The Crown and Glory of Christianity, or,
HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness
The Necessity, Excellency, Rarity,
and Beauty of Holiness
Thomas Brooks, 1662
We come now to the Practical Application
Use 1. We shall now come to make some improvement of
this great truth to our own souls. Is it so, that real holiness is the
only way to happiness, and that without holiness here, no man shall ever
come to a blessed vision or fruition of God hereafter? Then the first use
shall be a use of CONVICTION. This,
then, may serve to convince the world of several things: As,
1. First, That the number of those who shall be
eternally happy, the number of those who shall attain to a blessed vision
and glorious fruition of God in heaven—are very FEW; for there
are but a few that reach to this holiness without which there is no
happiness: Rev. 3:4, "You have a few names even in Sardis who have not
defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are
worthy." Among the many in Sardis there were but a few who had holy
insides and pure outsides. [A few names, that is, a few people:
Acts 1:15, who are all known to Christ by name; as he said to Moses, "I
know you by name," Exod. 33:12, 17. By these scriptures it is evident that
few shall be saved, Jer. 5:1; Ezek. 22:30, and 9:4, 6-7; Micah 1:13-15;
Luke 23:28, seq.; Romans 9:21; Mat. 22:14; 1 Cor. 1:20.]
Among the multitude who made a holy profession, there
were but few who walked answerable to their holy calling; and therefore
but a few who would walk with Christ in white. White in ancient times was
the dress of nobles: to walk with Christ in white, is to partake with
Christ in his glory. They, and only they, at last shall be clothed nobly,
royally, gloriously—who maintain inward and outward purity. The holy seed
is a "little, little flock," Luke 12:32. Here are two diminutives in the
Greek, "little, little flock;" to show the exceeding littleness of it.
They were little in their own eyes, and little in their enemies' eyes, and
little in regard of that world of wolves among whom they were preserved,
as a spark of fire in the midst of the wide ocean.
When the Syrians came up against Israel in the time of
Ahab, it is said that "the children of Israel pitched before them like two
little flocks of goats—but the Syrians filled the country," 1 Kings 20:27.
Holy souls are but like two little flocks of goats; but the unholy fill
the world. Gracious souls are like the three hundred men of Gideon; but
graceless souls are as the Midianites, that were like grasshoppers for
multitude, Judges 7:7, 12.
"Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to
life, and only a few find it." Mat. 7:14. The way of holiness which leads
to happiness, is a narrow way; there is but just room enough for a holy
God and a holy soul to walk together. And few there are, who find it. And
no wonder; for there are but few who mind it, who love it, who like it, or
who inquire after it. "The whole world lies in wickedness," 1 John 5:19,
and will die in their wickedness, John 8:21. If all the known parts of the
world were divided into thirty-one parts, there will be found but five
parts that do so much as profess the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ:
for at this day, nineteen parts of the world are possessed by unholy Turks
and Jews, which do not, nor will not so much as acknowledge Jesus Christ
to be the King and Head of his church; and seven parts of the world is
possessed this day merely by heathens, who worship stocks and stones. And
of those five parts which are possessed by Christians, how many are
Papists, atheists, hypocrites, drunkards, swearers, liars, adulterers,
idolaters, oppressors! How many are proud, covetous, carnal, formal,
lukewarm, indifferent, etc.! Now, should all these sorts of sinners be
separated, as they shall in the great day, from those who are truly
gracious and holy, would it not quickly appear that the flock of Christ is
a little, little flock?
Ah, how few among the great ones are found to be
gracious! How few among the rich are found to be rich in Christ, rich in
grace, rich in good works! How few among those who are high-born, can you
find who are new-born! 1 Cor. 1:16; 1 Tim. 6:16-17. It was the saying of
Lipsius, that "the names of all godly princes may easily be written in a
small ring." I have read of Mr. Buchanan, that was King James' tutor, who
lying upon his dying bed, desired a nobleman then with him to tell the
king that his old master, Buchanan, was going to a place where few kings
come. "Kings are as rare meat in heaven as venison is in poor men's
kitchens," says the Dutch proverb. And how few among the wise can
you find who are wise for heaven, who are wise for their souls, who are
wise for eternity! And how few among the learned, can you find who
have learned Christ, and learned their own hearts, and learned to deny
themselves, and learned to save their own souls! By all which it is most
evident that few are holy, and that few shall be happy. But,
2. Secondly, and more particularly—Is it so that real
holiness is the only way to happiness—and that without holiness here, no
man shall ever come to a blessed vision or fruition of God hereafter? Then
this may serve to convince several sorts of people of their woeful and
miserable conditions. As,
(1.) First, All PROFANE people, who give up themselves
to wickedness, who wallow in all ungodliness, and delight themselves in
all manner of filthiness, who commit wickedness with greediness;
who draw iniquity and sin with cords of vanity; who weary themselves to
commit iniquity; who are so desperately set upon wickedness, that neither
the rod of God, the lashes and checks of their own consciences, nor the
flashes of hell upon their souls—can stop them; who are resolved that they
will gratify their lusts, though they damn their souls; and who will live
wickedly, though they perish eternally; who by custom in sin have
destroyed all conscience of sin, and contracted such desperate hardness
upon their own hearts, as neither God's smiles nor frowns, promises nor
threatenings, life nor death, heaven nor hell, ministry nor misery,
miracle nor mercy—can possibly hinder them. These are grown from evil—to
be very evil; from very evil, to be stark evil; these souls are sadly
abandoned by God, and woefully blinded by Satan, and fully ripened for
ruin. [Job 21:14; 2 Pet. 2:20-22; Isaiah 66:3; Eph. 4:19 Isaiah 5:19; Jer.
