The Vessels of Mercy 2
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Here I would enlarge a little upon an observation which I just hinted at before, namely: That these corrupt dispositions are not only criminal—and therefore will bring upon you the penalty of the divine law, according to justice—but that they are, in their own nature, destructive—and therefore, according to the course of nature, will be your ruin.
Suppose God had made no positive constitution to exclude you from heaven; yet while you have no relish or desire for the employments and enjoyments of that state, it is impossible, in the nature of things, you should be happy there. As you must have physical senses—to render you capable of physical pleasures; so you must have spiritual senses—to render you capable of the pure spiritual pleasures of paradise; and without these you can no more be happy there than a stone can enjoy the pleasures of an animal; or a beast enjoy the pleasures of reason. You would be miserable wretches in paradise itself! Do but consider in what things the bliss of heaven consists of—and methinks that you will rather fear, than hope and desire admission there!
Is holiness so pleasing a thing to you, that you might expect you that would be completely happy—if holiness were but perfected in you? Alas! are there not a thousand things more agreeable to some of you? But in heaven, there are none of these earthly trifles—so how do you expect to be happy there? There must be another heaven created for you, a Mohammedan paradise of sensual pleasures—or else your temper must be changed before you are fit to enter the true heaven. The paradise of holy saints and angels—does not suit your vitiated taste!
Farther, Suppose God should not inflict any positive punishment upon you with his own immediate hand—but only allow the course of nature to run on, and let your corrupt dispositions have full scope and range without restraint; would not these dispositions alone, create a hell within you? Anger, malice, envy, and every wicked and turbulent passion against God and his creatures, will break out into outrageous hurricanes, when the kind restraints under which they now lie are taken off; and they will agitate and distract your souls forever, and render you incapable of all peace, serenity, and joy.
Then, also, all temporal enjoyments—the objects of your love and desire, and the only things you have now to allay your raging thirst for happiness—will be forever torn from you, and leave you to famish in a dismal void; and then you will pine away with eager, impatient, insatiable desires, which will gnaw your hearts, and prey upon your spirits like hungry vultures!
Suppose you were now stripped naked of every enjoyment, and nothing left you—but bare being, with your usual capacity of enjoyments; suppose you were deprived of the light of the sun, the products of the earth, the comforts of society, and every imaginable blessing—and doomed to wander, forlorn and hungry, in some dismal desert; how consummately miserable would this privation alone, render you! But this will be the doom of the ungodly, as soon as death breaks their connections with this world. They must leave all their enjoyments behind them—and yet carry their eager desires, their insatiable avarice of happiness, along with them! And these will make them capacious vessels of pain! For a capacity of enjoyment, not satisfied—becomes a dreadful capacity of misery!
Thus, you see your destruction comes upon you according to the course of nature; and you will die eternally, though the hand of the executioner should never touch you—as the unavoidable result of your present temper, the deadly disease under which you labour!
And hence you may see, by the way, that it is no act of cruelty or injustice in the Supreme Judge, to shut you up in the prison of hell! For what else should he do with you—when you are fit for no other place! Is it cruel to exclude the sick from entertainments, or people infected with the plague from the society of the sound and healthy? Certainly not! Is it cruel to confine madmen in bedlam, or criminals in prison? Certainly not! Therefore God and his throne will be guiltless forever.
And now, my dear friends, have any of you been convinced that this is really your case? That your temper and conduct is such as at once renders and proves you utterly unfit for heaven, and, as it were, naturalizes and seasons you for the infernal regions of hell. Alas! this is a shocking and alarming discovery indeed! But, blessed be God, you have made this conviction in time; you have made it while in the land of hope, and in a state of trial; and therefore there is reason to hope, that, if you now take the alarm, and earnestly use the means of grace—that your condition, as bad as it is—may be happily altered; and that you, who are now fit for nothing but destruction, may yet be made fit for the inheritance of the saints in light. It is because there is some reason for this hope, that I have honestly exposed these alarming and unpopular things to your view.
You must know and experience them sooner or later! And if you do not know them until you fall into the pit of destruction, alas! it will then be too late! Believe me, my friends, these things do not proceed from a morose, malevolent heart, nor are they intended to drive you into despair. I speak to you with melting and affectionate benevolence; and instead of driving you into despair—my design is to save you from it forever, and bring you to have a good hope through grace! And as the evidence of what I have offered is so plain to common sense—then do not pretend that you cannot understand me, and that you do not know what I am aiming at. I am only inculcating upon you this self-evident truth, that unless you are prepared for heaven—then you shall not be admitted! And that, if you are fit for nothing but destruction—then you must be destroyed. Can any mathematical demonstration be more plain than this? And are any of you so void of sense, reason, and faith—as not to understand and believe it?
