Latest / Philosophy and Faith / 13 - On Sin in Believers - Sermons on Several Occasions

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13 - On Sin in Believers - Sermons on Several Occasions · Philosophy and Faith

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  Speaker 1: On sin in believers. If any man be in Christ,
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  Speaker 1: he is a new creature Second Corinthians five seventeen. Is
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  Speaker 1: there then sin in him that is in Christ? Does
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  Speaker 1: sin remain in one that believes in Him? Is there
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  Speaker 1: any sin in them that are born of God? Or
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  Speaker 1: are they wholly delivered from it? Let no one imagine
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  Speaker 1: this is to be a question of mere curiosity, or
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  Speaker 1: that it is of little importance, whether it be determined
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  Speaker 1: one way or the other. Rather, it is a point
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  Speaker 1: of the utmost moment to every serious Christian, the resolving
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  Speaker 1: of which very nearly concerns both his present and eternal happiness.
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  Speaker 1: And yet I do not know that ever it was
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  Speaker 1: controverted in the primitive Church. Indeed, there was no room
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  Speaker 1: for disputing concerning it, as all Christians were agreed. And
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  Speaker 1: so far as I have observed, the whole body of
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  Speaker 1: ancient Christians who have left us anything in writing, declare
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  Speaker 1: with one voice that even believers in Christ, till they
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  Speaker 1: are strong in the Lord and in the power of
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  Speaker 1: His might, have need to wrestle with flesh and blood,
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  Speaker 1: with an evil nature, as well as with principalities and powers.
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  Speaker 1: And here in our own church, as indeed in most
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  Speaker 1: points exactly copies after the primitive declaring in her ninth article,
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  Speaker 1: original sin is the corruption of the nature of every man,
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  Speaker 1: whereby a man is in his own nature inclined to evil,
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  Speaker 1: so that the flesh lusteth contrary to the spirit. And
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  Speaker 1: this infection of nature doth remain yea in them that
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  Speaker 1: are regenerated. Whereby the lust of the flesh, called in
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  Speaker 1: Greek phronema sarcos, is not subject to the law of God.
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  Speaker 1: And although there is no condemnation for them that believe,
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  Speaker 1: yet this lust hath of itself the nature of sin.
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  Speaker 1: The same testimony is given by all other churches, not
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  Speaker 1: only by the Greek and Romish Church, but by every
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  Speaker 1: reformed church in Europe, of whatever denomination. Indeed, some of
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  Speaker 1: these seem to carry the thing too far, so describing
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  Speaker 1: the corruption of heart in a believer, are scarce to
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  Speaker 1: allow that he has dominion over it, but rather is
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  Speaker 1: in bondage there too, and by this means they leave
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  Speaker 1: hardly any distinction between a believer and an unbeliever. To
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  Speaker 1: avoid this extreme, many well meaning men, particularly those under
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  Speaker 1: the direction of the Lake Count Zinzendorf, ran into another
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  Speaker 1: affirming that all true believers are not only saved from
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  Speaker 1: the dominion of sin, but from the being of inward
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  Speaker 1: as well as outward sin, so that it no longer
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  Speaker 1: remains in them and from them. About twenty years ago
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  Speaker 1: many of our countrymen imbibed to the same opinion, that
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  Speaker 1: even the corruption of nature is no more in those
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  Speaker 1: who believe in Christ. It is true that when the
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  Speaker 1: Germans were pressed upon this head, they soon allowed, many
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  Speaker 1: of them at least, that sin did still remain in
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  Speaker 1: the flesh, but not in the heart of a believer.