9:5.]
Now if without holiness no man shall see the Lord, what
will become of all profane wretches, who are so far from being holy, that
they fall short of common honesty? Certainly God will shut the gates of
glory upon such workers of iniquity. "All will be damned who have not
believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." 2 Thessalonians
2:12. Such profane Esaus shall never be blessed with a sight of God in
glory, Mat. 7:22. A wicked man is a sin-lover; he is a sin-maker, he
lives in sin upon choice; the Hebrew word that is commonly used for a
wicked man, properly signifies a laborious sinner, a practitioner in sin,
Psalm 11:5; 1 John 3:8. Now such as these are, God will have nothing to do
with: Job 8:20, "Behold God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will
he help the evildoers;" or rather as the Hebrew denotes, "he will not take
the ungodly by the hand," that is, he will not have any fellowship, any
society, any familiarity with the ungodly. The holy God will not so much
as take an unholy soul by the hand; he will not in the least countenance
him nor respect him; he will not welcome him nor entertain him, nor show
the least favor to him. Now certainly if God will not take the wicked by
the hand, he will never take them into heaven, he will never take them
into his bosom. God will have no commerce nor communion with those to whom
he will not so much as lend a hand. God will wash his hands of them
forever—to whom he will not give a hand. Which made Augustine say, that
"he would not be a wicked man one half-hour for all the world, because he
might die in that half-hour." God will wash his hands of every man who
lives and dies a wicked man, Mat. 25:11-12. The hearts and ways of
wicked men are full of hells; and therefore to fill heaven with such,
would be to fill heaven with hells.
(2.) Secondly, This truth may serve to convince those
who are SCOFFERS and mockers at holiness, of their woeful and miserable
estate. 2 Pet. 3:3; Jude 18. Holiness is so high and so noble a
thing, that men should rather honor it than deride it—reverence it than
reproach it; they should rather set a crown of glory than a crown of
thorns upon the head of it. Holiness is the glorious image of God fairly
stamped upon the soul; and to deride holiness is to deride God himself.
God takes all the affronts which are done to his image—as done to himself;
and this scoffers shall know at last to their eternal woe.
If it was such a heinous crime in Tiberius' days, to
carry the image of Augustus upon a ring or coin into any sordid place; ah,
how heinous a crime is it then to cast dirt and filth, scorn and reproach
upon holiness, which is the image of the invisible God! The despite and
contempt that is done to the image or coin of a prince is done to the
prince himself, and accordingly he will revenge it.
In old Rome there were near as many statues as there
were living people, and some were made of gold, some of silver, some of
brass, some of ivory, and some of polished marble; and there was an earl
appointed whose office it was continually to walk up and down in the
night, attended with many soldiers, to see that no one harmed the statues
which were set up in the city; and if any such were found that had harmed
any of the statues, they were put to death. Holiness is the statue of God,
and such as shall dare to deface it and wrong it—God will destroy.
The old world scoffed and scorned at righteousness—and
God sweeps them away with a flood. Ham mocked and scoffed at righteous
Noah—and what did he get by it, but a curse? Ishmael scoffed at holy
Isaac—and what did he get by his scoffing and mocking, but ejection out of
Abraham's family? And what became of those forty-two young scoffers that
scoffed and mocked at holy Elisha? Were they not cursed in the name of the
Lord, and torn in pieces by two she-bears which were more fierce and cruel
than others? The Jews were given up to scoffing and mocking of the
messengers of the Lord, until there was no remedy: until old and young
were destroyed by the sword of the Chaldeans; until their temple and city
were bured and sacked, and thirty of them sold for a penny, etc., and
those who escaped the sword were captivated and enslaved. Sennacherib
scoffed and mocked at the virgin daughter of Zion—but his scoffs resulted
in the destruction of his army by the hand of an angel, and in his own
destruction by the hands of his two sons. [Gen. 9:22, 25, and 21:9, 15.
The apostle interprets Ishmael's mocking to be persecution. Gal. 4:27; 2
Kings 2:23, 24; 2 Chron. 30:10, and 36:15, 21; 2 Kings 19:20, seq.]
Julian, the emperor, was a great mocker and scoffer at
the Christians—but God struck him with an arrow from heaven, which made
him cry out "You Galilean, [meaning our Lord Jesus,] have overcome me!"
Felix, for one malicious scoff, did nothing day and night but vomit blood,
until his unhappy soul was separated from his wretched body. Lucian, for
barking against true religion as a dog, was by the just judgments of God
devoured of dogs. History tells us of some scoffers that God has stricken
with madness, others with blindness, others with loathsome diseases, and
some God has stricken dead, and others he has left to be their own
executioners. Scoffing at holiness is a capital sin—and therefore no
wonder if God executes upon scoffers, capital judgments. Mockers and
scoffers are the worst of sinners.
