PART I, SKETCH XXVIII: REGENERATION

“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3.3.)

Introduction. This subject is of absolute importance. It is the hinge of the gospel; it lies at the basis of salvation. There are many who fancy they are born again who are not. We must examine ourselves.

(1) The Matter of Regeneration. Suppose you had to be born in England to enjoy England’s privileges. Would a change of name admit you to citizenship? What if you dressed like an Englishman? Not being born here, you would still be refused. Many of you wear the Christian name, have adopted Christian manners, go to church, teach religion at home (I would not discourage you!), and are honest and upright. But because you are not born again, heaven’s gates are shut against you. What if you learn the language? Will this admit you? No, says the keeper of the door. You must be born in this country. So with some of you. You talk like Christians, tell long yarns about divine experience, and so no one marks you as counterfeit. You are a church member, maybe an elder. You are all that a Christian can be, except for a Christian heart. You are full of rottenness within, though garnished fairly on the outside. Take heed! Through not being born again, you are shut out. If you think me uncharitable, you do not accuse me, but Christ, who said, “Except a man be born again.” Note the manner in which regeneration is obtained. The Puseyite believes that by a few drops of water sprinkled on the brow the infant becomes regenerate. Wait twenty years. Then see the drunkard reeling, and beating his wife. If that’s regeneration, the gospel is licentious, and of the devil. Simon Magus was baptized. Yet Paul said he was ‘in the bond of iniquity.’ Neither is a man regenerated by his own exertions. A man may reform himself and cast away many vices, well and good. But no man can make himself born of God. Regeneration consists in God the Holy Spirit operating on the will and conscience. Without that, you perish. The change makes us love what we hated and hate what we loved.

(2) Seeing the Kingdom of God. To see this kingdom is to be a member of the mystical church, to enjoy the privileges of a child of God, to have power in prayer, communion with Christ, fellowship with the Holy Spirit, to bring forth blessed fruits, and be admitted into heaven.

(3) Why a Man Must be Born Again to See the Kingdom of God. (I confine my remarks to the kingdom of God in the world to come.) Without being born again, man would be out of place in heaven. An unmended sinner would be miserable there. If singing God’s praises is dull work for you, what will you do where they praise God day without nite? Give you your bottle of wine; that is heaven for you! Well, no such heaven is yet made. Neither the angelic powers nor the saints in heaven would let the wicked into Paradise. Can you wrestle with the Almighty? “Ye shall not see the kingdom of heaven.” Go, crawling grasshopper; come not against the Almighty. 

(4) A Little Expostulation with You. Man cannot be born again after death. Death cools you in your mold, and you are cast in that shape throughout eternity. The damned are lost for ever. They go on cursing, ever being cursed. “He that is unjust let him be unjust still.” Are you regenerated yet? Tomorrow you may be in hell. You may smile at being shut out of Paradise now. Be not so foolhardy! In hell they do not laugh at everlasting burnings.

Selection from Conclusion. “O, I beseech you, think on these matters…If you are at all impressed this morning, put not away the impression; it may be your last warning.”

PART I, SKETCH XXVII: SALVATION OF THE LORD

“Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2.9.)

Introduction. Jonah learned this sentence of good theology in a strange college: the whale’s belly. Most of the grand truths of God have to be learned by trouble. He shall best preach salvation who has felt his need of it. This ‘salvation’ relates to the great work of saving the everlasting soul. 

(1) The Doctrine Expounded. The whole work of saving men from sin and ruin is of God alone. The plan of salvation is entirely of God. Before the daystar flung its ray across the darkness, God devised a way to save man, whom he foresaw would fall. If celestial squadrons of angels had been asked how justice might be fulfilled while having mercy reign, they had sat in silence until now. The plan was of the Lord in its execution. The royal bath of mercy, wherein black souls are washed, was filled from the veins of Jesus. No blood of martyrs mingled with that stream. Not a drop was contributed by any other being. As to salvation’s provisions—Jehovah—Father, Son, and Spirit—has provided all. Salvation is of the Lord in its application. No, says the Arminian. There is something that man must do. But is not the sinner by nature dead in sin? If we could make ourselves alive, then we could do all the rest! Man is just as powerless to come to Christ as he is without power to go to heaven without Christ. The Spirit must quicken him. Salvation is of the Lord in sustaining the work in man’s heart. As a man does not make himself spiritually alive, so neither can he keep himself so. We must have fresh grace day by day. You will have grace for the day, not months. Give us this day our daily grace. The ultimate perfection of salvation is of the Lord. Soon the saints of earth shall be saints in light. But it must be by grace: ‘of the Lord.’

