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41 - Christian Perfection, Part 2 - Sermons on Several Occasions · Wisdom of the Ages Library

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Christian perfection Part two. Those who have duly considered these things must allow that
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the privileges of Christians are in no wise to be measured by what the Old
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Testament records concerning those who are under the Jewish dispensation. Seeing the fullness of
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times is now come, the Holy Ghost is now given, the great salvation
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of God is brought unto men by the revelation of Jesus Christ. The Kingdom
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of Heaven is now set up on earth, concerning which the Spirit of God
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declared of old. So far as David from being the pattern or standard of
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Christian perfection, he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as
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David, and the house of David shall be as God, as the Angel
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of the Lord before them Sechariah twelve eight. If therefore you would prove that
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the apostle's words, he that is born of God sineth not, are not
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to be understood according to their plain, natural, obvious meaning, it is
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from the New Testament you are to bring your proofs, else you will fight
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as one that beatth the air. And the first of these which is usually
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brought is taken from the examples recorded in the New Testament. The Apostles themselves,
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it is said, committed sin, nay, the greatest of them,
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Peter and Paul, Saint Paul by a sharp contention with Barnabas, and Saint
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Peter by a dissimulation at Antioch. Well, suppose both Peter and Paul did
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then commit sin? What is it you would infer from hence that all the
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other Apostles committed sin? Sometimes there is no shadow of proof in this.
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Or would you thence infer that all the other Christians of the Apostolic age committed
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sin worse and worse? This is such an inference as one would imagine a
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man in his senses could never have thought of. Or will you argue thus,
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if two of the Apostles did once commit sin, then all other Christians
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in all ages do and will commit sin as long as they live. Alas
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my brother is a child of common understanding, would be ashamed of such reasoning
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as this. Least of all, can you, with any color of argument,
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infer that any man must commit sin at all? No God forbid we
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should thus speak. No necessity of sinning was laid upon them. The grace
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of God was surely sufficient for them, and it is sufficient for us at
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this day, with the temptation which fell on them. There was a way
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to escape, as there is to every soul of man in every temptation,
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so that whosoever is tempted to any sin need not yield. For no man
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is tempted above that he is able to bear. But Saint Paul besought the
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Lord thrice, and yet he could not escape from his temptation. Let us
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consider his own words literally translated. There was given to me a thorn to
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the flesh, an angel or messenger of Satan, to buffet me. Touching
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this, I besought the Lord thrice that it or he might depart from me.
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And he said, unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee.
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For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly. Therefore will I
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rather glory in these my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may rest upon
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me. Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, for when I am weak,
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then am I strong. As this scripture is one of the strongholds the patrons
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of sin, may be proper to weigh it thoroughly. Let it be observed,
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then, first, it does by no means appear that this thorn,
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whatsoever it was occasion Saint Paul to commits sin, much less laid him under
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any necessity of doing so. Therefore, from hence it can never be proved
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that any Christian must commit sin. Secondly, the ancient Father's inform us it
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was bodily pain, a violent headache saith Rtullian, the putic to which both
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Chrysostom and Saint Jerome agree. Saint Cyprian expresses it a little more generally in
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those terms many ingrievous torments of the flesh and of the body. Thirdly,
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to this exactly agreed the Apostle's own words athorn to the flesh, to smite,
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beat, or buffet me. My strength is made perfect in weakness,
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which same word occurs no less than four times than these two verses only.
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But fourthly, whatsoever it was, it could not be either inward or outward
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sin. It could no more be inward stirrings than outward expressions of pride,
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anger, or lust. This is manifest beyond all possible exception from the words
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that immediately follow. Most gladly will I glory in these my weaknesses that the
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strength of Christ may rest upon me? What did he glory in pride?
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In anger? In lust? Was it through these weaknesses that the strength of
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Christ rested upon him? He goes on. Therefore, I take pleasure in
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weaknesses, For when I am weak, then am I strong? That is,
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when I am weak in body, then am I strong in spirit?