Among the three sorts of sinners that David mentions,
scorners have the chair—the chair of pestilence, as the Septuagint
translates it. Scorners are the pests of mankind. The eye of the scorner
is blinded; the heart of the scorner is hardened; the judgment of the
scorner is perverted; the will of the scorner is enthralled, and the
conscience of the scorner is seared, and this makes the scorner fall mad
upon scoffing at holy men and holy things. Look! as they are the worst of
servants that will scoff and mock a child in the family, because he is his
father's picture—though they take wages of his father, and live by his
father—so they are the worst of sinners who scoff at holiness, which is
the very picture of God, though they live by him and cannot live without
him. Yet this world is full of such monsters, who count it a grace to
disgrace holiness, and to laden holy ones with all the names of scorn and
contempt that they can invent, or that Satan can help them to. "These are
your holy brethren, these are fanatics, these are your
holy sect, these are your pure souls, these are your strict
precisians, these are the saints, these are the
brotherhood." Such scoffing is devised by the devil himself to scoff
and mock men out of their holiness.
It has been the common portion of men most eminent in
grace and holiness—to be most scoffed and scorned in all ages, Job 17:2;
Neh. 4:1; Isaiah 28:22; Luke 18:32. Witness Noah, Isaac, and Elisha just
now cited, and witness Job, chapter 21:3, "Bear with me while I speak;
then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking;" chapter 12:4, "I am a
laughingstock to my friends, by calling on God, who answers me. The
righteous and upright man is a laughingstock." Just so, David, Psalm
35:16, "They mock me with the worst kind of profanity, and they snarl at
me." Psalm 44:14, "You make us a joke among the nations, a laughingstock
among the peoples." Psalm 79:4, "We have become an object of reproach to
our neighbors, a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us." Psalm
109:25, "I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers; when they see
me, they shake their heads in scorn." Just so, Jeremiah, chapter 20:7, "I
am in derision daily, everyone mocks me." Just so, Paul, Acts 17:18, "What
will this babbler say?" Just so, the apostles, Acts 2:13, "But others in
the crowd were mocking—They're drunk, that's all!" Just so, those worthies
of whom this world was not worthy, Heb. 11:36, "Others had trial of cruel
mockings."
But, above all, how sadly, how frequently, yes, how
fearfully was our Lord Jesus Christ scoffed and scorned by Herod and
Pilate, and flouted by the rascally soldiers! but the vengeance of his
Father overtook them all. [Mat. 26:68, and 27:29, 31; Luke 22:63, and
23:11; Mark 15:31. Yes, the philosophers called Christ a magician, and
affirmed that he did all by necromancy.] And in the primitive times, as
Tertullian observes, the saints were called herds of donkeys, vile
fellows, the disciples of a crucified man, Galileans, Nazarites, eaters of
men's flesh, and drinkers of men's blood. The heathens painted the God of
the Christians with an donkey's head, and a book in his hand; to signify
that though the Christians pretended to knowledge—yet they were a company
of silly ignorant donkeys. The libertines of old have cast much scorn and
contempt upon all the apostles: they call Matthew a usurer, Peter an
apostate, Luke a paltry physician, Paul a broken vessel, and John a
foolish young man, etc., by way of scorn and contempt. The godly Cyprian
was called Coprian, one that gathers up dung; and so Luther,
Calvin, and almost everyone that has attained to any eminency in holiness,
they have been commonly accounted as the offscouring and refuse among the
people, 1 Cor. 4:13-14; Lam. 2:15-16, and 4:2.
Now certainly if holiness be the only way to happiness,
etc., then such as are scorners and scoffers at holiness are out of the
very way to happiness. And how such are likely to come to heaven, who
scorn the very path that leads to heaven—I shall leave you to judge. If
the ravens of the valley shall pick out his eyes, who mocks his father,
and the young eagles eat out his eyes, who despises the instruction of his
mother, as Solomon speaks, then of how much more severe a punishment are
they guilty of, who mock and scoff at holiness, which is the very image,
picture, and glory of God himself! [Proverbs 30:17. The first thing that
eagles do when they have found a carcass, is to pick out its eyes.]
Holiness is so near akin to God, that no man can deride
holiness—but he derides God himself. As he who "mocks the poor, derides
him who made him," Proverbs 17:5, so he who mocks holy ones derides that
God that made them holy. And will God take this at the scorner's hands?
No, he will retaliate; he loves to retaliate scorn upon the scorner:
Proverbs 3:34, "Surely he scorns the scorners!" God will pay back scorners
in their own coin; scorners shall be sure to have scorning enough. God so
scorns the people and prayers of scorners, that he will have nothing to do
with them, Proverbs 1:24-33; Psalm 2:4; Isaiah 37:36. The angels so scorn
scorners, that instead of being a life-guard to them, they stand ready
engaged to execute the vengeance of God upon them. And saints are so far
to scorn them, by a divine precept, as not to reprove them: Proverbs 9:8,
"Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you." Yes, God in his just judgments
will make scorners to be an abomination to all sorts of men. Proverbs
24:9, "The scorner is an abomination to men;" that is, to all sorts of
men. The scorner is an abomination not only to holy men—but also to all
civil and moral honest men. As the scorner's tongue and hand is against
every man—so every man's tongue and hand shall be against him. Now if the
scorners of men be abominable to men, then much more are the scorners of
holiness abominable to God, and therefore certainly such shall be shut out
from a glorious fruition of God.
3. Thirdly, If real holiness be the only way to
happiness, and that if men are not holy on earth, they shall never come to
a blessed vision or fruition of God in heaven; then, by way of conviction,
this looks sourly and sadly upon all FORMALISTS who have only a form, a
show, a profession of holiness—but have nothing of the reality, spirit,
life, or power of holiness in them. "Having a form of godliness
but denying its power." 2 Timothy 3:5. They have a face, a cloak, a mask,
a show of godliness—but they have nothing of the pith, sap, life, or
marrow of godliness. Their devotion, their godliness, lies in good words,
and in fair shows, and in religious gestures, Isaiah 58:1-3, and Zech.
