Sermon II

Jfany man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

THE Jewish religion, by the express command of its Divine Author, would not admit of any relaxation of its principles, or any departure from its established ordinances. Not only did it prohibit any connexion with idolaters, but it forbade even the mention of the name of any false god. In all its appointments, it formed so broad a line of separation between the Jews and the rest of the world, that it was considered by the Gentiles as inspiring its followers with an utter hatred of all the human race. The New Testament has, to a certain degree, shared amongst the heathen the same universal antipathy, and upon the same grounds, the religion of the Lord Jesus would have admitted of any union with idolatry, he would have been readily received amongst the objects of worship which the Romans venerated; and his religion, instead of being universally proscribed, would have been judged worthy of general respect. But the Apostles were commanded to preach the Gospel every where, as requiring an exclusive regard; and to enforce it with this authoritative declaration, that “all who believed and embraced it should be saved, but that all who embraced it not should be damned.”* Its doctrines were inculcated as so sacred, that “if even an angel from heaven should attempt to establish any position contrary to them, he should be held accursed. “t This inflexible spirit pervades the whole of our religion, so far as it relates to its fundamental truths. Every man must yield to it at his peril: and not to those parts only which are commended to us by our reason, but to those parts also which depend entirely on revelation, and to which reason is constrained to bow. Not to mention innumerable other passages which partake of this unbending character, I will take that which forms the subject of our present series: “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Here is a declaration;

* Mark svr. 16. i Gal. i. 8, 9 so broad, so explicit, so determinate, as la admit of no qualification, no exception whatever. To it every child of man must submit; and “whoever shall stumble over it as a rock of offence, shall be broken; and on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”* Taking for granted that you have, agreeably to my request, examined carefully for yourselves my text in connexion with the context, and that you see my interpretation of it to be correct, (for “the Spirit of Christ,” mentioned in my text, cannot by any possibility be understood as meaning the disposition of Christ,) I proceed, with all humility, to the further consideration of the awful truth which I have undertaken to develop.

Now, whether we could show the reasonable- ness of this declaration or not, it would be our bounden duty to receive it with implicit confidence, and to regard it as the avowed and unalterable determination of the Most High. But I think it may be clearly shown, that this is by no means an arbitrary appointment, resulting merely from the sovereign will of God. It appears to be rather a declaration founded on

* Matt. xxi. 44”.

the actual state of man as a fallen creature. When man was in his primeval state of holiness, he was in himself complete, and needed neither a Saviour to work out a redemption for him, nor the Holy Spirit to apply that redemption to him. But, as a fallen creature, he stands in need of both. A Redeemer is necessary for him, that he may be brought back to God; and the gift of the Holy Spirit is necessary for him, in order that he may come to Christ aright, and find acceptance with God through Christ. This need of the Spirit’s influence is the part of my subject which I am now called to unfold; and I pray God, that, whilst I address myself to it with all Christian fidelity, “the word may come to every soul amongst you, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.”*

Let me however first, in few words, repeat what we mean, when we say, that men must “have” the Spirit of Christ; for, unless we have definite ideas upon that subject, we can never fully comprehend the point which we are endeavouring to set before you.

1 Thcss. i. 5.

It is obvious that the possession of the Spirit, which is here spoken of, must be somewhat very different from any natural or acquired endowment, since we may possess every thing which constitutes us rational and accountable beings, and yet not be Christ’s; whilst on the other hand, however defective we may, in other respects, be, the possession of it will infallibly prove us to belong to Christ. If it be asked, What does this possession of the Spirit import? I answer, It is, as I showed in my last, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our souls, as his temple, and his operating in us, as a quickening and influential principle of life.