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But will any man dare to say, when I am weak by pride or
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lust? Then am I strong in spirit? I call you all to record
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this day, who find the strength of Christ resting upon you? Can you
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glory in anger or pride or lust? Can you take pleasure in these infirmities?
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Do these weaknesses make you strong? Would you not leap into hell?
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Were possible to escape them even by yourselves? Then judge whether the apostle could
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glory and take pleasure in them. Let it be lastly observe that this thorn
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was given to Saint Paul above fourteen years before he wrote this epistle, which
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itself was wrote several years before he finished his course, so that he had
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after this a long course to run, many battles, to fight, many
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victories to gain, and great increase to receive in all the gifts of God
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and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Therefore, from any spiritual weakness, if
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such it had been, which he at that time felt we could by no
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means infer that he was never made strong, that Paul the aged, the
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Father in Christ, still labored under the same weaknesses, that he was in
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no higher state till the day of his death. From all which, it
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appears that this instance of Saint Paul is quite foreign to the question, and
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does, in know why clash with the assertion of Saint John, he that
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is born of God sinneth not, but does not Saint James directly contradict this.
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His words are in many things we offend all James three two, and
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is not offending the same as committing sin in this place I allow it is
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I allow the persons here spoken of did commit sin, yea that they all
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committed many sins. But who are the persons here spoken of? Why?
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Those many masters are teachers whom God had not sent, probably the same vain
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men who taught that faith of that works which is so sharply approved in the
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preceding chapter. Not the Apostle himself, nor any real Christian that in the
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word we used by a figure of speech common in all other as well as
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the inspired writings, the Apostle could not possibly include himself or any other true
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believer, appears evidently first in the same word in the ninth verse, therewith
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saith he bless we God, and therewith curse we men. Out of the
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same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing true, but not out of the mouth of
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the Apostle, nor of any one who is in Christ a new creature.
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Secondly, from the verse, immediately preceding the text and manifestly connected with it,
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my brethren, be not many masters or teachers, knowing that we shall
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receive the greater condemnation, For in many things we offend all, we who
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not the apostles, not true believers, but they who know they should receive
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the greater condemnation because of those many offenses. But this could not be spoke
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of the Apostle himself, or any who trod in his steps, seeing there
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is no condemnation to them who walk not after the flesh, but after the
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spirit. Nay. Thirdly, the very verse itself proves that we offend all
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cannot be spoken either of all men or of all Christians, for in it
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there immediately follows the mention of a man who offends, not as the first
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we first mentioned did from whom therefore he is professedly contradistinguished and pronounced a perfect
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man. So clearly does Saint James explain himself and fix the meaning of his
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own words. Yea, lest any one should still remain in doubt. Saint
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John, writing many years after Saint James, puts the matter entirely out of
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dispute by the express declaration above recited. But here a fresh difficulty may arise.
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How should we reconcile Saint John with himself? In one place, he
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declares, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin? And again we
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know that he which is born of God sinneth not. Then yet in another
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he saith. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
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and the truth is not in us. And again if we say that
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we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is
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not in us. As great a difficulty as this may at first appear,
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it vanishes away if we observe first that the tenth verse fixes the sense of
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the eighth, if we say we have no sin in the former being explained
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by if we say we have not sinned in the latter verse. Secondly,
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that the point under present consideration is not whether we have or have not sinned.
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Heretofore, then neither of these verses asserts that we do sin or commit
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sin. Now, thirdly, that the ninth verse explains both the eighth and
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the tenth. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
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forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, as if he
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had said, I have before affirmed the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from
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all sin. But let no man say I need it, not I have
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no sin to be cleansed from. If we say that we have no sin,
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that we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves and make God a liar.
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But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, not
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only to forgive our sins, but also to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,
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that we may go and sin no more. Saint John therefore is well consistent
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with himself as well as with the other Holy writers, as will yet more
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evidently appear if we place all his assertions touching this matter. In one view,
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he declares, first the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin,
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Secondly, no man can say I have not sinned. I have no
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sin to be cleansed from. Thirdly, but God is ready both to forgive
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our past sins and to save us from them for the time to come.