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  Speaker 1: And after a time, when the absurdity of this was shown,
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  Speaker 1: they fairly gave up the point, allowing that sin did
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  Speaker 1: still remain, though did not reign in him that is
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  Speaker 1: born of God. But the English, who had received it
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  Speaker 1: from them, some directly, some at second or third hand,
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  Speaker 1: were not so easily provailed upon to part with a
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  Speaker 1: favorite opinion. And even when the generality of them were
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  Speaker 1: convinced it was utterly indefensible, a few could not be
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  Speaker 1: persuaded to give it up, but maintain it to this
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  Speaker 1: day for the sake of these who really fear God
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  Speaker 1: and desire to know the truth as it is in Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: It may not be amiss to consider the point with
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  Speaker 1: calmness and impartiality. In doing this, I use indifferently the
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  Speaker 1: words regenerate, justified, or believers, since though they have not
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  Speaker 1: precisely the same meaning, the first implying an inward actual change,
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  Speaker 1: the second a relative one, and the third the means
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  Speaker 1: whereby both the one and the other are wrought, yet
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  Speaker 1: they come to one and the same thing, as every
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  Speaker 1: one that believes is both justified and born of God
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  Speaker 1: by sin. I here understand inward sin any sinful temper,
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  Speaker 1: passion or affection, such as pride, self will, love of
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  Speaker 1: the world, in any kind of degree such as lust, anger, peevishness,
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  Speaker 1: any disposition contrary to the mind which was in Christ.
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  Speaker 1: The question is not concerning outward sin. Whether a child
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  Speaker 1: of God commits sin or no. We all agree and
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  Speaker 1: earnestly maintain he that committeth sin is of the devil.
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  Speaker 1: We agree whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.
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  Speaker 1: Neither do we now inquire whether inward sin will always
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  Speaker 1: remain in the children of God, whether sin will continue
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  Speaker 1: in the soul as long as it continues in the body.
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  Speaker 1: Nor yet do we inquire whether a justified person may
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  Speaker 1: relapse either into inward or outward sin. But simply this
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  Speaker 1: is a justified or regenerate man freed from all sin.
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  Speaker 1: As soon as he is justified, is there then no
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  Speaker 1: sin in his heart, nor ever after unless he fall
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  Speaker 1: from grace. We allow that the state of a justified
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  Speaker 1: person is inexpressibly great and glorious. He is born again,
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  Speaker 1: not of the blood, nor of the flesh, nor of
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  Speaker 1: the will of man, but of God. He is a
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  Speaker 1: child of God, a member of Christ, an heir of
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  Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Heaven. The peace of God, which passeth
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  Speaker 1: all understanding, keepeth his heart and mind. In Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: His very body is a temple of the Holy Ghost
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  Speaker 1: and an habitation of God. Through the Spirit, he has
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  Speaker 1: created anew. In Christ Jesus, he is washed, he is sanctified.
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  Speaker 1: His heart is purified by faith. He is cleansed from
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  Speaker 1: the corruption that is in the world. The love of
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  Speaker 1: God is shared abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost,
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  Speaker 1: which is given unto him. And so long as he
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  Speaker 1: walketh in love, which he may always do, he worships
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  Speaker 1: God in spirit and in truth. He keepeth the commandments
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  Speaker 1: of God, and doeth those things that are pleasing in
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  Speaker 1: his sight, so exercising himself as to have conscience void
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  Speaker 1: of offense toward God and toward man. And he has
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  Speaker 1: a power both over outward and inward sin. Even from
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  Speaker 1: the moment he is just a fife. But was he
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  Speaker 1: not then freed from all sin, so that there is
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  Speaker 1: no sin in his heart? I cannot say this, I
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  Speaker 1: cannot believe it, because Saint Paul says the contrary. He
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  Speaker 1: is speaking to believers and describing the state of believers
