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40 - Christian Perfection, Part 1 - Sermons on Several Occasions · Sacred Texts Archive

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Christian perfection Part one. Not as though I had already attained either were already
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perfect Philippians three twelve. There is scarce any expression and holy writ which is
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given more offense than this. The word perfect is what many cannot bear the
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very sound of It's an abomination to them. And whosoever preaches perfection as the
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phrase is that is, asserts that it is attainable in this life runs great
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hazard of being accounted by them worse than a heathen man or a publican.
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And hence some have advised wholly to lay aside the use of those expressions,
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because they have given so great offense. But are they not found in the
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oracles of God? If so, by what authority can any messenger of God
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lay them aside? Even though all men should be offended, We have not
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so learned Christ. Neither may we thus give place to the devil. Whatsoever
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God hath spoken, that will we speak, whether men will hear, whether
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they will forbear? Knowing that, then alone can any minister of Christ be
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pure from the blood of all men? When he hath not shunned to declare
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unto them all the counsel of God. We may not therefore lay these expressions
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aside, seeing they are the words of God and not of man. But
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we may and ought to explain the meaning of them, that those who are
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sincere of heart may not err to the right hand or to the left from
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the mark of the prize of their high calling. And this is the more
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needful to be done, because in the verse already repeated, the apostle speaks
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of himself as not perfect, not saith he as though I were already perfect.
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And yet immediately after, in the fifteenth verse he speaks of himself yea
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and many others as perfect. Let us saith he, as many as be
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perfect, be thus minded. In order therefore to remove the difficulty arising from
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this seeming contradiction, as well as to give light to them who are pressing
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forward to the mark, and that those who are lame may not be turned
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out of the way, I shall endeavor to show first in what sense Christians
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are not and secondly in what sense they are perfect. In the first place,
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I shall endeavor to show in what sense Christians are not perfect. And
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both from experience and scripture, it appears first that they are not perfect in
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knowledge. They are not so perfect in this life as to be free from
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ignorance. They know it may be in common with other men many things relating
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to the present world. And they know with regard to the world to come,
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the general truth which God hath revealed. They know likewise what the natural
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man receiveth not, for these things are spiritually discerned. What manner of love
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it is? Wherewith the Father hath loved them that they should be called the
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sons of God. They know the mighty working of His Spirit in their hearts,
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and the wisdom of His providence, directing all their paths and causing all
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things to work together for their good. Yea, they know in every circumstance
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of life what the Lord requireth of them, and how to keep a conscience
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void of offense, both toward God and toward man. But innumerable are the
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things which they know. Not touching the Almighty himself, they cannot search him
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out to perfection. Lo, these are but a part of His ways,
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But the thunder of His power. Who can understand they can understand. I
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will not say how there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
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the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In these three are one,
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or how the eternal Son of God took upon himself the form of a servant.
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But not any one attribute, not any one circumstances of the divine nature.
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Neither it is for them to know the times and seasons when God will
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work his great works upon the earth. No, not even those which He
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hath in part revealed by his servants and prophets since the world began. Much
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less do they know when God, having accomplished the number of his elect,
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will hasten his kingdom, when the heaven shall pass away with a great noise,
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and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. They know not the reasons
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even of many of His present dispensations with the sons of men. But they
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are constrained to rest here, though cloud and darkness around about him, righteousness
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and judgment, or the habitation of his seat. He often with regard to
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his dealings with themselves, doth their Lord say unto them, what I do
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Thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter? And how little do
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they know of what is ever before them, of even the visible works of
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his hands. How he spreadeth the north of the empty place, and hangeth
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the earth upon nothing, How he unites all the parts of this vast machine
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by a secret chain which cannot be broken. So great is the ignorance,
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so very little the knowledge of even the best of men. No one,
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then, is so perfect in this life as to be free from ignorance,
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nor secondly from mistake, which indeed is almost an unavoidable consequence of it.
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Seeing those who know but in part are ever liable to e'er touching the things
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which they know not. It is true the children of God do not mistake
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as to the things essential to salvation. They do not put darkness for light
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or light for darkness, neither seek death in the error of their life.
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For they are taught of God, and the way which he teaches them,
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the way of holiness, is so plain that the wayfaring man nor a fool
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need not err therein. But in things unessential to salvation they do air,
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And that frequently the best and wisest of men are frequently mistaken, even with
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regard to facts, believing those things not to have been which really were,
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are those who have been done which were not, Or suppose they are not
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mistaken as to the fact itself, they may be with regard to its circumstances,
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believing them, or many of them, to have been quite different from
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what in truth they were, and hence cannot but arise many farther mistakes.
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Hence, they may believe either powers or present actions which were or are evil
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to be good, and such as were or are good to be evil.
