The Manner in Which the Salvation of the Soul is to be
Sought
GENESIS
6:22
Thus
did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he
CONCERNING these words, I would observe three things:
1. What it was that God commanded Noah, to
which these words refer. It was the building of an ark according to the
particular direction of God, against the time when the flood of waters should
come; and the laying up of food for himself, his family, and the other animals,
which were to be preserved in the ark. We have the particular commands which
God gave him respecting this affair, from the 14th verse, "Make thee an
ark of gopher wood," &c
2. We may observe the special design of the
work which God had enjoined upon Noah: it was to save himself and his family,
when the rest of the world should be drowned. See ver. 17, 18. We may observe
Noah's obedience. He obeyed God: thus did Noah. And his obedience was thorough
and universal: according to all that God commanded him, so did he. He not only
began, but he went through his work, which God had commanded him to undertake
for his salvation from the flood. To this obedience the apostle refers in Heb.
11:7, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved
with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.
DOCTRINE.
We
should be willing to engage in and go through great undertakings, in order to
our own salvation.
The building of the ark, which was enjoined
upon Noah, that he and his family might be saved, was a great undertaking: the
ark was a building of vast size; the length of it being three hundred cubits,
the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A cubit,
till of late, was by learned men reckoned to be equal to a foot and a half of
our measure. But lately some learned men of our nation have travelled into
Egypt, and other ancient countries, and have measured some ancient buildings
there, which are of several thousand years standing, and of which ancient
histories give us the dimensions in cubits; particularly the pyramids of Egypt,
which are standing entire at this day. By measuring these, and by comparing the
measure in feet with the ancient accounts of their measure in cubits, a cubit
is found to be almost two and twenty inches. Therefore learned men more lately
reckon a cubit much larger than they did formerly. So that the ark, reckoned so
much larger every way, will appear to be almost of double the bulk which was
formerly ascribed to it According to this computation of the cubit, it was more
than five hundred and fifty feet long, about ninety feet broad, and about fifty
feet in height.
To build such a structure, with all those
apartments and divisions in it which were necessary, and in such a manner as to
be fit to float upon the water for so long a time, was then a great
undertaking. It took Noah, with all the workmen he employed, a hundred and
twenty years, or thereabouts, to build it For so long it was, that the Spirit
of God strove, and the long-suffering God waited on the old world, as you may
see in Gen. 4:3: "My Spirit shall I not always strive with man; yet his
days shall be a hundred and twenty years." All this while the ark was a
preparing, as appears by 1 Pet. 3:20: "When once the long-suffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing." It was a long
time that Noah constantly employed himself in this business. Men would esteem
that undertaking very great, which should keep them constantly employed even
for one half of that time. Noah must have had a great and constant care upon
his mind for these one hundred and twenty years, in superintending this work,
and in seeing that all was done exactly according to the directions which God
had given him.
Not only was Noah himself continually
employed, but it required a great number of workmen to be constantly employed,
during all that time, in procuring, and collecting, and fitting the materials,
and in putting them together in due form. How great a thing was it for Noah to
undertake such a work! For beside the continual care and labor, it was a work
of vast expense. It is not probable that any of that wicked generation would
put to a finger to help forward such a work, which doubtless they believed was
merely the fruit of Noah's folly, without full wages. Noah must needs have been
very rich, to be able to bear the expense of such a work, and to pay so many
workmen for so long a time. It would have been a very great expense for a
prince; and doubtless Noah was very rich, as Abraham and Job were afterwards.
But it is probable that Noah spent all his worldly substance in this work, thus
manifesting his faith in the word of God, by selling all he had, as believing
there would surely come a flood, which would destroy all; so that if he should
keep what he had, it would be of no service to him. Herein he has set us an
example, showing us how we ought to sell all for our salvation.
Noah's undertaking was of great difficulty,
as it exposed him to the continual reproaches of all his neighbors, for that
whole one hundred and twenty years. None of them believed what he told them of
a flood which was about to drown the world. For a man to undertake such a vast
piece of work, under notion that it should be the means of saving him when the
world should be destroyed, it made him the continual laughing-stock of the world.
When he was about to hire workmen, doubtless all laughed at him, and we may
suppose, that though the workmen consented to work for wages, yet they laughed
at the folly of him who employed them. When the ark was begun, we may suppose
that every one that passed by and saw such a huge bulk stand there, laughed at,
it, calling it Noah's folly.