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  Speaker 1: in general, when he says, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,
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  Speaker 1: and the Spirit against the flesh. These are contrary, the
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  Speaker 1: one to the other Galatians five seventeen. Nothing can be
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  Speaker 1: more express. The Apostle here directly affirms that the flesh,
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  Speaker 1: evil nature, opposes the spirit, even in believers, that even
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  Speaker 1: in the regenera, there are two principles contrary, the one
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  Speaker 1: to the other. Again, when he writes to the believers
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  Speaker 1: at Corinth, to those who were sanctified in Christ Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: First Corinthians one two, he says, I brethren could not
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  Speaker 1: speak unto you, as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal,
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  Speaker 1: as unto babes in Christ, ye are yet carnal? For
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  Speaker 1: whereas there is among you envying and strife, are ye
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  Speaker 1: not carnal? First Corinthians three thirteen. Now Here the Apostle
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  Speaker 1: speaks unto those who were unquestionably believers, whom in the
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  Speaker 1: same breath he styles as brethren in Christ as being
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  Speaker 1: still in a measure carnal. He affirms there was envying,
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  Speaker 1: an evil temper occasional strife among them, and yet does
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  Speaker 1: not give the least intimation that they have lost their faith. Nay,
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  Speaker 1: he manifestly declares that they had not, for then they
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  Speaker 1: would not have been babes in Christ. And what is
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  Speaker 1: most remarkable of all, he speaks of being carnal and
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  Speaker 1: babes in Christ as one and the same thing, plainly
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  Speaker 1: showing that every believer is in a degree carnal, while
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  Speaker 1: he is only a babe in Christ. Indeed, this grand
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  Speaker 1: point that there are two contrary principles in believers, nature
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  Speaker 1: and grace the flesh and the Spirit, runs through all
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  Speaker 1: the epistles of Saint Paul yea, through all the Holy Scriptures.
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  Speaker 1: Almost all the directions and exhortations therein are founded upon
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  Speaker 1: this supposition, pointing at wrong tempers or practices in those
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  Speaker 1: who are, notwithstanding acknowledged by the inspired writers to be believers,
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  Speaker 1: and they are continually exhorted to fight with and conquer
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  Speaker 1: these by the power of the faith which was in them.
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  Speaker 1: And who can doubt that there was faith in the
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  Speaker 1: Angel of the Church of Ephesus when our Lord said
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  Speaker 1: to him, I know thy works and thy labour, and
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  Speaker 1: thy patients. Thou hast patience and form my namesake, hast
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  Speaker 1: laboured and has not Faintedations two twenty four. But was
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  Speaker 1: there meantime no sin in his heart? Yea or Christ
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  Speaker 1: would not have added. Nevertheless, I have something against thee
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  Speaker 1: because thou hast left thy first love. This was real
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  Speaker 1: sin which God saw in his heart, of which accordingly
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  Speaker 1: he is exhorted to repent. And yet we have no
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  Speaker 1: authority to say, not even then that he had no faith. Nay,
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  Speaker 1: the Angel of the Church at Pergamos also is exhorted
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  Speaker 1: to repent, which implies sin, though our Lord expressly says,
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  Speaker 1: thou hast not denied my faith Revelations two thirteen and sixteen.
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  Speaker 1: And to the Angel of the Church in Sardis, he says,
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  Speaker 1: strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die.
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  Speaker 1: The good which remained was ready to die, but was
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  Speaker 1: not actually dead Revelations three two. So there was still
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  Speaker 1: a spark of faith even in him, which he is
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  Speaker 1: accordingly commanded to hold fast Revelations three three. Once more,
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  Speaker 1: when the Apostle exhorts believers to cleanse themselves from all
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  Speaker 1: filthiness of the flesh and spirit Second Corinthians seven to one,
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  Speaker 1: he plainly teaches that those believers were not yet cleansed.
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  Speaker 1: Therefrom will you answer, he that abstains from all appearance
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  Speaker 1: of evil, does ipso facto cleanse himself from all filthiness?