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Hence, also they may judge not according to truth with regard to the characters
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of men, and that not only by supposing good men to be better,
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or wicked men to be worse than they are, but by believing them to
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have been or to be good, men who were or are very wicked,
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or perhaps those who have been or to be wicked, men who were or
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are holy and unreprovable. Nay, with regard to the holy scriptures themselves,
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as careful as they are to avoid it, the best of men are liable
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to mistake and do mistake day by day, especially with respect to those parts
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thereof which thus immediately relate to practice. Hence, even the children of God
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are not agreed as to the interpretation of many places in holy writ. Nor
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is there difference of opinion any proof that they are not the children of God
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and either side. But it is a proof that we are no more to
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expect any living man to be infallible than to be omniscient. If it be
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objected to what has been observed under this in the preceding head, that Saint
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John, speaking to his brethren in the faith, says, ye have an
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unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things first John two twenty.
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The answer is plain, ye know all things that are needful for your
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soul's health. That the Apostle never designed to extend this farther, that he
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could not speak it in an absolute sense, is clear first, and hence
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that otherwise he would describe the disciple as above his master. Seeing Christ himself
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as man knew not all things of that hour, saith he knoweth no man,
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no, not the Son, but the Father only. It is clear
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secondly from the Apostle's own words that follow these things have I written und you
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concerning them that deceive you, as well as from his frequently repeated caution let
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no man deceive you, which had been altogether needless. Had not those very
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persons who had that unction from the Holy One been liable not to ignorance only,
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but to mistake also? Even Christians therefore are not so perfect as to
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be free either from ignorance or error. We may thirdly add nor from infirmities.
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Only let us take care to understand this word aright. Only let us
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not give that soft title to known sins, as the manner of some is
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so. One man tells us every man has his infirmity, and mine is
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drunkenness. Another has the infirmity of uncleanness, another of taking God's holy name
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in vain, and yet another has the infirmity of calling as brother thou fool,
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or returning railing for railing. It is plain that, oh, you
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who thus speak, if ye repent, not shall with your infirmities go quick
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into hell. But I mean hereby not only those which are properly termed bodily
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infirmities, but all those inward or outward imperfections which are not of a moral
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nature, such the weakness or slowness of understanding, dulness or confusedness of apprehension
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and coherency of thought, irregular quickness or heaviness of imagination, such to mention.
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No more of this kind is the want of a ready or of a
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retentative memory. Such in another kind are those which are commonly in some measure
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consequent upon these, namely slowness of speech, impropriety of language, ungracefulness of
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pronunciation, to which one might add a thousand nameless defects, either in conversation
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or behavior. These are the infirmities which are found in the best of men,
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in a larger or smaller proportion. And from these none can hope to
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be perfectly freed till the spirit returns to God that gave it, Nor can
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we expect till then to be wholly free from temptation. Such perfection belongeth not
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to this life. It is true there are those who, being given up
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to work all uncleanness, with greediness scarce, perceive the temptations which they resist
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not, and so seem to be without temptation. There are also many whom
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the wise enemy of souls, seeing to be fast asleep and the dead form
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of Godliness, will not tempt to grow sin, lest they should awake before
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they drop into everlasting burnings. I know there are also children of God who,
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being now justified freely, having found redemption in the blood of Crist for
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the present, feel no temptation. God hath said to their enemies, touch
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not mine anointed, and do my children no harm. And for this season
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it may be for weeks or months, he causeth them to ride on high
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places. He beareth them as on eagle's wings, above all the fiery darts
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of the wicked one. But this state will not last always, as we
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may learn from that single consideration, that the Son of God himself, in
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the days of his flesh, was tempted even to the end of his life.
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Therefore, so let his servant expect to be, for it is enough
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that he be as his master. Christian perfection therefore does not imply, as
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some men seem to have imagined, an exemption, either from ignorance or mistake,
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or infirmities or temptations. Indeed, it is only another term for holiness.
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There are two names for the same thing. Thus, every one that
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is perfect is holy, and every one that is holy is in the scripture
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sense perfect. Yet we may lastly observe that neither in this respect is there
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any absolute perfection on earth. There is no perfection of degrees, as it
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is termed, none, which does not admit of a continual increase, so
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that how much soever any man hath attained, or in how high a degree
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soever he is perfect, he hath still need to grow in grace and daily
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to advance in the knowledge and love of God his Savior. In what sense,
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then, are Christians perfect? This is what I shall endeavor in the
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second place to show. But it should be premised that there are several stages
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in Christian life, as in natural some of the children of God being but
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new born babes, others having attained to more maturity. And accordingly, Saint
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John, in his first epistle First John two twelve applies himself severally to those
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he terms little children, those whom he styles young men, and those whom
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he entitles fathers. I write unto you, little children, saith the apostle,
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because your sins are forgiven you, because thus far you have attained,
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being justified freely you have peace with God through Jesus Christ. I write unto
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you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one, or as
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he afterwards addeth, because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth
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in you. Ye have quenched the fiery darts for the wicked one, the
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doubts and fears, wherewith he disturbed your first peace and the witness of God.