(2) How God has Hedged this Doctrine About. Some say that salvation may be the result of natural temperament. But strange to say, naturally religious people are so often those who perish, while a great number of those who are saved are unlikely candidates! Well, say some, it is the minister who converts men. That is a grand idea! No man but a fool would entertain it. If I could convert you all, anyone else might unconvert you. A year ago I was despised; but God gave me souls by the hundreds. My name is somewhat esteemed now. I fear that God might forsake me to prove that he is the author of salvation, not the preacher, not the crowd, not the attention. 

(3) The Influence of this Doctrine upon Men. This doctrine is a battering ram against pride. If salvation is of the Lord, it cannot be of works or ceremonies. It cannot be of your will to repent and believe when you like, for faith and repentance must be given. And if a man despair of salvation, yet salvation is of the Lord. This dashes despair to the earth. That is the effect of this doctrine on a sinner; may it have that effect on you! But what influence has it upon the saint? If you believe that salvation is of the Lord, you will not be proud, for the glory must be where salvation is. You will not be distrustful, for salvation depends not on faith, but on God who keeps you. You may always be joyful, for with this belief you will not be afraid. It will nerve you to work for God. A stone cut Whitefield’s forehead once; he seemed to preach better with a little bloodletting. 

(4) The Obverse of this Truth. Salvation is of God; damnation is of man. If any of you are damned, you will have no one to blame but yourselves. You will bear all the tortures of conscience yourself.

Selection from Conclusion. “But now remember! Ye have souls; those souls will be damned, or saved. Which will it be?…Down on your knees! Cry to God for mercy. Now lift up your heart in prayer.”

PART I, SKETCH XXVI: FORTASTES OF THE HEAVENLY LIFE

“And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us….” (Deuteronomy 1.25.)

Introduction. As the goodness of Canaan was known by the fruit brought from there by the spies, we who are the Lord’s beloved may know something of heaven by certain blessings brought to us. I shall present some views of heaven, then show you how a Christian enjoys a foretaste of them. 

(1) Heaven as a place of security. Heaven is a place where we shall never sin—where faults shall be unknown—where we shall not need to be always on guard. There is no fear of slipping or turning away there. Those who have committed their souls to Christ’s keeping shall find him a faithful keeper. Have you never reflected on the doctrine of perseverance? Has God brought you to a sense of your security in Christ? If so, you have had some enjoyments that perfect saints have above. I resign the pulpit if I cannot preach the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. A gospel that pardons me and then casts me to hell is abhorrent to reason and to God. 

(2) Heaven as a place of perfect rest. There I shall rest from my constant and perpetual labors, though they are much loved. Heaven is the target of the arrow of existence. That rest you have at times enjoyed with Christ is one grape of the cluster you will have hereafter. This idea of rest will suit some idle professors. I can almost forgive a drunkard, but a lazy man there is little pardon for. 

(3) Heaven as a place of uninterrupted service. Do you know what is the deliciousness of work? Laboring for God is the highest delight a mortal can know. O, how blessed it will be to flap the wing for ever and never feel it flag! Labor for Christ is a blissful foretaste of heaven. 

(4) Heaven as a place of complete victory. This is the battlefield; there is the triumphal procession. This is the land of the sword and spear; that is the land of the wreath and crown. What a thrill when death shall be slain—when Satan shall be dragged captive at the chariot wheels of Christ! Did you ever wrestle with temptation and overcome? That was a foretaste of heaven.

(5) Heaven as a state of acceptance with God. Blessed saints enjoy perfect peace with God. There have been bright days with some of us, when we felt that our sins were all pardoned and could never be mentioned again. The cream of all joys is to know we are accepted in God’s sight. That I, who once heard the voice of his anger, now listen to his notes of love: this is joy worth worlds! 

(6) Heaven as a state of great and glorious manifestations. You look in the Bible and see the face of Christ as in a mirror darkly; soon you shall see him face to face. You expect heaven as a place of peculiar manifestations. But have you not had some even in this vale of tears? Have you not by faith beheld him as the Judge and Prince? Therein you have had foretastes of heaven. 

