The Success of the Gospel

'Next Part The Success of the Gospel 2

"The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ!" 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

This restless world is now in an unusual ferment; kingdom rising up against kingdom, and nation against nation; armories filling, weapons glistening, cannons roaring, and human blood streaming, both by sea and land. These things engross the thoughts and conversation of mankind, and alarm their fears and anxieties.

But there is another kind of war carrying on in the world; a war, the outcome of which is of infinitely greater importance; a war of nearly six thousand years standing; that is, ever since the first grand rebellion of mankind against God; a war in which we are all engaged as parties, and in the result of which our immortal interest is concerned; though, alas! it engages but little of the attention and solicitude of the generality among us; I mean, the war which Jesus Christ has been carrying on from age to age by the ministry of the gospel—to reduce the rebellious sons of men to their duty, and redeem them into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, from their wretched captivity to sin and Satan!

This is the design in which the apostles were embarked, and which Paul describes in the military style in my text. As some members of the Corinthian church had taken up a very low opinion of Paul, his design in the context is to raise the dignity of his apostolic office. And for that purpose, he describes in military language the efficacy and success of those apostolic powers with which he was furnished for the propagation of Christianity, and the reduction of the world into obedience to the gospel.

These powers he here calls weapons of war. This tent-maker and a few fishermen were sent out upon a grand expedition, in opposition to the united powers of Jews and Gentiles, of earth and hell. All the world, with their false gods, were ready to join against them. They were ready to oppose them with all the force of philosophy, learning, authority, threatenings, and all the cruel forms of persecution. For the Christian cause in which these soldiers of Jesus Christ were engaged, was contrary to their lusts and prejudices, their honor and secular interests. This opposition of the world to the gospel, the apostle also describes in the military style. Their lusts, prejudices, and interests, their vain imaginations and false reasonings, are so many strongholds and high castles in which they, as it were, fortify and entrench themselves. These they hold and garrison under the prince of darkness: in these they stand out in their rebellion against heaven, and fight against God, against his gospel, and against their own consciences.

And with what weapons did the apostles attack these rebels in their strongholds? Not with carnal weapons, such as the heroes and conquerors of the world are accustomed to use—but with weapons of a spiritual nature, the preaching of the doctrine of the cross, the force of evidence and conviction, the purity of their doctrines and lives, the terrors of the Lord, and the all-conquering love of a dying Savior! With these weapons they encountered the allied powers of men and devils; with these they propagated the religion of their Master; and not with the sword, like Mohammed; or with the bloody artillery of persecution, like the church ofRome; or by the canon, like the tyrants of France.

What unpromising weapons were these! To what avail is the light of evidence—in a world that loves darkness rather than light, and where lust, prejudice, and self-interest generally prevail against truth and reason? Is the contemptible weapon of the cross—likely to conquer? Are the unpopular, mortifying doctrines of one who was crucified like a malefactor and a slave—likely to prevail against all the prejudices of education; and the attachment of mankind to the religion of antiquity, established by law; and the policy of priestcraft; and the love of gain; and the powers of the world; and the various oppositions of the depraved hearts of mankind?

Are such gentle and weak weapons as these—likely to have any success? Yes, these weapons, though not carnal, were mighty, resistless, all-conquering—but then you must observe, they were mighty through God. The excellency of the power was of God, and such unpromising weapons were used on purpose to show this. It was God who gave edge to the weapons, and force to the blow. Without the energy of his grace, they could have done nothing, even in the hands of apostles. But, by the might of his Spirit, they became almighty, and carried all before them! These contemptible weapons, with his concurrence, pulled down strongholds; cast down towering imaginations, and human reasonings that seemed impregnable, and demolished every high thing, every battery, castle, or citadel, that was erected against the knowledge of God—that knowledge of him which the gospel brought to light; and reduced every thought into captivity, to the obedience of Christ!

Sinners were brought not only to compliment Jesus with a bended knee, and profess subjection to him with their lips—but to bow their stubborn hearts to him, and let him reign in their affections. That gospel to which they were so averse—gained a complete victory over their minds; their minds, which the Alexanders and Caesars of the world could not subdue; and reduced not only their external conduct—but their thoughts; not only some thoughts—but every thought, to the obedience of Christ! When God gives the commission, the mighty walls of Jericho fall flat, even at the feeble sound of rams' horns.