In these days, men are with difficulty
brought to do or submit to that which makes them the objects of the reproach of
all their neighbors. Indeed if while some reproach them, others stand by them
and honor them, this will support them. But it is very difficult for a man to
go on in a way wherein he makes himself the laughing stock of the whole world,
and wherein he can find none who do not despise him. Where is the man that can
stand the shock of such a trial for twenty years?
But in such an undertaking as this, Noah at the divine direction, engaged and
went through it, that himself and his family might be saved from the common
destruction which was shortly about to come on the world. He began, and also
made an end: "According to all that God commanded him, so did he."
Length of time did not weary him: he did not grow weary of his vast expense. He
stood the shock of the derision of all his neighbors; and of all the world year
after year: he did not grow weary of being their laughing-stock, so as to give
over his enterprise; but persevered in it till the ark was finished. After
this, he was at the trouble and charge of procuring stores for the maintenance
of his family, and of all the various kinds of creatures, for so long a time.
Such an undertaking he engaged in and went through in order to a temporal
salvation. How great an undertaking then should men be willing to engage in and
go through in order to their eternal salvation! A salvation from an eternal
deluge; from being overwhelmed with the billows of God's wrath of which Noah's
flood was but a shadow.
I shall particularly handle this doctrine
under the three following propositions.
I. There is a work or business which must be
undertaken and accomplished by men, if they would be saved.
II. This business is a great undertaking.
III. Men should be willing to enter upon and go through this undertaking though
it be great, seeing it is for their own salvation.
Proposition. There is a work or business which men must enter upon and
accomplish, in order to their salvation.-Men have no reason to expect to be
saved in idleness, or to go to heaven in a way of doing nothing. No; in order
to it, there is a great work, which must be not only begun, but finished-I
shall speak upon this proposition, in answer to two inquiries.
I. What is this work or business which must
be undertaken and accomplished in order to the salvation of men?
Answer. It is the work of seeking salvation in a way of constant observance of
all the duty to which God directs its in his word. If we would be saved, we
must seek salvation. For although men do not obtain heaven of themselves; they
do not go thither accidentally, or without any intention or endeavors of their
own. God, in his word, hath directed men to seek their salvation as they would
hope to obtain it. There is a race that is set before them, which they must
run, and in that race come off victors, in order to their winning the prize.
The Scriptures have told us what particular
duties must be performed by us in order to our salvation. It is not sufficient
that men seek their salvation on in the observance of some of those duties; but
they must be observed universally. The work we have to do is not an obedience
only to some, but to all the commands of God; a compliance with every
institution of worship; a diligent use of all the appointed means of grace; a
doing of all duty towards God and towards man.-It is not sufficient that men
have some respect to all the commands of God, and that they may be said to seek
their salvation in some sort of observance of all the commands; but they must
be devoted to it.
They must not make this a business by the
by, or a thing in which they are negligent and careless, or which they do with
a slack hand; but it must be their great business, being attended to as their
great concern. They must not only seek, but strive; they must do what their
hand findeth to do with their might, as men thoroughly engaged in their minds,
and influenced and set forward by great desire and strong resolution. They must
act as those that see so much of the importance of religion above all other
things, that every thing else must be as an occasional affair, and nothing must
stand in competition with its duties. This must be the one thing they do; Phil.
3:13, "This one thing I do."-It must be the business to which they
make all other affairs give place, and to which they are ready to make other
things a sacrifice. They must be ready to part with pleasures and honor, estate
and life, and to sell all, that they may successfully accomplish this business.
It is required of every man, that he not
only do something in this business, but that he should devote himself to it;
which implies that he should give up himself to it, all his affairs, and all
his temporal enjoyments. This is the import of taking up the cross, of taking
Christ's yoke upon us, and of denying ourselves to follow Christ. The rich
young man, who came kneeling to Christ to know what he should do to he saved,
Mark 10:17, in some sense sought salvation but did not obtain it. In some sense
he kept all the commands from his youth up; but was not cordially devoted to
this business. He had not made a sacrifice to it of all his enjoyments, as
appeared when Christ came to try him; he would not part with his estate for
him.
It is not only necessary that men should
seem to he very much engaged, and appear as if they were devoted to their duty
for a little while; but there must be a constant devotedness, in a persevering
way, as Noah was to the business of the building the ark, going on with that
great, difficult, and expensive affair, till it was finished, and till the
flood came. Men must not only be diligent in the use of the means of grace, and
be anxiously engaged to escape eternal ruin, till they obtain hope and comfort;
but afterwards they must persevere in the duties of religion, till the flood
come, the flood of death. Not only must the faculties, strength, and possessions
of men be devoted to this work, but also their time and their lives; they must
give up their whole lives to it, even to the very day when God causes the
storms and floods to come. This is the work or business which men have to do in
order to their salvation.