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Fourthly, these things I write unto you, Saith the Apostle, that ye
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may not sin. But if any man should sin, or have sinned,
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as the word might be rendered, he need not continue in sin, seeing
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we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. Thus far
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all is clear. But lest any doubt should remain in a point of so
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vast importance, the Apostle resumes this subject in the third chapter and largely explains
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his own meaning. Little children, Saith, he let no man deceive you,
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as though I had given any encouragement to those that continue in sin.
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He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that
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committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning.
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For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the
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works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin,
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for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born
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of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children
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of the devil. Here, the point which till then might possibly have admitted
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of some doubt in weak minds, is purposely settled by the last of the
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inspired writers, and decided in the clearest manner in conformity. Therefore, both
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to the doctrine of Saint John and the whole tenor of the New Testament,
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we fix this conclusion. A Christian is so far perfect as not to commit
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sin. This is the glorious privilege of every Christian, yea, though he
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be but a babe in Christ. But it is only of those who are
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strong in the Lord and have overcome the wicked one, or rather of those
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who have known Him. That is from the beginning, that it can be
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affirmed they are in such a sense perfect as secondly, to be freed from
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evil thoughts and evil tempers, first from evil or sinful thoughts. But here
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let it be observed that thoughts concerning evil are not always evil thoughts, that
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a thought concerning sin and a sinful thought are widely different. A man,
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for instance, may think of a murder which another has committed, and yet
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this is no evil or sinful thought. So our blessed Lord himself doubtless thought
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of or understood the thing spoken by the devil when he said, all these
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things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Yet
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had he no evil or sinful thought, nor indeed was capable of having any,
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And even hence it follows that neither have real Christians. For every one
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that is perfect is as his master Luke six forty. Therefore, if he
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was free from evil or sinful thoughts, so are they likewise. And indeed,
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whence should evil thoughts proceed in the servant who is as his master,
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out to the heart of man, if at all procede evil thoughts Mark seven
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twenty one, They if therefore his heart be no longer evil, then evil
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thoughts can no longer proceed out of it. If the tree were corrupt,
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so would be the fruit. But the tree is good. The fruit therefore
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is good also Matthew twenty two thirty three. Our Lord himself bearing witness,
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every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil
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fruit, as a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Matthew seven seventeen
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and eighteen the same happly privilege of real Christians. Saint Paul asserts from his
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own experience, the weapons of our warfare saith, he are not carnal,
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but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations
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or reasonings. Rather, for so the word legimus signifies all the reasonings of
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pride and unbelief against the declarations, promises or gifts of God, and every
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high thing that exalted itself, against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
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captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ second Corinthians ten four. And as
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Christians indeed are freed from evil thoughts, so are they secondly from evil tempers.
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This is evident from the above mentioned declaration of our Lord himself. The
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disciple is not above his master, but every one that is perfect shall be
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as his master. He had been delivering just before, some of the sublimest
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doctrines of Christianity, and some of the most grievous to flesh and blood.
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I say, unto you, love your enemies, do good to them which
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hate you, And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer
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also the other. Now these he well knew the world would not receive,
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and therefore immediately adds, can the blind lead the blind? Will they not
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both fall into the ditch, as if he had said, do not confer
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with flesh and blood, touching these things with men void of spiritual discernment,
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the eyes of whose understanding God hath not opened, lest they and you perish
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together. In the next verse, he removes the two grand objections with which
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these wise fools meet us at every turn. These things are too grievous to
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be born, or they are too high to be obtained, saying, the
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disciple is not above his master. Therefore, if I have suffered, be
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content to tread in my steps, and doubt ye not, then, but
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I will fulfill my word. For every one that is perfect shall be as
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his master. But his Master was free from all sinful tempers. So therefore
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is his disciple. Even every real Christian. Every one of these can say,
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with Saint Paul, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live,
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yet not I, but Christ liveth in me words that manifestly describe a deliverance
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from inward as well as from outward sin. This is expressed both negatively.