To bring into captivity, is generally understood in a bad sense, and signifies the carrying away of loyal subjects against their wills, into a foreign country, and there enslaving them to the enemy. But here it signifies the deliverance of sinners from the slavery of sin and Satan, and their restoration into a state of liberty, into favor with God, and this too by their own free consent. And it is called a captivating, to intimate, that, though when the sinner submits—he does it voluntarily—yet he had really made a strong resistance, and did not submit until sweetly constrained to it; and that he looked upon his state of slavery to sin—as a state of freedom, and was as unwilling to leave it as a free-born subject would be to be captivated and enslaved in an enemy's country.

I foresee I cannot take time to do justice to this copious subject. But I shall endeavor to compress my thoughts in as little space as possible, in a few propositions, to which each head in my text may be reduced. And the whole will be but a short history:

1. of the revolt of mankind against the great God, their rightful Sovereign; and of their miserable slavery to sin and Satan;

2. ofan important expedition carried on by the ministry of the gospel, to recover them from their state of slavery, and reduce them to their obedience;

3. of their various methods of opposition to this design; or the various ways in which they fortify themselves against the attacks made upon them by divine grace for this end;

4. of the outcome of this siege, particularly the terms of surrender;

5. and their consequent deliverance from the dominion of sin and Satan, and their willing subjection to their rightful Lord and Proprietor.

I. All mankind, in their present state of apostasy, have revolted from God, and surrendered themselves as slaves to sin and Satan.

We might produce abundant evidence of this from the sacred writings; but as the evidence from plain undeniable fact may be more convicting, I shall insist chiefly upon it. Mankind are secretly rebellious to God and his government in their hearts; and hence they do not take pleasure in his service. They are not solicitous for the honor and dignity of his government. They will not bear the restraints of his authority, nor regard his law as the rule of their conduct—but will follow their own inclinations, let him prescribe what he will.

Nay, they have no disposition to return to their duty, or listen to proposals for reconciliation; and hence they disregard the gospel(which is a scheme to bring about a peace) as well as the law. In short, they will not do anything that God commands them—unless it suits their own corrupt inclinations; and they will not abstain from anything which he forbids, for his sake—if they have any temptation to it from their own lusts. These things, and a thousand more which might be mentioned, fix the charge ofrebellion upon them. It is undeniable, they are mutinous to his government in their hearts, whatever forced or complimental expressions of loyalty some of them may at times give him. Look into your own hearts, and take a view of the world around you—and you will find this is evidently the case.

But though they are thus disobedient to their rightful Sovereign—yet to sin and Satan, those usurping and tyrannical masters, they are the most willing and submissive slaves. For these, they will go through the most sordid drudgery, for no other wages than death and damnation. For these, they will give up their most important interests, and exchange their souls, and their share in heaven, without any compensation—but the sorry, transitory pleasures of sin! Let temptation but beckon—and they immediately see the signal, and obey. Let sin command them to hurt their souls and bodies, and perhaps their estates, with excessive drinking—and the poor slaves comply. Let sin order them to swear, to lie, to defraud—and they submit, though eternal damnation be the consequence! Let sin order them to pursue riches, honor, or sensual pleasures, at the loss of their ease, the danger of their lives, and the destruction of their souls—and they engage in the drudgery, and toil all their days in it! Let sin forbid them to serve God, to attend seriously to his Word, to pray to him, to reflect upon their miserable condition, to repent and believe the gospel; let sin but lay them under a prohibition to those things—and they will cautiously refrain from them! And all the arguments which God and man can use with them—will have little or no weight!

In short, let sin but order them to give up their interest in heaven, and run the risk of eternal ruin; let sin but command them to neglect and disregard the God who made them, and the Savior that died for them—and they will venture upon the self-denying and destructive enterprise! They will do more for sin than they will do for the great God, their rightful Sovereign and constant Benefactor! Sin has more influence with them—than all the persuasions of parents, ministers, and their best friends; nay, more influence than the love, the dying groans and agonies of a crucified Savior!

There is nothing so sacred, so dear or valuable in heaven—but they will give it up—if sin requires them! There is nothing so terrible in hell—but they will rush into it, if sin sets them upon the desperate attempt. They are the most tame, unresisting captives to sin. Sin is an arbitrary, absolute, despotic tyrant over them! And, which is most astonishing, they are not weary of its tyranny, nor do they strive and struggle for liberty. Liberty to them has lost its charms, and they hug their chains—and love their bondage.