Inquiry 2. Why is it needful that men should
undertake to go through such a work in order to their salvation?
Answer 1. Not to merit salvation, or to
recommend them to the saving mercy of God. Men are not saved on the account of
any work of theirs, and yet they are not saved without works. If we merely
consider what it is for which, or on the account of which, men are saved, no
work at all in men is necessary to their salvation. In this respect they are
saved wholly without any work of theirs: Tit. iii. 5, "Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." We must
indeed be saved on the account of works; but not our own. It is on account of
the works which Christ hath done for us. Works are the fixed price of eternal
life; it is fixed by an eternal, unalterable rule of righteousness. But since
the fall there is no hope of our doing these works, without salvation offered
freely without money and without price. But,
2. Though it be not needful that we do any
thing to merit salvation, which Christ hath fully merited for all who believe
in him; yet God, for wise and holy ends, hath appointed, that we should come to
final salvation in no other way, but that of good works done by us. God did not
save Noah on account of the labor and expense he was at in building the ark.
Noah's salvation from the flood was an instance of the free and distinguishing
mercy of God. Nor did God stand in need of Noah's care, or cost, or labor, to
build an ark. The same power which created the world, and which brought the
flood of waters upon the earth, could have made the ark in an instant, without
any care or cost to Noah, or any of the labor of those workmen who were employed
for so long a time. Yet God was pleased to appoint, that Noah should be saved
in this way. So God hath appointed that man should not be saved without his
undertaking and doing this work of which I have been speaking; and therefore we
are commanded "to work out our own salvation with fear and
trembling," Philip. 2:12.
There are many wise ends to be answered by
the establishment of such a work as prerequisite to salvation. The glory of God
requires it. For although God stand in no need of any thing that men do to
recommend them to his saving mercy, yet it would reflect much on the glory of
God's wisdom and holiness, to bestow salvation on men in such a way as tends to
encourage them in sloth and wickedness; or in any other way than that which
tends to promote diligence and holiness. Man was made capable of action, with
many powers of both body and mind fitting him for it. He was made for business
and not idleness and the main business for which he was made, was that of
religion. Therefore it becomes the wisdom of God to bestow salvation and
happiness on man in such a way as tends most to promote his end in this
respect, and, to stir him up to a diligent use of his faculties and talents.
It becomes the wisdom of God so to order it,
that things of great value and importance should not be obtained without great
labor and diligence. Much human learning and great moral accomplishments are
not to be obtained without care and labor. It is wisely so ordered, in order to
maintain in man a due sense of the value of those things which are excellent.
If great things were in common easily obtained, it would have a tendency to
cause men to slight and undervalue them. Men commonly despise those things
which are cheap, and which are obtained without difficulty.
Although the work of obedience performed by
men, be not necessary in order to merit salvation; yet it is necessary in order
to their being prepared for it. Men cannot be prepared for salvation without
seeking it in such a way as hath been described. This is necessary in order
that they have a proper sense of their own necessities, and unworthiness; and
in order that they be prepared and disposed to prize salvation when bestowed,
and be properly thankful to God for it. The requisition of so great a work in
order to our salvation is no way inconsistent with the freedom of the offer of
salvation; as after all it is both offered and bestowed without any respect to
our work, as the price or meritorious cause of our salvation, as I have already
explained. Besides, salvation bestowed in this way is better for us, more for
our advantage and happiness both in this and the future world, than if it were
given without this requisition.
II. Proposition. This work or business,
which must be done in order to the salvation of men, is a great undertaking. It
often appears so to men upon whom it is urged. Utterly to break off from all
their sins, and to give up themselves forever to the business of religion,
without making a reserve of any one lust, submitting to and complying with
every command of God, in all cases, and persevering therein, appears to many so
great a thing, that they are in vain urged to undertake it. In so doing it
seems to them, that they should give up themselves to a perpetual bondage. The
greater part of men therefore choose to put it off, and keep it at as great a
distance as they can. They cannot bear to think of entering immediately on such
a hard service, and rather than do it, they will run the risk of eternal
damnation, by putting it off to an uncertain future opportunity.
Although the business of religion is far
from really being as it appears to such men, or the devil will be sure, if he
can, to represent it in false colors to sinners, and make it appear as black
and as terrible as he can; yet it is indeed a great business, a great
undertaking, and it is fit that all who are urged to it should count the cost
beforehand, and be sensible of the difficulty attending it. For though the
devil discourages many from this undertaking, by representing it to be more
difficult than it really is; yet with others he takes a contrary course and
flatters them it is a very easy thing, a trivial business, which may be done at
any time when they please, and so emboldens them to defer it from that
consideration. But let none conceive any other notion of that business of
religion, which is absolutely necessary to their salvation, than that it is a
great undertaking. It is so on the following accounts.