I now presume, that such of you as have made this discovery with regard to yourselves, are also convinced, that you cannot possibly escape destruction, unless your present temper be changed, and quite a new frame of spirit given you.
And who, do you think, can work this happy change in your hearts? If you are so vain and ignorant as to flatter yourselves thatyou can effect it in your own strength—then make the trial, and you will soon be undeceived. It is God alone who can work in you both to will and to do. My text tells you, it is he who prepares the vessels of mercy for glory; it is his Holy Spirit alone who is equal to the arduous work.
But in what way is this influence to be expected? Is it in a course of impenitent sinning? of presumption and security? of sloth and negligence? No! To expect it in that way—is to tempt the Lord your God. But such of you as would escape the damnation of hell; such of you as have any desire to be forever happy, hear me, seriously hear me, and I will tell you in a few plain words what you must do, if you would expect the aids of divine grace to prepare you for glory.
You must immediately think seriously of your condition. You must labour impartially to know the truth of your case. You must pry into the dreadful secrets of wickedness in your hearts. You must review your sinful lives. You must reflect upon the purity and justice of God and his law, and what you have deserved for a whole life of wicked rebellion against him. You must read and hear the Word of life with solemnity and attention, and use all proper means to furnish your minds with religious knowledge. It may pain you at first to confine your minds to such objects; but it must be done—and there is no disputing against necessity. Besides, the pain is medicinal; it will contribute to the recovery of your dying souls.
Again, You must accustom yourselves to frequent, importunate prayer. If ever you be saved, or prepared for salvation, it will be in answer to prayer: therefore, engage in it, persevere in it, and never give over until you obtain your request.
Further, You must guard against everything that tends to divert your minds from this grand concern; as excessive hurries and cares about earthly things, vain and wicked company, and every avoidable temptation.
Finally, You must persevere in this course, if you hope to succeed; and never rest until you feel these heavenly dispositions wrought in your souls. A pang of remorse, a fit of seriousness, and a transient prayer, will not suffice—but you must hold on your way to the last. You may expect difficulties in this new course, and you will probably meet with more than you can now foresee or expect. But you must break through all; for your immortal interest, your all is at stake!
This is the course I would advise you to—if ever you hope to be prepared for glory. I cannot give you the least encouragement in any other way. If any other can show you a more easy way—and yet safe course, and produce sufficient authority for it—then you may take it. But, for my part, if I teach you what I learn in my Bible, I can give you no other direction; nor do I expect to be saved in any easier way myself. And, therefore, if you will choose another way—then you must be answerable for it. Remember, I warn you against it, and would not be accessory to it—for ten thousand worlds!
Now, if this course must be taken, I ask—when do you think it must be begun? Will you appoint tomorrow, or next year, or old age, or a sick-bed, for that purpose? Alas! you may never live to see that time! Before then you may drop into destruction, as rotten fruit falls to the ground by their own weight. Therefore now, this present fleeting now—is the only time you are sure of; and, consequently, now is the only proper time to begin this course. Now then, now, while my voice is sounding in your ears—form the resolution, and carry it into immediate execution! Bear it home upon your hearts to your houses, and there let it dwell—until the great work is done. Oh! that you did but know its importance and necessity—then you could not delay it one moment longer!
And now, if you have any regard for the God who made you, for the Lord who bought you, or for your own everlasting happiness; then take this course immediately. If you have any need of excitements take the following.
1. Consider your present dangerous situation! You hang over the pit of destruction by the slender thread of life, held up only by the hand of an angry God—just as we hold a spider, or some poisonous insect, over a fire, ready to throw in it! You are ripe for destruction, and therefore in danger every day, every hour, every moment—of falling into it! You are as fit for destruction—as a murderer is fit for the gallows, or a gangrened limb is fit to be cut off. Such polluted vessels of wrath must be thrown out of the way into some dark corner in hell—that they may no more encumber or disgrace the more honourable apartments of the universe. And is this a situation in which it befits you to be merry, and mirthful, and thoughtless, and eager after the trifles of time? Oh does it not befit you rather—to be on your knees at the throne of grace, and vigorously pressing into the kingdom of God?
2. Reflect with how much long-suffering God has endured you, notwithstanding all your audacious and repeatedprovocations! One would think that one day's sinning against so holy and gracious a God, by a creature so deeply obliged to him—would make your case desperate, and that the evening of such a day would be the hour of your execution! But he has patiently borne with you for days, for months, for years, perhaps for scores of years! And all this time he has followed you with his blessings every moment, and granted you the means of preparation for glory. And yet you have been thoughtless, disobedient, ungrateful, rebellious still. How justly, then, may he inflict punishment upon you! And how industriously will his goodness and severity, his mercy and justice, be displayed in his treatment of you! What could you have desired more, in point of time, opportunity, persuasive—than you have enjoyed? Will it not then appear evident, that your destruction is entirely of yourself, and that, as I have told you before, God and his throne will be guiltless forever!