(7) Heaven as the idea of most hallowed and blissful communion. Communion! This is the flower of language, the honeycomb of words. Give me for my constant text and joy, communion: with Christ’s sufferings and shame, with Christ in death, resurrection, and ascension. To be in heaven is to sit at Jesus’ feet. You have done it on earth? Then you know what heaven is. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Cherish, then, these foretastes, of whatever kind they may have been in your individual case…Keep your foretaste just as God has given it to you.”

PART I, SKETCH XXV: THE DUMB SINGING

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened…and the tongue of the dumb sing….” (Isaiah 35.5, 6.)

Introduction. What a difference grace makes when it enters the heart! The tongue of the dumb not only speaks, it sings. How vain to make a profession and yet live in sin. Where the grace of God is, it makes men to differ. In conversion and regeneration, God makes us as opposite from what we were before as light is from darkness, as even heaven itself is from hell. Where God really justifies he really sanctifies too; where there is remission of sin, there is also the forsaking of it.

(1) The Persons whom God has Chosen to Sing his Songs Forever. There is no difference, by nature, between the elect and others. The only reason for a difference between those in heaven and those in hell rests with divine grace alone. Those in heaven would have rejected Christ, as did those who were cast away, if grace had not prevented them. They are saints because God made them so. God chose, not the tongue of the stammerer, not the tongue that blasphemed, but ‘the tongue of the dumb,’ of those gone furthest from any thought of singing. Strange choice God has made! Strange for its graciousness! It strangely manifests the sovereignty of God! To build his palace of living stones, did he bring forth the richest marble from the quarries of perfection? Far from being white stones of purity, you were black with defilement, unfit for the spiritual temple. He has selected the worst of men to be monuments of grace. Ay, beloved, if God did not choose the base things of this world, he would never have chosen us. Cast away this Arminian thought that it was of your foreseen faith or foreseen works that the Lord chose you. Your son John is a sad reprobate; keep on praying for him; God can change his heart.

(2) A Lucid Description of these Dumb People. The first sort are those who cannot speak. The man still in trespasses and sins is dumb. He is dead; there is none so dumb as a dead man. The unregenerate are spiritually dead; it follows that they must be spiritually dumb. They cannot sing God’s praises. They cannot really confess, for they do not know the evil of sin. But God will have his darlings made what they should be. There is a sort of dumb people that will not speak. Isaiah called preachers in his day dumb dogs that would not bark. If we are dumb ministers, may God force us to speak lest we be cast away as unfaithful stewards of the gospel at the last day! A third sort of dumb people dare not speak. The Lord’s servant will often have to be dumb under trials and troubles. When Satan tempts him to murmur, he will put his finger to his lip and say, ‘Hush, murmuring heart, be still!’ Though we are dumb as to murmuring, we ought to sing God’s praises. An old Puritan said, ‘God’s people are like birds; they sing best in cages.’ God has thus made the tongue of the dumb to sing. A fourth sort are dumb, for they have nothing to say. Once we were asked if we had any reason to plead against being condemned, and we were dumb. Now we can sing, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect?”

(3) Occasions when the Tongues of the Dumb Sing the Best. When they lose their burden at the foot of the cross. Not even the songs of angels seem as sweet as that first song of rapture from the forgiven child of God. And they sing sweetly in communion too, when in fellowship with Christ’s sufferings or glories. The best singing time is when we come to die. Many desponding children get a swan’s song before they die. Never fear death; it will be a singing time. 

Selection from Conclusion. “It is a poor noise we make now; when we join the song perhaps we are almost ashamed to sing; but up there our voices shall be clear and good.” 

PART I, SKETCH XXIV: THE FRUITLESS VINE

“And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is the vine-tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?” (Ezekiel 15.1, 2.)

Introduction. The Jewish nation supposed that because of the superior sanctity of their forefathers (not to mention their own), they could sin as they pleased and yet be delivered. God tells them that they are no better, in themselves, than any other nation. This fact does not alter God’s eternal purpose toward any chosen vessel of mercy. From his fruitful professors he will not take away his affection. 

