A Time of Unusual Sickness 2
Back to SERMONS Samuel Davies
What do those say who made it their business in health and prosperity? Do they repent of it as premature? No! they all cry out, "I would be in a sad case, indeed, if it were left undone until now: now I have enough to do to struggle with my pains. But blessed be God, that great work is not now to be done!" And dare any of you loiter and delay still, in opposition to the joint testimony of those who have arrived at and made trial of that period which you allot for turning to God? If the declaration of dying men has any weight of credibility, the present time is the most fit season: therefore, oh, improve it while you have it! But,
Thirdly, If afflictions should prove the happy means of turning you to God, they will rouse you to the most earnest persevering endeavours. You would immediately set about the work, and use all the means God has instituted for that purpose. You would pray without ceasing; you would pray in secret places. And if you have hitherto had prayer-less families, they would be so no more: you would consecrate them to God with prayer this very evening. Nay, you would keep your souls always in a praying posture; you would waft up your desires to God while you are in business or at leisure, in solitude or in society, at home or abroad. And your prayers would not now be a dull, spiritless form: you would cry as for your life, and exert all the vigour of your souls. You would find frequent errands to the throne of grace; and you would cry there, like a condemned criminal pleading for a pardon—or a drowning man calling for help!
When Paul was awakened, Christ himself remarks upon him, "Behold, he prays!" He had prayed many a time before; but no notice is taken of it, because there was no life in it. But now he puts life and spirit into his prayers, like one in earnest to be heard; therefore they are taken notice of in heaven. Thus, my friends, will you also pray, if ever you turn to God. You will accustom yourselves to deep and solemn meditation.
You will seriously attend to the gospel and its ordinances. Your Bibles will no longer gather dust; but you will eagerly search for the words of eternal life. You will also love and frequent the society of those who, you hope, have experienced that happy change you are seeking after; and you will catch all the instruction you can from their conversation.
In short, you will leave no means untried; you will set yourselves in earnest about the work; with as much earnestness as ever amiser pursued the world, or a sensualist his pleasures. Oh! sirs, if such a concern to turn to the Lord should spread among us, how would it change the aspect of things? How different would be the desires, the labours, the pursuits, and conversation of mankind!
Believe me, sirs, there is need for such an alteration among us: and woe, woe to many of us, if things run on as they have done—if the world continues to usurp the pre-eminence of God and eternal things—if you are still more solicitous to lay up earthly treasure, than to lay up treasure in heaven—if you abandon yourselves to business or pleasure—to the neglect of true religion and the concerns of eternity! I say, woe unto you, if things still continue in this course!
Believe me also, that it is better worth your while to labour to turn to God, and secure a happy immortality, than to lay out your labour on anything else. Need I tell you that you shall not live always live here in this world, to enjoy the things of this world? Go, and learn this truth at the graves of your friends and neighbours. Need you be told that the enjoyments of this life are no suitable happiness for your immortal souls? Do you not learn it from the uncertain, transitory, unsatisfying nature of these enjoyments? You can carry none of them with you to your eternal home; and what then will you have to make you happy there?
Farther: As you will zealously use all endeavours to promote your conversion, so you will carefully guard against everything that tends to hinder it. You will immediately drop your wicked courses—you will have done forever with drinking, swearing, and all the vices you were accustomed to practice! You will moderate your pursuit of the world, and endeavour to disengage yourselves from excessive hurries, which allow you neither leisure nor composure to mind the great business of your salvation— that business, which, whether you regard it or not, is of an infinitely greater importance than all the affairs of life, and for which alone it is worth your while to live!
You will shun the company of the wicked, the vain, and secure, as much as possible; yes, you will shun them as much as you now do the families that are infected with the epidemic disorder, and with much better reason; for they are infected with a much more fatal disease—the disease of sin, which is so deadly, and which your souls are so apt to catch!
In short, you will avoid every obstacle to your conversion, as far as you can; and until you are brought to this, it is in vain to pretend that you have any real inclination to turn to God: and such of you as have never been brought to it, may be sure you have never been converted.
