The Only Deliverer from
the Wrath to Come!
Or, the Way to Escape the Horrible and Eternal Burnings
of Hell
By Thomas Vincent
"Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come!" 1
Thessalonians 1:10
Past pains may easily be forgotten. Future
pains are not easily believed. Present pains in extremity are so
grievous and afflicting that all the wealth and honor in the world cannot
countervail them—and, oh, how welcome is such a physician who can give ease
and remove them! But if people believingly apprehended what horrible pains
and torments the wicked must endure in the unquenchable flames of hell fire,
where they can have no ease, and their misery shall have no end;
if they apprehended how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the
living God, and to be swallowed up by His wrath, which pursues all who are
out of Christ, and who will certainly come and may quickly
seize upon them—surely they would use their utmost diligence now to
escape—surely they would, with the greatest inquisitiveness, seek out a
place of refuge from the fiery tempest of God's vengeance!
This text, which makes a revelation of the only
Deliverer from the wrath to come, would sound with most transcendent
sweetness in their ears; and the glad tidings thereof, concerning what Jesus
has done for His people, would, above all things, be most welcome in their
hearts. "Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come!"
In the former verse, the apostle tells the Thessalonians
what manner of reception he had at first among them, and what the great
effect of his ministry was upon them, namely that they were converted
thereby, which conversion he sets forth:
1. By the nature of it: they were turned from dead
idols—the lying vanities which they worshiped and served before—unto the
living and true God, to worship and serve Him.
2. By the consequence of it, which was their
waiting for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven. And here
he shows:
First, the evidence of this second coming: it will
certainly be, namely by God's raising Him from the dead and receiving
Him into heaven.
Second, the ground of their hope and comforting
expectation, and waiting for this coming in the text: because this Jesus had
delivered them from the wrath to come. The wicked, if awakened, look
for Christ's second coming with dread and fearful expectation,
because of the wrath which He will bring with Him—because He will come in
flaming fire to take vengeance upon them. The righteous, if assured
of their saving interest in Christ, look for Christ's second coming with
gladness and joyful expectation because He has delivered them from the wrath
to come. "Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come!"
The doctrine, then, is plainly set forth in the words of
the text: It is Jesus who delivers from the wrath to come.
In handling this point I shall show:
1. What this wrath is, which is to come;
2. That this wrath, is to come;
3. Upon whom this wrath will come;
4. When this wrath will come;
5. Who this Jesus is, who delivers from wrath to come;
6. How Jesus delivers from wrath to come;
7. How any do or may have a share, in this deliverance by
Jesus from wrath to come;
Then I shall make some use and application.
1. WHAT this wrath is, which is to come.
It is not the finite wrath of the most furious and fierce
creatures; it is not the wrath of lions, bears, tigers, wolves, or wild
bulls; it is not the wrath of the most potent and tyrannical men, who may
exceed all these in ferocity and cruelty. Neither is it the wrath of the
devil, whose wrath is great here on earth when let loose to tempt and
deceive—but most furiously will express itself hereafter in hell when he is
let loose as God's executioner to torment the wicked. But by "the wrath to
come" we are to understand the infinite wrath of the sin-avenging God, in
comparison with which the wrath of all other creatures in the world is mild,
and not in the least to be regarded.
We read in the Scripture of the wine of God's
wrath (Revelation 14:10), that this wine is red (Psalm 75:8). We read of the
vials of God's wrath (Revelation 16:1), of the cup of God's
wrath (Revelation 14:10), of the winepress of God's wrath (Revelation
14:19). We read of the treasury of God's wrath (Romans 2:5), of the
vessels of God's wrath (Romans 9:22). By "the wine of God's wrath" we
are to understand those plagues and punishments which God does and will
inflict upon the wicked for their sins. By "the redness of the wine"
is meant the dreadfulness of those plagues. By "the vials of God's
wrath" we mean some smaller plagues and temporal punishments on earth. By
"the cup of God's wrath" we mean especially the dregs and bottom of
it, the greater plagues and eternal punishments of hell. By "the
winepress of God's wrath" we are to understand the place where the
wicked shall be punished. By "the treasury of God's wrath" we are to
understand the abundance of plagues; by "the vessels of wrath," we
are to understand the damned who are appointed to undergo these plagues and
torments. These vessels, God will fill to the brim in hell, with the most
intensified torments.
And this is the wrath which is to come, which will be
most bitter—beyond any gall or wormwood to the taste. This
wrath will be most pure—without any allay or mixture of any
comfortable ingredients. This wrath will be most plentiful—the
treasury of which will be opened in hell, and all the damned will be filled
with it abundantly. It will be most weighty—beyond any
mountain of lead, to sink sinners down into the bottomless pit. It will be
most fierce—and so powerful that all the powers
of men and devils shall not be able to make the least resistance. It will be
intolerable—and yet must be borne; it will be implacable—so
as never to be appeased; and it will be eternal—so as never to be
ended!
Plainly, the wrath to come, is the same as the punishment
of hell, the great effect of the wrath of God. This punishment has two
parts: the punishment of loss and the punishment of sense.
The punishment of loss—will consist of the loss of
the crown, glory, and happiness of heaven, where the righteous shall be
admitted to the immediate vision and full fruition of God the chief good,
which will fill them with soul-ravishing, inconceivable, and eternal joy.
But from this, all the wicked will be eternally shut out, and wholly denied
any share in the least of that happiness which, when they come to understand
the worth and excellency of it—will above all things be most vexing to them
The punishment of sense—will consist in the
horrible pains and tortures which shall in extreme measure be inflicted upon
every part of the bodies of all the wicked, by the most dreadful and
unquenchable fire into which they shall be thrown; and the horrible anguish
which, through the immediate impressions of God's wrath, shall be inflicted
upon every faculty of their souls in hell, where they shall have no ease or
release forever" Matthew 25:41, "Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!" Revelation
14:10-11, "They shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured
out without mixture into the cup of His indignation, and shall be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in
the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends up forever
and ever, and they have no rest day or night."
2. This wrath of God, is TO COME
, which
implies two things: the wrath is not yet come, and it certainly
will come.
First, the wrath of God has not yet come.