Alas! are there not many free-born Britons in this assembly, who are slaves in this sense? Slaves in a worse sense than the poorest negro among us? Slaves to sin—and consequently to Satan; for sin is commander-in-chief under the prince of darkness, the evil god of this world! It is by sin, as his deputy, that Satan exercises his power—and therefore sinners are in reality slaves to him! This, one would think, would be a shocking reflection to them, that they are slaves of the most malignant being in the universe; a being not only malignant—but also very powerful; that they have broken off from the kind and equitable government of the Sovereign of the universe—and sold themselves slaves to such a lawless, tyrannic usurper! But, alas! they do not resent the usurpation, nor struggle to throw off the yoke, and regain their liberty. They resign themselves as voluntary slaves to Satan, and love their master and his drudgery.

This is a very melancholy indeed—but, alas! it is a true history of human nature in its present state. Thus are mankind in rebellion to the divine government, and held in a wretched captivity to sin and Satan! This is indeed a very dismal and threatening state, and we might tremble for the consequences, had we no gospel to inform us of a plan of reconciliation.

Here I may borrow the words Mr. Howe: "When we hear of a sort of creatures that were fallen away from God, and gone into rebellion against him; that were alienated and enemies to him in their minds, by wicked works; we would be in suspense, and say: 'Well, and what became of them? What was the outcome of their rebellion?' And we would expect to hear, 'Why, fire came down from heaven upon them, and consumed them in a moment; or the earth opened and swallowed them up!' Yes, and if the matter were so reported to us, if we did hear that fire and brimstone, flames and thunder-bolts came down instantly upon them, and destroyed them in a moment, who would not say, 'So I thought; who could expect better treatment?'"

But what grateful astonishment may it raise in heaven and earth to hear that their offended Sovereign has been so far from this, that he has sent his Son—his only Son, to die for them, in order to bring about a peace! and that,

II. He has set on foot an important expedition, and is carrying it on from age to age by the ministry of the gospel, to recover these rebels from their voluntary slavery to sin and Satan, and reduce them to their duty, and so bring them into a state of liberty and happiness!

This is the benevolent design on which the Son of God came down from his native heaven, and for which he endured the shame and the agonies of the cross. This is the design on which he set out his apostles into the world—armed, not with instruments of war and destruction—but with the most beneficent powers, powers of doing good, the powers of preaching the most important doctrines, of proving them by argument—to bring them to repentance. To carry on this design, the ministry of the gospel is perpetuated in the world from age to age; and for this purpose, my dear people, I would exercise my ministry among you. I would make an attack upon your hearts—to break them open for the admission of the King of heaven. I have continued the siege against the stubborn Trojans for nearly ten years! And now, in the name of God, I once more would renew the attack, and summon you to capitulate and surrender.

For this purpose the ministers of the gospel have their weapons; they begin the attack with the artillery of the divine LAW, which thunders the terrors of the Lord against you. They surround you with troops of arguments, which one would think would soon overpower a reasonable creature, and constrain him immediately to submit. They reason the matter with you, and lay before you the wickedness, the baseness, the unnatural ingratitude, and the dangerous consequences of your rebellion against God. They inform you what a good king and what an excellent government you have rejected; what holy, just, and good laws you have insolently broken; what rich mercies you have ungratefully abused; what long-continued patience you have provoked; and what friendly warnings you have despised.

They expose to your view the terrible consequences of your rebellion, if you persist in it; they honestly warn you that the wages of sin is death; death in all its terrible forms; death temporal, spiritual, and eternal! They solemnly admonish you—that if you continue your losing battle against God, that it will issue in your eternal, remediless destruction! They open to you the corruption of your natures; the aversion of your hearts to all that is spiritually good and excellent: your innate propensities to sin, and voluntary indulgence of your lusts and guilty pleasures. They put you upon a review of your lives, to recollect your willful omissions of duty to God and man, and your commissions of known sin, in spite of the restraints of divine authority, the allurements of divine mercy, and the admonitions of your own consciences.

When they have thus discharged the dreadful artillery of the law, the thunders and lightnings of Sinai against you—the way is prepared for proposing the terms of surrender and articles of reconciliation. They make an attack upon the citadel of your heart, with the gentler weapons from the armory of the gospel of peace. They represent your injured Sovereign as reconcilable, reconcilable through Jesus Christ. They give you the strongest assurances from his own Word, that he is willing to make a lasting peace with you; that upon your laying down your weapons (that is, forsaking your sins and submitting upon his terms,) he will freely pardon all your past rebellion, and receive you again into his favor.

They also inform you of the strange method in which this peace may be brought about, consistently with the honor of his character as the Ruler of the world, and with the sacred rights of his government; and that is, through the mediation of his Son, the great Peace-maker, who, in your stead, has obeyed that law—which you have broken, and endured that penalty—which you have incurred. They likewise inform you in what manner you are to accede to this treaty, or consent to this plan of peace, namely, by believing in his Son—and thereby receiving every blessing as his free gift through Jesus Christ—by a deep, sincere repentance for your past rebellion, and by devoting yourselves to his service for the future.

These overtures of reconciliation, they enforce from various arguments, which, one would think, you would not be able to resist. They represent to you the riches of divine grace and mercy, and the all-conquering love of Jesus. That contemptible weapon, thecross, has broken many a hard heart; and subdued many an obstinate rebel!

They beseech you, in Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God; and if you should be obstinate enough to refuse such a request, they urge it with arguments drawn from its reasonableness in justice and gratitude, from its being of the greatest importance to your happiness, as being the only way in which apostate creatures can obtain the favor of their injured Sovereign! They also reason from the terrible consequences of a refusal; for unless you submit upon these terms, you may expect nothing but wrath and fiery indignation, which shall devour you as God's adversaries!

You cannot but know, my brethren, that the ministry of the gospel has, with such weapons as these, laid close siege to your hearts, year after year. And who would have thought that one heart among you would have been armored against this divine artillery, and stood it out so long? Some of you, I doubt not, have surrendered, and are now the willing subjects of your heavenly King. But, alas! do not some of you still obstinately refuse to submit, and persist in your rebellion? And are you not fortifying yourselves more and more against the attempts made to reduce you to obedience? This naturally leads me,

III. To give you a history of some of the various ways in which sinners oppose this benevolent design of the ministry of the gospel, to subdue them to the obedience of Christ.

Alas! these rebels also have their artillery, with which they labor to repel all the attacks made upon them by the gospel. They, as it were, throw up various lines of entrenchments around them, to defend them against conviction. Particularly,

Sinners hide themselves in the darkness of ignorance; ignorance of God, of Jesus Christ, of the law and gospel, and consequently of themselves! They endeavor to keep up their courage—by refusing to know their danger! They muffle themselves up in ignorance, so that they do not see their almighty enemy, nor the instruments of death he has prepared for them. And hence they are so stupid as to conclude that God neither sees them, nor can he bring them to justice!

They also fortify themselves, as it were, in the enclosure of a hard heart; a heart of rock and adamant, which is armored against the artillery of the gospel. This, like an impregnable cave cut in a rock, holds out against all the terrors of the Lord set in array against it. The sinner, shut up in this stronghold, can laugh at the shaking of Jehovah's spear! Let the law thunder out tribulation and wrath, indignation and anguish against him; let the gospel attack him with the cross of Christ, with all the love of a dying Savior, and all the mercy of a reconcilable God—he is still secure, and bids defiance to all these attacks! The rock is impregnable, until the power of God gives force to these weapons, and then indeed it begins to tremble; then the sinner is struck into a consternation, and is dreadfully apprehensive that he cannot hold out the siege.

This natural fortification, (so I may call it, for his ignorance and hardness of heart are natural to him, though dreadfully improved by schemings,) this natural fortification, I say, begins to fail him; and hereupon he sets himself to work upon artificialfortifications, which may enable him to hold out the longer in his opposition against God.

He throws up an entrenchment of objections and excuses, or (a little to alter the metaphor) he discharges whole volleys of objections and excuses against those that besiege him. Perhaps he dares to plead that he is already a dutiful subject to the King of heaven, and therefore that the ministry of the gospel has missed its aim in directing its artillery against him as an enemy. And if to this plea, it is answered, that his temper and conduct towards his Sovereign plainly show that he is really rebellious to him in his heart, whatever outward professions of duty he may make; he replies—that if in some instances he allows himself in the breach of the divine laws—yet he has no bad design in so doing; that he has a good heart notwithstanding; and that he hopes the King of Heaven will not be so strict as to take notice of of his minor infractions.

He pleads that he is as loyal as other people around him—and hopes that this will suffice. He reasons that, if he should be very punctual and zealous in his duty to God—that he would soon be out of fashion, and draw the contempt and ridicule of the world upon him. He objects, that he has not been so bold and daring a rebel as many others—and therefore he cannot think that so mild and gracious a King will severely punish him.

He pleads that he is now too busy about other things to listen to proposals of gospel reconciliation; and therefore begs that the matter may be put off, at least, until he has finished some important affairs he has now in hand. And he promises, that the next year, or in old age, or upon a death-bed—that he will submit, and make peace with God!

'Next Part The Success of the Gospel 2

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