Apprehending Truth
By What
Means A Soul May Be Born Again.
By
John
Fletcher
GOD takes the title of “slow to anger;
abundant in goodness and truth.” He swears by himself that he has “no pleasure
in the death of a sinner,” but that he should be converted and live; and the
effects answer to those tender declarations. His mercy has found a way to raise
fallen man, (if he will yield,) and to place him again among his children,
without wounding his own justice. This way is astonishing, unthought of,
incomprehensible. It surpasses infinitely the conjectures of angels, and the
desires of men. And it is so infallible, that all who have a due sense of their
miserable fall in Adam, all those who feel that they can no more regenerate
themselves than they can create a new heaven and a new earth, may come to God,
and receive regeneration freely by grace, and a right to the kingdom of heaven.
Reader, you
have heard of this remedy a thousand times. But, on the one hand, knowing
neither your indigence nor your malady, and on the other, having your
understanding darkened by your unbelief you have neither, perhaps, considered
nor apprehended as a Christian “the things which belong to your peace.” May you
receive them now as the Gospel of Christ, which is “the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth!”
Know then
that the regeneration which we preach is nothing else than the two great
operations of the Spirit of God upon a penitential soul. The first, called
justification, or the remission of sins, is that gratuitous act of the Divine
mercy, by which God pardons the sinner, who believes in Jesus, all his past
sins, and “imputes his faith to him for righteousness.” Because, feeling that
he has no righteousness, that he can do no work that is good in the sight of
God, he “submits to the righteousness of God.” He receives with his heart Jesus
Christ as his Saviour, his gratuitous Saviour, his sole Saviour; and he knows
that he has received him, because God “fills him with peace and joy in
believing,” and because he receives dominion over all his sins.
This dominion
over sin, which the believer receives with the remission of his past sins, is
the beginning or foundation of the second part of regeneration, called in the
Holy Scripture sanctification. For in the same moment that the sinner receives
this faith, the faith which justifies; at the same moment that “the Spirit of
God witnesses with his spirit that” his sins are pardoned, he receives the
power to love much, as he feels that he has much forgiven. “The love of God”
being thus “shed abroad in his heart,” causes an extraordinary revolution in
all the powers of his soul, and makes him feel, though perhaps in a low degree,
the effects of the new birth, described in the second part of this discourse.
We are far
from concluding that the body of sin is destroyed by this circumcision of the
heart, this first revelation of Christ in the soul of a sinner. No: “the old
man is only crucified with Christ;” and although he cannot act as before, he
lives still, and seeks occasion to disengage himself, and to exercise his
tyranny with more rage than ever. David and St. Peter had painful experience of
this: and hence we see that sanctification is not generally the work of a day
nor of a year. For, although God can cut short his work in righteousness, as
the penitent thief found it aforetime, and as many sinners called at the
eleventh hour have found it ever since, it is nevertheless in general a
progressive work, and of long duration. We, therefore, define sanctification to
be that powerful work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart of a pardoned sinner,
by which he receives power to go on “from faith to faith;” by which,
illuminated more and more “to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ,” and “renewed day by day” in the image of his Saviour, which he had
lost in Adam, he feels himself internally “changed from glory into glory,”
until he be “filled with all the fulness of God;” until he “loves the Lord his
God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, and
his neighbour as himself,” even as Christ loved him. This is the highest point
of the sanctification of a believer, and consequently his regeneration is
complete.
Sanctification
cannot therefore, begin before justification; for, seeing that the Spirit of
God sanctifies the heart of a sinner, that Spirit must be received. But he is
not received but in the sinner’s being pardoned. For, according to Scripture,
the first operation of the Spirit of adoration, is to cry “Abba, Father!” in
the heart of which he takes possession; to testify to the spirit of the
believer that he is a child of God, and to give him the foretaste of his
heavenly inheritance. Beside, reason convinces us that God cannot communicate
his nature, and the graces of his Spirit to a man whose sins he has not yet
pardoned. A king is not bountiful to a rebellious subject before he restores
him to his favour.