That point being determined, we shall proceed, agreeably to the plan before laid down, to show,

II. Why the possessing of that Spirit is necessary to our being Christ’s accepted followers. For the elucidation of this, there are three points to be established; namely: — first, That all our faculties are impaired by sin; next, That, without an entire renovation of them, Christ can never accept or acknowledge us as his: and, lastly, That none but the Spirit of

Christ can ever accomplish in us this necessary work. These points being established, the reasonableness, no less than the certainty, of God’s declaration in my text, will appear, to the conviction of every gainsayer, and to the satisfaction of every unprejudiced mind.

First, then, let it be remembered, That all our faculties are impaired by sin.

It is clear, that we are not now such as we were when we first came out of our Creator’s hands. We were created, originally, “after God’s own image.”* Our mind was in perfect accordance with his mind, and our will with his will. There was not so much as a thought of our hearts which did not emanate from him, and had not respect to his glory. Our bodies were every way fitted to aid the soul in all its operations. Not an inclination, affection, or appetite, existed in us, but in perfect unison with the proper offices of the soul, and in subserviency to its dictates. Man’s whole delight was in God alone. As far as his happiness was in any respect derived from the creature, it was God in the

* Gen. i. 2C.

creature, and not the creature itself, that was the real source of that happiness: the creature was only the medium of communication between him and his God. The goodness of God was seen and tasted by him in every thing; and every object around him afforded him an occasion of admiration, and gratitude, and love. To dwell in the presence of God, to commune with him, to receive and execute every intimation of his will; in a word, to admire God in every thing, to adore him for every thing, and to glorify him by every thing, this was the constant employment of man in his state of innocence, and the one uniform occupation both of his soul and body.

But what of all this is now left to us? We are altogether departed from God. Every faculty of our souls, and every member of our bodies, is become depraved, so that there remains in us no part of the moral image of our God. As beings of a superior order, w still are the lords of this lower creation; and, in the exercise of this authority, we, to a certain degree, resemble Him who is the Governor of the universe.* But ia

* 1 Car. d. 7 righteousness and true holiness, which I call his moral image* we bear no resemblance to him whatever. Our understanding is blinded, so that, instead of approving God’s revealed will, we turn away from it with dislike. His law, as contained in the Ten Commandments, is deemed by us unnecessarily strict; and the sanctions by which it is enforced are regarded as needlessly severe. His very Gospel, which is the result of his eternal counsels, and contains in it “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,”* is treated by us as a cunningly devised fable. To the self-righteous amongst us, it is a stumbling-block; and to those who are wise in their own conceit, it is mere foolishness. We are, both in heart and life, altogether opposed to it. In our eyes sin has no deformity, and holiness no beauty. Communion with God affords us no pleasure. Prayer and praise are exercises which are a burden to us, rather than a delight; and instead of walking in constant and familiar intercourse with God, as Adam did before the fall, we flee from him, as Adam did after his transgression, and rather hide ourselves from him as an enemy, than go forth to meet him as a friend.

* Col. u. 3,

But “is it I who say this; or saith not the Scripture the same also?“* God’s own account of us is, that” when he looked down from heaven upon men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek after God. They were all gone aside, they were all together become filthy: there was not one that did good, no, not one.“t He further adds, that” every imagination of the thoughts of men’s hearts was only evil continually. “+ Nor let it be supposed that this was descriptive only of some more flagrant transgressors who lived at one particular age or place: for the Apostles themselves, previous to their conversion, were of this very character, as St. Paul most candidly confesses. Speaking of those” who walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in all the children of disobedience,” he says, “Among whom we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature children of wrath, even as others. “§ And again,” We ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, de-

* 1 Cor. ix. 8. t Psa. xiv. 2, 3, with Rom. iii, 10 — 18.

Gen. vi. 5. § Eph. ii. 2, 3.

ceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.”*

But, together with the Scripture, let me appeal to personal experience. What have been our own habits, even from our youth? Have we delighted ourselves in God? Has it been the joy of our hearts to draw nigh to him in the exercise of prayer and praise? And have we sought after the communications of his grace and the testimonies of his love, as our supreme happiness? When the question has occurred to our minds, “Who will show us any good?” has the reply of David instantly been made, “Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us r“f Must we not rather confess, that every vanity has been regarded by us with a deeper interest than our God, and every base lust been served in preference to him? Yes, we have, as the Scripture asserts,;’ worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for evermore. “J And if at any time we have been reproved for this, our heart has risen up against the will of

Tit. iii. 3. t Psa. iv. G. i Rom. i. 25.