7:4-6. If you hearken to their voice, if you look upon their eyes, if you
observe the motion of their hands, and the bowing of their knees, and the
shaking of their heads, etc., you would think that they were men of much
religion, of much godliness; but if you look into their hearts and lives,
you will find them to be the greatest renouncers and deniers of religion
and godliness in the world. They have the semblance of godliness—but not
the substance; they have the lineaments of godliness—but not the life;
they have the face of godliness—but not the heart; they have the form, the
shadow of godliness—but not the power. They are like a well-drawn picture,
which has all the lineaments of a man—but lacks life, lacks a principle of
motion and operation. Mark—
1. The form of godliness is common—but the power of
godliness is rare.
2. The form of godliness is cheap—but the power of
godliness is dear.
3. The form of godliness is easy—but the power of
godliness is difficult.
4. The form of godliness is credited by the world—but
the power of godliness is a reproach.
5. The form of godliness is pleasurable and
delightful—but the power of godliness is displeasing and undelightful to
the ignoble part of a Christian.
6. The form of godliness exists with secret and with
open wickedness—as you see in Saul, Jehu, Judas, Simon Magus, Demas, and
the Scribes and Pharisees—but the power of godliness will not. The power
of godliness lays the axe to the very root of all sin, both secret and
open. Rachel was very fair and beautiful to the eye—but she was barren—and
that marred all. Just so, the formalist, he is a very fair and beautiful
professor to the eye—but he is barren Godwards, and Christwards, and
heavenwards; he is fruitless, sapless, and lifeless—and that mars all.
The formalist takes up a form of godliness—
1. To quiet his conscience;
2. To get himself a name;
3. To cloak over his sins;
4. To advance his worldly interest;
5. To avoid opposition and persecution from the world,
the flesh, and the devil;
6. And to conform to old customs.
What would such formalists do in heaven? A formal
Christian is but a figure, a flaunt, a flourish, a flash—and all he does
is but the shadow of what he should do. A formalist is more light than
life, more notion than motion, more head than heart, more outside than
inside, more leaves than fruit, more shadow than substance. A formalist is
a blazing comet, a painted tomb, a stage-player, a white devil, or a devil
in an angel's garb! What would such devils do in heaven? Certainly
if without real holiness no man shall see the Lord, then the formalist,
who has only the shape, the show, the form of godliness—but nothing of the
reality and power of it, shall never be blessed with such a sight of
heaven. A formalist is neither hot nor cold—he is lukewarm. Of all sorts
of sinners he is the worst; and God so loathes him, that he is resolved he
will rid his stomach of him: Rev. 3:16, "So, because you are lukewarm, and
neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth." Certainly
heaven is too holy a place to lick up that filth which God has vomited up.
Lukewarm water cannot be so loathsome to our stomachs as a formalist is to
God's. God is never so relieved, as when he has vomited up and vomited out
the formal Christian.
I have read of Anastasius the emperor, how God shot him
to death with a thunderbolt because of his lukewarmness and formality. God
has a thunderbolt for every formalist, by which he will at last certainly
strike them down to the lowest hell. A formalist is too loathsome a thing,
too heavy a burden, for heaven to bear.
4. Fourthly, If real holiness be the only way to
happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or else they shall never see the
face of God in heaven; then this truth, by way of conviction, looks sourly
and sadly upon all those who please and satisfy themselves with mere
CIVILITY and common MORALITY; who are good negative
Christians, who bless themselves that they are not swearers, nor
drunkards, nor extortioners, nor adulterers, etc.; they pay every man his
own, they are just and righteous in their dealings; no man can say they
were wronged by them; their behavior is civil, lovely, harmless, and
blameless. [Luke 18:10-14; Mat. 5:21, and 19:20-22.]
"They make a fair show in the flesh," Gal. 6:12, or as
the Greek has it, they set a good face on it. But as good a face as they
set on it, I must tell them that civility is not sanctity; civility
rested in is but a beautiful abomination—a smooth way to hell and
destruction. I may truly say of all civil men—who are destitute of
that real holiness that leads to happiness—what Erasmus said of Seneca: If
you look upon him as a heathen, then he seems to write as if he were a
Christian; but if you look upon him as a Christian, then he seems to write
as a heathen. Just so, if you look upon many civil, moral men's lives, you
will find them so full of sincerity, equity, righteousness, sweetness, and
justice, that you will be ready to say, Sure these are holy men. But then
do but observe how unacquainted they are with God, with Christ, with the
Scripture, with the way and working of the Spirit, with the filthiness of
sin, with the depths and devices of Satan, with their own hearts, with the
new birth, and with the great concerns of eternity, and you will judge
them to be mere heathens, to be men void of all principles of grace and
holiness, and to be utter strangers to union and communion with Christ,
and to the more secret and inward operations and workings of the Spirit of
Christ, and to the most spiritual duties and services which are commanded
by Christ.
Civility is very often the nurse of impiety, the mother
of flattery, and an enemy to real sanctity. A high conceit of civility
keeps many a man from looking after inward and outward purity. Morality
proves to many men a bond of iniquity. [Mat. 5:19, 20; Acts 7:54, 13:50,
and 17:17-18; Romans 8:7.] There are those who are so blinded with the
fair shows of civility, that they can neither see the necessity nor beauty
of sanctity; there are those who now bless themselves in their common
morality, whom at last God will scorn and cast off for lack of real
holiness and purity, Mat. 25:3, 11-12.