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  Speaker 1: Not in any wise. For instance, a man reviles me,
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  Speaker 1: I feel resentment, which is filthiness of the spirit. Yet
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  Speaker 1: I say not a word here I abstain from all
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  Speaker 1: appearance of evil. But this does not cleanse me from
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  Speaker 1: that filthiness of spirit, as I experienced to my sorrow,
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  Speaker 1: And as this position there is no sin in a believer,
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  Speaker 1: no carnal mind, no bent to backsliding. Is thus contrary
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  Speaker 1: to the word of God. So it is to the
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  Speaker 1: experience of his children. These continually feel and heart bent
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  Speaker 1: to backsliding, A natural tendency to evil a proneness to
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  Speaker 1: depart from God and to cleave to the things of earth.
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  Speaker 1: They are daily sensible of sin remaining in their heart, pride, self,
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  Speaker 1: will unbelief, and of sin cleaving to all they speak
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  Speaker 1: and do, even their best actions and holiest duties. Yet
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  Speaker 1: at the same time they know they are of God.
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  Speaker 1: They cannot doubt of it for a moment. They feel
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  Speaker 1: His spirit clearly, witnessing with their spirit that they are
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  Speaker 1: the children of God. They rejoice in God through Christ Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: by whom they have now received the atonement, so that
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  Speaker 1: they are equally assured that sin is in them and
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  Speaker 1: that Christ is in them the hope of glory. But
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  Speaker 1: can Christ be in the same heart where sin is,
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  Speaker 1: Undoubtedly he can, otherwise it could never be saved. Therefrom
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  Speaker 1: where the sickness is there is the physician carrying on
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  Speaker 1: his work within, striving till he cast out sin. Christ
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  Speaker 1: indeed cannot reign where sin reigns. Neither will he dwell
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  Speaker 1: where any sin is allowed. But He is and dwells
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  Speaker 1: in the heart of every believer who is fighting against
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  Speaker 1: all sin. Although it be not yet purified, according to
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  Speaker 1: the purification of the sanctuary, it has been observed before
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  Speaker 1: that the opposite doctrine that there is no sin in
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  Speaker 1: believers is quite new in the Church of Christ, that
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  Speaker 1: it was never heard of for seventeen hundred years, never
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  Speaker 1: till it was discovered by Count Zinzendorf. I do not
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  Speaker 1: remember to have seen the least intimation of it, either
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  Speaker 1: in any ancient or modern writer, unless perhaps in some
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  Speaker 1: of the wild ranting Antinomians. And these likewise say and unsay,
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  Speaker 1: acknowledging that there is sin in their flesh, although no
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  Speaker 1: sin in their heart. But whatever doctrine is new must
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  Speaker 1: be wrong, for the old religion is the only true one,
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  Speaker 1: and no doctrine can be right unless it is the
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  Speaker 1: very same which was from the beginning. One argument more
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  Speaker 1: against this new unscriptural doctrine may be drawn from the
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  Speaker 1: dreadful consequences of it. One says I felt anger to day.
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  Speaker 1: Must I reply, then you have no faith? Another says,
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  Speaker 1: I know what you advise is good, but my will
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  Speaker 1: is quite averse to it. Must I tell him, then
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  Speaker 1: you are an unbeliever under the wrath and the curse
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  Speaker 1: of God. What will be the natural consequence of this? Why?
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  Speaker 1: If he believe what I say? His soul will not
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  Speaker 1: only be grieved and wounded, but perhaps utterly destroyed. Inasmuch
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  Speaker 1: as he will cast away that confidence which hath great
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  Speaker 1: recompense of reward. And having cast away his shield, how
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  Speaker 1: shall he quench the fiery darts of the wicked one?
