Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me ....1 Sam. xxviii. 15. A MORE awful speech is scarce to be found in the Bible: a more dreadful state a soul cannot be in on this side of hell: to have potent enemies in battle array; to have the guilt of abominable sins staring one in the face; and to be sensible that the Lord is departed from one, how horrid to think of! O, come here and see the terrible effects of trifling with God and disobeying his commands! For we read that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul; that God gave him another heart; that he was turned into another man; and that he prophesied....1 Sam. x. 6. And yet, such was his dreadful conduct, as to bring upon himself such sore distress. How does he act under it? Does he humble himself as heretofore before the Lord? No: but adds this evil to all his abominations; he seeks to the witch of Endor, desires her to raise up Samuel to him: the form of Samuel appears, and tells him of his sudden destruction by the Philistines. Learn hence, 1st. That as the Lord's mercies are sure, so also are his judgments: though he may delay for a season, yet a day of vengeance will surely overtake every impeninent, sin-hardened soul: though it was long before, that Saul disobeyed the Lord's command, in not totally destroying his enemies, the Amalekites; yet the Lord had neither forgotten it nor forgiven him. 2d. See how a sinhardened soul acts; not like David, who goes to the Lord with an humble heart, a broken spirit, and a sorrowful cry, "O Lord pardon mine iniquity, for it is great."....Psalm xxv. 11....but like Saul, who applied to the devil for relief. Sd. We do not hear one word from Saul of the cause of his distress, SIN: his eyes were so blinded by it that he saw not the evil of it: his heart was so hardened by its deceitfulness, that he felt no sorrow in his soul on account of it; for the Lord was departed from him. O, that we may dread and deprecate this. But let not any sin-distressed, broken hearted sinner, write bitter things against himself, from hence; for, if sin causes sorrow of heart and mourning of soul, and excites a cry, God be merciful to me....save Lord Jesus or I perish: the Lord is not departed from that soul: it is not hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. O, love the Lord for that: praise him for his grace which keeps you from that; and that his promises still invite and encourage you : "for if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and his blood cleanseth from all sin."....1 John i. 7. and ii. 1. With jealous heart and godly fear, May other's evils warn my soul, The answer of a good conscience towards God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ....1 Pet. iii. 21. THE grand business of faith is, to give being and subsistence to divine truths in the mind....Heb. xi. 1. Hence, conscience gets relief and peace, and the soul is made happy. Consider, 1st. What is conscience? Science is knowledge: pre-science is fore-knowledge.. Conscience is something joined WITH knowledge: "Some have their conscience defiled."....Tit. i. 15. With what? The guilt of their sins. Some are said, "to be sprinkled from an evil, or guilty conscience."....Heb. x.. 22. With what? The blood of Christ: therefore, in respect to a good or bad conscience, something must be joined with the science or knowledge of the mind to determine it by. In this sense the word conscience is used in scripture. Hence, 2d. We may easily see what is the answer of a good conscience before God. Join the law of God with your science, or knowledge of yourself. What report will conscience make? The law condemns: conscience pleads guilty: it has got evil in it. Hence you fear and tremble: but faith joins with our science, or knowledge, THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST: then we have a good conscience, not troubled with the guilt of sin: for Christ died for our sins; he aton-: ed for them all on the cross; they are all buried in his sepulchre. He rose again for our justification: hence we are fully discharged from all condemnation for sin. Thus we have a good answer from a good conscience towards God, by the ressurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, 1st. This is what Paul calls "The mystery of faith."....1 Tim.' iii. 9. It is a mystery, known only by the experience of the faithful. Carnal reason cannot comprehend it; the judgment of sense rejects it; natural men think a good conscience arises from their being good in themselves, and doing no harm; they have a stupid conscience and a deceitful heart; they believe a lie; and such, from a notion of their own righteousness, think they have a good answer therefrom towards God. Such is the ignorance, blindness, and unbelief of nature. This nature is part of us: this flesh, with all its carnal reasonings and corrupt notions, opposes the mystery of faith in the conscience. Therefore, 2d. This mystery is to be held in a pure conscience: the resurrection of Christ is to be held fast, as that truth by which conscience can maintain peace, the heart be made happy, the life influenced to all holiness, while God justifies us this is the peculiar glory of faith. Hence, "The God of hope fills us with all joy and peace in believing."....Rom. xv. 13. This is our resurrection blessing. I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night.... Psalm cxix. 55. CONSIDER, 1st. Hebrew names express the nature of the things to which they are applied. Whatever name the LORD makes himself known by to us, is expressive of his nature and of his covenant of love and grace to us. Hence there is no name so sweet to us sinners, as that which he hath asssumed, the name JESUS: the LORD, the self-existing Jehovah, Jesus. All the glorious perfections of wisdom, love and power, shine with the greatest lustre in that Bame: the great God, even our Saviour Jesus....Tit. ii. 13. All the attributes of Jehovah are magnified and glorified in that precious name. 2d. To remember the name of the Lord, is to meditate in faith upon what he is to us, hath done for us, and hath promised to bestow upon us, as the Lord our Saviour. O, what a wide field for meditation is here! But, 3d. David remembered the Lord in the night. While others are sleeping, or doing worse, he was meditating; in the night, when all nature is in profound silence: this is a blessed season for meditation upon the Lord of creation, Providence, and grace. But by the night may also be understood, 1st. The night of affliction, pain, and sickness of body. O, how sweet to remember the Lord's name in it; to see the rod of love in the Hand of a covenant God and loving Father. Or, 2d. A night of bereaving, the loss of a near relative, or a dear friend. O, blessed to remember, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away;" and to remember the Lord, to sanctify the loss, that we may be enabled to say, “blessed be the name of the Lord." Or, 3d. The night of temptation, when all appears dark and distressing: then how joyful to remember the name of him who was tempted for us, the love of him who sympathizes with us, the power of him who is able to succour us, and the compassion of him who says his grace is sufficient for us! Or, 4th. The night of desertion: O this si a black night indeed! but yet, how animating to remember the name of the Lord, who declares, "In a little wrath, I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer."....Isa. liv. 8. Lastly, how sweet to remember the name of the Lord, against the night of death. Dear Lord, familiarize that solemn night to our souls: let us meditate on it with composure and look for it with joy: when we think of its awful solemnity, let us remember thee, who hast swallowed up death in victory, took away its strength and sin; so that in faith we may joyfully cry out, "O death, where is thy sting! O grave, where is thy victory! Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.".... 1 Cor. lv. 57. Peter was grieved, because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me?....John xxi. 17. PETER had grieved his Lord by three denials of him: now his Lord grieves Peter with three questions of his love to him. We may often read our sin in our punishment: Peter's Lord suffered him to fall, to lower his pride and self-confidence. Now he has got him down in the valley of humiliation, he keeps him there.. A little while ago he boasts of his superlative love to Christ, above all the rest of his disciples: "though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended....I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death....though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." Brave words! Who can doubt of the sincerity of Peter's heart in all this? Hence learn, 1st. The warm frames of young converts are often attended with great self-confidence: there is much of nature's fire in them. My heart has often rejoiced and has been warmed with love, to hear the ardor and energy with which some in their first love have spoken of precious Jesus; but I have thought, a sifting time will come; the Lord keep your poor hearts humble before him. 2d. See the unchangeable love and sovereign grace of Christ to his dear disciples. He told Peter of his fall and warned him against it; yea, set before him every particular aggravation of it. How blind are those who see not here the divinity of our Lord? Notwithstanding this, Peter abates nothing of his self-confidence. Must his fall cure him? Not that, but Christ's grace, raised and restored him. Falls into sin, naturally harden through the deceitfulness of sin: take heed of looking to saints' falls, to make you think little of your own. Peter's fall was a damnable sin: he deserved hell for it: Christ snatched him as a brand out of the fire. His grace brings good out of the evil of sin. Let us glory of grace, but beware of sin. For, 3d. Souls raised by the grace of Christ are grieved for their base sins and falls; though the subject between Christ and Peter was LOVE, yet it grieves: no threats of hell and damnation wound new born souls like love: "lovest thou me?" saith the Lord. Look back, soul, to thy past conduct; say, was there warm and generous love to thy Lord in it? O, the thought of past unkindness to Christ grieves the soul before him. As Christ repeats the question, grief is enlarged. 4th. Never think you are truly raised from your falls and restored to the love of Christ, if you have not grief of heart for them: Christ's grace melts into love; love sinks into humility, while it kindles the fire of joy and excites a godly jealousy. There's grief in love which none can Humble me, Lord, unto the dust, M. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed.... Rom. iv. 16. MEN come to earthly inheritances either by heirship, gift or purchase each one can tell how he came by his estate, and by what right he holds it. Come, christian, examine thy heavenly inheritance to-night see how thou camest possessed of it, and by what means thou dost hold and enjoy it. 1st. It is thine by purchase; not that thou didst ever contribute one mite to buy it; but Christ thy elder brother paid the full price for it: therefore it is called "the purchased inheritance."....Eph. i. 14. 2d. It is thine by gift: "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.".... Luke xii. 32. 3d. It is thine by heirship: thou wast born to inherit it; not by thy natural, but by thy spiritual birth. Now thou art 66 an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ," thy elder brother....Rom. viii. 17. 4th. How dost thou hold it? BY FAITH. Mind this faith is not thy title to it: thou hast that by purchase, heirship and gift. Faith receives it, takes possession of it, and enjoys the comfort of it. "We receiving a kingdom"....Heb. xii. 28. 5th. The Spirit is the earnest of this inheritance: he first makes thee an heir, then bears witness to it, by possessing thee of the graces and gifts of the kingdom: so he trains thee up for the full enjoyment of it in glory. 6th. It is by faith, "that it might be by grace." Works have not the least hand at all in the matter: they neither procure right nor give title to, it it is a gift of the free favor of God: adoption to heirship, and purchase of it, are all of free grace; and faith to enjoy it, is a gift of grace also. Well then, O soul, does not this inspire thee to give all the glory to a gracious God? But mind again, lastly, it is by grace, "to this end, that the promise might be sure to all the seed," even the promise of eternal life. The promise is by grace, therefore it is absolute, sure and certain, else God's truth would fail: if it was suspended but upon the smallest condition of works (whatever some may say) every soul would forfeit his title to heaven and fall into hell: but it is "sure to all the seed;" for God, who cannot lie, promised eternal life before the world began.... Tit. i. 2. To whom? To Christ, for and in behalf of all his spiritual seed: therefore in Christ our title is sure: living upon him by faith, we enjoy both present comfort and full assurance that we shall live and reign with him in his kingdom of glory. Thus poor sinners' hearts are made happy in faith, joyful in hope, obedient in love, while Father, Son and Spirit, have all the glory. Grace freely gives and faith receives, The promise of eternal life; Hence all our joy of hope revives, Conscience is freed from strife. The woman's seed, the seed of Christ, Are heirs, by promise sure, |