Many of the heathen were so famous for justice and
uprightness, for equity, fidelity, and sobriety, for civility and
morality—that it would put many professors to the blush to read what is
written of them! And yet there was such a tincture of popular applause, of
pride and vainglory, of hypocrisy and self-flattery, upon their civility
and morality, that, for anything we can find in Scripture to the contrary,
there is cause to fear that they shall be miserable to all eternity: for
all their civility and morality, they were left in a damnable, I
will not say in a damned, condition.
He who rises to no higher pitch than civility and
morality shall never have communion with God in glory. Naaman was a great
man—but he was a leper, 2 Kings 5:1; Naaman was an honorable
man—but a leper; Naaman was a mighty man—but he was a leper; Naaman
was a victorious man—but he was a leper; Naaman was in high favor
and esteem with his prince—but he was a leper. This but he was a
leper stained all his honor, and was a blot upon all his greatness and
glory, both at court and in the field, both in the city and in the
country. Just so, it is a stain, a blot upon the most moral man in the
world to say, he is a very civil honest man—but Christless; he is a very
just man—but graceless; he is a man of much moral righteousness—but he has
not a grain of real holiness, etc. This but is a fly in the box of
ointment, that spoils all.
Well, sirs, remember this, though the moral man is good
for many things—yet he is not good enough to go to heaven, he is not good
enough to be made glorious, Mat. 5:20. Certainly there is nothing in all
the world, below real sanctity, which will ever bring a man to the
possession of glory. And though it may grieve us—to speak after the manner
of men—to see sweet natures, to see many moral honest men, take many a
weary step towards heaven, and to come near to heaven, and to bid fair for
heaven—and yet after all to fall short of heaven; yet it will be no way
grievous to a holy God to turn such sweet natures into hell, Psalm 9:17.
Morality is not sufficient to keep a man out of eternal misery; all it can
do is to help a man to one of the best rooms and easiest beds which hell
affords. For, look, as the moral man's sins are not so great as
others, so his punishments shall not be so great as others. This is all
the comfort that can be afforded to a moral man, that he shall have a
cooler hell than others have: but this is but cold comfort. Morality
without piety is as a body without a soul. Will God ever accept of such a
stinking sacrifice? Surely not!
"The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God,
I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers,
adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give
a tenth of all I get.' But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would
not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy
on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went
home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:11-14
5. Fifthly, If real holiness be the only way to
happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or else they shall never come to
a fruition of God in heaven; then this truth, by way of conviction, looks
sourly and sadly upon all DOUBLE-MINDED men, who divide their
hearts between God and mammon, Mat. 6:19. These halt between God and Baal,
1 Kings 18:21; and divide their souls between heaven and earth, between
piety and their lusts, Zeph. 1:5. They are like the Samaritans, who both
worshiped the Lord, and the Assyrians' idols too, 2 Kings 17:32-33, and
18:11. A double-minded man is a monster; he has two tongues, two minds,
and two souls: he has a tongue for God, and a tongue for the world too; he
looks up to God, and says, "Certainly you are mine!" He looks down upon
the world, and says, "Surely I am yours!" He has a mind to be religious,
and a mind to save his own stake in the world too. [James 1:8. A double-souled
man, Mat. 19:16, 26.]
He has a soul reaching after the happiness of another
world: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like
his," says Balaam, Num. 23:10; and he has a soul strongly reaching after
this evil world too, as if heaven and happiness were enrapt up in it. As
you may see in the same person, "he loved the wages of unrighteousness:"
he loved it as his portion, he loved it as his life, he loved it as his
happiness, he loved it as his all; he loved it as his soul, yes, he loved
it above his own soul—for he damned his soul to gain it! [Callenuceus
tells us of a nobleman of Naples, who was accustomed profanely to say that
he had two souls in his body, one for God, and another for whoever would
buy it.] It is true, when he was under a divine restraint, he professed
that he would not curse the people of God for a house full of gold; but
when he was free from under that restraint, his heart was so set upon the
unrighteous reward, that he would have cursed them for a handful of gold.
The double-minded man, as the Romans paint Erasmus, hangs between heaven
and earth; he is neither fit to go to heaven, nor yet worthy to live on
earth. If Meroz was to be certainly cursed, to be bitterly cursed, to be
universally cursed—as the Hebrew phrase, "with cursing, curse Meroz,"
imports, in Judges 5:23—for standing double-minded when they should have
come forth to the help of the Lord; do you think that double-minded man in
religion shall be blessed? Do you think that ever such shall go to heaven,
who are indifferent whether they go to heaven or not? or that ever such
shall be happy, who are indifferent whether they are holy or not? or that
ever such shall see the face of Christ with joy, who are indifferent
whether they have an interest in Christ or not? or that ever such shall be
admitted into the kingdom of glory, who are indifferent whether they ever
have any entrance into the kingdom of grace or not? Certainly heaven is
too holy to hold any such indifferent, irresolute, double-minded men.
[Double-minded men are traitors; they betray Christ for the world's sake,
and the world for Christ's sake; and themselves for sin and Satan's sake.
And who will not refuse and scorn traitors?]
