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07 - The Way to the Kingdom - Sermons on Several Occasions · Sacred Texts Archive

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The way to the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent
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ye and believe the Gospel, Mark chapter one, verse fifteen. These words
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naturally lead us to consider first the nature of true religion here termed by our
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Lord the Kingdom of God, which saith he is at hand, and secondly
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the way thereto, which he points out in those words repent ye and believe
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the Gospel. We are first to consider the nature of true religion here termed
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by our Lord the Kingdom of God, the same expression the Great Apostle uses
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in his Epistle to the Romans, where he likewise explains his Lord's words,
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saying, the Kingdom of God is not meet and drink, but righteousness and
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peace and joy in the Holy Ghost Romans fourteen, verse seventeen. The Kingdom
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of God, or true religion is not meet and drink. Is well known
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that not only the unconverted Jews, but great numbers of those who had received
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the faith of Christ were notwithstanding zealous of the Law Acts twenty one, verse
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twenty, even the ceremonial Law of Moses whatsoever. Therefore, they found written
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therein either concerning meat and drink offerings or the distinction between clean and unclean meats.
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They not only observed themselves, but vehemently pressed the same, even on
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those among the gentiles or heathens who were turned to God, YEA, to
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such a degree that some of them taught wheresoever they came among them. Except
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ye be circumcised and keep the law, the whole ritual law, ye cannot
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be saved Acts fifteen, Verses one and twenty four. In opposition to these,
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the Apostle declares, both here and in many other places, that true
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religion does not consist in meat and drink, or in any ritual observances,
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nor indeed in any outward things whatever, in anything exterior to the heart,
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the whole substance thereof lying in righteousness, peace, and joy, in the
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Holy Ghost, not in any outward thing, such as forms or ceremonies,
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even of the most excellent kind, supposing these to be ever so decent and
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significant, ever so expressive of inward things, supposing them ever so helpful,
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not only to the vulgar, whose thought reaches little farther than their sight,
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but even to men of understanding, men of strong capacities, as doubtless they
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may sometimes be, YEA, supposing them as in the case of the Jews,
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to be appointed by God himself. Yet even during the period of time
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wherein that appointment remains in force, true religion does not principally consist therein,
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nay, strictly speaking, not at all. How much more must this hold
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concerning such rights and forms as are only of human appointment. The religion of
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Christ rises infinitely higher and lies immensely deeper than all these. These are good
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in their place, just so far as they are in fact subservient to true
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religion. And it were a superstition to object against them while they are applied
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only as occasional helps to human weakness. But let no man carry them farther,
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Let no man dream that they have any intrinsic worth, or that religion
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cannot subsist without them. This were to make them an abomination to the Lord.
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The nature of religion is so far from consisting in these in forms of
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worship or rites and ceremonies, that it does not properly consist in any outward
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actions of what kind soever. It is true a man cannot have any religion
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who is guilty of vicious immoral actions, or who does to others what he
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would not they should do to him if he were in the same circumstance.
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And it is also true that he can have no real religion. Who knows
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to do good and doth it not. Yet may a man both abstain from
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outward evil and do good and still have no religion. Yea two persons may
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do the same outward work, suppose feeding the hungry or clothing the naked,
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And in the meantime, one of these may be truly religious, and the
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other have no religion at all, For the one may act from the love
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of God, and the other from the love of praise. So manifest it
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is that although true religion naturally leads to every good work and work, yet
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the real nature thereof lies deeper still, even in the hidden man of the
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heart. I say of the heart. For neither does religion consist orthodoxy or
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right opinions, which, although they are not properly outward things, are not
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in the heart, but the understanding. A man may be orthodox in every
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point. He may not only espouse right opinions, but zealously defend them against
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all opposers. He may think us concerning the incarnation of our Lord, concerning
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the ever Blessed Trinity, and every other doctrine contained in the oracles of God.
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He may assent to all the three creeds that called the Apostles, the
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Nicene, and the Athenasian. And yet it is possible he may have no
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religion at all, no more than a Jew, Turk or pagan. He
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may be almost as orthodox as the devil, though indeed not altogether, for
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every man errs in something whereas we can't well conceive him to hold any erroneous
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opinion, and may all the while be as great a stranger as he to
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the religion of the heart. This alone is religion, truly so called.
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This alone is in the sight of God of great price. The Apostle sums
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it all up in three particulars, righteousness and peace, and joy in the
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Holy Ghost, and first righteousness. We cannot be at a loss concerning them
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if we remember the words of our Lord describing the two grand branches thereof on
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which hang all the law and the prophets. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
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God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all
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thy soul, and with all thy strength. This is the first and great
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commandment. Mark Chapter twelve. Verse thirty. The first and great branch of
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Christian righteousness. Thou shalt delight thyself in the Lord, thy God. Thou
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shalt seek and find all happiness in Him. He shall be thy shield and
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thy exceeding great reward in time and in eternity. All thy bones shall say,
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Whom have I in heaven but THEE? And there is none upon earth
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that I desire Beside Thee. Thou shalt hear and fulfill his word. Who
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saith my son give me thy heart, and having given him thy heart thy
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inmost soul, to reign there without arrival, Thou mayst well cry out in
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the fullness of thy heart. I will love THEE, O Lord my strength.
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The Lord is my strong rock and my defense, my Savior, my
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God, and my might in whom I will trust my buckler, the horn
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also of my salvation and my refuge. And the second commandment is like unto
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this. The second great branch of Christian righteousness is closely and inseparably connected therewith
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even Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt love, Thou shalt
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embrace with the most tender good will, the most earnest and cordial affection,
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the most inflamed desires of preventing or removing all evil, and of procuring for
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him every possible good, thy neighbor, that is, not only thy friend,
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thy kinsman, or thy acquaintance, not only the virtuous, the friendly
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him that loves thee that prevents or returns thy kindness, but every child of
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man, every human creature, every soul which God hath made, Not accepting
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him whom thou never hast seen in the flesh, whom thou knowest, not
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either by face or name, Not accepting him whom thou knowest to be evil
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and unthankful, Him that still, despitefully uses and persecutes thee Him, thou
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shalt love as thyself, with the same and variable thirst after his happiness in
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every kind, the same unwearied care to screen him from whatever might grieve or
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hurt either his soul or body. Now is not this love the fulfilling of
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the law, the sum of all Christian righteousness, of all inward righteousness,
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For it necessarily implies bowels of mercy, humbleness of mind. Seeing love is
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not puffed up gentleness, meekness, long suffering, For love is not provoked,
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but believeth, hopeth, endureth all things, and of all outward righteousness.
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For love worketh no evil to his neighbor, either by word or deed.
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It cannot willingly hurt or grieve anyone. And it is zealous of good
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works. Every lover of mankind, as he hath opportunity, doth good unto
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all men, being without partiality and without hypocrisy, full of mercy and good
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fruits. But true religion, or a heart right toward God and Man,
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implies happiness as well as holiness, for it is not only righteousness, but
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also peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. What peace the peace of God,
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which God only can give and the world cannot take away, The peace
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which passeth all understanding, all barely rational conception, being a supernatural sensation,
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a divine taste of the powers of the world to come, such as the
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natural man knoweth not, how why soever, in the things of this world,
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nor indeed can he know it in his present state, because it is
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spiritually discerned. It is a peace that banishes all doubt, all painful uncertainty,
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the spirit of God bearing witness with the spe spirit of a Christian that
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he is a child of God. And it banishes fear, all such fear
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as hath torment, the fear of the wrath of God, the fear of
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hell, the fear of the devil, and in particular the fear of death.
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He that hath the peace of God, desiring if it were the will
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of God, to depart and to be with Christ. With this peace of
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God. Wherever it is fixed in the soul, there is also joy in
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the Holy Ghost, joy wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost, by
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the ever blessed Spirit of God. He it is that worketh in us,
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that calm, humble rejoicing in God through Christ Jesus, by whom we have
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now received the Atonement Catalagan, the reconciliation with God, and that enables us
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boldly to confirm the truth of the Royal Psalmist's declaration. Blessed is the man,
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or rather happy, whose unrighteousness is forgiven and whose sin is covered.