Had it already come, who could have stood before it? Who could deliver from
it? Where it seizes—it crushes and it burns, and that worse than any fire!
Where it seizes—it holds and never lets go its hold! But, as it has not yet
come, some sparks of this fire may be let fall in temporal
judgments upon sinners in this life; but what are temporal judgments
in comparison to eternal ones! In this world, God exercises His
patience towards the wicked. He is angry with them, and His anger smokes
against them; but He withholds His wrath from breaking forth into a flame,
which would quickly devour all the wicked of the earth should He give way to
it and let it loose upon them.
Indeed, we read in John 3:36 that the wrath of God
abides upon unbelievers; that is, it shall abide upon those who at last
are found in a state of unbelief—as surely as if it already were abiding on
them! Or, the wrath of God abides upon unbelievers, that is, the sentence
of condemnation unto this wrath abides upon them. John 3:18: "He who
believes not is condemned already." Indeed, it is said of the persecuting
Jews who had killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and had forbidden
the apostles to preach to the Gentiles, that "the wrath was come upon them
to the uttermost" (1 Thessalonians 2:15-16). But we are to understand it
thus: the wrath of God was come upon them to the uttermost, not in regard to
eternal judgments—but in regard to spiritual judgments, it
being the expression of God's wrath here—to give sinners up to a persecuting
spirit, which prepares them for the uttermost and most dreadful punishments
of hell hereafter.
But as yet, the wrath of God has not yet come; none in
this world does know, or can know—the power of God's anger.
Second, the wrath of God is to come, that is, it will
certainly come.
There are some things which may
come—such and such temporal judgments may come, such and such
deliverances may come—but there are some things which will certainly
come. Death will certainly come, Christ will certainly
come; and, as certainly as death and Christ will come, so certainly this
wrath of God will come. God has foretold it; and heaven and earth
shall pass away—but not one jot or tittle of what God has foretold shall
pass away, until it is fulfilled. God has threatened it, and God is
not more faithful in His promises to His people—than He is true in
His threatenings to His enemies! God's justice engages Him to
send it, which can be satisfied in no other way by those who have no saving
interest in the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
The wicked are vessels fitted by sin for
destruction, and prepared for wrath; and therefore they shall be
filled with it, even as the vessels of mercy are fitted for and shall be
filled with glory. God has treasured up wrath for the wicked—as they
have treasured up sin; and God will give them that which they have so much
deserved, and which He has prepared for them. However sinners may escape
this wrath for a while, and vainly hope to flee or hide themselves from the
stroke of God's vengeance, yet God's right hand will find all those who hate
Him; and He will make them as a fiery oven in the time of His anger, swallow
them up in His wrath, and devour them with the fire of His indignation!
(Psalm 21:8-9).
3. WHOM this wrath will come upon.
First, the wrath of God will come upon all the
DISOBEDIENT.
Colossians 3:5-6, "Put to death whatever in you is
worldly: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is
idolatry. Because of these, God’s wrath comes on the disobedient." These are
such as do not yield obedience unto the law of God—but live in and allow
themselves the practice of known sins, and the neglect of known duties. They
are such as are under the power of reigning sin—who are willing servants of
sin, who yield up their members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin
(Romans 6:13), who serve divers lusts (Titus 3:3), and who make provision
for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof (Romans 13:14).
They are such as are blasphemers, swearers, murderers,
adulterers, drunkards, thieves, covetous, unrighteous, extortioners,
revilers, scoffers at religion, persecutors of God's people; or who have an
enmity to the power of godliness. They are such as are proud and boasters,
such as are disobedient to parents without natural affection, such as are
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, such as are liars and
unfaithful, such as are idle and slothful, such as live in envy and malice,
such as are given to revenge and cannot forgive injuries, and other like
sinners. These are all children of disobedience, upon whom the wrath of God
will come. Ephesians 5:6: "Let no man deceive you with vain words, for
because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of
disobedience."
Let none deceive you with vain words—neither deceive
yourselves with vain thoughts—as if you might escape the wrath of God,
although you live in the practice of such and such sins. See how vain and
groundless the security of such people is. Deuteronomy 29:18-20, "Let none
of those who hear the warnings of this curse consider themselves immune,
thinking, 'I am safe, even though I am walking in my own stubborn way.' This
would lead to utter ruin! The Lord will not pardon such people. His anger
and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book
will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under
heaven! The Lord will pour out on them all the covenant curses recorded in
this Book of the Law!" Moreover, we read in Galatians 3:10, "Cursed is
everyone who does not observe and obey all these commands that are written
in God's Book of the Law."
Such as are guilty of any transgression of the law (while
out of Christ) are under the curse, and liable to God's wrath. Hebrews 2:2,
"The people were punished for every violation of the law and every act of
disobedience." Hence it is that the children of disobedience, are
called children of wrath (Ephesians 2:2-3).
Second, the wrath of God will come upon all HYPOCRITES.
It is more peculiarly appropriated unto them, as their portion. Matthew
24:51, "He shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the
hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Whoever escapes
God's wrath, hypocrites shall not escape; whoever is pardoned, hypocrites
shall be punished. These are such as have a form of godliness—but
deny the power thereof; such as make some outward show of
reformation—but are without inward transformation. These are such as
are like painted sepulchers, fair and beautiful without—but within are full
of rottenness! These are such as make it their great business to appear
religious, and take no care to be pious—but are rotten at heart
and cover carnal designs with a cloak of profession. As their sin is most
offensive unto God here—so His wrath will certainly come upon them with the
greatest severity hereafter!
Third, the wrath of God will come upon all IMPENITENT and
UNBELIEVING people.
Luke 13:3, "Except you repent, you shall all
likewise perish." Mark 16:16, "He who believes not, shall be damned."
Repentance and faith are two great duties of the gospel, and wrath is
particularly threatened to such as do not obey the gospel; to such God will
render indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish (Romans 2:8-9). And
Christ will come in flaming fire to take vengeance upon them (2
Thessalonians 1:8). Such as are impenitent and unbelieving, neglect the
salvation of the gospel which, by faith in Christ alone, is attainable! Thus
sinning against the only remedy—they cannot escape! Hebrews 2:3, "How shall
we escape—if we neglect so great salvation!"