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I live not my evil nature, the body of sin, is destroyed,
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and positively, Christ liveth in me. And therefore all that is holy and
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just and good. Indeed, both these Christ liveth in me and I live
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not are inseparably connected. For what communion hath light with darkness? Or Christ
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with belile? He therefore, who liveth in true believers hath purified their hearts
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by faith, insomuch that every one that hath Christ in him, the hope
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of glory purifieth himself, even as he is pure First John three three.
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He is purified from pride, for Christ was lowly of heart. He is
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pure from self will or desire. For Christ desired only to do the will
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of his father and to finish his work. And he is pure from anger
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in the common sense of the word, for Christ was meek and gentle,
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patient and long suffering. I say, in the common sense of the word,
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for all anger is not evil. We read of our Lord himself Mark
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three five, that he once looked round with anger, But with what kind
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of anger? The next word shows Silai poor Mennos, being at the same
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time grieved for the hardness of their hearts. So then he was angry at
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the sin, and in the same moment grieved for the sinners angry or disa
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please at the offense, but sorry for the offenders with anger, yea hatred.
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He looked upon the thing with grief and love upon the persons. Go
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Thou that art perfect, and do likewise be thus angry, and thou sinnest,
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not feeling a displacency at every offense against God, but only love and
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tender compassion to the offender. Thus does Jesus save his people from their sins,
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and not only from outward sins, but also from the sins of their
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hearts, from evil thoughts and from evil tempers. True, say some,
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we shall thus be saved from our sins, but not till death, not
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in this world. But how are we to reconcile this with the express words
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of Saint John. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have
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boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we
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in this world. Apostle here, beyond all contradictions, speaks of himself and
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other living Christians, of whom, as though he had foreseen this very evasion
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and set himself to overturn it from the foundation, He flatly affirms that not
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only at or after death, but in this world they are as their master.
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First John for seventeen. Exactly agreeable to this are his words in the
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first chapter of this epistle, First John one five. God is light,
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and in him is no darkness at all. If we walk in the light,
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we have fellowship one with another, And the blood of Jesus Christ,
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his son, cleanseth us from all sin. And again, if we confess
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our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
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cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now it is evident the apostle here also speaks
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of a deliverance wrought in this world. For he saith not the blood of
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Christ will cleanse at the hour of death or in the day of judgment,
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but it cleanseth at the time present us living Christians from all sin. And
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it is equally evident that if any sin remain, we are not cleansed from
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all sin. If any unrighteousness remain in the soul, it is not cleansed
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from all unrighteousness. Either, let any sinner against his own soul say that
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this relates to justification only, or the cleansing us from the guilt of sin.
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First, because this is confound in together what the apostle clearly distinguishes who
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mentions first to forgive us our sins and then to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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Secondly, because this is asserting justification by works, and the strongest sense
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possible is making all inward as will as outward holiness necessarily previous to justification.
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For if the cleanse here spoken of is no other than the cleansing us from
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the guilt of sin, than we are not cleansed from guilt, that his
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are not justified, unless on condition of walking in the light as he is
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in the light. It remains then that Christians are saved in this world from
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all sin, from all unrighteousness, that they are now in such a sense
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perfect as nought to commit sin, and to be freed from evil thoughts and
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evil tempers. Thus hath the Lord fulfill the things he spake by his holy
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prophets, which have been since the world began, by Moses, in particular,
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saying Deuteronomy thirty six, I will circumcise thine heart and the heart of
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thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all
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thy soul. By David crying out, create in me a clean heart and
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renew a right spirit within me, and most remarkably by Azeki in those words,
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then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean
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from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Will I cleanse you a
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new heart? Also will I give you and a new spirit. Will I
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put within you and cause you to walk in my statutes? And ye shall
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keep my judgments and do them. Ye shall be my people, and I
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will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses.