God will refuse them, because he loathes halting;
angels will refuse them, because they loathe halving; godly men will
refuse them, because they loathe lukewarmness; and bad men will refuse
them, because they pretend to goodness, though they live in wickedness.
Double-minded men in religion, are ignominious disgracers both of the name
and profession of Christians; they are prodigious traitors to the crown of
heaven; they are the greatest enemies to the power of godliness; they are
the very offspring of Judas; and in the day of account it will be found
that it would have been good for them that they had never been born.
Neutrality is the spiritual adultery of the heart.
Double-minded men are spiritual harlots; they have their hearts divided
between God and mammon, between Christ and other lovers. Now harlots in
ancient time were to be burnt, Gen. 38:24. Certainly hell is for the
double-minded man—and the double-minded man for hell. God will be as
severe, yes, more severe, in punishing, spiritual whoredom, than ever men
have been in punishing bodily whoredom. God looks upon every double-minded
man as in arms against him: Mat. 12:30, "He who is not with me, is against
me;" and, therefore, martial law shall be executed upon them. God will
blot out their names, and hang them up as monuments of his justice and
vengeance.
Sirs, do not deceive your own souls; no man was ever
yet carried to glory in the chariot of neutrality or mediocrity. He who is
not throughout holy—is not really holy; and he who is not really holy—can
never be truly happy. It is only thorough holiness which entitles a man to
everlasting happiness, 1 Pet. 1:15; 2 Pet. 3:11. The true mother would not
have the child divided; she would have all or none; you must be for all
holiness, or for none. Double-minded men divide and cut those things
asunder, which God has closely joined together; but at last God will suit
their punishment to their sin, and cut them asunder, Mat. 24:51, and Luke
12:46. Now the double-minded man chooses here a piece, and there a piece;
and at last God will cut him in pieces, as Samuel did Agag, 1 Sam. 15:33.
Well, double-minded man—you divide one command from another, one duty from
another, one promise from another, one threatening from another, one
ordinance from another, and one way of God from another. But the day is
a-coming wherein God will divide your souls from your bodies, and both
from himself, his Son, his saints, and his glory forever!
6. Sixthly, If real holiness be the only way to
happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or they shall never come to a
fruition of God in heaven; then this truth, by way of conviction, looks
sourly and sadly upon all HYPOCRITES, who have only a pretend holiness, a
feigned holiness, a counterfeit holiness. The apostle speaks of
a true holiness, Eph. 4:24—or holiness of truth, as the Greek reads it—in
opposition to that feigned and counterfeit holiness that is in the world.
Pretended holiness is most opposite to the holiness of God. Hypocritical
holiness is the greatest unholiness; and as God has, so certainly God will
still suit the punishment to the sin. If it was death in the law of Moses,
to counterfeit that ceremonial and figurative ointment, Exod. 30:32-33;
what shall it then be to counterfeit the spirit of life and holiness?
Dissembled sanctity is double iniquity. He who
professes piety without being pious, and godliness without being godly; he
who makes counterfeit holiness a cloak to impiety, and a midwife to
iniquity; he who is a Jacob without—and an Esau within, a David
without—and a Saul within, a Peter without—and a Judas within, a saint
without—and a Satan within, an angel without—and a devil within, is
ripened for the worst of torments! Mat. 24:51, "He will cut him to pieces
and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth!" Hypocrites are the freeholders of hell; all other
sinners do but hold under them. None have so large a portion in hell as
hypocrites have. No man at last will be found so miserable as he who has
the name of a saint upon him—but not the divine nature in
him; who has a profession of holiness upon him—but no principles of
holiness in him; who has a form of godliness—but not the power; who can
cry up godliness, and court godliness—but in practice denies it; who is a
Jew outwardly—but an atheist, a pagan, a devil inwardly.
Who had a greater name for holiness, and who made a
greater show of holiness, and who did more despise and insult over men for
the lack of holiness—than the Scribes and Pharisees? And who so miserable
now—as they? Mat. 23:14, "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers;
therefore you shall receive the greater damnation." Pretended holiness
will double-damn souls at last. ["There is not a more cruel creature, more
impatient and vindictive, than a hypocrite," said he who had the
experience of it in his own person.]
Sirs, do not deceive your own souls. A painted sword
shall as soon defend a man, and a painted mint shall as soon
enrich a man, and a painted fire shall as soon warm a man, and a
painted friend shall as soon counsel a man, and a painted horse
shall as soon carry a man, and a painted feast shall as soon
satisfy a man, and a painted house shall as soon shelter a man—as a
painted holiness shall save a man! He who now thinks to put
off God with a painted holiness, shall not fare so well at last—as to be
put off with a painted happiness. The lowest, the hottest, and the darkest
habitation in hell will be his portion—whose religion lies all in shows
and shadows.
Well, spiritual counterfeits, remember this—it will not
be long before Christ will unmask you, before he will uncloak you, before
he will disrobe you, before he will take off your masks, your cloaks, and
turn your rotten insides outward, to your eternal shame and reproach
before all the world. Counterfeit diamonds may sparkle and glisten, and
make a great show for a time—but their luster will soon wear off. Nothing
counterfeit will last long.
Maud, mother to King Henry the Second, being besieged
in Winchester Castle, pretended herself to be dead, and so was carried out
in a coffin, whereby she escaped; at another time, being besieged at
Oxford in a cold winter, by wearing white apparel she got away in the snow
undiscovered; but at last vengeance did overtake her. Just so, though
hypocrites may for a time seem to be dead to sin, and dead to the world,
though they may clothe themselves with a snow-like purity, and with the
white satin of pretend sanctity—yet God at last will unmask and uncloak
them, and vengeance will overtake them, Job 17:8, and 36:13; Isaiah 33:14.