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  Speaker 1: How shall he overcome the world? Seeing this is the
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  Speaker 1: victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. He stands
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  Speaker 1: disarmed in the midst of his enemies, open to all
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  Speaker 1: their assorts. What wonder, then, if he be utterly overthrown,
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  Speaker 1: if they take him captive at their will, yea, if
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  Speaker 1: he fall from one wickedness to another, and never see
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  Speaker 1: good anymore. I cannot, therefore, by any means, receive this
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  Speaker 1: assertion that there is no sin in a believer from
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  Speaker 1: the moment he is justified. First because it is contrary
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  Speaker 1: to the whole tenor of scripture. Secondly because it is
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  Speaker 1: contrary to the experience of the children of God, Thirdly
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  Speaker 1: because it is absolutely new, never heard of in the
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  Speaker 1: world till yesterday, And lastly because it is naturally attended
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  Speaker 1: with the most fatal consequences, not only grieving those whom
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  Speaker 1: God hath not grieved, but perhaps dragging them into everlasting perdition. However,
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  Speaker 1: let us give a fair hearing to the chief arguments
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  Speaker 1: of those who endeavor to support it. And it is
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  Speaker 1: first from scripture. They attempt to prove that there is
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  Speaker 1: no sin in a believer. They argue, Thus the scripture says,
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  Speaker 1: every believer is born of God, is clean, is holy,
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  Speaker 1: is sanctified, is pure in heart, has a new heart,
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  Speaker 1: is a temple of the Holy Ghost. Now as that
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  Speaker 1: which is born of the flesh is flesh, is altogether evil,
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  Speaker 1: so that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit,
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  Speaker 1: is altogether good. Again, a man cannot be clean, sanctified, holy,
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  Speaker 1: and at the same time unclean, unsanctified, unholy. He cannot
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  Speaker 1: be pure and impure, or have a new and an
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  Speaker 1: old heart together. Neither can his soul be unholy, while
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  Speaker 1: it is a temple of the Holy Ghost. I have
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  Speaker 1: put this objection as strong as possible that its full
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  Speaker 1: weight may appear. Let us now examine it part by part.
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  Speaker 1: And that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit,
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  Speaker 1: is altogether good. I allow the text, but not the comment,
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  Speaker 1: For the text affirms this and no more, that every
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  Speaker 1: man who is born of the spirit is a spiritual man.
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  Speaker 1: He is so, But so he may be and yet
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  Speaker 1: not be altogether spiritual. The Christians at Corinth were spiritual
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  Speaker 1: men else there had been no Christians at all, And
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  Speaker 1: yet they were not altogether spiritual. They were still in
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  Speaker 1: part carnal, but they were fallen from grace. Saint Paul says, no,
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  Speaker 1: they were even then babes in Christ. But a man
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  Speaker 1: cannot be clean, sanctified, wholly and at the same time unclean, unsanctified, unholy.
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  Speaker 1: Indeed he may so. The Corinthians were, ye are washed,
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  Speaker 1: says the Apostle, Ye are sanctified, namely cleansed from fornication, idolatry, drunkenness,
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  Speaker 1: and all other outward sin. First Corinthians six, nine, ten,
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  Speaker 1: and eleven. And yet at the same time, in another
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  Speaker 1: sense of the word, they were unsanctified. They were not washed,
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  Speaker 1: not inwardly cleansed from envy, evil, surmising partiality. But sure
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  Speaker 1: they had not a new heart and an old heart
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  Speaker 1: together it is mostional had, for at that very time
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  Speaker 1: their hearts were truly yet not entirely renewed. Their carnal
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  Speaker 1: mind was nailed to the cross, yet it was not
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  Speaker 1: wholly destroyed. But could they be unholy while they were
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  Speaker 1: temples of the Holy ghost. Yes, that they were temples
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  Speaker 1: of the Holy Ghost is certain First Corinthians six nineteen.