(1) A Lesson of Humility for Saints. The vine-tree is a useless plant apart from its fruitfulness. God’s people are called his vine. By nature they are no better than others. By God’s goodness they become fruitful to his glory. He who knows the gospel confesses himself to be unworthy, ill-deserving, and hell-deserving, and ascribes what made him to differ to distinguishing grace. You are valiant for truth; you would have been valiant for the devil if not for grace. A seat in heaven shall one day be yours; a chain in hell would have been yours if grace had not changed you. You now sing of God’s love; a dirty song might be on your lips if grace had not washed you in Jesus’ blood. Should a poor dependent pensioner upon the bounty of the Saviour be proud? Hang your pride on Haman’s gallows. Most to be cursed is the pride of a Christian. 

(2) A Lesson of Searching for Professors. Fruitless professors may be found in every church, including this one. Some are rich unholy tithers; others are poor degraded idlers. Fruitless professors may be found in the pulpit. They preach eloquently, and bring forth the fruit of popularity and philanthropy. But their fruit is not unto holiness; the moral benefit of their labors does not extend to everlasting life. Fruitless professors may be great religious doubters or overconfident boasters. The one who will never pray at the prayer-meeting is as fruitless as the one who prays with words and leaves instead of realities and fruits. The man who cheats in business and comes out with a fair face, he is a fruitless professor. He who lives morally and expects to be saved by his works is another. Fruitless vines are despicable. Why are they fruitless? Because they have no roots. They do not adhere to the soil, get no nourishment, and therefore bring forth no fruit. What some think is conversion is a stir in the conscience that will not last. But the worst of it is that they remain professors, fully convinced that they are true. I beseech you, “search your hearts and try your reins.” Take heed that you do not get a sham religion. What must be God’s estimation of fruitless professors? Ministers think well of them; the church does too. They look so respectable in the pews! Really, I think they would do for deacons! But will they comfort you in your distress? Well, Jane, what do you think of your master who professes religion? ‘If this be Christianity, sir, I will take five pounds a year less to live with a worldly man.’ What will become of the fruitless vine? It will be raked up with the weeds, and burned up. The damnation of a professor will be the most horrible sight that hell has ever seen! There is a terrific sublimity in the damnation of a blasphemer because he has been consistent with his profession. Honest blasphemers will hiss professors to scorn as loathsome things. I confess, I should dread above all things the unutterable hell of hells of hypocritical apostates. If you would not stir your hell to a more furious heat, quit your professions this nite if you are not worthy of them. Or bend your knee before God and ask him to make you upright and sincere. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Take heed you do not deceive yourselves; it must be the new heart and the right spirit with God, or else, profession or no profession, we must perish.” 

PART I, SKETCH XXIII: THE SNARE OF THE FOWLER

“Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler” (Psalm 91.3.)

Introduction. This verse speaks of the arch-enemy of souls, the great deceiver, Satan. Five hundred years ago, he put men to death for serving Christ. Now he is well-spoken; he attempts to persuade and beguile. He would link worldliness with religion, and thus make religion void. Whatever his tactics are, his object is to catch men in the net. If Satan does not attack as a roaring lion, he attacks by creeping up to bite our heel. He would weaken our grace and ruin our godliness with his poison.   

(1) The Snare of the Fowler Explained. The fowler uses secrecy; he covers his trap, or beguiles the bird into an uncovered one. The wicked man dashes into the net even when destruction stares him in the face. The Christian is taken by secrecy. If the devil comes with his horns visible, I will never let him in; but if he comes with his hat on as a respectable gentleman, he is admitted at once. The first drop of sin admits a torrent. Then there is a fearful end. Some unconverted men can indulge in gayeties without being led into sin; but the Christian cannot go there without ruining his piety. The fowler adapts his snare to the kind of bird he is after. Drink will work for one, lust for another. We might not be tempted to pride of riches, but we might be apt to boast of our kindness, which is the trap of pride in a different shape. The fowler adapts his snare to your pleasures. Your fairest pleasures will harbor your grossest sins. Cleopatra’s asp was introduced in a basket of flowers. Job was more careful of his sons when they were feasting. Let us be the same. Satan uses decoys. He chooses someone you respect. By the force of that example, you are led and snared. Choose the best friends you can; then follow them no further than they follow Christ. The fowler will go hawking. If he can’t get you to sin, he will send a hawk to bring you down. Keep above this hawk. If any slander you, do not come down to them. If you prosecute slander, it will be more believed than if you left it alone. The more dirt thrown on your character, the more it will glisten in the end. All the fowler’s arts may be at us at once. Let us gird ourselves in God’s omnipotence, and the Holy Spirit will keep us. 