Oh! when shall we see such earnest endeavours among us? When shall we see sinners thus vigorously striving to enter in at the strait gate? When will their dead sleep be over? When will the delusive dream of their false hopes vanish? When will they begin to conclude that they have sinned long enough—that they have delayed turning to God long enough—that they have been secure and careless, on the slippery brink of destruction, long enough? When will they begin to think it is high time to work out their salvation with fear and trembling?
My dear people, I long to see such a time among you once more! And unless such a time comes, I expect sundry of you, even as many as are unconverted, will perish forever! Yes, unless such an awakening time comes, and that speedily too—I fully expect that some of you will burn in hell forever! Oh! the shocking thought!
What shall be done to avoid so dreadful a doom? Come, Holy Spirit—come and work upon the hearts of these impenitent sinners; for you alone can perform the work. Oh! come speedily, or they will be removed out of the sphere of your sanctifying influences—out of the region of vitality—and into the territories of eternal death! Friends, until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, the work of conversion will never go on prosperously among us! We have had sufficient trial to convince us of this. We have had preaching, and all the means of grace, long enough to make us sensible that all will not do, without the Holy Spirit: therefore, let us earnestly cry for this blessing. For,
Fourthly, If afflictions are followed with so blessed an effect upon you as to turn you to God—then you will be made deeply sensible of your own inability to turn to him, by the best endeavours you can use; and of the absolute necessity of the influences of the Holy Spirit, or the power of divine grace.
While you are ignorant of yourselves, and have not put the matter to trial, you may flatter yourselves that you are able to turn to God when you please: but when you make the experiment in earnest, you will soon be undeceived. You can indeed abstain fromoutward acts of gross sin—you can attend upon the means of grace, and perform the outward duties of religion; and this is your duty: but, alas! this is far short of true conversion. All this you may do—and yet the heart be so far from being turned to God, that it may be strongly set against him.
You will find, when you attempt the work in earnest, that, beside the drawbacks from the world, and the temptations of Satan, your own hearts will refuse to return; they will struggle, and draw back, as if you were rushing into flames, or upon the point of a sword. They will cling fast to sin and the world, and will not let go their hold. They have a great dislike to strict holiness, and all you can do—cannot bring them in love with it. Your hearts are as hard as the nether mill-stone, and no human means can break them.
In short, you will be sensible that you are so far gone with the disease of sin, so indisposed, weakened, and corrupted, that nothing but the power of divine grace can recover you, and inspire you with spiritual life and visor. Therefore, you will lie moaning and groaning before the Lord, waiting for his assistance, as helpless creatures, in the greatest danger, and unable to deliver yourselves. Then you will understand the meaning of that inspired prayer, "Turn me—and I shall be turned!" Jeremiah 31:18. "Draw me—and I will run after you." Solomon's Song 1:4. Then you will be convinced, by experience, of the truth of that declaration you had before heard from the mouth of Christ, and perhaps laboured to explain away: "No one can come to me—unless the Father who sent me draws him." John 6:44.
Oh! when shall we see the vanity and self-confidence of sinners mortified? When shall we see them deeply sensible of their weakness and helplessness? It may seem strange—but it is undoubtedly true, that they will never strive in earnest until they are sensible that all their strivings are not sufficient—but that God must perform the work in them. It is the high idea they have of their own ability—which keeps them easy and careless. When they see that it is God alone who must work in them both to will and to do—then, and not until then, they will earnestly cry to him for his assistance, and use all means to obtain it.
It is not the awakened sinner who feels himself weak and helpless, who lives in the careless neglect of the means of grace. No! it is the proud, presumptuous sinner, who thinks he can do great things in religion when he sets about it.