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  Speaker 1: And it is equally certain that they were in some
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  Speaker 1: degree carnal, that is unholy. However, there is one scripture
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  Speaker 1: more which will put the matter out of question. If
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  Speaker 1: any man be a believer in Christ, he is a
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  Speaker 1: new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things
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  Speaker 1: are become new. Second Corinthians five seventeen. Now, certainly a
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  Speaker 1: man cannot be a new creature and an old creature
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  Speaker 1: at once. Yes, he may. He may be partly renewed,
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  Speaker 1: which was the very case with those at Corinth. They
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  Speaker 1: were doubtless renewed in the spirit of their mind, or
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  Speaker 1: they could not have been so much as babes in Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Yet they had not the whole mind which was in Christ,
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  Speaker 1: for they envied one another. But it is said expressly
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  Speaker 1: old things are passed away, all things become new. But
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  Speaker 1: we must not so interpret the apostle's words as to
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  Speaker 1: make him contradict himself. And if we will make him
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  Speaker 1: consistent with himself, the plain meaning of the words is
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  Speaker 1: this His old judgment concerning justification holiness, happiness. Indeed, concerning
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  Speaker 1: the things of God in general, is now passed away.
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  Speaker 1: So are his old desires, designs, affections, tempers, and conversation.
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  Speaker 1: All these are undeniably become new, greatly changed from what
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  Speaker 1: they were. And yet though they are new, they are
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  Speaker 1: not wholly new. Still he feels to his sorrow and
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  Speaker 1: shame remains of the old man. Two manifest taints of
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  Speaker 1: his former tempers and affections, though they cannot gain any
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  Speaker 1: advantage over him as long as he watches unto prayer.
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  Speaker 1: This whole argument, if he is clean, he is clean.
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  Speaker 1: If he is holy, he is holy, And twenty more
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  Speaker 1: expressions of the same kind may be easily heaped together,
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  Speaker 1: is really no better than playing upon words. It is
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  Speaker 1: the fallacy of arguing from a particular to a general,
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  Speaker 1: of inferring a general conclusion from particular premises. Propose the
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  Speaker 1: sentence entire and it runs thus, if he is wholly
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  Speaker 1: at all, he is wholly altogether. That does not follow.
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  Speaker 1: Every babe in Christ is holy, and yet not altogether.
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  Speaker 1: So he is saved from sin, yet not entirely. It remains,
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  Speaker 1: though it does not rain. If you think does not
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  Speaker 1: remain in babes at least, whatever be the case with
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  Speaker 1: young men or fathers, You certainly have not considered the
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  Speaker 1: height and depth, and length and breadth of the law
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  Speaker 1: of God, even the law of Love laid down by
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  Speaker 1: Saint Paul in the thirteenth of Corinthians. And that every anomia,
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  Speaker 1: disconformity to or deviation from this law is sin. Now
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  Speaker 1: is there no disconformity to this in the heart or
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: life of a believer? What may be in an adult
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Christian is another question. But what a stranger must he
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: be to human nature? Who can possibly imagine that this
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: is the case with every babe in Christ? But believers
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: walk after the spirit. What follows for some pages is
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: an answer to a paper published in the Christian Magazine,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: page five hundred seventy seven to five hundred and eighty two.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: I am surprised mister Dodds should such a paper a
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: place in his magazine, which is directly contrary to our
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: ninth article editor Romans eight one. And the Spirit of
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: God dwells in them. Consequently, they are delivered from the guilt,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: the power, or in one word, the being of sin.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: These are coupled together as if they were the same thing.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: But they are not the same thing. The guilt is
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: one thing, the power another, and the being yet another.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: The believers are delivered from the guilt and the power
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: of sin. We allow, that they are delivered from the
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: being of it. We deny. Nor does it in any
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: wise follow from these texts. A man may have the
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: spirit of God dwelling in him, and may walk after
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: the spirit, though he still feels the flesh lusting against
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: the spirit. But the Church is the body of Christ
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Colossians one four. This implies that its members are washed
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: from all filthiness. Otherwise it will follow that Christ and
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: Bellial are incorporated with each other. Nay, it will not
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: follow from hence those who are the mystical body of
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Christ still feel the flesh lusting against the spirit. That
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: Christ has any fellowship with the devil or with that sin,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: which he enables them to resist and overcome. But are
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: not Christians come to the heavenly Jerusalem, where nothing defiled
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: can enter Hebrews twelve twenty two. Yes, and to an