3. Consider how dreadful will be your punishment, if you should perish at last by your present wilful negligence! My text tells you what will be the design of your punishment; it will be to show the wrath of God, and make his power known! Such will be your punishment, as will be fit to show that it is almighty power which inflicts it, and that it is an almighty God who is angry with you! It will be his professed design to display the dreadful glory of his vindictive attributes upon you, particularly his justice, as the supreme Magistrate of the universe! His justice deserves to be displayed; for divine justice is not that ugly, grim, horrible thing, which criminals imagine. In a ruler, especially in the supreme and universal ruler, justice is not only a majestic and solemn—but it is a lovely, amiable, ingratiating attribute, essential to his character, and to the public good. And so it appears to all competent judges; that is, to all who are not self-flattering criminals, and therefore recipients of divine justice. The display of this attribute, therefore, upon proper objects, is necessary, to give a full view of God's nature to the world; to represent him as he is.
Now, whatever attribute of his that he intends to display in any of his works, he always does it in a manner worthy of himself. When his design was to display and glorify his creative power, wisdom, and goodness—see what a stately, well-furnished universe he spoke into being! What a magnificent, God-like building!
When his design was to show the riches of his grace towards our guilty race—see what wonders he performed! What inimitable exploits of condescension and love! His only begotten Son must become a man, must struggle with all the calamities of life for thirty-three long and painful years, must expire in torture upon an ignominious cross, and redeem the guilty sinner—with the blood of his heart! This was Godlike love and grace indeed, beyond all example. "Oh, who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy." Micah 7:18. He is as much distinguished from all other beings by the wonders of his love and grace, as by the eternity of his existence, or by that wisdom which planned the universe, or that power which produced it out of nothing!
When in prosecution of the same design, he intends to give a farther display of the riches of his glorious grace upon the vessels of mercy—what Godlike provisions has he made for them. "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man—the things which God has prepared for those who love him!" He has prepared for them a city, such a glorious residence, that he is not ashamed to be called their God. He is not ashamed to own the relation, because he has acted up to the character so worthy of himself. Hebrews 11:16.
And when his design is to show his avenging wrath, and make his punitive power known; when it is to show what Godlike punishments he can inflict, such as may, by their terror, declare him to be their author, and serve as loud warnings to all present, and, perhaps, future creations, to deter them from the breach of his sacred laws; and when the subjects of the punishment are strong, capacious vessels of wrath, fit for nothing but destruction; I say, when this is the case, what Godlike vengeance will he execute, what signal, unexampled punishment will he inflict!
The design of divine punishment is not the reformation of the criminal—but the benefit of others, and the display of his perfections; requires that he let loose to all the terrors of his power. And what miracles of misery, what dreadful illustrious monuments of vengeance will that perform and erect! As far surpassing all the punishments inflicted by mortals, as the creation of the world out of nothing exceeds all the works of human art.
And are you armoured against the force of such considerations as these? Then you are dreadfully fitted for destruction indeed—for the strongest persuasive to deter you from it, which God himself can reveal, or the human mind conceive, have no weight upon you!
But may I hope that I shall prevail at least with some of you this day to flee from this tremendous destruction, into which you are this moment ready to fall? Alas! Can I not prevail with so much as one soul, in so large an assembly, and in a point so reasonable, and so strongly enforced by your own interest! But I must leave this warning with you, and if you do not remember it now—you will remember it millions of ages hence, when the remembrance of it will torment you with intolerable anguish!
There are sundry in this assembly, I doubt not, who, by comparing their dispositions with the nature of heavenly happiness, may make the welcome discovery, that they are, in some measure, prepared for it. To such happy souls I have time only to say—that if this is your character, then you may be sure that immense happiness shall be yours: your present heavenly temper is a certain pledge and earnest of it. You may be sure that God would never make you fit for eternal felicity—and then exclude you from it.
And, on the other hand, if you find that the dispositions of hell are subdued in you—then assure yourselves God will not doom you to it. Can you think he would gain your hearts and allure your love—and then bid you depart from him, to languish and pine away with the eager, anxious panting of disappointed, bereaved love? Will he doom you to reside forever among those whose works you detest, and whose society you abhor? No! He will thoroughly prepare you, and make you holy—and then he will advance you to dwell forever in his presence which you love, in the element of holiness; to breathe in that clear, refined air; to live in that wholesome climate, so agreeable to your soul's constitution; to be employed in those services in which you delight; to enjoy that sublime and delicate happiness which you relish, and to converse in that society which you delight, and which is of the same temper and spirit with you. And for that blessed region—may we all be prepared, and there may we all meet at last, to enjoy that endless felicity which awaits those who firmly put their confidence in God, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
"Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the vessels of His mercy—whom He prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?" Romans 9:21-24
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