God, in the very spirit of Pharaoh, when he said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice .? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.”* And now I make my appeal to you. Is this over-stated f If any think that it is, tell me who is there amongst us whose body has at all times been in perfect subjection to his soul, so as to render a prompt and uniform obedience to its holy motions? With whom has it not rather been in a constant state of rebellion against the soul; and in whom, unless he have been renewed by divine grace, does it not, with insatiable avidity, follow yet daily its own corrupt desires? It is true in all of us, though not exactly in the same way, that the body, which was ordained to serve, exercises a tyrannic sway over the soul; and the soul, which was ordained to regulate all the motions of the body, is made a very pander to its corrupt appetites.

Now then, agreeably to what I mentioned as the second point to be considered, I beg you to inquire with care, and to judge with candour, whether, whilst we are in such a state, Christ

* Exod. v. 2.

can receive us, and acknowledge us as his ‘:’ I think it clear, that he cannot: for it icould counteract all the ‘purposes of God in the redemption of the world. If we trace up, as we must, the whole work of redemption to the eternal counsels of God, I ask, To what has he predestinated his people? Is it not that they should be “conformed to the image of his Son?”* To what has he chosen them? Is it not that they may be “holy and without blame before him in love?”t Yes: to no one soul amongst us shall salvation ever be vouchsafed, but “through sanctification of the Spirit,” as well as through “belief of the truth. “| But how would these purposes be accomplished, if men were saved with all their corruptions unmortified and unsubdued? Besides, it would defeat all the ends of our Saviour’s mission. “He came to destroy the works of the devil:”§ to “redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Even at the time of his conception in the womb, his name Jesus was given him as declarative of this very thing, that he should “save his people,” not in their sins, hut from

* Rom. viii. 29. t Eph. i. 4. t 2 Thess. ii. 13.

* I Jobn Lit. 8. Tit, ii. 14.

them.* But he might as well have never come at all, if these ends are to be set aside, and mankind are to be saved without any respect to their moral character. Further, the office of the Holy Spirit, as a sanctijier, would be altogether frustrated and superseded; yea, and the whole word of God would be invalidated and made void, God has declared, that “the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God:”f and that “no unclean thing shall enter into his presence.”! But what truth would there be in these declarations, if an unrenewed man could stand with acceptance in the sight of God?

But, in fact, an unregenerate man could not be happy in the presence of God, even if he were admitted to it. For, how could so corrupt a creature endure the presence of a holy God; and a creature so full of enmity against God, be happy in immediate communion with him? Mow could a person who has never found any pleasure in holy exercises, bear to spend an eternity in duties, for which he has no taste, no fitness, no capacity? He has no meetness for heaven. He would be altogether out of his

* Matt. i. 21. t 1 Cor. vi. 9. Rev, xxi. 27 element there: heaven would be no heaven to him, for want of the dispositions necessary for the enjoyment of it. If “two cannot walk together on earth, except they be agreed,”* much less could the glorified saints and angels, all formed after the perfect image of their God, admit to their converse, and associate themselves with, those who bear upon their souls nothing but the image and deformity of Satan. St. Paul puts this in a very striking point of view, and appeals to us for the justness of his sentiments: “What fellowship,” says he, “hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?”t

If then Christ will not make void the eternal purposes of his Father, and the ends of his own incarnation and death — if he will not render nugatory the office of the Holy Spirit as the sanctifier of God’s elect — and if he will not so dishonour himself as to number amongst his people those who have spent their whole lives in” treading under foot his blood, and doing

* Amos iii. 3. + 2 Cor. li. 14, 15.

despite to the Spirit of his grace”* — in a word, if he will not exalt to his glory those who have no taste, no capacity for the enjoyment of it — 1 think it clear, that Christ neither will nor can acknowledge any people as his, till they have received an entire renovation of their nature, and a meetness for that glory to which he would exalt them.