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: innumerable company of angels, and to the spirits of just
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: men made perfect, that is Earth and Heaven. All agree.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: All is one great family, and they are likewise wholly
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: and undefiled, while they walk after the spirit. Although sensible,
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: there is another p principle in them, and that these
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: are contrary to each other. But Christians are reconciled to God.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Now this could not be if any of the carnal
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: mind remained, for this is enmity against God. Consequently, no
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: reconciliation can be effected. But by its total destruction, we
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: are reconciled to God through the blood of the Cross.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: And in that moment the phronima sarcos, the corruption of nature,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: which he is enmity with God, is put under our feet.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: The flesh has no more dominion over us, but it
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: still exists, and it is still in its nature enmity
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: with God, lusting against his spirit. But they that are
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Christs have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: Galatians five twenty four. They have so, yet it remains
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: in them still and often struggles to break from the cross. Nay,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: but they have put off the old men with his
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: deeds Colossians three nine. They have, and in the sense
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: above described, old things have passed away, all things have
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: become new. A hundred texts may be cited to the
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: same effect, and they will all admit of the same answer.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: But to say all in one word, Christ gave himself
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: for the church, that it might be wholly and without
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: blemish Ephesians five, twenty five and twenty seven. And so
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: it will be in the end, but it never was
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: yet from the beginning to this day. But let experience speak.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: All who are justified do at that time find an
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: absolute freedom from all sin? That I doubt. But if
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: they do, do they find it ever after? Else you
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: gain nothing. If they do not. It is their own
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: fault that remains to be proved. But in the very
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: nature of things, can a man have pride in him
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: and not be proud anger yet not be angry? A
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: man may have pride in him, may think of himself
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: in some particulars above what he ought to think, and
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: so be proud in that particular, and yet not be
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: a proud man in his general character. He may have
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: anger in him, yea, and a strong propensity to furious
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: anger without giving way to it. But can anger and
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: pride be in that heart where only meekness and humility
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: are felt? No, But some pride and anger may be
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: in that heart where there is much humility and meekness.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: It avails not to say these tempers are there, but
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: they do not reign. For sin cannot in any kind
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: or degree exist where it does not rain. For guilt
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: and power are essential properties of sin. Therefore, where one
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: of them is, all must be strange. Indeed, sin cannot
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: in any kind or degree exist where it does not rain.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Absolutely contrary this to all experience, all scripture, all common sense.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Resentment of an affront is sin. It is anomia, this
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: conformity to the law of love. This has existed in
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: me a thousand times. Yet it did not and does
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: not reign. But guilt and power are essential properties of sin. Therefore,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: where one is, all must be no. In the instance
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: before us, if the resentment I feel is not yielded
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: to even for a moment, there is no guilt at all,
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: no condemnation from God upon that account. And in this
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: case it has no power. Though it lusteth against the spirit,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: it cannot prevail. Here. Therefore, as in till ten thousand instances,
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: there is sin without either guilt or power. But the
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: supposing sin in a believer is pregnant with everything frightful
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: and discouraging. It implies the contending with a power that
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: has the possession of our strength, maintains his usurpation of
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: our hearts, and there prosecutes the war in defiance of
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: our redeemer. Not so, the supposing sin is in us
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: does not imply that it has the possession of our strength,
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: no more than a man crucified has the possession of
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: those that crucify him. As little does it imply that
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: sin maintains its usurpation of our hearts. The usurper is dethroned,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: he remains indeed where he once reigned, but remains in chains,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: so that he does, in some sense prosecute the war.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: Yet he grows weaker and weaker, while the believer goes
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: on from strength to strength, conquering and to conquer. I
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: am not satisfied. Yet he that has sin in him
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: is a slave to sin. Therefore you suppose a man
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: to be justified while he is a slave to sin.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Now if you allow men may be justified while they
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: have pride, anger, or unbelief in them, Nay, if you