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He it is that in inspires the Christian soul with that even solid joy which
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arises from the testimony of the Spirit that he is a child of God,
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and that gives him to rejoice with joy unspeakable in hope of the glory of
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God. Hope, both of the glorious image of God, which is in
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part and shall be fully revealed in Him, and of that crown of Glory
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which fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for him. This holiness and happiness
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joined in one are sometimes styled in the inspired writings the Kingdom of God as
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by Our Lord in the text, and sometimes the Kingdom of Heaven. It
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is termed the Kingdom of God because it is the immediate fruit of God's reigning
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in the soul. So soon as ever He takes unto himself his mighty power
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and sets up his throne in our hearts, they are instantly filled with this
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righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy ghost. It is called the Kingdom
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of Heaven because it is in a degree Heaven opened in the soul. For
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whosoever they are are that experience this, they can ever before angels and men,
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everlasting life is one glory is on earth begun according to the constant tenor
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of scripture, which everywhere bears record, God hath given unto us eternal life,
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And this life is in his son, He that hath the Son reigning
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in his heart, hath life, even life everlasting. First John five,
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verses eleven and twelve. For this is life eternal, to know THEE,
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the only true God, in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent John seventeen,
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verse three. And they to whom this is given may confidently address God,
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though they were in the midst of a fiery furnace. The Lord safe
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shielded by Thy power, thee Son of God Jehovah, we adore in form
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of man descending to appear to thee be ceaseless. Hallelujahs given praise as in
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heaven thy throne we offer here, for where Thy presence is displayed is heaven,
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and this Kingdom of God or of Heaven, is at hand. As
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these words were originally spoken, they implied that the time was then fulfilled God
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being made manifest in the flesh, when he would set up his kingdom among
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men and reign in the hearts of his people. It is not the time
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now fulfilled. For lo saith, he I am with you always, you
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who preach remission of sins in My name, even under the end of the
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world. Matthew twenty eight, verse twenty Wheersoever, therefore the Gospel of Christ
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is preached this his Kingdom is nigh at hand. It is not far from
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every one of you. Ye may this hour enter therein too. If so
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be ye hearken to his voice. Repent ye and believe the Gospel. This
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is the way. Walk ye in it, and first repent, that is,
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know yourselves. This is the first repentance, previous to faith, even
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conviction or self knowledge. Awake, then thou that sleepest, know thyself to
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be a sinner in what manner of sinner thou art know that corruption of thy
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inmost nature, whereby thou art very far gone from original righteousness, whereby the
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flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit, through that carnal mind which is enmity
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against God, which is not subject to the law of God. Neither in
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deed can be know that thou art corrupted in every power, in every faculty
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of thy soul, that thou art totally corrupted in every one of these,
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all the foundations being out of course, the eyes of thine understanding are darkened,
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so that they cannot discern God or the things of God. The clouds
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of ignorance and error rest upon thee and cover THEE with the shadow of death.
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Thou knowest nothing Yet as thou oughtest to know, neither God nor the
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world, nor thyself, thy will is no longer the will of God,
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but is utterly perverse and distorted, a verse from all good, from all
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which God loves, and prone to all evil, to every abomination which God
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hateth. Thy affections are alienated from God and scattered abroad over all the earth.
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All thy passions, both thy desires and aversions, thy joys and sorrows,
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thy hopes and fears, are out of frame, are either undue in
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their degree, or placed on undue objects, so that there is no soundness
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in thy soul. But from the crown of the head to the soul of
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the foot, to use the strong expression of the prophet, there are only
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wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. Such is the inbred corruption of the heart
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of thy very inmost nature. And what manner of branches canst thou expect to
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grow from such an evil root? Hence springs unbelief. Ever, departing from
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the living God saying who is the Lord? That I should serve him?