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That your sins are forgiven. Now abideth in your heart. I write
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unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him. That is from the
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beginning. Ye have known both the Father and the Son, and the Spirit
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of Christ in your inmost soul, Ye are perfect men, being grown up
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to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. It is of
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these chiefly I speak in the latter part of this discourse, for these only
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are properly Christians. But even babes in Christ are in such a sense perfect,
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are born of God, an expression taken also in divers senses as first,
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not to commit sin, if any doubt of this privilege of the sons
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of God. The question is not to be decided by abstract reasonings, which
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may be drawn out into an endless length and leave the point just as it
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was before. Neither is it to be determined by the experience of this or
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that particular person. Many may suppose they do not commit sin when they do,
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but this proves nothing either way. To the law and to the testimony
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we appeal. Let God be true in every man a liar by his word
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will we abide, and that alone hereby we ought to be judged. Now
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the word of God plainly declares that even those who are justified, who are
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born again in the lowest sense, do not continue in sin, that they
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cannot live any longer. Therein Romans six verses one and two, that they
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are planted together in the lightness of the death of Christ. Roman six five.
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That their old man is crucified with him, the body of sin being
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destroyed. That henceforth they do not serve sin, That being dead with Christ,
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they are free from sin. Romans six, six and seven. That
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they are dead unto sin and alive unto God. Romans six eleven. That
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sin hath no more dominion over them who are not under the law but under
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grace, but that these, being free from sin, are become the servants
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of righteousness Romans six, fourteen and eighteen. The very least which can be
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implied in these words is that the persons spoken of therein, namely, all
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real Christians or believers in Christ, are made free from outward sin, and
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the same freedom which Saint Paul here expresses in such variety of phrases. Saint
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Peter expresses in that one first Peter four one and two. He that hath
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suffered in the flesh, hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should
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live to the desires of men, but to the will of God. For
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this ceasing from sin, if it be interpreted in the lowest sense as regarding
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only the outward behavior, must denote the ceasing from the outward act, from
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any outward transgression of the law. But most expressed are the well known words
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of Saint John in the third chapter of his First Epistle, verse eight.
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He that committeth a sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from
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the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he
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might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not
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commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because
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he is born of God. And those in the fifth verse John five eighteen,
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we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. But he that
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is begotten of God keepeth himself, and the wicked one toucheth him not.
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Indeed, it is said this means only he sinneth not wilfully, or he
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doth not commit sin habitually, or not as other men do, or not
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as he did before. But by whom is this said by Saint John.
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No, there is no such word in the text, nor in the whole
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chapter, nor in all his epistle, nor in any part of his writings
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whatsoever. Why then, the best way to answer a bold assertion is simply
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to deny it. If any man can prove it from the Word of God,
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let him bring forth his strong reasons. And a sort of reason there
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is which has been frequently brought to support these strange assertions drawn from the examples
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recorded in the Word of God. What say they did not Abraham himself commit
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sin prevaricating and denying his wife. Did not Moses commit sin when he provoked
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God of the waters of strife, nay, to produce one for all?
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Did not even David, the man after God's own heart, commit sin in
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the matter of Uriah the Hittite, even murder and adultery. It is most
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sure he did. All this is true. But what is it you would
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infer from? Hence? It may be granted, first that David, in
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the general course of his life, is one of the holiest men among the
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Jews, and secondly that the holiest men among the Jews did sometimes commit sin.
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But if you would hence infer that all Christians do and must commit sin
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as long as they live. This consequence we utterly deny it will never follow
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from those premises. Those who argue thus seem never to have considered the declaration
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of Our Lord Matthew eleven eleven. Verily, I say unto you, among
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them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John
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the Baptist. Notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater
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than he. I fear. Indeed, there are some who have imagined the
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Kingdom of Heaven here to mean the kingdom of glory, as if the Son
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of God had just discovered to us that the least glorified saint in Heaven is
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greater than any man upon earth. To mention this is sufficiently to refute it.