It is indeed a strange sight to see those who complain they can do nothing without Christ— labouring hard; and those who boast they can do great things—standing idle! Yes—to see those who renounce all dependence upon their good works—abounding in good works; and those that expect to be saved by their good works—living in the neglect of good works, and doing the works of the devil! This, I say, is a strange sight; but it is a general fact. And the reasons of it are, that those who feel their ownweakness will earnestly seek for help from God; and God will help those who are sensible of their inability. Whereas, others are not earnestly seeking that grace, the lack of which they do not feel; and God lets them alone, to show what the vain fools can do; and will not throw away his assistance upon those who do not want, nor ask it. But,
Fifthly, If ever you return to the Lord, you will be made deeply sensible that Christ is the only way of access to God. You will be sensible, that it is only for his sake that you can expect acceptance with God; and that all your transactions with heaven must be carried on through him, as mediator. If ever you return, you will come in as obnoxious criminals, upon the footing of free grace, and not of merit; and you will see that it is only through Christ that grace can be communicated to you. You will renounce all your own righteousness. You will lie at the foot of divine mercy—and own that you deserve hell—as justly as any malefactor deserved the gallows.
Some of you, perhaps, will say, "I will never believe this concerning myself; I will never believe that I am such a guilty, obnoxious criminal!" But please do not be too positive; do not say you never will believe it; for you may believe it yet. Yes, you certainly willbelieve it, if ever you are converted and saved; and I hope God has not given you up.
If ever you return to the Lord, you will come in as a poor, broken-hearted, penitent rebel; and unless you come in upon this footing, you have nothing to do with Jesus, nor he with you. For he came to save sinners and to heal the sick; and until you feel yourselves such, you will never comply with the gospel, which is a method of salvation through a Mediator.
Oh! that many sinners among us might thus be mortified, humbled, and brought down to the foot of their injured Sovereign, this day! Oh! that they may be made sensible that they lie at God's mercy, and that they have not the least possible ground of hope—but only through the righteousness of Christ! But,
Sixthly, If ever you are turned to God, you will experience a great change in your disposition and conduct. Your hearts andlives will take a new bias! Your thoughts and affections will be directed towards God and holiness; your hearts will be turned to the holy Word of God, like wax to the seal, and receive the stamp of his image. They will then aspire towards heaven—there they will tend, as naturally as a stone gravitates to the earth. You will contract an evangelical turn; that is, you will delight and acquiesce in the method of salvation revealed in the gospel. Jesus will be infinitely dear to you; and you will rejoice and glory in him, and put no confidence in the flesh. You will be turned to the ordinances of the gospel, and delight to converse with God in them.
In short, your whole soul will receive a heavenly disposition—a new divine bent, or bias, towards God and divine things. Your thoughts will run in a new channel; your will and affections will fix upon new objects, and you will become new creatures; old things will pass away, and all things will become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17. You will become fit for heaven—by having heavenly dispositions wrought in you—and thence you may infer that you shall be admitted there.
Believe me, sirs, when you are turned to God, true religion will not be such a dull, insipid thing to you, as it now is. The gospel will not be such an idle story; nor the law of God such a elastic rule, that you may bend it as you please to your own lusts. Heaven and hell will not be such dreams and trifles; but you will be habitually affected with these things, as the most important realities, and your hearts will be deeply impressed with their influence. As you will be turned TO God and holiness, so you will be turned FROM sin and all its pleasures.
Yes, friends, that pride, hypocrisy, sensuality, worldly-mindedness, and all the various forms of sin which you now indulge, will become forever hateful to you! You will abhor them, resist them, make war against them, and never more allow them a peaceable harbour in your hearts! You will see their intrinsic vileness and baseness, and their contrariety to the holy nature of God; and on this account you will hate them and fly from them—as well as because they may bring ruin upon yourselves. Oh! how will it then break your hearts to think that ever you should have lived as you now do! How bitter will your present pleasures and pursuits then be to you; and how will you bless God, that he opened your eyes and gave your minds a new turn—before it was too late!
Farther; when your minds thus receive a new and heavenly turn, your practices will be turned too. The practice follows the inward principle of action; and when the heart is set right—then the practice will be agreeable to it.