Hypocrites are like blazing stars, which, so long as they are fed with
vapors, shine as if they were fixed stars; but let the vapors dry up, and
presently they vanish and disappear. As the joy of the hypocrite,
so the goodness of the hypocrite—is but for a moment; it is as a
morning cloud, and as the early dew. A hypocrite is a mere comet, a
flaunt, a flash. Principles of holiness are lasting—but hypocrisy makes a
man only constant in inconstancy, Job 20:5; Hosea 6:4.
7. Seventhly, If real holiness be the only way to
happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or they shall never come to a
fruition of God in heaven; then this truth, by way of conviction, looks
sourly and sadly upon such who please and bless themselves with common
gifts and COMMON GRACE, with a gift of knowledge, a gift of
faith, a gift of prayer, a gift of utterance, a gift of memory, etc., when
they have nothing of real holiness in them. Like those in Mat. 7:22-23,
who had great gifts—but were so far from real sanctity, that they were
workers of iniquity; they had a flood of gifts—but not a drop of grace;
they had many gifts—but not one saving grace: they could work miracles—but
that miracle of holiness being not wrought in them, Christ takes an
everlasting farewell of them, "Depart from me, you workers of iniquity."
Just so, those in Heb. 6 had enlightened heads; but
where was their humbleness and holiness of heart? They had silver tongues;
but where was their sanctified souls? They had some tastes and relishes of
heaven's glory; but where was their inward and outward purity?
Notwithstanding all their extraordinary gifts of speaking with tongues,
casting out of devils, and opening of prophecies—yet were they not
renewed, regenerated, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. [As nurses' milk
is of use to others—but of none to themselves.] Their gifts might be of
singular use to the enlightening, quickening, edifying, comforting, and
encouraging of others—and yet never have any influence upon their own
hearts—to the changing, renewing, and sanctifying of them. Men of greatest
gifts are not always men of greatest holiness. The Scribes and Pharisees,
Judas, Demas, Balaam, and Simon Magus, were men of great gifts—and yet
they had no real holiness. They had the ninety-nine gifts which Christ
looks not after—but lacked the one, namely, real holiness, which with
Christ is all in all. The devil has greater gifts than any man on
earth—and yet he is a devil still. Gifts without holiness will but
make a man twice told the child of hell, Mat. 23:15. [Augustine trembled
when he considered the extraordinary gifts and abilities which were in his
unsaved child, to think what God meant in giving such rare gifts to such
an impure creature.] The more of gifts here, without holiness--the more
of hell hereafter.
The greatest scholars have often proved the greatest
sinners, the stoutest opposers, and the worst of persecutors. There are
none so wicked as he who is wise—and yet wicked. The highest gifts many
times prove but the smoothest paths to the chambers of hell. As the richer
the ship is laden with bars of silver and gold—the deeper it sinks; just
so, the richer the soul is laden with silver parts and golden gifts—and
yet not balanced with real holiness, the deeper it sinks under wrath and
misery. And no wonder, for—
1. Gifts do but tickle the ear—they do not cleanse the
heart.
2. They do but stir the affections—they do not kill
corruptions.
3. They are but ornaments to a man's profession—they
have no saving influence upon a man's life. They tempt a man to take up
with the world—but they never help a man to overcome the world.
4. They make a man wise to deceive, and wise to delude
both himself and others. Rare accomplishments are many times turned into
beautiful ornaments to adorn the devil and error with.
5. The gifted man cares not who is most holy—but only
that he may be most honored. He cares not who is highest in favor with
God—but only that he may be highest in favor with men. He cares not who is
most serviceable—but only that he may be most acceptable. He cares not who
gets most of the eternal world—but only that he may have most of this
world. And what would such a one do in heaven? Gifts differ as much from
real holiness, as an angel in heaven differs from a devil in hell.
6. Gifts makes a man work for life—but holiness makes a
man work from life, Zech. 7:5-6.
7. Gifts work a man to set up for himself, and to deal
and trade for himself—but holiness works a man to deal for God, and to
trade for God and his glory, Romans 14:6-8.
8. Gifts are concerned with outward civilities and
formalities—but holiness is concerned with the Holy One, Hab. 1:12.
9. Gifts only restrains the soul—but grace
renews and changes the soul.
10. Gifts puffs up the soul—but holiness
humbles the soul.
11. Gifts makes a man beautiful, like Rachel—but
holiness makes a man fruitful, like Leah.
12. Gifts makes a man most studious and laborious about
mending and reforming other men's hearts and lives—but holiness makes a
man most studious and industrious in mending and reforming his own heart
and life.
13. Gifts makes all glorious without—but holiness makes
all glorious within.
14. Gifts makes a good head—but holiness makes a good
heart.
15. Gifts envies, lessens, darkens, obscures, and
disparages the excellencies of others; but holiness makes a man rejoice in
every sun which outshines its own, John 4:14.
16. Gifts are fading and withering—but holiness is an
everlasting spring that can never be drawn dry, 1 John 3:9.
17. Gifts draw from God—but holiness draws to God, 1
Cor, 13:1, 6.