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: aver these are at least for a time in all
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: that are justified. What wonder that we have so many
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: proud angry unbelieving believers. I do not suppose that any
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: man who is justified is a slave to sin. Yet
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: I do suppose sin remains, at least for a time,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: in all that are justified. But if sin remains in
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: a believer, he is a sinful man. If pride, for instance,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: then he is proud. If self will, then he is
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: self willed. If unbelief, then he is an unbeliever, consequently
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: no believer at all. How then does he differ from unbelievers,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: from unregenerate men. This is still mere playing upon words.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: It means no more than if there is sin, pride,
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: self will in him, then there is sin, pride, self will,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: and this nobody can deny. In that sense, then he
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: is proud or self willed. But he is not proud
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: or self willed in the same sense that unbelievers are,
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: that is governed by pride or self will. Herein he
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: differs from unregenerate men. They obey sin, he does not.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Flesh is in them both, but they walk after the flesh.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: He walks after the spirit. But how can unbelief be
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: in a believer? That word has two meanings. It means
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: either no faith or little faith. Either the absence of
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: faith or the weakness of it. In the former sense,
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: unbelief is not in a believer. In the latter it
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: is in all babes. Their faith is commonly mixed with
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: doubt or fear, that is, in the latter sense, with unbelief.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Why are ye fearful, says Our Lord, O ye of
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: little faith? Again, O thou of little faith? Wherefore didst
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: thou doubt? You see here was unbelief in believers, little faith,
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: and much unbelief. But this doctrine that sin remains in
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: a believer, that a man may be in the favor
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: of God while he has sin in his heart, certainly
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: tends to encourage men in sin. Understand the proposition right,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: and no such consequence follows. A man may be in
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: God's favor though he feels sin, but not if he
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: yields to it. Having sin does not forfeit the favor
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: of God. Giving way to sin does. Though the flesh
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: in you lust against the spirit, you may still be
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: a child of God. But if you walk after the flesh,
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: you are a child of the devil. Now, this doctrine
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: does not encourage to obey sin, but to resist it
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: with all our might. The sum of all is this.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: There are in every person, even after he is justified,
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: two contrary principles, nature and grace, termed by Saint Paul,
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: the flesh and the spirit. Hence, although even babes in
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: Christ are sanctified, yet it is only in part in
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: a degree according to the measure of their faith, they
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: are spiritual, yet in a degree they are calnt. Accordingly,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: believers are continually exhorted to watch against the flesh as
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: well as the world and the devil, and to this
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: agrees the constant experience of the children of God. While
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: they feel this witness in themselves, they feel a will
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: not wholly resigned to the will of God. They know
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: they are in Him, and yet find an heart ready
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: to depart from him, a proneness to evil in many instances,
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: and a backwardness to that which is good. The contrary
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: doctrine is wholly new, never heard of in the Church
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: of Christ, from the time of his coming into the
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: world till the time of Count Zinzendorf, and it is
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: attended with the most fatal consequences. It cuts off all
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: watching against our evil nature, against the Delilah, which we
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: are told is gone. Though she is still lying in
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: our bosom. It tears away the shield of weak believers,
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: deprives them of their faith, and so leaves them exposed
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: to all the assaults of the world, the flesh and
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: the devil. Let Us therefore will hold fast the sound
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: doctrine once delivered to the Saints, and delivered down by
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: them with the written word to all succeeding generations, that
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: although we are renewed, cleansed, purified, sanctified the moment we
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: truly believe in Christ, yet we are not then renewed, cleansed,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: purified altogether. But the flesh, the evil nature, still remains,
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: though subdued, and wars against the spirit. So much the
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: more let us use all diligence in fighting the good
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: fight of faith, so much the more earnestly let us
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: watch and pray against the enemy within. The more carefully
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: let us take to ourselves and put on the whole
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: armour of God, that although we wrestle both with flesh
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: and blood, and with the principalities, and with powers and
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: wicked spirits in high places, we may be able to
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: End of Section thirteen