Let me not, however, be misunderstood. I am far from saying that our fallen nature renders us incapable of enjoying heaven, provided we be washed from our guilt in the blood of Christ, and be renewed by his Spirit in our inward man. On the contrary, not only will the Lord Jesus Christ, in that case, receive and acknowledge us as his, but “God the Father also will rejoice over us with joy; and rest in his love, and joy over us with singing;”f and both the Father and the Son will be eternally glorified in us. But this I say, that, till we are restored to the divine image, the Lord Jesus can never have pleasure in us, nor can God the Father ever recognise us as his peculiar and redeemed people; for our Lord has repeatedly,

MIfcb. x.29. iZeph.iiL17.

and in the most authoritative manner, asserted, that, “Except we be born again, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.”* If ever we would belong to Christ, we must be so renewed, as to be made, if not in act, yet in desire and endeavour at least, “pure, as Christ himself is pure,”t and “perfect, as our Father which is in heaven is perfect. “$

But here arises the question, By what power can this change be effected? And I answer, (as I undertook, in the third place, to show,) it is by the Spirit of Christ alone that this change ever was, or ever can be wrought.

To imagine that this change is of necessity wrought in baptism, is a very fatal error. I presume not to say that God cannot accomplish it then as well as at any other time; nor do I deny but that God does, on some occasions, make that ordinance the means of peculiar benefit to the soul. But the mere administration of the baptismal rite can no more sanctify a man, than the administration of the Lord’s supper can. And if a man at the Lord’s supper

* John iii. 3 i 1 John iii. 3. X Matt. v. 48.

may, by receiving it amiss, “eat and drink his own damnation;”* so, by receiving baptism amiss, he may receive a curse rather than a blessing. This was actually the case with Simon Magus, who, though baptized by Philip the Evangelist, remained in the very “gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity.”! There is, doubtless, (and I wish the avowal of it to be distinctly noticed,) a great change effected in baptism. But it is a change of state, and not of nature. By baptism a person is admitted into covenant with God, and obtains a title to all the blessings of the Christian covenant, exactly as a Jew, by circumcision, became entitled to all the blessings of the Jewish covenant. St. Paul says, “To them,” as Israelites, (who have been admitted into covenant with God by circumcision,) to them “pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.”:y: But were they therefore renewed, and sanctified, and saved? Surely not: for the Apostle *’ appealed to God, that, notwithstanding their title to these blessings, he had “great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart” §

* 1 Cor. xi. 29. + Acts viii. 23.

t Rom. ix. 4. 6 Rom. ix. 2.

on their account. So then it is with those who have been baptized: they have a title to all the blessings of salvation; a title which, in an unbaptized state, they did not possess. But the actual possession of those blessings can only be obtained by the exercise of faith in Christ for the justification of their souls, and by the influence of the Holy Spirit for their restoration to the divine image. To regard it in any other view, is to assimilate it to the extreme unction of the Papists, and to lead men into the most fatal error.

If, then, we do not of necessity receive a new nature in baptism, when and how are we to receive it? Can we, by any efforts of our own, form it in ourselves? I answer, No. It is called in Scripture a new creation ;* and a man can no more create himself anew, than he could create himself at first. If any think that he has within himself a power to renew himself after the divine image, he has, within his own reach, the means of proving it to demonstration. Let him set about it, and accomplish it, and he will at once disprove every

* 2 Cor. v. 17.