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Tush thou God carest not for it? Hence independence affecting to be like the
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most high hence pride in all its forms, teaching THEE to say, I
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am rich and increased in goods, and have need of nothing. From this
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evil fountain flow forth the bitter streams of vanity, thirst of praise, ambition,
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coveteousness, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye,
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and the pride of life. From this arise anger, hatred, malice,
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revenge, envy, jealousy, evil surmisings. From this all the foolish and
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hurtful lusts that now pierce THEE through with many sorrows, and if not timely
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prevented, will at length drown thy soul in everlasting perdition. And what fruits
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can grow on such branches as these, only such as are bitter and evil,
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Continually of pride, cometh, contention, vain, boasting, seeking and
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receiving praise of men, and so robbing God of that glory which he cannot
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give unto another. Of the lust of the flesh, come gluttony or drunkenness,
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luxury or sensuality, fornication, uncleanness, variously defiling that body which was
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designed for a temple of the Holy Ghost, of unbelief, of every evil
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word and work. But the time would fail, shouldst thou reckon up all
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all the idle words that thou hast spoken, provoking the most high grieving the
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Holy One of Israel, all the evil works thou hast done, either wholly
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evil in themselves, or at least not done to the glory of God.
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For thy actual sins are more than thou art able to express, more than
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the hairs of thy head. Who can number the sands of the sea,
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or the drops of rain, or thy iniquities. And knowest thou not that
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the wages of sin is death, death, not only temporal, but eternal.
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The soul that sinneth, it shall die. For the mouth of the
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Lord hath spoken it, it shall die, the second death. This is
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the sentence to be punished with never ending death, with everlasting destruction, from
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the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. Knowest thou
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not that every sinner innakos estai ase ten ginan two pyrus not properly is in
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danger of hell fire, is far too weak, but rather is under the
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sentence of hell fire, doomed, already just dragging to execution. Thou art
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guilty of everlasting death. It is the just reward of thy inward and outward
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wickedness. It is just that the sentence should now take place. Dost thou
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see, dost thou feel this? Art Thou thoroughly convinced that thou deservest God's
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wrath and everlasting damnation. Would God do THEE no wrong if He now commanded
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the earth to open and swallow THEE up, If thou wert now to go
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down quick into the pit, into the fire that never shall be quenched.
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If God hath given THEE truly to repent, Thou hast a deep sense that
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these things are so, and that it is of His mere mercy. Thou
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art not consumed swept away from the face of the earth. And what wilt
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thou do to appease the wrath of God to atone for all thy sins,
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and to escape the punishment that thou hast so justly deserved? Alas thou canst
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do nothing, nothing that will in any wise make amends to God for one
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evil work or word or thought. If thou couldst now do all things well,
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If from this very hour till thy soul should return to God, thou
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couldst perform perfect, uninterrupted obedience, even this would not atone for what is
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past. The not increasing thy debt would not discharge it. It would still
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remain as great as ever yea, the present and future obedience of all the
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men upon earth and all the angels in heaven would never make satisfaction to the
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justice of God for one's single sin. How vain, then was the thought
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of atoning for thy own sins by anything thou couldst do. It costeth far
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more to redeem one's soul than all mankind is able to pay. So that
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were there no other help for a guilty sinner, without doubt, he must
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have perished everlastingly. But suppose perfect obedience for the time to come could atone
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for the sins that are past. This would profit thee nothing, for thou
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art not able to perform it, No, not in any one point.
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Begin now make the trial shake off that outward sin that so easily besetteth THEE.
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Thou canst not, How then, wilt thou change thy life from all
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evil to all good? Indeed, it is impossible to be done unless first
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thy heart be changed. For so long as the tree remains evil, it
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cannot bring forth good fruit. But art thou able to change thy own heart,
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from all sin to all holiness, to quicken a soul that is dead
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and sin, dead to God and alive only to the world, no more
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than thou art able to quicken a dead body, to raise to life him
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that lieth in the grave. Yea thou art not able to quicken thy soul
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in any degree, no more than to give any degree of life to the
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dead body. Thou canst do nothing more or less in this matter. Thou
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art utterly without strength to be deeply sensible of this, how helpless thou art,
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as well as how guilty and how sinful this is that repentance not to
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be repented of which is the forerunner of the Kingdom of God. If to
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this lively conviction of thy inward and outward sins, of thy utter guiltiness and
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helplessness, there be added suitable affections sorrow of the heart for having despised thy
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own mercies, remorse and self condemnation, having thy mouth stopped, shame to
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lift up thine eyes to heaven, fear of the wrath of God abiding on
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thee of His curse hanging over thy head, and of the fiery indignation ready
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to devour those who forget God and obey not our Lord Jesus Christ, earnest
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desire to escape from that indignation, to cease from evil and learn to do
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well. Then I say unto thee in the name of the Lord, thou
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art not far from the Kingdom of God one step more, and thou shalt
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enter in thou dost repent. Now believe the Gospel, the gospel that is
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good tidings, good news for guilty helpless sinners. In the largest sense of
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the word means the whole revelation made to men by Jesus Christ, and sometimes
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the whole account of what our Lord did and suffered while he tabernacled among men.