1. It is a business of great labor and care.
There are many commands to be obeyed, many duties to be done, duties to God,
duties to our neighbor, and duties, to ourselves. There is much opposition in
the way of these duties from without. There is a subtle and powerful adversary
laying all manner of blocks in the way. There are innumerable temptations of
Satan to be resisted and repelled. There is great opposition from the world,
innumerable snares laid, on every side, many rocks and mountains to be passed
over, many streams to be passed through, and many flatteries and enticements
from a vain world to be resisted. There is a great opposition from within; a
dull and sluggish heart, which is exceedingly averse from that activity in
religion which is necessary; a carnal heart, which is averse from religion and
spiritual exercises, and continually drawing the contrary way; and a proud and
a deceitful heart, in which corruption will be exerting itself in all manner of
ways. So that nothing can be done to any effect without a most strict and
careful watch, great labor and strife.
2. It is a constant in business.-In that
business which requires great labor, men love now and then to have a space of
relaxation, that they may rest from their extraordinary labor. But this is a
business which must be followed every day. Luke ix. 23, " If any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow
me." We must never give ourselves any relaxation from this business; it
must be continually prosecuted day after day. If sometimes we make a great stir
and bustle concerning religion, but then lay all aside to take our ease, and do
so from time to time, it will be of no good effect; we had even as good do
nothing at all. The business of religion so followed is never like to come to
any good issue, nor is the work ever like to be accomplished to any good
purpose.
3. It is a great undertaking, as it is an
undertaking of great expense.-We must, therein sell all: we must follow this
business at the expense of all our unlawful pleasures and delights, at the
expense of our carnal ease, often at the expense of our substance, of our
credit among men, the good will of our neighbors, at the expense of all our
earthly friends, and even at the expense of life itself. Herein it is like
Noah's undertaking to build the ark, which, as hath been shown was a costly
undertaking: it was expensive to his reputation among men, exposing him to be
the continual laughing-stock of all his neighbors and of the whole world: and
it was expensive to his estate, and probably cost him all that he had.
4. Sometimes the fear, trouble, and exercise
of mind, which are undergone respecting this business, and the salvation of the
soul, are great and long continued, before any comfort is obtained. Sometimes
persons in this situation labor long in the dark, and sometimes, as it were, in
the very fire, they having great distress of conscience, great fears, and many
perplexing temptations, before they obtain light and comfort to make their care
and labor more easy to them. They sometimes earnestly, and for a long time,
seek comfort, but find it not, because they seek it not in a right manner, nor
in the right objects. God therefore hides his face. They cry, but God doth not
answer their prayers. They strive, but all seems in vain. They seem to
themselves not at all to get forward, or nearer to a deliverance from sin: but
to go backward, rather than forward. They see no glimmerings of light: things
rather appear darker and darker. Insomuch that they are often ready to be
discouraged, and to sink under the weight of their present distress, and under
the prospect of future misery. In this situation, and under these views, some
are almost driven to despair. Many, after they have obtained some saving
comfort, are again involved in darkness and trouble. It is with them as it was
with the Christian Hebrews, Heb. 10:32, "After ye were illuminated ye
endured a great fight of afflictions. Some through a melancholy habit and
distemper of body, together with Satan's temptations, spend a great part of
their lives in distress and darkness, even after they have had some saving
comfort.
5. It is a business which, by reason of the
many difficulties, snares, and dangers that attend it, requires much
instruction, consideration, and counsel. There is no business wherein men stand
in need of counsel more than in this. It is a difficult undertaking, a hard
matter to proceed aright in it. There are ten thousand wrong ways, which men
may take; there are many labyrinths wherein many poor souls are entangled and
never find the way out ; there are many rocks on which thousands of souls have
suffered shipwreck, for want of, having steered aright.
Men of themselves know not how to proceed in
this business, any more than the children of Israel in the wilderness knew
where to go without the guidance, of the pillar of cloud and fire. There is
great need that they search the Scriptures, and give diligent heed to the
instructions and directions contained in them, as to a light shining in a dark
place and that they ask counsel of those skilled in these matters. And there is
no business in which men have so much need of seeking to God by prayer, for his
counsel, and that he would lead them in the right way, and show them the strait
gate. " For strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it;" yea, there are none that find it
without direction from heaven. The building of the ark was a work of great
difficulty on this account, that Noah's wisdom was not sufficient to direct him
how to make such a building as should be a sufficient security against such a
flood, and which should be a convenient dwelling-place for himself, his family,
and all the various kinds of beasts and birds, and creeping things. Nor could
he ever have known how to construct this building, had not God directed him.