Conversion, sirs, would be an effectual restraint from those vices which you now practice, and an effectual constraint to thoseduties you now omit.
Conversion will cure you of your swearing, drunkenness, defrauding, contentions, and quarrellings, and other vices!
Conversion will bring you to pray, to hear, to meditate, and to endeavour to perform every duty you owe to God!
Conversion will bring you to observe the laws of justice and charity, and all the duties you owe to man
Conversion will teach you not only to pray, and perform the other duties of religion; but it will make you just, charitable, meek, compassionate, and conscientious in all the duties of morality.
Conversion will make you better members of society, better neighbours, better masters, better servants, better parents, better children; in short, conversion will better in every relation. Never pretend you are converted, unless it has this effect upon you—without this, all your religion is not worth a straw!
From hence you may see what a blessed thing it would be, even for this world, if we should all turn to the Lord. Then, what happy families would we have! What a happy neighbourhood—what a happy congregation—what a happy country! Then every man would fill up his place, and make conscience of the duties of his relation; and then Heaven would smile, and rain down blessings upon so dutiful a people.
Seventhly: If ever you are turned to the Lord, your minds will habitually retain that turn. I mean, your religion will not be a transient fit; a fleeting dreamy thing; but it will be permanent and persevering. You will never more relapse into your former voluntary slavery to sin. You will never more indulge from day to day—your old disaffection to God, and your habitual allowed indisposition to the exercises of religion. Then, farewell forever to the smooth, enchanting paths of sin! And welcome forever to the ways of holiness! From the happy moment of your return to God, to the end of your days, it will be habitually the great concern of your life to make progress in piety, and live to God; to carry on a war against all sin and temptation, and root out every evil principle from your souls.
I do not mean, that you will be perfectly free from all sin, or that you will never relapse into some degree of lukewarmness, and indisposition of spirit towards God. But I mean, you never will be entirely and thoroughly what you once were, in your unconverted state. You never will relapse into that indulged and wilful love of sin and the world—-that prevailing indifference or disaffection towards God and his service, and that stupid, habitual carelessness about eternal things, which now has the dominion over you. No, never more will you be able to offend your God and neglect your Saviour and your souls as you now do. Never more will you be able to rest secure and thoughtless, while your eternal state is awfully uncertain, and your hearts are out of disposition for devotion.
The bent of your minds towards God may be weakened; but you can never lose it entirely. Your aversion to sin may be lessened; but you will never give up yourselves to the love and practice of it. Something within will make you perpetually uneasy—while your graces are languishing and your sin is gathering strength. There is a secret bias upon your souls, which inclines them heavenward; even while they are carried downward to the earth, by the remaining tendencies of your innate corruption. The seed of God which remains in you, will never allow you to sin as you now do. Your new nature will be searching after God by a kind of spiritual instinct, like a child for the breast, and you can never more peaceably take the world in his stead.
This, I hope, sundry of you know by experience. Since the moment of your conversion, though you have had many sad relapsesand backsliding —yet you can never heartily return to sin again; and all the world cannot make you let go your hold of God! You tend towards him with a propensity which, though it be weak—yet neither earth nor hell, neither sin within, nor temptations without, can entirely overcome.
And hence such of you who once imagined that you were converted—but are now habitually careless, earthly-minded, and luke-warm towards God—hence, you may see, you never did, in reality, turn to him. No! it was all a dream! For if you had once been turned TO him with all your hearts, you would never again have turned entirely FROM him. Your conversion would have had some lasting good effects upon you; and having once turned to God, you would never again have bid him farewell, and forsaken him entirely. Such, therefore, who remain grossly sinful, should still rank themselves among the unconverted.