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The substance of all is Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
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Or God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to
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the end we might not perish, but have everlasting life. Or he was
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bruised for our transgressions, He was wounded for our iniquities. The chastisement of
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our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Believe
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this, and the Kingdom of God is thine. By faith, Thou attainest
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the promise He pardoneth and absolveth all that truly repent and unfeignedly believe His Holy
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Gospel. As soon as ever God hath spoken to thy heart, be of
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good cheer. Thy sins are forgiven thee his Kingdom comes. Thou hast righteousness
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and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Only beware thou do not deceive
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thy own soul. With regard to the nature of this faith, it is
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not, as some have fondly conceive, a bare assent to the truth of
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the Bible, of the articles of our creed, or of all that is
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contained in the Old and New Testament. The devils believe this as well as
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I or thou, and yet they are devil still. But it is over
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and above this a sure trust in the mercy of God through Jesus Christ.
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It is a confidence in a pardoning God. It is a divine evidence or
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conviction that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing to
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them their former trespasses. And in particular that the Son of God hath loved
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me and given himself for me, and that I even I am now reconciled
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to God by the blood of the Cross. Dost thou thus believe, then
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the peace of God is in thy heart, and sorrow and sighing flee away.
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Thou art no longer in doubt of the love of God. It is
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clear as the noonday sun. Thou criest out my song shall be always of
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the loving kindness of the Lord. With my mouth will I ever be telling
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of Thy truth from one generation to another. Thou art no longer afraid of
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hell or death, or him that had once the power of death the devil,
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no nor painfully afraid of God himself, Only that thou hast a tender,
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filile fear of offending him. Dost thou believe, then thy soul doth
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magnify the Lord and the spirit rejoiceth in God, thy Savior. Thou rejoicest
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in that thou hast redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
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Thou rejoicest in that spirit of adoption which crieth in thy heart. Abbah Father,
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Thou rejoicest in a hope full of immortality, in reaching forth unto the
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mark of the prize of Thy high calling, in an earnest expectation of all
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the good things which God hath prepared for them that love him. Dost thou
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now believe, then the love of God is now shed abroad in thy heart.
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Thou lovest Him, because He first loved us, And because thou lovest
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God, thou lovest thy brother also, And being filled with love, peace,
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joy, thou art also filled with long suffering, gentleness, fidelity,
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goodness, meekness, temperance, and all the other fruits of the same spirit.
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In a word, with whatever dispositions are holy, are heavenly or divine.
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For while thou beholdest with open, uncovered face, the veil now being
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taken away, the glory of the Lord, his glorious love, and the
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glorious image wherein thou hast created, thou art changed into the same image,
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from glory to glory by the spirit of the Lord. This repentance, this
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faith, this peace, joy love, this change from glory to glory,
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is what the wisdom of the world has voted to be madness, mere enthusiasm,
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utter distraction. But thou, o man of God, regard them.
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Not be thou moved by none of these things. Thou knowest in whom thou
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hast believed. See that no man take thy crown, whereunto thou hast already
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attained. Hold fast and follow till thou attain all the great and precious promises.
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And thou who hast not yet known him. Let not vain men make
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THEE ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Be th in nothing, terrified by
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those who speak evil of the things which they know not. Of God will
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soon turn thy heaviness into joy. O. Let not thy hands hang down
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yet a little longer, and He will take away thy fears and give THEE
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the spirit of a sound mind. He is nigh that justifieth, who is
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he that condemneth It is Christ that died, yea rather that rose again,
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who is even now at the right hand of God making intercession for THEE.
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Now cast thyself on the lamb of God with all thy sins, how many
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soever they be, And an entrance shall now be ministered unto THEE into the
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Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. End of Section seven.