6. This business never ends till life ends.
They that undertake this laborious, careful, expensive, self-denying business,
must not expect to rest from their labors, till death shall have put an end to
them. The long continuance of the work which Noah undertook was what especially
made it a great undertaking. This also was what made the travel of the children
of Israel through the wilderness appear so great to them, that it was continued
for so long a time. Their spirits failed, they were discouraged, and had not a
heart to go through with so great an undertaking. But such is this business
that it runs parallel with life, whether it be longer or shorter. Although we
should live to a great age, our race and warfare will not be finished till
death shall come. We must not expect that an end will be put to our labor, and
care, and strife, by any hope of a good estate which we may obtain. Past
attainments and past success will not excuse us from what remains for the
future, nor will they make future constant labor and care unnecessary to our
salvation.
III. Men should be willing to engage in and
go through this business, however great and difficult it may seem to them,
seeing it is for their own salvation. Because,
1. A deluge of wrath will surely come. The
inhabitants of the old world would not believe that there would come such a
flood of waters upon the earth as that of which Noah told them, though he told
them often; neither would they take any care to avoid the destruction. Yet such
a deluge did come; nothing of all those things of which Noah had forewarned
them, failed.
So there will surely come a more dreadful deluge of divine wrath on this wicked
world. We are often forewarned of it in the Scriptures, and the world, as then,
doth not believe any such thing. Yet the threatening will as certainly be
accomplished, as the threatening denounced against the old world. A day of
wrath is coming; it will come at its appointed season; it will not tarry, it
shall not be delayed one moment beyond its appointed time.
2. All such as do not seasonably undertake
and go through the great work mentioned will surely be swallowed up in this
deluge. When the floods of wrath shall come, they will universally overwhelm
the wicked world: all such as shall not have taken care to prepare an ark, will
surely be swallowed up in it; they will find no other way of escape. In vain
shall salvation be expected from the hills, and from the multitude of
mountains; for the flood shall be above the tops of all the mountains. Or if
they shall hide themselves in the caves and dens of the mountains, there the
waters of the flood will find them out, and there shall they miserably perish.
As those of the old world who were not in the ark perished, Gen. 7:21, 23, so
all who shall not have secured to themselves a place in the spiritual ark of
the gospel, shall perish much more miserably than the old world. Doubtless the
inhabitants of the old world had many contrivances to save themselves. Some, we
may suppose, ascended to the tops of their houses, being driven out of one
story to another, till at last they perished. Others climbed to the tops of
high towers; who yet were washed thence by the boisterous waves of the rising
flood. Some climbed to the tops of trees; others to the tops of mountains, and
especially of the highest mountains. But all was in vain; the flood sooner or
later swallowed them all up; only Noah and his family, who had taken care to
prepare an ark, remained alive. So it will doubtless be at the end of the
world, when Christ shall dome to judge the world in righteousness. Some, when
they shall look up and see him coming in the clouds of heaven, shall hide
themselves in closets, and secret places in their houses. Others flying to the
caves and dens of the earth, shall attempt to hide themselves there. Others
shall call upon the rocks and mountains to fall on them, and cover them from
the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.-So
it will be after the sentence is pronounced, and wicked men see that terrible fire
coming, which is to burn this world forever, and which will be a deluge of
fire, and will burn the earth even to the bottoms of the mountains, and to its
very centre. Deut. 32:22, "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall
burn to the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set
on fire the foundations of the mountains." I say, when the wicked shall,
after the sentence, see this great fire beginning to kindle, and to take hold
of this earth; there will be many contrivances devised by them to escape, some
flying to caves and holes in the earth, some hiding themselves in one place,
and some in another. But let them hide themselves where they will, or let them
do what they will, it will be utterly in vain. Every cave shall burn as an
oven, the rocks and mountains shall melt with fervent heat, and if they could
creep down to the very centre of the earth, still the heat would follow them,
and rage with as much vehemence there, as on the very surface.