Thus our
Church declares in her thirteenth article, “That works done before the grace of
Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as
they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ: yea, rather for that they are not
done as God has willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but that
they have the nature of sin, however good they may appear to men.”
This being
admitted, it is evident that for a sinner to know how he is to be regenerated,
he is to consider how he may be justified and sanctified. Upon this the
Scripture is clear. “By grace ye are saved,” says
Our Church
declares the same thing. In her homilies she teaches, that the only instrument
necessary to salvation is faith, which is there defined, “A sure and firm
confidence, that through the merits of Christ our sins are forgiven, and we
reconciled to God.”
Observe here,
reader, with respect to faith, none can enjoy it but those who have felt their
need of it. Jesus Christ never gives this sweet assurance, this testimony of
his Spirit, but to those whose hearts are really contrite. “Come to me,” says he, “all ye who labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He invites no others, he comforts
no others. Before the Spirit of God “ convinces the world of righteousness, he
convinces of sin, because they believe not in Jesus.” None can come to the Son
for justifying faith, unless the “Father draw him” by a sense of his sins, and
by the fear of that punishment which he merits.
If these
truths have dissipated your doubts: if you no longer halt between God and Baal:
if you are convinced that you can never see the “kingdom of God” without being
“born again,” and that the sole means of obtaining this blessing, is by a
“faith of the operation of God,” and which is “the power of God unto
salvation;” a faith by which Christ is revealed in us, and we obtain peace with
God: a faith which is “the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of
things not seen;” which points, like John the Baptist, to “the Lamb of God who
taketh away the sins of the world,” and who freely and graciously gives this
faith to those who earnestly seek it: come then, dear reader, come then to the
throne of grace, but come condemned by your conscience, burdened by the weight
of your iniquities, and pierced with a sense of your unbelief and hardness of
heart. Implore the mercy of your Judge until he shows himself your Father in
giving you the Spirit of adoption; your Jesus in saving you from your sins;
your Christ in giving you the unction of the Holy Spirit; your Emmanuel in
revealing himself in you, and dwelling in your heart by faith.
He invites
you himself. “Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters! Ye who have
no money, who are poor in spirit, who tremble at my word, come, buy wine and
milk without money and without price. Why do ye spend your money for that which
is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently
unto me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in
fatness. Come to me! hearken! and I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
even the sure mercies of David, and your soul shall live. In the great day of
the feast, Jesus cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me and
drink. He who believeth in me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water.” And this, says
But Jesus is
glorified! He is ascended to his Father and to our Father, to his God and to
our God! And from the throne of his glory he sends every day into contrite
hearts the Comforter, whom the world cannot receive, because it desires not to
know him. But you, afflicted soul, shall receive him, if indeed you pant after
him, and refuse to be comforted until he comes. The time cometh, yea, is now
come, that you shall “worship the Father in spirit and in truth:” and filled
with the Spirit of truth, you also shall cry out, “I know in whom I have
believed! Lord, now let thy servant go in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy
salvation!” Yes, you shall be baptised by the Holy Ghost for the remission of
sins, and justified freely by faith. You “shall have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoice in God your Saviour with joy unspeakable and
full of glory.” “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” “If ye, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give
his Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Doubt not the fidelity of God! Consider,
“the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all who are afar off,
whom the Lord your God shall call.” The God of truth has made this glorious
promise - pray that it may be sealed upon your heart! But “pray with all prayer
and supplication at all times; watching thereunto with all perseverance. And
remember, that when your prayer is granted, you shall be “in Christ a new
creature.” “The Spirit of God shall bear witness to your spirit that you are a
child of God,” and that your Faith is really that which justifies and
regenerates.
Take heed, in
the meantime, that impatience and unbelief mingle not with the sense of the
number and greatness of your sins, and so plunge you into discouraging and
excessive sorrow. Are you tempted to doubt of the mercy of God? Reanimate your
hope by meditating on the invitations of “the God of all grace,” and the
promises of the God of truth. Is your soul spiritually sick, yea, dying?