4. WHEN this wrath of God will come.
First, the wrath of God will come in part upon the wicked
immediately, after the separation of their souls from their bodies.
The souls of the wicked, as soon as they are loosened by death from the
ruinous habitation of their bodies, presently appear before God, are
condemned to hell, and are dragged by the devil, hell's jailer, into that
prison where they are bound in chains of darkness, filled with horror and
anguish until the day of eternal judgment! The Scripture tells us of
disobedient spirits, thrown into prison (1 Peter 3:19).
Second, the wrath of God will come in fully upon all the
wicked together at the last day
, called "the day of judgment and
destruction of ungodly men" (2 Peter 3:7). When the Lord Jesus shall come to
judge the world, He will bring the treasury of God's wrath with Him, and
render unto all the wicked, that wrath and vengeance which is their due.
Therefore this day is called "the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God" (Romans 2:5). This will be a dreadful day unto
the wicked, when the heavens shall pass away with a great roar and, like a
scroll, be rolled together; the elements shall melt with fervent heat and be
dissolved. It shall be a day when the sun shall become as black as
sackcloth, and the moon become like blood; when the powers of heaven shall
be shaken and the stars shall fall from heaven to the earth like figs from a
tree when it is shaken with a mighty wind; when there shall be exceedingly
loud thunderings, and exceedingly horrid lightnings and tempests; when the
last trumpet shall sound and a mighty shout shall come down from above and
awaken all the sinners who are asleep in the dust; when Christ the great
judge of the world shall come forth from His Father's house and make His
appearance in the world with millions of mighty angels, and all the saints
at His right hand clothed with majesty and brightness of glory; when the
wicked shall come forth from their graves.
As soon as they shall open their eyes, they shall
see heaven and earth on fire about their ears, and the Lord Jesus coming
towards them in flaming fire to take vengeance upon them; as soon as they
open their ears, they shall hear the dreadful trumpet and shout in
the air, and the howling and lamentations of all their fellow sinners about
them upon the earth!
Oh, the dread and confusion which the wicked then shall
be filled with—when they are summoned and dragged to the tribunal seat of
Christ—and there have the books opened before them, where all their sins are
written, and which will then be made manifest to the whole world; and when
the sentence "Depart, you who are cursed, into everlasting fire!" shall be
passed upon them; and when the Lord shall open the treasury of wrath to
them, and give them that portion thereof, which is their due; and when they
shall see the mouth of hell open beneath them, and a horrible flame issuing
forth from there, giving notice of a more horrible fire within which is
prepared for them!
Oh, the dread! Oh, the shrieks! Who can dwell with
such devouring fire! Who can inhabit such everlasting burnings! How welcome
would a great rock or mountain be—if they could find any that would fall
upon them, and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb, and keep off the
strokes of God's vengeance, which then will be inflicted upon them!
But, the sentence being pronounced—the
execution will follow—and none can escape it! From Christ's tribunal
seat, the wicked will be thrown into the fiery prison of hell, where they
will be shut down and shut in, and that forever! There they will lie;
there they will fry, and there they will cry! Though always
dying—they will never die! The fire there will burn most dreadfully and
continually, yet will never be extinguished! The wicked will be tormented
there in every part and in extreme measure, and their torment will never be
ended!
5. WHO this Jesus is—who delivers from wrath to come.
In the text He is called "Jesus," and the reason for this
name we find in Matthew 1:21, "You shall call His name Jesus—for He shall
save His people from their sins." This Jesus is God and man in one person.
He is the eternal Son of God, of the same essence with the Father, equal to
Him in power and glory, who before the world, was appointed in time—to be
the Redeemer of mankind; and when the fullness of time had come, He took
upon Himself a true, human body and soul. He was conceived by the Holy
Spirit, was born of a lowly virgin, lived in a lowly condition, was owned by
a voice from heaven to be the only begotten and beloved Son of God. He
preached the glad tidings of salvation to sinners, confirmed His doctrine by
many miracles, died for the salvation of sinners (that being the cursed
death of the cross), was raised up the third day, appeared to His disciples
after His resurrection, and, after forty days, in the sight of many,
ascended up to heaven where now He is at the right hand of God, making
intercession for us.
6. HOW Jesus delivers from the wrath of God to come.
First, by His DEATH
, whereby He has purchased
deliverance, having hereby satisfied God's justice. In His death, and in
our place—Jesus underwent that punishment which our sins deserved. His
body was nailed to the cross, which was an accursed death; and His
soul was afflicted with the immediate impressions of God's wrath—which
was so weighty and grievous that any mere creature would have sunk under it!
But He, being both God and man, bore up and broke through and got loose from
the bands of death. The dignity of His person, put an infinite merit on His
sufferings—and so His sufferings became a sufficient satisfaction to
justice, and that was accepted as fully as if sinners had done it in their
own persons. We read that Jesus Himself "bore our sins in His body on the
tree" (1 Peter 2:24); that "He gave His life a ransom for many" (Matthew
20:28); that we are "redeemed with His blood" (1 Peter 1:18-19); that we are
"reconciled through His death" (Romans 5:10). Jesus delivers from wrath by
His death—having therein undergone it Himself—in place of His people.
Second, by His INTERCESSION
, Christ delivers
from wrath to come. Having offered up Himself as a sacrifice to satisfy
divine justice for sin, He pleads the merit of it at the right hand of God
on behalf of sinners for their redemption. He is called not only our
Surety—to atone for our sins (Hebrews 7:22); but also our Advocate—to
plead for us in heaven (1 John 2:1). Our deliverance from wrath to come, the
damnation and punishment of hell, proceeds not only from Christ's death,
whereby He has purchased it—but also from His intercession, whereby
He effectually accomplishes and obtains it. And therefore the apostle joins
both together in the procurement of freedom from condemnation. Romans 8:34,
"Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the One who died, but
even more, has been raised; He also is at the right hand of God and
intercedes for us." And upon this account He is said to be able to save
unto the uttermost! Hebrews 7:25: "Wherefore He is able to save to
the uttermost, all who come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make
intercession for them."