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Thus saith the Lord, your God. And the day that I shall have
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cleansed you from all your iniquities, the heathen shall know that I the Lord
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build the ruined places. I the Lord have spoken it, and I will
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do it. Ezekiel, thirty six twenty five. Having therefore these promises dearly
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beloved, both in the Law and in the prophets, and having the prophetic
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word confirmed unto us in the Gospel by our blessed Lord and and his apostles,
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let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness
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in the fear of God. Let us fear lest so many promises being made
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us of entering into His rest, which He that hath entered into has ceased
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from his own works. Any of us should come short of it. This
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one thing let us do forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
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unto those things which are before. Let us press toward the mark for the
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prize the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, crying unto Him day and
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night, till we also are delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
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liberty of the sons of God. The Promise of sanctification Ezekiel thirty six twenty
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five by the Reverend Charles Wesley, God of all power and truth and grace,
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which shall from age to age endure, whose word, when heaven and
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earth shall pass, remains and stands forever shore calmly to thee my soul looks
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up and waits. Thy promises to prove the object of my steadfast hope,
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the seal of Thine eternal love, that I thy mercy may proclaim that all
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mankind thy truth may see. Hallow Thy great inglorious name and perfect holiness in
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me. Choose from the world. If now I stand adorned in righteousness divine,
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if brought under the promised land, I justly call the Savior mine,
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perform the work thou hast begun my inmost soul to thee. Convert Love me
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forever, Love thine own, and sprinkle with thy blood my heart, thy
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sanctifying spirit, poor to quench my thirst and wash me clean. Now,
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Father, let the gracious shower descend and make me pure from sin. Purge
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me from every sinful blot, My idols all be cast aside. Cleanse me
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from every evil thought, from all the filth of self and pride. Give
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me anew a perfect heart from doubt and fear and sorrow. Free the mind
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which was in Christ impart. And let my spirit cleave to THEE. Oh,
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take this heart of stone away thy rule. It doth not cannot own,
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and me no longer let it stay. O take the way, this
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heart of stone, the hatred of my carnal mind, out of my flesh,
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at once remove, Give me a tender heart, resign'd and pure and
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fill'd with faith and love within me, Thy good spirit, Place spirit of
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health and love and power. Plant in me thy victorious grace, and sin
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shall never enter more. Cause me to walk in Christ my way, and
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I thy statute shall fulfill in every point thy law obey, then perfectly perform
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thy will. Hast Thou not said, who canst not lie that I thy
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law shall keep and do? Lord? I believe, though men deny,
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they all are false. But Thou art true. O that I now from
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sin released thy word might to the utmost prove enter and the promised rest the
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canaan of thy perfect love. There, Let me ever ever dwell by Thou,
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my God, and I will be thy servant. O set to thy
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seal. Give me eternal life in THEE from all remaining filth within. Let
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me in THEE salvation have from actual and from inbred sin, my ransom soul
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persist to save, wash out my old original stain. Tell me no more.
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It cannot be demons or men. The lamb was slain, his blood
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was all poured out for me. Sprinklet YESU on my heart. One drop
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of thy all cleansing blood shall make my sinfulness depart and fill me with the
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life of God. Father. Supply my every needs to stain the life thyself
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hast given. Call for the corn, the living bread, the manner that
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comes down from heaven, the gracious fruits of righteousness, thy Blessing's unexhausted,
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store in me abundantly increase, Nor let me ever hunger more. Let me
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no more in deep complaint my leanness. All my leanness cry alone, consumed
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with pining want of all my father's children. Aye, the painful thirst,
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the fond desire, Thy joyous presence shall remove, while my full soul doth
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still require thy whole eternity of love, Holy and true and righteous Lord,
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I wait to prove thy perfect will. Be mindful thy gracious word, and
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stamp me with thy spirit, seal thy faithful mercies. Let me find and
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wish Thou causest me to trust, Give me the meek and lowly mind,
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and lay my spirit in the dust. Show me how foul my heart hath
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been, when all renewed by grace I am, when thou hast emptied me
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of sin. Show me the fullness of my shame. Open my faith's interior
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eye. Display thy glory from above, and all I am shall sink and
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die lost in astonishment and love confound. Oh e'er power me with thy grace,
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I would be by my abhorred All might, all majesty, all praise,
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all glory be to Christ, My Lord. Now let me gain perfection's
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height. Now let me into nothing, fall, be less than nothing in
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thy sight, and feel that Christ is all in all. End of section forty one