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There can therefore no doubt be made but the Kingdom of Heaven here as
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in the following verse, where it is said to be taken by force,
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or the Kingdom of God, as Saint Luke expresses, it is that Kingdom
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of God on earth, where unto all true believers in Christ, all real
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Christians belong. In these words, then our Lord declares two things. First,
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that before his coming in the flesh, among all the children of men,
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there had not been one greater than John the Baptist. Whence it evidently
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follows neither Abraham, David, nor any Jew was greater than John. Our
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Lord secondly declares that he which is least in the Kingdom of God, in
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that kingdom which He came to set up on earth, in which the violet
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now began to take by force, is greater than he. Not a greater
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prophet, as some have interpreted the word. This is probably false in fact,
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but greater in the grace of God and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
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Christ. Therefore, we cannot measure the privileges of real Christians by those formerly
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given to the Jews. Their ministration or dispensation we allow was glorious, but
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ours exceeds in glory. That whosoever would bring down the Christian dispensation to the
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Jewish standard, whoever gleans up the examples of weakness recorded in the Law and
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the prophets, and thence infers that they who have put on Christ are endued
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with no greater strength, doth greatly err neither knowing the scriptures nor the power
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of God. But are there not assertions in scripture which prove the same thing,
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if it cannot be inferred from those examples. Does not the scripture say
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expressly, even a just man sin is seven times a day? I answer
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no, The scripture says no such thing. There is no such text in
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all the Bible. That which seems to be intended is the sixteenth verse the
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twenty fourth chapter of the Proverbs, the words of which are these, A
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just man falleth seven times and riseth up again. But this is quite another
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thing. For first, the words a day are not in the text,
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so that if a just man falls seven times in his life, it is
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as much as is affirmed here. Secondly, here is no mention of falling
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into sin at all. What is you're mentioned is falling into temporal affliction.
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This plainly appears from the verse before the words of which these lay. Not
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wait a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous spoil not his resting place.
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It follows, for a just man falls seven times and riseth up again.
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But the wicked shall fall into mischief, as if he had said,
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God will deliver him out of his trouble. But when thou fallest there shall
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be none to deliver thee But however, in other places continued the objectors.
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Solomon does assert plainly, there is no man that sinneth not First Kings eight
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forty six I can Chronicle six thirty six. Yea, there is not a
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just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Ecclesiastes seven twenty I
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answer without doubt. Thus it was in the days of Solomon. YEA.
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Thus it was from Adam to Moses, from Moses to Solomon, and from
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Solomon to Christ. There was then no man that sinned, not even from
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the day that sin entered in the the world. There was not a just
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man upon earth that did good and sind nought until the Son of God was
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manifested to take away our sins. It is unquestionably true that the heir,
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as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, and
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that even so they, all the holy Men of old, who are under
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the Jewish dispensation, were during that infant state of the Church in bondage under
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the elements of the world. But when the fullness of time was come,
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God sent forth his son made under the law to redeem them that were under
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the law that they might receive the adoption of sons, that they might receive
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that grace which is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ,
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who hath abolished death and brought life in immortality to light through the Gospel
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and Timothy one ten. Now therefore they are no more servants but sons.
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So that whatsoever was the case of those under the law, we may safely
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affirm with Saint John, that since the Gospel was given, he that is
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born of God sinneth not, it is of great importance to observe, and
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that more carefully than is commonly done. The wide difference there is between the
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Jewish and the Christian dispensation, and that ground of it which the same Apostle
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assigns in the seventh chapter of his Gospel. After he had the related those
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words of are blessed Lord, he that believeth on me, as the scripture
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hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters. He
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immediately subjoins. Thus spake he of the spirit ou emmelen lambanaine hoy pisteontes a
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autun, which they who should believe on him were afterwards to receive for the
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Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.
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Now the apostle cannot mean here, as some have taught, that the miracle
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working power of the Holy Ghost was not yet given. For this was given.
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Our Lord had given it to all the apostles when he first sent them
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forth to preach the gospel. He then gave them power over unclean spirits,
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to cast them out, power to heal the sick, yea to raise the
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dead. But the Holy Ghost was not yet given in his sanctifying graces,
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as he was after Jesus was glorified. It was then, when he ascended
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up on high and led captivity captive, that he received those gifts for men,
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yea, even for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among
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them. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, then first it
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was that they who waited for the promise of the Father were made more than
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conquerors over sinned by the Holy Ghost given unto them. That this great salvation
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from sin was not given till Jesus was glorified. Saint Peter also plainly testifies
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where speaking of his brethren in the flesh as now receiving the end of their
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faith the salvation of their souls. He adds first Peter one, nine and
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ten, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently. Who prophesied
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of the grace, that is, the gracious dispensation that should come unto you,
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searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in
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them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory the
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glorious salvation that should follow unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves,
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but unto us, they'd administer the things which are now reported unto you
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by them that have preached the Gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent
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down from heaven viz. At the day of Pentecost, and so unto all
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generations, into the hearts of all true believers on this ground, even the
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grace which was brought unto them by the revelation of Jesus Christ. The apostle
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might well build that strong exhortation. Wherefore, girding up the loins of your
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minds, as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy
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in all manner of conversation. End of Section forty