Third, by His sending His Spirit to effectually call
people to Himself
, Jesus brings them into a state of
salvation, and gives them an actual interest in this deliverance, which He
has purchased for them. This leads to the next particular.
7. HOW any have a share in this deliverance by Jesus,
from the wrath to come.
This is by faith in Jesus Christ. This saving
faith is wrought by His Spirit in effectual calling. It occurs when the
Lord, by His Spirit, opens the eyes of sinners, convinces them of the guilt
and evil of their sins, awakens their consciences, and works contrition and
a sense of their misery and danger; and when the Lord shows and persuades
them how utterly unable they are to save themselves, that no reformation or
righteousness of their own, which either they have or can attain unto, can
procure deliverance from wrath for them; and that no mere creature in the
world is able to help in this case. The Lord by His Spirit—reveals Himself
as the only Savior and all-sufficient one, who is most willing to save and
deliver them. He most powerfully and irresistibly and yet most
sweetly bows their wills, and inclines them to choose Him for
their Savior; and, grieving for sin and renouncing their own righteousness,
inclines them to rest themselves upon Him for salvation. And this,
accompanied with a free and resolved delivering up of themselves to His
teaching and government, is effectual calling.
Herein the Lord, by His Spirit, draws and lays hold on
sinners, and enables them by faith to lay hold on Him—and hence arises their
union to Christ, and saving interest in Christ. And hence they come to have
a share in the deliverance by Christ, from wrath to come.
When the jailer cried out with trembling to Paul and
Silas, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" the direction given him was, "Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved" (Acts 16:30-31). It is
faith which gives a saving interest in Christ, and hereby an interest in the
deliverance which He has purchased. It is faith which unites us to
Christ, whereby we are said to be in Him—and there is no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). We are justified
by faith (Romans 5:1), and so are absolved from the guilt of sin and all
obligation to punishment. The Lord Jesus Christ, having fully satisfied
God's justice for our sins by His death in our place, and this being imputed
to us through faith, and accounted as if we had done it ourselves (as a
surety's paying our debt is accounted by the creditor as if we had paid it),
we are acquitted, and no more exposed to the wrath of God and punishment of
hell—than if we had never committed any one sin to deserve it!
Use—Information
1. See here the worth of Jesus!
He is the
Deliverer, and the only Deliverer from wrath to come. Jesus
Christ is a person of the greatest worth in Himself; the divine and human
natures, being united in Him, render Him infinitely glorious and
altogether lovely. And hence it is, that He is replenished with such
transcendent excellencies and perfection as are not to be found again in any
creature, either in earth or heaven. Jesus Christ is esteemed to be the most
worthy person by those who know Him, and understand what real worth is,
especially sinners, when awakened, and made sensible of the curse which lies
upon them for sin, and the wrath of God which hangs over them! And when they
come to apprehend how fearful a thing it is to fall under the strokes of
God's vengeance, and see no way of escape but by Jesus, the only Deliverer
from future wrath—then, of all people and things in the
world—Jesus Christ is most precious to them! Never did there appear in the
world a person of such high dignity, of such admirable beauty and such
wonderful love as the Lord Jesus Christ, who came down from the Father and
clothed Himself with our nature that He might become our Savior, Redeemer,
Surety, and Advocate, and that He might deliver us from wrath to come!
2. See here the value of Christ's death!
Hebrews 9:22: "Without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin." And
if there is no remission of sin—then there is no deliverance from wrath to
come! If guilt remains, then punishment will ensue—God's
eternal wrath in hell. It was not the blood of bulls and goats
sacrificed under the law, which can remove guilt—and procure remission of
sin. Hebrews 10:4, "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sin." But it was through Christ's sacrifice of Himself once
for all, and shedding His blood upon the cross, that remission of sins
and, by consequence, this deliverance from wrath to come were
purchased. It was not thousands of rams, or ten thousand rivers of oil, or
all the treasures of the earth—which could have procured remission of sin,
because all this would have been no satisfaction unto God's justice. Only
the sufferings of Jesus, who is God-man, has satisfied God's justice. By His
death, Christ has paid the full price which was due for sin. Surely, then,
His death is of greater value than the riches of ten thousand worlds—were
there that many!
3. Here see the excellency of faith!
We read
in Peter's first epistle of a precious Christ (2:7), and of Christ's
precious blood (1:19), and also of precious faith (1:7). Of
all other graces, faith is called precious, and it has above other graces a
peculiar excellence; not so much in respect to itself—but in regard to, its
object, as it gives a saving interest in the precious Christ—and makes
application of His precious blood. By this, we come to attain a share in
this deliverance by Christ from wrath to come. Christ is most precious as
the Author of our deliverance; Christ's death is most precious as the
merit of our deliverance; and faith is most precious as the
instrument of our deliverance.
4. Here see what a privilege it is to have the gospel
preached among us.
The gospel is the means to make discovery unto
us of Jesus Christ, the only Deliverer from wrath to come; and also the
means to work faith in us, which comes by hearing (Romans 10:17). Hereby
alone we come to have interest in Jesus Christ and His deliverance. Such as
are without the gospel are in darkness and unbelief, and are hastening
forward towards the regions of eternal darkness; and they do not know where
they are going. It is of more use to have the light of the gospel—than
to have the light of the sun; and the total removal of this light is
a greater judgment than any temporal calamity, since it is the only means to
prevent eternal misery!
Use—Examination
Is Jesus the only Deliverer from wrath to come? It
concerns all of you, then, to examine yourselves as to whether you have a
saving interest in this Jesus, and the deliverance from wrath which He has
purchased, which is through Him alone to be obtained. All of you are
sinners. You were born in sin, you have lived in sin, and, should you die in
sin, as certainly as the guilt of sin lies upon you—so certainly will the
wrath of God come upon you! Without a saving interest in Jesus Christ, there
can be no escaping for you. You may know whether you have a saving interest
in Jesus Christ by your faith, by your life, by your love,
by your likeness, and by your obedience.
1. If you have a saving interest in Jesus Christ, then
you have FAITH.
