in pursuance of the design he had to confirm their faith. "Who now rejoice," says he, " in my sufferings for you," &c. To keep the faith of the Colossians in its purity, and to se- cure it from the leaven which seducers would mix with it, he presented to them in the preceding text, two strong arguments of the truth of the gospel. One taken from its extension, it having been preached through all the world in a very little time; whereas the new doctrine with which efforts were made to infect them had been heard but here and there, in some by- corners. The other drawn from his own miraculous call, it being a doctrine the ministration of which our Saviour had authentically and magnificently committed to him ; whereas he had not ordered any person to preach those traditions with which some would burden them. But because this was a mat- ter of great importance, he employs the rest of this chapter in grounding and clearing it, showing in various ways the truth of his heavenly call. And, first, he confirms it in this verse by the sufferings which he cheerfully and willingly bore to an- swer that call, secretly opposing his condition to that of the false teachers, who were exempted from the cross by the pro- fession they made of observing the law of Moses. That I, says he, am sent of God, and a true minister of his, these great con- flicts which I sustain, and the afflictions which I continually suffer, evidently prove. For instead of fearing them, or being ashamed of them, I rejoice in them ; and it highly gratifies me to confirm my preaching with this divine seal, even the cheer- ful bearing of the cross of Christ, because I am not ignorant how necessary this deportment is in his school, where no one lives without suffering ; and how profitable it is for his mysti- cal body, that is, the church, whom he has united to himself, and of whom he has made me a minister. This is the substance of what the apostle here declares concerning his afflictions ; and, that we may the better understand it, we will consider, first, the manner in which he bore them. This he expresses in these words ; " Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you." Secondly, the reasons of his rejoicing; taken from the nature of those afflictions which were the rest of the sufferings of Christ, which I, says he, " fill up in my flesh." And, finally, 2o 178 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEKM. XIII. the object or the use of them, in that he suffered them for the sake of "Christ's body, which is the church." These three points we will explain, the grace of God assisting us, in this exposition. The apostle's joy in the nature of his sufferings, and the end or utility of them ; we will establish and make good the truth of his sentiments, and refute the attempts that error makes to wrest some advantage from his words. The whole shall be elucidated with as much perspicuity and brevity as is possible. I. Although it is generally true, that all those who will live godly in Christ Jesus suffer persecution ; yet this is particu- larly verified in the ministers of the gospel, who, not content with embracing this profession themselves, undertake to draw and guide others to it. This charge exposes them, more than the rest of the faithful, to the hatred and violence of the world. Paul's history clearly proves this. For he had no sooner re- ceived this sacred ministry, than he saw the Jews and the hea- then rise against him, as by common agreement, and his whole life from that moment was nothing but a series of afflictions. But the Spirit of him who had called him fortified him in such a manner, that he sustained them all, not only patiently and constantly, but even cheerfully, and there was not one of them of which it might not be said that he rejoiced in suffering it. It is evident, however, that in this place he speaks of one of his afflictions in particular, and not of them all in general. For in saying, "I now rejoice in my sufferings," he intimates his present sufferings, those which he was enduring when he wrote this Epistle, and not others that were past. Every one knows the condition which he was then in; that he lay a prisoner at Rome, bound in a chain for the gospel. It is therefore to this persecution that we must understand him to refer. It is this prison, and this chain, and the inconvenience, pain and ignominy that attended them, with respect to the flesh, which he signifies by his afflictions. But the question is, how is it that he saith that it is for the Colossians he was afflicted? "Who rejoice," says he, "in my sufferings for you." It does not appear in the history of his persecutions, which we have at large in the book of the Acts, that these faithful people had contributed to them, that they had been either the cause or the occasion of them. To this I answer, that if you carefully consider this sacred history, you will easily be enabled to resolve this difficulty. For it is evi- dent that the hatred of the Jews, his accusers and persecutors, who raised up this long affliction upon him, was principally caused by that commerce which this holy man ordinarily had with the Greeks and other Gentiles ; by his imparting the gos- pel to them, and receiving them into the communion of the people of God without obliging them to observe the law of CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 179 Moses. It was this tbat particularly kindled their hatred against Paul. They suffered James and many other disciples to exercise their ministry among those of the circumcision, as you see in the Acts. But as for Paul, who taught the Gentiles, and freely communicated to them the mysteries of God, him they could not bear; they cry out as soon as they see him, " Men of Israel, help. This is the man that teaches all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place." And they add in particular, that he had brought Greeks into the temple, and polluted that holy place; imagining he had caused a disciple of Ephesus, whose name was Trophimus, to enter into it, because they had seen him in the city, Acts xxi. 28, 29. Hereupon the apostle was made prisoner by the cap- tain of the citadel, and from thence sent to Cesarea, and two years afterwards to Rome. So you see that the commerce he had with the Gentiles, and the care he took of their conversion, according to the charge given to him concerning it from on high, was the true cause of all this tedious and terrible tempest being brought upon him. Since therefore the Colossians were of the number of the Gentiles, considering them here under this relation, he had reason to say that it was for them he suffered ; it being evident that he incurred the trouble in which he was at that time, for having opened, by his sacred ministry, the hea- venly Jerusalem to them and to other Gentiles. And thus he explains himself respecting it in another place, where, speaking of the persecution of which we are now treating, " I Paul," says he, "the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles," Eph. iii. 1. He expressly names the consideration under which the Ephe- sians had a part in his bonds, namely, as they were Gentiles. The truth is, he was not imprisoned either on account of the Ephesians or of the Colossians in particular ; but in general, because of the service he did to the Gentiles, converting them, and admitting them to the communion of the people of God. And let none object that he had never preached in person to the Colossians. Some doubt it. But suppose he had not, it is sufficient that those who had converted them, as Epaphras and others, had done it by his order, and after his example, and under his authority ; he being the person who had the preach- ing to the uncircumcision committed to him, and to whom the Lord from heaven had given the charge to go unto the Gen- tiles, "to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they might receive the remission of their sins, and an inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith," Acts xxvi. 17, 18. Here- after we shall find him declaring still more plainly to these faithful people, that they, and the rest of the Gentiles, were the occasion of his sufferings. "I would," says he to them, "that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at 180 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIII. Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh." In all this the holy prudence of the apostle appears, who, to win the hearts of these believers, and the better to dispose them to the reception of his instructions, besides the authority of his office, which he sets before them, expressly intimates the affection he bore for them, and the zeal he had for their salva- tion ; and in order to gain them unto God, he hesitated not to endure so long and grievous a persecution ; and so far from repenting of it, he still rejoiced in it to that very hour ; an evident sign, that if it were to commence again, the considera- tion of that hard prison would not in the least degree prevent him from exercising his ministry towards them and the other Gentiles in the same manner as he had done before. Thus Paul endured all the afflictions which the gospel and the edifi- cation of men entailed upon him. " I endure all things," says he, " for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salva- tion which is in Christ Jesus," 2 Tim. ii. 10. And to them who would have diverted him from the journey he took to Jerusalem, " What mean ye," says he, " to weep and to break mine heart ? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus," Acts xxi. 13. He faithfully makes good what he had promised them. He magnanimously undergoes his bonds. The tumult and fury of an enraged people did not daunt him. The conspira- cy of his enemies, the injustice of his judges, and the perils of the sea, did not in the least discourage him. The tedious- ness of a long imprisonment did not at all change him. Be- hold how he yet protests that he rejoices in his afflictions! He is as fresh and vigorous as if he were but now entering upon them. Indeed it is thus that we ought to suffer for Jesus Christ. It is not enough to be patient under suffering, there must be a rejoicing in it. It is not enough to go forth under the cross without murmuring, there must be a marching on with alacrity. He that follows his captain weeping is but a poor soldier; men of valour, on such occasions, go forward with gladness. Paul goes yet further. He would have us to glory in such kind of tribulations, and triumph in them, Rom. v. 3. So did the apostles, who, having been ignominiously scourged by the decree of the council of the Jews, rejoiced (says the sacred his- tory) " that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus," Acts v. 41. I confess that such joy, in occur- rences which would produce shame and sadness in all other men, is strange; it is contrary to the sentiments of nature, and exceeds its strength : yet I affirm that it is just ; and although it is above the reach of our reason, it will be found to be a very rational joy. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 181 II, That this may the better appear, let us now consider the two reasons of it, which the apostle here alleges, when he adds, " And fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church." The word " and," which knits these words with the foregoing, is put here, as in many other places of Scripture, for one of those particles which they call causal. I " rejoice in my suf- ferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflic- tions," &c.; that is, forasmuch as I fill up, or because I fill up, that which remains of the afflictions of Christ, as some of the best and most learned interpreters have well observed. The first of these reasons which induced the apostle to receive the sufferings of the gospel with joy is this, that by undergoing them he filled up the rest of the afflictions of Christ in his First, it is clear that by " the afflictions of Christ " he does not mean the troubles which the Lord Jesus himself suffered in his own person during the days of his flesh, of which his death on the cross was the last and the chief, the end and crowning of them all. For neither Paul, nor any of the wri- ters of the New Testament, ever uses the term " affliction " to express those sufferings of our Lord. They are always termed either his passion, and sufferings, or his temptations; as in the Epistle to the Hebrews, " Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death." Heb. ii. 9 ; and in Peter, "The Spirit testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ," 1 Pet. i. 11 ; and so also in other places. Secondly, " the afflictions of Christ," of which the apostle speaks in this place, were not finished ; there remained still some part of them to be filled up ; whereas the Lord's personal sufferings were perfectly completed on the cross, so that in this respect there remained nothing more for him to suffer ; ac- cording to what he himself testified, when he cried with a loud voice, before he gave up the ghost, " It is finished :" and also according to what the apostle teaches in various places ; namely, that Christ " died unto sin onoe ;" that henceforth he " dieth no more," but " liveth unto God," and that he " was once offered to bear the sins of many," Eom. vi. 9, 10 ; Heb. ix. 28. Those of Eome confess it, and even complain that they should be charged with having other thoughts upon the sub- ject ; they acknowledge it would be gross blasphemy to say that the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, by which he expiated our sins on the cross, want anything that should be supplied either by Paul or any other man. What then, are these "afflic- tions of Christ " which are here spoken of? Dear brethren, they are those which the apostle suffered for the name of the Lord, and in his communion, and by reason of the ministry with which he had honoured him. For it is the practice of 182 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIII. these holy men to give this title to all that believers suffer for this holy and glorious cause. " As the sufferings of Christ abound in us," says the apostle, " so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ," 2 Cor, i. 5. Hence you clearly see that by " the sufferings of Christ " are not meant those which the Lord suffered in his own person, but those which the apostle suffered for his sake. As he says to the Philippians, that he desired to be found in Christ, to the end that he might know " the fellowship of his sufferings," Phil. iii. 10 ; that is, those suf- ferings by which all his faithful ones are consecrated after his example. The same he elsewhere calls " the afflictions of the gospel," 2 Tim. i. 8 ; and in another place, " the dying of the Lord Jesus," which he says he bears i' about in his body," 2 Cor. iv. 10 ; just as he here says that he fills up the afflictions of Christ in his flesh. And, in my judgment, it is the same that he means at the end of the Epistle to the Galatians, where he glories in bearing in his body " the marks of the Lord Je- sus," Gal. vi. 17, because afflictions are, as it were, the mark that Jesus Christ imprints in the flesh of his servants, the seal and badge of his house. So in the Epistle to the Hebrews, he terms the low and disgraceful condition, the afflictions and in- conveniences of the people of God, " the reproach of Christ ;" saying that Moses esteemed "the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt," Heb. xi. 26. If you now ask me the reason of this mode of speech, it is not difficult to be found. For, first, since it is for the name of the Lord, for his cause, and in his service, that the faithful are afflicted ; " suffering," according to Peter's advice, " not as a murderer, or thief, or evil-doer, or as busybodies in other men's matters," but as christians, 1 Pet. iv. 15, 16 ; all the wounds which they receive upon this account are justly called the sufferings of Christ. Since he is the cause and the true occasion of them, it is reasonable to attribute them to him, and to say that they are his. Secondly, there is so strict a union between the Lord and all his true members, that they with him make up but one body, as the apostle will presently tell us. And by virtue of this conjunction we have part both in his glory and, in some measure, in his very name ; as the apos- tle intimates, when he compares this mystical body to a natu- ral body, and says, " As the body is one, and hath many mem- bers, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body ; so also is Christ," 1 Cor. xii. 12. Under the name of " Christ" there Paul comprises not only the person of the Lord Jesus, but with him the whole multitude of his believers. And considering them as united together, he gives the name " Christ" to this whole body, which is composed of the Lord as the Head, and of the faithful as members. Whereby it appears that all that believers suffer, each for his share, makes up part CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 183 of the afflictions of Christ; as you know we call those inju- ries ours which we receive in any one of our members, whether the hand or the foot. Paul is the hand of Christ, as one of the members of his body, yea, one of the most excellent. Surely then all that he suffers pertains to Christ. It is his affliction and his hurt. None of the wounds of his servants is alien to him. And you see even among men, it is an offence to a prince to slight his minister, it is an affront to the husband to injure the wife, to attack the servant is to assault the master. Though the connection between these persons is not so close or so intimate as the union of Jesus Christ and his people, yet it is sufficient to denominate these outrages and injuries the prince's, the husband's, or the master's injuries, which are done to the persons who appertain to them under that relationship. Accordingly, you see in civil affjiirs, that men interest them- selves as much in such cases, and take as heinously, or even more so, the outrages done to persons depending on them, and dear to them, as those which are directly aimed at them- selves. Thus, in the heavenly state of the church, Jesus Christ owns both the good and the evil that are done to his followers. He says of those who visit, comfort, and feed his poor members, that they visit, and comfort, and feed himself. Of those who refuse them these good offices, he declares that they have denied them to him. And Paul had learned this lesson from his own mouth. For when, in the darkness of his ignorance, actuated by the fury of his zeal without know- ledge, he persecuted the disciples, Jesus cried to him from hea- ven, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Acts ix. 4. It is I whom thou outragest in the person of those faithful people whom thou purposest to bind and imprison. Thou dost not give them a blow that does not reach me. I fail not, though in heaven, to bear a part in all that they suffer on earth. The blood thou drawest from them is mine ; and as their persons belong to me, so all their afflictions and torments are mine. The apostle, instructed by this divine oracle, boldly calls the af- flictions of Christ all those which he suffered after he had the honour of being his. But he does not barely say here that he suffers " the afflic- tions of Christ." He also says that he fills up that which is behind, that which was yet wanting of them. To understand this aright, we must remember what he teaches us elsewhere, namely, " that whom God did foreknow, he also did predesti- nate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren," Rom. viii. 29 ; and that one of the principal parts of this conformity is their suf- fering here below, and their partaking of the cross of Christ, according to the intimation which he constantly gives us in Scripture, that if any one will follow him he must take up 184 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIII. his cross, that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall sufier persecution, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Now as the wisdom and understanding of the Lord is infinite, he has not only or- dained this in general, but has defined and decreed in his eternal counsel, both that which the whole body of the church shall bear in the gross, and what each of the faithful, of whom this body is composed, shall suffer in particular, through what trials he shall pass, where his exercises shall begin, and where they shall end. And as his hand and his counsel had before de- termined all that the Lord Jesus suffered in his own person, Acts iv. 28 ; for which reason Peter calls him the Lamb that " was foreordained before the foundation of the world," 1 Pet. i. 20 ; so likewise has he resolved upon, and formed, in the light of his eternal providence, the whole lot of each one of the faith- ful, all the parts and thrusts of their combat. The case of the head and of the members is alike. Nothing happens to them by mere chance. The procedure and proportion of their whole laborious course is cut out and fashioned before all ages. Ac- cording to this true and holy doctrine, the apostle doubted not that his task was ordained in the counsel of his God, that the number of his sufferings were determined, and the quality of them regulated. Having then already despatched a great part of them, he means here that which remained for him yet to fin- ish according to the counsel of God. I accomplish, says he, in my present sufiîerings, " that which is behind," or the re- mainder, " of the afflictions of Christ." I despatch my task by little and little, and what I now suffer makes up a part of it. It is one draught of the cup which the Lord has ordained for me, a portion of the afflictions which I am to pass through, for his Christ's sake and cause. It is one of the conflicts which I must endure, for the consummation of my whole course. But it must not be omitted, that the word here used, and which we have rendered " fill up," is in the original very em- phatical, and signifies, not simply to " fill up," or to finish, but to fill up in one's turn, in consequence of and in exchange with some other. I consider that there is represented by it a secret opposition between what Jesus Christ had suffered for the apostle, and what the apostle at that time was suffering for Jesus Christ. The Lord, says he, on his part, has completed all the sufferings that were necessary for my redemption ; I now, in my turn, fill up all the afflictions that are useful for his glory. He did the work which the Father had given him to do on earth ; and I after him, and after his example, do that which he has charged me with. He has suffered for me ; I suffer for him. He has purchased ray salvation by his cross; I advance his kingdom by my conflicts. His blood has re- CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 185 deemed the church ; my imprisonment and my bonds edify it. For you see, my brethren, that the conformity which is be- tween Jesus Christ and each one of his believers, requires that there should be such a resemblance between his sufferings and ours. And this is what the apostle intends by the word here used. To this we must also particularly refer his saying that he " fills up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh." For as the Lord suffered in this infirm and mortal nature which he had put on ; and, after he had put off' the infirmness of it, and rendered it immortal and impassible, suffered no more ; in like manner, it is in this flesh that all the afflictions shall be filled up which we are to suffer by the order and counsel of God. When we shall once have quitted it, there will be no more conflicts and sufferings for us to undergo, than there were for the Lord Jesus after his death upon the cross. It is the same thing which the apostle signi- fies in the passages quoted before, that he bears the dying of Christ in his body, and his marks in his flesh. From whence, by the way, it appears how absurd the belief of purgatory is, which makes the faithful to suffer, not in the flesh, but in the spirit ; and extends their afflictions and pains beyond the days of their flesh ; in which, nevertheless, the apostle teaches us that their sufferings are completed. Thus you see what is the sense of his words, and how much rea- son he had to rejoice in his sufferings : first, because they were the afflictions of Jesus Christ, the Prince of life, and the author of our salvation. Secondly, because they were dis- pensed by the order and will of God. Thirdly, because they made up the last part of the apostle's task ; being the contin- uance and remainder of the conflicts which he had to sustain. And lastly, because they contained an illustrious evidence of his gratitude towards the Lord ; and rendered him conform- able to his holy image, in that, as Jesus had suffered for his salvation, he also suffered in his turn for the glory of his gracious Master. III. But he adds yet another reason, which likewise sweet- ened the bitterness of his sufferings, and enabled him to find joy amidst the horror of them ; it is that he suffered them for " the sake of the body of the Lord, which is his church." He had already said that he suffered for the Colossians, as we have explained ; now he extends the fruit of his afflictions further, saying that they are of use to the whole church. And to show us how much weight this consideration should have to make his sufferings pleasant to him, he gives the church the highest and the most glorious appellation that can be attributed to any creatures, calling it the body of Christ. For what object more illustrious and more precious can we suf- fer, than for the body of the Son of God, the King of ages, the ' 24 186 AN EXPOSITION OP [SERM. XIII. Father of eternity ? We have already treated of it upon the 18th verse of this chapter, and showed how, and in what sense, the church is the body of Christ, and we will not now repeat it. But his affirming that he fills up these afflictions for the church is true, and appears so in two respects. First, inasmuch as the church was the occasion, and indeed the cause, of his sufferings. For it was the service he did it, in preaching the gospel, in instructing and comforting it, in grounding and settling it in the faith, which had provoked the Jews against him, and involved him in the afflictions which beset him. As if a prince's servant, zealous for his master's glory, and for the prosperity of his affairs, should through his zeal fall into some disaster, he might say it was for him and his interests that he shed his blood, and lay a prisoner in his enemies' hands. Secondly, Paul's afflictions were for the church, because he suffered them for the edification and consolation of the church. This was the intention of his patience, and the design of his constancy. It was to the church that all the fruit of these fair and illustrious examples of the apostle's constancy redounded. He himself explains it to be so. "Whether we be afflicted," says he to the Corinthians, " it is for your consolation and sal- vation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same suffer- ings which we also suffer," 2 Cor. i. 6. Here you see that the fruit which the faithful reaped from these afflictions consisted in this, that by the virtue of his example they were confirmed in the gospel ; were rejoiced, and comforted, and fortified for the same conflicts. And in the Epistle to the Philippians, when treating of the same imprisonment to which he alludes in our text, he says, " I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out ra- ther unto the furtherance of the gospel ; so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places ; and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear," Phil. i. 12-14. Behold ! how his sufferings were for the church, in that they encouraged the preachers, and enkindled in the hearts of the faithful people the zeal of the house of God ; and in those without the church an inquisitiveness about the gospel, for which he was a prisoner. This great man's preaching would never have sparkled as it did, never af- forded the world and the church so much edification and con- solation, if it had not been accompanied with sufferings sealed with his blood, and confirmed by his wonderful patience amidst the continual persecutions which were raised against him. The conflicts of other servants of God have the same efiect. Their blood is the seed of the church. It is from their sufferings that it springs up. It is by them that it grows and CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 187 gathers strength. It is the patience of these divine warriors that converted the world, that conquered the nations unto Je- sus Christ, and planted his cross and his gospel everywhere, even in the most rebellious spirits. Surely, since the church received so much profit from the apostle's afflictions, it is with good reason he here affirms that he fills up that which is be- hind of them for it. And in this sense we must understand it, when he says to Timothy that he "endures all things for the elect's sake," 2 Tim. ii. 10. This may suffice for the discussion of our text, which is per- spicuous, simple, and obvious. But the error of our adversa- ries compels us to lengthen this discourse. Not that they deny the exposition which we have given ; for how could they do that, without renouncing the doctrine of the gospel and the confession of christians in all ages ? But, granting that the apostle's afflictions were for the church in the sense in which we have expounded it, they add, that they were so also in an- other sense ; that is to say, in that by undergoing them he made satisfaction for the sins of other believers, and by this means contributed to the increase and enrichment of the church's treasury of satisfactions, out of which the bishop of Borne, to whom the custody of it is committed, makes larges- ses from time to time, as he judges meet, for the expiation of the sins of penitents ; and hence has arisen the use of indul- gences, which is become so common in our days. But, first, what kind of proof is this ? To show that the saints have satisfied divine justice for the sins of other believers, they al- lege that Paul writes, " I fill up the rest of the afflictions of Christ for his church." I answer, his meaning is for edifying and comforting the church. They acknowledge the force of this answer, but add, that the apostle's sufferings serve also for the expiation of the sins of the church, and to fill the exche- quer of its pretended satisfactions. Is this fair disputing ? Is it not a pronouncing of dogmas after their own fancy ? Is not this presupposing their opinion instead of proving it? It is clear that we read nothing in this text either of these satisfac- tions, of that treasury, or of those indulgences of which they inform us. Certainly, if they will draw these things from hence, it behoves them to show us that they are here, to dis- close them to us, to constrain us by the clearness of their proofs to see them. So far, however, from forcing us to this by the weight of their evidence, they do not so much as at- tempt it, but content themselves with telling us, that though our exposition is good and true, yet theirs also must be added. Since they urge no other proof of it but their own dictate, we may reject it with the same facility with which they offer it. Nevertheless, for your greater edification, I will proceed a lit- tle further in the illustration of this text. 188 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIII. First, the apostle's words bj no means warrant us in suppo- sing that be is speaking of satisfactions, it being evident that it may be said of all useful things, that they are for those who have the use of them : as, for example, that it is for men the sun shines in the heavens ; that it is for them the clouds pour down the rain, and the earth yields its fruits ; that it is for the church Paul wrote his Epistles, and preached, and published the gospel ; and a thousand other such things, in which no man ever dreamed that there is any satisfaction. And when Paul professes to the Corinthians, that he would most willingly spend and be spent for them, 2 Cor. xii. 15, does he mean for the atonement of their sins ? No, says a Jesuit ; but he speaks of his great pains in preaching and teaching, which could not have failed of being very useful for the edification of the church, though of no value for the satisfaction of God.* Here, therefore, in the same manner, when the apostle says his afflictions are for the church, it follows clearly that his suffer- ings were of use to the church, (which I willingly confess,) but not that they were satisfactions for the sins of the church ; which is precisely the thing we deny, and which they would prove. But if the words of this text do not support their ex- position, the authority of the fathers, which they so highly ex- tol, does not establish it any the more ; not one of them ever having been known to infer their doctrine from this text, or to interpret it differently from what we have done. Lastly, the thing itself as little favours their design ; and to demonstrate it to you, we must briefly touch upon all the points of their pretended mystery. It is composed of four propositions, all of which they advance upon their own credit, without founding so much as one of them on Scripture. For, first, they presuppose that when God pardons the sins which are committed after baptism, he remits only the guilt, and the eternal punishment of our trespasses, but not their temporal punishment ; this, they consider, he obliges us to expiate, either here or in purgatory. Secondly they add, that various saints, as the apostles, martyrs, and others, have done and suf- fered much more than they themselves required for the expia- tion of their own sins ; and, as they are provident, thrifty men, lest these superfluous satisfactions (for so they call them) be unprofitably lost, they maintain that they go into the com- mon treasury of the churches, where, being mixed with the superabundant sufferings of Christ, they are preserved for the necessities of the penitent. And, finally, in addition to all this, they give the custody of this treasury to the bishop of Rome alone, who dispenses it as he judges expedient. Here is a chain of imaginations which have no foundation, either in rea- * Justiuiaa in loc. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 189 son, or in Scripture, or anywhere else, but in their own passion and interest. For, first, who taught them thus to cut in pieces the benefits of God, and to suppose that he remits the guilt without the punishment, as if to remit a sin was anything else than not to punish it — and that he again remits a part of the punishment, namely, that which is eternal, and holds us bound to satisfy for the other ? How does this accord with that full and entire grace which he promises to repenting sinners, and with his declaration that he will forget their sins ; that he will blot out their iniquities ; that he will remember them no more, and that there is no condemnation to them that are in Jesus Christ? Would it not be a mockery, if, after all this, he should exact of men the punishment of their faults to the ut- most farthing? And as for the pretended satisfactions of the saints, whence have they drawn them — from what prophets, from what apostles, seeing that, so far from having suffered more than was necessary to expiate their sins, all of them de- clare that none of them were justified by their doings or their sufferings, that they all needed grace for the expiation of their transgressions, and that all their sufferings were not able to counterpoise the glory wherewith God will crown them ? And if we be indebted to them for any part of the expiation of our sins, what will become of the apostle's assertion, that Christ purged our sins by himself, Heb. i. 3 ; and that he consummated, or made perfect, them that believe, by that one sole oblation which he made on the cross ? If Paul, who is in question, did in suffering satisfy for us, why does he protest elsewhere that he was not crucified for us ? 1 Cor. i. 13. Surely, according to our adversaries' supposition, he could not in truth deny it. For if his sufferings serve not only for the edification of our lives, but also for the atonement of our sins, as they pretend, there remains no longer any sense in which it may be said that Christ alone suffered for us. These two pro- positions, that the apostle did suffer, and did not suffer for us, will be irreconcilable; whereas in our doctrine it is easy to harmonize them, by saying, he suffered for us, that is, for our edification; and suffered not for us, that is, not to atone for our sins ; this kind of suffering appertaining to the Lord Jesus only. Besides, if the afflictions of which the apostle here speaks were satisfactory for the church, (as our adversaries will have it,) Paul would not have suffered them with joy; it being evi- dent that pains of this nature necessarily seize those who suffer them with an extreme horror and heaviness, because they are accompanied with the apprehension of the wrath of God against sin, as appears both by the cross of our Lord, which he bore, it is true, with firmness and patience, but without any emotions of joy ; and also by the confession of our adversaries themselves, 190 AN- EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIII. who represent to us that the souls which suffer for their sins, in their imaginary purgatory, are all confounded with horror, and full of excessive sadness. Lastly, how does this fiction accord with the perpetual voice of the church,* that though the faithful die for their brethren, yet martyrs did not shed one drop of their blood for the remis- sion of their sins; and that none but Christ has done this for us ; and that in this he did nothing for our imitation but that for which we should thank him ; that he alone took on him our punishment without our sin, to the end that we by him, without merit, might obtain the grace which is not due to us ? This foundation being overturned, their pretended treasury, and its distribution, which they invent, fall to the ground. I confess the church has a treasure, or rather a living spring of graces, and of propitiation for its sins, but it is full and whole in Jesus Christ, her eternal High Priest, who was ordained of God, from all time, to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood ; and to have possession of these blessings, the sinner needs but to present him a heart full of faith and of repentance, according to the direction of John, " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," 1 John i. 9. As for the patience and the sufferings of saints, though they have not the virtue to atone for our sins, yet they are not unprofitable to us. Where- fore the Lord would have them put up and kept, not in the pretended exchequer of the pope, but in the treasury of the Scriptures, out of which every believer has the liberty of re- ceiving them at all times for his use, to the edifying of his life, that he may gather from such fair examples that excellent fruit of piety which they contain, and admire and imitate them to the best of his ability. This is the lesson which we ought to practise upon the sufferings of the apostle in particular, which are represented to us in this text, that we may in reality profit by them, to the glory of God and our own edification. Let us learn from them, first, not to be ashamed of affliction for the gospel's sake. Paul shows us that it is matter of joy; I "rejoice," says he, " in my sufferings ;" and our Lord himself says, " Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad : for great is your re- ward in heaven : for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you," Matt. v. 11, 12. Christ was treated thus himself, and his apostles went to heaven the same way. Blush not to bear their marks. If they be ignominious before men, they are glorious before God. Fortify yourselves in this reso- lution, particularly you to whom God has committed the mini- * Aug. 34. tract, in Joan, et 1. 4. ad Bonif. de Pecc. mer. et remiss. CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 191 stry of his word. If the world thwart your preaching, if it threaten you, if it proceed so far as to imprisonments and to banishment, remember that Paul had no better usage, and that it was out of a prison that he wrote this excellent Epistle. As your cause is the same, so let your courage be like his. Con- clude, as he did, that these bonds are an honour to you, that these sufferings are the afflictions of Christ. Let this sacred name, and the communion you have with him, sweeten all the bitterness of your troubles. But, faithful brethren, think not that you shall be exempted from these trials because you are not ministers of the gospel. You also have part in them, each one according to his calling, and the measure of the grace of God. He has no children whom he consecrates not by afflictions. But if you suffer with Jesus Christ, you shall reign with him ; if you have part now in his cross, you shall one day have part in his glory. And, to assure you of it, he calls your sufferings his afflictions. He protests that you receive not a blow but what he feels. Doubt not that he takes great notice of the conflicts which he vouchsafes to call his. Think also upon what he has sustained for you, and you will confess it is reasonable that you should suffer something for his glory who has undergone so much for your salvation. He has suffered for you the whole curse of God ; will not you bear the reproaches and wrongs of men for him ? He has borne and expiated the penalty of your sins on the cross ; will you shrink from that which is behind of his afflic- tions? He has accomplished what was most difficult, that which none but he could discharge, having drunk for us the dreadful cup of God's indignation against our sins. Let us valiantly accomplish the trials which remain for us. It is he himself that dispenses them to us. It is not either the fancy of men, or the rage of devils. God has appointed our task for us. It is from his hand we must receive all the afflictions which we shall suffer. But besides that we owe this respect and subjection to God, let us learn of the apostle that we owe such examples also to the church. It is not for Jesus Christ alone that we suffer. It is for his body also. As our afflictions advance the glory of the Master, so they likewise serve for the edification of the fa- mily. Judge thereby, faithful brethren, what our affection for the church should be. The consideration of it constituted a great part of the apostle's joy. He accounted himself happy, that by his sufferings he could testify the love he bore to this Bacred body of his Master. He blessed his chain, how hard so- ever it was, because it did the church some service. Dear bre- thren, let us imitate this divine charity. Let us love our Lord's church above all things. Let us make it the chief object of our delight. Let us consecrate to its edification all the actions and 192 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIII. sufferings of our lives. Let us embrace all its members with brotherly kindness, and take good heed that we despise no man who has the honour to be incorporated in so august and divine a society. The apostle's example shows us that we owe them even our blood and our life. And we have heard him also at another time professing to the Philippians, that if he should be offered upon the sacrifice and service of their faith, he should joy in it, Phil. ii. 17. And John says expressly, that as Christ " laid down his life for us, so we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren," 1 John iii, 16, If the Lord spare our infirm- ity, and call us not to such great trials, let us at least testify our love towards the church by all the offices and services of which our condition, and the present occasion, is capable. We owe it our blood. Let us give it, at least, our tears, our alms, our good examples. You that have had the heart to plunge into the vain pastimes of the world while the church was in mourning, that have laughed and sported while she suffered and groaned, repair this disorder. Comfort her with your pious tears, whom you have saddened by your vain pleasures. Break with the world. Have no more commerce but with the children of God. Remember you have the honour to be the body of Jesus Christ. How is it that you have no horror at defiling, in the filth of sin and vanity, those members which are consecrated to the Son of God, washed with his blood, sanctified by his word, and baptized with his Spirit ? The church, besides this purity of life which its edification requires of you at all times, particularly at the present, de- mands of you the succour of your alms for the refreshment of its poor members. Their number and their necessities increase daily. Let your charity be augmented after the same propor- tion. Let it relieve the indigence of some, let it allay the passions of others, let it extinguish enmities and hatred among us all. Let it seek not only to those whom you have wronged, but even to them that have offended you without cause, that henceforth you may truly be the body of the Lord, his church, holy and unblamable, " having neither spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing ;" patient and generous in affliction, humble and modest in prosperity, crowned with good works and the fruits of righteousness, to the glory of our great Saviour, the edification of men, and your own salvation. Amen, CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 193 SERMON XIV. VERSES 25 — 27. Whereof I am made a minister^ according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the ivord of God: even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make hioivn what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles ; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The cliurcîi of our Lord Jesus Christ is the fairest and most glorious state that ever existed in the world ; a state formed in the counsel of God before the creation of the heavens, founded on the cross of his Son in the fulness of time ; gov- erned by the Father of eternity, and enlivened by his Spirit ; it is the most precious of his jewels, the last end of his works, and the only design of all his wondrous performances. It is a state not mortal and corruptible, as those of the earth, but firm and everlasting, situate above the sun and moon, and sees all other things roll under its feet, in continual change, with- out being subject to their vanity. It is the only society against which neither the gates of hell, nor the revolutions of time, shall prevail. It is the house of the living God, the temple of his holiness, the pillar of his truth, the dwelling- place of his grace and glory. One of the prophets therefore long ago contemplating it in spirit, cried out in transport and ecstasy, " Glorious things are spoken of thee, 0 city of God," Psal. Ixxxvii. 3. But among its other glories, this is in my opinion none of the least, that God employs the hands, the sweat, and the blood of his apostles for its erection. It is for the church that he made and formed these great men, and poured into their souls all the riches of heaven. And as they had received them for the service of the church, so they laid them out in it faithfully and cheerfully, insomuch that they counted it a great honour to suffer on its account, and they blessed the reproaches which they received for its edification. We lately heard Paul, the most excellent of these divine men, protesting that he rejoiced in his sufferings and afflictions for the church ; and now, in the text which we have read, he goes on to say that he is the minister of the church. What an admi- rable and happy community must that have been whose min- ister and servitor was Paul, the greatest of men, one of the master-pieces of heaven, and the wonder of earth ! But by these words he not only justifies the joy he had in suffering 194: AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIV. for the church, as minister of it ; he also grounds upon them his liberty to make remonstrances to the Colossians, and to enforce his doctrine against the errors which seducers were sowing among them. For this cause, he enlarges on this sub- ject, and magnifies his ministry. First, he represents to them the foundation of it, namely, the call of God ; and the object of it, or those towards whom he ought to exercise it ; and the end of it, in verse 25, in these words ; " Whereof " (that is, of the church) " I am made a minister, according to the dis- pensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God." After this, in the following verse, he extols the subject of this ministry, namely, the word of God ; saying that it is " the mystery which had been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to the saints." Lastly, he adds the efficacy of this divine mystery towards the Gentiles ; and declares wherein it consists, namely, in Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the whole matter and substance of this great mystery. " To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles ; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." These are the three points which we purpose to handle in this discourse, if the Lord permit. First, the ministry of Paul. Secondly, the mystery of the gospel. And thirdly, the riches of its glory towards the Gentiles. The subject is great, the time short, and our abilities small ; may it please God to supply our defects by the abundance of his Spirit, and powerfully strengthen and multiply the words of our mouth in your hearts; so that, notwithstanding their scantiness and poverty, they may administer food for your souls, even as the seven loaves and a few little fishes, by virtue of his blessing, for- merly sufficed to satiate a great multitude. I. As for the first of these three points ; the apostle, speak- ing of the church, says, " "Whereof I am made a minister, ac- cording to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God." Upon which we have four things to consider. First, the quality of the apostle's office, which he terms the ministry of the church. Secondly, the title to this office, founded on the dispensation which God had given him. Thirdly, the object of the execution of this of- fice, which he expresses by saying, " for you ;" that is, for you Gentiles, as we shall show you presently. And in the fourth place, the function and the proximate end of this office, which he declares in these words, " to fulfil the word of God." Observe then, brethren, first, how this holy apostle, to de- scribe the office to which God had called him, says he had been made, not the master, or the prince, or the judge, or the mon- arch, or the high priest, but the minister of the church. By which you see, on the one hand, how very far from the mind CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. l95 of this holy man were the doctrine and practice of those who qualify themselves with those vain and haughty titles, which are not to be found among the names of the apostles and pas- tors in the Scriptures, and who are not ashamed openly to say and to write, that bishops a~re judges, masters, and princes of their flocks : that he of Rome, in particular, is the monarch of the church, its king and its sovereign Lord on earth, whose feet it ought to kiss, the lowest homage a vassal can do to his master ; that he has power to impose laws on the church, which shall bind the conscience, so as that it can have no faith or salvation out of his obedience; that he has, though indi- rectly, even power and dominion over the temporalities of the church, not excepting the sceptres and crowns of the sover- eign powers of the earth. Judge by this if it is not a mock- ery of the world for such persons to represent themselves as the true heirs and successors of Paul and Peter. Paul calls himself a minister of the church. These men say they are the lords and monarchs of it. Paul protests that he has no " dominion over our faith," 2 Cor. i. 24. These men pretend that they have an absolute empire, insomuch that every man is bound, under pain of damnation, to believe all that they command, and for no other reason than because they command it. Peter styles himself a presbyter, that is an elder, with the presbyters or elders, 1 Pet. v. 1 — 3. These men say they are their sovereigns and kings. Peter orders the pastors to feed the flock of Christ, not as having lordship over his heritage ; these men attribute to themselves a direct and a supreme do- minion over them. In short, Jesus Christ, both Paul's and Peter's Master, says expressly to his ministers, " Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them ; but it shall not be so among you," Matt. xx. 25. And yet these men exer- cise, both upon people and pastors, indeed upon the whole church, a mastership and dominion much more absolute, rough, and rigorous than any monarch ever exercised over his sub- jects, and such a dominion too as wants neither the pomp of dignity, the splendour of riches, of arms, and guards, nor any other of the ordinary and visible marks and badges of a worldly royalty. But you have to observe here also, on the other hand, how false and unjust is the derision which our ad- versaries make of the name of minister, which pastors among us assume ; imputing, in a manner, their modesty to them as a crime, and almost accusing them of their want of arrogance. I know well that the word here rendered " minister" is often used in the language of Scripture, and of the church, to signify the ministry of those who have the care of the poor, and of the funds of the church, and we have retained it in this sense in our vulgar tongues ; in which they that are put 196 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIV. into such charges are called in French diacres^ in English, dea- cons, as you know ; which is precisely the Greek word here used by the apostle. But however, since Paul has not hesi- tated to use this name for expressing his office, calling himself a minister of the church, ver. 23, and in other places, a min- ister of the gospel, a " minister of the New Testament," 2 Cor. iii. 6, a " minister of God," chap. vi. 4, and minister of Christ, it appears to me that no one can blame us, who are so far be- neath him, for having followed the example of his humility ; and that to censure us for calling our pastors ministers, is evidently to revile this great apostle, who has so often used this name in this sense, and even to signify the highest digni- ties in the church, such as his apostleship ; for it is evident that he means this, when he says in our text that he was made a minister of the church. He adds, secondly, " according to the dispensation which is given to me." Hereby he shows, first, that it was not man, but God, the supreme Master and Lord of the whole universe, who called and consecrated him to the ministry of the gospel. You all know the history of it, which is told us at length in the book of Acts. It is full of so many wonders, that the vocation of this holy man ought to be counted very singular ; many circumstances meeting in it which do not occur in the call of any other apostle. Jesus Christ had called the rest during the days of his flesh ; he called Paul after his resurrec- tion, and subsequently to his having taken his seat at the right hand of the Father. He conversed with the rest on earth ; to this person he spake from heaven. The others were invited by our Saviour, and won by degrees ; him he over- came and subdued at once by an extraordinary exercise of his divine power, seizing him suddenly by the miraculous force of his right hand. If the rest, before their call, had no affec- tion for the Lord, at least they had no hatred or aversion against him, Paul burned with a furious zeal against Jesus Christ, and all his disciples, and made war upon him, and had his weapon in hand when he was plucked by celestial power out of the bonds of iniquity, and in a moment changed from a persecutor to a minister of the church. But in addi- tion to the Author of his call, he here discloses to us the nature of his ministry, by saying that this dispensation of God was given to him. I am not ignorant that the dispensa- tion of God may be taken for the conduct and wise disposal of the providence of God, who governs all things, and partic- ularly the things of the church, by his eternal counsel. And if the apostle had said simply that he had been made a min-- ister according to or by the dispensation of God, it might have been so understood; but he adds expressly that this dis- pensation of God was given to him, and this necessarily CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 197 obliges us to understand it, not of the Lord's conduct, whicTi was not given to him, but of the divine office of a steward in his church, to which Paul was called, and which was com- mitted to him. That this was the quality and condition of his apostleship he teaches us expressly in another place : " Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God," 1 Cor. iv. 1. Whence it clearly follows, since the apostle was a steward, or a dispenser, that his office was a stewardship, or a dispensation, as he calls it here. And from this it appears again how false is the opin- ion of those who attribute a lordly and absolute authority and a despotic power to ministers of the church over the Lord's flocks. For the steward, or dispenser, has power not to do anything of his own head, and after his own fancy, but only to dispense what the master has given him and precisely in such a manner as he has described to him. If he take upon himself to do more, he exceeds the bounds of his commission ; and all that he does or says beyond them is void and of no force, nor does it oblige any one of the household to obey it. But the apostle describes, thirdly, the object of his ministry; that is, who they are towards whom he ought to exercise it. "This dispensation of God," he says, "is given to me for you." These Colossians, to whom he wrote, being Gentiles by birth and extraction, he considers them here in that quality; and his meaning is, that it was for them, and others like them, that is to say, for the Gentiles, that he had been called to this sacred ministry. It is true, an apostleship was a universal charge, which extended generally to all men, of every nation or con- dition, having the whole earth for its precinct, according to that clause of the commission which the Lord gave his apostles when he sent them forth, " Go, and teach all nations," Matt. xxviii. 