So when wicked men, who neglect their great
work in their lifetime, who are not willing to go through the difficulty and
labor of this work, draw near to death, they sometimes do many things to escape
death, and put forth many endeavors to lengthen out their lives at least a
little longer. For this end, they send for physicians, and perhaps many are
consulted, and their prescriptions are punctually observed. They also use many
endeavors to save their souls from hell. They cry to God;. they confess their
past sins; they promise future reformation; and, Oh what would they not give
for some small addition to their lives, or some hope of future happiness! But
all proves in vain: God hath numbered their days and finished them; and as they
have sinned away the day of grace, they must even bear the consequence, and
forever lie down in sorrow.
3. The destruction, when it shall come, will
be infinitely terrible. The destruction of the old world by the flood was
terrible; but that eternal destruction which is coming on the wicked is
infinitely more so. That flood of waters was but an image of this awful flood
of divine vengeance. When the waters poured down, more like spouts or
cataracts, or the fall of a great river, than like rain; what an awful
appearance was there of the wrath of God! This however but an image of that
terrible outpouring of the wrath of God which shall be forever, yea forever and
ever, on wicked men. And when the fountains of the great deep were broken up,
and the waters burst forth out of the ground though they had issued out of the
womb (Job38:8), this was an image of the mighty breakings forth of God's wrath,
which shall be, when the flood gates of wrath shall be drawn up. How may we
suppose that the wicked of the old world repented that they had not hearkened
to the warnings which Noah had given them, when they saw these dreadful things,
and saw that they must perish! How much more will you repent your refusing to
hearken to the gracious warnings of the gospel, when you shall see the fire of
God's wrath against you, pouring down from heaven, and bursting on all sides
out of bowels of the earth!
4. Though the work which is necessary in
order to man's salvation be a great work, yet it is not impossible. What was
required of Noah, doubtless appeared a very great and difficult undertaking.
Yet he undertook it with resolution, and he was carried through it. So if we
undertake this work with the same good will and resolution, we shall
undoubtedly be successful. However difficult it be, yet multitudes have gone
through it, and have obtained salvation by the means. It is not a work beyond
the faculties of our nature, nor beyond the opportunities which God giveth us.
If men will but take warning, and hearken to counsel, if they will but be
sincere and in good earnest, be seasonable in their work, take their
opportunities, use their advantages be steadfast, and not wavering; they shall
not fail.
APPLICATION.
The use I would make of this doctrine, is to
exhort all to undertake and go through this great work, which they have to do
in order to their salvation, and this let the work seem ever so great and
difficult. If your nature be averse to it, and there seems to be very frightful
things in the way, so that your heart is ready to fail at the prospect; yet
seriously consider what has been said, and act a wise part. Seeing it is for
yourselves, for your own salvation; seeing it is for so great a salvation, for
your deliverance from eternal destruction; and seeing it is of such absolute
necessity in order to your salvation, that the deluge of divine wrath will
come, and there will be no escaping it without preparing an ark; is it not best
for you to undertake the work, engage in it with your might, and go through it,
though this cannot be done without great labor, care, and difficulty, and
expense?
I would by no means flatter you concerning this work, or go about to make you
believe, that you shall find an easy light business of it: no, I would not have
you expect any such thing. I would have you sit down and count the cost; and if
you cannot find it in your hearts to engage in a great, hard, laborious, and
expensive undertaking, and to persevere in it to the end of life, pretend not
to be religious. Indulge yourselves in your ease; follow your pleasures; eat,
drink, and be merry; even conclude to go to hell in that way, and never make
any more pretenses of seeking your salvation. Here consider several things in
particular.
1. How often you have been warned of the approaching flood of God's wrath. How
frequently you have been told of hell, heard the threatenings of the word of
God set before you, and been warned to flee from the wrath to come. It is with
you as it was with the inhabitants of the old world. Noah warned them
abundantly of the approaching flood, and counseled them to take care for their
safety, 1 Pet. 3:19, 20. Noah warned them in words; and he preached to them. He
warned them also in his actions. His building the ark, which took him so long a
time, and in which he employed so many hands, was a standing warning to them.
All the blows of the hammer and axe, during the progress of that building, were
so many calls and warnings to the old world, to take care for their
preservation from the approaching destruction. Every knock of the workmen was a
knock of Jesus Christ at the door of their hearts: but they would not hearken.
All these warnings, though repeated every day, and continued for so long a
time, availed nothing.
Now, is it not much so with you, as it was
with them? How often have you been warned! How have you heard the warning
knocks of the gospel, Sabbath after Sabbath, for these many years! Yet how have
some of you no more regarded them than the inhabitants of the old world
regarded the noise of the workmen's tools in Noah's ark!