I don't mean a mere historical faith, only
believing the history and report which the gospel gives of Jesus Christ—what
He has done and suffered. Nor do I mean a temporary faith, which is
the fond presumption of some formal hypocrites, whereby they may seem to
cleave unto Christ when, indeed, their hearts cleave chiefly to sin;
whereby, through misapprehension of gospel privileges, and misapplication of
gospel promises—they may attain to some kind of fleshly love and joy, which
endures but a while (it usually ends in open apostasy). But if you have a
true interest in Christ, you have a true, justifying faith whereby, being
first convinced of sin, humbled and emptied of yourselves, resolvedly
parting with all your sins as to affection; and sincerely renouncing all
your own righteousness as to dependence; you cast yourselves upon Christ,
lean and depend upon Him, expecting remission and salvation only through His
perfect righteousness, made yours by imputation.
Have you, by faith, discerned Christ? Have you, by
faith, applied Christ? Are you, by faith, joined to Christ?
Have you been, by faith, cast off your own foundations, and built upon
Christ the chief Cornerstone? Have you, by faith, been cut off from your old
stock, and engrafted into Christ, the choice Vine? Have you, by faith, been
divorced from sin—and married unto Christ, the best Husband? Have you gotten
unto and into Christ, by faith? And have you received Him into your hearts
by faith? Without this true faith, there can be union to Christ; without
union to Christ, there can be no saving interest in Christ; without a saving
interest in Christ, there can be no remission of sin, no salvation and
deliverance from wrath to come!
2. If you have a saving interest in Christ, you have
LIFE.
1 John 5:12, "He who has the Son has life, and he
who has not the Son has not life." He who has a saving interest in Christ,
the Son of God, has life. He shall have eternal life hereafter, and
he has spiritual life, which is eternal life begun here. These,
besides the natural life which they received from the parents in their
generation, have a principle of spiritual life, which they receive
from the Spirit of God in their regeneration. They are the only people who
are quickened from their spiritual death. He who does not have the Son—does
not have life. Such shall never see life hereafter—but the wrath of God
abides on them John 3:36). Plus, they are spiritually dead here, dead in
trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).
You may know whether you have a saving interest in Jesus
Christ by your spiritual life. I do not say by your constant liveliness, for
this may be lacking at some times in true believers—but you may know it by
your spiritual life. You were dead—but now you are alive; and you may know
your spiritual life by your spiritual motion from sin and towards God;
by your spiritual senses to discern between good and evil; by your
spiritual appetite after Christ and His righteousness, and communion
with God in His ordinances and the like. If these are not symptoms of this
spiritual life in you, it is a sign that Christ is not in you; you have no
interest in Him and His deliverance from eternal hell.
3. If you. have a saving interest in Christ, you have
LOVE.
You love Christ in sincerity. Ephesians 6:24,
"Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus in sincerity." You love
Christ supremely. Matthew 10:37, "He who loves father or mother more
than Me is not worthy of Me". If any man or woman loves any person or thing
in the world more than Jesus Christ, they are unworthy of Him, and have no
saving interest in Him or any of His benefits. And therefore a dreadful
curse is pronounced upon such as do not love Christ. 1 Corinthians 16:22,
"If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed! Come, O Lord!"
That is, let him be cursed until the Lord comes; and when the Lord comes the
wrath of God will also come upon him!
4. If you have a saving interest in Christ, you have
LIKENESS.
You are like unto Christ; you have His image upon you.
Jesus Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19). You are like Christ in your
disposition, in humility, meekness, heavenliness, and the like. You are not
perfectly like Him, yet in some measure you are. And you
imitate Him more and more, and endeavor after more conformity to
His image. Where pride reigns instead of humility; where inordinate
anger reigns instead of meekness; where malice and revenge
reign instead of love and forgiveness; where the love of the world
reigns instead of heavenly mindedness; where evil lust reigns instead
of mortified affections—such are without likeness to Christ—and without a
saving interest in Christ. Those who are graceless are also
Christless, and cannot escape future wrath!
5. If you have a saving interest in Christ, you have
OBEDIENCE.
Your faith shows itself in your works— James
2:18. And your love shows itself in your keeping Christ's commands—
John 14:21. Such as do not obey Christ's laws—but cast His commandments
behind their backs, and will not have this Lord to rule over
them—have neither faith, nor love, nor life, nor likeness unto Christ; and
therefore be sure that they have no interest in Him. Test your
interest in Christ, the only Deliverer from future wrath—by these marks
and evidences.
Use—Reproof and Terror
If upon careful search, you find you are without a saving
interest in Christ—allow this word of reproof. Sinners, what do you think?
Is there no such thing as wrath to come? Is there no such place as hell,
where the damned shall be eternally tormented? What blackmouth is there, who
dares to speak against this truth which is so clearly revealed in the Word
of God? Surely none but such as are children of the devil! The father of
lies will impeach the Word of God with falsehood, and hereby make God a
liar, who has foretold this so plainly in Scripture. Only such as are loose
in their lives and deficient in their morals, whose interest they think it
is to do so—will deny the punishment by eternal fire in hell—so that they
might sin with fewer checks and curbs. But when they come to feel the
heat of this fire, as they will most assuredly be cast into everlasting
burnings—then they will be of another mind!
And if there is such dreadful wrath coming, such a
horrible fire being prepared in hell for all disobedient
people, for all impenitent people, for all hypocrites and
unbelievers, what will you do, sinners! Have you not sinned? Have you
not by your sins, deserved hell's burnings? And are you not by your sins,
exposed unto the vengeance of eternal fire? Is there any way for you to
escape—but by Jesus Christ, the only Deliverer from wrath to come? And do
you yet neglect Him! Do you refuse and reject Him! Do
you shut the door of your hearts against Him! What! Do you think only of
what your bodies shall eat, what you shall drink, and with what you shall be
clothed! Do you think only of providing for a short abode in this world—and
in the meantime neglect your salvation of your souls—and take no care to
prevent your everlasting punishment! Are you not guilty of a greater
affront and indignity against God, when He has made such
provision for your salvation as to send His Son into the world for you, and
to offer His Son with deliverance to you? Don't you sin against the greatest
expression of His love to mankind? Don't you spurn Him, and in effect say,
"God might have kept His Son to Himself—for all I care!" Are you not guilty
of the greatest ingratitude towards the Lord Jesus Christ!