Though men of gifts may bid fair for heaven, yes, come
so near as to hear the music of heaven—yet without holiness they shall
never enter into heaven. When night comes, the father will only take his
own child into his house, and though another child which may be much like
his own should attempt to come in—yet the father will keep him out, and
wish him to go to his own home. Just so, when the night of death comes,
the heavenly Father will only take into the family of heaven his own
child, namely, the child of holiness; but now if the child of gifts, which
is so like the child of holiness, should press hard upon God to come in,
as that child of gifts, Baalam, did, "Let me die the death of the
righteous, and let my last end be like his," Num. 23:10, God will answer
him, "No!" He will say to him, as he did to that child of gifts, Judas,
"Go to your own place!" Acts 1:25; Mat. 8:12.
In the night of death and judgment, the children of
the kingdom (that is, of children of the church) shall be cast
out. Now the children of the kingdom are children of gifts—and yet there
will come a day when these children shall be cast out. As Abraham put off
the sons of the concubines with gifts—but entailed the inheritance upon
Isaac, Gen. 25:6, etc.; so God puts off many men now with gifts—but he
entails the heavenly inheritance upon holiness: Psalm 24:3-4, "Who may
ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? The one
who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not set his mind on vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully." Heaven is for that man, and that man is for
heaven, who has clean hands and a pure heart, whose holy life is attended
with heart purification. A pure heart is better than a golden head; a
heart full of holy affections is infinitely beyond a head full of curious
notions. There is no jewel, there is no anointing compared to that of
holiness. He who has that has all, and he who lacks that has nothing at
all. But,
8. Eighthly and lastly, If real holiness be the only
way to happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or they shall never come
to a blessed fruition of God in heaven; then, by way of conviction, let me
say that this truth looks very sourly and angrily upon those who are so
far from being holy themselves, that they cannot endure holiness in those
who are around them. Ah, how many unholy people are there—who
cannot endure holiness in their ministers! And how many unholy husbands
are there—who cannot endure holiness in their wives! And how many unholy
parents are there—who cannot endure holiness in their children! And how
many unholy masters are there—who cannot endure holiness in their
servants! The panther, say some, when she cannot come at the man, she
rends and tears his picture in pieces; just so, many unholy husbands,
unholy fathers, and unholy masters, when they cannot rend and tear their
relations in pieces, ah, how do they do their best to rend and tear the
image of God upon them, namely, holiness, in pieces! These forlorn souls
will not be holy themselves, nor allow others to be holy; they will
neither go to heaven themselves, nor allow others to go there who are
strongly biased that way, Mat. 23:14-15; 2 Sam. 6:16, 20.
Some despise their gracious relations, because they are
holy. Sometimes you shall hear them speak at such a rate as this: "Well,
our relations are wise and witty—but so holy; they are very knowing and
thriving—but so precise; they have good parts and sweet natures—but they
are so strict; they are so perfect, that they will not endure swearing, a
lie, etc., and therefore I cannot endure them." These are that man who was
so fearfully idle—that his sides would ache to see another work. Just so,
these are so fearfully wicked, that it makes their sides, their heads,
their very hearts ache—to see others holy. How far these are in their
actings below heathens, you may see in Romans 16:10-11. Aristobulus and
Narcissus, who are spoken of in this scripture, were both heathens—and yet
they had in their families those who were in the Lord, those who were
gracious, etc. Heathens were so sincere, that they would not despise that
holiness in others, which they lacked in themselves; they were so noble,
that they would give holiness house-room, though they knew not how to give
it heart-room. Just so, Potiphar, though he was a heathen—yet he gave holy
Joseph both house-room and heart-room, Gen. 39:1-4. These, and several
other heathens of the like spirit with them, will one day rise in judgment
against many in these days which are so far fallen out with holiness, as
that they will not endure it under the roof of their houses, yes, as that
they make it the greatest matter of scorn and derision.
Like those in Lam. 2:15-16, "All who pass by jeer at
you. They scoff and insult Jerusalem, saying—Is this the city called 'Most
Beautiful in All the World' and 'Joy of All the Earth'? All your enemies
deride you. They scoff and grind their teeth and say—We have destroyed her
at last! Long have we awaited this day, and it is finally here!" etc. Ah,
how many such monsters are there in these days, who express their
derision, disdain, and contempt of holiness and holy people, by all the
scornful gestures, postures, and expressions imaginable; who clap their
hands, who hiss, who wag their head, who gnash their teeth, and who say,
"Lo, these are your saints, these are your holy ones, your perfect ones,
your beautiful ones!"
It is very sad to lack holiness—but it is saddest of
all to deride holiness, to disdain holiness. Of this evil spirit Salvian
complained in his time, "What madness is this—that if a man is godly, he
is despised as if he were evil! If he is evil, he is honored as if he were
good!" And as great cause have we to complain of the prevalence of the
same evil spirit in our times. If the wife is holy, how is she despised by
her unholy husband as if she were wicked! 1 Cor. 7:16. If she is wicked,
how is she honored as if she were holy! Just so, if the child is gracious,
how is he disdained as if he were graceless! if he be graceless, how is he
admired as if he were gracious! Just so, if a servant be godly, how is he
scorned as if he were godless! if he be godless, how is he applauded as if
he were godly! Certainly God will never endure such to stand in his
sight—who cannot endure the sight of holiness, Psalm 1:5. Doubtless God
will never give them any room in heaven, who will not so much as give
holiness a little house-room, I say not heart-room, here. He who now
despises and disdains holiness in others, shall at last be eternally
despised and disdained for lack of holiness himself.