19. And that the ministry of Paul was of the same character evidently appears, both from his procedure and his writings ; for he often preached the gospel to the Jews, as you may see in various places in the Acts ; and directed to them particularly that excellent Epistle to the Hebrews which re- mains in the church to this day. But though the extent of his charge was such originally and properly, nevertheless, that he might exercise it more extensively and with greater success, God appointed him to preach peculiarly to the Gentiles, and commissioned him to labour particularly for them, as he ex- pressly informed him when he directed to him his call from heaven : " I send thee," said he, " to the Gentiles, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light," Acts xxvi. 17, 18. And afterwards, in pursuit of this heavenly mandate, Peter and Paul by a voluntary arrangement divided mankind into two parts ; Peter, with the other apostles, taking the cir- 198 AN EXPOSITION OP [SERM. XIV. cumcision of the Jews, and Paul the uncircumcision, that is, the Gentiles, as he himself informs us in another place. This, however, must be understood of the ordinary exercise of their commissions ; Peter not being prohibited from preaching to and converting the Gentiles, nor Paul from labouring among the Jews, if any favourable opportunity should occur in the course of their ministry. Gal. ii. Here we have a general view of the necessity of appropriating a determinate flock to each pastor, and of the vanity and exorbitancy of the pretension of him who calls himself the universal pastor and bishop of all Christendom. For if the apostles themselves, who had the power to exercise this charge, yet considered it so difficult, that for its proper performance they voluntarily divided the district of their commission between them, each of them taking a portion of it only; how can we believe that a man, who is infinitely inferior in gifts to these great ministers of God, should be able alone to govern the whole church of Christ? But the apostle very pertinently declares this to the Colossians, to keep them fast in the purity of the faith. For since he had been sent of God to illuminate and teach the Gentiles, it is evident that they, being Gentiles, owed him a particular re- spect, and that they were to believe nothing which was not conformable to his instructions, considering him as the min- ister of their faith, whom God had particularly set over them. From whence it follows that they neither could nor ought to embrace that novel doctrine which certain seducers offered to them, seeing it was neither preached nor approved of by Paul. And since we ourselves are by extraction Gentiles, this con- sideration, my brethren, should induce us also to reverence this holy man. He is our apostle, and the minister whom God has given to us for an interpreter of his will, and a conductor of our souls to salvation. Let us respect him among all the ministers of Christ. Let us hear him diligently. Let us peruse his divine instructions night and day. Let us abide fixedly hanging on his sacred lips, and hear nothing contrary to his doctrine. Whatever others may be, there never was any but he who received from heaven the particular commission to in- struct us. Lastly, he shows us the nature of his work, and the end of his office. " The dispensation of God which is given to me for you," says he, " to fulfil the word of God." Some there are who understand by this "word of God," of which the gospel speaks, the ancient oracles, which foretold the conversion of the Gentiles to the knowledge of the true God in the days of the Messiah ; as, for instance, in Isaiah, where we read that Christ should be given "for a light to the Gentiles," chap. xlii. 6 ; xlix. 6; and in Zechariah, "Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people," chap. ii. 11 ; CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 19'9 and in Micah, " Many nations shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths," chap. iv. 2 ; and other similar passages, which are to be found in great number in the books of the prophets. As if the apostle meant, that he was ap- pointed the minister of the Gentiles, for the accomplishment of these predictions. Now certainly it cannot be denied that the thing in itself is true, it being evident that his preaching was one of the most excellent means which the Lord used for effecting that which he had promised in those oracles, namely, the conversion of the nations. Nevertheless, to put this sense upon the apostle's words, is, in my opinion, to do them violence. For, first, the word of God, according to the apostle's style, signifies the gospel, which is so called on account of its excellency ; it being, without controversy, the most excellent of all the words of the Lord ; and these terms are always constantly so understood when he uses them sim- ply and absolutely, as in this place ; and I do not think that so much as one passage can be produced in which he useâ them otherwise. And if this were not so, it is impossible to understand them in any other way here, as the apostle, to ex- plain what is this word of God, for the fulfilling of which he was sent, immediately adds, " the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints ;" which is, as you perceive, an illustrious descrip' tion of the gospel. And as for this phrase, " to fulfil the word of God," which seems chiefly to have settled the authors of this exposition, considering it harsh that it should signify preaching of the gospel, it should be considered that the apos- tle uses it elsewhere in this very sense, when he says that " from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ," Bom. xv. 19 ; where he uses the same term as he here does, and clearly calls that " the gos- pel of Christ," which he here terms " the word of God." What does he mean then by these words ? Truly, to fulfil the gospel is to preach it with such efficacy, that it may find recep- tion in the hearts of men ; it is to justify the virtue of it by the effect. And, therefore, our Frencli Bibles have judiciously rendered the word, in the place now quoted, by " making to abound." The true and natural perfection of the gospel is, that it is " the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." I acknow- ledge that it is so every way in itself; but this its virtue does not appear, nor display itself, until it be planted by preaching in the hearts of men, and take root and fructify there. Till then, its perfection remains hid and wrapped up in itself. It is with the gospel as with seed, which shows not what it is, 200 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIV. but when, having been received into the bosom of the earth, it produces an herb or a plant ; or as a sword in the sheath, which does not discover its strength, and the goodness of its temper, but when it is drawn and used. This is what the apostle means, when he says that God gave him the dispensation of the Gentiles, to fulfil or accomplish his word ; that is, to spread his gospel, and by his preaching display the virtues and per- fections of it ; which, indeed, clearly appeared when this hea- venly word, which, till that time, had, in a manner, operated upon the Jews alone, in a short space of time converted a great multitude of Gentiles. And the apostle elsewhere uses a similar word, in almost the same manner, when he says that the power of God is completed in infirmity ; that is to say, not that it therein acquires its perfection, but that it shows and dis- plays it. Such is the end of the apostle's ministry. He was called to it to fulfil or complete the word of God, to spread the gospel, to preach it for the conversion of men, and for the glory of its author. By this you see, first, in what the charge of true ministers of the Lord principally consists. It is not in commanding their flocks, or in appearing above them, much less in extra- vagant exhibitions before the world ; but in publishing hea- venly truth with a holy order, even to the giving of themselves no rest till it be settled in the souls of their hearers, till it reign there, and show its divine perfections in the change of their conversations. And, secondly, that the gospel is the whole subject of their preaching, so that they have no liberty to mingle with it either their own inventions, or the traditions of men, however fair and plausible they may appear ; that they keep themselves faithfully within these bounds, remembering the end of their commission, that the dispensation of God is given to them to fulfil the word, not of men, but of God. Let us now consider that which the apostle adds concerning this word of God ; (that is, the gospel ;) " It is," says he, " the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints." All this serves to exalt the glory of the gospel. He saith, first, that it is a mys- tery, that is, a secret; and he often gives it the same name in other places, because it is a doctrine not exposed to the sense and reason of men, but it is secret and hid in God, 1 Tim. iv. 16 ; such a doctrine as eye saw not, nor ear heard, neither did it enter into the heart of man. Eead the books of the sages of the world, and you will see that by the subtlety of their spi- rits they discovered, and we may say read, various truths in the creatures which the Creator had engraven on them ; but you will not find there those of the gospel. They were hid in the deep abyss of his eternal wisdom and counsel, which no created eye can penetrate, nor can we discern anything that is CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 201 therein until he himself produce it, and set it before our sight. It appears from this, how much thej are mistaken, who con tend that evangelical truth may be discovered in the contem plation of nature. I acknowledge that the gospel does not contradict nature, indeed I affirm that it perfects and crowns it ; so that when it is once revealed to us, we observe many things in nature which admirably correspond with it, and which could not be clearly seen without this new light. But it is the Son of God alone who brought it out of the bosom of the Father, and published it. By the same consideration you may also judge with what reverence we ought to receive the gospel, since it is a mystery, the secret, not of an earthly king, but of the sovereign Monarch of men and angels, II. Let us consider this mystery of the gospel. The apostle says that this secret " had been hid from ages and from gene- rations ;" that is, from the creation of the world until the re- vealing of our Lord and Saviour ; none of the former times, none of the generations of men that lived in them, having had the happiness to know it. There are many truths in the law which might be termed secrets, or mysteries ; as, for instance, those things which it teaches concerning the creation of the world, and the manner of that creation ; concerning the judg- ment of God against sin, and the calling of Israel : but these truths became public long ago, having been made known by the ministers of God to former generations. The gospel alone has this glorious advantage, that it continued hid until the ap- pearance of the Son of God. Paul affirms it here ; he re- peats it in the Epistle to the Ephesiaus in almost the same terms, chap. iii. 5, and also in that to the Romans chap. xvi. 25, where he says that the revelation of this mystery had been " kept secret since the world began." But he adds, in fine, that this great secret now is made manifest ; that is to say, in the fulness of time, in the latter days, when the Son of God ap- peared. By the saints of God he means, first, the apostles, to whom the Lord Jesus discovered the whole truth of his gospel by the light of his Spirit, in a very peculiar and extraordi- nary manner. And, secondly, the rest of the faithful, whom he caused to see the same mysteries by their preaching, accom- panied with the effectual operation and light of the same Spi- rit. Both of them are called saints, because God had separa- ted them by his call from the rest of men. By which you see that there are none but the saints of God who truly know his mysteries, the revelation which is necessary for the knowledge of them most assuredly purifying and sanctifying the heart of man. But I perceive that some difficulties arise here in your minds against this doctrine of the apostle, which must be resolved for your satisfaction before we pass on further. First, you may 202 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. XIV. ask mc in general how it is true that this mystery was hid from the former ages, seeing the gospel is eternal. And then how this accords with so many prophecies of the Old Testa- ment, in which it seems to be so clearly represented ; and with the words of our Lord, when he said of Abraham, that he saw his day ; and, likewise with the express information of the Scriptures, that the ancient believers were all saved by faith, which seems to have been impossible without the knowledge of the gospel. To the first question I answer, that it is true the gospel was foretold, and, as the apostle says elsewhere, was promised and prefigured, under the Old Testament ; but it was not manifested. It was, at that time, in being, but it lay hid in the bosom of the Father, and only wrapped up in the oracles, by which he promised it, and in the types, by which he prefigured it ; so that it is nevertheless eternal, inasmuch as, in these latter times it was not made and created of no- thing, but only brought out of the obscurities and envelop- ments, with which, until then, it had remained covered. And as for the prophecies, it is true that they are clear, since the Sun of righteousness has arisen in the horizon of the church, and there shed abroad his light, by the aid of which we easily read what the finger of God has written in them; but before this, while the darkness of the night covered all things, it was impossible for the best sight thoroughly to penetrate into the true meaning of them. As when it is broad day we read dis- tinctly and without difficulty the writing which, during the dimness of the night, appears to be nothing but a few confused strokes and letters. Would you know the difference between these two dispensations ? Turn to that chapter of Isaiah, in which we read, " He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter," Isa. liii. 7, and what follows. There is not a child among us that does not instantly understand it of Christ, and his dying for us, in profound humility and love. Yet the Ethiopian, who, without doubt, was very forward in the school of the former people, confesses that he understands nothing of it, and cannot tell whether the prophet says this of himself or of some other man. Acts viii. 34. First, the accomplishment of things, which is the commentary upon prophecies, and the light of fig- ures, has made the ancient oracles and types clear to us, which necessarily remained obscure and inexplicable until that event. Secondly, the law further augmented this obscurity ; it being then spread over these mysteries as a thick veil, through which men, however sharp-sighted, were unable to penetrate. Whereas now, the righteousness of God having been revealed to us without the law, (as the apostle says,) and this trouble- some veil having been rent, and removed by Jesus Christ, we clearly behold the light of Moses's face, which was indeed of old, but could not be seen so lono; as it abode covered with the CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 203 veil of the law. And when it is said that Abraham saw the day of the Lord, and rejoiced in it, we are to understand that he knew and believed that Christ should come and save the world, and exalt the people of God to a pre-eminent glory, which was sufficient for his joy ; but this does not imply that he distinctly knew either what the person of Christ would be, or in what manner he would acquire salvation for us, with all the circumstances of these things, which neither men nor even angels knew, but by the manifestation of Jesus Christ in the flesh, and by the consequences thereof. The apostle expressly testifies that it was then, and not before, that the manifold wisdom of God was made known to the angels, whom, according to his ordinary style, he calls " principalities and powers," Eph. iii. 10. The knowledge which the rest of the faithful had of Christ was like that which Abraham had. They believed in his coming, and their redemption, and the restoration of all things by his means ; and they desired him, and waited affectionately for him, embracing his promises afar off. But they did not distinctly comprehend the mystery, as we do at this day. Yet this did not hinder their justification by the merit of his death, their salvation by his cross, their being fed with his manna, and their being made to drink of his soui'ce, it being clear that there is no other salvation in the world but that which he procured. ISTor do the various de- grees of faith, by which the redeemed draw from his fulness, vary at all in the essence and substance of his grace ; because God requires no other faith of his people than such as is pro- portioned to the measure of the revelation which he has given them, such revelation being more or less clear as the times were nearer to, or more remote from, the glorious light of his Son. Thus the truth which the apostle teaches us here abides firm, and is beyond all contradiction, namely, that the mystery of God, that is to say, the gospel, was hid from ages and from generations, and was not manifested till now to the saints of God ; "to whom," says he, "God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." III. This is the third head of our discourse, the glory and the riches of this mystery. He sets the will of God at the en- trance, as a strong bar against our curiosity, to stay and re- strain it from intruding into a search of the causes of this ad- mirable dispensation of the mystery of the gospel. Curiosity would busy itself principally about two points, namely, the time and the persons to whom this manifestation has been made. Respecting the first point, it demands why God should suffer so many ages to flow forth, and so many generations to pass away, without discovering the secret of the gospel to them, having reserved the revelation of it to these latter ages 204 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. XIV. only. Let us say, with the apostle, " God would " so do ; and let us be contented with his will, assuring ourselves that it is just and reasonable, though we know not his motives. He has reserved the seasons of things for his own disposal. Be- sides, at whatever time he might have revealed this mystery, man would still have demanded why it was not done sooner or later. Now he complains that God delayed it so long. If God had discovered it at the beginning, he would complain of his having made so much haste. He now objects the interest of the first ages which were deprived of this blessed light. He would have objected the interest of these last generations, that they were too far removed from this sunshine to profit by it. Unbelief never wants pretences. It finds a reply against all the Lord's procedure ; and, not desiring that it should be just, easily invents appearances to believe that it is not so. Let us suffer him to be wiser than ourselves ; and instead of arguing about his arrangements, let us receive them with re- spect, and profit by them. Let it satisfy us, that by his grace we find ourselves within the compass of that blessed time in which he has manifested his secret, and let us thankfully make use of the advantage which he has been pleased to give our age above those that have preceded. But if you ask me why God did not sooner communicate his gospel to the church, I will also ask you why he does not give to men and other living creatures the perfection of their kind at the instant of their nativity ; why he lets them lose so much time in the weakness of infancy, which might be better employed in more noble actions, if they had their vigour and maturity at the beginning of their days. Tell me again why he makes not the plants to grow up, to blossom, and to bear fruit in a moment, and why he forms families and states so slowly among mankind. God does nothing suddenly, that we may learn the maturity of his counsels from the gravity of his motions. He has formed the church in the same manner. He has purposed that she should begin to pronounce before she spake distinctly, and that she should pass through childhood before coming to full age. He designed that she should learn her rudiments before she heard the highest lessons of his wis- dom, and have at one time, Moses for her schoolmaster, and at the other Jesus Christ for her Teacher, as the apostle shows us in the Epistle to the Galatians, chap. iii. and iv. Since the gospel is the highest of her lessons, it was justly reserved for her ripest age. But if you press me still, and ask me why God ordained such a difference between the ages of the church, I will answer you as before, with Paul, that thus he luould do. You cannot break over this bound without unsettling the whole nature of his proceedings, and bringing the justice of them into question ; it being evident that it was neither more CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE C0L0SSIAN9. 205 difficult, nor apparently less reasonable, for God to give ani- mals and vegetables their strength and perfection in the first moments of their life, than to give to the church the knowledge of his mysteries in the first centuries of her existence. The other point, in this dispensation of God, which offends our curiosity, is respecting the persons to whom he has mani- fested his mystery, and whom he has sanctified by this divine light. Why to these has he done this, rather than to those ? Why to poor Galileans, rather than to the scribes and priests of Israel ? The apostle cuts the knots of all these questions with only one word, saying that he would make it known to them. It is the reason which the Lord himself assigned for this diversity, when having given thanks to the Father, because he had hid these things from the wise and prudent, and had revealed them unto babes, he adds, " Even so, Father ; for so it seemed good in thy sight," Matt. xi. 26. And the apostle treating in another place expressly of this matter, concludes, that God " hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth," Eom. ix. 18. At this will we must stop, and not go on vainly seeking for reasons in the persons themselves for the favour which God has showed to them ; it being evident that we shall never find in them any which can give us satisfac- tion. And to this also must we reduce all the diversities which may be observed in the dispensation of the gospel ; such as God's making it to abound in one country, and among one people, while another is deprived of it ; causing it to shine ■upon one generation after having denied it to another; and his communicating it here more liberally, and there more sparingly. All this depends merely on his good pleasure; nor can the things themselves afford sufficient reason for it. But I return to the apostle, who says that by the revelation of his gospel " God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles." They who are acquainted with this holy man's writings, know that he often uses the word riches to signify abundance : as, for instance, when he exclaims, " 0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God !" Eom. xi. 33 ; and when he speaks in another place of the riches of the grace of the Lord, Eph. i. 7 ; and demands of the impenitent if he " despises the riches of the goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering of God," Rom. ii. 4. In this sense we must here understand the expression of "riches of glory;" that is to say, a great abundance of glory, or (which amounts to the same thing) a very great and most abundant glory. Whereby you see the zeal of this holy man for the praise of the gospel ; insomuch that he cannot satisfy himself upon this subject, but heaps up the most magnificent terms he can think of to repre- 206 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. XIV. sent its excellency. He calls it a mystery, and a mystery of God ; and a mystery hidden during all the ages which rolled on from the foundation of the world, and which was at length discovered from heaven in the last time to the saints of God. This is saying much ; and there is no other doctrine, either human or divine, of which so much can be said. But it is not enough for Paul. He adds that it is a glorious mystery ; and contents not himself with this, but ascribes to it, not glory simply, but riches, and an abundance of glory. And it is not here alone that he so speaks. He treats of it every- where else in the same manner ; as when he says that unto him this grace was given, to " preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God," Eph. iii. 8, 9 ; and when he calls it the glorious " ministration of the Spirit," and the mirror wherein the face of the Lord is openly beheld, 2 Cor. iii. 8, 18. And indeed he had good reason for so speaking ; for it is particularly in the gospel that God has made all the beams of his glory to shine forth. There he manifests and communicates to men all the wonders of his power, of his wis- dom, justice, and merciful goodness, in their greatest altitude, and in their richest abundance, which are as the substance and essence of this glory. The gospel is his treasury, in which he presents to us his most divine and glorious benefits ; his grace, his peace, his Spirit, his holiness, his consolation, his life, and his immortality. But the apostle does not speak here of the riches of the glory of the gospel in general, and towards all : he adds particularly, " among the Gentiles." Surely there is no sort of men, whether Jews or Greeks, in whom the gospel does not show forth riches of glory, if they receive it. Yet we must acknowledge that its glory never broke forth with so much splendour as when it was preached to the Gentiles. First, that exceeding great and inexhaustible abundance of goodness and grace, with which the gospel is filled, poured forth itself, and (if I may so speak) overflowed all bounds in saving the Gentiles, the most hopeless of all men, when it raised them from the grave, or rather the abyss of misery, in which they had lain, not for four days, as Lazarus in his sepul- chre, but for four thousand years. For this reason, the holy apostle, comparing the grace of God in his Son, which was shown to the Jew, with that showed to the Gentile, at his calling of each, declares that the former received it by promise, and the latter simply and altogether of mercy, Rom. xv. 8, 9. Then, again, how admirable was the virtue of the gospel, which effected that in a few days which the law had not been able to do in so many ages ! The ministers of the law compassed sea CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 207 and land, and after all found it very hard to make one prose- lyte ; and with all their diligence during the two thousand years in which they toiled, they had not reduced so much as one nation to the service of God, though they employed, when they were able, even sword and power for that purpose. But the gospel, quite naked, and without any weapons but its cross, converted many nations from paganism, and brought them unto God. They were men who worshipped stocks and stones, who were sunk in brutish ignorance, and were addicted to the most infamous vices ; there was a mixture in them of the stupidity of beasts and the wickedness of devils. Certainly, to make even one of these a christian ; to bring him out of this infernal pit, and place him in the church; to make him, who was a slave of Satan, a child of God ; was, as Chrysostom writing on this passage justly says, no less a miracle, than if some one should suddenly change an unclean and deformed dog into a man, and raise him from the dunghill whereon he lay to sit upon a royal throne. It was truly therefore a great and an ineffable richness and abundance of glory, for the gos- pel to transform so speedily, not a small number, but hundreds and thousands of pagans, into so many believers. And in this the apostle secretly strikes at the false teachers, who would mix such a noble and glorious mystery with their feeble traditions, as if it had not in itself strength and virtue enough to subsist without the succour of their inventions. Finally, he intimates in two words the ground of all this richness of glory which the gospel possesses, " which is," says he, " Christ in you ;" that is to say, that Christ whom they possessed, and who dwelt in them by faith. And he adds that he is " the hope of glory ;" in the same manner as in an- other place he calls Christ " our hope," 1 Tim. i. 1 ; that is, he of whom we hope for highest glory, and in whom we infal- libly find all the blessedness that we can either desire or ex- pect. It is not without design that he informs them that Jesus Christ is all the fulness of the mystery of the gospel ; by this he lays a foundation for that which he more clearly tells them hereafter, namely, that it is in vain that the seducers attempt to mingle with it the ceremonies of Moses and the service of angels. All this great mystery begins and ends in Jesus Christ, since it is no other thing, as he defines it else- where, than " God manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory," 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; that is, Jesus Christ our Lord, born, put to death, raised again, glo- rified, and set forth in the gospel for us. Such is the mystery of which the holy apostle here speaks. Judge now, beloved brethren, what grace God has conferred on us in communicating to us so rich and so admirable a se- 208 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIV. cret. Many kings and prophets "have desired to see and to hear it, but have not had that happiness. Heaven and earth, for four thousand years, sighed after the blessing we possess ; but only the last ages obtained it. The Jews saw the wonders of God but obscurely, and through veils and shadows. The Gentiles did not see them at all, being covered with a dismal night, living without God and without hope. This divine mys- tery appearing at once in the end of time, as a great light which suddenly shines forth from heaven, dissipated the shad- ows of the one, and dispelled the darkness of the other, changing in a moment by its virtue the whole face of the uni- verse. It has particularly shown the riches of its glory among us, having brought our fathers out of the horrors of paganism, which once covered the whole of this land. Let us embrace, therefore, with all the affections of our souls, this great and inestimable favour of the Lord. Let us keep it pure and un- corrupted, without mixing with it anything that is foreign. It is not only sufficient for our happiness, it is even rich and abundant in glory. They who would burden it with ceremo- nies and services, whether of Moses's teaching or man's in- venting, as false teachers formerly did, and our adversaries do at this day, understand not rightly the inexhaustible riches with which it overflows. They obscure the resplendency of its heavenly glory by their additions ; they again hide and cover it with the veil which Jesus Christ has rent asunder. Let us say to those who propose them to us. We are content with the mystery which God has vouchsafed to manifest unto his saints. It was sufficient for their bliss. It will well suf- fice for ours. We do not desire any other riches than those with which it abounds, or any other glory than that with which it shines. It is enough that this Jesus Christ who fills it is in us, the hope of true glory. There is no need to asso- ciate with him either Moses, or angels, or saints. But, my brethren, it is not enough to secure this mystery from the errors of superstition, there must be a putting far away the filth of vice, and of carnal and earthly passions, in order that it may be preserved pure among us, and receive that glory which is its due. God has not lighted up this great Sun among you that you should continue to live in sin, and do those works in such a blessed light which are done in dark- ness. Far be it from him. He has made known to you the mysteries hidden in old time, that your holy life might be new. As your knowledge is greater than that of other ages, let your holiness surpass theirs. The dimness of their light in some degree excuses their faults ; faults committed in the mistakes of childhood, and in the obscurity of shadows. With what pretext can you palliate yours; you, to whom God has communicated all his counsel ? How will you defend that CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 209 ardent and unruly passion whicli you have for the earth ; you, whom by the gospel he has made to see all the beauties of heaven ? How will you justify the love and the adherence which one has to the pleasures of the JElesh, another to the riches and honours of the world ; you, to whom he has shown the riches and the glory of eternity in his Son Jesus Christ ? Surely to sin in such light is not infirmity, nor simply wick- edness. It is impudence, and execrable insolence. Take heed then, beloved brethren, that this great grace which God has shown you does not prove your condemnation. If you desire it should be saving to you, purify and cleanse yourselves from all filthiness and pollution. For the mysteries of God are only for saints. Eenounce the customs of the world as well as its belief. Walk in the ways of heaven, in honesty and pur- ity, worthy of the vocation with which God has honoured you. Let his mystery show forth the wonders of its glory among you, powerfully changing your whole life into its brightness, and transforming you into the image of that Jesus Christ who has vouchsafed to dwell in you, and to take your hearts for his temple ; that, after you have wisely used his talents here below, and happily laboured in his vineyard, he may at length crown you in the heavens with that sovereign and eternal glory which he has promised us, and which we hope for from his grace. Amen. SERMON XV. VERSES 28, 29. Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom ; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. Dear brethren, there is a great difference between the law and the gospel, both with regard to their own nature, and to the manner of their dispensation. For, to omit other things, the gospel is a mystery ; that is, a truth so hid in God, that if he had not vouchsafed to discover it to men himself by a su- pernatural revelation, no creature, either earthly or heavenly, would ever have been able to bring it forth from the bottom- less depth of God's wisdom, or to acquire of it any solid and distinct knowledge by the contemplation of the things of the world. But the law is a truth suitable to the sentiments of 27 210 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XV. nature, and so open to tlie view of angels and men, tbat if sin liad not dulled and corrupted the strength of our understand- ing, we should have easily comprehended it of ourselves, without any extraordinary manifestation from heaven. Ac- cordingly, you see, however blind and wretched men are, yet they fail not to discern the things of the law, and the rectitude and justice of most of its requirements. But if you consider the dispensation of these two doctrines, you will find that the law was given by Moses to the Jewish nation only, whereas the gospel of our Lord and Saviour was preached indifferently to every people on earth, there having been no part of mankind to whom the benefit of this new light was not presented by the apostles and their scholars. Paul informed us of it in the prece- ding text, where he affirmed, first, that the gospel is a mystery, hidden during all the ages and generations which had passed, but now manifested to the saints of God ; and secondly, that the Lord has made known the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, that is to say, among other people of the world besides the Jews ; this he further con- firms in our text by the extent of his preaching, declaring that he proclaimed this divine word to all men. For having intimated before the subject of this great mystery of the gospel, and declared that it consists wholly in Christ Jesus, who is the author and the substance of this celestial doctrine, he adds, " Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." And because his labours and suf- ferings were one of the most glorious marks of the truth, and of the divine authority of his apostleship, he makes mention of them also in the following verse : " Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily," His design is to justify what he had before told the Colossians, namely, that he was a minister of the church, set up to fulfil the word of God among the Gentiles, that he might establish the Colossians in the doctrine which he preached, and secure them from the seductions of false apos- tles, who endeavoured to corrupt it by mixing with it those errors which they were actively employed in propagating, and contended, that besides faith in Jesus Christ, there was a neces- sity for observing the ceremonies of the law of Moses, and of practising various superstitions, such as the worshipping of angels, which they recommended and greatly extolled, as Paul shows us in the following chapter. It was to set up his own ministry above that of these evil workers that he before urged his heavenly call. It is for this purpose that he again so highly exalts the gospel ; and with the same design he here sets forth the exercise of his apostleship, which consists in two things : the first, in preaching, which he describes in ver, 28 ; the other, CHAP. I.] THE EPÎSTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 211 in the labour and conflict which accompanied his preaching, declared in the verse following. These are the two points of which we will treat, by the will of God, in the present discourse, the preaching and the combats of Paul ; commenting upon each of them, as we shall judge expedient, for your edification and consolation, which is the only aim of all the labour of this great apostle, and the true end both of our word and of your faith. I. In the first place we will notice the preaching of the apos- tle; and respecting this we shall have four things to consider: First, the subject of it, namely, Jesus Christ, " whom," says he, " we preach." Secondly, the manner of it, which he expresses in these words, " warning and teaching every man." Thirdly, the object to which his preaching was directed, namely, every man ; " warning every man," says he, " and teaching every man." And in the fourth and last place, the end and aim of it, namely, the perfecting of those to whom it was directed ; " that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." First, when he says that he preaches Jesus Christ, his mean- ing is not simply that he speaks of Jesus Christ to those whom he instructed. There never was a heretic who did not make some mention of him, and who, to colour his false doctrines, did not mingle with them something of the mystery of Jesus Christ; even Mahomet himself, the most desperate of all im- postors that ever seduced men from the gospel, speaks of him with honour, and acknowledges in general the truth of the call and the doctrine of Jesus. But the apostle declares that he preaches Jesus Christ alone, that he is the only subject of his preaching, and the substance of his teachings ; according to the profession he expressly makes elsewhere, that he determined to know nothing among them, " save Jesus Christ, and him crucified," 1 Cor. ii. 2. His Epistles in which he has left us a lively and true picture of his preaching, sufficiently justify this remark. For those who have read his divine writings see that they are filled from the beginning to the end, with Jesus Christ alone. This adorable name shines forth in them everywhere, and there is no discourse or chapter on which it is not engraven. There are scarcely two periods found together in which it does not appear. If he is to teach, he proposes no other secrets than those of either the nature, offices, actions, passions, or promises of Jesus Christ. If he must combat error, he wields no other weapons than the cross of Jesus Christ. If he aims to clear the obscurities either of nature or of the law, Jesus Christ alone is the light which he uses to dissipate all kinds of shadows and clouds. From him he draws consolation for souls cast down, either by the sense of their sins, or by the heaviness of afflic- tion. In him he finds all his motives and arguments for our sanctification. Jesus Christ alone furnishes him with all that 212 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XV is necessary to pacify our consciences, to make glad our hearts, to raise our hopes, to confirm our faith, to inflame our charity, to enkindle our zeal, to establish our constancy, to encourage our patience, to purify our affections, to loosen us from the earth, and lift us up to heaven. Jesus Christ is all his logic and all his rhetoric. He is the source of his arguments, the magazine of his arms, the great motive of his persuasions, the soul of all his discourses. In the writings of this holy teacher, you nowhere meet with either pope, or mass, or devotions to saints and angels, or purgatory, or auricular confessions, or even one of those pretended mysteries which fill up the modern the- ology. He was fully content with Jesus Christ. He believed it enough to preach him, and that he needed no more, either to discharge his own duty, or to advance our edification. And not without good reason ; for what is there, I do not only say, that is necessary and useful, but that is in any way good, or great, or excellent, which is not in Jesus Christ ? If other things which are recommended in religion were as true as they are false, and as innocent as they are pernicious, yet it is evident that in comparison with Christ Jesus they are miserably poor and trivial. In him alone is found such true solidity as is able to content the soul ; in him alone is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption ; all the fulness of the Godhead, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, as Paul tells us hereafter. In this Lord alone is grace, truth, and life. There is no " salvation in any other ; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," Acts iv. 12. And yet, alas ! though this is a truth so clear in itself, and so authentically confirmed by the preaching of our great apostle, yet there are people who, notwithstanding that they profess to believe it, seek that elsewhere which is to be found alone in Jesus Christ ; and who, though this living and overflowing spring of grace is opened to all believers by the loving-kindness of the Father, dip in the poor cisterns of the creature for the water of salvation. They acknowledge that the merits of Jesus Christ are infinite, his righteousness abso- lutely perfect, his grace inexhaustible, his power pre-eminent ; still they are not content with it, but add their satisfactions to his, the prayers of angels and saints to his intercession, and mingle the sufferings of men with the blood of the Son of God. But if the lusts of the world, or the false blaze of error, or the corrupt inclinations of the flesh, induce them to approve or to tolerate so dangerous a mixture, let us, for our part, dear bre- thren, whom God has delivered from such prepossessions, adore the fulness of Jesus Christ. Let us content ourselves with his richness, and never seek any true good anywhere else than in him. Let us bless God that from the pulpits erected among us we hear no name sounded forth but his. Since Paul preaches CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 213 none but him, he alone should occupy the tongues of preachers, and the faith of their hearers. Secondly, the apostle having declared the subject of his preaching, goes on to express the manner of it. We preach Christ, says he, " warning and teaching in all wisdom." These are the two parts of the office of a good preacher ; namely, ad- monition and instruction. The first comprises all the remon- strances that are made to sinners, whether to reprehend their faults, to excite their diligence, to comfort their sorrows, or to remind them of any other part of their duty. The second con- tains all the lessons of heavenly doctrine, the exposition of each article of the mystery of godliness. Admonition reforms manners, teaching informs faith. The one moves the will and the affections, the other instructs the understanding. The apostle asserts, in another place, that he carefully joined these two offices together, not contenting himself with teaching and testifying of the faith in Jesus Christ, but incessantly warning every one with tears. Acts xx. 21, 31. And you see him uniting these two duties throughout his Epistles, where he not only expounds the mysteries of faith, but constantly applies those instructions to the conduct of those whom he instructs ; re- proving, chiding, comforting, and encouraging them as they had need. And as he thus acted himself, so he gave orders for the like procedure to others, whom God had called to the holy ministry. " Preach the word," says he, to Timothy ; " be in- stant in season, out of season ; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine," 2 Tim. iv. 2. And in other places he directs that every pastor be not only " apt to teach," but also " able, by sound doctrine, to exhort and convince the gain- sayers," 1 Tim. iii. 2 ; 2 Tim. ii. 24 ; Tit. i. 9. Indeed these two offices are necessary for the edification of the faithful, which is the design of the ministry. It is not enough to propose to them generally the secrets of the gospel ; general things do not much aftect us. They must be applied particularly ; and the word of God, which is the instrument of our profession, is pro- per for these two operations, as Paul expressly declares, when he says that "all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for re- proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness : that the man of God (that is, his servant, or his minister) may be per- fect, and thoroughly furnished unto all good works," 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. Such, then, whom the Lord has honoured with this sacred ministry should labour to discharge these two duties ; and remember that he calls them, not simply to teach, but also to admonish. For this is not the desk of a professor of mathe- matics or physic, who has no other business than to explain the secrets of those sciences to those that hear them. The pul- pit has been prepared in the church for conducting men to sal- vation ; not merely to make them understand, but to give them 214 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XV. everlasting life, to illuminate their minds, to form their lives unto holiness, to pluck them out of the snares of Satan, and cause them to walk in the ways of God. Faithful brethren, since you know that such is the nature of our charge, you should not think it strange or unkind that we execute it in this manner among you. There are some who have a tender ear; they willingly hear information and doctrine, but cannot bear remonstrances. A discourse about the mysteries of reli- gion is pleasing to them, but one about their vices and their duty is burdensome. And this tenderness is a very bad sign, as it shows that their religion is not sound. As a physician judges that there is something amiss, some sinew hurt, or some collection of unnatural humours, in those parts of the body which he cannot touch without putting the patient to pain. If you would have our ministrations to be entirely pleasing to you, reform your manners, that nothing may remain in your life but what is healthy and vigorous. Remonstrances annoy those only who have a diseased soul. But they should consider, that if they are troublesome to them they are necessary ; and if the duties of our ofl&ce oblige us to make them, their eternal interests much more oblige them to suffer them. It is a salt somewhat sharp, but wholesome ; a potion bitter, but conducive to health. But the apostle's addition, that he teaches " in all wisdom," must not be forgotten. There is no occasion for me to inform you that he speaks of heavenly wisdom, of that truth which is necessary to be known for obtaining salvation. It is evi- dent, therefore, when he says he teaches in all this wisdom, he signifies that he declares all the mysteries of it to those whom he instructs, that he hides no part of it from them which it concerns them to know, for their arrival at the inheritance of Jesus Christ. It is the very thing which he speaks more clearly, and in express words, to the bishops or pastors of the church at Ephesus, when he says, " I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ ;" and shortly after he says, " I have not shunned to declare unto you all the coun- sel of God," Acts XX. 20, 21, 27. From which it appears that the traditions, which are pretended to have been not publicly and generally taught to all the faithful, but delivered in secret by the apostles to some only, are not at all necessary to men's salvation. He who has learned what the apostle taught all men knows enough, since he taught in all wisdom, except men will say that he still wants some knowledge who has learned all wisdom. But it has always been one of the arti- fices of curiosity to pretend that men of God did not publish GHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 215 all, and that they committed a part of their instructions only to the ears of some that were more perfect than the vulgar, to the end that, under this pretext, it may make its own disquisitions and inventions pass for articles of divine doc- trine. I know well that this is a mere imagination, as weak as it is bold, and such as has no other foundation than the invention of those by whom it is advanced. But it is not my business to make any further inquiry into its vanity ; for whatever it is, since Paul has taught every man in all wisdom, my simplicity is henceforth my safety. The ignorance of your pretended secrets cannot be prejudicial to me, since all the wisdom of the gospel is comprised in the apostle's public and common teachings. From the same consideration, you may also perceive how extravagant are the visions of those who would cause it to be believed, that the doctrine of the church is polished and perfected from age to age, the succeed- ing having added to the light of those that went before ; and that we should not wonder if the ancients either knew not some of the articles of modern divinity, or even spake con- trary to them, inasmuch, say they, as the church not having yet at that time declared them, the belief af them was not necessary. By this account, the faith must have been imper- fect in the apostle's time. Yet Paul says here that what he preached to all men was " all wisdom ;" and he adds immedi- ately, that by it he rendered " every man perfect in Christ Jesus." Whatever may be said on the subject, it is clear that it is enough to know the things which are sufficient to save us. If that which the apostles preached sufficed for the sal- vation of the first believers, we have nothing to do with that which men have since added. For we seek but our salvation; and it is foolishness to imagine that what was sufficient to save believers in those days is not sufficient to save them now ; as if God had changed his design, and the revelation of his Son, and as if the apostle's preaching were not the seal and the perfection of all his dispensations. The articles which have been declared in the latter ages either formed a part of the wisdom preached by the apostles, or they did not. If they did form a part of it, they were no less necessary for the first ages than for the latter. If they did not, they are now as little necessary as ever. And it avails nothing to plead the authority of the church ; for whatever authority may be ascribed to the company which is so called, it has not enough to make that necessary which in reality is not so ; to shut up what God has opened, to contract that which he has dilated, or to bind that which he has loosed. If God will save us, without belief of the mass or of purgatory, the church would do well to renounce them ; would she not? God will judge us by his own will and word, and not by the fantastical con- ceits or imaginations of men. 216 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XV. But I return to the apostle, who shows us, in the third place, what is the object of his preaching; " Warning every man, and teaching every man." It is very probable that the false teachers who would seduce the Colossians, to colour that observation of the law which they recommended, alleged that the apostles themselves left the Jews the use of circumcision, and the practice of legal abstinences ; and that if Paul acted otherwise, it was towards some only. I consider that it is properly to this we must refer and oppose his re- peating here three times, "warning every man, and teaching every man, that he might present every man perfect in Christ." He thus repeats this word, to show that his preaching was the same and uniform throughout, that he declared to all men but one Jesus Christ, and that he preached him indifferently both to Jews and Gentiles, Greeks and barbarians ; God having given for them all but one and the same gospel, as he has set up but one sun in the universe to shine on all mankind. I declare, says he, the same Christ unto all, as Saviour and Ee- deemer of the world. There is no man to whom I preach any other thing. By which he gives a secret blow to the doctrine of these seducers, which was particular, and not preached either by the holy apostle, or by any of his fellows. It is probable also that he aimed to show here in his way the ex- tent of his charge, which enclosed all men on earth within its compass; there being no one to whom he had not autho- rity to preach the gospel, and whom he was not commissioned to admonish and teach ; according as he says, in his Epistle to the Romans, " I am a debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians ; both to the wise, and to the unwise," Rom. i. 14. This he repeats, in order to establish the power which he presently afterwards uses to admonish the Colossians, and to condemn the seducers. For he shows thereby that there is no person, however learned he may otherwise be, who is not his scholar for this heavenly wisdom, and ought in this re- spect to be subject to his instructions, and to learn of him the mysteries of the gospel. As if he had said that God has raised him to the doctoral chair of the universe, and made him his public and universal herald, who should be listened to by every man in the world. From whence it follows, that these pretended masters of the Colossians, who would intrude to teach them after their mode, thwarted the institution of God ; and that before they commenced the instruction of others, they should first have learned of the apostle the true mysteries of the wisdom of God. I acknowledge that there is not one of the ministers of God who has now this great ex- tent of authority that the apostle here with truth ascribes to himself Nevertheless, each of them ought to do in his dis- trict what the apostle did in his, to admonish and to teach CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 217 every man, whoever he may be, in all wisdom, to have but one and the same gospel for all ; not a pleasing doctrine, or, as it is commonly called, a velvet gospel, for the rich, and another quite different for the poor ; but to treat them all without respect of persons, not concealing anything from the one which has been discovered to the others. Each one ought to teach the small as well as the great, to admonish the great as well as the small ; to edify them all in common, without despising the littleness of the one, or fearing the greatness of the other. But let us see, in the last place, what is the end of this preaching Jesus Christ. " Whom we preach," says the apostle, " warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Jesus Christ." This was the apostle's aim, this was the design of his labours, even to present all those who heard him holy and unreprovable unto Jesus Christ ; to put them into such a condition by his preaching, as that they might appear before the throne of grace without confusion. He expresses it elsewhere in other terms ; namely, when he says to the Corinthians in particular, *' I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ," 2 Cor. xi. 2. Here he uses pre- cisely the same word as that in our text. You know that there are two sorts of perfection ; one of a believer's minority, the other of his full age ; according as the apostle distinguishes our times in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, chap. xiii. 11. The one, that which we have here below, during the course of our pilgrimage. The other, that which we shall have in heaven, our true country. This latter is a perfection every way complete ; such as comprehends all the degrees of knowledge, holiness, and glory which our nature is capable of possessing. The former is a perfection begun, having all the parts of sanctification and consolation which are necessary in our present frailty, but not yet brought to its completion, or to its highest degrees. The one is simply and absolutely called perfection ; the other is so named with respect to, and in comparison with, either the state in which we and other unre- generated men were, and still are, or the condition of our age. The apostle means the first when he confesses that he is not already perfect ; he speaks of the second when he says, " Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded," Phil. iii. 12, 15. And both are the end of the preaching of the gospel. For the design of Paul, and of all true ministers of the Lord, is by this means to guide the faithful to eternal salvation ; that is, to the last and highest degree of these two kinds of perfection. And so the nearer eft'ect of their preaching, and which immediately follows it, is the believer's perfection on earth ; the farther and more remote effect of it, which necessarily 28 218 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XV. and inMliblj results from the first, is his perfection in heaven. Moreover, this first perfection, to which preaching immediately tends, consists chiefly of two parts, knowledge and sanctifica- tion, faith and charity ; and though there be many defects in both, yet if you compare them with the vision and glory of heaven, they are, even at present, perfect in some degree, in- asmuch as the true believer wants not any of the knowledge and habits which are necessary to salvation. And it is to this the apostle reduces it, when he restrains the perfection he speaks of to Jesus Christ ; " that we may present," says he, "every man perfect in Jesus Christ." It is to his abundance that we owe our perfection, inasmuch as he gives us all that we have of it by his Spirit, and supplies that which we want of it by the riches of his merit. The apostle considers the believer's perfection here in its whole extent ; that is, with regard both to faith and holiness. He particularly intends the first ; for it seems to me evident that he has an eye to the error of the seducers, who added the observation of the Mosai- cal law, the worshipping of angels, and such other traditions, to the instructions of the gospel, as if the faith of christians was imperfect without them. Paul, to overthrow these perni- cious doctrines, seasonably establishes this fact, that the preach- ing of the gospel is enough to render every man perfect who receives it with faith, and that there is no need either of Moses or of angels, of the ceremonies of the one, or of the services of the other ; that Jesus Christ, in whom we are, is abundantly suf&cient, without the assistance of any other. But though this is the apostle's direct aim, yet in that perfection of which he speaks, together with fulness of faith, he comprises pure- ness of manners and of worship, which inseparably depend on it, and without which that faith cannot possibly be perfect. Such is the sense of these words of Paul, from which we may learn two things before we proceed further. The first is the perfection and sufiiciency of the doctrine preached by the apostles. For since the end to which it tended was to make the hearer of it perfect, it is evident that it had in it all that was necessary to convey this perfection ; there being no probability that God would have put a means into the hands of his servants which was not sufficient to reach the end ; such a fault being incompatible with his infinite wisdom and power. But it is evident that the apostles' preaching could not have made the faith of their hearers perfect, if they had omitted in preaching any of those particulars, the belief of which is necessary to salvation. It must be concluded, therefore, that not one of them was omitted. Consequently, it is clear by the same argument, that all the traditions which men advance at this day are unprofitable. For what service can they do us, since we may be " perfect in Jesus Christ" without them ? It CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 219 cannot be said tliat they were a part of the things which the apostles preached. First, the very men who defend them dare not affirm it of most of them, it being notorious that they rose up by degrees very long after the apostles' times. Secondly because Paul himself describes to us the