Never was there such a thing heard of since the
foundation of the world; never could such a thing have entered into your
thoughts or desires as the Lord Jesus has freely, and of His own accord,
done for sinners. It is a most stupendous thing which, I think, should fill
you with astonishment and admiration: that the Lord of glory should take
your flesh, make Himself of no reputation, and humble Himself unto death,
even the cursed death of the cross, and all so that He might deliver sinners
from the curse of the law, the wrath to come, and the pains of hell forever!
Now, when Christ, by His death, has fully satisfied God's
justice for sinners, and purchased eternal life for sinners, and out of
wonderful kindness has caused the everlasting gospel and glad tidings of
salvation to be made known in this little nook of the earth, and cast your
lot in such a spot of ground as the like is not to be found again under the
whole scope of heaven for the pure and powerful preaching of the gospel; I
say, when Jesus Christ has sent His faithful ministers to you (whom you may
find and hear if you will look after them) with this message—to tell you
what Christ has done for you, and to make offers of Him with all His
benefits to you; when Christ lets you know how able and willing
He is to save you, and knocks at the door of your hearts for
entertainment, if though you are such helpless and miserable creatures
without Him; that you should, notwithstanding all this, refuse or neglect
Christ, prefer some base lust before Him, and serve the devil rather than be
saved by Christ—hereby you express great contempt of Christ and are
guilty of horrid ingratitude! Hereby you trample His blood under your
feet, and in effect, you say that He might have spared His pains in coming
down from heaven, that He might have carried His gospel to any other
place—for all you value it or Him!
Thus you deal with Christ and thrust Him away from you,
though He comes upon the most welcome errand, and ought to be received with
all readiness and thankfulness. And think, sinner, moreover how injurious
you are hereby unto yourselves, what folly and madness you
are guilty of! Do you know what you are—and where you are headed? If you
do—you know that without Christ you are cursed wretches and children of
wrath!
Behold this wonder in Christ: everlasting burnings
have become everlasting mercies! And he who will come at the last day
as a judge in flaming fire to take vengeance upon you, if you are found
without a saving interest in Him—now offers to be your Savior and Advocate
to deliver you from the wrath to come. And is it not the height of folly and
sottishness, to slight and refuse such a person, and, by refusing Him, to
plunge yourselves into unavoidable ruin and destruction!
When you may have Christ, and with Him all things needful
in this world, and that with greater security than by all your inordinate
desires and endeavors, and moreover such riches as exceed all earthly
treasures, and besides this a crown of glory in heaven; when,
notwithstanding this, you choose to neglect Christ—and choose rather the
pleasures of sin for a season, the gratifying of some base lusts unto the
everlasting damnation of your souls and bodies in hell; to refuse, with
Christ, everlasting happiness, and headlong to run yourselves into
everlasting burnings—if this is not folly and madness, I don't know what is!
You can't contrive or cause greater harm and injury to
yourselves; for I am persuaded that such as go to hell out of England,
(where they have or might have such plentiful means of grace,) of all others
will have the lowest and hottest place in hell! Oh, how it will sting and
gnaw, rack and torture you forever—to remember what seasons and
opportunities, what calls and invitations you had; but by your neglect of
getting a saving interest in the Lord Jesus, the only Deliverer from wrath
to come, you have brought ruin upon yourselves! Think, sinners, how
unavoidable the wrath to come is, without a saving interest in Christ!
And think, oh, think—how intolerable this wrath will be, when it has
come! "Who can dwell with devouring fire!" Think of the extremity of
pain and anguish, which is prepared for you! Think of the eternity of
hell's torments—that when you have been there as many millions of years as
there are grains of sand in the ocean—that your torment will be but
beginning! Never, never, never—will it have any ending!
I think this should terrify all Christless sinners who
are already condemned to this place of torment. John 3:18, "He who
believes not, is condemned already." And you do not know how soon
execution may follow the sentence. If you die this night out of
Christ, the wrath of God will seize upon you immediately, and you will be
irrecoverably miserable, and that to all eternity!
Use—Comfort
This comfort is for all those who, upon trial, find
well-grounded evidence of their saving interest in this Jesus, the only
Deliverer from wrath to come. You are the only people in the world who are
in a safe condition (Romans 8:33-34). Who shall lay anything to your charge?
If God does not charge you with guilt—who else can charge you? Through
Christ, God justifies you. He pardons all your sins—as if they had never
been committed, and accepts you as perfectly righteous through the perfect
righteousness of Christ, which has been made yours by faith. Who is it, who
can condemn you? The law may condemn you, conscience may
condemn you; but since Christ died for you, and in His death was condemned
and suffered in your place—you are freed from the condemnation of God—and
the eternal damnation of hell.
Now, being out of all danger of future wrath, you may the
better bear any affliction which in this world may be your portion. You may
now comfortably wait for the coming of Christ from heaven, whom God has
raised from the dead, even this Jesus who has delivered you from wrath to
come, and who will bring for you, and give to you, everlasting glory and
happiness at the day of His second coming!
Use—Exhortation
Let this exhort such as are without a saving
interest in Christ, the Deliverer from wrath to come. Oh, be persuaded,
without any further delay, to flee from this wrath of God, which pursues you
and will overtake you before long! This is done by fleeing unto, and getting
a saving interest in, this Jesus, who alone can deliver you. Oh, that I
might be instrumental in bringing some of you to close with Jesus Christ!
Sinners! Will you be persuaded at length to accept Christ? You may
have Him, and you must have Him; otherwise you are cursed, you are
lost, and you cannot escape eternal death and wrath. If you would be
delivered from wrath to come by Jesus Christ, take these few directions:
1. Labor for a thorough sense of your absolute need of
Christ
, and that not only by reason of your guilt of sin and
danger of hell—but also that there is no salvation or deliverance attainable
by any other way, but by Jesus Christ. Do not think that your repentance and
reformation, though these are necessary, and without which there can be no
salvation for you, can save you without Christ. If you should attain these,
and rest in these, you will as certainly go to hell as the most wicked
transgressor. You cannot be saved by any of your own righteousness, because
your righteousness is imperfect, and therefore cannot satisfy God's justice
for your sins, and therefore cannot deliver you from wrath to come. Should
you weep for your sins until your eyes were cried out; and sigh and grieve
for sin until your hearts were broken; should you wear your knees to the
bone with kneeling, and wear your tongues to the roots with praying; and
consume your flesh to nothing with fasting; should you be as just,
temperate, charitable, and as strictly religious as anyone breathing, yes,
as holy as any angel in heaven—all this would not wipe away the guilt of
your sin or deliver you out of the hands of God's justice, which must be
satisfied.