Objection. But here possibly it may be
objected by some, that though it be true they have often been told of hell, yet
they never saw any thing of it, and therefore they cannot realize it that there
is any such place. They have often heard of hell, and are told that wicked men,
when they die, go to a most dreadful place of torment; that hereafter there
will be a day of judgment, and that the world will be consumed by fire. But how
do they know that it is really so? How do they know what becomes of those
wicked men that die? None of them come back to tell them. They have nothing to
depend on but the word which they hear. And how do they know that all is not a
cunningly-devised fable?
Answer. The sinners of the old world had the
very same objection against what Noah told them of a flood about to drown the
world. Yet the bare word of God proved to be sufficient evidence that such a
thing was coming. What was the reason that none of the many millions then upon
earth believed what Noah said, but this, that it was a strange thing, that no
such thing had ever before been known? And what a strange story must that of
Noah have appeared to them, wherein he told them of a deluge of waters above
the tops of the mountains! Therefore it. is said, Heb. 11:7, that "Noah
was warned of God of things not seen as yet." It is probable, none could
conceive how it could be that the whole world should be drowned in a flood of
waters; and all were ready to ask, where there was water enough for it; and by
what means it should be brought upon the earth. Noah did not tell them how it
should be brought to pass; he only told them that God had said that it should
be: and that proved to be enough. The event showed their folly in not depending
on the mere word of God, who was able, who knew how to bring it to pass, and
who could not lie.
In like manner the word of God will prove
true, in threatening a flood of eternal wrath to overwhelm all the wicked. You
will believe it when the event shall prove it, when it shall be too late to
profit by the belief. The word of God will never fail; nothing is so sure as
that: heaven and earth shall pass away, but the word of God shall not pass
away. It is firmer than mountains of brass. At the end, the vision will speak
and not lie. The decree shall bring forth, and all wicked men shall know that
God is the Lord, that he is a God of truth, and that they are fools who will
not depend on his word. The wicked of the old world counted Noah a fool for
depending so much on the word of God, as to put himself to all the fatigue and
expense of building the ark; but the event showed that they themselves were the
fools, and that he was wise.
2. Consider that the Spirit of God will not
always strive with you; nor will his long suffering always wait upon you. So
God said concerning the inhabitants of the old world, Gen. 4:3 "My Spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall
be a hundred and twenty years." All this while God was striving with them.
It was a day of grace with them, and God's long-suffering all this while waited
upon them: 1 Peter 3:20, "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the
long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a
preparing." All this while they had an opportunity to escape, if they
would but hearken and believe God. Even after the ark was finished, which seems
to have been but little before the flood came, still there was an opportunity;
the door of the ark stood open for some time. There was some time during which
Noah was employed in laying up stores in the ark. Even then it was not too late;
the door of the ark yet stood open.-About a week before the flood came, Noah
was commanded to begin to gather in the beasts and birds. During this last week
still the door of the ark stood open. But on the very day that the flood began
to come, while the rain was yet withheld, Noah and his wife, his three sons,
and their wives, went into the ark; and we are told, Gen. 7:16, that "God
shut him in. Then the day of God's patience was past; the door of the ark was
shut; God himself, who shuts and no man opens, shut the door. Then all hope of
their escaping the flood was past; it was too late to repent that they had not
hearkened to Noah's warnings, and had not entered into the ark while the door
stood open.
After Noah and his family had entered into
the ark, and God had shut them in, after the windows of heaven were opened, and
they saw how the waters were poured down out of heaven, we may suppose that
many of those who were near came running to the door of the ark, knocking, and
crying most piteously for entrance. But it was too late; God himself had shut
the door, and Noah had no license, and probably no power, to open it. We may
suppose, they stood knocking and calling, Open to us, open to us; O let us in;
we beg that we may be let in. And probably some of them pleaded old
acquaintance with Noah; that they had always been his neighbors, and had even
helped him to build the ark. But all was in vain. There they stood till the
waters of the flood came, and without mercy swept them away from the door of
the ark.
So it will be with you, if you continue to
refuse to hearken to the warnings which are given you. Now God is striving with
you; now he is warning you of the approaching flood, and calling upon you
Sabbath after Sabbath. Now the door of the ark stands open. But God's Spirit
will not always strive with you; his long-suffering will not always wait upon
you. There is an appointed day of God's patience, which is as certainly limited
as it was to the old world. God hath set your bounds, which you cannot pass. Though
now warnings are continued in plenty, yet there will be last knocks and last
calls, the last that ever you shall hear. When the appointed time shall be
elapsed, God will shut the door, and you shall never see it open again; for God
shutteth, and no man openeth.-If you improve not your opportunity before that
time, you will cry in vain, "Lord, Lord, open to us," Matt. 25:11,
and Luke 23:25, &c. While you shall stand at the door with your piteous
cries, the flood of God's wrath will come upon you, overwhelm you, and you
shall not escape. The tempest shall carry you away without mercy, and you shall
be forever swallowed up and lost.