matter of his preach- ing; " We preach Christ," says he; confining it wholly, as you see, to the mystery of our Saviour, with which these traditions have no more connection than those of the seducers, who sought to mingle divers ceremonies, and the worshipping of angels, with the gospel of Jesus Christ, which traditions he afterwards refutes. And lastly, because the apostle elsewhere gives to Scripture the same sufficiency which he here ascribes to his preaching, saying that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, &c., that the man of God may be perfect," 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. But it is clear that these pretended traditions are not to be found at all in Scripture. Surely then it is also manifest that they are unnecessary to make our faith -perfect. But, on the same grounds, it is apparent again, how contra- ry to Paul the doctrine of Rome is. For he says that the de- sign of his preaching was to make every " man perfect in Je- sus Christ ;" Rome, on the contrary, allows this perfection only to clerks, in the first place, and next to monks ; not reckoning that the people (whom, by an odious name which the apostle Paul never gives but to pagans or the profane, they call seculars, and men of the world, in opposition to men of the church) can or should seek to arrive at perfection. And the presumption of monks is grown so high, that there are no longer any but persons hooded and clothed in their manner who are called religious men, or religious women ; as if every man who is a true christian were not also truly religious. And again, they call their condition only the state of perfec- tion, as if all the rest of the faithful were but abortives and imperfect productions. And though this vanity is beyond measure injurious to all other christians, yet their partisans suffer it, and the majority of them seem well pleased with it ; imagining, under this pretence, that there are none but monks who are obliged to be perfect, and that, as for themselves, who are in the world, it is not their part to aspire so high ; and, in effect, the greater number so freely dispense with this neces- sity, that truly there is reason to call them seculars indeed. But the holy apostle here overthrows in two words the arro- gance of the one, and the security of the other. As to the former, he tells us he preached the gospel that he might ren- der his hearers perfect ; he clearly shows us, that for our guidance to perfection we have no need of the rules either of Francis, or Dominic, or Bruno, or Loyola, or the many other pretended regulars, who. as it were, outvying each other, daily 220 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XV. set forth some new doctrine before the world. The Lord Je- sus has provided long since for our perfection, giving us a most complete and very easy rule to attain it, after which it is an extreme rashness to attempt the establishment of another. Follow that rule, christian, embrace it, and proceed constantly in the way of holiness which it has prescribed you, and be as- sured that by so doing you shall not fail of arriving at perfec- tion, though you wear not Francis's frock and hood, or Loyo- la's little band. But the apostle here no less condemns the security of those who are called seculars, than the vanity of such as style themselves religious. For he says expressly and universally that his design is to " present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." He will have no other disciples. He owns none for his scholars but such as aim at perfection, such as re- solve to obtain it, and labour after it daily. If you remain secular, and in a state of imperfection, his preaching has not wrought its effects in you ; and as you have no part in that perfection to which he would lead you in this life, no more shall you have part in that to which he desires to conduct you in the life that is to come. There is but one sort of christians, even those who, having believed the gospel, mortify the deeds of the body, and crucify their flesh with its affections, and who, forgetting the things which are behind, advance some steps daily towards the mark and prize of their calling ; such christians has Paul, whose language respecting it you are now hearing, prevailed to present, by the efi&cacy of his preaching, perfect in Christ Jesus. It is a mistake, it is a folly, to fancy that any others are christians. These double or middling christians, who would at once be both christians and world- lings, disciples of heaven and of earth, have no more place in the reality of nature than in the Scriptures of God. If you would have a place among the perfect ones of the life to come, be betimes among the perfect of this life. There is no ascending to the one of these perfections but by the other. If you will be one day in the number of full-grown men of Jesus Christ, be now in the number of his children. Walk in faith and in love during this pilgrimage, if you would aspire to the vision and glory of the heavenly country. II. But it is now time, my brethren, having spoken of his preaching, to say something to you, in the second place, of the apostle's labour and conflicts. " Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." Surely there is no christian that does not meet in the way to heaven with many thorns, which the flesh, the world, and the devil sow there ; for these cannot suffer any one to under- take so glorious a design without crossing him to the utmost of their power. Yet, among all the faithful, there are none CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 221 that have more labours and conflicts to undergo than the mi- nisters of the gospel. This high office, besides being very painful itself, draws the hatred and persecutions of the enemy- more especially upon them ; and again, among all those whom God has honoured with this divine employment, it must be acknowledged that the apostles are the men who had most difficulties to surmount and afflictions to wade through. All our strivings for the truth are but children's play, in compari- son with the combats which these great warriors had to sus- tain. For who does not know that in every work of import- ance the beginning is always much more difficult than the pro- gress and prosecution ? The apostles broke up the ground in which we labour ; they opened and levelled the race in which we run ; they with infinite pain laid the foundations of the house which we build. The business at that time was to over- throw paganism, to demolish Judaism, to fill up great deeps and to level mountains ; whereas we enter upon a work al- ready settled and fixed. They went through a country where there was neither way nor path, nor anything favourable to them ; whereas we go in the track which they have made. To all this we must add the great extent of their charge, which enclosed the whole universe, and obliged them to take care of all the nations of the world ; whereas we labour each of us in a small parcel of this great and vast heritage of the Son of God. What shall I say of the persecutions which Satan raised up and brought upon them in all quarters, animating all the powers of the world against them, and subtlely engaging them in this war, some by a zeal for the religion of their fathers, others by reasons of state ; some by a jealousy for reputation, others by their passion for pleasures and vices ? To over- come so many difficulties, and to advance, as they did, a work whose success was, in appearance, as impossible as if they had undertaken to displace the bounds of the world, and to change mountains into seas, it was evidently necessary that these holy men should toil in an extraordinary manner, and strive with a far greater vigour than that possessed by any of the rest of the faithful. But though they all applied themselves to such service with an indefatigable and courageous earnestness, and with an admirable constancy of mind, yet Paul particularly signalized himself among those blessed patriarchs of the new people and Israel of God ; for with respect to labour, which he mentions, first, none of them preached Christ with more fer- vour, none of them pressed men to yield themselves to him with more vehemency, none began with more alacrity, nor went on with more assiduity. Never was tongue more active, nor pen more divine, nor mind more vigilant, than his. He alone traversed as many countries as all the rest together. He visited all nations, sowing the gospel everywhere, watering it 222 AN EXPOSITION" OF [SEKM. XV. nigbt and day with incredible pains, by his speech, by his tears, and by his cares. He had no sooner achieved one con- quest than he enterprised another ; and the end of one labour was to hira but the beginning of another. Never did ambition or avarice, though the most restless of our passions, cause men of the world half the anxiety sustained by the apostle in bringing mankind to the perfection which the Lord Jesus pro- mised. And as the inclination which the sun has to commu- nicate his comfortable beams to all creatures keeps him in per- petual motion, without permitting him to have one moment's rest ; so Paul's love for souls, and his ardent desire to shed abroad, in every direction, the light, life, and blessedness with which his Master had stored him, pressing him both day and night, caused him to pursue his course without ceasing, and to circulate continually about mankind, presenting his treasures sometimes to one country, and sometimes to another, passing all the days he lived in this glorious activity. Neither did he at all exaggerate when he said to the Corinthians, being com- pelled to it by the false assertions of his calumniators, that he had laboured more abundantly than any of the rest, 1 Cor. xv. 10. That part of his history which Luke has given to us in the Acts justifies the truth of his words, and the fourteen di- vine Epistles which he has left us, and which make up part of his admirable labours, as clearly show us how the case really stood. His strivings or conflicts were not less than his ministerial labours. For by them he means the perils and sufferings which the discharge of his apostleship, and the preaching of the gos- pel, caused him every hour to experience, and which he fre- quently compares to the combats which were at that time so- lemnized in Greece ; because those who engaged in them had various pains and inconveniences to suffer, as he shows at large in the 9th chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, ver. 25 — 27. He had more enemies to sustain than any of the rest ; there were Jews and pagans without, seducers and false brethren within. It makes us tremble only to read the perse- cutions and obstructions which he received from these quar- ters. He himself has drawn up a little catalogue of them, in which he represents to us through what depths of afflictions he had passed, and was still daily passing ; being pursued, out of measure, both by his own countrymen, and also by the Gen- tiles. He was beaten, imprisoned, scourged, stoned ; he was in shipwrecks on the sea, in dangers and deaths upon the land. He was sometimes at the mercy of robbers in deserts, and at others beset round in cities, both with weapons of enemies, and the ambushments of false friends. He was reduced to naked- ness, to cold, to hunger, and thirst. It is this hard and terrible CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 223 chain of labours and sufferings to which he here alludes, when he says, " Whereunto I also labour, striving." But, oh the deep humility of this holy man ! he immedi- ately gives the glory of these marvellous exploits to the grace and assistance of the Lord Jesus alone. I labour and strive, says he, "according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." He exercises the same modesty, elsewhere, when, having said that he had " laboured more abundantly than they all," he presently corrects himself, and adds, " yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." It is the invincible force of this grace of the Lord Jesus which he calls here " his working ;" and he says that it works in him " mightily," or with power, to signify the admirable effects which it produced in him ; first, in that it raised up in him the light of know- ledge, the love of holiness, charity towards the Lord's flock, and such prudence and wisdom as were necessary for the in- struction and government of souls. Secondly, in that it en- dued him with a more than human courage, with an immov- able constancy and firmness, both that he might sustain the burden of such great and continual labour, and patiently and cheerfully bear the persecutions and temptations which were still let loose against him; the Lord overruling these things, which tended to frustrate his purposes, for his glory and the advancement of his work, as he promised him, that his strength should be made perfect in his weakness. Thirdly, in accom- panying the apostle's preaching with divers miracles, which ravished men, and gave authority to his words, as he expressly testifies in another place : " 1 will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders," Rom. xv. 18, 19. Lastly, this divine ef- ficacy of our Saviour also magnificently appeared in the suc- cess with which he crowned the labours of Paul ; opening the hearts of those who heard him, and causing his voice to enter into them, notwithstanding all the impediments of nature, with such a miraculous blessing, that he made his gospel to abound from Jerusalem, and round about even to Illyricum, subduing nations, and converting them gloriously to the ser- vice of his Master. It is this that he here represents to the Colossians, when he says, " I labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." And it excellently conduces to his design, which is to show the truth of the gos- pel he preached, which shone forth clearly in those many mir- acles, they being as seals by which the Lord confirmed it. This great example especially concerns those whom God has called to the sacred ministry of his house ; and it shows them, on one hand, how painful their office is; that it is a work, (as the apostle says when addressing Timothy,) a work, I 224 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XV. say, rather than a dignity ; a labour, and not a recreation ; for the proper discharge of which they must toil and strive, watch in all things, endure afflictions, and do the work of evange- lists, 1 Tim. iii. 1 ; 2 Tim. iv. 5. And it teaches them, on the other hand, that they must not be discouraged by those great difficulties, but trust in the grace of Christ, and expect from the sole efficacy of his assistance that light, that strength, that patience and constancy, which is requisite for finishing so la- borious a course, since it is he alone who renders us meet for these things ; strengthening us in weakness, comforting us in trouble, encouraging us in difficulties, sustaining us under assaults, and so conducting us, that though we are nothing of ourselves, yet in him we can do all things, who makes us able ministers of the new testament, 2 Cor. iii. 5. But though Paul's example particularly respects pastors, yet it appertains also to all true christians in general, since there is not one of them who is not the Lord's servant, who has not the management of some of his talents, and who is not called to labour and combat. Let us meditate, then, all of us in common, both upon the preaching and labour of this great apostle, and jointly make our improvement of them. He still at this day declares to us the same Christ, whom he before preached to all the nations of the world. Though the organs that sound it to you be incomparably weaker than his were, yet it is his word that you hear, the same word and the same Christ which in time past converted the universe. The same Paul whose voice had then so much efficacy, speaks yet to you daily. He addresses to you the same doctrine, he sets before you the same wisdom, he admonishes and teaches every man among you. Do not abuse so great a blessing, do not frustrate the true and just effects of this holy man's labour. The end of his preaching is, that you all may be perfect. This is the mark to which he calls you all in general. Say not to me that he speaks to some only. I warn, says he, and teach every man, that I may render every man perfect in Jesus Christ. Object not the employments which you have in the world, nor the duties to w^hich your family and your affairs confine you. If they be incompatible with that perfection which the apos- tle requires of you, you must renounce them. It is an extreme folly to excuse oneself from being happy. This ought to be the first and last of our cares; and if we cannot attain it but by quitting honours, by losing riches, by retrenching our de- lights, yea, as our Lord says, by plucking out our own eye, or cutting off" our foot or our hand ; it is better to forego all this, than keep it, to be cast, at our departure hence, into the torment of eternal fire. But these are vain and mere frivolous pre- tences to palliate our negligence. If we have truly received Jesus Christ into our hearts, neither a wife, nor children, nor CHAP. I.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 225 a family, nor an estate, nor the honest and lawful employ- ments of the world, will hinder you from being perfect. The fear of God, honest deportment, plain dealing and justice, charity and beneficence, and, in a word, the holiness in which our perfection consists, is not. incompatible with any of these things. For I ask you. Is it your business or your calling which obliges you to offend God and injure men — to pollute your body with the filth of infamous pleasures — to defraud or to rob your neighbour — to drown your whole life in luxury, in debauches, and in slothfulness ? No, no, christian, excuse not yourselves by such pretences. The affairs of your family and of your trade are altogether innocent of your faults. They rather invite you to honesty and innocency than solicit you to vice. It is nothing but the rage of your ungoverned passions that causes this disorder. It is nothing but your am- bition, your covetousness, your pride, your effeminateness and delicacy, which turns you away from christian perfection. To obtain it there is no need that you should retire into a desert or a cloister, nor that your habits or your food should be dif- ferent from those of the people among whom you live ; there needs for this nothing but a retirement from vice, and a sin- cere renunciation of the practice of it, plucking its lusts from your heart, changing your life, and not your dwelling, your conduct, and not your clothes. And this it is, my beloved brethren, in which we must labour and strive. The design to which I call you is great and painful, and no less difficult than the conquest of the world, the business of Paul's apos- tleship. For there is no duty more severe than that of renouncing our passions, or more difficult than that of over- coming ourselves. It is much more easy to wear a cowl, or a hair-cloth, and to blacken the body with blows, yea, to kill oneself, than to put off the desires of the flesh. Labour then earnestly and assiduously, since you have undertaken so dif- ficult a task. Employ all your time in it ; let no day pass without engaging in it ; watching and praying, mortifying all the members of your old man, with a true penitence ; reading the word of God, and meditating upon it ; embracing his promises, exercising yourselves in the study and practice of those good and holy works which he has recommended to us. The design is great, and you are weak. But the Lord Jesus, in whom you have believed, is almighty, and all-merciful. He still has the same power which before converted the world by the hand of Paul. If you labour in his work with such zeal as his apostle did, he will also communicate his graces unto you. He will display his virtue upon you. He will work powerfully in you. He will bruise Satan under your feet, and crucify your flesh by the efficacy of his own. He will vivify your spirit by the light of his. He will cause you to triumph 29 226 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XY. over your enemies. He will comfort you in the afflictions which you shall suffer for so good a cause. He will guide you in all your ways. And after the labour and the combat, will crown you on high in the heavens with that glory and immortality, with which all the pains of the present life are not worthy to be compared. So be it ; and unto him, as also to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit, the only true God, blessed for ever, be honour and glory, to ages of ages. Amen. CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 227^ SERMON XVI. CHAPTER II. VERSES 1, 2. For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might he comforted, being knit to- gether in hve, and unto all riches of the full assurance of under- standing, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ. Dear brethren, as gardeners and husbandmen are not satis- fied with sowing good seed in the ground which they have pre- pared, but also take care to eradicate the weeds which might choke or injure the good plants ; so in the spiritual husbandry of Jesus Christ, it is not enough that the ministers of his gospel cast his divine word, the good and saving seed of our regenera- tion, into the souls of men ; they must also exert themselves to weed and cleanse this spiritual soil committed to their cultiva- tion ; extirpating those bad and pernicious weeds of error and false doctrine, which, springing up of themselves, or being pri- vily sown by an enemy's hand, would mar all this divine till- age. Hence the apostle Paul, having in the 1st chapter of this Epistle very effectually established the truth, as you have heard, proceeds now in this 2nd chapter, the beginning of which we have read, to refute and reject the errors which certain false workers, ministers of Satan, were artfully endeavouring to in- troduce ; that this people, as a field or a garden of God's, being cleared of all worthless and noxious seed, the precious grain of the gospel, which the apostle had sown there, might take root and spring up, and grow at large, covering and crowning it all over with the flowers and fruits of incorruption, which are sincere piety and true sanctity, no strange plant being mingled with it. These seducers, as we have often intimated, taught, that besides faith in Jesus Christ, of which they made profes- sion, there was also a necessity for observing the Mosaic law, and of worshipping of angels, and of practising certain kinds of superstitious discipline and mortifications of their own in- vention. And to render all this the more acceptable, they mingled with it some of the subtilties and vain speculations of 228 AN EXPOSITION OP [SEBM. XYI. secular philosophy. This is the weed which the apostle, the church's holy husbandman, now roots up out of his Lord's field ; fortifying the Colossians against the craft of such men ; and divinely showing them how full and sufficient was the doctrine of his gospel; how unprofitable, and even plainly dangerous, were the additions made by these seducers. This you will hear in the course of the chapter. The two verses which we have read, and the three or four following, are as the entrance or gate of this controversy. In these the apostle is preparing the hearts of the Colossians to receive his instruc- tions, by placing before them the evidences of his ardent desire for their salvation. In the 1st verse, he declares his great anxieties for them and for their neighbours : "I would that yQ knew what great conflict I have for you," &c. Then he adds, in the following verse, the design or the cause of this conflict: " That their hearts might be comforted," &c. These two points we purpose to handle in the present discourse, by the assist- ance of the grace of Christ : Paul's care and conflict for the Colossians and the Laodiceans ; then his design, or the end for which he underwent all this trouble for them. I. In reference to the first of these two points, you may re^ member that the apostle affirmed, in the end of the preceding chapter, that, to discharge the ministry which God had com-, mitted to him, he laboured and fought according to the energy that wrought powerfully in him. Now he descends from gene-, ralities to a particular instance ; and having spoken definitely- of the labour he endured for the edification of all, he tells the Colossians of the great anxiety he felt for them in particular; adding, " For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have, for you, and for thoee of Laodicea." It is not without cause, says he, that I profess to strive and labour for the edification of the faithful. For, not to allege other proofs of it to yo% God knows, and I also desire you to know, that I sustain a great conflict for you and your neighbours. Laodicea, which he speaks of, was the metropolis of Phrygia, and nigh to Colosse, which was situated in the same province. The vicinity of these two cities was the cause of a particular intercourse be- tween the churches which God had formed in them ; and hence the apostle afterwards salutes the Laodiceans by name, and orders the Colossians to impart this Epistle to them. John also, in the Apocalypse, makes mention of the church of Lao- dicea ; and it is one of the seven churches of Asia to which the Lord Jesus commanded him to write in his name. And by the epistle which he thereupon wrote, and which is registered in the Apocalypse, it appears that there were much laxity, and coldness, and many defects in that flock. Whether such cor- ruption had obtained permission there as early as Paul's own time ; or whether, as I judge more probable, it slipped in after- /CHAP, il] the epistle TO THE COLOSSI AXS. 229 wards, through the carelessness of the faithful and the craft of foes ; it is very probable that Laodicea was troubled at this time with the same evils that the Colossians were, and that these seducers who endeavoured to infect the one applied them- selves also to the other. Therefore the apostle would have this Epistle, as a preservative against the venom of these false teachers, to be communicated to those of Laodicea; a proof that, since they had need of the same remedies, they were threatened with the same maladies. But to the Colossians and the Laodiceans, whom he here ex- pressly names, he adds indefinitely all those who have not seen his face in the flesh. His name was so very celebrated among Christians, that there could hardly be one of them who had not heard of him, and who did not know him by report, and con- sequently had seen him in heart and in spirit. But he speaks of those only who had not seen him present in the flesh, whe- ther by these words he means all the faithful in general, of every cast and country, who had never enjoyed his presence, (for we know that the care of this eminent apostle extended to them all,) or whether he speaks of the faithful in Phrygia or in Asia only, which, in my opinion, is more likely. For as it was impossible that Paul and the other apostles should personally visit every place, they often sent evangelists as their assistants and coadjutors, to travel in various parts for the conversion of souls. And so, though the apostle had traversed the greatest part of Asia Minor, and honoured many of its principal cities with his presence and preaching, and especially the province of Phrygia, (as we gather from the book of the Acts, chap. xvi. 6 ; xviii. 23,) yet it is probable that there were still many cities to which he had not been able to go in person. Expositors, both ancient and modern, for the most part, conclude from these words of Paul that he had not yet visited the city of Colosse nor the city of Laodicea when he wrote this Epistle ; and they suppose that he had converted those people, and founded churches among them, by the ministry of Epaphras. Nor can it be denied but that the words give us some apparent ground so to conceive. For saying that he " had a great conflict" for the Colossians and the Laodiceans, and for all those who had not seen his face in the flesh, he seems to enrol the Colossians and the Laodiceans among those who had never seen him. Never- theless there are ancient authors,* and than whom none are more eminent for profound learning, as well as for acuteness and solid judgment, who think otherwise, and hold that Paul had been both at Colosse and at Laodicea ; thinking it impro- bable that he should have twice gone through Phrygia, as Luke expressly states, and not have seen those two cities, the princi- * Theodoret, in his Preface to this Epistle and on the place itself. 230 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVI. pal ones of that country. And for these words, " and all those which have not seen my face in the flesh," they conceive them to be added, not to rank the Colossians and the Laodiceans with such as had not seen the apostle, but, on the contrary, to distin- guish and separate them from others who had not ; as if Paul had said that he had a great conflict, not only for them, but even for those who had never seen his face in the flesh. But after all, this difference is of no great importance ; and as we have no other means for deciding the point, we forbear to in- sist on it, leaving every one at liberty to take either way of the two, neither of them damaging the truth of faith or holiness of life. And thus we have seen who they were for whom the apos- tle sustained the great conflict of which he here speaks. Consider we now the conflict itself. By this he means, I doubt not, first and principally, that care, and solicitude, and thoughtfulness which the consideration of these churches drew upon him. For though their faith and constancy afforded him much satisfaction, and encouraged his hope, yet when he cast his eyes upon the great temptations that surrounded them, the hatred and persecutions of the world, the seducements and artifices of false teachers, and when he reflected on the weak- ness of human nature, he could not but fear lest so many things, and those of so much force, should draw them off from piety. Love is not without apprehension, no, not in the greatest safety; how much less in the midst of so many dangers! The apostle elsewhere assures us that the affection which he bore to the faithful was so great, that he sympathized in all their miseries, and felt as if he had suffered them himself. The care which I have of all the churches, says he, keeps me be- sieged from day to day. " Who is weak and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not ?" 2 Cor. xi. 29. And in the 3rd verse of the same chapter he represents to us the great anxiety he felt for the Corinthians in particular: "I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ." Just the same he apprehended for the Colossians and Laodiceans, and other christians in Asia, that is, lest the frauds and artifices of seducers should confound their faith, and spoliate among them, as they had done in the church of the Oalatians, as appears by the Epistle which he wrote them on the occasion. Yet these just fears which oppressed the mind of the apostle were not his whole conflict. For under this word he comprises also all that he did to divert the danger which he apprehended. First he was perpetually in prayer for the safety of these dear churches ; and as Moses in olden time upon the mountain ceased not to lift up his hands to the Almighty for the victory of Israel, engaged at that time in battle with Amalek ; so this CHAP, il] the epistle TO THE COLOSSIAN-S. 231 great apostle, from that high station where Jesus Christ had set him in his church, continually presented his supplications and sighs to heaven for the good success of the conflicts in which his Master's troops were engaged. He writes, " We pray always for you," 2 Thess. i. 11. " I always make request for you all in all my prayers," Phil. i. 4. " We cease not to pray for you, and to desire that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understand- ing," Col. i. 9. To prayer he added action ; courageously attacking error on all occasions ; refuting seducers, and ex- posing the vanity of their doctrine and the malignity of their design, not only by word of mouth, but also by writing, as we see by those divine Epistles of his which remain with us, and which abound in evidences of his great earnestness against these false apostles. And as he courageously assails the enemy, so he smartly appeals to the faithful ; reproving them, ad- monishing and encouraging them to necessary firmness and constancy. He proceeded with so much magnanimity, that he spared not Peter himself, who, having fallen through weakness and pliancy into certain things which seemed to favour error, Paul boldly engages him, and with much freedom shows him his fault, as elsewhere he has narrated. Gal. ii. In short, he omitted none of the duties of a valiant and vigilant captain, either against the foe, or towards his friends and fellow soldiers, as we may see in his writings. But his combat did not terminate here. He often came to blows, cheerfully suf- fering for this cause all the persecutions which the rage of the Jews and the malice of seducers could contrive and form against him. And, indeed, the very chain with which he was loaded, and the prison he was in when he wrote this Epistle, made a part of this combat of his ; it being clear, by the history of the Acts, that nothing had more inflamed the hatred of the Jews against him, who cast him into this affliction, than the zeal which he showed everywhere against the corruptions of those persons who wished to retain the ceremonies of the Jewish law ; and hence it is that he told the Colossians, chap. i. 24, he suf- fered for them ; because in effect, it was for maintaining their liberty, and the liberty of other Gentiles converted to the gospel, and for the keeping of their faith pure from all corrup- tive leaven, that he fell into this wearisome suffering. Such was Paul's conflict for these faithful people. Dear brethren, admire the zeal and the love of this holy man. He was in the prison of Nero ; he stood, as we may say, upon the scaffold, and had his head on the block, being indicted for a matter which concerned his life. And even in this state his heart is in pain for the churches of Colosse and Laodicea, and for those besides which had never seen him. Their danger troubled him more than his own. Neither prison nor death 232 AN" EXPOSITION OP [SERM. XVL was able to extinguish or diminish his affection, or to make him lay aside the least of his cares ; having so great a combat against his own person upon his hands, he leaves it, and on so pressing an occasion labours and fights for others. Certainly nothing can be imagined more elevated or more ardent than this love. We may truly affirm of it what is said in the song of Solomon, his " love is strong as death," and his "jealousy is cruel as the grave : the coals thereof are coals of fire, a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench it. neither can floods drown it." But observe again the prudence and suitable procedure of this holy man, in representing these things to these faithful people for so good an end. Having to treat with them on im- portant matters, and to decry errors which seduction had painted over with the deceitful colours of philosophy and eloquence, that he might dispose their hearts to give him due audience, and gain his remonstrances a necessary credit and authority, he sets before them at the entrance the cares that he had for their salvation, the conflicts he sustained for them, and all the effects of that sacred amity he had towards them. As a captain, who, to keep his soldiers firm in their duty, represents to them his watchings, and his labours, and his cares for their preservation ; and, in sum, all the marks of his affection to them ; or rather as a tender mother, who, to with- draw her dear children from giving ear to seducers, shows them her fears, her solicitudes, and her alarms, the yearning of her bowels, and all that she does or suffers for them. Such is the apostle's holy artifice in the present business ; and it is grounded on a maxim which we all understand, namely, that we believe those who love us, and are concerned for our welfare, much more than those who are indifferent to us. He declares to them his pains that they may take in good part his remonstrances, and discovers to them his strong affection that they may receive his counsels. His aim is not to gain renown, or to enhance his esteem among them, (such a childish vanity had no place in the soul of this great man,) but merely to Tender his instructions the more effectual to the Colossians. And the conflicts which for this end he mentions to them should serve in like manner for examples to us. Let ministers of the gospel learn by them, what love they owe their flocks, to what cares and conflicts their office obliges them. Let nothing in the world be dearer or more precious to them than the salva- tion of the souls committed to their charge; let them take part in their joys and in their griefs; let them feelingly resent their wounds, apprehend their dangers, labour incessantly for their edification. To it let them consecrate the thoughts of their mind, and the words of their mouth, and the work of their pen, and the actions of their life; yea, their blood and life CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 238 itself, if there be need, saying with clear conscience, as the apostle in another place does, " As for me, I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls," 2 Cor. xii. 15 ; and "joy to be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith," Phil, ii. 17. Let this care and these thoughts fill their hearts day and night ; let them be assured that there is no business, no incident, no peril that exempts them from this duty ; no, not death itself, in the very gates of which they ought to mind still their flock, and contend for them by their prayers and their devout wishes. Such is the faithful love and care we owe you. "We confess that without this watching and striving for your salvation we cannot avoid the censure and chastisements of the supreme Pastor. Judge if it be not reasonable that you should affectionately regard those whom the love of your salva- tion engages to so many cares and labours, and if it be not just that you receive their instructions with I'everence, and bearken to the product of their studies with attention ; that you comply with their zeal for your edification, and attribute much importance to their counsels, and bear with their fidelity, and impute to their affection the severity of their remonstrances when grief and fear draw from them complaints and cries against your behaviour ; that you console them in their anxious cares for you by your gratitude, and above all by your pro- gress in the studious pursuit of piety. This is the only fruit which they crave of all their cares and their conflicts; they would account them most advantageously recompensed if you do but profit by them ; if they perceive by the purity of your manners, and the sanctity of your lives, that they have not laboured in vain. But do not imagine, I pray, that their so- licitude discharges you of all care. On the contrary, it shows you with what earnestness and assiduity you should labour for your own salvation. For if they must heed your affairs with so much diligence, what zeal should you put forth about them yourselves ! Their exertion may awaken and animate you, but it cannot save you except you strive yourselves. Their conflict will win you no crown, if you take no part in it after their example. Every one will live by his own faith ; no person be crowned for the zeal of his pastor or his brother. If your pastors watch, if they stand on their guard, if they la- bour and fight, blessed be God, they shall receive their reward. But their labouring will not excuse your loitering, nor will their heedfulness justify your neglects. " Every man shall bear his own burden." Others may give you the example of their piety, but they will not be able to communicate to you its recompenses. Let us then employ ourselves, both pastors and flocks, about our salvation with fear and trembling. Let us all combat 30 "234 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. XVI. rwith Paul, if we would be crowned with him. Let us imitate his love, if we desire to partake in his glory. Let us extend our love and our solicitudes as he did, not only to the faithful whom we know, but even to those whom we never saw. I confess that it is bodily sight and presence which enkindles and maintains carnal amities. The eyes of the flesh are the authors and the preservers of them. But in christian friend- ship it is otherwise ; it is the Spirit that unites them. It is his eye and his light that originate and perpetuate them. For since it is properly Jesus Christ and his gospel that love re- gards, it is evident that it ought to embrace all those who bear the marks of them, whether they be absent or present. The distance of time and place do not hinder this sacred com- merce. The apostle strives even for those who had never seen him. Let us also love all true christians, and expand our affections to those whom many seas and many mountains sever from us. Let us strive for them by prayer, and do them (how- ever far off from us) all the services of which our love is capa- ble; labouring with holy tenderness for the salvation and edification of each other. IL Having considered Paul's conflict, let us now examine the end and design of it. Whence is it, holy apostle, that thou art so very solicitous for, and boldest these Colossians and Laodiceans, and even those who never saw thee, so near thy heart ? Why does this carefulness follow thee to the very prison, and enter there to aggravate and imbitter thy personal sufferings? Why labou rest thou so for them? To the end, that their hearts may be comforted, they being joined " together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understand- ing, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ." Thus the apostle answers our demand. I am in pain, he says, for their consolation and their faith, I fight to secure to them this treasure, and to prevent the enemy's snatching out of their hands so precious and so necessary a possession. By saying that he fights for them, that they may keep these graces, he shows that they were in danger of losing them, if their enemies, that is, the seducers and false apostles, should accomplish their design, and persuade them to receive -the errors which they taught. Indeed, their doctrine of man's justification by ceremonies and observances, whether legal or human, is incompatible with the truth of the gospel, disturbs the comfort of believers, breaks the bond of love, deranges and confounds the mystery of Jesus Christ ; bereaves him of his glory, and of his plenteous grace ; representing him as poor and scanty, and as needing the succour, either of Moses, or of philosophy and the superstition of men, to give us salvation. The apostle names three things which he wishes for these be- lievers, and which he would keep for them by his cares and CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 235 conflicts : consolation of heart, union in love, and the riches of a full certainty of understanding, or, as he expresses the same thing in other terras, a knowledge " of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ." The first of these, comfort of hearty is the happiness of be- lievers on earth. For it is that calm and tranquillity which their souls enjoy amidst the tempests of this life, when they sweetly repose themselves on their Master's word, and are as- sured of his salvation, notwithstanding the menaces and perse- cutions of the enemy, and their failures and imperfections. All heresy and error in religion necessarily disturb this con- solation, because they shake the truth and certainty of the evangelical doctrine on which it is founded. But the error which the apostle sets himself to oppose struck particularly at this part of our salvation ; depriving the conscience of that peace which faith in Jesus Christ produces ; and casting it into a miserable agitation, by making justification to depend on I know not what observances, that are either vain and unprofita- ble, or even impious and pernicious. This it is that every- where animates Paul to fight with vigour. The faithful could not receive this error without losing their true consolation, that is, their only heart's good. And this should make us jealous for the purity of the gospel, and solicitous to keep it free from all admixture of error. Let us not hearken to those who tell us, that if what they have added to the gospel dis- pleases us, yet we cannot deny that they retain Jesus Christ, and the foundation of our salvation in him. This is a most obvious delusion. I confess that Jesus Christ gives salvation and consolation ; but he gives it to them who embrace him as he presents himself to us on his cross and in his gospel simply, without adulteration and composition. If you will have either vice or superstition with him, he will avail you nothing, save to augment your condemnation: as food, however good and wholesome, will no less than kill you, if it be mingled with poison. We must either receive Jesus Christ alone, or re- nounce his salvation. There is no possibility of conjoining him with the world, or with superstition. And this verity, that our hearts cannot have true and solid comfort but in Jesus Christ alone, is so evident, that the erroneous themselves, when closely pressed, are constrained to acknowledge it. After sufficient dispute about the merit of their works, and large boast of the worth of their satisfactions, and of the value of their pontifical indulgences, and of the intercession of their saints, the}'- confess that by reason of the uncertainty of our own righteousness, the safest course is, to put all our confi- dence solely in the mercy of God.* In other cases, which * Bellarmin. of Justif. 1. 5. c. 7. 236 AN EXPOSITION OP [SERM. XVI. concern our amusement only, I think a man may sometimes without blame choose the longest and most hazardous way. In the case of our salvation, it is doubtless an excess of folly not to take the safest. As by your own confession, my doc- trine, or rather the doctrine of the gospel, is the safer, suffer me to return to it, and to pity your imprudence, who amuse the world with that which yourself confess has less safety and more hazard. But I return to the apostle, who having said that he desires for these faithful people, "that their hearts might be com- forted ;" adds, secondly, his prayer for their union in love, " being knit together in love." Their seducers troubled their union, and casting in a new doctrine among them as a matter of contention, ruined as far as it was possible their fraternal concord ; drawing them into diversity of opinions, from whence arises contrariety of affections. To prevent this disorder, and preserve union in charity among them, the apostle had so great a conflict. For as the sea is peaceable and united during a calm, but when the winds begin to rage it rises in waves that violently dash against each other ; so false teachers, which are as the winds, the hurricanes of hell, no sooner beat upon a church than they disturb its peace, and put all its members into commotion ; disuniting them, deranging them, and ma- king them miserably clash with each other, to their common ruin, and the joy of their enemy. But Paul teaches us that the mutual conjunction of believers in love is necessary for the consolation of their hearts; "that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love." Indeed, what joy and what comfort can a pious person have in the trouble of division ? Jesus Christ, the only source of our joy, does not communicate himself to any but such as have genuine love, who abide conjoined in his body by the bands of one and the same faith and love. Finally, the third benefit which the apostle desires to pre- serve among the Colossians and their neighbours, is the abounding of a full assurance of understanding : "being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of God, and of the Father, and of Christ." This order well deserves our atten- tion. For these three things which he has here associated are of such a nature, that the first depends upon the second, and the second upon the third ; consolation upon union in love, and union in love upon knowledge. This last is as the first upon which love is erected, and love as the second, which sus- tains the third, that is, consolation. Of these three jewels, one cannot be had without the others. And as the consolation of the Lord cannot be enjoyed without the sweetnesses of love, so love cannot be had without the illuminations of know- CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLB TO THE COLOSSIANS. 237 ledge. But; tbe apostle does not simply name that knowledge which he desires in the faithful ; he describes it in an orderly way, according to his usual manner, and intimates as he pro- ceeds the principal qualities which it ought to have. These he briefly comprises in the following words, " all riches of the full assurance of understanding ;" that is, to express the He- braism in the idiom of our own language, all abundance of understanding, with full assurance and satisfaction. He would have, then, first, that the knowledge of a christian be " understanding ;" that is, that he should perceive and see in the clearness of celestial light those verities which God has revealed to us: not that we are bound to comprehend them all, and penetrate the nature of them to the utmost depth ; that, as they are in general divine and supernatural, would be impossible ; but that we ought to know them as far as they are revealed, because otherwise we should every moment be liable to delusion, and might take the vain traditions of men for things taught of God. Here we see how far that blinded faith, so satisfactory to our adversaries, is from the knowledge of a believer. This faith, if interrogated about evangelical truth, refers us to the church for an answer, being ignorant all the while of what it believes, and consequently has not a spark of understanding. Black is not more con- trary to white, nor darkness to light, than this phantasm of faith, shall I say, or of ignorance, to the knowledge which the apostle here requires. He would have the faithful to be in- telligent ; these people understand nothing, nay, boast of their ignorance, imagining that it is not without merit. It is therefore the faith, not of a christian, away with such a thought ; nor of the collier, as they call it ; no, nor of the man endued with reason ; but the faith of a brute, which has no understanding, as the psalmist sings. Secondly, the apostle wishes us to possess not merely "understanding," but "riches," yea, "all riches of understand- ing ;" that is. a great and perfect abundance of knowledge, that we may be rich in this kind of wealth, that we may be ignorant of none of the mysteries of divine truth; that we know not only its elements or its first principles, but also all the practical inferences resulting from it which are neces- sary to regulate our lives, and to guard us from the snares of Satan around us. If we do not, how shall we discern the voice of the chief Shepherd from the voice of a stranger, to flee from the one and follow the other ? Here you see again how contrary to the doctrine of this holy man are the preach- ing and practice of those, the Eomanists, who license their people to be ignorant, and censure them who, not contented with the first and plainest lessons of Christianity, study the depths of this saving wisdom, outrageously decrying 238 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVI. this laudable desire, as if it were the way to heresy and hell. Thirdly, Paul would have this intelligence of a believer not only to abound, but also to advance to an entire certainty and " assurance," a word which he often employs to express a full and an assured persuasion of those things which we believe to be sure and indubitable. For though matters of faith are not laid open to the senses or the reason of men, yet the truth of them is so evident, so beautiful, and so well defined, that as soon as those clouds of passion and prejudice which hide it from the eyes of our understanding are dissipated by the hand of the Holy Spirit, it beams forth and shines into our hearts with exceeding brightness, and makes itself to be believed and embraced for what it is indeed. Thus must it be known with certainty, and not with doubting, that, as the apostle says in his Epistle to the Ephesians, " we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive," Eph. iv. 14. Whereby you see how false is the opinion of Eome which makes the belief of Christianity to depend upon the authority and testi- mony of her prelates. I pass by the extreme weakness and vanity of this pretended foundation ; this has been proved by a thousand experiments. Whatever it be in other respects, this is manifest, that since they fasten the people's knowledge there, they are bound to confess that their faith ought to change as the doctrines of their prelates change. It follows that their faith is not certain nor assured ; not such a know- ledge as the apostle requires in us, whose property is such, that though Paul himself, or angels from heaven, should come and preach the contrary, it would continue, even under such a supposai, still firm and unmoved ; and would rather anathe- matize apostles and angels from heaven, than let go that divine verity which it has believed and known ; so strong is the sense that it has of its excellency. The apostle, having thus described the nature of true faith, or a christian's understanding, lastly, confines it within the bounds of its true subject, when he adds, " the knowledge of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ." This restriction is necessary, because seducers boast of their tradi- tions too, as if they were a piece of wisdom worthy of our faith, and without doubt the false teachers whom the apostle opposes acted in this manner. To arm us against their vanity, he declares expressly that the understanding which he requires of us is a knowledge not of what philosophers talk in their schools about the nature of the world, nor of what seducers produce from their vain imaginations, but only of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, without which there is nothing but CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 239 error and folly. He calls it a secret, or a mystery, because it was a verity hidden with God, and, as we have already said, incomprehensible to our minds. He says, that it is " the mys- tery of God our Father," both because he is the Author of it, who graciously has revealed it to us, and because therein he has manifested himself, discovering to us in the gospel all that we need to know of his nature and will for the attainment of salvation. He adds, finally, " and of Christ," for the same reasons ; for it is the Lord Jesus who brought this holy doc- trine from the bosom of the Father, and set it in our view by the ministry of his servants ; and it is he also who is the principal subject of it, as our only Mediator, without whose teaching and merit it is impossible to have any part in true happiness. Of this mystery of Christ Jesus the apostle de- sired that the Colossians might have a full, firm, and distinct knowledge, in order to abide knit together by charity, and by this means enjoy true and solid consolation. This is the trea- sure which he is afraid lest they should lose. To preserve it to them he submits to so much pain and engages in so many conflicts. Dear brethren, his desire teaches us our duty. Since we aspire to the same happiness the Colossians before us possessed, since we serve the same Master and live under the same disci- pline, let us labour to get and keep for ever the same good things which the apostle wisheth them. God of his great mercy liberally offers them to us, and the fault will be ours if we do not partake of them. As for the knowledge of his mystery, he presents us the treasury of it in his holy Scrip- tures, This source of light is not shut up and inaccessible to you, as it is to a great part of the world, and even to many who call themselves christians; but open and manifest. Draw out of it the wisdom of heaven, reading, studying, and search- ing those divine books night and day. We do not envy you this sweet and happy communication, as the pastors of our adversaries envy their flocks ; we wish, as of old Moses did, that all God's people were prophets. It is a science that ad- mits all ages, all sexes, and all conditions of men ; the Author of this holy doctrine having so attempered it, that it is adapted to the capacity of every sort of persons. There are in it deeps to exercise and humble the greatest minds ; there are facilities to instruct and content the least. It is an abyss where elephants may swim, and a shallow where lambs may wade. But as all are capable of this science, so there is no person for whom it is unnecessary. It is the key of the kingdom of heaven, the spring of piety, the root of sanctity, the seed of true life. Study it carefully. Hearken to its teach- ing here, meditate on it at home with deep intent, beseeching God with prayers and tears to open your hearts and write his 240 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. XVL doctrine in them. Be not satisfied with having learned some points of it. Take no rest till you know all its wonders ; till you have attained not simply understanding, but, as the apostle speaks, " all riches of understanding." Urge not to me that vain and cold excuse, which is in the mouths of many, that you are not ministers, and therefore do not need extensive knowledge. These Colossians were no more ministers than you, and yet you see what the apostle de- sires for them ; and afterwards he will enjoin that the word of Christ dwell plenteously in them in all wisdom. Why, are you less exposed to temptations because you are not minis- ters ? Are the devil and the world less ardent or less obstinate in assailing you ? We are all engaged in the same war, and have all need of the same arms. Ought captains and officers only to be armed ? Is it not necessary for private soldiers ? The knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel is the armour of all christians, and the Scripture is the public magazine whence both of them should fetch it. But that it may do you service in time of need, this knowledge must be also deeply radicated in your hearts. You must have it with a " full as- surance," as the apostle speaks. It should not lightly float in your head, to be plucked away by an enemy, on the first occa- sion ; it must be engraven on your heart with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond ; that is, you should be so firmly persuaded of it, that nothing may be able to efface it or en- feeble your belief of it. I know well every one boasts that he is so. But there is a great difference between words and things. Show it me by your lives, and I will credit it. If you be fully persuaded of the truth of the gospel, how is it that you have not the love which it most absolutely demands ? How do you hate men whom it commands you to love, and love the vices which it enjoins you to hate ? Let us lay aside words, and possess in deed that " full assurance of under- standing" which the apostle wishes for us. This is the true way for us to continue " knit together in love;" to conflict with and overcome our enemies ; to edify and preserve our friends ; to attract those that are without, to retain those that are within ; to enjoy consolation in all the trials of this world, and in the end to obtain the salvation and the glory of the next, through the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ; to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the true and only God, be all honour, praise, and glory to ages of ages. Amen. CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 241 SEKMON XVII. TERSE 3. Li