One has said very well that if any would be saved by
their own righteousness, they must first go to hell, and there continue in
torments to eternity; and if that could be supposed which cannot be supposed
to be done—because there is no ending of those torments which are eternal,
and therefore there is no possibility of getting loose from them—yet,
supposing that anyone could do this—they must come back and fulfill the law
in every tittle! Both of these being impossible for you who are guilty of
sin, you have absolute need of Christ's perfect righteousness in order to be
delivered from wrath to come.
It is this which damns and sinks many thousands in
hell—looking and seeking to be saved by a righteousness of their own. I know
that most are damned for their unrighteousness, and go to hell in the
broader way of gross impiety and wickedness; yet if that is the broader way
and has its ten thousands, this too is broad and has its thousands. Besides
the more sober among the heathens, who believed in a future state of
happiness and looked to arrive at it by moral righteousness; besides the
papists, who assert justification by their works, and that we are no
otherwise justified than as we are made internally righteous, and this
expressing itself in acts of obedience; besides Socinians and other sects,
together with the Quakers, who plainly affirm that we must be saved by a
righteousness within, which the Quakers call "Christ within" all of whom
fundamentally err in their judgments concerning the righteousness which
alone can save--besides these, it is natural to all to seek salvation this
way.
All are born under a covenant of works; they are under
the law and not under grace, and when any think how they shall be saved,
they immediately set to work and seek a righteousness of their own. They
seek to fulfill the law themselves, and hope that if they repent and lead a
new life, though they have sinned—that God will be merciful, and will pardon
and save them.
It is an ordinary thing that, even where the light of
truth most clearly shines and the gospel is most powerfully preached, when
any are convinced of sin by the beams of this light, and awakened out of
their security by some powerful sermon which reveals their danger of eternal
ruin as the just desert of sin, they will cry out with the Philippian
jailer, "What shall we do to be saved?" And however they are directed, as he
was, to believe—yet most rest in doing, not believing.
They fall immediately upon confession of sin and
sorrowing for it; they fall upon reforming. They will not be drunk or swear,
nor commit adultery or break the Sabbath, nor defraud in their dealings.
They now begin to hear the Word, to pray with their families and in secret,
to keep days of fasting, and conform unto all these external acts of
devotion. And if they can attain to some kind of flashy affection, they
think all is well. If they find their hearts dull, cold, and hard, they may
also be troubled for it—not upon a right gospel account—but because they
feel they lack such a righteousness to present God with as they desire, or
through some secret fear that their righteousness will not hold water. But
all this while these people seek after salvation through a
self-righteousness, and Christ is left out. His righteousness is either
unknown or utterly disregarded and neglected by them. And thus many go to
hell in a way of duty! Their duties are the occasion of their
damnation, through their resting in them.
It may seem strange that any should have hopes of
salvation by imperfect service—but this, I suppose, may come to pass either
because they don't mind the imperfections of their services (for lack of
understanding the law in its spirituality, and examining themselves by it),
or through misapprehensions that God's mercy revealed in His Word will
pardon them. They do not consider that all His special mercy in pardoning
and saving, is through Christ; nor do they consider that God is infinitely
just and righteous, as well as merciful, and that there
is no room for the exercise of mercy towards sinners until justice is
satisfied; they do not consider that God's justice requires a perfect
righteousness, otherwise there cannot be a perfect justification; they do
not consider that there must be full satisfaction of God's justice for the
breach of God's law, otherwise there can be no clear remission, and that
there must be perfect righteousness made out some way, or else we cannot be
accepted by God as righteous.
Since, therefore, this satisfaction of God's justice
cannot be made by ourselves, because, being finite, we cannot make an
infinite compensation which infinite justice requires; and since perfect
righteousness, which must include both original and actual, cannot be in us
who are guilty both of original and actual sin; and since the least sin
renders forever a personal perfect righteousness impossible; and since
the law curses everyone who does not continue in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them; therefore, as many as are of the
law, who seek justification by the way of works or the righteousness of the
law, are under the curse (Galatians 3:10). It is clear that whoever expects
to be saved from wrath to come, cannot do so by their own righteousness—but
by another's righteousness, namely the righteousness of Christ. If you would
attain a saving interest in Christ, you must be sensible of your need of Him
and His righteousness upon this account.
2. Labor for a thorough acquaintance with the nature,
intention, and efficacy of the righteousness of Christ.
The
apostle said of the Jews, in Romans 10:2-4, "I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God—but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant
of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, unto everyone that
believes." And as it was with the Jews of old, so it is with many nominal
Christians now, who may be led only by a blind zeal to work out their own
salvation in a way of doing. This is through their ignorance of the
righteousness of Christ, called here in Romans "the righteousness of God,"
either because it is the only righteousness which God will accept, or
because it is the righteousness which God has provided for men, which
sense it must have. Romans 3:21-22: "But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifest, even the righteousness of God, which is by
faith in Jesus Christ." This is the righteousness which God accepts and has
appointed for our justification.
Or else it is called the righteousness of God because it
is the righteousness of Christ, who is God-man, no other righteousness than
of such a person being sufficient for man in his fallen state. Through the
ignorance of this righteousness of Christ, many Christians seeking after
righteousness, go about to establish their own righteousness (that is, a
personal righteousness), endeavor the gaining of heaven in a way of doing,
and do not submit themselves to the righteousness of God. It is through
pride (so natural to everyone) that they are loath to be indebted wholly
unto another. They would have something of their own to commend them to God;
and therefore they do not submit unto the righteousness of Christ, which God
has provided for them.