And now, my dear hearers, I have endeavoured, with the utmost plainness, to describe to you that turning to God which should be the result of your afflictions as well as of the means of grace, and which you must experience before you can enter into the kingdom of heaven. I have had something more important at heart than to embellish my style, and set myself off as a fine speaker. I have endeavoured to speak, not to an itching ear, or a curious fancy—but to your understanding and your heart; that you may both know and feel what I say. And, indeed, if I would aim at anything else—I would be at once an flagrant trifler, and aprofane mocker of God.
Now I have one serious question to put to you, upon a careful review of what I have said; and that is, Do you really hope in your consciences, after you have impartially tried yourselves as in the sight of God—that you have been converted or turned to God? Here is the work of God's grace—I have plainly described it. But where is the heart in which it has been wrought? Can you put your hand upon your breast and say, "Oh! if I know myself, here is the heart that has been the subject of it?" Pause and think upon this inquiry, and never be easy until you can give, at least, a creditable answer.
I hope this will confirm the wavering hopes of some of you, and enable you to draw the happy conclusion: "Well, if this is conversion, I think I may venture to pronounce myself a converted soul." Then happy are you indeed. I have not time to say many comfortable things to you at present; but go to your Bibles; there you will find precious promises enough for you. Live and feast upon them, and before long they will be all fulfilled to you, and you shall live and feast with your Saviour in paradise.
But my main business today lies with the unconverted: and have not some of you discovered yourselves this day to be such? Well, what is to be done now? Can you go on careless and secure still under this tremendous conviction? I hardly think any of you are arrived to such a pitch of presumption and fool-hardiness as this. Must you despair and give up all hopes of salvation? No, unless you choose it—I mean, unless you choose to neglect the means appointed for your conversion, and harden yourselves in sin. If you are determined on this course, then you may despair indeed; there is not the least ground of hope for you. But should you now rouse out of your security, and seek the Lord in earnest, you have the same encouragement to hope which any one of the many millions of converts in heaven or upon earth had, while in your condition: therefore let me persuade you to take this course immediately.
But when I begin to persuade, I am in Jeremiah's perplexity: "To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear?" Jeremiah 6:10.
Shall I speak to you, men of business and hurry? Alas! you have no leisure to mind such a trifle as your soul.
Shall I speak to you, men of wealth and character? Alas! this is a business beneath your notice, What, a gentleman cry for converting grace! That would be a strange sight indeed.
Shall I speak to you, old men: my venerable fathers in age? Alas! you are so hardened by a long course of sinning, that you are not likely to hear.
Shall I speak to you, you relics of those families where death has lately made such havoc? Surely you must be disposed to hear me—surely you cannot put me off so soon. I hope sickness and death have been sent among you as my assistants: that is, to enforce what I say, and be the means of your conversion.
Shall I speak to you, young people? Alas! you are too merry and mirthful to listen to such serious things: and you, perhaps, think that there is time enough as yet. Thus I am afraid you will put me off: and if you put me off, I shall hardly know where to turn; for of all the unconverted among us—I have most hopes of you. Old sinners are so confirmed in their estrangement from God, that there is but little hope of such veterans: but the habits of sin are not so strong in you, and God is accustomed to work upon people of your age. If you, then, put me off, where shall I turn? Behold, I turn to the Gentiles.
Poor Negroes! Shall I find one among you that is willing to turn to God? Many of you are willing to be baptised: but that is not the thing. Are you willing to turn to God with all your hearts, in the manner I have explained to you? This is the grand question; and what do your hearts answer to it? If you also refuse—if you all refuse, then what remains for your poor minister to do—but to return home and make this lament to him that sent him: "Lord, there were unconverted sinners among my hearers; and in my poor manner, I made an honest trial to turn them to you; but, Lord, it was in vain—they refused to return; and therefore I must leave them to you—to do what you please with them!"
Oh! will you constrain me to make this lament upon any of you to my divine Master? Oh! free me from the disagreeable necessity. Come, come all, rich and poor, young and old, bond and free: come, and let us return unto the Lord; for "he has torn—and he will heal us; he has smitten—and he will bind us up, and we shall live in his sight." Hosea 6:1. Amen.
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