word which the Scripture speaks respecting this matter. Our Lord says, “Without me ye can do nothing;”* and St. Paul says, that.” God alone can give us either to will or to do any thing that is good;“f yea, that of ourselves “we are not sufficient even to think a good thought as of ourselves; our sufficiency for it must be of God.”t If any man think this not true, let him try it. I readily acknowledge, that a man may correct some outward vices, and practise some outward duties; but can he bring himself to hate every kind and degree of sin, and to loath and abhor himself on account of his indwelling corruptions? Can he, without the Spirit’s influence, so “mortify the c<eeds of the body,”§ as no longer to live after the flesh? And can he sit loose to all the things of time and sense, and “set his affections” wholly and exclusively “on things above r”| Can he, in a word, bring himself to love God supremely, and to delight himself truly in all holy exercises? Can he further so form his soul after the likeness of Christ, as, under the heaviest trials, to indulge no other tempers than those which he manifested, and willingly to lay down his

* John xv. 5. t Phil. ii. 13. t 2 Cor. ii:. •’>

$ Rom. riii. 13. |l Col. iii. 2.

life, as he did, and as every follower of Christ must be ready to do,* for the honour and glory of his God? Let him do these things by any power of his own, and we will at once acknowledge the erroneousness of our present statement. But the more diligently the attempt be made, the more deeply will any man be convinced, that he must have the Spirit of Christ; and that, without the renovating influences of that divine Agent, he can never become one of Christ’s peculiar and approved people. The Spirit of Christ must “open the eyes of our understanding. “t The Spirit of Christ must “renew us in our inward man.”| The Spirit of Christ alone can so reveal the Saviour to us, that, with any measure of true affiance, we should “call him Lord.”§ No other power than his can ever assimilate us to the risen Saviour, enabling us to die unto sin, and to rise again unto righteousness. Nothing, I say, but the mighty working of that power that raised Christ himself from the dead, can efFect this change in us; and consequently, the assertion in my text is clearly proved, “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

* Luke xiv. 2G. t Lake xxiv. 45. y 2 Cor. iv. 16.

$ 1 Cor. xii. 3. H Eph- i- 17 — 21.

Let it then be borne in mind, that, as this is not a mere arbitrary appointment of the Deity, so neither is it an enthusiastic conceit. It is a decision of the Most High, arising out of the necessities of our nature, and proceeding from the boundless riches of his grace, which has made such an astonishing provision for us.

I hope I may now consider this point as proved, and may henceforth assume it as an acknowledged truth, that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit’s influence is founded on the state and character of every living man. Indeed, if my statement upon this part of my subject have failed to carry conviction along with it, all that I shall have to bring forward in my two remaining discourses, will appear destitute of any solid foundation, and unwTorthy of any serious attention. It is on this account that I have devoted one entire discourse to this part of my subject. I know whom I address, and that they will justly expect to sec every step of my argument made clear and unquestionable. I have great and important truths to bring before you in my remaining discourses; ,and, if I show you not to your satisfaction the foundation on which they stand, I cannot hope, or even wish, at any time, and least of all in these days of fanaticism and folly, that they should be favourably received by you. “I speak as unto wise men; and I call upon you to judge what I say.”* But I do hope, that the words which I have delivered, have carried conviction along with them. And if any doubt remain on the mind of a single individual, I call upon him to study well the state of his own soul before God. If any one of you think himself not so fallen as I have represented, let him examine well the Scriptures, and compare with them the whole of his past life. Or, if he think he can restore himself to God’s image by any power of his own, let it be seen that he can do so, and let him prove it by an actual appeal to fact. Or if, in the failure of these endeavours, he is disposed to maintain that he has no need of such a transformation of soul as I have spoken of, then let him inquire diligently, and see, whether there be not, on God’s part, an insurmountable obstacle to his admission into heaven in an unrenewed state; and also, whether, if admitted into those blissful mansions, there would not be on his part an insuperable impe-

1 Cor. x. 15.

diluent to his enjoyment of them; and whether that be not true, which our Lord declared to the obstinate and unbelieving Jews, “Whither I go, ye cannot come.”*