Therefore you must labor to be clear in your
understanding of what this righteousness of Christ is. There are two things
required of and absolutely necessary to fallen man. The first is
satisfaction unto God's justice for his sins. Without this there can be no
escape from eternal death and misery, because guilt obliges unto punishment,
and this cannot be removed until God's justice is satisfied. The other is
perfect, actual obedience to God's law. Without this there can be no
attaining eternal life and glory. The first covenant of works, given to man
in his fallen state, would still be in force: "Do this and live," and "the
soul that sins shall die." Now man, being finite, cannot satisfy God's
justice for his sins. And, being a sinner, he cannot yield perfect, actual
obedience to God's law. But the Lord Jesus Christ has done both for man.
By His suffering and death upon the cross, Christ made
satisfaction of God's justice, being made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13).
And undergoing equivalent punishment, punishment unto the damned's torments,
and being God-man, though only the human nature suffered, yet the divine
nature in the same person put an infinite value upon the sufferings of the
human nature, and so became a sufficient satisfaction of God's infinite
justice. And hereby He has purchased redemption of sins and deliverance from
wrath to come.
Christ has yielded a perfect, actual obedience unto the
law. He has fulfilled all righteousness so that, not having a perfect
righteousness of our own, His might be made ours, and we might attain life
thereby. This passive and active obedience, is the
righteousness of Christ, which you should labor to understand. Also
understand that Christ did not have this righteousness for Himself. He had
no sin of His own for which to suffer; but it was in our place—and as our
Surety. This righteousness was intended for us, and, being the righteousness
of such a person, is highly efficacious to attain that for which it was
designed, as will appear by the covenant.
3. Labor for a thorough understanding of the covenant
,
both the covenant which God made with Christ on behalf of man—and the
covenant which God has made with man through Christ.
Acquaint yourselves with the covenant God made with
Christ on behalf of man. Whatever worth and value there was in the
righteousness of Christ, yet God might have required a personal
righteousness and satisfaction, and Christ's righteousness might have stood
us in no stead. But God eternally covenanted and agreed with Christ that if
He would take human nature, and work out a righteousness for fallen man, it
would be accepted; that if He would take to Himself the body of a man that
God would prepare for Him, and make His soul an offering for sin, that is,
suffer what His justice required for the sins of man—He would see His seed
and justify many (Isaiah 53:10-11). It is through this covenant with Christ
that Christ's righteousness is accepted on behalf of sinners, God having
agreed before that it should so be.
Acquaint yourselves with the covenant which God has made
with man through Christ, where upon the account of Christ God has promised
remission of sins and eternal life. Hebrews 10:16-17: "This is My covenant
that I will make with them, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their
hearts, and their sins and iniquities I will remember no more."
1 John 2:25: "This is the promise which He has promised,
even eternal life." If ever you are saved from eternal wrath and attain
eternal life, it must be by virtue of this new covenant of grace, wherein
God engages to give what His Son has purchased.
Labor to be acquainted with the nature and use of
faith, which is the tenor of the covenant of grace. The tenor of the
covenant of works was, "Do this and live." The tenor of, or that
which is required to have a saving interest in, the covenant of grace is "Believe
and live." Faith joins the soul unto Christ, the Mediator of this
covenant, and gives an actual interest in Him and His purchase, as well as
whatever is promised through Him in the covenant. Faith is the soul resting
alone on Christ, and applying the promises of pardon and life unto the soul.
Faith lays hold of Christ's righteousness outside us, whereby it is imputed
to us or accounted as ours by God, as if it had been our own personal
righteousness. If ever you would be justified, that is, have your sins
pardoned and your persons accepted as perfectly righteous in the sight of
God—it must be by faith. You must renounce your own righteousness as
imperfect and insufficient, apprehending and applying, resting and trusting
in Christ's perfect righteousness.
4. Apply yourselves unto God in prayer
, that
He, having given His Son for you, would also give Him to you, and that He
would give you faith to receive and apply Him. Beg this again and again,
with confession of your sins and the sense of your need of Christ; never
stop asking until you obtain. Also attend upon the Word where it is preached
most purely and powerfully for the working of faith, which comes by hearing
(Romans 10:17). And then, in the strength of the Lord, put forth your hand
to lay hold of Christ, and labor to cast yourselves upon Him, resigning
withal yourselves up to Him not only to be saved—but also to be
taught and ruled by Him.
OBJECTION. I know someone will object, "If we seek thus
to be delivered from wrath to come by Jesus Christ, and by faith in His
righteousness outside us, and not by internal righteousness or that of
works—this will open a door to licentiousness."
ANSWER. This is an old objection against the doctrine of
justification by faith, even in the days of the Apostles, when the doctrine
was first preached. But, as then, so also now, this doctrine does not give
any liberty to sin; for however we cannot be saved by inherent righteousness
and any of our good works—yet we cannot be saved without them. There must be
regeneration and sanctification, a new heart and a new life; otherwise there
can be no admission into heaven and no escaping the damnation of hell.
Yes, further, we say that the same faith which is an
instrument of justification, is also a part of sanctification, being a
heart-purifying grace (Acts 15:9). As faith is a hand to lay hold of
Christ's righteousness, so it is a hand to receive supplies of grace from
Christ to quicken us unto newness of life. Yes, I may say, there can be no
real, inherent righteousness without a saving interest by faith in Christ's
imputed righteousness. There may be a righteousness of some kind like it—but
not of the right kind, not a righteousness which springs from the true
principle of faith, and therefore it cannot be a righteousness that is
pleasing to God; for "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews
11:6).
So if you would have inherent righteousness, and walk so
as to please God, you must believe on the Lord Jesus, and fetch grace from
Him in whom all the fullness of Deity dwells (Colossians 1:19). If you would
have lust mortified, the world crucified, and overcome the devil, who
endeavors by his temptations to draw you unto sin, you must draw virtue and
strength to do it by faith. In a word, if you would deny ungodliness and
worldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil
world, you must do it by faith. But how to attain the principle and practice
of godliness, I will address in the last part of this book.
Had I room, I might speak much by way of exhortation to
such as have attained a saving interest in Christ and the deliverance
purchased by Him. In a word, learn to admire free grace, to be very thankful
and watchful, to endeavor to bring others to Christ, to adorn your
profession, to be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a
crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the
world—so that you may shine like stars, yes, like suns in the kingdom of
your Father forever!