Consider that Jesus has said, “The whole have no need of a physician, but those
who are sick!” Is it spiritually dead? Hearken “to God manifest in the flesh:”
“I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live; and he who liveth and believeth in me shall never
die!” You feel that you are lost. Jesus says expressly, “I am not sent but to
the lost sheep of the house of
Immortal
spirit, who readest these promises, “why tarriest thou?” Why do you not cry out
with transport, The Lord is faithful to pardon my sins! He has promised, and he
will do it. I will then confess them to him day and night with tears; I will
not give rest to my eyes, till they have seen the salvation of God. Consider!
It is because the Almighty is just, that he will cleanse you from all sin. Yes,
his Son, his only Son, has satisfied Divine justice for you. The stroke aimed at
you has fallen upon his innocent head. The heavenly victim stretched upon the
cross has been devoured by the fire of that eternal vengeance which flamed
against you. The odour of this all - perfect sacrifice has reconciled that God
who is a consuming fire to the sinner. The blood of the new covenant has
flowed: it has made a propitiation for your sins. This blood, far from crying
for vengeance, like that of Abel, merits, demands, obtains for you repentance,
faith, regeneration, and eternal life. The paschal Lamb, the Lamb without spot
or blemish is sacrificed for you. God withholds the arm of the destroying
angel, until this precious blood shall be sprinkled upon your soul; until you
are born again. The holy Jesus, who fears lest you should perish in your impenitence,
hastens to offer you life eternal. “Behold,” says he, “I stand at the door and
knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and
sup with him, and he with me.” He says to you by the mouth of the apostle, that
“he who hath the Son, hath life, and he who hath not the Son of God, hath not
life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
He exhorts you by his servant David, “to kiss the Son lest he be angry,
and you perish from the way, if his wrath be kindled but a little.” O! reader,
gratefully accept those kind invitations; prostrate yourself at the feet of the
Son of God, open the door of your heart to him, and cry incessantly, Come in,
Lord Jesus, come in! Confess your poverty, your sins, your misery, until the “
I conjure you
by the majesty of that God before whom angels rejoice with trembling! By the
terror of the Lord, who may speak to you in thunder, and this instant require
your soul of you! By the tender mercies, the bowels of compassion of your
Father, which are moved in your favour, all ungrateful as you are! I conjure
you by the incarnation of the eternal Word by whom you were created! By the
humiliation, the pains, the temptations, the tears, the bloody sweat, the
agony, the cries of “our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ!” I conjure you by
the bonds, the insults, the scourgings, the robes of derision, the crown of
thorns, the ponderous cross, the nails, the instruments of death which pierced
his torn body! By the arrows of the Almighty, the poison of which drank up his
spirit! By that mysterious stroke of wrath Divine, and by those unknown terrors
which forced him to cry out, “My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?” I
conjure you by the interests of your immortal soul, and by the unseen accidents
which may precipitate you into eternity! By the bed of death upon which you
will soon be stretched, and by the useless sighs which you will then pour out,
if your peace be not made with God! I conjure you by the sword of Divine justice,
and by the sceptre of grace! By the sound of the last trumpet, and by the
sudden appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, with ten thousands of his holy
angels! By that august tribunal, at which you will appear with me, and which
shall decide our lot for ever! By the vain despair of hardened sinners, and by
the unknown transport of regenerated souls! I conjure you from this instant,
“work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” “Enter by the door into the
sheep fold:” sell all to purchase the pearl of great price: “count all things
dung and dross in comparison of the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus
Christ!” Let him not go till he blesses you with that faith which justifies,
and that sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord. And soon, transported
from this vale of tears, into the mansion of “the just made perfect,” you shall
cast your crown of immortal glory “at the feet of Him that sitteth upon the
throne,” and before the Lamb, “who has redeemed us by his blood: to whom be the
blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the power, for ever and ever!
Amen.”
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