God of heaven as if he had never offended; why, sirs, what a a work is this! to form that stupendous fabric, the universe, was not a greater. So vast an undertaking surpasses the strength and capacity of united angels and archangels. It is an enterprise too great for any but God only; He saw there was no man, and wondered there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him, and his righteousness it sustained him.'* Secondly." Great also is this salvation in the means of it." The work was great, so were the means. Justice, holiness, and majesty, all infinite and divine, must be satisfied, reconciled, magnified; yet the sinner must be saved from wrath, accepted to favour, cleansed from corruption, sanctified and glorified. Who is sufficient for these things? He that undertook the work. But to think of the wonderful method he devised for the purpose! who can forbear crying out at the sight of it, O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!' I say, to think of the means used to effect our salvation, how great the work of salvation is represented therein. To think of God in Trinity consulting before the worlds were, "Let us save man!" To think of the covenant of peace then devised, ordered in all things and sure; to think, I say, of the whole Trinity engaged in this undertaking, of the Father sending the Son, the Son coming into the world, and the Holy Ghost rendering effectual what the Son had wrought; or to trace out more minutely the various steps of this vast transaction; to consider the promises from of old that engaged for it, the prophecies that foretold it, the various dispensations from the days of Abraham that introduced it, and the whole constitution of the Jewish state that prefigured and led to it; to behold him who was in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God, making himself of no reputation, taking upon him the form of a servant, condescending to the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, humbling himself, and becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." To contemplate the adorable way of saving sinners by his death, and justifying them by his righteousness; to follow the Holy Phil. ii. 6, 7, 8. * Isaiah lix. 16. + Rom. xi. 33. + Ghost through all his sanctifying and sealing operations, how he arrests and convinces the hearts of sinners in the full career of sin and indulgence, makes them obedient to the faith in despite of the strong pleadings which pride and love of the world make to the contrary, and daily adds to their graces and subdues their corruptions; to lay the whole of the means together, whereby this salvation is wrought, is by various degrees to go up to still higher apprehensions of the greatness of the work. Finally, This salvation is great in its completeness and fulness; it answers all the demands of God, and all the wants of the sinner. God beholds it with approbation, and says of it, as of his other works, It is very good; Jesus regards it with satisfaction and complacency, and says, It is finished; the Spirit rejoices in it as concurrently the work of his hands: angels adore, and desire to look into it; believers, too, take up their word, and say, This is all my salvation. Justice infinite has nothing to gainsay, infinite Holiness makes no objection. It stops the mouth of Unbelief, and stills the cry of Conscience. It washes away sins of the most scarlet dye, and cleanses the most corrupted heart. It is peace and joy now; it is glory unfading, incorruptible, eternal, hereafter. It breaks the bars of death, shuts the mouth of hell, and opens the doors of heaven. It is all a sinner can want or wish; it is all he can desire or conceive, and ten thousand times more. None of all the rational world but malignant devils murmur at it, as it robs them of their spoil, and senseless sinners only disregard it. All in this salvation is full and complete: nothing can be added to it; in time and eternity it is perfect. Every part of it is perfect, and the whole is perfect. It perfectly glorifies God, and perfectly saves man. It has brought earth and heaven together here, and will make them one for ever. Like the work of creation, every the smallest member of it is perfect, and the whole, as the universe, complete. Say, then, how great a salvation is this, which answers every purpose and demand of God, and every possible need of man! O, my friends, have you no hearts to rejoice in this grand, complete, and finished salvation? Shall not that which so amply provides for God's glory and your happiness draw forth your gratitude and praises? Well, on the whole, now, I suppose you may be convinced this is a great salvation. inquire, And if it be, may it not be proper to Secondly. Whether we do not neglect it? That none regard it according to its real worth and excellence is evident. They who know it best, and esteem it most, and walk after it the most strictly, do yet know, love, and follow it unworthily; and so must be said in a degree to neglect it. And these will need always to be stirred up, that they neglect not so great salvation. But the text seems rather a warning to those who make none or very little account of this salvation. And therefore, that the exhortation afterwards to follow may be more seriously applied by such as do indeed neglect this salvation, and render it useless to themselves, I will describe in a few words what it is to neglect this salvation. 6 And this is in general to make light of it, as it is described in the parable of the marriage-feast. They who were bidden took no care to come, They made light of it, and went their way, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise.** Every man had somewhat else to do, which he liked better, or thought of more importance. When a man goes on his way, minding his earthly things, not caring about salvation, nor thinking it worth while to be at any great pains about it, but passing it by as if it were not his concern, and putting off the thought of it for a season, then it is plain he slights and despises it, and must be allowed to neglect it. More particularly, First. You neglect this salvation, when you use not due pains to find out your want of it. We all absolutely want this salvation but it is manifest many of you are but little sensible of the want of it. Now, I beseech you, whose fault is this but your own? Why, you have never taken any pains to see how greatly you want it. You know you have not. You have not allowed yourself time to think of your state, and to search out your sins; you will not retire to meditate on death and judgment; you do not pray, nor read God's word with any desire of knowing your miserable condition; and so you live on in a wilful unconcernedness about your soul. Now what is this but neglecting salvation? I am sure you would reckon this negligence, should you act thus in your worldly affairs; and I sup * Matt. xxii. 5. pose none would wonder in such case should you fall into poverty, or lay the blame on anything but your own negligence. Secondly. You neglect this salvation, if you do not labour to be acquainted with it. Your heart and life are not influenced by the Gospel-salvation; why? Because you do not know it, and use no pains to know it. You do not search the Scripture yourself, nor confer about it with others, nor attend the public ministry of the word as often as opportunity offers; so you remain in ignorance. And is it to be thought that this will excuse you? You cannot think so yourselves. Have you not means? And do not you slight them? And is not your ignorance owing to that? And what can you call this but neglecting salvation?-But another perhaps is saying in his heart, I know this salvation, and am well acquainted with my duty; yet, Thirdly. You will be found to neglect this salvation, if you do not practise what you know of it. A man may know much, yet do little which is the sure way to be beaten with many stripes. It is a knowledge that proceeds from the head into the heart and life which is a saving knowledge. Suppose you know you are a sinner, yet your heart is not humbled to a suitable sense of your lost condition: or you know who Christ is, and what he has done for sinners, yet do not heartily come to him to be saved or say, you know what the new creature is, but do not strive to attain unto it, but go forward in a mere self-conceited formality; what doth your knowledge, and what do your attendances, profit? You evidently neglect this great salva tion. Fourthly. If you do not value this salvation above all things, you put a slight upon it, and neglect it. You neglect it, if you esteem anything in the world in comparison with it. If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life, he cannot be my disciple."* You see there must be no comparison. Christ must be dearer than all; yea, and a man must set such a value upon him as to be ready to part with all things rather than disgrace Christ, or go without his favour. Now it is no uncommon thing, I suppose. that a man Luke xiv. 26. would have Christ, yet will retain one thing or other which he will not quit for his sake. He would have part in this great salvation, but it must be in his own way, with a reserve against certain self-denying practices, and world-denying duties. What can be plainer than that in such case this salvation is neglected, and has a slight put upon it? Many are hasty to say, 'Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest;' but when the mortifying work comes on, then it is, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.' 'Lord, let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house.* Such are looking back, and not fit for the kingdom of God; for they manifestly slight and neglect it. And thus, having marked out to you who they are that neglect this salvation, I am at liberty to enforce, as was proposed in the Third place, The danger of neglecting so great salvation. How shall we escape, if we do? First.-How shall we escape the curse of the law, if we neglect this salvation? If we slight this salvation, and let it slip through our hands, is there any other way of being saved? People may fancy what they will, and please themselves with delusions propagated by Satan in the world, that all shall be well though they walk in the imaginations of their hearts; may conceit I know not what of God's mercy, and that he will not cause to perish so many of his creatures as must perish if the Gospel be the only way of salvation, and they only shall be saved who follow that way; I say, people may suffer their lusts and the devil to cheat them at this rate; but, after all, what shall we make of such plain declarations as this of the text to the contrary- How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?' As much as to say, "We shall never be able to escape, there is but this one way under the sun; and, if we will not take this, there is absolutely no escaping for us." Escape! Consider the very word, it supposes us in imminent peril, beset with dangers, and flying for our lives. And that is the very truth of our case; for we have sinned, and cursed is every one that hath done so. Christ was made a curse But Who will say he hath not? |