NEW-JERSEY PREACHER. SERMON XVIII. Matt. vii. 24, 25, 26, 27.-"Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock.-And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it!"" IN discoursing on these words in the fore part of the day, after some introductory remarks, I mentioned, that I should, I. Consider what is meant by "hearing the sayings of our Lord and doing them." That, II. I should attend to the wisdom and happiness of such as shall hear these sayings and do them." III. That I should shew what is meant by "hearing the sayings of Christ and not doing them." And, IV. That I should shew the folly and ur happiness of such conduct. Time permitted me to attend to only the two first of these particulars. I now resume the subject, and, therefore, proceed, III. To notice what is meant by "hearing the sayings of Christ, and not doing them." Those who act thus, are, unquestionably, ansound professors of christianity; they are such as bu âld not their hopes of heaven upon the rock Jesus Chris ; but, upon a sandy foundation; upon delusion, ignoran‹ :e, or error. And, how many are there of this character! 1. The gospel of Christ was designed for the benefit of mankind in general; for "Christ was to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, as well as to be the glory of God's people Israel," Luke ii. 32. In the Saviour promised to Abraham, "all the families of the earth were to be blessed," Gen. xii. 3. "All the ends of the earth are invited to look unto Christ, that they may be saved," Isa. xlv. 22. And therefore it was, that "the poor were to have the gospel preached to them;" "the poor," the unlearned, as well as the learned. It was necessary, then, that the fundamental principles of the gospel should not require profound learning, deep investigation to understand them, but lie level to the meanest capacity; especially, that the conditions of salvation should be plain, and easy to be understood by the most illiterate of men. And is not this, indeed, the case? May not "he that runs," read the way to eternal life? But, yet, how grossly has the gospel been misunderstood by many? What gross errors were entertained by numerous christians, even in the first age of christianity, respecting God and Christ; his doctrines, precepts, and the conditions of salvation? Did not Irenæus, of the second century, write even five volumes to confute the errors and heresies which had then been broached in the churches ;* and, with regard to the terms of salvation of the gospel, have not great numbers extremely erred, even from the days of the apostles, to the present period? And, therefore, have they not been rearing their hopes of heaven upon a fallacious, sandy foundation? *Du Pin's Eccles. Hist. Cent. II. In the apostolic age, one error of this kind, seems to have been but too prevalent. "He that believeth and is baptized," said Christ, "shall be saved;" meaning, undoubtedly, he that believes me to be the promised Messiah, and, in all respects, submits to my dispensation of grace; believes my doctrines; obeys my precepts, and regards my exhortations and requisitions, “shall be saved." But, regardless of the genius, end, and design of the gospel, did not many erroneously conclude, that faith only in Christ, was all that was required to cause them to be heirs of salvation? And thus, while they expected salvation by Christ, they were regardless of his precepts and authority; of that repentance for sin, and purity of heart and life, which the gospel demands. Thus they lived in sin, while they flattered themselves they were the children of God! and, in this manner, they "turned the grace of God into lasciviousness !" Jude, 4. But how was such conduct opposed by St. Paul? "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein ?" Rom. vi. 1, 2. And was not this gross error, of salvation by faith, without works, or while men indulged themselves in sin, most forcibly opposed, also, by St. James? "What doth it profit, my brethren," says he, "though a man say he hath faith and have not works? Can faith_save him? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith and I have works. Shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew VOL. I. S s thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe But, wilt thou know, O man! that faith and tremble. The apostle then shews how influential faith was on the practice of Abraham and Rahab, and concludes his arguments on this subject, by the following striking similitude. "For, as the body without the spirit, is dead; so faith without works is dead also," James ii. 14, &e. But, unhappily, this erroneous doctrine, of salvation by a fruitless faith, did not become extinct in the apostolic age. It hath existed in the church, even to the present day; and those who now embrace the error, are styled Antinomians. This sect teach, that, in believers God seeth no sin, however sinful may be their conduct. That celebrated Antinomian, Dr. Crisp, an English divine of the last century, thus expresses himself :— "Though believers do act rebellion, yet the loathsomeness, and abominableness, and hatefulness of their rebeltion, is laid on Christ: he bears the sin as well as the blame and shame of it. The only reason why God can dwell with those believers who act thus, is, because all the filthiness of their sin is transferred to Christ."* "The freeman of Christ hath this freedom, that Christ doth all his work for him, as well as in him. Christ doth all for him that God requires to be done.”+ "To take delight in the holy service of God, is to go a whoring from God. A man may not be exhorted to any duty, because he hath no power to do it. If Christ will let me sin, let him look to it! Upon his honor be it !"‡ * Dr. Daniel Williams's Discourses, Vol. III. page 186. # Ib. p. 254. † Ib. p. 288. So far, indeed, does the Dr. disclaim all obedience, that he will not admit even faith to be a condition of salvation, and asserts, that there is not any condition in the gospel covenant. "There is not," says he, "any condition in this covenant. Observe, I pray you, and you will perceive, that man hath no tie upon him to perform any thing whatever, in the covenant, as a condition that must be observed on his part; and there is not one bond or obligation upon man, to the fulfilling of the covenant, or to the partaking of its benefits." He then considers a person stating to him the following objection: Though works be not the condition of the covenant, yet, we hope you will allow that faith is the condition of it!" He replies "I must needs tell you directly, that faith is not the condition of the covenant."* "Faith," he adds, "justifies the unbeliever; that is, that faith which is in Christ, justifies me who have no faith of my own." 2. But while the Antinomians, by diselaiming good works, and even faith, as requisite to salvation, and therefore, are raising their hopes of heaven upon a sandy foundation; are there not some who, as fatally deceive themselves, by relying wholly, or in part, on their works of righteousness, for eternal life? Does not the Socinian, for instance, deny the deity of Christ; his atonement for human guilt; a change of heart, through the energy of the divine spirit, and depend wholly upon morality for salvation? Though it is declared, that "Christ Jesus of God, is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification," if we shall obtain redemption ;" and that "by the deeds of *Dr. Daniel Williams's Discourses, Vol. III. p. 66. † Ib. p. 251. |