3. Consider how mighty the billows of divine
wrath will be when they shall come. The waters of Noah's flood were very great.
The deluge was vast; it was very deep; the billows reached fifteen cubits above
the highest mountains; and it was an ocean which had no shore; signifying the
greatness of that wrath which is coming on wicked men in another world, which
will be like a mighty flood of waters overwhelming them, and rising vastly high
over their heads, with billows reaching to the very heavens. Those billows will
be higher and heavier than mountains on their poor souls. The wrath of God will
be an ocean without shores, as Noah's flood was: it will be misery that will
have no end. The misery of the damned in hell can be better represented by
nothing, than by a deluge of misery, a mighty deluge of wrath, which will be
ten thousand times worse than a deluge of waters; for it will be a deluge of
liquid fire, as in the Scriptures it is called a lake of fire and brimstone.-At
the end of the world all the wicked shall be swallowed up in a vast deluge of
fire, which shall be as great and as mighty as Noah's deluge of water. See 2
Pet. 3:5, 6, 7. After that the wicked will have mighty billows of fire and
brimstone eternally rolling over their poor souls, and their miserable
tormented bodies. Those billows may be called vast liquid mountains of fire and
brimstone. And when one billow shall have gone over their heads, another shall
follow, without intermission, giving them no rest day nor night to all
eternity.
4. This flood of wrath will probably come
upon you suddenly, when you all think little of it, and it shall seem far from
you. So the flood came upon the old world. See Matt. 24:36, &c. Probably
many of them were surprised in the night by the waters bursting suddenly in at
their doors, or under the foundations of their houses, coming in upon them in
their beds. For when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, the
waters, as observed before, burst forth in mighty torrents. To such a sudden
surprise of the wicked of the old world in the night, probably that alludes in
Job 27:20, "Terrors take hold on him as waters; a tempest stealeth him
away in the night." So destruction is wont to come on wicked men, who hear
many warnings of approaching destruction, and yet will not be influenced by
them. For "he that is often reproved, and hardeneth his neck, shall
suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy," Prov. xxix. 1. And
"when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh
upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape,"
1 Thess. 5:3.
5. If you will not hearken to the many
warnings which are given you of approaching destruction, you will be guilty of
more than brutish madness. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's
crib." They know upon whom they are dependent, and whom they must obey,
and act accordingly. But you, so long as you neglect your own salvation, act as
if you knew not God, your Creator and Proprietor, nor your dependence upon him.
The very beasts, when they see signs of an approaching storm, will betake
themselves to their dens for shelter. Yet you, when abundantly warned of the
approaching storm of divine vengeance, will not fly to the hiding-place from
the storm, and the covert from the tempest. The sparrow, the swallow, and other
birds, when they are forewarned of approaching winter, will betake themselves
to a safer climate. Yet you who have been often forewarned of the piercing
blasts of divine wrath, will not, in order to escape them, enter into the New
Jerusalem, of most mild and salubrious air, though the gate stands wide open to
receive you. The very ants will be diligent in summer to lay up for winter: yet
you will do nothing to lay up in store a good foundation against the time to
come. Balaam's ass would not run upon a drawn sword, though his master, for the
sake of gain, would expose himself to the sword of God's wrath; and so God made
the dumb ass, both in words and actions, to rebuke the madness of the prophet,
1 Pet. ii. 16. In like manner, you, although you have been oft warned that the
sword of God's wrath is drawn against you, and will certainly be thrust through
you, if you proceed in your present course, still proceed, regardless of the
consequence.
So God made the very beasts and birds of the
old world to rebuke the madness of the men of that day: for they, even all
sorts of them, fled to the ark while the door was yet open: which the men of
that day refused to do; God hereby, thus signifying, that their folly was
greater than that of the very brute creatures.-Such folly and madness are you
guilty of; who refuse to hearken to the warnings that are given you of the
approaching flood of the wrath of God.
You have been once more warned to-day, while
the door of the ark yet stands open. You have, as it were, once again heard the
knocks of the hammer and axe in the building of the ark, to put you in mind
that a flood is approaching. Take heed therefore that you do not still stop
your ears, treat these warnings with a regardless heart, and still neglect the
great work which you have to do lest the flood of wrath suddenly come upon you,
sweep you away, and there be no remedy.