(2) Deliverance from the Snare. Deliverance is often through trouble. We have often painted a fine picture, and have been walking backwards to destruction admiring it. Then sad providence takes our child away or buries our wife. If not for trouble, we had been destroyed. Many of you have been delivered from the snare by sorrows, woes, losses, and crosses. Courage is another means of deliverance. O! that was a noble escape made by Joseph when the mistress laid hold of his garment. Timing may be another means. By the Spirit’s influence, what you might have been snared with last week is not worth a moment’s thought today. God delivers his people even after they are caught. We know something about being caught in the cage. O backslider, be cast down, but do not despair; God says, “Return, O backsliding children; I will have mercy on you.” Then he promises, “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.” 

(3) Deliverance is Certain. Scripture is precious because it is sure. What God has said he will do will be done. Christ has sworn that his sheep will be saved. The Holy Spirit vouches for it. If even one of them were to perish, the covenant would be void, and the Bible would be false. 

Selection from Conclusion. “If you are self-righteous, self-sufficient, ungodly, careless, worldly, there is no such promise for you; you are in the snare…and you shall perish, unless you repent.”

PART I, SKETCH XXII: THE LEAFLESS TREE

“But yet in it a tenth, and it shall return, and it shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof” (Isaiah 6.13.) 

Introduction. In spite of Isaiah’s holy, earnest reproofs, Israel would persevere in their sins. God would therefore waste and destroy the cities and their inhabitants. And though a tenth would be preserved, even this remnant would be nearly consumed. But as a tree that loses its leaves retains its substance, the remnant subjected to perils would survive, as well the land stripped of foliage.  

(1) Application to the Jews. The Jewish lineage is more noble than that of any knight. His pedigree can be traced back to Abraham, then back to Noah and then Adam. Our history is hidden in gloom. Theirs may be read from the start. Nebuchadnezzar nearly swept them away. Jerusalem was razed by Rome. But is the Jew conquered? He claims a dignity higher than ours; his history will be greater. When Messiah shall come again, he shall reign over his people most gloriously; the Jew will be afforded royal distinction. There is some mysterious preservative in a tree. The ‘remnant according to the election of grace’ keeps the Jew alive. There can always be found a Jew who loves Jesus. This holy seed is the substance of the nation. God has sworn kindness toward the Jews for their father’s sake. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love her.” The Jews will do more in this world for the kingdom than any of us have dreamed. 

(2) Application to the Church of Christ. The church may look dead. But she is preserved. There is a ‘chosen seed’ who are ‘the substance thereof.’ The church was in a leafless state last century. Then a revival broke out when six men were expelled from Oxford for praying, Bible-reading, and witnessing. Now the church is to a great degree barren again. True doctrine is scarce, zeal is rare, pulpit and pew have little energy. But the substance is in her. Some branches do not draw sap from the heart of the tree, and must be cut and burned. But the inward principle of the tree remains. And the life of a tree is not determined by the shape of the branches. The shape of a church is not its life, whether Presbyterian or Independent, whether more doctrine or less. The best men may be found in the worst churches! The oak without leaves retains a hidden life. It is the same with the church. Ministers are its arms and lips. But a man may be dumb and armless and yet live. Men and women who breathe out prayer, these are the substance. Has God made you holy by his Spirit, by the justifying righteousness of Christ, and by the application of his blood? If so, you are the substance of the church. You may tithe and still not be of the substance. Good men preserve the church by deriving life from Christ.

(3) Application to Individual Believers. The Arminian says that a Christian who loses his leaves is dead. When the wintry state came, faith slumbered; you doubted its existence, but it was there. Some Christians lose their leaves, not by doubts, but by sin. This is a tender topic. But it cannot be denied that some have been allowed, like David, to go into the blackest sins. O! horrid was the crime! Yet his substance was in him. How do I know? When Nathan rebuked him, David could have cut him in pieces like Manasseh did to Isaiah. But instead he bowed his head and wept before God. Poor backslider! I would not comfort you in your sins. But do you grieve over them? That is the bud that shows there is life within. Return! The Father longs to heal you.

Selection from Conclusion. “Why, man, the sin that does not damn a Christian, because Christ washes him in his blood, will damn you…O! that thou hadst life!…O! that thou wouldst now repent!”