tvhom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Ignorance of the natures and qualities of the Lord Jesus is the source of all the errors and heresies which have exer- cised the christian church from its beginning down to this day. And as Paul said of the rulers of the Jews, that if they had known the true wisdom, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory, 1 Cor. ii. 7, 8 ; so may we say of the au- thors of all the false and pernicious doctrines which men have wished to introduce into religion, that if they had duly known Jesus Christ, they would never have troubled the church. I pass by the scourges of the first ages, the impiety of the Arians and the Dokites, the extravagancies of the Nestorians and the Eutychians, together with their innumerable branches ; they all evidently sprung from ignorance of the true being of our Lord Jesus Christ, and strike directly at him, attacking either his divine or his human nature, some attributing to him a created and imperfect divinity, and others an imaginary and chimerical humanity ; while others impugned his person by dividing or confounding the two natures which are united in it. From the same source have come those abuses and disor- ders in the following ages, which gradually raising themselves from weak and obscure beginnings, have at last obtained a superiority, and suffocated the genuine simplicity and purity of the gospel. Hence proceeded that invocation of saints which is at this day practised throughout all the Romish com- munion. Hence issued that second sacrifice which they call the sacrifice of the altar, and wherein the heart of religion is made to consist. If men had rightly known the excellence of our Lord's mediation, and the extensive efficacy of his cross, they would never have addressed themselves to any other intercessor, never have had recourse to any other oblation. From this ignorance also, as from a common spring of error, have flowed in among people the dogmas of the satisfactions and merits of condignity, and congruity, and indulgences, and the rules and oddly various discipline of monks, and in sum, all superstitions. If people had well known who Jesus Christ is, they would have been assuredly content with his satisfaction, and infinite merit, with that eternal indulgence which he has obtained for all who believe, and with the perfection of his gospel. Hence again has arisen the setting up of another head in the militant church, to be there as the vicar and co- 31 242 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVII. adjutor of Jesus Christ. If this Jesus whom the Father has given and placed over all things for a Head to the church, if the fulness of his power, and wisdom, and infinite love, had been well known, never had this second monarchy been erected in his kingdom. In a few words, we may say to these, and to all others who err in religion, as once our Lord himself said to the Samaritan, John iv. 10, If you knew the gift of God, and who this Jesus is that speaks to you in his Scriptures, you would seek all your salvation in him alone, and demand of none but him any of the things that are necessary for the re- freshment and consolation of your souls. Judge, faithful brethren, how much it concerns us to know him well, and, to have him ever before our eyes. The knowledge of Christ is an adequate security from error. With what solicitude the apostle exhibits him to us ! With what affection he displays to us all the wonders of this great and divine subject ! He has before described him to the Colossians in a sublime man- ner, and, to attach their hearts entirely to him, shown them that in him is found all fulness. But with this he is not satis- fied. He now proceeds to inform them in the text, that in him " are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." In these few words there is a vast extent of meaning and truth ; we will therefore employ the whole of this exercise in explaining them, if God permit; observing in order all that shall seem necessary for the elucidation of the text, and the instruction and edification of your souls, I know well that the relative word here translated " whom " means lohich as well as whom ; and may be referred either to Jesus Christ, or to the mystery of God, mentioned in the pre- ceding verse. If referred to the latter, then we understand the apostle to say that in this m3'-stery are hidden all the trea- sures of wisdom ; and I admit that the words so construed ex- press a great truth, for most certainly our Lord's gospel, here called his " mystery," is an inexhaustible treasury of all saving wisdom and knowledge. But we are not obliged to admit this interpretation ; and in my mind it is more pertinent, and ap- posite to the scope of the apostle, to refer this word to the name of Christ, which immediately preceded, and that the apostle's meaning is, that these treasures are hidden in Jesus Christ. But you perceive that these two senses differ very im- materially from each other. For a right conception of the text, we must first refute the exposition which some have given, and then assert its true meaning. Some think Paul would say that Jesus Christ knows all things, and is so rich and so abundant in knowledge, that he is ignorant of nothing. This is to mistake the apostle's intention. But that which they add is yet worse. For from this bad interpretation they deduce a false and dangerous doctrine ; concluding from our CHAP, II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 243 Saviour's possessing all the treasures of knowledge, that the infinite wisdom of his divinity was actually transfused into his human nature ; and consequently all the other properties also of the divine nature, as its omnipotence, its infinity, and its omnipresence : since there is the same reason for all these attributes of God, which are so inseparable that none can have one of them without possessing the rest. Behold, I be- seech you, how prolific is error, and how truly it was said by one of the ancient sages of the world, that one falsity or ab- surdity being admitted, many others necessarily follow. That ■which has led, or, to speak more accurately, which has drawn, these authors into this long series of errors, is no more than their false opinion about the sacrament of the eucharist. They incommodiously and unreasonably suppose that the flesh of Jesus Christ is present in the bread ; and this absurdity gra- dually prepared them for others still worse. For, disrelishing the doctrine of transubstantiation, which the Romanists era- ploy to uphold this real presence of our Lord's body, and de- servedly rejecting it, as full of absurdities and contradictions, but still determined to retain their own false preconception, they have endeavoured to maintain it by the aid of another error, scarcely inferior to it, namely, that of ubiquity, affirm- ing that the body of Jesus Christ is everywhere present, and consequently in the eucharistical signs. To defend a thing so strange, and so contrary to sense, to reason, and to Scripture, they have advanced the notion that the flesh of Christ, through its personal union with the divinity, has really received all its properties. I mean that, in assuming flesh, the Son of God has rendered it omnipotent, immense, and infinite; a doctrine which has induced them to corrupt divers passages of the word of God, that they might form out of them some prop for their error. This is not the place for a full refutation of their doc- trine, nor for an adequate expression of our sorrow, that per- sons, who in other particulars rejoice in the light of truth, should in this instance continue in darkness. Would to God that we could bury in eternal oblivion a fault which has caused so much scandal in Christendom ! I shall very briefly treat the subject of the text in hand, and their abuse of it in favour of their opinion. I say, then, that, in reasoning on this topic, they commit two observable faults : the one, that they do not correctly state the apostle's meaning ; and the other, that their inference is not deduciblefrom the premises. And to begin with the latter of these, they infer that which is not deducible from their pre- mises ; for although there is an infijiity of science and know- ledge in Jesus Christ, it no more follows that his human soul understands and knows all the things that God knows, than because there is an eternal divinity in Jesus Christ, it follows 244 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVII. that his flesh is an eternal divinity ; or from his having created the world, that his flesh created it. This (if indeed we may- compare human things with divine) is as inadmissible as it would be, that the body of man is immortal and intelligent, because he possesses within him an immortal intellect. For as in man there are two substances, the soul and the body, which, though united in the same subject, yet severally con- serve their own properties ; the soul its spirituality and invis- ibility, and the body its visibility and palpability; the one a capacity to understand and to will, the other, not : so there are two natures in Jesus Christ, which, though personally united, are not commingled or confounded. Each of them retains its essential and original qualities, and in such a manner that the divine nature continues eternal, infinite, omnipotent, and om- niscient ; and the human created in time, bounded in place, and endowed with a limited strength, power, and knowledge. When we say of man in general that he possesses understanding and sense, that he has a visible or invisible essence, that he is mortal or immortal, we assign each of these attributes only to that part of his nature to which it corresponds, and do not con- fusedly apply them to both ; so, if the apostle had said (as I grant he truly might) that there is in Jesus Christ an infinity of power or knowledge, that infinity should be referred to his divinity, and not to his humanity. For Jesus Christ being very God, blessed for ever with the Father, who, in this respect, can question whether he is omnipotent and omniscient ? But it is not thence inferrible that he is so likewise in regard of his human nature. And for any to deduce it from that attribu- tion is as impertinent reasoning, as if, because there is in Je- sus Christ a flesh conceived and born of the blessed virgin, and which was infirm and crucified, you would infer that his divinity was also born of the holy virgin, and was fastened to the cross. But though it were granted them, that " all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge " are hid in the human soul of Jesus Christ, still they could not legitimately infer from such an ad- mission that the knowledge of his soul is infinite, and the same with that of God. We confess that this blessed soul, having had the honour to be personally united to the eternal Son of God, has in consequence been adorned with all the ef- fulgence of knowledge and wisdom of which its nature is ca- pable ; so that it may be said in this respect that all these trea- sures are hidden in it, and that its knowledge far surpasses the knowledge of men and angels, both for its extent, and for its perspicuity and certainty. But as the nature of the subject in which it properly resides is finite, itself is also necessarily finite ; whereas the knowledge of the Father and of his eternal Word is infinite, even as their nature is infinite. And it is to CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 245 no purpose to reply, that according to this statement the hu- man nature of Jesus Christ will have no advantage above the saints, of whom it may be said in this sense that " all the trea- sures of wisdom " are hidden in them, since God, who dwells in them, has an infinite knowledge and wisdom. For this con- sequence is evidently false. First, by reason of the extreme difference between the graces communicated to the saints, and the gifts of light and knowledge infused into the soul of our Saviour. Secondly, by reason of the infinite difference be- tween their persons ; for though God dwells in the saints by his grace, yet no one of the saints is God ; whereas the eternal Word so dwells in the humanity of Jesus Christ, that the same one who is man is also truly God ; these two natures being so strictly united, that they are only one and the same person. From this reason, it may be rightly said, that if the word of the Father is almighty and eternal, as most assuredly it is, omnipotence, and eternity, and infinity are in Jesus Christ ; for he is truly the Word of the Father : but it cannot, however, be inferred from this, that Peter (for example) or Paul pos- sessed infinite power or wisdom, because God dwelt in them : God dwelt not personally in them, so that each of them was God, but only by the grace of his Spirit. I add, in the second place, that all this reasoning is foreign to the scope of the apostle, whose object they have misappre- hended. For his intention here is not to speak of what Jesus Christ knows. What would this conduce to the end that he had proposed to himself, namely, our confirmation in the gos- pel, and the fortifying us against those traditions and specula- tions which false teachers would add to it, that we might reject them and content ourselves with this Jesus Christ, whom the Father presents to us in his word ? Who sees not that the knowledge of all things, which our Lord has in himself, is al- together extraneous to this purpose ? For the thing in ques- tion is what we must know to serve God aright, and be saved in the sequel. But Jesus Christ does not reveal to us in the gospel all that he knows either as God or as man. And so from his knowing all things, it follows not that it is enough for us to embrace his gospel. For (will the false teachers say) though he know all for his own part, yet he has not discovered in the gospel which his apostles preach unto us all that is ne- cessary for us to believe or to practise. What then, you will inquire, is the true sense of these words ? Dear brethren, it is not hard to discern, if you afford ever so little attention to the thing. The apostle considers the Lord Jesus here, not simply and absolutely, but as he is set forth and revealed to us in his gospel, as far as he is the sub- ject of the apostle's preaching and the object of our faith. In this respect he says that " all the treasures of wisdom and 246 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVII. knowledge " are hid in him ; meaning that this Christ, who is present with us in the gospel, is an object so rich and so di- vine, that he contains all the matter of wisdom in him ; that all the verities composing it are fully and abundantly found in him ; so that, to acquire wisdom, there is no need of studying anything but Christ. If we do but know him, we shall be ig- norant of nothing. If I should say that the treasures of wis- dom or natural science are hid in the world, my meaning would be, not that the world knows verities which appertain to this science, but that it contains them ; that it is a theatre where they are exposed to our view ; and that by the study of it we may learn them. Or were I to say that man is the trea- sury of all the knowledge of living creatures, I should not in- tend that man knows them, but that he exhibits it. being as an exact model and pattern of all that the nature of living crea- tures comprehends ; so that by careful studying and medita- ting on him, we may learn all that can be known of them. In this very manner, by saying that in Christ " are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," the apostle shows us what is the knowledge, not that Christ has in himself, but which he is able to give to us ; not what he knows, but what he makes us to know ; he being as it were, an abyss of won- ders, in which are found all the riches of that heavenly truth in the knowledge of which true wisdom consists. From whence the inference he aims to make upon it clearly flows, namely, that we ought to shut our ears against every other doctrine, however plausible and probable. For as Jesus Christ is the magazine and the treasury of all wisdom, in whom is found all that we ought to know not only for neces- sity, but even unto plenitude, who sees not that it is extreme folly for men to turn themselves another way, or trouble their heads about the study of any other object ? And so this wis- dom and this knowledge of which the apostle speaks is meant, not the cognizance which the Lord has, either as Grod or as man ; but that knowledge of divine things which is requisite for us, if we would attain to salvation, and in the possession of which consists the true perfection of our nature. And when he says that the treasures of this wisdom are hid in him, his meaning is not that these divine things are known to our Lord, (such a conception would be frigid and impertinent,) but that they are all displayed and set forth in him ; that they dwell in him, that they are found there ; that they are enclosed and to be seen in him, through the veil of the infirmity of his cross, which in a manner overspreads and hides them. This is, in my judgment, the true and genuine sense of the apostle's expression. Let us now examine each of its terms, all of them admira- ble, elegant, and rich, and afterwards consider the truth of CHAP, il] the epistle TO THE COLOSSIANS. 247 them. First, he calls the wisdom and knowledge which are in Jesus Christ " treasures," to intimate both their excellence and abundance; the word treasure importing both these. You know, we properly call such a collection a treasure as contains things not worthless, as dust or chaff; but pre- cious and exquisite, as gold and silver, and precious stones, and jewels. The term signifies ahundance also. For you will not say that that man has a treasure who has but two or three pieces of gold or silver, or a diamond, or four or five emeralds. To have a treasure is to have a considerable mass of rare and precious things. And by this the truths which Jesus Christ exhibits, and of which he afïbrds us the knowledge, are distinguished from those elsewhere. Many and various kinds of knowledge are discoverable by other means, but they are comparatively of no value. They do not make a treasure. This worthy title appertains only to rare and precious things. But the truths which Jesus Christ teaches those who study him are so many pearls of inestimable price ; they are divine jewels, such as neither the barbarous sea-coasts, nor the mines of the New World yield ; such as neither the heavens, nor the earth, nor any of the store-houses of nature, can furnish. But abundance also is in the matter before us as well as worth. I admit that some of these pre- cious truths are hid in the world, and in man himself, and that we may extract them from those sources by attention and med- itation ; as appears by the knowledge which some heathens acquired who read no other book. I grant too that the an- cient tabernacle of Moses afforded a far more ample store. But what is all this, in comparison of that abundance of wisdom and knowledge presented to us by Jesus Christ ? Most cer- tainly, in him, and in him only, can this divine treasure be found. And, for the fuller discovery of the immeasurable abundance of his exhaustless riches to us, the apostle contents not himself with calling it a treasure. He says " treasures," in the plural ; so great and vast is the opulence of this divine subject. Yea, he says not simply "treasures," but "all the treasures," to show us that there is nothing grand, or exqui- site, or precious but what is found in him. Now in the progress of his discourse Paul subjoins what those treasures are which are in Christ ; " the treasures of wis- dom and knowledge." Away, ye covetous, who never hear the mention of treasures but ye fancy those of the world ; which (to say the truth) are but piles of dross and masses of earth, only varied a little in form and colour from the other parts of this vile and low element. The jewel of which the treasury of Jesus Christ is full is of an infinitely more precious nature than the metals you adore ; it is, saith the apostle, " wisdom and knowledge." The term "wisdom" is honourable among men ; 248 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVII. and though ignorant of the thing, yet they respect the name ; confessing that it is strictly apposite only to such kinds of knowledge as are at once sublime and useful, divine and salu- tiferous. Surely, to adhere to this their own definition of it, it is clear that no one of all the sciences which they have learned in the world by the strength of their own spirit deserves to be called wisdom. For either they are low, and of things of small elevation, as the skill of their trades, which have no employ- ment but on the earth ; or at least they are vain and unprofita- ble, as that which they tell us of the heavens and their motions, of nature and its mutations, of numbers and figures, and the measuring of bodies. For what service do they derive from that science of which they so contemptuously boast ? Are they in any degree the happier for it, or aught the more assured by it ? They themselves vilify it, and confess that all of it yields those that excel most in it but a very slender profit. Will you call useless industry by the name of wisdom, and count him a judicious man who busies himself to no purpose? On the contrary, is it not characteristic of a fool to be amused in things of nought, and to toil for that which affords no benefit, as chil- dren that pursue their own shadows and chase butterflies? What then is that wisdom which is truly worthy of so illustri- ous a name? Dear brethren, it is evidently the knowledge of truths necessary to our salvation, those truths that can make us happy, and preserve peace and consolation in our souls, and conduct us through the accidents of this life to the possession of that supreme felicity which is naturally the desire of all men. It is this kind of knowledge that the apostle means. It is this which by way of excellence, he calls " wisdom," as alone de- serving the name, while all other kinds of knowledge lie far beneath it. The word "knowledge," which he adds, I think we need not sever from wisdom, as if they were necessarily two different things. I know that critics have distinguished them ; some affirming that wisdom is the knowledge of God and of di- vine things, and knowledge the philosophy of man and of hu- man affairs ; while others maintain that wisdom relates to things to be believed, and knowledge to things to be done. But, to speak candidly, I much doubt whether the apostle ever thought of these petty subtilties ; for the word " knowledge " in the ori- ginal generally signifies all knowledge, and we have no reason to restrain its application to moral or terrestrial things. I judge it therefore more accordant with the simplicity of these divine authors to take the words " wisdom and knowledge " in nearly the same sense, and to say that the latter was added only to enlarge and enrich one and the same conception ; as if the apostle had said that there is neither wisdom nor knowledge, nor any true and saving knowledge, but it is in our Lord Jesus Christ. CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 249 In fine, it must be observed that he says these treasures are "hid" in Christ. This is a very apt prosecution of his meta- phor. For treasures are not exposed to the view of all. They are locked up in cabinets, or concealed in remote places, or buried under ground, to secure them from the eyes and hands of men. As this is usually done, the apostle has very elegantly used this word in the matter before him, and the more so, as something analogous may be observed in the dispensation of Jesus Christ, God has not indeed any such design as avari- cious men have, nor has he, fearing lest people should see and seize his treasure, actually hid it from them, to prevent their sharing it. Far be it from us to entertain a thought so injuri- ous to the goodness and liberality of this sovereign Lord, who sent his Son into the world for no other end than to save the world, and delights in nothing more than in seeing us search into his treasuries, and enrich ourselves with his good things, and who has also clearly and magnificently displayed in his Christ all his heavenly wealth, calling him the Sun of right- eousness, that is, the most visible and most remarkable object in the universe. He has sent his servants in all directions to discover him to mankind, and from the tops of the highest places to call all men to a participation of this treasure of light. Now both his brightness and their voice have spread abroad so gloriously, that it may be justly said, Light has been in the world, but the world perceived it not, John i. Wherefore the apostle says, that " if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost," and whose understandings the god of this world hath blinded, (that is, the unbelieving,) that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ might not shine unto them, 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. Here you see he attributes all the fault of worldly men in not discerning the excellency of this treasure to their own blindness, caused by the darkenings and malice of Satan, and not to the obscurity or concealment of the treasure itself; to which he gives a quite contrary name, calling it light, yea, a glorious light, that is to say, great and sparkling. Why then does he say that the treasures of wisdom are hid in him — for it seems he should say, on the contrary, that they are manifested in him, that they shine out and appear clearly in him ? I an- swer, that both his statements are true, but in different respects. For if you consider the thing in itself, the treasures of wisdom are manifested to us in Jesus Christ; and he who is purified by divine grace sees them in him, and acknowledges them as soon as he sees him as the gospel represents him. But if you have respect to the eyes and perceptions of men, obscured and corrupted by sin as they naturally are, I confess, it is hard for them to discern in Jesus Christ those riches of wisdom and knowledge which the Father has deposited in him, and that this proceeds in part from that veil of meanness and infirmity 32 250 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. XVII. whicli is as it were thrown over him. This led Paul to say that Christ crucified, whom he preached, was to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness, though to the faithful who were called he was the power and the wisdom of God. Therefore, it being necessary for our salvation that he should be born, and live in poverty on the earth, and at length suffer the death of the cross, which surpassed all other deaths for cruelty and ignominy, the Father who sent him in this form, clothed with this mean and mournful mantle, that affrights men, has both manifested and hid his treasures in him. He has manifested them in him, as it is in him and by him that he exhibits to us whatever is necessary to be known for the attainment of salvation; he has hidden them in him, as he has covered this treasure with such a veil, as by its poor and contemptible appearance deters men, and makes them say, as Isaiah prophesied, " He hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him," Isa. liii. 2. But they who have their eyes puri- fied by light from on high, discern under this appearing sim- plicity and humility all celestial riches in their stateliest and most glorious form. This is the apostle's meaning when he says that these treasures are hid in Christ. He informs us that we must not stop at that infirmity and vacuity which at first sight appears in him, and disgusts vain and earthly minds, but must look within, and contemplate the great wonders which God has there manifested for our complete instruction and con- solation. Hitherto we have examined the words of this text. It re- mains that we now consider the truth in it. This we shall do in a very summary way. For the prosecution of this rich sub- ject in its whole extent is above the ability of man or angel to be worthily performed, so great is its height and depth. But we will briefly touch its chief heads. Man's true wisdom in his present state is to know his misery, with the means to escape it ; and his felicity, with the way that he must take to attain it. As for our misery, nature indeed has given us some perception of it, for there is scarcely a man in the world who sees not some depravation and irregularity in himself, and whose conscience does not reproach him with his faults, and threaten him with the judgment of supreme justice. The law has taught us much more of it, representing God to us as armed with inexorable severity against sinners, and fulminating his curse upon them. But beside that these kinds of knowledge are weak, and are easily smothered in security, there is this sorrow with them, that, having showed us our misery, they do not inform us of the remedy ; so that if they be necessary to draw us out of that folly wherein the most are plunged, (who confidently sleep amid the tempest, and presume they are well, CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 25Î while they have a mortal imposthume in their brain or in their heart,) yet it cannot be said that they are sufficient to make us wise, seeing that for the just possession of this title a man must know not only his malady, but also the means to cure it. But even the knowledge of this would not be sufficient ; for we de- sire not only deliverance from evil, but also the fruition of good, yea, the chief good. But neither the light of nature, nor even the light of the law, reveals to us what this supreme felicity is, which, without distinctly knowing it, we earnestly desire; so far are they from showing us the way to it. But those verities which are necessary to render us wise are found clear] y and in all their plenitude in Jesus Christ, as he is proposed to us in. the gospel. As to our misery, he declares it exactly to us, not by dubious, inarticulate sounds, as nature does, nor by circui- tions and essays, as the law did ; but by the fullest and most impressive way of information that the world ever heard, even crying aloud to us from that cross to which our sins had nailed him : Behold, ye sons of men, how horrid are your crimes, since it was necessary for the washing them away that I should come down from heaven and shed my blood. Behold how great and irreparable was your fall, since there was none in heaven or earth that could raise you up again but myself. As much as the life of the Son of God is more precious than the life of all mankind, so much clearer is the proof which his death gives us of the horror of sin, than that which we might take from the death of all that ever sinned, though we should see them stricken down together, and punished by the avenging justice of God. But if this great Saviour makes us so feelingly perceive the wretchedness of our misery, his design is only to make us the more ardently desire and embrace the remedy which he offers us, fully prepared from that same cross to which he was fast- ened for us. I grant that the forbearance and kindness of God in his con- duct to men, sinful as they were, might give them some gleam of hope, and that his promises under the former covenant had much confirmed it. But the sword of his justice dreadfully flaming in the hand of the law perplexed them not a little, and they found it extremely difficult to reconcile his inflexible right- eousness witti the mercy that was necessary for them. Jesus Christ has removed all these difficulties, and exhibits to us in his cross the solution of all our doubts. Fear nothing, sinner, says he, I have compensated the justice of God, and satisfied his law. Boldly trust his promises, and approach his throne with full assurance. This blood, which has opened the en- trance for your admission, is not the blood of a beast, nor an earthly ransom ; it is the blood of God, a ransom of infinite value, more than sufficient to take away your sins, however infinite may be their demerit. But you will say, This is not all 252 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVH. I need for my consolation. I acknowledge tbat Christ suf- ficiently assures me of the pardon of my sins. What security does he give me against the numerous foes who are always at- tendant on my path, the world, the evil angels, and flesh and blood? But, christian, does not the same cross which has merited your pardon give you also clear and undoubted evi- dence of your safety during the whole course of your life ? For since you know that God has delivered up his only Son to death for you, how can you fear that he will withhold from you any of the cares of his providence ? But this is not all. Christ Jesus, who shows us these excel- lent and sacred truths in his death, engraven, as it were, in capital letters on his cross, holds up before our eyes others of no less importance in his resurrection. Believers, neither the pardon of your sin, nor the assistance of God during your life, would be sufficient for you ; for after all, death will swal- low you up as well as unbelievers. See then further in your Jesus the truth that is necessary to complete your consolation. By committing his spirit, at the point of death, into the Fa- ther's hands, he teaches you that God will receive your souls when you depart out of the world ; and by rising again on the third day following, he assures you that your bodies shall one day be raised out of the dust ; and by ascending to hea- ven, he assures you that there you shall be transported, both in soul and body, to live and reign there with him in eternal glory. As for the way which you must take to arrive at this high happiness, his whole life and his death have clearly marked it out to you, and he still shows it you from that lofty throne whereon he is set. Tread in my steps, he says, if you would be exalted to my glory. Follow the example of my innocence and of my love, if you desire to partake of the honours of my kingdom. I have borne injuries with calmness and pa- tience ; I have constantly obeyed my Father even unto my death on the cross, and you see the honour wherewith he hath crowned me. Imitate my obedience, and you shall receive my recompense. This is the lesson which the Lord Jesus gives us, showing us incomparably more clearly than the frame or government of the world, or the Mosaical dispensation, ever did, both the justice of God, that we may dread him, and the power and wisdom of God, that we may reverence him, and his mercy, that we may love and serve him with all the strength of our souls; serve him, I say, not with the sacrifices of ancient Judaism, nor with the feeble and childish devotions of super- stition, but with a pure and holy heart, with works worthy of him, with an ardent zeal, a sincere love, a constant integ- rity and honesty, a profound patience and humility, an im- movable hope and confidence : these are the verities which CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 258 constitute true wisdom ; all of tliem, as you see, high and sub- lime, but in like degree useful and saving. Here is no in- quiry about the nature of elements, of animals, of plants, or of meteors : nor of the motions of the sun, or of the moon, or of the other planets ; but of the being, and the counsels, and the conduct of that great and most high God, who made and formed all those things, and in comparison of whom heaven and earth are but an atom of dust. The research is not about numbers and figures, which can neither diminish your miser- ies, nor make your souls happy ; but of your peace with God, of your consolation in this life, and of your glory and immor- tality in the next. It is this which Jesus Christ teaches us, that divine crucified person who died and rose again for ua. It is this he shows us, represented in high and splendid col- ours through all the pieces of his mystery. Whatever nature and the law might discover of the edges and first lineaments of this celestial wisdom, it is he alone who has exhibited to us the whole body, and showed us its entire frame and struc- ture. We conclude, then, as the apostle saith, that it is verily in him that " all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" are hidden. Let us embrace this conclusion with firm belief; and let us bless God, first, that he has vouchsafed to give his Christ to mankind, and particularly that he has communicated him to us, mercifully presenting him in his word and in his sacra- ments. Next, let us implore him to open our eyes more and more, that we may discern these rich and precious " treasures of wisdom and knowledge" which he has hid in him. Let not the vileness of his cross, nor the veil of his infirmity, nor the simplicity of his gospel, and these sacraments wherein he is offered to us, offend us. This very thing, if we consider it as we ought, makes up one principal part of the wonder ; and that we may rightly know and value this treasure, let us cleanse our minds from the clay and mire of the world, let us purify our understandings, and rid them of the sentiments and opinions of the world, which, being fastened to its own dung, prize nothing but the lustre of its false honours, and the vanity of its perishing riches, and the delight of its unseemly pleasures. Let us once set free our souls from these sordid and servile passions, and acknowledge, as experience will com- pletely justify us in doing, that it is an extreme error and folly to seek our happiness in such wretched things. Let us lift up our eyes unto wisdom, and desire the possession and embrace the study of it. It is the jewel and ornament of our nature. In this consists our whole dignity. Without this men scarcely differ from beasts ; nay, in some sort are in a worse condition, as sinking beneath themselves, and falling into the utmost misery. But let us be solicitous that we take 254 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEKM. XVII. not a shadow for substance, and a phantasm for true wisdom. Be not deceived. This wisdom is only in Christ Jesus. All that pretended wisdom which obtains the acclamation and ap- plause of the multitude, whether in the courts or in the schools of the world, is but masked folly, a disguised extravagance, and a painted error, which neglects all that is essential to our welfare, and amuses us with things which have no bearing on our real happiness, the true end of wisdom. Let us seek it therefore in Jesus Christ alone. In him you will find the true substance of it. They who possess treasures often visit them, and have their hearts always where they are. In like manner meditate night and day on this divine Saviour, "in whom are hid the trea- sures of wisdom and knowledge." Consider him, pry into him, and diligently sound him. He is an abyss of good things. Let your hand be ever there, and draw thence by faith, study, and meditation, all that is necessary for you. Let your whole life be taken up in the continual handling of these divine jewels, in admiring the beauty and using the brightness of them. Let it be all the passion of your souls, the matter of your joys, and the consolation of your troubles. If you have not those false good things which the world so much glories in, remember that you have the treasures of heaven, the por- tion of angels, the wisdom and knowledge of happiness. Take heed that none bereave you of so rich a possession. Shut your ear against the prattle and plausible discoursings of seducers. Preserve this treasure courageously against their attempts ; nor be content to have it only, communicate it to your neighbours ; lay forth the wonders of it before their eyes, adorning all the parts of your life with it. Let the inno- cence, and holiness, and sweetness, and humility of the Lord Jesus shine out in it. Let these be your pearls, and your jewels, and your oi'naments before men, which may constrain them to acknowledge that Jesus Christ dwells in the midst of you, and to say, " Of a truth this nation is a wise and understanding people." Above all, instruct your children in this knowledge. Leave them this wisdom for an inheritance. Such a portion is enough to make them happy ; whereas with- out this they cannot possibly be other than fools and wretches, though you should leave them all the wealth of the east and west. Finally, as the apostle assures us that " all the treasures of wisdom" are in Jesus Christ, let us be satisfied with him alone, and contemn the vanity of those who, under any kind of pre- tence, would circulate for wisdom doctrines that are foreign, and without the sphere of Christ. Let us not so much as give them the hearing. It is warrant enough for us to reject them, that they form no part of the treasure of Jesus Christ. I stand CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 255 not to inquire whether they are true or false, useful or hurtful. It suffices me that, whatever they be otherwise, they are not in Christ. Nothing is to be received in religion but what comes out of this treasury. God who has given it us in his abundant mercy, and who calls us to partake also of it the next Lord's day, grant us to preserve it pure and entire, to possess it with joy and respect in this world, and reap the full fruit of it in that which is to come. So be it. SERMON XVIII. VERSES 4, 5. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I he absent in the flesh, yet am I ivith you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfast- ness of your faith in ChriM. As men naturally love and desire only those things which have an appearance of good, so they believe only those which have a semblance of truth ; and they withdraw their affection from the former as soon as they clearly discover their worthless- ness, and their credence from the latter the instant they per- ceive that they are untrue. Hence being prepossessed upon some general and confused knowledge, with conceit that the enjoyment or belief of a thing would be advantageous to them, they wish it may prove good and true; evidently presuppo- sing that otherwise their very nature could not permit them to love it or believe it. This is observable even in children, who are the sincerest and most natural map of the motions of our nature. For when their nurses tell them anything, they ask if it be true ; and if the tale please them, they are troubled when they perceive that it is no more than a tale, and wish it were true, that they might believe it. So deeply imprinted in the mind of all reasonable creatures is this sacred and inviola- ble principle of their nature, that nothing is believed but what is thought to be true. This advantage which truth naturally has over falsehood compels its very enemies to counterfeit its mark and wear its livery. For they are aware that their errors and falsehoods can find no entrance among men, except they assume the appearance of truth. Even as coiners, that they may put off their copper and lead, give it the colour and resemblance of gold and silver, and counterfeit the image and stamp of a lawful prince ; or as they who would 256 AX EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVIII. travel through an enemy's country, privily disguise themselves with the enemy's badges ; so seducers, well knowing that the understanding of man is the proper and lawful kingdom of truth, where nothing passes but under its sanction and mark, paint and disguise the fictions which they propagate, and give them, as finely as they can, the countenance and colour of truth, that by means of this false resemblance they may pass current among men, who would reject them immediately if they saw them in their own natural likeness. There have ever been a great multitude of these cheats in the world, persons who, urged forward by ambition, or some other particular interest, strive to bring their fancies and dreams into reputa- tion. But as the christian religion comprises the best and most important truths in the world ; so there never was any system which impostors and the erroneous have more laboured to corrupt, by decrying some of its true doctrines on one hand, and by intermingling falsehoods on the other. And as all the artifice of such unhappy wits tends only to confound truth and falsehood ; so ought we to employ the utmost of our industry that we may effectually sever them, and so discern them as never to take the ono for the other. This discerning, dear brethren, is one of the most important duties of our life. It is loss to take copper for gold, and bad money for good ; and it is, moreover, ignorance, ever shameful, sometimes not a little hurtful, to receive an error for truth in philosophy and in civil life. But yet the loss and shame that accrue from all this kind of cheats reach no further than the present time ; whereas the consequences of those impostures which we suffer in religion extend even to eternity. For this cause the holy apostle often warns the faithful, to whom he writes, to beware of them, and most cautiously to try all things, that they may not be inveigled by seducers, nor receive their traditions for truths, desiring every sincere and real christian to have his senses exercised and habituated to discern between good and evil, Rom, xvi. 17 ; 1 Thess. v. 21 ; Eph. iv. 14 ; Heb. V. 14, You may have observed in the text that this is che happiness which he wishes and would procure to the Colossians, of not being drawn in by the fair speeches of those seducers that courted them. He had before largely represented to them the abundance and excellency of the benefits of their Lord and Saviour ; and he protested again in the verse imme- diately prior to our text, as you may remember, in our last sermon on this subject, that " in Jesus Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Now he shows them his design in his immediate recurrence to a theme of which he seemed to have sufficiently treated in the preceding texts. Now " this I say, that none may deceive you with words of persuasion." And to show that he did not vainly or rashly CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 25T undertake this task, he apprizes them in the following verse of the knowledge that he had of their state, it being as really before his eyes as if he had been at Colosse. " For," says he, " though I am absent in the flesh, yet in spirit I am with you,, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." Thus we have two points to handle, that we may give you a full and entire understanding of this text. First, the apostle's study that these christians might not be seduced. And, Secondly, the cognizance he took of their present state, though in body he was far distant from them. If Grod permit, we shall briefly consider these two things, pointing out what we judge useful for your edification and consolation in them. 1. The first of these points the apostle expresses in these words, "And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words." On which words we have two things to ex- amine : the danger in which the Colossians were, and the use- fulness of the apostle's statement to preserve them from incur- ring it. The danger was great, and the evil which it threatened grievous and mortal, even the being deceived and seduced by the enticing words which false teachers used in this wretched design. There never was any servant of Christ who was not beset by such a temptation. As soon as Satan sees the truth of the gospel anywhere appear, immediately he raises up im- postors to corrupt it, and to alienate those who embrace it from its purity and simplicity. But especially at the beginning of Christianity, when it was first preached aud founded by the holy apostles, there arose a multitude of seducers, who did their utmost to deprave and mar this divine seed of salvation; and the devil made similar attempts in our fathers' days, when, perceiving the gospel to revive, eager instantly to obstruct this holy work, he speedily brought into the field a world of spirits, some audacious and extravagant, others subtle and selfish, which endeavoured to scandalize or to seduce the simple; those, by the prodigies of their fond imaginations ; these, by the plausible appearances of their false accommodations. But they who troubled the church in the apostle's time addressed themselves, among others, to the Colossians in particular, as we see by what is here intimated, and by what is more fully stated in the course of this chapter. He does not name them; but his saying, "lest any man should beguile you," is a suffi- cient evidence that there were some craftsmen of this quality about them who laboured to insnare them. At these he aims his weapons, and against the force of their seducements he arms the Colossians. He shows the end to which they tended, the deceiving of the faithful; and the means they used to effect it, namely, " enticing words." 33 258 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVIII. The term lie employs to express the first of these signifies not simply to deceive, but to deceive by false and insnaring ratiocination. For these bad men, knowing well that others are not induced to embrace or avoid anything without some reason, our nature demanding that in all our actions and mo- tives the understanding should precede the will, they begin there to effect our ruin ; and to entangle our minds in their errors, they propose us reasons, false indeed, but appearing otherwise ; such as have the colour and countenance, but not the essential form and substance, of a good and solid argu- ment. This the word paralogism, here used by the apostle, properly signifies. It is a sophism, a false and spurious ar- guing which, by its vain appearance and fallacious blaze, leads men to error ; as those fatuous fires, which, rising some- times in the dark of night, conduct those who follow them into precipices. Satan, the father of all sophisters, took this course first, having miserably seduced our first parents by the illusion of a false discourse, the vanity of which experience clearly demonstrated ; for, that he might corrupt their will, he attacked their understandings in the first place, and beguiled them that he might destroy them, persuading that the forbidden fruit would make them like God. All whom he has in succeeding ages employed in this work have fol- lowed the same method. No heretic ever appeared, either under the Old or the New Testament, who did not paint over his impostures with some specious reasons. Only this difference may be observed among such men, that some act maliciously, and in defiance of their own consciences ; others, through ignorance. The former sort are genuine children of the devil, and the most execrable of all men. Conscious that they are fighting against the truth, and defending error by most futile reasons, they undauntedly labour in this unhappy design, either for acquiring glory to themselves, or for creating trouble to teachers of truth, to whom they are hostile. Those of the other sort, who do it through ignorance, have, I confess, less guilt and wickedness, but they are no less dangerous ; for really believing the errors which they advance, they are the more ardent and strenuous in persuading others to embrace them, as imagining that they serve them when they indeed de- stroy them, and that they edify when in truth they ruin them. Such were those Jews of whom Paul bears witness, that they had a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, Eom. x. 2. Thev believed the error which they recommended, and were caught in those snares in which they sought to entangle others. And in this rank we must place the most of those of the Eoman communion, who labour much to draw us into their mistakes ; not only those of the people, but also many of their monks and of their doctors, who labour to deceive others be- CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 259 cause they have been themselves deceived, having run into that erroneous persuasion into which they would induce us, and confirmed themselves from time to time in it, by those so- phisms and false reasonings which they offer us, and which they have either learned of their instructors or invented them- selves. We must equally take heed of both these sorts of workers. For however different the motive of their acting may be, the effect of it is ever the same, even seduction and perdition. And as poison fails not to kill the man who takes it, though it have been ignorantly given him by a person that knew it not to be poison, who perchance partook of it himself, thinking it a remedy ; so error, from whatever hand it come, has still a bad effect ; and the opinion they have of it who present it to us does not change the venom of it, nor impede its corrupting our souls, and extingaishing divine life in us if we receive it. But the apostle also points out the means which false teach- ers use for the establishment of their errors : That none, says he, may deceive you " with enticing words." These he calls, Eom, xvi. 18, in the same case, " good words and fair speeches," and declares that schismatics, and such as make divisions con- trary to the doctrine we have learned, seduce " the hearts of the simple by good words and fair speeches." These he names again elsewhere the "enticing words of man's wisdom," 1 Cor. ii. 4. Under these terms he comprehends all the advantages and attractives of discourse, all that it has in it which is apt to touch and win hearts ; as either probable reasons, with which it is furnished, or beauty of terms and expressions, or artificial disposition and graceful pronunciation. Every one knows how potent are these charms of eloquence. They some- times dazzle the best eyes, and deceive the firmest minds. Eloquence makes things, as it were by a kind of enchantment, appear quite opposite to what they really are, and gives them colours and qualities that are not their own ; it makes honey pass for wormwood, and wormwood for honey ; black for white, and white for black. It can subvert a cause, however good, or establish it, however bad. There is no ardour which it cannot allay, no belief which it cannot agitate, no resolution which it cannot break. It has often procured condemnation of the in- nocent, while the guilty have been acquitted with applause. It is by its sleights that truth, however invincible it may be, has sometimes seemed to be vanquished. To its adroitness and stratagems the friends of error and falsehood owe the greatest part of their mendacious triumphs. For feeling their own great weakness, they commonly have recourse to this kind of sorcery, that they may carry by its illusions what they could never win by genuine and legitimate strength. It is this that maintains sophisters, and wranglers, and mountebanks, 260 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVIII. and seducers. With the sophistry and loquacity which it lends them, they audaciously stand up and oppose the clearest truths, and recommend the grossest errors. But among all the busy people who use it, none more perniciously employ it than heretics and corrupters of religion. This false rhe- toric is their principal instrument for seducing men. Accord- ingly, it is evident that they have always taken it up, and scarcely ever assailed the truth with any other kind of weapon. And it must be confessed that they handle these instruments with wonderful dexterity. Never was cause, in matter of religion, more sordid, or shameful, or feeble, than that of the pagans ; yet they who pleaded it against the ancient christians knew so well how to disguise it with the colours of their false reasons, and the gloss of their fine words, that they made it pass for plausible among the multitude, and ren- dered Christianity ridiculous to them, however holy and lu- minous was its truth. Those heretics which arose from among christians had no less ability and art to recommend their im- postures, borrowing, for this purpose, from the philosophers and orators of the world, the subtilties of their logic, and all the colours of their rhetoric. There are still extant some pieces of both in the books of antiquity ; as the discourses of Celsus in Origen : of Csecilius in Minutius ; of Porphyrins and Symmachus, for paganism ; various writings of Tertullian, for Montanism ; of Faustus, for the Manichees ; and of Julian, for the Pelagians, in Augustine. It is wonderful with what dexterity and with what grace and eloquence they manage such bad and infamous subjects; nor can I read them without lamenting that so many excellent and highly approvable things should be miserably profaned in the service of error ; indeed one cannot but groan to see the marble, and gold, and azure, and precious stones employed in adorning the temple of an idol. I wish you particularly to notice this, my brethren, that you may not be confounded if the Romanists at this day are able speciously to defend a very bad cause, nor be much moved at the ostentation they make of it, who are not ashamed to boast of the eloquence and subtlety of their teachers, as if this were one of the marks of truth. I freely consent to the praises they give them, and acknowledge that enticing words (as the apostle here calls them) abound on their side ; but I dare af- firm, notwithstanding, and am confident that every intelligent and dispassionate person will agree with me, that, however subtle and eloquent their masters are, and whatever pains they have taken for the better colouring and burnishing their doc- trine, their works are not more neat, nor more polite, nor more specious and fair, than the words of those pagans and heretics whom I have just named; yea, to speak without prejudice, I CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 261 believe they are far inferior to them. Let them forbear there- fore to urge for a mark of truth an advantage which is com- mon to them with pagans and heretics, an advantage which the most infamous causes employ, which the worst ordinarily seek after more earnestly than the best ; so much more cun- ning being used in their defence, by how much less strength they have in themselves. I have no wish to decry eloquence and acuteness, or preju- dice you against them, as if they were never engaged except in the service of error ; I willingly acknowledge they are ex- cellent graces of God, and that he gives them to men properly for the defence of truth, and surely they have not always had the misfortune to contend for falsehood. They have often done good service to the gospel, and employed their might for its glory, both heretofore against the pagans and the old here- tics ; and in our times against those of Rome, as appears by the writings both of the fathers and of our own learned men ; many of whom are in this respect quite equal to their adver- saries, besides their having the principal advantage, that is, the truth on their side. Paul himself, who here condemns words of persuasion when they recommend error, does not reject them when they are employed in the service of truth. And though he was not very conversant with the art of secular eloquence, consequently he says of himself, that for speech he was as one of the vulgar, yet his discourses want no strength nor grace ; that rich heavenly knowledge which abounded in his heart giving its tincture to the words of his mouth. That great personage indeed felt how it was, who, hearing him speak, was pressed with the force of his discourse, and said aloud, " Almost thou persuadest me to be a christian," Acts xxvi. 28. All my aim is, that since error oftentimes abuses eloquence, and acuteness is used against the truth, as evil men use other gifts of God to evil ends, we should not estimate the value of any cause by this advantage, nor hastily embrace that party that defends itself with the best and most persuasive words, nor reject that which has least of these ornaments in view. As innocence is not always the best clothed, so truth frequently is not the most richly decked. And though of it- self it is always more probable, more likely, and more easily maintainable than falsehood, as one of the ancient sages well observed ;* yet sometimes it happens through the sleight of seducers, by the false light in which they set it, and the colours with which they shadow it, that it looks worse in the eyes of the ignorant than a lie. Let us take heed, then, of their sur- prising us, and so well fortif}?- our minds against their illusions, that we may never reject the truth, however deformed and dis- * Arist. Rhetor. 1. 1. c 6. 262 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVIII. gusting it may appear according to their representations of it; nor receive a delusion, however specious and plausible they may render it. Eemember, that that Babylon, the mother of error, who is portrayed before us in the Apocalypse, chap, xvii. 4, presents its abominations unto men in a golden cup ; that is, she gives her poisons in a pleasing vessel, and shuts up and hides the hideousness of her impostures under very fair and specious words. Thus those seducers formerly acted who solicited the Colossians ; their errors were attended with per- suasive or enticing words for the purpose of beguiling them. This is the danger from which Paul would here preserve them. Let us now consider the means which he puts into their bands that they may safely guard themselves from it. This I say unto you, " lest any man should beguile you with enticing words." Here it is evident that what he saith is able, if duly improved, to keep us from falling into seductive error, and to frustrate all the charms of its fine and attractive words. What then does he say ? What is that holy and efficacious speech which can dissipate the illusions and enchantments of error? Dear brethren, you heard it in the exposition of the preceding text, where this holy man told us that all the treasures of wis- dom and knowledge are hid in Jesus Christ ; such is the apos- tle's meaning. This is that celestial oracle to which he attri- butes this great virtue. This is the remedy which he gives us against all the poisons and all the charms of seduction. None of the weapons or the wiles of error can bear up before this sacred word. It alone is sufficient, if we use it as we ought, to confound and annihilate all the fictitious wonders of the elo- quence and subtlety of false teachers, as in ancient time the rod of Moses swallowed up all the rods of the Egyptian magi- cians. For whoever holds fast this principle in his heart, that all true wisdom and knowledge are in Jesus Christ, will re- ceive nothing out of Christ. Being satisfied with this treasure, he will despise all other things, however specious and plausi- ble. Seduction will do little by displaying its arts and gilding and painting over its inventions with the fair colours either of ratiocination or of eloquence. It will get no ground upon such a one, since, after all, the thing it so carefully polishes is not in Jesus Christ, out of whom he will know nothing. He will not so much as hear the babbling of error, so far will he be from being affected with it. He will shut his ear against its fine words, so far is he from being seduced by them. Or if he please to cast his eye upon the works of its subtlety and its eloquence, he will look upon them as spiders' webs, or as jugglers' feats, which amuse us and beguile our senses, but make no impression on our hearts. We well know they de- ceive us, though we cannot tell how. So the faithful man will CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 263 hold that for a deceit and illusion which leads him out of Jesus Christ, though he does not see wherein the sophism of the error consists, nor is able easily to untie its knots. This, dear brethren, is the sure and infallible means to ex- clude and to expel all error from among us. Seducement wins only upon those who betray this gate, and yield that there may be something of good and saving importance out of Jesus Christ and his Scriptures. When once it has this ground given, it never wants paint and pretences to colour its delu- sions, and to render even those plausible and likely which are otherwise most gross and extravagant. Thus those traditions and ceremonies which have still the vogue among our adver- saries were, by degrees, obtruded upon christians; — the invo- cation of angels and of departed saints ; the sacrifice of the altar, and the veneration of relics and of images ; the visible head, and the hierarchy, and the infallibility of the church ; satisfactions, and the merit of works ; prayers and services in a language not understood; the adoration of the host; com- munion in one kind only ; purgatory, suffrages for the dead, and many other such things. Thousands of colours are found to paint them out, and recommend either the belief or the practice of them to poor people. There are huge books made about them, full of wit and eloquence, that drive the matter so far, as to make these things pass for the principal and most useful part of christian devotion. But this short saying of Paul's is enough to ruin all their labours, and to secure us from all their snares : " In Jesus Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." It is sufficient for me to have him, since, having him, I have all that appertains to true wisdom. However well disputed, and however eloquently pleaded, are all your traditions, I am not concerned in them, seeing I have the treasure of all science in Christ Jesus. And it is not here alone that the apostle gives us this lesson for freeing ourselves from the entanglements and snares of error; when instructing the Hebrews, and exhorting them not to be carried to and fro with divers and strange doctrines, he lays before them, at the entrance, this divine principle, that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," Heb. xiii. 8. II. But it is now time to come to the second part of our text, in which the apostle declares to the Colossians, the cog- nizance he took of the state of their church. " For though I be absent in flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." This is the reason why he counsels them to take heed of the wiles of seducers, and so carefully puts into their hands the means to preserve themselves. For some might have thought it strange, that being so far from them, and in all probability ignorant of their condition, he should give them 264 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEEM. XVIII. sucli a caution. He prevents this surmise, and answers, that though he was at Rome, yet he attended to what was doing at Colosse ; the affection which he bore them obliging him to in- terest himself in all their aflairs. Wonder not (says he) that I address you in this manner, and send you, from so great a distance, preservatives against seduction ; for though many seas and hills sever my body from you, yet my spirit is with you, taking part in all that befalls you, rejoicing in the pros- perous estate of your piety, but at the same time fearing the attempts of those enemies which I see around you, ready to sow the tares of schism and error upon the least opening they find for it. Some refer his saying that he was in spirit with the Golos- sians to an extraordinary and miraculous operation of the Holy Ghost, who, replenishing his soul with light, enabled him to see occurrences at the gi^eatest distance as clearly as if he had been present, after the same manner that God had showed Elisha what his servant Gehazi did with Naaman ; a passage which accordingly the prophet expresses almost in the same manner: " Went not mine heart with thee," says he to Gehazi, " when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee ?" 2 Kings v. 26. I confess indeed that God could easily have made known to Paul, while Nero's prisoner at Rome, all that passed in the church of Colosse, with as much, yea, more certainty, than he could have learned by personal observation ; and have also revealed to him the whole state of other churches more distant from Italy ; as he gave to Ezekiel, while living in captivity at Babylon, the power to see the most secret actions of the Jews, in the city and the temple of Jerusalem. But it is dangerous to argue from what God can do to what he does, and under colour of some slight probabilities to resolve upon things which his word does not at all affirm ; and as we may not multiply miracles without necessity, I think it best and safest not to suppose that the apostle was in this very extraordinary manner present with the Colossians. but to interpret his words simply as others do, of a presence in respect of care and affection. For nothing is more common in all languages, than to say that our minds are in those places, and with those persons, who engage our thoughts and affection. This gave rise to the common observa- tion, that the soul is where it loves, because to that spot it generally directs its affections, its wishes, and its reflections. And in this sense we receive what the apostle says to the Corinthians, that though absent in body, he was present with them in spirit, 1 Cor. v. 3. All he means is, that his bonds did not confine his spirit, and detain it a prisoner at Rome ; nor, fora single hour, contravene his concern for them, and having his affections and thoughts continually among them. CHAP, II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 265 He represented to himself their estate as vividly as if they had stood before him ; and derived from this lively conception the same emotions of joy, satisfoction, and fear, that the sight of them would have produced within him. So that there need be no wonder if, having them so deeply engraven on his heart, and ever present to the eyes of his mind, he became pained for them, and at such distance prescribed them neces- sary precautions and preservatives against the pleasant but pernicious poisons of error. Observe, I beseech you, this holy man's prudent and apt procedure. To justify the care which he took of them, he does not urge the danger they were in, their weakness, or the bad inclinations which some of them had ; this discourse would have been offensive, as showing a distrust of their pietv ; but, on the contrary, he here tells them of the prosperity of their spiritual estate, the beauty of their order, and the constancy of their faith: "Joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith." Do not imagine, says he, that I have an ill opinion of your piety because I so earnestly advise you to stand fast; I am very well satisfied concerning it, and find you in so good a posture, that I have much consolation at it ; this matter being so pleasing to me, that it fills my heart with joy, notwithstanding the sad state that I am in. But from the same root whence springs my joy, my ardent desire to see you go on from good to better also arises, and with it the solicitude and care I take to exhort it, because it would be an extreme regret and displeasure to see error waste or wound so fair and flourishing a church ever so little. See how by praising them he obliges them to regard his cautions, and by the very consideration of their having so well begun, more and more engages them to holy perseverance to the end. Thus he also treated the Philippians : " My brethren," said he to them, " dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved," Phil. iv. 1. You perceive, without my indication, that when he says, "joying and beholding your order," the meaning is, rejoicing to see, or because I see, your order. For in Scripture language, and even in common speech, the particle and is often used in this sense, and signifies because, or, forasmuch as. He praises and extols two things in these faithful persons, in which the happiness and the perfection of a church consist, namely, order, and a firm and constant faith. By the order of these Colos- sians, he means the good disposition of all the parts of their church, the vigilancy of the pastors, the submission and obedi- ence of the flock, their joint regard of discipline ; each keeping themselves within the bounds of their vocation, and both to- gether living in concord and good intelligence, honestly, and without scandal. For that order comprehends also purity and 266 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XVIII. holiness of life the apostle evidently shows in another place, where, to signify those that lead a scandalous life, he says that they walk disorderly, 2 Thess. iii. 6. He praises also the firm- ness of their faith in Jesus Christ, signifying thereby both that full persuasion they had of the truth and divinity of his gospel, and their constancy to hold it fast, notwithstanding the assaults and temptations of the enemy. This faith, dear brethren, and this order of the Colossians, were the matter of the apostle's joy, and the cause both of the desire he had to see them perse- vere still in so good a course, and of the advice he gave them, not to suffer themselves to be beguiled by the enticing words of seducers, and likewise of adding that preservative, of medi- tating incessantly upon the treasures of wisdom which are in Jesus for saving themselves from this destructive danger. It is now our business to make a good improvement of so excellent a lesson. We are as much environed, or more so, than the Colossians formerly were, with people who endeavour to deceive us with enticing words, who daily make all kind of attempts upon our faith, and do not forget the sophisms of subtilty, or the charms of eloquence, presenting error to us disguised with divers specious colours. To secure our minds from their illusions, let us tell them, as the apostle teaches us, that all the treasures of wisdom are hid in that Jesus Christ whom we have embraced ; that he is sufficient to make us wise to salvation; and that we need to know none but him to obtain happiness. If with fair and artful words they represent to us the necessity of an expiatory sacrifice, for recommending that of their own altars ; or the utility of satisfactions to make us receive theirs ; or the horror of sin, which has no entrance into the kingdom of God, to persuade us about their purgatory; or the need we have of an intercessor, to induce us to have recourse to a mediation of angels, and of departed saints ; or of a head, to set up their pope : let us answer them, that we have all this most fully in Jesus Christ ; that his cross is our sacrifice, his sufferings our satisfaction, his blood our purgation ; that while we possess him, we shall need neither an intercessor to open the throne of the grace of God to us, and render both our per- sons and our prayers acceptable to him, nor a head to govern and preserve us. Let us account all that would turn us aside from him, or place any part of his treasure anywhere else than in him, to be a seduction and an illusion. As good physicians not only preserve from poisons, but also draw profit from them, by making them remedies ; so let us not content ourselves with keeping the venom of seducements from hurting us; let us treat them in such a way as that they may serve us. Let their ardour in the cause of error inflame our zeal for the truth. Let their pains-taking and industry sharpen our diligence and care. Let us employ that acuteue^^s CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 267 and eloquence to the defence of the gospel which they profane in the service of an imposture. Let us have no less affection for the cause of God than they have for the matters of flesh and blood. And instead of the extravagance of some who love ignorance and rudeness, because error abuses knowledge and eloquence, let us, on the contrary, thence take occasion to la- bour in adorning and embellishing truth, that even in this re- spect falsehood may have no advantage above it. But if the examples of enemies should be of use to us, much more ought the examples of brethren, which wholly and solely tend to our edification. Let us profit by that of the Colossians, whose faith and order the apostle praises, that we might imi- tate them. Let us put our church into such a state as may give joy to the Lord, to his angels and to his ministers. My brethren, I admit that your faith and order may, in some de- gree, be commended without flattery, as by the grace of Christ you persevere in his fear, and assiduously rank yourselves under his ensigns, no temptation having been able hitherto to make you desert these holy assemblies. But you are not igno- rant that, together with this well doing, there are many fail- ures among us, that many things occur in our congregations little comporting with the dignity of the house of God ; and that the hardness of some stifiens itself against discipline, the only bond of order ; and if our faith is steadfast against error, it is far too yielding to sin. Dear brethren, I had rather leave the examination of it to your own consciences, than here pub- lish our sin and shame, and will content myself with telling you that the apostle banishes out of heaven the immoral as well as the idolatrous, 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. God, who has granted us to persevere in the profession of his truth, be pleased powerfully to correct, by the efficacy of his gospel, the defects with which his gentleness has hitherto borne; and sanctify us so effica- ciously, that after we have glorified him on earth by our good order and conversation, and the fruits of a firm and immov- able faith, we may hereafter receive, in heaven, from his mer- ciful hand, the reward and crown of blissful immortality, in his Son Jesus Christ, who, in the unity of the Father, and of the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, the only God, blessed for ever. Amen. 268 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIX SERMON XIX. VEESES 6, 7. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord^ so walk ye in him : rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have heen taught, abounding therein ivith thanksgiving. As man naturally loves novelty and variety, the best and most wholesome things become disgusting to him, when he is compelled, for a long time, to continue the use of them. What food was there ever in the world better, more savoury, more nourishing, and more miraculous, than the manna where- with God fed the Israelites in the wilderness, pouring it down daily from heaven upon them by the ministry of angels ; whence it is called the bread of heaven, and angel's food? Nevertheless, this wretched people were soon discontented with it, disdaining that precious gift of God, and foolishly re- gretting the fruits and fish of Egypt. " Our soul," said they, " is dried away : there is nothing at all, besides this manna, be- fore our eyes," Numb. xi. 6. Dear brethren, this history is a fit emblem of what has befallen men in reference to Jesus Christ and his gospel, the true bread of heaven, sent down from God into the wilderness of this world for the eternal nu- triment of mankind ; of which that ancient manna, as you know, was the figure, as he himself teaches us in the 6th of John. For our nature is not less fastidious, nor has it an ap- petite less extravagant, with respect to the doctrines necessary to feed our souls, than it has with respect to the meat that is ordained for the refreshment of our bodies. The truth of the Lord Jesus is embraced at the first with desire and appetite, every one admiring the excellency of this heavenly food, which infinitely exceeds the productions of the earth. But though it be altogether holy and salutiferous, yet because it is simple and uniform, the vanity of man in desiring change, and variety causes him immediately to loathe it, and induces him to search for novelties to season it, and render it more grateful. The apostles had scarcely sown this sacred doctrine in the church, when evil workers, as in the camp of Israel, quickly rose up, who, to remedy men's disdain, and accommodate this celestial truth to their palate, must needs add to it divers in- ventions and novelties of their own. And Paul foretold that others would arise as bad or worse than they : "After their own lusts," says he, "shall they heap to themselves CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 269 teachers, having itching ears ; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables," 2 Tim. iv. 8, 4. 0 yirophecy too true ! how punctually hast thou been fulfilled ! This foolish itch of the ear has caused thousands of fancies and novelties to be gradually entertained among chris- tians, which have so borne down, and, as it were, overwhelmed the gospel, that it is hardly to be discerned any longer. The doctrine of Eome is but a heap of traditions, errors, and su- perstitions, partly copied from Judaism, and some from pagan- ism itself, and partly issuing from the private speculations of some particular persons. In the days of our fathers, the gospel, having been brought out of the dark caverns of ig- norance into the light of men, was received in a similar manner with ardour and admiration. But that loathing of the best and most wholesome things, which is fatal to us, quickly overtook it, and stirred up, as it also still does, divers spirits, who, for a remedy, strive to corrupt this pure doctrine, and dress up its simplicity with their own inventions to make it please the world. To cure us of this fastidiousness, the apostle at this time addresses to us the exhortation you have heard ; the same which he formerly made to the Galatians for the same purpose, forbidding them novelties and strange doc- trines, and enjoining them to stand fast in Jesus Christ, who had been preached to them, without admitting or desiring anything beyond his gospel. Therefore, says he, " as ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him," &c. To give you a full and entire exposition of these words, we have two things to consider: First, the apostle's exhortation to the Colossians to cleave to the Lord Jesus ; this is the sense and intention of the first verse. Secondly, the manner in which he would have them cleave to the Lord, namely, by the confirmation and abounding of their faith in his gospel "with thanksgiving." Of these two particulars we purpose to treat in this exercise, by the assist- ance of Christ, for your edification and consolation. I. You may remember, that in the preceding text the apostle commended the faithful people of Colosse, and rejoiced at the good order he witnessed in their church, and at the firmness of their faith in Jesus Christ. But it is not sufficient to begin well, we must continue in well-doing, inasmuch as sal- vation is promised only to those who shall persevere unto the end ; with good reason, and very pertinently, therefore, he now adds to the praise he gave them an exhortation to con- tinue and abide firm in that good and happy state wherein they were ; and the more so, as there were about them certain busy and unquiet spirits, who with their inventions and sub- tilties, endeavoured to vitiate the sincerity of their belief, as 270 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIX. you have already heard, and shall again more particularly hear, at the conclusion of this chapter. "As ye have there- fore," saith he, " received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." Jesus Christ is the subject in which he would have them abide. For he is " the way, the truth, and the life ;" neither is there salvation in any other. But because these false teachers, the better to propagate their vain traditions, were wont to colour them with our Saviour's name, knowing well that every faithful person would soon hiss at them if they spake openly of departing from Jesus Christ, or of living at a distance from him, the apostle anticipates this danger, and expressly shows the Colossians how he intends they should abide firm in Jesus Christ, saying, " As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him." And to this also that which he adds in the following verse has relation, " as ye have been taught." By this he clearly signifies that the doc- trine which had been delivered to them, either by himself (if it be true that he preached the gospel to them, and founded their church as some think) or by Epaphras, as most are of opinion ; he signifies, I say, that this doctrine which had been preached to them, and believed by them, was so holy and di- vine, and sufficient to salvation, that it was their duty con- stantly to adhere thereto, and to admit nothing beyond what they had heard under any pretext whatever. " This is the way," as Isaiah says, " walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left," chap. xxx. 21. But by these words the apostle not only points out to them and explains that doctrine which they ought to hold, but he enforces it upon them, as affecting their reputation ; for since they had received it, they could not again part with it without convicting themselves either of imprudence or of instability. For he that quits the faith he once embraced, thereby evidently shows either imprudence in having taken a false or imperfect doctrine for good, or instability in quitting and altering a doctrine good and sufficient when he received it. If your be- lief be good, why do you change it ? If it be otherwise, why did you entertain it ? It follows, of necessity, either that there was error and precipitation in the one, or that there is weakness and fickleness in the other. So you see that a regard to their own reputation obliged these christians to that con- stancy to which the apostle enjoins them. Besides, though it be a heinous sin not to receive the Lord Jesus when he pre- sents himself to us in his gospel, yet it is much more enor- mous to cast him out after having received him; as it is a far greater outrage to thrust a man from your house when you have admitted him, than to shut your doors against him at the first. The one is a simple offence, the other is an affront. In like manner, it is a much more injurious treatment to desert CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 271 Christ Jesus after having followed him, than never to have listened to or followed him at all. And observe here, I prav, the efficacy of sound doctrine ; it is such as that in receiving it we receive Jesus Christ himself. For this highest Lord takes up his abode in all such as em- brace his gospel. And we may apply to this purpose what he said to his apostles on a similar occasion, " He that receiveth you receiveth me ;" whoso gives credit to their preaching shall have their Master to be with him ; he shall entertain not men or angels, but the King of men and angels, the eternal Son of God, the Prince of life, and Father of eternity. He that re- ceives the doctrine of an Aristotle, or a Plato, or of a father, or a pope, and, in short, of any man whatever, does not thereupon receive the author of the doctrine himself; because no man has either the ability or the means to communicate himself to those that credit his instructions. But Jesus Christ, being God blessed for ever, of a nature, a wisdom, and a power infi- nite, he accompanies his own gospel, and communicates him- self to those who receive it ; he dwells in their hearts by faith ; he there sheds abroad the light and influence of his Spirit, and brings thither with him peace, and life, and joy. Now to close this part of the subject, take heed that you do not stretch Paul's words beyond his intention, as if his meaning were, that generally every one should adhere to that which he has been taught, and never part with what he has once re- ceived, whatever may be the things which he has believed, and whoever the persons were that delivered them. God forbid that an imagination so absurd and pernicious, and so very far from the apostle's mind, should ever enter into your heart. In this case, those who have been in an error would do well not to renounce it ; and it would not be lawful for those who have taken poison, to take a remedy. Neither should considerations of honour and generosity be urged ia this case; perseverance in an error, once known, is not con- stancy, but obstinacy. It is a part of true generosity to con- fess a fault, and to forsake it ; and it is clearly a feebleness of spirit not to renounce that which is false or corrupt, upon the pretence that you had the misfortune once to embrace it. I confess it had been better to have rejected it at first ; but settling in it after conviction is a doubling of your fault and infelicity. And as for honour, it is a pitiful extravagance to place it in things opposed to duty and virtue. If error be honourable, I will admit that he who confirms himself in it is a man of honour. But since, on the contrary, it is most evidently true, as all will confess, that error is a shameful thing, and blame-worthy, who does not see that true honour obliges us to quit it, and not obstinately to persist in it ? and that to persevere in error or in sin, under the pretext of hon- 272 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIX. our, is to attempt, as the gospel says, to gather figs from thorns, and grapes from a bramble bush ? Luke vi. 44. It is as if a man would attempt to whiten himself with ink, and cleanse himself with mud. In a word, it is seeking honour iu shame, and glory in ignominy. But I pass by those who, by such observations, clearly discover either that they have not well pondered what they say, or (which would be still worse) that they hold truth and error, piety and impiety, virtue and vice, to be indifferent things ; since according to their doctrine, pagans and heretics are blâmable when they forsake the latter to follow the former, which cannot be affirmed without main- taining, at least, that both are indifferent ; inasmuch as com- mon sense dictates to all men that it is a prudent action, worthy of praise and not of blame, to quit the worse for the better, and to leave a bad way that we may take a good one. I now come to those of Rome, who also abuse the apostle's exhortation to the faithful here, and elsewhere, to abide in that which they have received, and which has been taught them, without giving ear to novelties. This, say they, is what you have done, you that walk no longer in the way you were taught among us, who have deserted and abjured the mass, and the service of our saints, and the veneration of our ima- ges, and the belief of our purgatory, and many other such things which your ancestors received, and all which, or the greater part of them, have been constantly and openly preached among us from age to age, and from father to son, for a thou- sand years and more, as you cannot deny. Dear brethren, to this I answer, that this exhortation of the holy apostle is so far from favouring their cause, that, on the contrary, it over- throws it, and establishes ours. For, as we have said, he does not positively declare that every one should adhere to the doctrine he has received of his teachers. God forbid, since by so doing he would have obliged the pagan to remain eter- nally in his idolatry handed down to him by his ancestors, and the heretic in the error infused into him by his masters, and the Mussulman in the faith of his Mahomet, and the Jew in the tradition of his fathers. He, on the contrary, exhorts the Gentiles to come out of the ways wherein God had permit- ted them and their ancestors to walk for the time past. He who urges the Galatians to forsake the by-path into which their doctors had misled them, that they might again com- mence the race they once ran ; he who would have Timothy, and all true ministers, labour to draw men out of the snares of the devil, whatever hand it was that entangled them in it, 2 Tim. ii. 25, 26; here speaks to faithful people who had re- ceived and kept pure and sincere till then the gospel of Jesus Christ, without any mixture of error or superstition. These are they whom he recommends to stand fast in what they CHAP. II.] THE ■ EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 273 had learned. And if our adversaries resemble them, I confess that they have reason to abide in the doctrine of their fathers, and we have done wrong to recede from it. The apostle speaks not in general of all kinds of doctrine, but particularly, and by name, of that which the Colossians then believed ; to which he expressly gives these two charac- teristics to distinguish it from all others. First, that it wholly referred to Jesus Christ. Secondly, that it had been delivered to them, either by himself, or at least by some one of his faith- M disciples. " As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him," even " as ye have been taught." If such be the doctrine of Rome, if it neither publish nor exhibit anything but Jesus Christ the Lord, if it were delivered by Paul, if it came from his hand, if it be derived from this source, I will candidly confess that we are faulty in having quitted it. But since, on the contrary, it is as evident and as clear as the light of the sun, that what we have quitted and abjured is not that Lord Jesus Christ whom Paul and his fellow labourers and scholars preached, but a leaven contrary to him, which has been superadded by men, and which was not taught by the first ministers of the truth; who does not see that we have in this not disobeyed, but obeyed the apostle's exhortation ? that we have done what he commands, and not what he forbids ? For in what part of Paul's or the other apostles' discourses can they ever point out to us the mass, purgatory, the worship- ping of saints, and, in short, any of those other articles which they retain, and which we have relinquished? Every one sees how all these things vary from the Lord Jesus Christ, and make void his cross and his kingdom, causing men to seek the expiation and purging of their sins by other means than by his sacrifice, and attributing to creatures the honour of invoca- tion, and of presiding over the whole church, which belongs to him alone. But the other description which Paul gives of the doctrine which ought to be held fast still less accords with their tradi- tions, namely, its having been received from the apostles ; it being manifest that not one word of what they so erroneously affirm is to be found in the writings of those holy men, which are the public and authentic records of what they preached ; and that those traditions of Rome grew up in after-ages, some at one time, and some at another, issuing, by slow degrees, from the hands of men according as error gathered strength, as they who read the volumes of antiquity without prejudice and prepossession well know. Let our adversaries therefore desist from those odious accusations. They must either show that those doctrines of theirs which we have relinquished are apostolical, or confess that we had reason to relinquish them ; this very command of Paul's, which they are not ashamed to 35 274 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIX. produce against us, necessarily obliging us to adhere to that Lord Jesus Christ alone whom he preached, and on whom the Colossians believed, according to his preaching. It must not here be argued that the doctrine which we con- test with our opponents has been their belief for a thousand years or more. Time is no prescription against any truth, and least of all against the truth of Christ and his apostles. That which he pronounced continues in force for ever. " Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached, let him be accursed," Gal. i. 8, 9. I inquire not of what date your opinions are ; it is sufficient for me to anathematize those which were not preached as gospel by the apostle. Time cannot have conferred on them the advantage of being true, which they did not possess at their origin. What is not now true or apostolical will never be so. You are not the only men among whom error has grown old ; that gross one of idolatry lived among the pagans nearly two thousand years ; and their Eome also pleaded her hoary hairs in defence of her doctrines, as does yours at this day, and said, as Eome now says again, that it is an undertaking ill-timed to correct old age, and that to charge it with error is to affront it. A thousand years and more have transpired since the delusions of Mahomet have been enter- tained, still this does not render them in the slightest degree better. You yourselves observe errors in the same antiquity whose authority you so loudly applaud, and you cannot deny but that those which you condemn in the communions of the Grecians, of the Armenians, of the Jacobites, and of the Coptics, are very ancient. It is an extremely bad defence, when men are convicted of error, to say that they have been a long time of that opinion. However ancient your doctrine may be, it is young in comparison with that of Paul's, as it sprang into existence after his days. Neither its pretended antiquity, nor any other consideration, can secure it from his fulmination. Since he would have us to keep to that which he preached, without receiving anything beside, however stale and mouldy with age may be your traditions, they all ought to perish under pain of an anathema, seeing they are without the compass of Paul's preaching. We are at this day in the same situation in which the Colossians formerly were. They stood bound by this exhortation to reject the worshipping of angels, the distinction of meats, justification by the law, and everything that any way tended to add to the Lord Jesus Christ, whom they had received from the hand of Paul, and who had been taught them by him. Let us then also freely reject the same things ; let us keep constantly to that Jesus Christ whom we have received of him, who filled up all his sermons, and still fills up all his Epistles. Let us content ourselves with CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 275 that primitive and truly ancient doctrine, and boldly despise all the novelties that the world has presumed subsequently to add thereto. Let us walk in this Lord Jesus as the apostle gives us direction. Let him be our only way, the rule of our faith and of our conduct. You know that this term is ordinarily used in Scripture to signify the ordering and conduct of our life. The various dis- ciplines and persuasions which men follow are compared to ways which lead to different ends. The way of sinners, and the way of the righteous, are spoken of as signifying the appre- hensions and maxims by which their lives are governed. Therefore the term walk is used to signify the leading and ordering of the life. And as our Lord and Saviour says he is the way, so his apostle enjoins us to walk in him ; that is, to lead our lives, both with regard to knowledge and persuasions of mind, and also with respect to affections, and actions accord- ing to his holy gospel, without any forsaking of it, to take another course ; judging all that varies from it to be folly, how plausible soever it may appear. And as a wise and prudent traveller never leaves his road, but proceeds constantly therein until he comes to his journey's end, however smiling the meadows may appear, however green and fresh may be the cool- ing shades, and however wide and beautiful may be the paths which invite his attention ; so are we ordered to keep con- tinually to the doctrine of our Lord and Saviour, and not to relinquish it, or receive any other, whatever nature, or colour, or appearance it may assume, assured that whatever is without the dimensions of this model of truth cannot but be dangerous, and must eventually, if we follow it, lead us to perdition. II. I pass by the observation which some make, namely, that the apostle's command to walk in Christ intimates that we should constantly advance and press forward in our christian course ; for though this conception be true as to sub- stance, it being the duty of each true believer to go forward, and not pass a day without improvement in piety ; yet it seems to me to be beyond the meaning of the apostle's words, the scope of which is simply to urge us to perseverance in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Besides, what he adds in the following verse sufl&ciently recommends to us this duty, where he shows after what manner we are to abide in Jesus Christ: "Rooted," says he, "and built up in him, and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." In these words he prescribes three things; firmness of faith, the abounding therein, and the giving of thanks. He expresses the first two ways : first, metaphorically, " rooted and built up in Jesus Christ;" and next properly, and without figure, "established," or confirmed, "in faith." For this confirmation in faith is the same thing that is intended by the words, 276 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIX. "rooted and built up in Jesus Christ." The first of these metaphors is taken from trees, which stand firm, and easily resist the violence of winds, when they have put forth good and deep roots into the earth, which serve for so many stays and bands to hold them fast ; whereas the plants which have but little or no root are easily plucked up, the least gust of wind, or the hand of a child, being sufficient to overthrow them. The faithful are often in Scripture compared unto trees. You all know the parable of the fig tree in the gospel, and that of the palm tree in the Psalms: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree : he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon," Psal. xcii. 12. And there is not one in the church who is not acquainted with that excellent tree, a description of which the psalmist gives us, Psal. i. 3, as an image of the true believer, planted by the rivers of waters, which bringeth forth its fruit in its season, and the leaves whereof do not wither. It follows, therefore, that the ministers who labour in the culture of these mystical plants are compared to gardeners, and vine-dressers, and husbandmen ; such was he in the gospel parable, who prayed the owners to supersede the sentence pronounced upon one of his fig trees, Luke xiii. 8. And Paul also describes his own labours, and those of Apollos, for the edification of the faithful, in terms derived from the same subject, saying that he planted, and Apollos watered, 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7. In consequence of these figurative expressions, which are familiar in Scripture, you see that it is with much beauty and propriety that the apostle, to recommend firmness of faith in Jesus Christ, here says that they should be rooted in him. He repeats the same elsewhere, when he prays God to strengthen the Ephesians by his Spirit, that " being rooted and grounded in love, they might be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ," Eph. iii. 17 — 19. For since the faithful man is compared to a tree, it is proper to attribute to him both the production (that is, fruit) and the parts of a tree, the principal of which is the root. We say, then, that a tree is well rooted, when its root is spread abroad, and thrust deep into the ground, where it is planted in and fastened to it so many ways that it stands upright and firm, nor can be plucked up without ex- treme difficulty. Who then is the believer rooted in Christ ? Even the man whose whole soul embraces the Lord Jesus ; all whose thoughts and affections are stretched forth and fastened to this divine crucified Saviour, who has neither love, nor desire, nor con- fidence towards any other object than him. It is he who, having rightly understood the excellency and the fulness of this rich subject, seeks all his felicity in it, and, withdrawing the desires, the cares and affections of his heart from earth, CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 277 (which are, as it were, the strings and roots of our nature, by which it is fastened to the things of time,) thrusts them forth towards Jesus Christ, unites with and binds them about him, and rests on him alone, and draws the nutriment of his life from none other : as you know trees by their root receive all that juice which gives them life, vegetation, and fruitfulness. Not to produce any other example, such a one was Paul ; so fastened was he unto, and so incorporated with, his Lord, that he lived in him alone ; this divine ground wherein he was planted affording him all the joy, all the contentment, and all the life he possessed. There is no need to fear that those who adhere to Jesus Christ in such a manner, who are so really and deeply rooted in him, can ever be plucked up by any effort, be it ever so violent. In vain do the winds shake them ; in vain do the tempests beat upon them ; persecutions will not be able to make them bend; nor fraud, nor eloquence, nor the subtlety of sophisters, remove them. Novelties and curiosities do not tempt them, because that sweet sap which they continually draw from Christ, as from a rich soil, con- tents them, and purges them of that foolish and childish itch- ing humour which opens the ears of the weak and unstable to these unprofitable things. But if you be not thus rooted in Christ, there will be no great difficulty in plucking you from the station you are in. If it is not this heavenly efficacy of our Lord which induces you to profess Christianity, but birth, or breeding, or the dis- course or authority of men, or the name of liberty, or any other such cause, I am much afraid you will not long abide therein. If your heart be in the world, if it still spread its affections, as its roots, among perishing things, if it still ad- mire the pleasures of the flesh, the fumes of amlDition, and the vanity of riches, your perseverance is really very dubious. The tree that has no root has no hold. The first gust that falls upon it bears it down. And would to God experience had less justified this truth in our eyes. But this is the very cause of all that change in those who have deserted us. If you examine their lives, you will find that they were not well rooted in Christ Jesus. Wonder not that they were over- thrown. But let us profit by their unhappiness, and obey the apostle's injunction; and that we may abide firm for ever in the communion of our divine Lord, apart from which there is nothing but misery and perdition, let us be rooted in him \Arith a lively and profound faith and love. Let us love and relish him only, and inseparably cleave, with all the powers of our souls, to him alone, as dead and risen again for us, drawing all our righteousness from his cross, and all our hope and glory from his heavenly state and immortality. I come to the other metaphor here used by the apostle to 278 AN EXPOSITION" OF [SESM. XIX. set forth the confirmation of our faith in Jesus Christ; " rooted," says he, " and built up in him," The former meta- phor was taken from trees, the present one is drawn from buildings. This is no less famous in Scripture than the other, for the faithful are there often compared to houses, and par- ticularly to temples. The church also, that is, the society con- sisting of them collectively, is represented to us under the same image. Consequently, the labours of the servants of the Lord are also called edifying ; a word so frequently used in this sense, that there is no occasion for us to stay to explain it. And as in material edifices it is the foundation that sus- tains the whole of the building, so the Scripture gives that name to our Lord and Saviour, upon whom this spiritual structure entirely depends. "Other foundation," says the apostle, " can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. iii. 11. And this the prophets foretold, when they said respecting him, that God would lay in Zion " a pre- cious corner-stone, a sure foundation," Isa. xxviii. 16 ; and that the stone which the builders refused should " become the head stone of the corner," Psal. cxviii. 22. The apostle, there- fore, desiring to secure his dear Colossians against the danger of falling, continuing this figure so common in Scripture, com- mands them to be built up in Jesus Christ. And the same expression he uses in another place, where he says that we are " built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone ; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord," Eph. ii. 20, 21. What is it, then, to be built up in Jesus Christ ? Dear brethren, we say a house is built on a rock, when a rock is the foundation that entirely bears and sustains it. A soul is built up in Jesus Christ when it wholly relies upon him, so that its faith, its hope, its love, and the other parts of its mystical structure, are all set upon him, and firmly united to him : it believes the gospel, because it is the word of Christ ; it is as- sured of the remission of sins, because they were expiated by Christ ; it expects the kingdom of heaven, because he pur- chased it ; it loves neighbours, because they are his workman- ship ; it meekly bears affliction, because it is a part of his cross ; in short, it lays and settles upon him alone the designs, the thoughts, the enjoyments, and the expectations, wherein consist both its present life and that which is to come. One so built up in Jesus Christ is like that wise man commended by our Saviour, who built his house on a rock, so that no violence was able to effect its fall, Matt. vii. 24, 25. For what indeed can overthrow a soul seated on this Rock of ages, which is firm and immovable for ever ? Where is the temptation or the persecution that can beat it down? That which is built CHAP. IL] TffE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 279 upon this foundation is not subject to natural accidents. It is a celestial and an eternal edifice. But the misery of men, and the true cause of their weakness and ruin, is that they build either wholly, or for the greater part elsewhere. The world is the ground whereon they set and raise up the designs of their lives ; and this ground being nothing but loose and feeble sand, the first force that assaults them brings them down, and their fall (says our Saviour) is great. Again, the apostle expresses, in proper terms, what he had represented under these two metaphors, and adds, "established in the faith." For it is properly by faith that we are rooted in Jesus Christ, and by this also we are founded upon and built up in him ; all these phrases signifying only the spiritual union and connection which we have with the Lord, the sole tie of which is faith. Let us labour therefore continually to confirm our faith, if we would resist the enemy. Let us meditate on the truth of the gospel, study all its mysteries, and taste the excellency of it. Let us carefully hear and read that word in which God has revealed it to us, and by which faith has its being, as the apostle tells us ; " Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," Eom. x. 17. From this you may judge how contrary to the apostle's injunction is the command of the church of Rome, who will not grant that the faithful should read the Scriptures. How shall they be confirmed in faith if they have no commerce with this sacred word, the only parent and nurse of faith? And how can they, without it, obey the command which the apostle gives them, in the second place, even that they abound in faith? It is not enough that we be established in it, that we have a little for necessity, he would have us furnished with it even to plenty, possessed of a great and rich measure of it, and would have this sacred light to go on still increasing and augmenting, as he says elsewhere, from faith to faith. Some are of opinion that this word must be re- ferred, not singly to the thing, but also to the sentiment that we have of it. As if, when the apostle speaks of abounding in faith, his meaning were that we should account ourselves to have abundantly, in the faith of Jesus Christ alone, all the saving knowledge we can desire, without needing the addition of any- thing in any other way. This exposition is elegant and inge- nious, and very pertinent to the apostle's design. But as it is followed by few, and the former is more simple, I will not in- sist upon it. The apostle adds, in the third and last place, giving of thanks ; " abounding in faith," he says, " with thanksgiving." His mean- ing is, that we should gratefully admire the excellency and abundance of the benefits which are communicated to us by the gospel ; and remember the spring from whence they flow, namely, the sole grace of God, who, taking us out of the dark- 280 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XIX. ness of error and ignorance wherein we were plunged, has caused us to enter into the kingdom of light by the power of his word and Spirit, that we may continually "render to him our grateful acknowledgments of it. And this duty is not only most reasonable in itself, it is also necessary to insure the faith of the gospel unto us ; for as God augments his gifts to the thankful, so he takes them away from the unthankful, with- drawing his light from their souls, and giving them up to them- selves, as you know he threatens the ungrateful churches to remove his candlestick from them. And the apostle informs us in another place, that to those who receive not the love of the truth he sends strong delusion, so that they believe a lie, which is the most dreadful punishment with which he avenges himself on the iniquity of men. Dear brethren, that we fall not into so awful a judgment, let us possess this treasure of knowledge which God has given us in his Son with all the gratitude it demands, humbly blessing him that he has vouchsafed to impart even to us, who were so unworthy of it, a blessing so precious, and of such saving im- portance. Let this be all our love, and all our glory. Let others boast of their might and their skill, of their riches and their greatness ; as for us, we will glory only in the knowledge of God, and of his holy gospel, the sole supreme happiness of man. Let us be jealous of this holy doctrine, keeping it pure and sincere, and carefully taking heed of the leaven of super- stition and of error. Let us be content with our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of life, and with that fulness of grace which we have received, and the holy apostles preached. Mix nothing foreign with it; to add to it is to accuse it of imperfection and insufficiency. Instead of losing time in the inventions of error, and in the laborious but childish exercises of superstition, let us employ the whole of ours in good and holy works, walking in Jesus Christ, rooting and building up ourselves more and more in him; establishing ourselves and abounding in faith; and testifying and proving the truth of it by a pure piety to- wards God, and an ardent love towards our neighbour ; by the fervency of our prayers, the liberality of our alms, the humility of our deportment, the modesty of our persons, the honesty, justice, and integrity of all our words and actions, to the glory of the Lord Jesus, whom we serve and own for our Master, to the edification of men, and our own salvation. Amen. CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 281 SERMON XX. VERSE 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit^ after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ, comparing the society of his faithful people, in the 10th chapter of John, to a flock of sheep, informs us that there are thieves who lurk about this mystical fold, and come only to steal, to kill, and to destroy ; and also that there are wolves which take away and scatter the sheep. You are not ignorant, dear brethren, that under the names of these spi- ritual thieves and wolves he represents to us evil spirits, and the false teachers whom they instigate, who both, though by different means, earnestly promote the same design, namely, the seducing and alienating the faithful from the communion of Jesus Christ, their only Pastor, gaining possession of, and appropriating them to themselves, as the thief who takes that which is another's, and makes it his own. Whence ensues their death and destruction. For as the wolf kills the sheep which he has seized, so these ministers of Satan destroy those whom they draw away from the flock of Christ, out of whose communion there is nothing but death and perdition. But these wretched workers employ, as I said, various means to compass their cruel and murderous design. Some they take away by open force, compelling them to leave the bosom of the church by the violence of persecutions, or drawing them into the world by the pleasures of the flesh, and thus causing them to renounce even the very name ot Jesus Christ the Prince of life. Against others they make use of fraud, drawing them gradually away from Jesus Christ, under fair and plausible pre- tences, so as that in the end they have nothing of his left to them but a name, and a vain, unprofitable profession, remain- ing iîideed under the power and in the possession of his enemy. It is against these mystical thieves and robbers that the apostle awakens the Colossians in the text which we have read, exhort- ing them to take heed of them. He besought them, in the pre- ceding verse, to establish, to build up, to root themselves more and more in the communion of the Lord Jesus, acknowledging with humble gratitude the excellency of his gift. Now, to in- sure this treasure to them, he advises them to watch against the fraud and ambushments of their enemies, who sought to sur- prise them, and, by the artifice of their subtilties and fair dis- courses, to pluck Jesus Christ out of their hearts, and render 36 282 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XX. themselves masters of them, and of their life. " Beware," says he, "lest any man spoil," or make a prey of "you," &c. It is the duty of a good pastor, such a one as was the apostle, not only to feed the mystical sheep, which the chief Shepherd has committed to his care, by giving them the pure and whole- some doctrine of the gospel, the only pasture of souls, but also to preserve them, with all his power, from the paws of wolves and the hands of robbers ; warning them of the danger, and dexterously delivering them out of it, by the saving tone of his voice. And as this is the duty of pastors, so, dear brethren, it is your duty to watch for your own safety ; to open your eyes and senses, that you may discern a stranger from a domestic, a thief from the shepherd, the hand of a robber from that of a friend. "Beware," says the apostle to you. He would not that the faithful should be silly sheep, that suffer themselves to be led away by the first comer, and indifferently embrace all that is offered to them. His will is that we should have our senses exercised and habituated in discerning between truth and falsehood ; and be able to prove all things, that we may hold fast that which is good, and not suffer ourselves to be led away, either by the dignity of a robe, or the blaze of wit, or some fair appearances of deportment, seeing that the angels of Satan sometimes clothe themselves with light. The Holy Spirit commends the prudence of the Bereans, who examined Paul's preaching, comparing what he had spoken to them with the Scriptures, that they might assuredly know the state of the matter, Acts xvii. 11. The salvation of our souls is too pre- cious for us to trust it with any other than God. Hence it ap- pears how dangerous is that security of implicit faith, as they call it, which, without any scruple, receives all that its teachers deliver ; and is so far from examining it, that it vouchsafes not so much as to understand it ; believing it true without know- ing it, provided only that the mouth which publishes it has been opened by the pope's hand. If the question were only of a title, those of whom the apostle here warns the Colossians to take heed were teachers ; and he contests not with them about their dignity in any part of this Epistle ; he deals with them only about their doctrine. Accordingly, the case is concern- ing doctrine, whether we ought to believe it or not ; and what- ever may be the hand which delivers it to us, if it be false, it will assuredly destroy us ; as poison does not fail to kill, though he who prescribes it has taken his degrees with all the re- quisite formalities. Paul, too, in another place, with one word overthrows all the prepossessions that might be entertained for any preachers, however eminent their personal quality, when he exclaims, " Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed," Gal, i. 8. Be all that you will, you CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 283 cannot be more than Paul or an angel of heaven. Since their doctrine ought to be examined by the gospel, in order that it may be received or rejected, as it shall be found conformable with or contrary to it, it will be doing you no wrong if yours be put to the same test. But consider, I pray you, with what emphasis the apostle recommends to us the importance of this duty. " Beware," says he, " lest any man spoil you." He could not with more propriety, or greater elegancy, express the danger of those who stand not on their guard, than by this expression, which pro- perly signifies to carry away the booty which a man has taken. It is not without reason, says he, that I warn you to use all your abilities in vigilantly defending yourselves against error, for no small matter depends upon it. It is as much as your souls, yourselves, and the noblest part of your being, your un- derstandings, your affections, your hearts, are worth. The wolves and the thieves, against whom men watch with so much care, aim only at their sheep or their purse. Those of whom I warn you aim at your persons. An enemy, against whom cities and states set guards, threatens only their goods, or at most their lives. He, against whom I require you to watch, seeks your souls, and the share they have in eternity. You are the workmanship and the jewel of the Lord of glory ; you will be a prey to Satan and his ministers, if you fall into their snares. They will not be content with merely taking you ; they will bring you into bondage ; and the redeemed of Jesus Christ, whose liberty he has bought at the price of his divine blood, will become slaves of men, and, which is worse, of de- vils. Good God ! how piercing was the eye of that heavenly Spirit which guided the pen of this apostle ! How clearly did he discern the nature and qualities of everything of which he speaks 1 Observe how error triumphs over those whom it in- fects ; see the trophies it sets up of their spoils, the fetters with which it burdens those whom it seduces, the yoke which it puts upon their necks, and the captivity into which it brings them, and you will confess that the effects of its false and damnable conquests could not possibly be more truly and more naturally represented to us than by saying, as Paul does here, that it spoils or makes a prey of christians, and carries them away as booty. For error is ever insolent. The preachers of the truth serve those whom they teach, and only style themselves their ministers, as the apostle before did: whereas the teachers of falsehood usurp dominion over those whom they have corrupted, and boast that they are their judges, their masters, and their lords. Paul observed long since, respecting the seducers of the Corinthians, that they en- slaved them, devoured them, exalted themselves over them, and smote them on the face, 2 Cor. xi. 20 ; that is, put all kind of 28é; AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XX. indignities upon them. And the false teachers among the Ga- latians, he says, gloried in the flesh of their miserable disci- ples, Gal. vi. 13. They are blind who do not at this day ob- serve the same conduct in those men who reign over all the multitude whom they have deceived, and who rear up lofty trophies of every poor soul of whom they have made a prey. Dear brethren, if you love the liberty which the Lord Jesus has purchased for you, if you abhor the servitude of men, if you desire the fruit of the one, which is immortality, and de- test perdition, the inevitable consequence of the other ; in the name of God, take heed that no man make a prey of you. The doctrine of truth is enclosed within the Lord's sheepfold. Abide there, if you would be in safety. If you stray from it ever so little, you will fall into the hands of wolves and rob- bers. Hearken not unto their babble. Be not taken with their countenance. Let anything among them that promises fair be suspected by you, since they seek only to withdraw you from the simplicity of the gospel. Now, the apostle here points at three things, of which he particularly advises us to take heed, namely, the vain deceit of philosophy, the traditions of men, and the rudiments of the world ; because these were the three sources from which those false apostles, who were then attempting to deceive the Colos- sians, drew all the heads of their doctrine, and the means which they used to colour it, in order to give it that vain lus- tre which was needful for beguiling the simple and unlearned. For, as we shall see more particularly at the conclusion of this chapter, they enjoined the worshipping of angels, ver. 18 ; a doctrine which, in all likelihood, they had raked up out of the sinks of the Platonic philosophers, who related various things of these higher spirits, and of their interposition and media- tion between God and us, for purifying us, and rendering us capable of supreme happiness, as we see even at this day in those remains of their writings which we possess. Again, they introduced different voluntary devotions, which did not spare the flesh, and which seemed full of humility, ver, 23, but were indeed only traditions of men, without any foundation in the word of God. Finally, it is also evident that they pressed the observation of days, and the distinction of meats, according to the ordinances of the Mosaic law, which are like- wise styled elements of the world. Now though these three points particularly respect the false teachers at Colosse, yet they are common to nearly all those whoever took upon them- selves to alter and sophisticate the gospel, the greater part of their impostures having issued from one of these three sources. We will consider them therefore briefly and distinctly, by the will of God, and after them the character or mark which Paul gives to them, namely, that these things are not after Christ. CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 28Ô I. Among these things, of which, we are to beware, he gives the first place to philosophy. Its name is very honourable, signifying the love and pursuit of wisdom. But the corrup- tions of those men who gave their profession this name among the Grecians disgraced so worthy a term, and made it the name of a tool of error and imposture, rather than of an instrument of science and truth. For the common sort of those who styled themselves philosophers amused themselves altogether in vain speculations, in a trade of subtilty and syllogizing, and in endless disputes, which yielded no true profit to men. They thought that they had attained the end of their profession when they had acquired a faculty of speaking on all subjects with some colour and probability, so as to dazzle the eyes of the ignorant, and win the admiration of the half witted. This vanity rendered them odious first among the pagans them- selves, who commonly considered them as extravagant persons, and they were not much better esteemed by the greater part of the superior sort. And as no class of persons more fiercely opposed the gospel of our Saviour, the first christians also conceived a very ill opinion of them, which increased when it appeared that heretics ordinarily derived from the magazines of these men the arms which they used to offend the faith of the church, and to defend their own inventions. This induced one of the most ancient christian writers * to call them the patriarchs of heretics, and to say that all heresies are main- tained by their rules, animated with their spirit, and lodged in their thickets and bushments, as in their strong hold. He calls them animals of glory ; and all christian antiquity treats them very roughly, as we learn from that portion of the books of that time which is extant, wherein the commerce of philoso- phy is accounted so dangerous, that it has been charged upon some as a great crime to have but looked into the books of Aristotle, and to have learned his logic. On the other side, we meet also with fathers who have highly esteemed philosophy, and it cannot be denied but that even they who censure it often use it with great success, and to good purpose. It is not my design to open this question, or to produce here all that may be said either for philosophy or against it. The holy apostle does not render it necessary, as he here blames not its substance, but the ill use which false teachers made of it, employing it either to the invention or the defence of their errors : this he evidently shows ; for having commanded us to take heed that none spoil us through philosophy, he imme- diately adds, " and vain deceit ;" by these words limiting what he had generally uttered, and giving us to understand that he rejected the use of philosophy only when it was made to serve * Tertullian. Ô8§ AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XX. error and imposture. We must, therefore, in this, as in all other subjects, carefully distinguish the thing itself from its abuses, and the substance from what is accessory to it, and the truth from that error which is added to it by the wickedness or weakness of men. For there is nothing in the world, how- ever good and laudable in its nature, which our vices do not pollute in using it. Intemperance has defamed wine, meats, and spices ; luxury, gold, silver, precious stones, silk, and per- fumes— all of them creatures of God, very good, and very ex- cellent. Cruelty, murder, and parricide have defiled iron, a most necessary instrument of our life ; and fire, without which we cannot live, has often served the rage and the in- justice of tyrants. What is there more admirable than beauty among the ornaments of the body, and eloquence among the ornaments of the mind ? Yet they frequently be- come, through the corruption of men, the means of debauchery and seduction. Even the Scriptures themselves, the most sa- lutiferous effect of the goodness of God, are sometimes pro- faned by error and vice ; ignorance and levity wresting them to men's own ruin, and wretchedly turning that to destruction which was given only for our salvation. It is not meant, that upon this, pretence we should discontinue the use of any of the works of God, who, being infinitely wise, has made nothing that is not useful. If this were intended, it would not be law- ful to make use of anything, since there is nothing which vice and ignorance does not abuse. I say the same of philosophy; if its authors among the pagans, if heretics among christians have made it serve the interest of error, it does not follow that it must be totally rejected ; nor should we do as the man did, who rooted up his vines, because, having taken too much of their fruit, he was overcharged with it ; or as he who would have his rose bushes burned, because he had been sometimes pricked in gathering their flowers. All that we should con- clude from these things is, that this plant must be discreetly handled ; the fruit enjoyed, but with moderation ; the flowers gathered, but with heed taken of the thorns. This is all that the apostle forbids in the text, even deceit, and not instruc- tion ; that which is vain, and not that which is solid ; error and sophistry, not science and reasoning. Philosophy it- self washes its hands of its disciples' faults. It disavows their errors, and renounces all that they have brought forth without its direction by false arguments, however great their reputa- tion may be. It is so far from defending them, that itself af- fords us weapons with which to combat them, and offers us its lights to discover the weakness of their false discourses. For it has observed and taught the rules of legitimate reasoning with such admirable skill, that there is no falsehood to be met with, of which it does not afford us a conviction. So if there CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 287 be error in the discourses of men of this profession, (and with- out doubt, there is no small measure,) it is certain that in this unhappy production they have swerved from their own rule, it being impossible that a falsehood should ever be duly and rightly concluded from truth. It follows, therefore, that no error or doctrine contrary to truth is, properly speaking, philosophy, it is an abuse of it. It may be an imagination and an extravagance of the philoso- pher, not a part or a true fruit of philosophy. And, when the apostle says here that heretics spoil men by philosophy ; that is, as he adds, by a vain deception ; he takes the word philoso- phy, as it is commonly received, for the accustomed and ordi- nary discourses of philosophers, and not for true philosophy, and that which is properly so called. As long as the philoso- pher carefully keeps within his own bounds, he instructs, and does not deceive. The bounds which philosophy has set itself are the things that may be known by the light of natural rea- son. While it keeps this road it travels securely ; and I con- fess that what it teaches in this manner would, so far from clashing with the gospel, do it good service. For who does not see that its discoveries of the nature of plants, of living creatures, of metals and meteors, of the transmutation of ele- ments, the motions of the heavens, of times and seasons, of the concatenation of inferior causes with the superior, and the con- clusion it raises from this contemplation of there being above the universe an invisible, eternal, most wise, and almighty God, upon whom it all depends, are laudable, and excellent, and nothing in effect but a report of the handiwork of God, and a demonstration of his divinity ? If the philosopher had stopped there, and had deduced nothing from these discoveries but this clear consequence, that the supreme Being, whose footsteps and whose glory he had perceived in his works, ought to be supremely adored, served, sought, and loved ; never would the apostle have ordered us to be afraid of philo- sophy, for he himself makes use of it when he speaks to the Gentiles, as you may see in his oration to the Lycaonians and the Athenians, in the Acts, chap. xiv. and xvii. He also evi- dently confirms it in his Epistle to the Eomans, when he says " that which may be known of God is manifest in them ;" and that "the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood of the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead," chap. i. 19, 20, they being considered in his works. But the misery is, that the philosophers being carried away by that vanity and curi- osity which was natural to them, broke those bounds, and would needs define things which are beyond that compass, and of which reason, in the state we now are, sees not one jot. And here they necessarily fell into error and extravagancies ; as 2M AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XX. persons born blind would do, should they pretend to discourse to us of colours. Such are the fancies of Plato and his scho- lars concerning the state of the souls of men departed from their bodies, and the purifications he devised to convey us near to the supreme Good; concerning the interposition of demons, as he calls them, or of angels, as the Scripture terms them, to present our supplications to God, and the service which he or- dained for them in consequence of this good office, and a thou- sand other such things. Such also was the mistake of Aris- totle, who, not contented with the knowledge of the present establishment of the world, would know what it was in the beginning, respecting which he had no light at all, concluding, because in the present state of things, of nothing nothing is made, that, therefore, it was never otherwise, and therefore, affirming for a certainty that the world is eternal. As if we must needs judge of the beginning of a thing by those laws under which it lives after its settlement, and limit the power of a free agent to the measure of the effect wrought ; that is, as if, because God, in this frame of the world, makes nothing without matter, it therefore followed, that absolutely he could not make anything in any other way ; which is as impertinent a reasoning as if you should infer, that because a painter has completed a picture with three or four colours only, it were impossible for him to draw or represent a subject with any other. In this particular, philosophy has offended by excess, un- dertaking more than it could compass. It often errs likewise by defect, as when it rejects the revelation of God, resolved to admit. nothing that is above its own sense and reason ; as if a man who had never seen any other light than that of our fires and candles should contend that there was no other in the world. Pride made the greater part of the old philosophers fall into this impiety. It seemed to them to tarnish their glory to acknowledge that there was another school more in- telligent than theirs, and that it was an injury to tell them that God had discovered secrets to others which he had hid from them. It was this vanity that spurred them on so violently against the gospel of our Lord and Saviour at the beginning. If philosophy modestly keeps its rank, if it be content with its bounds, and does not thrust away nor injure divine revelation, if it acknowledge it as its mistress, and be subject to it as Agar was to Sarah, we bid it welcome ; it may be received and may abide with us. But if it usurp, if it will needs be mistress and command in a family where it has only the quality of a bond-woman, let it depart, and be treated according to the words of Sarah to Abraham : " Drive out the bond- woman and her son," God has vouchsafed to reveal to us by his prophets, and in the last times by his own Son, all the articles of reli- CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 289 gion. Philosophy ought to adore them with us. It has no- thing to enjoin us in the matter. From the mouth of God, not from the mouth of philosophy, do we receive religion. A3 often, therefore, as teachers of error shall use the authority or artifice of philosophers to render their inventions plausible or probable in our eyes, let us boldly despise all their subtilty. Let not the names of Aristotle and Plato make us afraid ; let not their petty subtilties dazzle our sight. We may hear them when the question is only of men and of nature. When God and his service are concerned, we ought to give ear tO' none but God and the Son of his love, respecting whom he has proclaimed from heaven to us, " This is my beloved Son^ hear him." It is this the apostle intends, when he says here^ " Let no man spoil you through philosophy." But, provided the doctrine of our Lord and Saviour remain sound and entire, without diminution, without augmentation or mixture, we are not prohibited the service of philosophy, but may employ its physics and its ethics to confirm and illus- trate, as far as they can, the truths of the gospel ; its logic to: defend them against the sophisms and sleights of gainsayers ; and, in short, to adorn and embellish them, we may use any- thing of worth that philosophy affords ; as the Israelites here- tofore adorned the sanctuary of God with the gold, and silver, and jewels of Egypt. You may perceive therefore how, in the religious disputes which we have with those of Rome, they for their part evidently abuse philosophy. We duly employ it, but they abuse it. For in addition to their making Aristo- tle to reign in their divinity school, regarding his edicts, and cherishing much jealousy of his reputation, as if he were a pillar of religion, they found articles of their faith upon the authority of the sages of the world ; as when they prove their purgatory by the testimony of Plato, the veneration of images by the custom of nations, and free-will by philosophy, and various other things of a similar nature, which, not being found in the Scriptures of God, they seek them in the writings of men. As for us, it is evident that we have no positive article in our faith but what is in the gospel. Only when our adversaries urge their transubstantiation upon us, having shown that God has nowhere revealed it to us in his word, but even clearly contradicted it, we call in philosophy itself to our succour to prove its absurdity. We produce its tes- timony in a case which is clearly of its cognizance, namely, the nature of a human body, the place it takes up, the quantity to which it is extended, the quality of substantial mutations, of which kind they pretend this is, whether a body made and formed sixteen hundred years ago may still be every day substantially produced. II. But it is high time to come to the two other sources of 37 290 ^^ EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XX. the deceits of false teachers. The second is the tradition of men, as the apostle calls it. " Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men." The Scripture commonly gives the name of traditions to those instructions which we receive from others. And it frequently uses the word deliver (from which, in the Latin tongue, that of tradition is derived) for . to instruct or teach. " I received of the Lord," says the apostle, " that which I also delivered unto you;" that is, taught. It therefore calls those doctrines traditions of men which have men only for their authors, which come from men, and not from God. I confess that errors derived from that philosophy of which he speaks in our text, may also bear the same name, since they flowed from the spirit of man, and had no other source than his ima- gination ; yet the apostle distinguishes the one from the others, as I conceive, for two reasons : First, inasmuch as those de- rived from philosophy had some colour of abstruse wisdom, having sprung from speculations, in show sublime and excel- lent, though in reality vain and frivolous ; whereas the doc- trines which he here calls traditions had no foundation at all but the authority of those that set them up, and the usage of those that practised them ; they being otherwise far from all philosophical reasons, not only true and solid, but also proba- ble. Secondly, because the former had some successive con- tinuance among the people of God, having been delivered by the Pharisees, and other zealots of Judaism, from father to sou, in a series of no small length; whereas that which he calls the deceit of philosophy was not delivered in that man- ner, but lately invented by these new teachers, and taken from the fancies of some philosophers. From this it appears that no productions or institutions of a human spirit are receivable in evangelical religion ; whether they are those which are supported by some pretended reasons, or those that are founded upon use and antiquity. They are all of them nothing but folly and vanity in the sight of God, whatever may be the colour with which they are painted. And though men boast of their utility, they are extremely hurtful, as they pester consciences, and busy them about things which God has not ordained, and turn them aside from his pure ser- vice to things which do not profit. , Accordingly, you see that our Lord Jesus Christ rejects, and roughly thrusts away, all the traditions of the Pharisees, however much esteemed they were for their antiquity and pretended use ; reproaching them that by holding fast those traditions of men they let loose the commandments of God, and applying to them those words of the Lord in Isaiah, " In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men," Mark vii. 7; Isa. xxix. 13. Indeed it is an insufferable presumption, CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 291 that man should attempt to prescribe the form of God's ser- vice, especially after the declaration which he himself has vouchsafed to make of his holy will ; nor is there one who would endure that his servant should treat him in that manner, and instead of obeying his orders, and causing others to de- spatch them, begin philosophizing in his house, and giving his family a new rule to observe, as if he were wiser than his master. I know well the authors of these traditions, and those that follow them, are not without fine reasons to palliate their temerity. Bat it is evident that they do the very same in effect ; neither is it to be doubted that a servant who should be culpable of such vanity would likewise plead his motives and designs to any that would give him audience. But com- mon sense dictates to the meanest capacities that such under- taking spirits do not deserve even to be heard, especially where God is concerned, in comparison with whom they, with all their sufficiency, are but poor worms of the earth. Let us hold firm, therefore, this foundation of the apostle, that the traditions of men ought to have no place in religion. It does not concern me to inform myself of their antiquity, whether they be the traditions of men ancient or modern. It is suf- ficient that I know that they are traditions of men. Having the apostle's caution, we should not be moved with any reason, or splendour, or antiquity with which they may come clothed. If you would have me receive them, show me that they are prescriptions of God, institutions of his Christ, doctrines of his Scriptures. Without this, however specious you may cause them to appear to me, I shall ever believe it is but to make a prey of me; and your diligence shall have no other effect than to make me suspect them the more. III. But the apostle adds a third source from which the se- ducers drew both their doctrine, and the means to colour it, namely, that which he calls " the rudiments" or elements " of the world," I pass by the opinion of those who refer these words to the elements of nature, water, air, earth, and fire ; as if the apostle here taxed these false teachers with reducing the service of them, which was then in full vogue among the heathen ; these wretched idolaters having anciently deified all the parts of the universe. There is not a word in Paul's writings, either here or elsewhere, that leads us to such a con- clusion ; and it is not very likely that the persons at whom he here aims should authorize so brutal a kind of idolatry ; persons who covered themselves with the name of Jesus Christ, and made profession, at least outwardly, of retaining his gospel. It is clear that the apostle, in other places, means, by the elements of the world, not these primogenial and more simple substances, out of which all natural generations are framed ; but the ceremonies and carnal services of the Mosaic a® AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XX. law, under which the ancient people lived, until the revelation of the Messiah. " When we were children," (and you know he calls all that time in which it was under the dispensation of Moses the childhood of the church,) we " were in bondage under the elements of the world ;" and a little after, in con- tempt, he styles them " weak and beggarly elements," where- unto the Galatians desired " again to be in bondage," Gal. iv. 3, 9. Now it is evident the error of the Galatians was, that they would still be subject to the ceremonial law. In the 20th verse of this chapter he uses a similar expression : " If ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?" There is then no doubt that in this place he signifies by these words, " the rudiments of the world," the observations and de- votions of the ceremonial law. And, indeed, we shall see hereafter that these seducers whom he combats in this chapter would hold fast that law, either in whole or in part, subjecting the faithful to circumcision, and various regulations about meats and days. Paul calls them " the rudiments of the world," because they were the first and the lowest lessons which the church received during the time of its childhood ; they were as its alphabet. For the word " rudiments," or elements, is often taken for the first lessons, in which they are taught to know their letters. These letters are also called elements, because, in speech, words are made up of them, even as natural bodies are formed of those first and more simple substances which we properly call elements. And he calls the Jewish church "the world," because its state and its worship were carnal and terrestrial, and in a manner worldly, in comparison with that of the new Israel, whom the Lord formed to worship God in spirit and in truth. Consequently he calls all the knowledge of the Jewish rabbis " the wisdom of this world," and those rabbis them- selves " the princes of this world," 1 Cor. ii. 6, 8. However hoary-headed and venerable therefore were these rudiments of the world, the apostle would not that the faithful should suffer themselves to be insnared under that pretence by those se- ducers who advanced their observance. Thus you see what were those three colours with which these men painted their doctrine : the vain speculations of philosophy ; the antiquity of tradition ; and the authority of the Mosaic ceremonies. IV. The apostle adds, "and not after Christ," By these very few words, as with one blow, he beats down all the spe- ciousness of these strange doctrines. Let men decorate them (says he) as much as they will ; let them colour them with the subtilties of philosophy ; let the practice of them be author- ized by tradition ; let them be recommended under the name of Moses, and by the respect we owe to the rudiments of the CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 293 former world ; still it is our duty to reject them, not only as unprofitable, but as even dangerous, since they are " not after Christ." He says that they are not so, first, because the Lord Jesus has told us nothing of them in his gospel ; it therefore appears that we have good ground to reject from our belief all that is not found in the Scriptures of the New Testament. Secondly, because the doctrine of Jesus Christ is wholly spir- itual and celestial ; whereas those traditions and legal obser- vances were gross and carnal. And lastly, because they not only possess no correspondence with the nature of the gospel, "but they also turn men aside from the Lord Jesus, causing them to seek a part of their salvation in some other source than in him, in whom it is so entirely seated, that not the least drop of it is to be had in any other. And whatever show those who follow these traditions make of being resolved to retain Jesus Christ, experience enables us to see that they but very slightly cleave to him ; busying themselves wholly in the performance of their own devotions, and placing the greatest part of their confidence in them ; and this they do because these observances are more grateful to them, both on account of their novelty, and of their being voluntary, and indeed of less difficulty, it being much more easy to the flesh to perform some external and corporeal observances, than to embrace Jesus Christ with a lively faith, dying to the world, and living to him alone. Such are the particulars which we desired to notice upon this caution of the apostle. Eemember, dear brethren, it is also addressed to you, since you have adversaries who solicit your belief in the same manner as those who at first combated the faith of the Colossians. They propose to you the same errors, and paint and gild them over in the same manner, with the vain colours of philosophy, with the plausible name of tradition, and with the authority of Moses. They are either doctrines drawn from the speculations of philosophers, as the invocation of angels and of departed saints, the veneration of images, the state of souls in purgatory, and other similar doc- trines ; or human traditions, as prayer for the dead, quadra- gesimal observances, the hierarchy, the primacy of the bishop of Rome, monkery, celibacy, and others, all erected by men, without any foundation in the word of God, Or, lastly, they are elements of the world, ceremonial observances, originally instituted by Moses, but abolished by Jesus Christ, as the dis- tinction of meats, festivals, unctions, consecrations, sacrifices, and residence in certain places. Of all that we reject in our doctrine, there is not a particular but refers to one of these three heads. Remember, therefore, when you are assailed with these errors, that the apostle still to this day calls to you aloud 294 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XX. from heaven, " Beware lest any man spoil you through phi- losophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." Under these fair appearances there is hidden a pernicious design. Men would take you away from Jesus Christ, and make you a prey to, and the vassals of, men. Oppose to all their artifices this one saying of the apostle's, that whatever may be the things which are enjoined, they are " not after Christ ;" they are not found in that Testament wherein he has declared his whole will ; they have no conformity with the nature of his gospel, but turn away the minds of men from that sovereign Lord, in whom alone is our wisdom and our righteousness, our sancti- fication and redemption. But, faithful brethren, as the apostle's lesson should defend you from error, so should it preserve you from vice. Let that Jesus whom he so assiduously preaches to you, be the rule of your conduct as well as the object of your faith. Love none but him, as you believe in none but him, Kenounce the cus- toms and vices of the world as well as its religion. Let the leaven of philosophy have no more place in your actions than in your belief. Eeceive the customs of men into your com- munion no more than the traditions of men. If you be above the rudiments of the world, be also above its infancy, and its low and childish passions and affections ; they were sometimes pardonable in that childhood, but are inexcusable in persons whom Jesus Christ has advanced to perfect men, and such as by his illumination he has brought to a fulness and maturity of age. Let your souls henceforth have thoughts and affec- tions noble and heavenly, and worthy of those high instruc- tions which Jesus Christ has given you. Let your whole life have relation to him, passing by the world and its elements, this present generation, and its lusts and idols, with which the Lord Jesus does not participate. He has crucified all those things for us, and displayed before our eyes a new world, brought forth out of the bosom of eternity; a world incorrup- tible, and radiant with such glory as can neither fade nor be sullied. Hither, faithful brethren, you should elevate your desires. This is true christian discipline, to die with Jesus to this old world, having no more sentiment or passion for its perishing benefits, and to live again with the same Jesus in that new world into which he is entered for us ; to breathe after nothing but its glory, to think of nothing but its purity, to rejoice in nothing but its peace, and the hope of its eternal pleasures ; to forget for ever that which is past, and to press with all our might towards the mark and prize of our high calling ; justifying the truth of our religion by the holiness of our conversation, so as that there may no more appear among us either ambition, or hatred, or avarice, or any of -CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 295 tbose loathsome defilements which disfigure the lives of world- lings. May the Lord Jesus, who has given us this excellent divine doctrine, who has founded it by his death, and estab- lished it by his resurrection ; who also has in these latter times purged it afresh of the vanities of philosophy, of the tradi- tions of men, and of the elements of the world ; be pleased to confirm us in it for ever by his good Spirit, and to make it so efiicacious for the sanctification of our life, that after we have finished this earthly pilgrimage, and quitted this vale of tears, we may receive from his merciful hand the crown of immor- tality, which he has promised and prepared for all his true followers. Amen. SEKMON XXI. VERSE 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Oodliead bodily. As the christian religion consists in principles and prac- tices incomparably more sublime and salutiferous than any which the world ever learned in the schools of nature and of the law, so it was delivered and instituted by an author infi- nitely more excellent than any of those who erected other systems among men. I will not, however, draw a comparison between Christ and the authors of those various religions which prevailed in the time of paganism ; who, though they were in esteem among nations, and obtained a high reputa- tion for wisdom and virtue, yet have the taint of extreme ignorance and vanity ; as their own institutions will suffi- ciently show to any one who will take the pains to examine them in the light of reason. It would be injurious to the Lord Jesus, the Founder and Prince of Christianity, to compare him with such people. But even Moses himself, the great teacher of the Hebrews, and the prophets, who commented on, ex- plained, and confirmed his law, are all infinitely beneath the dignity of this new Lawgiver. They were, I grant, ministers of God, the mouth and organs of his Majesty, the interpreters of his will, and heralds of his truth ; being endued, as was suitable to such high offices, with an excellent sanctity, a rare and extraordinary wisdom, and a heavenly power, which evinced itself in them by miraculous effects. But after all they were men, and never pretended to rank above that feeble nature which was common to them and to us, nor did they re- S96 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM, XXI. ceive any of those honours which belong to the divine ; whereas the Lord Jesus, who is God blessed for ever as well as man, was so far from refusing divine honours, that he has expressly required them at our hands, and commanded us to adore him with the Father, and to acknowledge him his eternal Son. This same difference the apostle observes between the Lord Jesus and those other ministers which God made use of in the former ages : " God," says he, " who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son," Heb. i. 1. Moses and the rest were prophets of God, Jesus is his Son. The others were his ministers, Jesus is his Heir. The others were faithful as servants, Jesus as Son is over the whole house, Heb. iii. 5, 6. In the others there shone forth some marks of the commerce which they had with God ; that sovereign Majesty imprinting on their faces, as upon that of Moses in particular, some sparklings of his glory. But Jesus is his very light, the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person. Dear brethren, it highly concerns us to know rightly this great dignity of our Lord and Saviour; not only for rendering to his person the worship which is due to him, and of which we must not fail without offending the Father, as he himself has told us, " He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him," John v. 23 ; but also for our embracing with so much greater zeal the religion which he has delivered to us, without ever ad- mitting the persuasion that either men on earth, or even angels from heaven, can add anything to the light, the good- ness, and the perfection of the gospel, which is derived from so great and so perfect an author. For this cause Paul here holds forth to the Colossians the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the preceding verses he exhorted them to constant perseve- rance in the belief of his gospel, confirming themselves in it more and more, and taking heed that they gave no ear to philosophy, and the vain traditions of seducers, who endeav- oured to corrupt sound doctrine by mixing with it divers inventions, as if it were not perfect enough of itself to guide us to salvation. The apostle, to deprive error of this pretext, find to show the faithful not only the sufficiency, but even the abounding of the gospel, represents to them the sovereign perfection and divinity of its author. "For in him," says he, " dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." As if he had said, Since you have Jesus Christ, there is no need of recourse to others. In him, as in a living and inexhaustible spring, is all good necessary to your happiness ; a divine authority to found your faith, au infinite wisdom to direct you CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 297 in all truth, an incomprehensible goodness and power to give you grace and glory, a quickening Spirit to sanctify and com- fort you. All other things, when compared with him, are but poverty and weakness. See how the apostle fortifies the faithful in the doctrine of the Lord, and in a few words over- throws all that the presumption of flesh and blood would dare to set up beside or against his perfect truth. For a right understanding of his words, we must consider them particularly. For though the number of them is small, their weight is great ; they are rich and magnificent in sense, and contain within their narrow compass one of the noblest and fullest descriptions of Jesus Christ that is found in Scrip- ture. Let us see then, first, what all this fulness of the God- head is of which the apostle speaks. And then, in the second place, how it dwells in Jesus Christ, namely, " bodily." The Lord be pleased to conduct us by the light of his own Spirit in so high a meditation, that "of his fulness we may receive grace for grace ;" and draw from it that which may fill our souls with that life and salvation which overflows in him, and can be nowhere found but in him. I, As to the subject itself of which Paul speaks, and in which he says that "all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth," none can doubt that it is our Lord Jesus Christ. For having said, at the end of the verse immediately preceding, that the traditions of men and the rudiments of the world are not after Christ, he now adds, " For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead." It is therefore clear that the Lord Jesus Christ is the person of whom he speaks, and to whom he attributes all this fulness. That man must have been ignorant indeed who did not know who this Jesus was of whom the apostle speaks. All knew him, at least confusedly, and in gross ; they knew that he was a man born of Mary in Judea ; who having lived some years among the Jews, had been at length crucified by the sentence of Pontius Pilate ; and who, being risen from the grave to a new life, had sent forth his apostles to preach his gospel, and afterwards ascended up into heaven. And though all did not believe that he was risen again and glorified, yet all well knew that this was said of him ; so that all who heard Jesus Christ named immediatel}'- conceived in their minds the idea of this person, born and dying in Judea, at such times and at such places, having a retinue of disciples during his life and after his death. This then is the subject of whom Paul speaks, even Jesus Christ considered under this form of a man, in which he manifested himself to the world, and in which he was conceived and figured in the minds of those who heard him named. In this man, whose appearance was like that of other men, who was born and bred on earth, sustained during his life with our common food, subject to our 38 298 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXL infirmities, who passed through the varieties of our ages, suf- fered our griefs, felt our inconveniences, and experienced the pains of death, yea, of the most cruel death that was ever suf- fered ; in this man, I say, whose body was nailed to a cross, and deprived of its soul, and buried in a sepulchre ; in this man, under so mean and contemptible a form, " dwelleth (says the apostle) all the fulness of the Godhead." It is ordinary in the Hebrew language, to signify by the fulness of anything that which the thing contains ; as by the fulness of the earth, Psal, xxiv. 1, are understood men and other living creatures which fill it ; and by the fulness of the sea, the isles which the sea contains. After this mode of ex- pression the qualities and perfections of any particular nature may be called its fulness, because they are the things which fill it, and with them it is, as it were, furnished and adorned, as the movables and ornaments of a room or a house are its fulness. Therefore if I should say that in Adam, as he was at first created, was found all the fulness of manhood, every one would easily perceive that my meaning would be, that the perfections of human nature, the faculties, and properties, and beauties of which it is full, and without which it cannot sus- tain the dignity of that name, were all in Adam, — an im- mortal soul, a vigorous understanding, a free-will, a body of excellent beauty, acute senses, and all the other faculties which have any place among the perfections of the nature of man. So when we hear the apostle saying that the " fulness of the Godhead" is in Jesus Christ ; let us understand that by this he means those perfections and qualities which fill up the divine nature, in which this great and sovereign being consists, and which theologians commonly call the attributes" of God. You know what the word Godhead signifies, even the nature and essence of God. " The fulness of the Godhead" then is that rich and incomprehensible abundance of perfec- tions, of which the supreme and adorable nature is full ; namely, his life, his power, his wisdom, his justice, his good- ness, his immensity, his eternity, his holiness, and all the other properties, which it has in an ineffable manner ; and which our understandings, according to their mean capacity, conceive in it ; as the form of the Deity, that is necessary for its having that name; a nature that wants it being incapable of being called God otherwise than falsely and improperly. I grant that some resemblances, or rather some touches and lineaments, of these perfections of the Godhead appear in the noblest of the creatures ; as in the angels for instance, who are immortal, and endowed with superior holiness, virtue, and power. But the fulness of them is not in any creature at all ; neither can it be found that ever the Scripture speaks in this manner of angels, and says that the " fulness of the Godhead" CHAP, II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 299^ is in them. Besides, these blessed spirits, and other creatures, however excellent jou may imagine them to be, participate in these divine perfections only in a very little measure ; whereas the Lord Jesus has them wholly. And to make this evident to us, the apostle thought it not enough to say that the " fulness of the Godhead" is in him ; but expressly de- clared that " all" this fulness dwelleth in him ; that we might be assured that there is not any perfection, or excel- lency, or attribute in the divine nature that is not found in him. Thus, in these two or three words, he has comprised all that the Scriptures teach us in various places of the richness of the perfections of our Lord and Saviour. For instance, it tells us that he is full of grace and truth; that he is the wisdom and the power of the Father; that he has the words of life; that he is the way, the truth, and the life ; that in him are hid the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ; that he has that might and strength which sustains all things now, and which created them at first ; that he is the everlasting Father, and has immortality and incorruption ; and has an infinite under- standing, whereby he tries the reins and discerns all the thoughts of the hearts of men ; that he has a pre-eminent glory, to which all creatures ought to do homage, yea, the angels themselves, who indeed adore him ; the empire and dominion over all the world ; the right and authority to judge all men, and a multitude of such things as these. Truly Paul has comprised it all in one word, saying here that " all the fulness of the Godhead" is in Jesus Christ ; it being evident that if he wanted any of these names, rights, and attributes, he could not have "all the fulness of the Godhead," which is here ascribed to him, II. But let us now see in what manner he possesses these things : the apostle expresses it very briefly, saying that all this fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in him "bodily." First, the term " dwelleth " is significant, importing that all this copious abundance of perfections does not reside in Jesus Christ for a time only, appearing for a short period and then withdrawing again, so making a transient stay in him for a few moments and no more ; but that it abides in him constantly, and for ever ; for so the word diuell in Scripture signifies. The word and the glory of God appeared in Moses and the prophets, when, being moved by the power of his Spirit, they uttered and acted di- vine things ; but it dwelt not in them. It only rested on them a few hours, in order that by those marks of God's providence, and of his communion with them, his servants might be ren- dered acceptable and their authority be confirmed. Whereas the whole "fulness of the Godhead" was, and is, and ever shall be in Christ Jesus. Therefore the apostle speaks expressly in 30ft AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXI. the present tense, and says " dwelleth " in him, not that it had dwelt in him, that no one might imagine that at any time it retreated. But however great and admirable is the signification of the word " dwelleth," yet the Scripture frequently makes use of it to express the continual solicitude which divine Providence has for the faithful ; as when it is said in many places that God dwelleth in the midst of his people ; and when the Lord him- self says, with reference to his ark, whereon he sometime mani- fested himself to his ancient people, " I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God," Exod. xxix. 45. And when again, speaking of Zion, he says, " This is my rest for ever : here will I dwell, because I have desired it," Ps. cxxxii. 14. The apostle therefore, to distinguish and sever the dwell- ing of the Godhead in Jesus Christ from the now mentioned and all other kinds of its dwelling other where, adds that the fulness thereof dwelleth in him " bodily." He opposes body to a shadow or an image ; as when he says in this chapter, con- cerning the ceremonies of the law, that they were " shadows of things to come; but the body is of Christ," ver. 17. "The body," that is, the truth and thing itself. The shadow is but a slight and imperfect representation of it. I think therefore that it is in this sense the apostle says here that the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily in Christ ; that is to say, really and truly ; in substance, and not in shadow ; in truth and not in figure. The Godhead dwelt in time past in the ark of the covenant, but in shadow only. For it was not the supreme Majesty itself that was present there ; but a symbol only, and some token of his glory; whereas it is the body itself (if I may so speak) of the divinity, and not its shadow, that resides in Jesus Christ ; all the perfections thereof being in him really, and in their whole truth. By this is excellently represented to us that admirable and ineffable union of the divinity with the flesh of our Saviour which the church ordinarily calls personal; so close a union, that this flesh, and the Word which assumed it, make but one and the same person ; the human nature of Jesus Christ sub- sisting only in the person of the Son. For if it were other- wise, it could not be said that the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ. He would not have the body of it, any more than the creatures have, to whom it communicates itself. He would have only some lineaments and shadows of it, and not the very thing itself. For example, God dwelt heretofore in his ark, inasmuch as he manifested his presence in it. But because the things which he placed and exhibited there were not his very nature, or the selfsame perfections with which it is filled ; but some simple effects of his power, whereby the images of some of his perfections were in a manner delineated ; it is evi- CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 801 dent that it cannot be truly said that the fulnesa of his Godhead dwelt there bodily. Thus also he manifested himself to Moses in the burning bush ; and afterwards to the apostles in cloven tongues as of fire ; and before that, the Holy Ghost appeared in the form of a dove. But besides that these manifestations being but transient, it cannot be said that God dwelt in the bush, or in the places where those other symbols appeared. In addition to this, it is evident that the flame at the bush was not at all the divine nature, or any one of its perfections ; and that nei- ther the dove nor the fiery tongues were any more the proper essence of the Holy Ghost, or any one of his real and divine perfections; all these things being but forms created by God, and consequently his productions and works, in which he re- presented to his servants, as in a portrait or rough sketch, some slight resemblance of what he is indeed. Supposing however that it might with propriety be said (which it cannot be) of the places where these things appeared, that the fulness of the God- head dwelt in them, still it would be false to say that it dwelt in them bodily ; it being clear that the things on account of which it would be said to have dwelt there were not the body and the truth of his nature, but its shadow and symbol only. I say the same of prophets, and of saints, and of angels them- selves, to whom God most intimately communicates himsel£ For the things, in consequence of which the Scripture says that he dwells in them, are holiness, joy, and knowledge, which he works and preserves in them. Now every one sees that nei- ther the knowledge, nor the piety, nor the charity, nor the joy, nor the constant and uninterrupted felicity of the saints, are the very nature of God, or the body itself (if I may so speak) of his immense and incomprehensible perfections, in which the ful- ness of his Godhead consists: these things are only effects and works of God, engravings and impressions of his hand, marks of his operation ; so that however high may be their excellency, and however exact the image of God in these saints, yet it cannot be said that the fulness of the Godhead dwells in them bodily, since it is clear from what has been said that it dwells in them by shadows only, by the illustrious and glorious traces which his operation has left in them, and not in substance. We conclude then from the apostle's express assertion here, that all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily in Christ; that the divinity is in him after a totally different manner than either in the symbols, by which it is represented, or the creatures, on which he sheds his grace and glory ; that it so dwells in Jesus Christ, as that he has in him not some delineations and models by which it is portrayed, not those qualities and dispositions alone which it works by the presence of its grace in the most holy of its creatures; but its very self: that he has the body and verity of it, that is, (as the church expresses this mystery 302 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXI. in one word,) that the Godhead is personally united with his flesh ; it being not otherwise possible that the fulness of the Godhead should dwell in him bodily. Now that such is this divine union of the eternal Word with the flesh of Jesus Christ, appears, first, from the fact that nei- their the apostle nor any other of the sacred writers, ever said of saints or angels that which we here read of our Lord ; namely, that all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in him bodily ; an evident sign that this is a glory which appertains to none but him alone. Secondly, from the qualities, the actions, and the at- tributes of the divinity being communicated to the Man who was born of the blessed virgin ; and reciprocally the sufferings, the qualities, and the actions of the flesh, which was born of Mary, being attributed to the eternal Son of God ; as when the Scrip- ture says that God has redeemed the church with his own blood ; that the Lord of glory was crucified ; that Jesus Christ is be- fore Abraham was ; that he founded the earth at the beginning, and the heavens are the work of his hands ; and other similar expressions. Dear brethren, such is the sense of these divine words of the apostle. Admire the force and the richness of the Scripture, which has in so few .words blasted and beaten down all the inventions and dogmatizings of error against the truth, respecting the two natures of our Lord and Saviour, and of the union of them in his person. First, these words overthrow the impiety of those who be- reave Jesus Christ of his divinity, and reduce him to the de- gree and condition either of a mere man, or of a person raised indeed above man, yet made and created at the beginning, as well as other celestial and terrestrial creatures. How can such blasphemy subsist before this sacred oracle, which proclaims not simply that the divinity, but that the Godhead, and not this simply either, but that the fulness of the Godhead, yea, in addition to this, that all the fulness of the Godhead, dwelleth in him bodily? If he be but a man, no part of this fulness of the Godhead dwells in him; neither its power, nor its wisdom, neither its goodness nor its justice, neither its glory nor its eternity. For none of these divine qualities dwell in one who is but a man. We must affirm that he has in him verily those perfections that fill up the Godhead, (that is, the divine nature,) or deny that all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in him. But if you grant me (as deny it 3^ou cannot, without giving the the apostle the lie) that all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in him, you must of necessity confess also that he is God ; no one (if he be not God) being capable of receiving, holding, and pos- sessing in himself the fulness of God, For this fulness being infinite, there is none but God that can contain it, since there is none but he alone who is infinite. Now it dwells all in our Lord Jesus Christ ; it must therefore of necessity be confessed that he is God of a nature infinite. CHAp.il] the epistle to the COLOSSIAIsrs. 303 The frigid and frivolous evasions of those impious men are therefore refuted, who, taking away from Jesus Christ the reality and true glory of divinity, leave him only the name, and make a titular God of him ; a God (as they affirm) created and raised up some time since, who has but the title of God, not the nature; the office, not the essence. Who can suf- ficiently detest the audaciousness of these deceivers, who, by this impiety, overthrow all the ground-work of the Scripture, which reveals nothing more clearly or more expressly than the oneness of the true God; who is likewise so jealous of his glory, as that he forbids us, upon pain of death, to give his name, or his worship, or his attributes to any creature, whatever may be his quality ? If Jesus Christ be not the true eternal God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, how will you, miserable men, avoid this condemnation, you that give him the name and the adoration of the true God ? But Paul lays all their subtilty in the dust, by formally saying that " all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in him bodily." The fulness of the Godhead is not an empty name, or a titular dignity. It is that which fills it ; it is that glory, that light, that nature, that truth, and that perfection, with which the Godhead is full. It is this therefore that dwells in Jesus Christ, the substance of a true and real divinity, not a hollow and a vain shadow ; it is the essence and not the title of Deity. But as the apostle by these words condemns the impiety of those who bereave our Lord and Saviour of the glory of his divinity, so he likewise confounds the extravagance of others, who deprive him of his human nature, foolishly affirming that he had but a false appearance in the flesh. For here are two subjects clearly presented to us; one that dwells (that is, the fulness of the Godhead) ; another, in which this fulness dwells, namely, Jesus Christ ; the one is the temple, the other is the God that resides in that temple ; the one our Saviour's human nature, the other the eternal Son of the Father ; two real and veritable subjects, by the wonderful union of which this sacred and adorable sanctuary of God is composed. To take away the truth, either of his Godhead, with the former, or of his flesh with the latter, is to destroy the fabric. Again, these words of the apostle in the same manner overthrow the error of those who have corrupted the union of these two natures in Jesus Christ; on one hand by dividing them, as did the Nestorians ; and on the other by confounding them, as did the Eutychians. For if we sever Jesus Christ into two persons, the fulness of the Godhead will not dwell bodily in his flesh. This man will have but gifts of the divinity, which are, as it were, some resemblance and lineaments of it ; he will not have the truth and the very body of it. Neither must it be replied, that the temple in which God resides is a substance difierent 304 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXI. from his person ; for the body is the residence of the soul ; yet soul and body have but one and the same subsistence, and con- stitute but one and the same person. So that the dwelling of the Son in his human nature, as in his temple, does not pre- vent his human nature from subsisting with him in one and the same person. Yet though we must not divide these two natures of our Lord, it does not follow that we must mix and confound them, as they do who define the union of ihem by the human nature being made equal with the divine, and maintain that it is infinite, and immense, and endowed really in itself with all the properties of the divine nature. The apostle says, indeed, that the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, but he does not say that his flesh was really changed into the Godhead. The body, by being personally united to the soul, does not thereby become soul. It preserves its own nature, and derives only this advantage from that intimate connection which knits it with the soul, that they subsist together, and make up but one and the same person. Just so, the flesh of our Lord, by the Word's dwelling in it, becomes with it one selfsame person, being truly the body, and the soul, and, in one word, the nature of the Son of God ; yet it still keeps its original being and essential properties. The Lord is a true Divinity, dwelling in a true flesh, and true flesh dwelt in by a true Divinity. There is a Divinity and a humanity truly distinct one from the other, and each of them retaining its own being and proper qualifications ; but there is one only and the same person, who takes his name sometimes from the one, and sometimes from the other, and sometimes jointly from them both. For we call him the Son of Mary and the seed of David, by reason of his flesh ; the everlasting God, and the Word of the Father, and the Lord of glory, on account of his Divinity ; Immanuel, (that is to say, God with us,) and God manifested in flesh, by reason of these two natures together. I confess that this is a mystery that surpasses our compre- hension, and a wonder that has no parallel. But we must not measure the truths of religion by the rule of our understand- ings, especially when the question relates to God, whose nature reason itself confesses to be infinite and incomprehensible. It is sufficient that the word of the Lord informs us that it is so ; and though our reason cannot discern the manner of this union, et it being once illuminated by divine revelation, it acknow- edges a kind of necessity for it. For presupposing what the Scripture reveals and reason approves, of the desert of sin, the infinite punishment that is due to it, and the inflexible con- stancy of divine justice, which cannot let sin pass unpunished, it evidently follows that man could not have been reconciled to God unless his justice were satisfied, nor his justice have been satisfied without a sacrifice of infinite worth and merit. I CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 805 So it being the office of Christ to reconcile men unto God, it is clear that for effecting this great design he must ofîer to the Father a sacrifice of infinite value, and consequently be God ; since nothing can proceed from a finite subject but what is also finite, and none is infinite but God alone. It was necessary, therefore, for our redemption, that all the fulness of the God- head should dwell bodily in our Mediator ; not to speak of other advantages which this admirable union of our nature with the divine, in the person of Jesus Christ, affords us — as the assurance it gives us of the infinite love of God, and of our salvation; the title it procures us to the merits of our Saviour whom it has made our Brother, and consequently rendered us capable of being his co-heirs ; the consolation of Him whom we serve which it sheds into our hearts, he having an infinite power and wisdom to defend us in our conflicts, to strengthen us in our weakness, to preserve us against all the assaults of hell and the world, and to redeem us from death, the last of our enemies; it being evident, that if we had but a mere man for a saviour, however holy and excellent he might be, there would remain to us still very great and just causes of diffidence and fear. Therefore, blessed for ever be the Father of our Lord ; blessed be his love, and that great mercy which induced him to send us so excellent and admirable a Mediator, who has all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily. Let us receive him with faith, adore him with devotion, and serve him with zeal. Neither let his flesh be an offence to us. It is very flesh I grant, but the flesh of an eternal God ; who, under this pavilion of his visible abasement of himself, which the world so insolently despised, has lodged all the glory of heaven, and all the fulness of the Divinity. Nor let his majesty, and this fulness of the Godhead, which dwells in him, affright us. He is a great God I confess, but a God manifested in flesh, dwell- ing in our nature, humbling himself to our condition, and par- taking of our flesh and our blood, that he might bring us to himself. Let us embrace with reverence that most sacred re- ligion which he has brought us from heaven. And, indeed, if the world has followed and held fast, and still in various places follows and holds fast, with so much earnestness, reli- gions invented and erected by vain men, who were full of ignorance and error, what respect do we not owe to our reli- gion, which has been given to us by the hand and mouth of a person in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead ! Moses was but God's servant, and you see what respect the an- cient people bore him, and with what severity all disobediences and rebellions against his ordinances were punished ; and how that poor nation still at this day in vain adores the sepulchre and relics of the law, which died and was abrogated long ago. o9 ;306 . AN EXPOSITION" OF [SERM. XXI. What penalties, then, must we expect, if we despise the doc- trine of the Son, who is eternally blest with the Father — this " great salvation," as the apostle calls it, " which began to be spoken by the Lord !" Heb. ii. 3. All other religions are per- ,ished, or will iu time perish. Even that of Moses waxed old, and in the end was abolished. But the institutions of Christ shall remain for ever all-holy and all-perfect, immutable and unalterable; nor do they need any reformation, or addition or amplification. After the Lord, we do not look for any other new teacher to come into the world. Moses promised the people of God another prophet after his death. Jesus Christ, the Prophet so promised, will have no successor. He does not promise us any; but only assures us of various seducers who would usurp his name, and counterfeit his voice, and put on sheep's clothing, to seduce his disciples. We ought, therefore, to shun all those who pretend to add anything whatever to his sacred doctrine. Besides, the qualification, our Lord and Saviour, is suificient to induce us to content ourselves with him, and to give ear to no other. " For in him," says the apostle, " dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Seeing he has fulness, the man can want nothing who possesses him ; according to what John saith, " He that hath the Son hath life," 1 John v. 12 ; that is, eternal salvation, which is all that we desire. This short sentence of the apostle is enough to secure us against the arti- fices of all seducers. If they set before us the delicacies and subtilties of philosophy, colouring their fond imaginations with a vain semblance of wisdom, let us arm ourselves with this consideration, that we have in Christ Jesus all the true wisdom that is, since in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead. If any man offer to us ancient traditions, let us re- member that the authors of them were but men ; who, how- ever great and holy, were all liable to error : whereas the gos- pel which we embrace is his doctrine in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily, and consequently it is pure and divine truth. As for those ancients, and bishops, and pon- tiffs, whose names and authority are urged upon us by our ad- versaries, I know not who they were ; or, to speak more cor- rectly, I know well that they were men subject to failing; so that neither jon nor I can have any firm and certain assu- rance that their assertions are true. But as for this Jesus, with whose gospel I am content, we all know that he was the Son of God, in whom wisdom and truth dwell bodily, with all the fulness of the Deity. Moses himself must be silent when the Lord Jesus appears, as the stars withdraw their light when the sun sheds abroad his resplendent beams. The law of Moses is no longer worthy of regard when the gospel of Jesus is risen. CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 807 In conclusion : this sentence of the apostle overturns not only all the traditions of men in general, but even each of them singly and in particular. For example, we are pressed to serve and invocate angels and departed saints. I will not for the present allege that God, whose voice is the rule of ray faith, has given no command about it. I will not say that religious worship does not belong to any creature. I will not inquire whether saints hear in heaven the prayers which are directed to them on the earth ; nor whether, being finite and created, they behold the motions of our hearts : I will only demand of our adversaries why they would have us to serve and invocate saints. To the end (say they) that we may gain their favour and their intercession with the Father. But, poor men, have we not in Jesus Christ all the grace and favour that we need? And if we had nothing else to urge, would it not be great imprudence for us to have recourse to others, since we have him near to us in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Deity ? They extol the merits and satisfactions of the saints, and the indulgences of their popes. I enter not upon a strict examination of these things ; nor do I make inquiry for the present, whether or not they are in reality merits, and satisfactions, and indulgences. If they really are what those men affirm them to be, yet it is clear that they are useless to us ; since we find in Jesus Christ, who is sufiicient for us, all the fulness of the Godhead, dwelling in him even bodily. If you have need of mercy, of grace, of consolation, of righteousness, of merit, of assistance, of life, none of these good things are wanting in him, in whom dwelleth all the ful- ness of the Deity. And I am well assured that you will find no portion of them anywhere else, either in heaven or in earth. But though some drop of them might be met with elsewhere; yet it is certain (and you yourselves will not deny it) that these blessings are not to be obtained, either in saints or in angels, so undoubtedly, or so abundantly, as in Jesus Christ. Why, then, while I have so rich a treasure in my hands, would you wish me to go begging elsewhere ? It is sufficient for me to be saved. Since the fulness of things necessary for my salva- tion dwells in Jesus Christ, I will content myself with having recourse to him alone, with fixing my trust and my love on him, and with addressing my services and supplications to him ; nor will I be so imprudent as to lose, or, at least, hazard my time and my devotions, in directing them to others, while I am sure that î may successfully offer them to him. Dear brethren, let us hold to this Lord alone. Let us not divide our adorations between him and any other. Let him alone have our whole hearts, and all our desires, since he alone has all that fulness which is necessary to make us happy. He is the true Fountain of livinsr water ; let us not draw from 308 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXII, any other source : we bave no need of cisterns ; this divine Eock, that follows the camp of his own Israel, can abundantly satisfy all his people. He wants nothing who has fulness. Only let us bring him souls hungering after his benefits, and thirsting for his righteousness ; hearts longing for the plea- sures of his sanctuary, and panting after him as the hart after the brooks of water. Let us serve him constantly, and keep faithfully the holy doctrines which he has given us in a con- tinual exercise of piety and charity. This is all that he de- mands for the love he has borne us, for the favours he has be- stowed upon us, and for the glory which he promises us. Let us not deny him, I beseech you, so just a return. Let us do what he requires of us, and he will liberally give what we ask of him. He will, through his great goodness, communicate this divine fulness to us which dwells in himself; that being justified by his merit, guided by his light, upheld by his power, enriched by his treasures, quickened by his Spirit, and fed with his abundance, we may, after the petty conflicts and slight trials of this life, have part in his crowns, and in his glory, to be made eternally happy in him. Amen. SERMON XXII. VERSES 10, 11. And ye are complete in him, luliich is the head of all principality and power : in ivhom also ye are circumcised with the circum- cision made ivithout hands, in putting off the hody of the sins of the flesh hy the circumcision of Christ. Dear brethren, it was with great propriety that our Lord and Saviour, when he would magnify the love of God towards mankind, said that " he so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," John iii. 16 ; for this gift of Christ which he has presented to us is without contradiction the greatest and most admirable evidence of his love that he could have given us. I confess that this mighty fabric which he freely bestowed on us at the first creation, this world, roofed with those stately heavens which environ us, enlightened by those brilliant luminaries which revolve incessantly about us, and filled with an infinite variety of good things, was an ex- cellent sign of wonderful beneficence and love ; and that the psalmist had reason to cry out, as if ravished with the consid- CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSI ANS. 309 eration, " What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him ? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all things under his feet," Psal. viii. 4 — 6. Yet it must be acknowledged that all this liberality of God towards us, which, considered in it- self is so great and ravishing, is but a small matter in com- parison with the ineffable and incomprehensible love which he has exhibited in giving us his Christ ; whether you compare the gifts themselves one with the other, or consi- der the fruit which each of them produces. For, first, the world is a kind of a magazine of the riches of nature ; Je- sus Christ is the treasury of all the perfections of the God- head. In the one, God has set forth and put together only the works of his hands, which are effects, and as it were sha- dows, of his greatness : in the other, he has poured out all the abundance of his own nature ; and as the apostle told us in the preceding verse, " in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the God- head bodily ;" whereas in the world dwells only the fulness of the creature. As much then as the operator is greater than his work, and the Creator than the creature ; so much more excellent and admirable is the gift which God has made us of his Son in the economy of grace, than that of the world in the administration of nature. Again, the difference of the fruit which we gather from each of these gifts of God is suit- able to this disproportion which we observe between the things themselves. For, first, the enjoyment of the world could only continue life to man, who before possessed it ; it could not re- store it to any that had lost it : whereas Jesus Christ gives life to the dead, and perpetuates it to the living. Again, that life which the due use of the world could sustain was terrestrial, carnal, and liable to perish ; whereas the life which we have from Jesus Christ is celestial, spiritual, and immutable. The holy apostle, having represented in a few words the in- finite greatness of Christ in himself, as having all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily, goes on to unfold the admirable abundance of fruit which we draw from him ; the whole, as we have often told you, being designed to confute the ingratitude and vanity of certain seducers, who, not con- tent with that inexhaustible source of blessings which God has opened for us in his Son, would needs join with it philosophi- cal inventions and legal ceremonies. The apostle prosecutes this intention down to the 15th verse ; and beginning it at the text which you have heard, tells the faithful Colossians, first, that they are made complete in Jesus Christ, " who is the head of all principality and power." Afterwards, entering upon a particular deduction of this completeness which we have in 310 AN EXPOSITION OF [SEBM. XXII. Christ, he adds, in the following verse, that we are circumcised in him " with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." Then, in conclusion, he sets forth other graces and benefits which we derive from the fulness of our Lord. But we, for the present, will content ourselves with the two verses we have read. And for giving you a full exposition of them, to your edification and consolation, we will consider, by the favourable assistance of God, the two points which offer them- selves to our notice. First, in general, the completeness which the apostle says we have in Jesus Christ. Secondly, in par- ticular, the circumcision made without hands, which, he adds, we have in him. I. Let us notice the completeness which we have in Jesus Christ. The perfections and riches of anything are of no advantage to us if they are not communicated. A spring, however fair and fresh, does us no service if it is sealed up ; and a garden-plot walled in rather pains then pleases our de- sires ; neither does an inaccessible treasure lessen our need. The tree of life, and the other wonders of the Paradise of Eden, enriched that delightful place, but afforded our first parents no refreshment, when entrance into it was prohibited. For this reason the apostle considers it not enough to have told us that all the fulness of the Deity dwells bodily in Jesus Christ. Perhaps the false teachers themselves did not contest this abundance in him, but, confessing that he had all in him- self, only denied that he would communicate it entirely to us ; he having it only for the perfection of his own person, and not for our happiness. To banish this false conceit from our hearts, the apostle adds, that we are made " complete in him ;" that is to say, his fulness is communicative : the Father has poured forth into him those precious gifts and graces with which he is filled, that each of us might draw out as much as we need. He is the true tree of life, laden with fruit, that we might gather ; set open before our eyes and to our hands, not shut up (as the other was after the fall) in a place inaccessible. He has received, to give unto us. He is rich, to enrich us. He is full, to replenish us. His abundance is our bliss, and his treasures the relief of our necessity. The Father gave him to the world, and in him life and immortality. Neither suppose that he will impart only some of his bene- fits ; as he has an all-fulness of them in himself, so he com- municates them all to us. He leaves no part of our nature empty. He fills up all with his graces. We derive from him all that is necessary to complete us. This is that which the apostle signifies by these words ; and they may be taken two ways ; either as importing that we are filled, or (as our Bibles have rendered it) that we are made " complete in CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSI ANS. 311 Jesus Christ :" but both amount to the same sense, tbe dif- ference being only in the manner of signification, and not in the thing signified. For each of these expressions denotes that we receive of Jesus Christ our Lord all things requisite to the perfection and happiness of our persons, which things, namely, the grace of Crod, righteousness, wisdom, consolation, and sanctification, reside m.ost abundantly in him. If you read that we have been filled in Jesus Christ, it will be a similitude taken from empty vessels, which are filled with ex- traneous substances. For our nature being of itself empty, and destitute of the glory of God, and of its necessary perfec- tions, our Lord Jesus Christ fills it from his own abundance, and furnishes it with all perfective graces. He clothes it with his righteousness, that it may appear with freedom before the throne of the Father. He illuminates it by his Spirit unto saving knowledge. Pie comforts it with his peace, and decks it with holiness and love, and in his treasury on high keeps for it that blessed life and immortality with which he will enrich it at the day of resurrection. This sense, as you perceive, has a very clear coherence with the expression of the apostle, " In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ;" and is exactly parallel to that of John in his gospel, that " of his fulness have all we re- ceived, and grace for grace," John i. 16. As in nature the sua has not only in itself a fulness of that resplendent light which renders it so beautiful and admirable, but also diffuses it abroad from itself, and replenishes with it all the luminous bodies which circulate around it, as the moon, the planets, and this earth whereon we dwell ; all which have no other bright- ness than that which this great luminary sheds upon them : so in grace (if we may compare the mysteries thereof with na- tural things) Jesus Christ, the true Sun of righteousness, has not only in himself all the fulness of the Deity dwell- ing there bodily, but he also communicates his fulness to all the souls of men that look to him, and move and live in his communion. He fills them with his abundance, and clothes them with his light, changing them into his image, and of dim and dark lumps, as they were originally in themselves, making them so many stars and luminous bodies. Now if you take the apostle's words in another sense, as importing that v;^e have been made complete in Jesus Christ, they will still be very pertinent. For we, being destitute of all perfections meet for our nature, it will exceedingly well ex- press the grace of Christ to say that we have been made "com- plete in him," as signifying that it is he who has filled up our breaches, and repaired in us what the first Adam had ruined, by giving us all that we needed. Besides this, I observe that this term will also very aptly answer to that .312 AN EXPOSITION OP [SERM. XXII. title which the apostle gave a little before to the ceremonies of the Mosaic law, where he called them " the rudiments of the world ;" that is, the beginnings, the first and plainest lessons of piety ; and such as consequently were unable to bring to perfection, as he says expressly in another place, Heb. vii. 19 ; Gal. iv. ; for which reason he styles the time of the law the infancy of the church, that, is the age of its imperfection. Opposing therefore Jesus Christ to the law in this respect, he now says that we are " complete in him," and that with great propriety, as he has the body, whereas the law had but the shadow ; he has fulness, whereas the law had but some small parcel of the requisites of our salvation. For the same reason he calls the ceremonies of it weak, and poor or " beggarly elements," Gal. iv. 9. As for the law, says he, it only began with us, and drew some slight and dark linea- ment upon us of that true form which God purposed to im- print ; whereas Jesus Christ has finished us. In him it is we have that perfection, that entire body, that truth and fulness, of which the law had but the beginning, the shadow, and figure. By this the holy apostle gives those seducers, with whom he is combating, a fatal blow, discovering the foolishness of their design in endeavouring still to enforce the ceremonies of the law upon those who were made complete in Jesus Christ ; an attempt no less ridiculous than if one should put a man to his ABC again, who had received the last tincture of highest erudition in the university ; pretending that he could not be thoroughly intelligent and accomplished, except he still daily study the rudiments and plainest lessons of chil- dren. But that which follows in the apostle's words, namely, that Jesus Christ " is the head of all principality and power," is added to prevent another error of those deceivers, who, as we shall hereafter hear, taught the worshipping and serving of angels ; pretending that it was necessary that we should address ourselves to them, as to spirits capable of interceding with God for us, and of obtaining by their interposition with his Supreme Majesty those graces and perfections which we need. Paul shows, in these few words, the vanity of this false doctrine. For since the Lord Jesus is the Head of angels, who does not see that we have most abundantly in him everything which these people could expect from them — and that pos- sessing Jesus Christ, as we do by faith in his gospel, we have no need to repair to angels, who depend u})on him, and have nothing but what is found much more richly in their Head ? As if a man who possesses the son of a prince, should, nevertheless, make use of the favour and interpositions of his servants with him. Members have neither motion, nor sensation, nor life, which is not found much more abundantly in their head. CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 313 Subjects and servants possess nothing which the prince cannot far better and more easily communicate to us than they. Since Jesus Christ is the Head and Prince of angels, it is clear that, having him, we can want nothing which the angels caa give to us. Upon the same ground the impiety of the error of these seducers also appears. For since the angels are sub- ject to Jesus Christ, it is evident, by the light of Scripture, that no one can render to them that religious worship which these people ascribe to them without becoming guilty of idol- atry, the greatest and most flagrant outrage which man caa perpetrate against his Creator. For no christian can be ig- norant that God throughout his whole word forbids us to serve any creature, however high and excellent he may be es- teemed ; religious worship being- a homage which belongs to the divine nature, and cannot be performed to any other with- out sacrilege. ; I presume you all are aware that by these principalities and powers of which the apostle speaks he signifies angels, as we explained in the preceding chapter, ver. 16. He says that Jesus Christ is their Head, that is, their Lord. And this quality belongs to him, not only as he is the eternal Son of the Father, of the same essence and power with him ; who, having created them at the beginning, and continuing to pre- serve them by his goodness and might, is by every kind of right their true Master and natural Lord ; but also as he is the Christ and Mediator. For since he, in this relation, and under this quality, has been constituted the Lord of all things, su- perior, inferior, and intermediate ; having, in consequence of his humiliation, received such a name as is above every name, and unto which every knee bows, both of those that are in heaven, and that are on earth, and that are under the earth, Phil. ii. 9, 10 ; it is evident that in this sense he has dominion and empire over angels as well as others. And this also Peter expressly teaches us, saying that angels, and authorities, and powers have been made subject to him, 1 Pet. iii. 22. For this cause these spirits are often called the angels of Christ, as in Matthew, " The Son of man shall send his angels," chap, xiii. 41 ; xxiv. 31 ; and in the Apocalypse, where John says that Jesus Christ sent by his angel the things that were re- vealed to him, chap. i. 1; and in the same book, "I Jesus have sent mine angel," chap. xxii. 16. Only we must observe, that the Lord Jesus is not called the Head of the angels in the same manner and sense as he is styled the Head of his church. The former title signifies only the empire and lordship which he has over the angels ; the second signifies also the union which he has with his true believers, who are saved and re- deemed by the merit of his death, and are animated and quick- ened by the Spirit of his resurrection. For he indeed com- 40 gl4 AN EXPOSITION- OF [SERM. XXIL mands the angels, as their true and legitimate Master; but he has not assumed their nature, nor washed them from their sins ; these holy and blessed beings having never committed any: nor has he, by his merit, obtained for them that life and bliss which they enjoy; these being benefits pertaining to none but men. Accordingly, we do not find that the angels are called his body or his members. These titles are peculiar to his believers, agreeably with what the apostle says to the Ephesians, namely, that Christ is the Saviour of his body, chap. V. 23 ; and every one knows that he is not the Saviour of angels, since they, having not fallen from their original purity and felicity, have had no need of being saved. II. We now come to the second point of our text, which the apostle lays before us in these words : " In whom also ye are circumcised," &c. He begins here to notice particularly, and in detail, that of which he had before spoken generally, namely, our having been made complete in Jesus Christ ; specifying, in order, the perfections for which those false teach- ers fruitlessly sought in vain observances ; and showing that they are to be found plentifully in Jesus Christ, so that there is no need to have recourse to any besides, or to add anything to his gospel for their requirement. Among all those observ- ances which these seducers sought to force into religion, there was none which they more strenuously pressed than circum- cision, which, as you know, was one of the sacraments of the old covenant, in which, by cutting ofî' the foreskin, was pre- figured and exhibited to the Israelites, not only the purification of their nature by the abolition of their sins and excision of their vices, but also their entrance into the communion of God. In effect, this ceremony was of infinite importance. For it was the seal of all the old covenant; the person who received it being thereby consecrated and initiated to the discipline of Moses, and solemnly obliged to observe his laws ; as the apostle represents to the Galatians, when he says, " I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law," chap. v. 3, For this reason he commences with it in this place, well knowing of what consequence was this error, which annihilated the cross of Christ, and over- threw the whole mystery of his grace. Let none object, says he, against this completeness which you have in Jesus Christ, that having not been circumcised, you want the first and prin- cipal piece of sanctification. This part of your perfection is no more wanting than others ; and if you carefully consider what Jesus Christ has given you through his gospel, you will find that though the knife of Moses has not touched you, yet you have a circumcision through the goodness of our Lord ; yea, one that is not only equally excellent with the other, but even much more perfect. Whence you see to how little pur- CHAP, il] the epistle TO THE COLOSSIANS. 315 pose these men endeavour to make you subject to this ancient incision of the law ; it being altogether superfluous to those who have passed through the hands of Jesus Christ. The apostle sets this consideration before the Philippians, in his dispute against the same seducers: " We," says he, "are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh," chap. iii. 3. But here he explains, in what follows, this admirable circum- cision which we have received in Jesus Christ; and says, first, that is not made with hands : he next states in what it con- sists, namely, in putting off the body of sins : and lastly, he terms it the circumcision of Christ. He says, then, first, that this circumcision which we have in our Lord and Saviour is not made with hands ; by which he afiirms that it is not formally and precisely that circumcision which Moses gave the Jews, the hand of man effecting that in their flesh ; whereas this is made by the operation, not of man, but of God; with the instrument, not of Moses, but of Christ ; that is, by his word accompanied by his Spirit, which is ''sharper than any two-edged sword," Heb. iv. 12. In which respect alone it has a great advantage over the circumcision of the Jews, it being evident that the works of God are in- comparably more excellent than the works of men. And as the apostle, when telling us, in another place. 2 Cor. v. 1, that the building which we look for, after the dissolution of this earthly tabernacle, is not made with hands, by that very rea- son demonstrates the excellency of it, even that it is a work not of human art or nature, but of the wisdom and power of God ; in the same manner he here represents the worth and value of our circumcision in Jesus Christ, by saying that it is " made without hands." Secondly, the thing itself no less demonstrates its superior- ity than the quality of the operation by which we receive it. For this " circumcision made without hands," which wo have in Jesus Christ, is, as the apostle here defines it, the " putting off the body of the sins of the flesh." You know what he and the other holy writers signify by the flesh; they mean not only this infirm and mortal body, but also our de- filed and corrupted nature, which we all bring into the world ; comprehending not only the body and the senses, but also the soul, all which are tainted and infected with the pollutions of sin, and in a manner transformed into flesh by the carnal qual- ities and habits with which they are invested ; the understand- ing being wholly dull and sensual, the will earthly and brutish^ and the affections rebellious against the law of Heaven, and all of them cleaving to the flesh. This nature of man thus framed is that which Paul, both here and in other places, calls flesh. The sins of this flesh are the habits of those various vices 816 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXII. whicl] cover and envelope it on all sides ; not only those which properly relate to the body, and the gratification of its irregu- lar appetites, such as gluttony, drunkenness, and luxury ; but also all others which militate against the law of God, and overthrow that order of righteousness and holiness which he has appointed for all the faculties, motions, and sentiments of our nature, as we are taught by the apostle in many places, and particularly in the Epistle to the Galatians, chap. v. 19, 20, where he places among the works of the flesh, not only adultery, fornication, and drunkenness, but also idolatry, heresy, enmity, clamours, envyings, wrath, murders, and other such sins. The mass of all these vices is that which he here calls " the body of the sins of the flesh ;" and he uses this mode of speech again in another place, Rom. vi. 6, when he says that "our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed." And it must be confessed that this figure is exceedingly elegant and appropriate; for as the body compre- hends in itself its several members, which have each of them their particular function and exercise; so this mass of cor- ruption which we bear about in our nature is composed of many different vices, which have each of them their peculiar motion and operation. Ambition tends one way, avarice and intemperance another. Envy defiles us in one manner, cruelty in another ; and each of these pests has its own sentiment and ends. Their motions are sometimes even contrary, and thwart one another, as unclean spirits which do not agree; but all these evils nevertheless come from one and the same source, and live in one and the same mass ; as all the members make up but one and the same body. Hence the apostle sometimes, speaking of sins under this idea, calls them our members, or the members of our flesh ; as when he commands us to mor- tify our " members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection," and other such vices. Col. iii. 5. Moreover, as this body, in which we live, covers us all around ; so that mass of vices, with which our nature is infected, encompasses and infolds us on all sides, there being no part or faculty in us but what is, as it were, invested and besieged with it. Such is the corruption which we derive from the first Adam, for which reason the apostle sometimes also calls it the old man. He says, therefore, that the circum- cision which we have in Jesus Christ is the putting off this body of the sins of the flesh ; when the true believer, by the virtue of the word and Spirit of the Lord Jesus, cuts off all the vices of the flesh, which are its members, and strips him- self of this old habit of sin and death, with which the first Adam clothed us. This is what, in another place, he calls a putting off' the old man as to the former conversation, " which CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 317 is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts," Eph. iv. 22. And in this present Epistle, chap. iii. 8, a putting off " anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy," and other such sins ; and again, in another place, a crucifying of " the flesh, with its affections and lusts," Gal. v. 24. All this amounts to the same sense, and signifies the mortifying of the flesh, and the cutting off its vices, that there may be an abstinence from all the sins which they are accustomed to produce in the lives of men of the world. The apostle adds, in conclusion, that this is the circumci- sion of Christ. First, because our Lord and Saviour has ex- pressly instituted it in his gospel, commanding us to be born again, to deny ourselves, to change our deportment, to put on a simplicity and humility like that of little children, and to break all the ties which fasten us to the flesh and the world, if we will follow him and have part in his kingdom. This is the first and most important instruction contained in the Scriptures. Secondly, it is the circumcision of Christ, because it is he alone who is the author of it, and effects . it in us *, neither is there anything besides his gospel which can un- clothe man of this body of the sins of the flesh ; for it is im- possible that a soul on whom the doctrine of Jesus Christ has been imprinted by the power of the Holy Ghost should fail to renounce the world and the flesh. Philosophy was so far from curing this malady, that it did not so much as ex- actly understand it. The law discovered it indeed, and made man to feel the tyrannous strength of this rebellious body of the flesh, which naturally clothed and surrounded him. But it was unable to subdue and mortify it, as the apostle teaches us at large in the 7th chapter of the Epistle to the Komans. There is none but Jesus Christ who, by the efficacy of his heavenly truths, and the divine example of his holiness, im- planted in our hearts by the hand of his Spirit, can circumcise us in this manner, unloosing these wretched bonds, stripping us of them by degrees, and weakening and extinguishing the life of the flesh in us. Compare now this circumcision of our Saviour with that of Moses, and you will, without difficulty, perceive that it infinitely surpasses it in dignity and excellency. That of Moses wounded the body; this of Christ enlivens the soul. The one pared away a little skin ; the other mortifies the whole body of the flesh. The one was in itself but a typical ceremony ; the other is a mystical truth. The one wounded the flesh ; the other heals and ennobles the heart. Without the one, a man could have no part in the communion of the carnal Jews; and by the other we enter into the alliance of the spiritual Jews, whose praise is of God and not of men. Whereby you may judge how extravagant was the conception gl8' AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXII. of those seducers wbom the apostle here opposes, who, not- withstanding that excellent and divine circumcision which christians have received in their Saviour's school, would yet bring them under that of Moses, which was poor and weak, and in so many respects defective, as if christians could not, upon a far better ground than the Jews, glory that they truly are the circumcision of God. Now for a right comprehension of the force of the apostle's reasoning, it must be remembered that circumcision, as well as the other ceremonies of the Mosaic law, was a figure which represented the abscission of the vices and lusts of the flesh, as the prophets themselves clearly show, when they promise the ancient people that God will circumcise their hçart, and the heart of their seed, that they may love him and live, Deut. XXX. 6 ; and when they command them to circumcise them- selves unto the Lord, and to take away the foreskin of their hearts, Jer. iv. 4 ; an evident sign that this external action referred to the internal mortification and sanctification of the soul. Sin<;e then the figure is unprofitable when the truth is attained, and models are serviceable only until the things themselves be formed and perfected, the use of them when this is done being no longer necessary ; you plainly perceive that, from the apostle's assertion here, that in Jesus Christ wo have this putting off, or cutting off, the sins of the flesh, (that is, the truth, of which circumcision was the figure and model,) it evidently follows that it is no longer necessary for us, and that wilfully to retain it still is to accuse Jesus Christ of having not fulfilled in his discipline the thing represented by this ancient type. It is true, that even in the time of the old testament the faithful had some part of the sanctification signified by their circumcision ; but what they had was weak and small in measure, because the true causes on which it depends, being all comprised in the mysteries of the new tes- tament, were then but foretold and promised, not fully and clearly revealed, as they are now by their accomplishment. It was therefore meet that during the whole of that time they should be exercised in the observance of these typical rites, and held in and kept under the discipline of Moses until the fulness of time, according to the apostle's doctrine in the Epistle to the Galatians. Now that Jesus Christ has openly exhibited the very body of truth, and fully brought to light all the causes and motives of true sanctification, these exercises, so suitable to the infancy of the church, are no longer season- able ; and they who still adhere to them are no less ridiculous than he who would still keep up the supports of an arch or the models of a building after the fabric is finished and brought to its perfection, or retain under the scourge of a schoolmaster, and in the restraints of childhood, a man grown up and come to years of maturity. CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSI ANS. 319 Thus we have finished the exposition of this text. It re- mains for us, in conclusion, to extract those instructions and consolations which an attentive consideration of it will afford. First, Since the apostle assures us that we are complete in Christ, you see how vain are the pretensions of those men who set forth certain rules of perfection, as they call them, which are not to be found in the gospel. Let us content ourselves with our Lord's fulness, and seek our perfection in him alone; and instead of amusing ourselves with the inventions of men, embrace and practise the doctrines of Christ, advancing daily towards the utmost degree of perfection ; for we must not flat- ter ourselves with an imagination that a man can be united to Christ while he leads a vicious and corrupt life. Paul here protests plainly to us, that all those who are in him are made complete, It therefore necessarily follows, that those who are not complete are not in his communion, and consequently should not promise themselves any share in his salvation ; it being prepared for those only who are in him. If this doctrine trou- ble us, let us impute it to our vices and our irresolution ; and taking once this truth to heart, endeavour with all our might to obtain that perfection which is in Jesus Christ, accounting that without it we cannot possess either his grace in this world, or his glory in the world to come. I well know that, to speak absolutely, no one is perfect ; and that if we compare our con- dition on earth with that in heaven, all our perfections are but weaknesses. Yet it is true that Jesus Christ, even in this life, in some sense, completes his faithful people, and this perfection which he gives them is not a vain name or an imagination ; it is something substantial, a real truth ; it is a piety and love sincere and free, and without hypocrisy ; and though it may sometimes vary, it nevertheless produces true fruits and works quite different from those of worldlings and hypocrites, accord- ing to what our Lord said, " Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Tell me not that you are yet on earth, and that perfection is not to be found but in heaven ; and that to live as an angel one should be without a body. It is not the perfection of heaven which we demand of you. The Lord will not reject you for not having had in this life the transcendent brightness of the next. But though a child is not expected to conduct his life with as much prudence and reason as a man of years, it does not follow that he has a license to live without rule, and in the intemperance and disorders of slaves. Every age has its bounds, and its measures, and its perfection. Our childhood here below must not be without discipline, under the pretence that it is not come to full growth. Christians, I complain not that there are de- fects in your knowledge and practice which have no place in 320 -^-^ EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXII. heaven ; but that there are in you vices which ought to have no place on earth. I blame you not that there is a great dif- ference between you and angels ; but that there is none between you and worldly men, I require not what is above the strength of your age, but what is worthy of your profession, and doe» not at all exceed your light. I beseech you only to labour as much for Jesus Christ as the children of this generation do for the interests of their lusts. This does not exceed the capacity of our nature, since you see what the servants of sin do ; and it is necessarily your duty, except you imagine that we owe less to Jesus Christ than worldlings do to their foolish and vain passions. The first piece of that completeness which we have in him is this divine circumcision, which is not made with hands but by the efhcacy of his Spirit. Without it we can have neither place in the communion of his people, nor right to his inheritance. It is a circumcision of which we may truly say, that every soul who does not receive it shall be cut off from his people. The apostle shows us in what it consists, namely, " in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh." Jesus Christ has put into our hands the sword which is necessary to cut away this wretch- ed flesh, namely, his sacred word, in which he discovers the hideousness of sin, the infernal venom of vice, and the vanity and iniquity of all the lusts of the flesh. He has showed us the perdition into which they fall who serve it, and has put it to death on his cross, and buried it in his sepulchre. He has spread before our eyes the wonders of God's love, and the eter- nity of the kingdom appointed for faithful servants. He has given us rules and examples of this part of our sanctification in his gospel and in his life, and offers us the lights and conso- lations of his Spirit to lead us in this work. Let us then grasp this divine sword of his gospel ; let us thrust it resolutely into our hearts, and cut out thence all the impurity of our vices ; let us rid ourselves of them, and cast them behind us. Let us exterminate all the productions of the flesh as execrable things, and leave not one of them in ourselves. Having subdued ava- rice, let us combat ambition. Let us pluck out luxury and all its passions from our inward parts. Let us root up hatred, and wrath, and cruelty, and spare the life of none of these mon- sters. Let us not rest until we have cleansed our hearts of all this cursed brood. For it is not enough to cut off some of them. One enemy alone abiding in our bosom is able to destroy us. "The body of the sins of the flesh" must be put off, says the apostle, and not one or two of its sins only. I confess the la- bour is hard, but is necessary, and that at all times, (for it is the task of our whole life,) in an especial manner at present, now that the death of our Lord and Saviour, and his resurrec- tion, and his holy supper, call us to extraordinary efforts of CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 821 piety and holiness. And if the labour be great, the felicity and the glory that follow it are infinite. Let us employ ourselves in it, my beloved brethren, with ardour and generosity, putting off the body of all our sins, that having truly crucified our old man with the Lord Jesus, we may also rise again with him, to be enlivened by his celestial food, and have part for ever, after the short trials of this life, in his blessed immortality. Amen. SERMON XXIII. VERSE 12. Buried with him in baptism^ wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead. Dear brethren, it is very true that the solemnity of this great day, which has been consecrated by all christians to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the mysteries of his table, at which we have communicated, requires of us more than ordinary devotion and meditation ; yet there was no need for me to seek a subject suitable for the present exercise in any other place than the regular series of texts which I have undertaken to expound to you ; the words which I have read, and which immediately succeed those you heard last Lord's day, excellently suiting each of those duties to which this day is particularly dedicated ; inasmuch as they treat of our Lord's resurrection, and of the fruits which thereby re- dound to us: of baptism, in which they are communicated to us, and which ordinance, for this reason, was formerly solemnly administered in the ancient church on the night before Easter; and of that faith by which we become i)ossessed of this divine resurrection. Lastly, they speak of the interest which we have in his burial, the consequence of his precious death, the blessed commemoration of which we have celebrated this morning. These are subjects which are, as is plain to all, eminently adapted for the devotion of this day. This, then, shall be, by the will of God, the subject of this discourse. Dear brethren, afford it a vigorous and a deep attention, elevating your thoughts to Jesus Christ, the Prince of our salvation, and Author of our immortality, while we shall endeavour to represent to you what his apostle here teaches about our com- munion in his burial and resurrection. You may remember, that to confound the impiety of certain 41 $2ê AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIII. Seducers, who would urge upon christians the necessity of being circumcised according to the law of Moses, this holy man alleged, in the preceding text, that we have in Jesus Christ that substance and truth of which the Judaical circumcision was but the shadow and model, having in him put off the body of the sins of the flesh ; so that having received, through the grace of Jesus, this mystical and divine circumcision, the other carnal and typical one is altogether useless, and cannot be de- sired or practised by christians, without wronging their Saviour. He still prosecutes that same intention ; and to show how rich that sanctifying grace is which we have in Jesus Christ, he adds, that besides our being circumcised by the virtue of his word, and divested of the body of the sins of the flesh, we have moreover been buried with him in baptism; and further, that we are therein risen again with him, "through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." For a right understanding of these words, we will consider, first, the communion which we have both in the burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And, secondly, the twofold means by which this communion is given to us, namely, baptism, and the faith of the operation of God, who has raised our Lord from the dead. I. We are to notice the communion which we have both in the burial and resurrection of Christ. The apostle expresses this point in these words, " Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him." As for our burial with the Lord, you know that, having suffered on the cross that painful and accursed death which we had merited, his sacred body was loosened from the mournful tree, and being wrapped up in a sheet, was by Joseph of Arimathea laid in a new sepulchre, where it remained in this sad state, (the last of our infirmities,) without motion, without respiration, and without life, until the beginning of the third day, when he gloriously rose again. The transcendent wisdom of the Father, which ordained all the parts of this great work, thus fitly ordered it for the purpose of justifying the truth of his Son's death, by his continuance in the grave. For if he had resumed his life immediately after he laid it down, and had descended from the cross alive, I confess such a miracle might have astonished and transported the minds of the spectators, and demonstrated that this divine crucified person was more than man; but, on the other hand, it would have rendered his death suspicious, and without doubt would have led men to imagine that it had been but a feigned and false appearance, and not a real separation of his soul from his body, which opinion would evidently have shaken and overthrown our salvation, it being entirely founded on the death of the Lord Jesus. Therefore as it so highly con- CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 323 cerns us to believe the fact of his death, God has so assured and certified the truth of it, that we have not even the shadow of a reason to call it in question. It was his will, therefore, that the Lord Jesus, after having commended his spirit into his hands, should be laid in the sepulchre, and continue there three days ; there remaining after this no more reason to doubt that he was truly dead, since he was so long a time in the state of the dead. Moreover, our consolation required that he should enter into our sepulchres, to take away for us the horrors of them, and to assure us, by his example, that they have not force sufficient to detain our bodies for ever, or to hinder them from rising again. It is for these and other similar reasons that Jesus Christ went down into the grave, death's last entrenchment. The apostle says then that true believers have been buried with him. How so, you will say, seeing that they, being living persons, were never laid in the grave ; and surely not in our Lord's, which was situate on Mount Calvary, nigh to Jerusalem, places very far distant from our abode ? Dear brethren, there is no man so ignorant but that he must plainly see that these words are not to be taken according to the letter, but figura- tively ; and that they signify not a natural, but a mystical sepulchre. And in such a sense it may be said two ways that we have been buried in Christ, or with him. First, with re- gard to our justification ; that is, the remission of our sins. And, secondly, with regard to our sanctification, and the mortifying of the old man. Concerning the first, it is evident that Jesus Christ was buried for us, as he was neither crucified nor put to death but for us only. Burial is nothing else but a consequence of death. It is the sad and dismal state to which it reduces men ever since they became guilty ; that is to say, it makes up a part of the punishment of sin ; for it is indeed a hideous and mournful spectacle to see so noble and excellent a creature, in whom the image of God shines forth, and who had been formed for immortal glory, to be brought down to the grave, under the power of worms and putrefaction. Jesus Christ, therefore, having undergone this ignominious infirmity for us, and for our salvation, that he might leave none of our penalties unpaid, it is evident that, when he was buried, we were buried in him, and with him, since it was properly for us that he descended into the sepulchre. He bore us upon the cross ; he bore us in the grave. We all were in him, forasmuch as he, in all this work, acted but for us. We did and suffered these things, since we are the cause of his doing and suffering them. We were buried in him, inasmuch as by his burial he has discharged this part of our punishment, and so changed the nature of our graves, that instead of being prisons, and places of execution, they are now so many beds and dormitories, 824 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIII in which our bodies repose until the resurrection. Thus his burial has freed ours from the curse, which is naturally upon it ; and this benefit makes up a part of that justification which he has merited for us, comprehending an exemption from all the penalties which are due to our sins. But it is not in this sense that the apostle says we have been buried with Jesus Christ ; for he speaks here of the first part of our sanctification, which is nothing else but the mortifying of the body of sin or old man in us, and its burial, that is, its destruction. It is therefore properly in this respect Paul says that we have been buried with Jesus Christ, even inasmuch as by the virtue of his death and burial our old man has been de- stroyed, and suffered a death and burial analogous to that of Jesus Christ's. For as his flesh, after it was deprived of life, was laid in a grave ; in like manner the old man of true be- lievers, having been slain, is interred and reduced to nothing. And as the Lord Jesus left in the sepulchre his funeral linen clothes, together with all the infirmity and mortality he pos- sessed, and came forth vested with a nature and a life fully re- fined from all that weakness of the first Adam which appeared in him during the days of his flesh; even so believers put off for ever that body of sin with which their first parent had first enwrapped them, and leave it in their mystical sepulchre, to be resumed no more, but that they may henceforth lead a life free and exempt from all its filthiness and turpitude. Lastly, as the burial of our Saviour was properly but a progression and continuation of his death ; so likewise that of our old man is but a prosecution of his destruction ; it is the state this puts him in, and under it he abides for ever, without rising any more. Paul elsewhere clearly shows us that it is thus we must under- stand his words, when he says, in the 6th to the Romans, ver. 4, 5, that " we are buried with him by baptism into death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life ;" and immediately after he says, that " if we have been planted to- gether in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the like- ness of his resurrection." To which must be also added, that it is in him, and with him, we have been buried in this man- ner, because in his death and burial the principles and causes of ours were contained. His death has destroyed our old man, and his burial has interred him ; it being evident, that if our Lord had not suffered both for our salvation, sin would still live and reign in us ; for it is the love of God, and his peace, and the hope of glory, the true effect of our Saviour's death and burial, that gives the death's wound to our old man, and that abolishes and buries his whole life. See then how we are buried with him ; not that our bodies really enter into the sepulchre in Joseph of Arimathea's gar- CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 325 den, where his abode three days ; (away with so childish a con- ception!) but the virtue of his death and holy sepulchre pro- duces in us an image and a copy of his burial, destroying and burying our old man by his efficacy, and bringing on him a mystical death and burial conformable to his own real and mys- tical one. That which the apostle now adds, that we are also risen again together with him, must also be understood in the same manner. As our death and burial with him is mystical and spiritual, so is likewise our resurrection ; these words sig- nifying nothing else than that he, by the virtue of his resurrec- tion, works and produces one in us which bears a resemblance and an analogy with his own. And this resurrection of the faithful, in consequence and by the efficacy of that of Jesus Christ, is their being renewed unto a holy, spiritual, and evan- gelical life. For even as the Lord, having put off on the cross, and left in the grave, that earthly, infirm, and natural life which he had led here below, during the days of his flesh, put on a new one, that was glorious, spiritual, and immortal, rising from the grave a heavenly man, and living to eternity by the sole strength of a quickening Spirit: so likewise all his true mem- bers, having quitted their old man, as destroyed and abolished by the virtue of his death, put on the new, which is formed in righteousness and holiness ; and instead of that vile and wretch- ed life which they led before in the guilt and pollution of sin, they take up another wholly new, which is quickened by the Spirit from on high, upheld by his power, and which shines all over with the glorious lights of his holiness, love, and purity. But besides this conformity between the new nature, which we receive in Jesus Christ, and that which he put on at his coming forth from the grave, we are said to rise again with him, because it is the virtue of his resurrection which produces all this change in us. His resurrection is the cause of ours ; without it we should still lie dead, and in bondage to sin. This will appear if you consider it with ever so little attention ; for that which forms the new man in us, and gives us the courage to renounce the world, that we may live pure and holy, is, as every one knows, the persuasion of the love of God, and of the remission of our sins, and the hope of a blissful and glorious immortality. Now it is the resurrection of Jesus Christ which gives us all this assurance, putting into our hands a convincing proof of the satisfaction of divine justice, by the deliverance of our Surety ; and of our immortality, by his having taken pos- session there for himself and us ; so that our souls being as- sured of the transcendent goodness of God, and of their own happiness, ardently embrace his instruction, and endeavour to lead a new life. Besides, that faith which purifies our hearts, and by which, as we shall hear presently, we are risen again 326 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIII. in Jesus Christ, could not take place in us, if he were not risen from the dead, since it is by that he was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness," Eom, i. 4. Therefore Peter says it is by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead that God " has begotten us again unto a lively hope," 1 Pet. i. 3. And Paul, for this very rea- son, protests, that if Christ were not risen, our faith would be vain, and we should be still in our sins, 1 Cor. xv, 17. It must then be concluded that in rising again he raised us up also by the same means, inasmuch as by rising he gave being and clear- ness to the principles and causes of our mystical resurrection. Opening his own tomb, he by that means opened ours. He broke in pieces the doors and bars of our sepulchres by quitting his own; and raising himself from the dust, he drew us up out of the earth, and brought us forth from the abode of death ; that glorious life also with which he then vested himself has inspired into us all the spiritual life, motions, and sentiments which we possess. 0 hoty and blessed communion ! O divine and incorruptible fruits of the sepulchre of Jesus Christ! The death of the first man killed us, but the death of the Second makes us alive. The sepulchre of the one is our prison, that of the other is our lib- erty. In the former appear horror and malediction, the signs of our guilt and of the just wrath of God ; but from the latter peace and life germinate, and glory and immortality shoot forth. The grave of Adam extinguished, and shut up for ever in a state of inanition, all the beauty, strength, and life of our na- ture. The sepulchre of Jesus Christ has destroyed nothing but our sin ; it has shut up and kept in only our old man, that is, the loathsomeness and misery of our lives ; and instead of this abominable body of sin and death, of which it has divest- ed us, it has, as it were, teemed with and brought forth a celes- tial and immortal nature, which it puts on us together with our Saviour. And thus you see what are the fruits of our com- munion with Jesus Christ, namely, the destruction of our old man and the creation of the new, signified by the apostle in these words, we are buried and risen again with him. II. Let us now consider the twofold means, here intimated by the apostle, by which God makes us partakers of them. The first is baptism: "Buried," says he, "with Christ in bap- tism, wherein also ye are risen with him ;" for so I take these words, rendering "wherein," not in whom; and referring this term, not to Jesus Christ, but to baptism ; as if it had been said, in which baptism ye are also risen again together with the Lord ; this construction being more natural and more con- venient than the other, as they who understand the original language in which the apostle wrote will easily perceive, if they take the pains to consider this text ; though, in reality, CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 327 it makes no difference which of these two ways it is taken, both amounting to the same sense, whether you say that we are risen again in baptism, or in Jesus Christ. In truth, all the means of which God makes use in religion have no other tendency than to communicate Jesus Christ to us, as dead, buried, and risen again for us, to the destruction of our old man and the vivification of the new. Nor do they ever fail to produce these two effects in any of those who re- ceive them as they ought. Therefore the holy apostles fre- quently ascribe them to the word of the gospel, which is the first and principal means which God employs to save us, in consequence of which it is called his power to salvation, Rom. i. 16. As for the destruction of the old man, the Epistle to the Hebrews attributes to the word the virtue which operates and effects it in us, saying that it is "quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asun- der of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow," Heb. iv. 12; and Paul elsewhere calls it a "weapon mighty to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedi- ence of Christ," 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. And as to the life of the new man, you know Peter teaches us that the gospel which is preached to us is the seed of this life, telling us that it is thereby we are born again, 1 Pet. i. 23, 25. That holy supper, of which we have participated this morning, has also the same effects. For since it communicates to us the body of Jesus Christ, dead and buried, and risen again for us, we need not doubt that it gives •us also the virtue which it possesses, and which is inseparably adherent to it, for the putting to death the old Adam, and making the new to live in us, by its bedewing our consciences with his blood, and feeding our souls with his flesh. But although these two effects are common to all the means which God has instituted and makes use of in religion, yet the apostle speaks here only of baptism, first, because it is the first seal which we receive of our Saviour, and the proper sacra- ment of our regeneration, which contains the initials and be- ginning of our spiritual life in the house of God ; conse- quently, when treating of the same subject in his Epistle to the Romans, chap. vi. 3, 4, he makes mention of baptism in the same manner : " Know ye not," says he, " that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death ? Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism." Se- condly, he so speaks that he might with more clearness con- fute the error which he here combats, even by opposing to the circumcision which the seducers pressed that baptism which we have received in Jesus Christ, by which has been fully communicated to us all that these people pretended to draw •328 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIII. from the use of circumcision. Their folly was, therefore, so much the more insupportable, as they not only retained a sha- dow, of which Jesus Christ has given us the true body, but also would not allow one of the old sacraments of Moses to give place to one of those which Jesus instituted. If the ques- tion be of the substance and very effect of circumcision, we have that truth and fulness in Jesus Christ, of which it had only some part shadowed out by its figure. If the subject be the sacrament itself, the Lord has given us one highly excel- ling, namely, baptism. So that, whichever way it is taken, there is no reason whatever that any man should desire still to retain circumcision. But to proceed: it is not only in this place that the apostle attributes so great an effect to baptism ; he speaks thus of it constantly : as, for example, when he says that Christ sanctifi- eth the church, "cleansing it with the washing of water by the word," Eph. v. 26 ; " and that, as many as have been bap- tized into Christ, have put on Christ," Gal. iii. 27; and again, that " by one Spirit we all are baptized into one body," 1 Cor. xii. 13. For the sacraments of Christ are not vain and hollow pictures, in which the benefits of his death and resurrection are nakedly portrayed, as in a piece of art, which gives us merely an unprofitable view of what it represents. They are effectual means, which he accompanies with his virtue, and fills with his grace ; effectively accomplishing those things in us by his heavenly power which are set before us in the sacra- ment, when we receive it as we ought. He inwardly nourishes, by the virtue of his flesh and blood, the soul of him who duly takes his bread and his cup. He washes and regenerates that man within who is rightly consecrated by baptism. And if the infirmity of infancy prevents the effect from appearing at the instant in children baptized, yet his virtue does not fail to accompany his institution, to preserve itself in them, and to bring forth its fruits upon them in their season, when their na- ture is capable of the operations of understanding and will. In the primitive church, this double effect of baptism was more clearly represented in the external performance of the sacrament than it is at this day. For the greater part of those who were baptized, being persons of age, who came over to Christianity from Judaism, or paganism, they were unclothed, and then plunged into the water, from whence they immedi- ately came forth, and so were baptized in the name of the Fa- ther, and of the Son, and of the iloly Ghost; by which they testified that they put off the body of sin, the habit of the first Adam, and buried it in the saving waters of Jesus Christ, as in its mystical grave, and came forth thence risen up to a new life ; for a symbol of which they took up a white habit, and wore it a whole week. Now, thouijh the water with which we CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 329 baptize does not carry so express a figure of this mystical se- pulchre and resurrection as that of the ancients, since this ceremony cannot be practised towards infants without very great inconvenience, and even danger to their lives, in so ten- der an age, and especially in such cold countries as ours ; nevertheless, the virtue of holy baptism is still the same ; that Jesus, whom in it we put on, communicating to us, by the vir- tue of his Spirit, the mystical image of his burial and resurrec- tion ; that is, as we have showed, the annihilation of the old man, and creation of the new. [See note on page 333.] If we meet with any baptized persons, as there are but too many, in whom the old man is so far from being buried, that he lives and reigns with absolute power, and the new man has neither life nor action at all, it must not be imputed to Jesus Christ, who always accompanies his sacraments with his saving virtue ; but to the person's own unbelief, who wretchedly re- pels the operation of the grace of Christ, and deprives it of all the effect which it would have assuredly produced in them, if their unworthiness had not frustrated its efi&cacy towards them. For I acknowledge that neither baptism nor the word works in any but such as receive them with faith. And in this, as in all other things, the admirable wisdom of our Lord appears. For the subject being man, a reasonable creature, he deals with him in a way proper and suitable to his nature. The means he uses for his salvation do not operate in him as drugs and simples, by a physical action, which produce their effect, what- ever may be the disposition of the man who takes them. But the operation of the word and sacraments depends upon the preparation of their hearts to whom they are administered. They work when they are received with faith ; they produce nothing when they are received with unbelief. And thus it is fit that the understanding, which is the guide and ruler of all our moral actions, should be first persuaded of the truth of God, and then our wills and affections should take impression, and be changed by the efficacy of his power. This very thing the apostle here shows us with much clear- ness, by saying, in addition to baptism, that we are buried and raised again with Christ by faith ; an evident token that the sacrament mortifies sin in us, and raises us up unto holiness, ac- cording to the faith in us with which it meets. It left Simon Magus in the bonds of iniquity and in the gall of bitterness, because it found in him no faith at all, but a heart hardened in unbelief, and full of hypocrisy. But as for Lydia, and all those who have a true faith, it assuredly mortifies sin in them, and causes the new man to live in them unto righteousness and holiness. For it is impossible that the person who is firmly persuaded of the truth of the gospel can live in sin, the venom and horror of which this divine doctrine so clearly reveals ; 42 330 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIII. on the contrary, lie will embrace that holiness whose beauty and blessedness it so magnificently sets before us ; man natu- rally flying from what he believes to be pernicious and de- structive ; and adhering, with the same necessity, to that which he judges healthful and advantageous. But the apostle, who everywhere exalts the grace of God, and casts down the pride of man, lest any one should imagine that this faith, upon which all our felicity depends, is a pro- duction of our own will, by the way informs us that it is a gift of our Lord, calling it " the faith of the operation" or of the efficacy " of God," that is to say, which the efficacy of his hand produces in us. By this he refutes the error of those who contend that God, for the producing of faith in us, merely sets before us, either outwardly by his word, or inwardly by his Spirit, the object of truth, leaving it to the liberty of our will to believe or to reject it. Upon this supposition, faith would not be the faith of the operation of God ; since, accord- ing to this doctrine, he would exert upon us none at all. But the apostle styles it " the faith of the operation of God." We must conclude, therefore, that in giving us faith he operates in us, powerfully forming our hearts, and opening them by the might of his Spirit, that they may receive his truth ; yea, that he imprints and engraves it on them himself by a most effica- cious action. The term energy (for such is the original, and it is that which we have rendered operation) deserves great consideration, properly signifying, in the style of the book of God, a powerful operation, which surely accomplishes its de- sign, and infallibly produces its intention ; such as the action by which God created the world ; an evident sign that the operation by which he produces faith in us is so strong, that it bears down all contradiction ; so that none of those upon whom he vouchsafes to confer it can resist it, or hinder their understanding from believing. The apostle adds, that God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead, either to determine the object of our faith, which is prin- cipally Jesus raised from the dead by the glory of the Father ; or (which I think to be more pertinent) to compare our mys- tical resurrection with that of Jesus Christ. For seeing it is God who, by his efficacious operation, gives us that faith by which we rise again in Christ ; and seeing it is he again who has raised our Lord from the dead ; it is evident that both these works have the self-same principle, namely, the almighty power of God. Christians, judge with what power he works in his faithful people, since he exerts the same power to give them faith as that by which he raised his own Son from the dead, as the apostle informs us yet more clearly in another place, where he pra3''s that " we may know what is the exceed- ing greatness of his power to us-ward, who believe, ac- CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 831 cording to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead," Eph. i. 19, 20. Neither let his saying that the Father raised him dis- quiet you, as if this contradicted our Lord's assertion in an- other place, that he himself raised up the temple of his body when the Jews had destroyed it, John ii. 19. It is true that he raised up himself; but since his power is the power of the Father, they being one only and the same God, it is evident that it may be truly said that the Father raised him up ; the work of one being the work of the other, as our Saviour de- clares in John, that "what things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise," chap. v. 19. Consequently the Scriptures attribute the creation of the world indifferently to both the Father and the Son. Dear brethren, this is what the holy apostle, the great minis- ter of God, tells us in this text. Oh, how happy should we be, if we had these divine instructions written in our hearts, and engraven in capital letters upon all the parts of our lives ! if our actions justified what our words profess, that we are buried and risen again with Jesus Christ by baptism, and by the faith of the operation of God, who raised him from the dead ! But, alas ! it must be confessed, to our shame, there appears in the lives of most of us no print of the burial, and least of all of the resurrection, of Jesus. The flesh lives, and exercises as horrible a tyranny in them as it does in the lives of the men of the world. It has all its sentiments and all its motions at liberty. The new man, that breathes nothing but heaven, and loves nothing but holiness, has no place in them ; it is so far from reigning there that it is banished thence, and acts no more than a dead body fast shut up in the grave. Yet if nothing depended on the matter but our shame, impudence would bear it out ; but the worst is, our salvation and our eternal damnation depend upon it ; for Jesus Christ saves none but his members, such as are made conformable to his image, and have been buried and raised again with him. Let us awake, therefore, from this mortal lethargy, which has be- numbed our senses to this day. Let us labour day and night in prayer, with sighs and tears, and not cease until we feel the old man die, and the new live in our hearts. As for the for- mer, both nature and experience sufficiently show us the extra- vagance of its desires, and the vanity of all its motions. Tell me, I beseech you, what profit the flesh receives from all the trouble which it takes itself, or which it gives to others? What benefit has it from the turmoiling of its avarice, or the burning of its ambition, or the shamefulness of its pleasures, or the sweetness of its revenges ? It torments itself, it wearies itself, it embraces wind and smoke, and then perishes, often- times shortening its own duration by the violence of its agita- 832 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIII. tions. It has but a little body (whicb daily weakens) to lodge, and feed, and clothe for some years ; yet it travails and dis- quiets itself as much as if it had a million to maintain for the space of many ages. Was there ever a greater folly ? Cer- tainly, should a man of composed mind behold our busy em- ployments in the earth, with the motives and designs of those numerous motions and troubles in which we consume oui-selves, I have little doubt that he would take nearly every man for frantic or foolish, and cry out, not simply with the wise man, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity ;" but yet louder, and in a tone more tragical, O madness ! O frenzy ! all the world is but a company of senseless men ! But merely seeing the vanity of the flesh is not sufficient for a due conception of its horror. Christian, enter into the sepulchre of your Saviour, and you will there perceive that, besides vanity, the life of the old man is completely full of venom and wretchedness. This sacred body which you see lying in that tomb, in so pitiful a state, was pierced with nails, potioued with gall, crowned with thorns, covered with the re- proaches of men and the curse of God, separated from its soul, and brought down to the dust, to divert from you the punish- ments justly prepared for the disorders of your flesh. Think "what hells it deserved, since it was necessary that the Lord of glory should suffer such strange usage to redeem it from them. Having once discerned, by such sensible evidences, the vanity and malignity of the old man, and the perdition into which he leads his vassals, how can you have the heart to let him live within you ? Beloved brethren, away with him from the world, crucify him ! He is unworthy to live. Pierce him through with the thorns and nails of your Jesus. Give him his gall to drink. Put him to death with him, and bury him in his sepulchre, to come forth no more. Let his avarice, and ambitions, and all his concupiscenses remain eternally extinct in the dust of that salvific grave, that there may henceforth no more appear any of his track in your whole course. And instead of that infernal vigour with which he heretofore influ- enced and disturbed your whole life, put on that new man, whom Jesus has on this day caused to come forth out of his sepulchre. Drink in his Spirit, fill your veins with his blood, and your arteries with his fire. Receive his sentiments, and deck yourselves with his light. Lead henceforth a life worthy of his resurrection, and of his baptism, and of that immortal food which you have taken at his table. Let your actions aim at nothing but heaven. It is there your treasure is. Christian, what do you yet seek on earth ? Your Lord is no longer here. This day saw him arise to take his seat on high, at the right hand of God, and to carry up your hearts with him, giving them all his motions, that where he is ye may be also. And CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 333 if his will is that you shall tarry yet a while on earth, spend the whole time in the same manner that he spent his forty days after his resurrection, in a continual meditation on heavenly things, in the company of apostles, in the entertainment of saints, in the exercise of an ardent love, in tlie preparatives of your ascension to his kingdom ; wholly managing this short space to his glory and to the instruction and edification of men. This is what we owe, dear brethren, to the burial and resurrection of our Lord. There is no occasion to run to Palestine, nor to go up Mount Calvary, to enter into his sepul- chre. You are entered into it, and buried with him, if you by the faith of his gospel mortify and destroy sin, according to the intention of your baptism. Nor is it any more necessary, in order to have part in his resurrection, to go and kiss the last print of his feet upon Mount Olivet. You are risen again with him, if you are affected with the glory which he brought out of his tomb, and persuaded of the truth of the discoveries which he made of blessed immortality, and live according to the form of his gospel, in purity and holiness. May God, who raiseth the dead by his glorious power, be pleased to reveal the same might upon our hearts, and form such a lively faith in them, as may be the true workmanship of his hand, and the faith of his efficacy, that we may thereby be buried and raised up with Christ ; and after these first-fruits of his holiness, be hereafter transformed into a perfect resem- blance of his glory, that we may eternally possess that great and blessed heavenly kingdom with him, which he has pur- chased for us by the merit of his death, and insured to us by the virtue of his resurrection. So be it. [Note referred to p. 329. — The Presbyterian Board are not to be regarded as fully endorsing the views of the author on the efficacy of Baptism, or as adopting all his expressions. — Ed. Près. Bd.] SERMON XXIV. VERSE 13. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all Dear brethren, philosophers commonly, and very properly, say that contraries illustrate each other ; for nothing enables us better to understand the excellence of liberty than the con- sideration of the miseries of bondage ; and there is nothing which shows us the nature and advantages of virtue more than the deformity and wretchedness of its opposite vices. 334 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIV. The beauty and usefulness of light is perceived by the hide- ousness of black obscurity, and the sweetness of health by the inconveniences of sickness. For this reason the ministers of God, to teach us the true worth of his benefits, frequently represent to us the misery of that state out of which he de- livered us. The prophets of the Old Testament likewise con- tinually put the Israelites in mind of their once sad and piti- ful state in Egypt under the tyranny of Pharaoh. They would have them keep it in their eye, that they might thereby duly relish the redemption of God, and the sweetness of that liberty which he had given to them. Under the New Testament the apostles are no less intent to represent, at every turn, the extreme hideousness of our original condition, that we may acknowledge so much the more grace which God has showed us in his Son, by translating us out of the kingdom of dark- ness into his marvellous light. Thus Paul, in the text which we have read, that the Colossians might be brought more fully to comprehend the inestimable excellency of the benefit they had received from God in Jesus Christ, when they were raised again with him in baptism by the faith of his operation, as he expressed in the foregoing verse, now lays before them the misery in which they were before ingulfed : "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh," &c. Now this discourse also hits the mark at which he princi- pally aimed in the whole dispute ; which is, as you have often heard, to refute the pernicious error of those who considered the observance of circumcision, and other ceremonies of Moses, necessary for christians. Surely all the profit which they could pretend would be reaped from them was either the re- mission of our sins, or the sanctification of our lives. But the apostle here shows us, in a few words, that we have both these graces in Jesus Christ. The first, since God has freely forgiven us all our offences in him. The second, since being dead, as we were in ourselves, he has made us alive with him ; which renders it evident that the ceremonies of the law are henceforth wholly useless to us. There is no need of the knife of Moses any longer, God, by the sole gospel of his Christ, dying and risen again for us, the true sword of heaven, infinitely sharper than any of the metals of nature, has cut off' all the corruption of our flesh. He has done even much more ; for by the power alone of the same Christ he has res- cued us from death, and animated us, and given us new life. And as for the sins of which we were guilty, he has pardoned them all. His pure grace in Jesus Christ has effectually ful- filled whatever was promised or prefigured by the law of Moses. You have experienced it, says the apostle to the faith- ful at Colosse ; you have seen and felt the efficacy of Jesus Christ in yourselves. Kemember what you were, when you CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 335 believed ou him, and consider what you are since you passed through his hands. Ye were dead, and ye are alive : ye were covered with crimes, and are fully absolved from them. Do not so affront your Deliverer, as to think that, having wrought such great miracles by his own power alone, he needs the elements of the law to finish his work in you; and that he cannot complete, without Moses, what he so magnificently began and advanced without him. This, my brethren, is the apostle's express design, in these words. We, who through the grace of God are not troubled with the error of these false teachers, which died and was buried long ago, will consider this text more generally, and view it in its whole extent, for our edification and consolation, with- out insisting precisely upon that particular use for which it was first written to the Colossians ; and that nothing in it may escape us, we will examine, if God permit, the two heads which are proposed in it, distinctly one after the other. The first is, the state we were in before the vocation of God in his Son; ye were "dead," says the apostle, "in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh." The second is, the grace that God has showed us in Jesus Christ ; he hath " quickened you," says he, " together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." Here is, in substance, the map of our whole redemp- tion. The first part represents to us our misery by nature. And the second, our happiness under grace. That is, the achievement of the first and of the Second Adam ; the death into which the one had sunk us, and the life unto which the other has raised us. I. There are none so ignorant as not to know what life and death are. As life is the sweetest and dearest of all our good things ; so death is the greatest and the last of all our evils. Accordingly, you see how prudently nature has given to animals such an instinct, as to use all the strength and skill they possess to preserve themselves alive, and to prevent them from dying. Every other evil takes from us but some part of our comforts. Death bereaves us of them all. Bondage deprives us of liberty, banishment of our country, sickness afflicts our bodies, shame or infamy our souls, pain troubles our senses, poverty embarrasses our life. But there is no calamity so great as not to leave us the use or enjoyment of some good, or at least of ourselves. Death extinguishing our life, and by this means sapping and overthrowing the very foundation of our enjoyments, at the same time despoils us of all other good things together. Wherefore the holy apos- tle, and the other sacred writers, that they might represent the hideousness and misery of the condition of men who are without the grace of God, do not call it simply a bondage, a 336 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIV. banishment, a sickness, a disgrace, a bHndness, a poverty, a calamity, a nakedness; they term it a death, to signify that it is the utmost of all the evils which can befall our nature ; that it is a privation not of some good things only, but generally of all ; so that nothing remains either in the spirit, or in the senses, or in the body of these miserable creatures, which de- serves to be called good. It is the term Isaiah makes use of to express the state of people while they had no part in the covenant of God : '* They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined," Isa. ix. 2. And the Lord Jesus puts us all in the same condition before he has called us. " The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live," John v. 25. And without doubt it is to these kinds of dead that he commanded one of his disciples to leave the care of burying their dead, Matt, viii, 22. And you know what the apostle says of that widow who passes her time in the pleasures of sin, that she " is dead while she liveth," 1 Tim. V. 6. And our Saviour tells that person who led a wicked life, under a false reputation of piety, " Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead," Eev. iii. 1. Paul, fol- lowing the style of the Holy Ghost, calls them dead who, abiding in the ignorance which is natural to all men, neither know God nor his will : " Ye were dead," (says he to the Bphesians, speaking of the time they spent in the darkness of paganism,) " ye were dead in trespasses and sins," Eph. ii. 1. And a little after, putting himself in the same number, though he was a Jew, he says, "When we were dead in sins, God " quickened us together with Christ," ver. 5 ; which are precisely the same terms as those which he here applies to the Colossians, whose original condition was in eflect the same with that of the Ephesians, they being both by birth pa- gans. I well know that the men of the world, and generally those who have no part in the grace of God, have life, sense, and motion ; they desire, and fear, and hope, and exercise, in gen- eral, all the actions in which life is ordinarily made to con- sist. Yea, I confess that, to measure things by appearances, and by the outside only, there are none but they who seem to live, filling the world with the noise of their actions and motions, while the majority of the faithful groan in some corner, or pass their days obscurely in the silence of retire- ment, unsought and unobserved ; so that it may be said of them, in this respect, as the apostle says in another, that "God hath chosen things which are not to bring to nought things that are," 1 Cor. i. 28 ; the flesh no more accounting the faith- ful to be anything than if they neither lived nor existed at all, but considering none but men of the world when they CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 337 would reckon up the things that live, and which indeed are. But Paul himself clearly shows us that he speaks not here of the privation of this kind of life, inasmuch as he says not simply that we were dead, but that we were dead in sins and in the uncircumcision of our flesh. We must know, there- fore, that there are two kinds of life : the one carnal and natural, which consists in the exercise of natural actions and faculties, such as are common to us, partly with sensitive crea- tures, as drinking, eating, sleeping, and the like; and partly with evil spirits, as sinning, offending God, and our neighbour. The other sort of life is spiritual and divine, having for its principle the image of God and his grace, and for its actions the exercise of piety towards God, and of love towards our neighbour ; such a life as Adam's would have been if he had persevered in the innocence in which he was created, and such as is the life of the holy angels now in heaven. To these two kinds of life answer two kinds of death : the one natural, which is the separation of the soul from the body, and an abolition of the actions, and motions, and sensations, which the union of these two parts of our being produces in us ; the other spiritual, which is nothing else than a privation of the image of God, and of those good and holy faculties, habits, and actions with which it is accompanied. It is this second kind of death which the apostle here intends, when he says that we were dead in sins and in the uncircumcision of our flesh. For the Holy Ghost, the true judge and estimator of things, counts all those for dead which have not the life of God, however full of life they may be with respect to the earth and the flesh : and that truly for a just cause; for if we consider the thing in the light of true reason, we shall find that what men call life in them is unworthy of that name ; it being, properly speaking, mere death. For living is right acting, and the exercise of the faculties suitable to one's na- ture, with that satisfaction and pleasure of which he is capa- ble ; so that the true life of man (for of such we speak) is nothing else but a continual exercise of good, and holy, and just actions, suitable to his true nature, and worthy of that immortal soul which was given him at the beginning, with such high contentment as must needs accompany them. Now it is evident that those who are in the flesh do nothing like this. Instead of those excellent and noble actions for which they were created, they perform none but base and bad ones. Instead of meditating on God their Creator, and on heavenly and divine things, they dream of nothing but the flesh and the earth, unworthily weltering in these bogs with all the sense and understanding they have. Instead of loving God above all, of adoring and serving him with all the strength of their soul, their whole will is set on creatures and vanity. And 43 338 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIY. their appetites, instead of being subject to right reason, drag it into corruption and unrighteousness. Surely this universal disorder in actions and motions is not, properly speaking, the life of a man ; it is a depravation from it, and an overthrow of it, which deserves the name of death rather than that of life. As when a clock is damaged, and all its works are put into disorder, there is no longer the going of a clock ; though it still has the parts, it no longer performs its office ; it has only the name of a clock, it is not one in reality. So is it with m.an ; he has still the broken remains and ruins of his primitive nature ; but the pieces being confused, the wheels pressed together, and all the motions disordered, he has no longer the true life thereof, but only a false and deceptive image of it. Again, acting in this horrible confusion, is it impossible that he can have that pure and calm contentment without which his life is not life. He must of necessity be always in doubt, in distrust, in fear, and disquietude, and must at last fall under those just executions which this dis- order deserves ; that is, into that eternal death which is the wages of sin. And though he does not yet suffer this final misery while he is on earth, yet because it is infallibly his portion, and will, ere long, assuredly befall him, we are to count him even at present a dead man, and to look upon him as on a malefactor who is on the point of being con- demned and executed. For though he, in the mean time, lives and breathes, yet we hesitate not to say that such a one is a lost man, because his punishment is certain. Thus you see it is very justly that the apostle reckons all those to be dead who are without the grace of God, inasmuch as they perform none of the actions of true life, and that eternal death is unavoid- able while they remain in this state. But the apostle's words signify still something more. For to be dead is not simply to cease from exercising the actions of life, it is a loss of the principles of life, and an incapacity for performing the actions thereof. You do not call him a dead man who is simply without action, and does not exercise sensation or motion ; (for they who are asleep, or in a swoon, are in that condition, yet they are not dead ;) but him who cannot any longer act, or feel, or move, and with action has lost the faculty or power of it. Surely, then, since the apostle says that carnal men are dead, he means not only that they are without the operations, and motions, and sentiments of true life, but that they also lie destitute of the faculty and power to perform them. He expressly teaches us this in another place. For as to their understanding, which is the foremost and ruling guide of all actions properly human, he does not simply say that it comprehends not the things of God, but also that it cannot discern them : " The natural man receiveth CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 339 not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned," 1 Cor. ii. 14. And as for the affections, which are another principle of human actions, he affirms like- wise, in his Epistle to the Romans, that " the carnal mind," or the affection of the flesh, "is enmity against God," that "it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be," Rom. viii. 7. Our Saviour also says of such as are in this miserable state, that they cannot believe, John v, 44 ; and one of his prophets had said long before, that the ear of that people was uncircumcised, and that they could not hearken ; and, in gene- ral, that they could no more do any good than the Ethiopian could change his skin, or the leopard his spots, Jer. vi. 10 ; xiii. 23. But the apostle here further shows us the quality and the cause of this death under which we lay before the Lord called us ; ye were " dead," says he, " in your sins and the uncircum- cision of your flesh." I acknowledge that this word is some- times taken in the Scripture for the external condition of the Gentiles ; and circumcision, on the contrary, for the state of the Jews : it follows, therefore, that the former of those terms is used to signify the Gentiles, and the latter the Jews ; as when the apostle says elsewhere that the preaching of the gospel to the uncircumcision was committed unto him, and the circumcision unto Peter ; that is, he received the charge of publishing the gospel to the Gentiles, and Peter to the Jews. I confess also, that these Colossians to whom he writes were by birth Gentiles ; so that it may be said of them, that they were dead in that miserable heathen-like state in which they formerly were. Yet I do not think that this is intended by the apostle in this place. For in that case it would have been sufficient to say simply, when ye were " dead in uncircum- cision," i. e. in paganism, and there would have been no occa- sion to add, as he does, " in the uncircumcision of your flesh." Besides, it appears evident that he makes here a secret opposi- tion between that uncircumcision of which he speaks, and that circumcision which the Colossians had received from the hand of Jesus Christ, of which he spake immediately before, saying that in Jesus Christ they had been " circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh." Therefore, as by circumcision m that passage a spiritual and mystical cutting off was signified, so in the text the apostle takes the word " uncircumcision" mystically, and not literally, for the internal corruption of our nature, and (as he expressed it before) for the body of the sins of the flesh, not simply for the external condition and mark of paganism. Ye were " dead in the uncircumcision of your flesh ;" that is, in the corruption of your flesh ; precisely 340 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIV. in the same sense that Moses meant, when he commanded the Israelites to circumcise the foreskin of their heart, that is, to cut off the vices and corruptions of their hearts. This mys- tical uncircumcision of the flesh is nothing else than the de- pravity of our nature ; the sins and perverse habits and quali- ties which have seized on all its faculties ; the blindness, error, and folly of the understanding ; the disorder of the will, and its adherence to vanity and earthly things ; the rebellion of the appetites and lusts, all tainted with gall and bitterest poison. This is properly the principle of that death with which we all were struck before the vocation of God. This is the cursed root from which it springs in us. In the stir- rings and motions of this hateful source, which boils inces- santly in us, and which casts up filth continually, does this spiritual death consist. I confess, in this respect, there is a difference between the condition of the dead, commonly so called, and the condition of these spiritually dead, of whom the apostle speaks. For the former, as they do no good, so neither do they commit any evil. Their faculties are equally disabled for the one as for the other. Whereas these spiritually dead men have lost sense and motion only in reference to that which is good. They have both these faculties in sufficient exercise, but it is only with reference to evil. They understand, they love, they desire, but not that which is good ; their thoughts and afiections being full of error, extravagance, and malignity. As for true good, they neither comprehend, nor discern, nor love it, any more than if they had neither understanding nor will at all. Consequently, while the deadness, the insensi- bility, and immobility of other dead are an innocent misery, deserving our pity and not our hatred, those of these men, on the contrary, are an evil infinitely culpable, and merit not compassion, but abhorrence and execration from every reasonable creature : inasmuch as their inability to love God does not proceed from their being destitute of natural faculties of understanding and loving, but from a strong and obstinate rebellion of those faculties, and from that invincible passion which carries them to evil ; as our Saviour shows us, when he says to the Jews, " How can ye believe, which seek honour one of another, and seek not the honour which cometh from God only ?" John v. 44. An evident sign that the impotency of these wretched people to believe came from nothing but their impiety, their stifi'and inflexible aversion to the glory of God, and that ardent and invincible affection which they had for vanity and their own glory. See then, beloved brethren, what is the condition of all men before the Lord effectually calls them to the grace of his Son. Where now are they who pretend that they have CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 341 the power of a free determination, and a will equally capable of good and evil — who contend that they can either convert themselves to God, (as said the Pelagians of old,) or at least prepare themselves for conversion, and dispose themselves for grace, as the greater part of the doctors of Rome, and with them some others also, maintain at this day ? The apostle blasts all this pride in one word, when he says that we were dead in our sins, and in the uncircumcision of our flesh. If a dead man is able to make himself alive, or to prepare himself for the reception of life, by any action that proceeds from him, I will confess that the error of these men is not incompatible with the doctrine of Paul. But since common sense assures us that the dead are deprived, not of the actions alone, but also of the power of life, and that there is nothing but a super- natural action of God which is able to restore them to the society of the living, so that they can contribute nothing thereto themselves, we must needs either charge a falsehood upon the apostle, who says that before grace we are dead in our sins ; or confess, in consequence of his doctrine, that men neither have nor can have, of themselves, any action or dispo- sition unto spiritual life ; and that the power of the hand of God, working supernaturally in them by his grace, is the only strength that raises them out of this miserable state. If their will be free, it is free to evil only, which it embraces and follows most freely, that is, most voluntarily, and without any constraint, taking all its delight therein. If their under- standing act, it is for error, which it conceives and most obstinately embraces. But as for the life of God, they have no more liberty or light for it than if they had neither will nor understanding at all ; according to that which our Saviour has taught us, saying, " No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him ;" and again, " If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed," John vi. 44 ; viii. 36. Without this, a man can have neither life nor liberty. II. The apostle clearly shows it, when, having represented the death in which we were, he adds, in the second part of our text, that God hath quickened us together with Christ, having forgiven us all trespasses. For there is no doubt that we must refer this action to God, of whom he just before was saying that he " raised Jesus Christ from the dead." It is therefore the same God who raised up the chief Shepherd from the dead who also quickens his faithful flock, bringing them out of that spiritual and eternal death into which they were naturally sunk, and giving them a celestial and immortal life. As there is none but he who could inspire and quicken that dust of which he at first formed us; so there is none but he who can expel out of our flesh that death which has seized upon it, and restore that life which sin has extinguished in us. Each of 842 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIV. these vivifications is the work of his hand alone ; though, to say the truth, it is needful for him to put forth more might in the accomplishment of the second than he did in effecting the first. For if that handful of earth of which he created Adara had no disposition at all to that form and life which he put in it, yet it had at least no repugnancy thereto ; whereas he not only now finds in us no disposition to a heavenly life, but he meets also with resistance and contrariety ; a spirit of rebellion animating the whole mass of our flesh, which he must necessa- rily cast out. in order to infuse celestial life. Now as that death in which we lay comprehends two things — namely, first, the corruption of a nature destitute of all just and rational ap- prehensions and motions ; and, secondly, the guilt of sin, and an obligation to eternal punishment ; in like manner that life to which God calls us by his grace consists in two particulars : first, a restoration of his image in us, by the infusion of princi- ples and faculties of true life ; and, secondly, the remission of our sins. The apostle here briefly speaks of them both : of the first, in saying that God has quickened us together with Christ ; of the second, in adding that he has forgiven all our trespasses. God has quickened us, first, in that, delivering us from the death we were under, he has put into us, by the grace of his Spirit, the principles of a heavenly life, and formed in us new hearts ; hearts illuminated with a new light, namely, the good knowledge of his truth, and of the mysteries of his will. Then, in the second place, by the virtue of this divine flame, he enkindles in our souls the love of his most excellent Majesty, charity towards our neighbour, affection for just and honest things, zeal for his glory, abhorrence and hatred of sin, and, in a word, sanctification, and all the virtues which it comprehends, and which are the sproutings and productions of that second celestial and happy life which in his great mercy he confers upon us. From this new nature, as from a blessed root, issue good and holy actions, prayer, worshipping of God, frequent meditation, and reading of his word, ecstasies of love to him, exertions for his glory, sufferings for his name, relieving, in- structing, and assisting our neighbour, and many others, which are, as it were, the flowers and fruits ; in the production of which that life which God has given us in his Son properly consists. It is the same thing which the apostle, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, comprises in a few words, saying that " we are the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them," chap. ii. 10 ; and again, in another place, that our new man (that is, the second nature, which he forms in us when he quickens us by his grace) " is created after God in righteous- ness and holiness," chap. iv. 2-i. The Holy Spirit, being rich CHAP, il] the epistle TO THE COLOSSIANS. 343 and magnificent in his expressions, explains this admirable and blessed operation of the grace of God in us by various terms, taken from different resemblances, but all amounting to the same sense. To set it forth, he says not only, as here, that God has quickened us, but also that he has created us, Eph. ii. 10 ; and in another place, that he " hath begotten us again," 1 Pet. i. 8. The same is meant when he says that God " will take away the stony heart' out of our flesh, and will give us a heart of flesh," Ezek. xxxvi. 26, in which he will write his laws, Jer. xxxi. 33; that he renews us, and forms us into new creatures, or new men, Eph. iv. 23, 24; that he grafts us by his power into the true olive, Eom. xi. 24; that he translates us out of the kingdom of darkness into his marvellous light. Col, i. 13 ; that it is he who gives increase, the ministers of the word being nothing, 1 Cor. iii. 6 ; that he opens our hearts, Acts xvi. 14, and works in us effectually " both to will and to do of his good pleasure," Phil. ii. 13 ; and other similar phrases, which are found in various parts of the Scriptures. But the apostle adds here, that God has thus quickened us together with Christ ; showing us, by these words, the cause and the manner of our vivification ; namely, that it was effected in Jesus Christ, and with him and by him. For as that death which we before bore in ourselves came from Adam, the stock and origin of our carnal being, who by destroying himself destroyed us also with him ; and, corrupting his own nature, corrupted ours likewise ; as it is in him and from him that we inherit this misery: so, on the contrary, that life which we have now received from God comes in the same manner from Jesus Christ, the stock and root of the new nature ; who, raising up himself to life, raised us up also ; according to what the apostle saith elsewhere, that " as in Adam all die, even so in Jesus Christ shall all be made alive," 1 Cor. xv. 22. But his assertion, that God has quickened us together with Christ, particularly refers to his resurrection ; as if God, in restoring him to that glorious life, which he received at his issuing from the sepulchre, had at the same time given us also part therein. And he speaks in this manner, principally, for two reasons : first, because it was then that Jesus Christ brought to light that blessed life of which we have been made partakers ; and from him, as from its source, has it been communicated to us; so that the day of his resurrection was the day of our new birth. For if he had not been made alive, no more should we ever have been. Not but that the Father had all the might and power which were necessary to give us life again. But his justice could not have suffered him to give life to any of the sons of men, if their Surety and Mediator had abode under death. The second reason is, that he being our Head, and we his members ; he our Pattern, and we copies drawn (if I '344 AN EXPOSITION OF [SERM. XXIV. may so speak) from his original ; when God raised him, he re- enlivened us also by the same means, since by this action he bound himself to vivify us likewise; it being evident that without this we should not have that conformity with our Head to which he predestinated us ; not to mention, for the present, the efi&cacy this resurrection has to form in us faith, and hope, and love of glorious immortality, which are the principles of that new life that God puts into us by his Spirit, as we intimated in the exposition of the preceding verse. It remains now for us to consider the other part of this blessed life which God gives us in his Son, namely, " the re- mission of our sins." Paul sets it before us, when he says that God has forgiven us all trespasses. For the Spirit of sanctification, which is as the soul of that new life which he creates in our hearts, indeed turns away our affections from vice, and obstructs our commission of unjust, ungodly, and impure actions, in which we wallowed before; yet this re- spects only the present and the future ; and if there were no more, the guilt of sins committed in time past, during our spir- itual deadness, would nevertheless remain in its strength ; it be- ing clear, that though the act of sin be past, the guilt with which it defiles him who commits it does not depart so soon. It subsists still, both in the conscience of the sinner, if he have any, and in the registers of the justice of the supreme Judge of the world, binding over the sinner to punishment. From which it follows, that supposing a man to be perfectly cured of vicious habits and inclinations, yet he would nevertheless be guilty, in consequence of his former sins, and upon that account liable to the curse ; with which, and the terrors that precede it, true life is so incompatible, that it is not to be supposed that a man in such a state could ever resolve to serve God freely and sincerely. Therefore God, that he may thoroughly quicken us, does not only deliver us from the tyranny of vice, and of the flesh, by that princely Spirit which he pours into our inward parts ; but also pardons all the sins of which we are guilty : and it certainly appears, if we ac- curately observe the moments of his action in us, that it is there he begins, first remitting our former offences, to the end that the sense of this his goodness may cause us to love him, and incline us to obey him, and conform ourselves with all our might unto his holy will. The apostle attributes to this remission two remarkable qualities : one. that God forgives " all our trespasses ;" that is, does not impute to us any of our sins, either in whole or in part ; but treats us as if we had committed none at all. An- other iS; that he does it freely, and of mere grace, for so tho original properly signifies. The Scripture tells us not of any other kind of pardon. For as to that which our adversaries CHAP. II.] THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. 345 assert, namely, that the fault is remitted, but the punishment exacted, either in whole or in part, or is bought out with the payment of our own satisfaction, or the satisfaction of others, it is a fiction of their own schools, of which the Holy Ghost says nothing anywhere ; but, on the contrary, he represents that remission which God gives the faithful, either at the be- ginning or in the progress of their regeneration, as an entire pardon, and purely gratuitous. As for that satisfaction by which our Lord and Saviour obtained it for us, it is so far from any way diminishing, that it infinitely exalts the bounty of God towards us, inasmuch as it shows that he so loved us, that in order to pardon our sins with the consent of his jus- tice, he gave his only Son to shed his precious blood for the satisfaction thereof. Thus we have expounded this text of the apostle. Dear brethren, let us hold fast what it has taught us of the condition in which all men naturally are before God calls them to his grace. Let not their outward appearance, nor the plea- sures of their flesh, nor the splendour of their pretended virtues, either civil or moral, deceive you. All this is but a false image of life, covering a carcass loathsome and abominable before God. Account them to be dead ; and if they walk, consider it not to be a true principle of life, but sin, the poison of life, which animates them, and incites them to action. The issue will one day clear it to us all ; when the just judgment of God, having stripped them of that fallacious disguise which now hides the deformity of their nature, shall show it before heaven and earth, and make us plainly see that they were but sepulchres, whited without, and full of filth and infection within ; and consequently cast them into that wretched and eternal death, which is prepared for them with the