But none of you will ever be able to satisfy yourselves on any one of these points. If you could establish any one of them, you would set aside the authority of the inspired volume, and disprove at once the whole of Christianity. But if you acknowledge, as you must, the truth of our preceding statement, then set yourselves immediately to make a due improvement of all that you have heard. Beg of God, especially, that you may be impressed with a deep sense of your exceeding sinfulness, and of your need of the Holy Spirit’s influence to renovate your souls. And do not rest in a mere outward acknowledgment of your guilt and helplessness, but cry mightily to God, and “give him no rest”! till he bestow his Holy Spirit upon you. Nor harbour a thought of delaying this work to “a more convenient season:”!: for, who can tell whether that more convenient season shall ever arrive? More especially now that God’s judg-

John viii. 21. t Isa. lxii. 7. % Acts xxiv. 23.

ments are so visibly, and with such rapid strides, traversing the earth, and may, for ought we know, be even already at our doors; who can tell, whether even a single day may be allowed you for repairing your present neglect, and for acquiring that renovation of soul which you so greatly need? Indeed, this is no time* for any of us to delay our preparation for death and judgment. On the contrary, the very circumstance of the proximity of danger should give tenfold energy to our endeavours; since, in the event of any sudden seizure, a consciousness of having experienced this change would tend to tranquillize our minds, and by disarming death of its terrors, to counteract the effect of disease itself, which would otherwise gather strength from the fears that were excited by it.

I mean not, however, to be an alarmist on these matters: but on the matters of eternity I am an alarmist, even as the Apostle Paul was; and “knowing,” as he did,” the terrors of the Lord, I would persuade men’f yes, I would persuade every one amongst you, old and young,

* Nov. 13, 1831, vrhen the cholera had actually begun to show itself at Sunderland.

f 2 Cor. v. 11.

rich and poor, learned and unlearned, to “flee from the wrath to come,”* and to “lay hold on eternal life.”t I ask every one here present, Is my text true, or is it not? If it be true, what is it less than madness to waste the time now afforded you for obtaining the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, and securing thereby the salvation of your souls? It will be too late to repent when we are taken hence, or to “ask for even a drop of water to cool our tongues;”| when now, if we would but cry to God, we might obtain “rivers of living water.”§ Were we but in earnest, no soul amongst us should be suffered to seek this gift in vain. Our blessed Lord has promised his Holy Spirit to us; yea, he has himself received this heavenly gift on purpose that he may bestow it upon us.|| But, however free his promises be, “he will be inquired of by us,” before he will perform them.^f The promise runs, “Ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”## Let us then, in dependence on this promise, entreat of God to give us, in the

* Matt. iii. 7. t 1 Tim. vi. 12.

t Luke xvi. 24. $ John vii. 38.

In Psalm lxviii. 18, it is, “he received;” but in Eph. iv. 8, •” he gave.” He received in order that he might give. If Ezek. xxxvi. 37. v Matt. vii. 7.

first place, his Holy Spirit as a “spirit of grace and supplication;”* and then, in answer to our prayers, to “pour out his Spirit, even as it were in rivers and floods upon us;”f that so there may be accomplished in us that good work, which it is the Spirit’s office to perform, by renovating our souls, and “causing us to walk in God’s statutes, and to keep his judgments, and do them.”f Then, having obtained this inestimable gift, let us be careful to improve it aright, never “resisting his holy motions, “§ lest we provoke God to “withdraw his Spirit from us,”|| and with holy indignation to swear, that “his Spirit shall strive with us no more;”^[ and that “we shall never enter into his rest.”#*

The most important parts of my subject must of necessity be deferred to the remaining opportunities of addressing you. This, which I may call only a prefatory part, I will conclude with that beautiful Collect of our Church, in which the whole that has been brought before you is thus briefly and piously expressed:” 0

* Zech. xii. 10. t Isa. xliv. 3. t Ezek. xxxvi. 27.

$ Acis vii. 51. Pea. li. 11. 1 Gen. vi. 3.

Heb. iii. 11.

God, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”*

* Collect for Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity.