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Wicked Men Inconsistent With Themselves
by Jonathan Edwards
Dated December, 1738
Matthew 11:16-19, "But
whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children
sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We
have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you,
and ye have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and
they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and
they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of
publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children."
THE occasion of this discourse was John’s sending to Christ two of his
disciples, saying, “Art thou he that should come, or look we for
another?” When the messengers had gone back, Christ enters into a
discourse with the multitude concerning John, of which the verses read
are a part, in which Christ reproves the unreasonableness of the Jews in
rejecting God’s messengers. We may observe in the words the following
things:
I. The messengers of God that are here instanced in that they had been
rejected, viz. John the Baptist and Christ. The former is spoken of in
the context as being on some accounts the greatest of all the prophets
that ever came before Christ, as you may see, verses 9-11, “But what
went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a
prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my
messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not
risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” The latter, even Christ,
was the great prophet of God, the Head and Lord of the prophets, God’s
only-begotten Son.
II. In what the unreasonableness of their rejecting these messengers of
God appears, viz. in their inconsistency with themselves in those
objections which they made against them. And here we may observe,
First, the nature of their objections against these two messengers of
God. They objected against their manner of living with respect to their
meat and drink.
Second, the different manner of living of those two messengers of God.
Christ came eating and drinking, but John came neither eating nor
drinking, i.e. John lived on a very coarse and spare diet, as we read,
Mat. 3:4, “And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a
leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild
honey.” He carefully abstained from that free use of pleasant meats and
drinks that others allowed themselves in. But Christ came eating and
drinking, i.e. freely using the comforts and enjoyments of life, taking
indifferently all kinds of food or drink that were wholesome,
comfortable, and lawful. This diverse manner of living of John the
Baptist and Christ was agreeable to the diverse errands that they came
upon. John’s errand was to call men to repentance, to awaken them to a
sense of their sin and misery, to bring them to mourn for their sins,
and humble themselves before God for them, that they might be prepared
for the comforts and blessings of the kingdom of heaven that were to be
introduced by Jesus Christ. A life of abstinence from the pleasant
things of this world was agreeable to the purpose of awakening the soul
and of leading it to mourning and humiliation for sin, which it was
especially John’s business to preach and set an example of.
But after John had thus prepared the way with awakenings and repentance,
then Christ came to administer comfort to those that were thus prepared
for it, to preach good tidings to the meek, to bind up the
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of
the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of
the Lord, to comfort those that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they
might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that
he might be glorified. Isa. 61:1-3. And freely eating and drinking, and
enjoying the comforts and pleasant things of life, [were] agreeable to
such an errand as this, and therefore Christ, in his first beginning of
his public ministry which succeeded John’s, declares this to be the
business he was come upon. Luke 4:16-19, “And he came to Nazareth, where
he had been brought up; and, as his custom was, he went into the
synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was
delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias: and when he had
opened the book he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of
the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord.”
Third, their unreasonableness appears in the fact that though the way of
living of these two persons was in this respect so diverse, yet they
objected against both. John came neither eating nor drinking. And for
that they objected against him, and reviled him, as though he was one
that was very odd and strange, and beside himself, and under the
influence of a diabolical spirit. This objection seemed to manifest a
dislike of such a way of living, as though it was their opinion that a
man ought not to live thus abstemiously, but should eat and drink freely
as other people did. But yet when Christ came and did that, then they
objected against that too, and bitterly reproached him for that, and
called him a glutton, and wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and
sinners. So that there was no escaping their reproaches. If a man of God
lived a life of trial and abstinence, they spoke of it as matter of
great reproach, and yet if he did not so, they made that a matter of no
less reproach. It was a crime with them for a prophet to eat and drink,
and it was also a crime to let it alone. So inconsistent were they with
themselves that there was not such thing as a prophet’s suiting them.
They condemned the doing of that which at the same time they condemned
the not doing of, and both they condemned with great bitterness, and
virulent and contemptuous reproaches. This plainly showed that their
objections against John the Baptist and Christ were but vain pretenses,
and that the true reason why they disliked them was not the manner of
living of either of them with respect to eating and drinking, but
because they hated their persons and the business they came upon. When
men have a prejudice against other persons they will be ready to find
fault with everything in them, they will find out bad names for their
virtues, and will reproach those things in them which they will approve
of and commend in others to whose persons they have a liking.
III. The thing to which Christ compares their inconsistency with
themselves, to wit, to children who meet their companions in the streets
or market-places, and endeavor to aid them in their play, in things of a
diverse and contrary nature. For it they pipe unto them with notes
manifesting cheerfulness and mirth, that does not suit them. They refuse
to fall in with this, as though they did not like such cheerfulness, and
as though mourning would suit them better. And then, when they see that
they took a contrary course, they mourned with them, but yet neither do
they fall in with that, they do not lament with the. So that they
comfort them in nothing, neither mirth nor mourning.
So John the Baptist preaching repentance came with tokens of sorrow and
mourning, and mean apparel, with a garment of camel’s hair, and with a
leathern girdle about his loins, and with great abstinence. But Christ
when he comes, comes eating and drinking with tokens of comfort and joy.
But neither of them suited them. From the text thus explained we shall
derive the following.
Doctrine. Wicked men are very inconsistent with themselves.
They are so in the
following respects:
I. The dictates of their darkened understandings are inconsistent with
themselves.
II. Their wills are inconsistent with their reason.
III. Their wills are inconsistent with themselves.
IV. Their outward show is inconsistent with their hearts.
V. Their profession is inconsistent with their practice.
VI. Their practice is inconsistent with their hopes.
VII. Their practice is inconsistent with itself.
I. Their understandings are inconsistent with themselves. I do not mean
that the faculty of reason and understanding is inconsistent with
itself. For the faculty of understanding with which God has endowed man
is wholly good and right. It is that wherein the natural image of God
consists, and is the excellency of man’s nature. And if the faculty of
reason be duly improved, it will lead men right. Light is never
inconsistent with itself. But the understandings of natural men are
perverted and blinded by sin, and are inconsistent with themselves in
two ways:
First, their practical judgment is inconsistent with their own reason.
By their practical judgment, I mean that judgment which they make of
things that prevail, so as to determine their actions and govern their
practice. This in wicked men is in innumerable things contrary to their
own reason. For, in forming their judgment of things by which they
govern themselves, they do not inquire at the mouth of reason, but at
the mouth of their inclinations. Their lusts have a far greater hand in
the judgments that they make of things, and by which they govern
themselves, than their reason. As for instance, their practical judgment
is that the things of this fading world, the enjoyments of this short
life, are things of greater importance than the things of the eternal
world; and yet if they inquire at the mouth of their own reason, that
tells them the contrary. Their reason tells them that it is most plain
and evident that eternal things, things that are to last forever, are of
vastly greater importance than the things of time.
So their reason tells them that it must needs be the part of wisdom and
prudence to improve the present time with the utmost diligence and
earnestness, and to make ready for death. And yet they are not convinced
of it, but their governing opinion is, that it is best to neglect the
business of religion for the present, and to enjoy their ease, and
sloth, and lusts awhile longer.
Their reason tells them, that it is well worth the while for every man
to deny himself outward pleasure for the good of his soul. But their
governing opinion or judgment is contrary, viz. that it is not best. and
that pleasures and the gratification of their lusts are worth more than
any benefit they would obtain by seeking their salvation.
The reason of young people tells them that it is their true wisdom to
improve the time of youth. Reason tells them that life is very
uncertain. But when such persons hear ministers preach concerning the
infinite importance of eternal things. the uncertainty of life, the
peace and comfort that will be found in a state of happier existence
with God, are told how light a thing the difficulty and sufferings of a
holy life are in comparison, their reason assents to all this, but their
practical judgments are the contrary. When a person has lately died,
either in extreme terror and amazement, under a sense of the guilt of a
mispent life, or full of joy and comfort, in consequence of a life of
holy walking with God, their reason tells them that it would be well
worth their while to labor and deny themselves all their lifetime to be
ready for death, and to have a solid foundation of peace and comfort
laid up against such an hour. But yet their practice is directly the
reverse.
Second, some of their judgments of things are inconsistent with others.
For instance, in temporal things, they judge that the good which is of
long continuance is to be preferred before that which is of short
continuance, and that a long-continued calamity is more to be dreaded
and avoided than a short one. Their governing judgment is thus in these
things, but yet it is the reverse in spiritual things.
Again, such arguments as they judge to furnish good and clear evidence
with them in those things that are agreeable to their sinful
inclination, they think not to have any evidence in those things that
are contrary to them. In temporal things they think it to be their
wisdom to improve times of special advantage, and to watch against that
which might ensnare them, or endanger their welfare, but in other things
they think the reverse. In these things, and many more that might be
mentioned, their judgments are inconsistent with themselves.
II. Their wills are inconsistent with their reason. This inconsistency
is a consequence of the foregoing. For if their practical judgment be
contrary to their own reason, it will follow that their wills are
contrary to their reason. For the will ever follows the dictate of the
practical judgment.
Their wills are contrary to their reason in two respects.
First, they will those things which their reason tells them are
inconsistent with their duty. And so they are inconsistent with
themselves, as their wills are inconsistent with their consciences.
Conscience is a principle implanted in the heart of every man, and is as
essential to his nature as the faculty of reason, for it is a natural
and necessary attendant of that faculty. But the wills of wicked men are
contrary to it, and inconsistent with it. They choose those things which
they know to be evil, and ought not to be chosen. They choose that which
their own reason tells them is unreasonable and vile, and unbecoming
men, and justly provoking to their Maker, and contrary to the end for
which they are made.
Hence arises an inward war in their own minds. Their wills and their
consciences warring one against another. There is no true peace in their
hearts, for they are at war with themselves, and therefore they are like
the troubled sea that cannot rest, unless by a course of horrible
violations of the dictates of their own conscience, they have proceeded
so far in their war against their own consciences as to stupefy
conscience, and lay it as it were dead, which is the case of some
persons.
Second, they will those things which their reason tells them are
contrary to their own interest, yea, those things which their own reason
tells them are the way to their ruin and misery. At the very same time
that wicked men are tempted to commit some sin, and their reason then
tells them that it will expose them to the eternal wrath of God, and
that it will therefore be a dreadful folly for them to do it, yet they
will do it. Or when their reason tells them that the course in which
they are going leads to destruction, and represents to them that it is
the greatest folly, yet they will go on in it, and run the venture of
being everlastingly undone.
So inconsistent are they with themselves, that they do and allow that of
which they hope to repent, they choose that now for choosing which at
the same time they expect and hope hereafter to charge themselves with
great folly, and to be convinced that it is folly, and to lament and
bewail it. Nay, they would not do it if they did not expect hereafter to
see that it is very foolish in them so to do, and heartily to mourn for
it.
In this respect they are so inconsistent with themselves that they are
their own worst enemies. They are inconsistent with themselves, as two
mortal enemies cannot consist together, or walk together. By choosing
those things which their own reason tells them is contrary to their own
interest, and tends to their own undoing, they may be said to hate their
own souls, and to love their own ruin. Pro. 8:36, “He that sinneth
against me, wrongeth his own soul; all they that hate me, love death.”
III. Their wills and dispositions are inconsistent with their wills. The
Jews would neither have a prophet to come eating and drinking, nor would
they have him otherwise. They knew not what they would have themselves,
there was no pleasing them. To eat and drink did not please them; that
they reproached as drunkenness, and gluttony. Nor did it please them any
more not to eat nor drink. This they reproached no less virulently, as
though it were an argument that a man was out of his wits, and possessed
by the devil. The inconsistency of wicked men’s wills with themselves
appears in the following things:
First, they do, in some respects, choose and refuse the same things.
I shall mention some instances.
1. In some respects, many of them wish to be converted from sin to God.
They think that they should be ready to give almost all that they have
in the world to be converted, and they pray to God to convert them, and
seek for conversion, and take advice to that end, and use a great deal
of labor for it. But yet if it be considered what conversion is, or what
is meant by conversion, viz. the being turned from all their sins to
God. They have no desire to be converted, they will not have conversion
when it is offered them, when it comes to them they are not willing to
be saved from sin, for they are not willing to part with their sins.
When they think of the thing in the general, they wish that they were
turned from sin. But when it comes to particulars, they cannot comply
with it, they love their sins too well. When a particular lust comes and
pleads to be indulged and gratified, then in this instance they have no
wish to be converted, they are not willing to be turned from their sin
altogether, they cannot bear entirely and forever to renounce and reject
it. They have a wish to be converted, but not from enjoying their right
hands, and right eyes. They pray that they may be thoroughly and
savingly converted, and seem to wish and pray for it. But yet when it
comes to them, they are not willing for any more than a partial
conversion. They cannot comply with a thorough conversion, for a
thorough conversion is a turning from every one of their sins. And that
proves that they would be willing to be converted from their sins for a
little while, but to part with them finally is what they cannot find it
in their hearts to comply with.
2. Some wicked men do in certain respects desire that a work of
humiliation may be wrought in them, and yet are utterly opposed to
humiliation. They do many things that they may be humbled, and pray that
they may be brought off from their own righteousness, and yet would by
no means let it go, but are indeed building up their own righteousness
all the time.
They seem in some respects to wish that they might submit to the justice
and sovereignty of God in their condemnation, but yet are utterly averse
to any such thing as owning God’s justice. They are averse to this
submission, as appears from their showing such a sprit of strife with
God. They do not believe that God is just and sovereign, and how
therefore is it possible that they should desire really to submit to
God’s justice and sovereignty? They cannot heartily and fervently desire
to submit to God as just and sovereign, when they do not believe that he
possesses those attributes, but think him unjust and tyrannical.
3. They in some respects wish that they might come to Christ, but indeed
are utterly averse to come to him, so that their will is in this also
inconsistent with itself. They pray that they may come to Christ, they
are ready to say that they would give all the world for an interest in
Christ; and yet they will not have an interest in him, for that is what
is offered them, and what Christ is continually inviting and urging them
to accept, but they refuse it. It is true they like some things in
Christ, they like salvation from the pains of hell, they like that
safety from everlasting misery which they hear is to be had in him. But
there are other things in him which they do not like, his holiness, his
salvation from sin, his kingly office, and therefore they will not
accept him as he is. If they could have a part of Christ without the
rest they would, but they will not accept of the whole of Christ. Indeed
they are not willing to come to Christ and cordially accept of him as a
Savior from hell, for they do not see that he is sufficient to save. And
besides, they are not convinced that they have deserved it. There is no
such thing as being cordially willing to accept of a Savior, who offered
to deliver us from an unjust and undeserved punishment. For the hearty
accepting of him as a Savior from the punishment would be allowing the
punishment to be just. And God’s offering a Savior from undeserved
punishment is an imposition upon them. A man therefore can never
heartily and sincerely accept such an offer. At the same time that
natural men seem to wish, and pray, and strive to come to Christ, they
are in their hearts bitter enemies to him. And there is no such thing as
a sincere willingness to accept of one towards whom at the same time we
are bitter enemies.
4. Natural men in some respects are desirous to go to heaven, and yet
are averse to heaven. They are full of designs as to what they will do
hereafter that they may go to heaven, but yet have no inclination to
that wherein heaven really consists. The employments of heaven, which
consist altogether in holy acts and holy contemplation, in holy
exercises and holy praises, are that for which they have no desires nor
inclination. And for the happiness of heaven they have no relish, but on
the contrary, a dislike and an aversion. For the happiness of heaven
consists in holy communion with God and Christ, to which their natures
are opposite. Nor have they any desire for the company of heaven. And
when it is observed what heaven really is, they choose this world before
heaven.
5. They wish to have salvation from misery, but yet are averse to those
things wherein salvation consists. And at the same time that they pray
to Christ to serve them, they undo themselves as fast as they can. They
spend their time daily in working out their own ruin. They pray that
they may be delivered from hell, and yet are all the while piling up
fuel and kindling and blowing the fire. Thus their wills are
inconsistent with themselves, as they do in some respects choose and
refuse the same things.
Second, they dislike and refuse spiritual things as they are, and yet
refuse to have them otherwise. This was the very case with the Jews in
the text, they would not have a prophet come eating and drinking. If he
did so, they looked on him very reproachfully. Nor yet would they have
him not come eating and drinking, for if he did so they called him a mad
man, and possessed with a devil, which is a lively specimen of the
inconsistency of wicked men, of which we are speaking.
I will mention several instances of this inconsistency on the part of
wicked men.
1. They do not like God as he is, and yet they would not like him if he
were otherwise. They would not like him if he were otherwise than he is
in those very things for which they most dislike him.
(1.) They dislike God because he is a holy God. This is the main
foundation of the enmity that wicked men have against God. His perfect
purity and holiness make them enemies to him, because from this
perfection of his nature he necessarily hates sin, and so hates their
sins, which they love, and he will not and cannot allow of any sin in
them. They are utter enemies to such a holy God. And yet they would not
like him if they supposed him to be an unholy being, or if they supposed
him to be at all wanting in perfect holiness, for then he could not be
depended upon. If he were unholy, they know that if he promised them
anything they could have no certain dependence upon it, for an unholy
being is liable to break his promises. If he were unholy they could have
no dependence on his faithfulness, and therefore they would never be
willing to give up themselves to him as their God, for they would not
know how he would dispose of them, what he would do with them. If he
were to obligate himself by covenant, yet they could have no dependence
upon it; and therefore they would by no means accept of such a God to be
their God, to rule over them, and dispose of them.
(2.) They do not like God, because he is a God of justice. This indeed
is a branch of his holiness, for being strictly and perfectly just, he
is disposed to execute just punishment on all iniquity. Therefore they
are exceeding enemies to him, for they are the persons who are
obnoxious, being those that have committed iniquity, and exposed
themselves to just punishment. And yet they would not like God if he
were an unjust God. If he were an unjust being, that would be an
insuperable objection with them against accepting him as their God, for
then they would think with themselves, "how do I know how unjustly he
may deal with me.” And wicked men, however unjust they are, never like
injustice against themselves. And they never would be persuaded to
accept of such a God as their Lord and King, for they should then expect
to be wronged and abused by him. They would dread committing themselves
into the hands of a God that is infinite in power, and can do what he
will with them, and has no principle of holiness or justice to keep him
from using that power in the most unjust and abusive manner towards
them.
Though they are enemies to God because of his justice, yet whenever at
any time they think God deals unjustly, they quarrel with him for it.
How frequent is it for natural men, when there are any of God’s methods
of providence, the justice of which they cannot see through, to have
their hearts swell with enmity, and to be full of blasphemous, malignant
thoughts against God, if they do no even manifest it outwardly by a
fretful, discontented behavior, and murmuring speeches?
(3.) They do not like God because he is an Almighty God and is able to
destroy them when he pleases. Nor yet would they like him if he were a
weak being and of but little power. They would on this account refuse to
close with him as their God, for they would have a God able to do great
things for them. They wish to have many things done for them, and they
would have a God that can do them.
(4.) They do not like God because he is an omniscient God, for hereby he
sees all their wickedness. But yet neither would they like him if he did
not know all things, for then in many cases he would not know what their
case is, and what it requires, and what is best for them. He might ruin
them in the disposal of them through mistake, he might not know how to
extricate them out of difficulties in which they are or may be involved.
(5.) Natural men oftentimes dislike God in the exercises of his infinite
sovereign mercy, when it is exercised towards others. They are greatly
displeased at God’s being so gracious to others. They dislike it much
that God bestows converting grace upon them and pardoning mercy, and a
title to eternal life upon them. When they hear of their conversion it
is unpleasant news, and they find fault with it the more when the
persons who seem to have received such mercy are very unworthy, and have
been very great sinners. They think of the sins of which they have been
guilty, and reckon up all the instances of wickedness they can think of,
so that the mercy exercised towards them is the more displeasing because
it appears so great in being bestowed on one so unworthy, like the elder
brother, Luke 15:30, “But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath
devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted
calf.” And yet they would not like God if he were not infinitely
merciful, for then they would have less hopes of obtaining mercy
themselves. They are angry because God appears so merciful in the
exercises of his grace to others. But yet they should have God merciful,
and are at the same time afraid that he is not merciful enough to be
willing to pardon their sins, and bestow his blessing on them. Thus
natural men do not like God as he is, nor yet would they like him if he
were otherwise.
2. They do not like men that are holy, nor yet do they like men that are
wicked. They do not like holy men, for they know that such do not
approve of that which themselves love, and the lives of the godly are a
condemnation of the wickedness of their own hearts and lives. Hence
there is an enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the
serpent. Gen. 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou
shalt bruise his heel.” But although they do not like men if they are
godly, so neither do they like them if they are ungodly. They are more
forward than the godly are to reprove others for their vice and
wickedness, and bitterly to reflect on others for their pride, their
covetousness, and their idleness. None are more apt to find fault with
wickedness in others than those who are wicked themselves, and one great
reason is that other men’s lusts clash with theirs. Thus one man’s pride
crosses the pride of another, for it is the nature of pride to desire to
be alone in advancement, to make the person in whom it is affect to be a
God, to appropriate all power and all honor to himself as his own
prerogative. But such an aim in one man clashes with such an aim in
another. Hence there are none that can bear pride in others so ill, as
those that are very proud themselves, and there never are such strife
and enmity as between proud, haughty men. Proud men love to have others
walk humbly before them, and nothing enrages them so much as to have
others carry themselves proudly. For the same reason covetous men
dislike covetous men, for this lust clashes with the same lust in
another. Every covetous man strives to get all into his own hands, to
get and keep all that he can to himself from his neighbor. So the lusts
of envy, and malice, and revenge, are hated in others by envious and
malicious men; because none are so obnoxious to malice, and envy, and
revenge, as those that have the most of these qualities. Hence the
wicked world on earth, who are at enmity with the church of God for its
holiness, do not at all agree together. Though they agree in being alike
under the power of wickedness, yet how full is the world of wicked men
of strife and contention, of perpetual jars, animosities, and confusion!
Rom. 1:29, 30, 31, 32, “Being filled with all unrighteousness,
fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy,
murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of
God, despiteful, proud, inventors of evil things, disobedient to
parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural
affection, implacable, unmerciful: who, knowing the judgment of God,
that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the
same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” So Tit. 3:3, “For we
ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving
divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and
hating one another.” And hence also it comes to pass that devils and
wicked men in hell, though they hate angels and saints in heaven for
their holiness, have yet no love one to another. Though they all agree
in being perfectly wicked, yet they hate one another with implacable
hatred, and are continually mortifying and tormenting one another so
that hell is a world of perfect malice and contention.
3. They refuse to accept of heaven as it is. Yet they would not like it
if it were otherwise. As has been observed before, they have no relish
for the holy enjoyments and employments of heaven. They dislike heaven
for its holiness, and yet they would not like it if it were unholy. For
then they would be liable to the same troubles and vexations in heaven
that they meet with in this world. If it were not that heaven differs
from this world in holiness, it would be as full of pride and malice,
envy, revenge, contention, injustice, violence, and cruelty, as this
world is, and so would be as vexatious a world as this is. Wicked men
are as liable to the trouble and vexation of the world, which arise from
those things, as godly men, and in some respects more so, for they have
no divine supports against those things, no safer portion to which their
hearts betake themselves.
Third, the things that wicked men choose, imply an inconsistency in
their own nature. The things which they would have are impossibilities
and self-contradictions.
1. They would have a sufficient Savior, and not a holy one. They would
not have a holy Savior, because such a Savior does not at all agree with
their lusts. But yet they would have a sufficient Savior, one that is
sufficient to save them from hell, and so one that is sufficient to make
a proper atonement for all their sins, to make full satisfaction to the
justice of God, that they may escape the penalty of that justice. But
these things prove a great inconsistency, for how is it possible that a
Savior, who is not perfectly holy himself, should make satisfaction for
the unholiness of others? How is it possible that one who deserves to
suffer the eternal wrath of God himself for his own sin, should by his
sufferings appease God’s wrath for the sin of others?
They would have a worthy Savior, as appears in this; when they are
awakened, and in some measure sensible of their guilt, they dare not
come to Christ, because they cannot see that he has worthiness enough to
commend them to God. They are afraid that he is not worthy enough. And
yet they dislike Christ because he is a holy Savior! And what an
inconsistency is this! How can he be a worthy Savior, and not a holy
one? So that their choice does in effect contain this inconsistency in
it, that they would have a Savior who is infinitely worthy, without
worthiness.
2. They wish for salvation from misery without salvation from sin. They
do not love misery any better than others, and hope to be saved from it.
And some of them are in distress for fear of misery. But yet they would
have it without being parted from their sins, which is in its own nature
impossible, for the creature that is sinful, must be miserable. For
misery consists in separation from the fountain of happiness, and an
enmity between the creature and the chief good. But sin implies in its
own nature such a separation. It is a separation from that God who is
the fountain of good, and is enmity against him, and therefore
necessarily brings enmity from that being against the sinner, if it be
continued. Sin is the seed of misery. Misery is the necessary fruit of
it. It is necessary from the nature of God, who, being infinitely holy,
necessarily hates it, and so necessarily arrays himself against that
being who remains under the pollution and guilt of it. And it is
necessary from the nature of man, and the nature of sin. Misery is the
natural fruit of sin, as the bud and blossom are the natural fruit of
that on which they grow, and is so spoken of, Eze. 7:9, 10, “And mine
eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee
according to thy ways, and thine abominations that are in the midst of
thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth. Behold the day,
behold it is come; the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed;
pride hath budded.”
Natural men would be freed from hell without being saved from sin, which
is an inconsistency and impossibility. For where sin remains the
reigning power, it will necessarily kindle up the flames of hell, and
will bring on the torments of hell. Indeed, while men remain in the
body, in the midst of the carnal objects of this world to engross the
mind, to please the carnal appetites, to stupefy the conscience, and
lull the soul asleep, they may avoid the torments of hell for a little
while. But when the body comes to be dissolved, and all worldly objects,
diversions, and entertainments come to an end, and the polluted and
guilty soul comes to be stripped and turned out naked, infernal horror
and misery will naturally and necessarily arise in such a soul. So that
there is no such thing as being saved from hell, without being saved
from sin.
3. They desire happiness without holiness. Wicked men have as earnest a
desire of happiness as others. They are restlessly saying, “Who will
show us any good?” And yet they are enemies to holiness. Here also they
are inconsistent with themselves, for there is no such thing as
happiness without holiness. The happiness of the creature consists in
holiness. It is as great an inconsistency to suppose that a creature
should be happy without being holy, as that a man should enjoy all the
strength, and ease, and activity, and other comforts of health, in sore
sickness; or that the notes of a tune should be harmonious that are
disproportionate and discordant. So that they would be happy, and yet
would not be happy. The thing they choose contains as great an
inconsistency as if they should choose light or brightness, consisting
in the blackness of darkness.
Fourth, in things that do most nearly concern them, they will neither
choose nor refuse. The things of religion are things that concern them
in the highest degree. It is no matter of indifference to them, whether
they will betake themselves in good earnest to the business of religion
or not, whether they will obtain heaven, or be content with a portion in
this life. But yet many natural men seem to remain in suspense about
these things all the days of their lives. They are always at a loss,
always halting between two opinions, which Elijah reproves, 1 Kin.
18:21, “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye
between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then
follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” No wonder that they
had nothing to answer, for their unreasonableness and inconsistency too
manifestly appeared in it. Many, who hear of these subjects from their
infancy, never come to a thorough conclusion in their own minds, whether
they will continue to go on in the way to hell, or whether they will do
what must be done to escape it. They neither resolve that they will
forsake all their sins, nor yet that they will retain them. They do not
determine to hearken to the warnings and counsels given to them, nor yet
do they fully reject them. They have life and death set before them, one
or the other, but they never come to a determination which they will
choose.
Fifth, in pursuing the objects which they desire, their lusts are
inconsistent with each other. It has before been shown that the lusts of
one wicked man clash with those of another. But not only is it thus.
Some of the lusts of the same person disagree with other lusts of his.
Often, wicked men’s covetousness clashes with their pride. Their pride
prompts them to many things that their covetousness forbids. It would be
agreeable to men’s pride to make a splendid show in their houses and
apparel, and manner of living, who yet are not willing, through their
covetousness, to be at the cost of it. So their covetousness often
thwarts their sensuality. Their sensual disposition inclines them to
feast their appetites, but their covetousness will not allow it.
Sometimes men’s sloth and idleness clash with their other lusts, with
their pride, their covetousness, and sensuality. These lusts draw them
one way to obtain much of the world, in order to pamper and gratify
them. But their slothfulness draws another, or rather holds them and
binds their hands from obtaining these things.
IV. The outward show of wicked men disagrees with their hearts. They
very often make an appearance that is exceedingly different and contrary
to what they really are inwardly. They have the clothing of sheep, but
the nature of wolves, Mat. 7:15. They are like whited sepulchers, which
indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s
bones, and of all uncleanness. They make a show as though they believed
the truth of the gospel, and believed that God was an infinitely great
and an infinitely excellent being. They make a show of great respect to
God, a show of reverence and love, when indeed they have no such thing
in their hearts, but the contrary. The outward show they make, which is
at war with their hearts, consists either in their words, or in their
behavior.
The show they make in words is inconsistent with their hearts. Many of
them profess to believe that God is an infinitely excellent being, when
indeed they think that the meanest of their carnal enjoyments is more
excellent than he. They profess to believe that there is another world,
a heaven and a hell, when indeed they realize no such thing. They
profess to believe that Christ is the only Savior, and that they can be
saved in no other. And yet they all the while believe in their hearts
that there are other saviors, and particularly that they can be saviors
for themselves by their own strength and righteousness.
They do abominably dissemble in the profession they make of the favor of
God, and of love to him, and willingness to obey him, and desire to
glorify him. They have not a jot of these things in their hearts, but
are all the while wholly under the influence of vile carnal principles
in all that they do, and are only aiming at selfish ends and serving
their lusts in all.
So did those Jews dissemble that came to Jeremiah and desired him to
inquire of the Lord. Jer. 42:20, “For ye dissembled in your hearts, when
ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our
God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare
unto us, and we will do it.” So did the Jews of whom we read in the test
dissemble. They pretended to be enemies of gluttony, and drunkenness,
and to dislike any such thing as associating with sinners. And so made a
pretense of zeal against wickedness, in their opposition to Christ; when
indeed they were actuated by a love to wickedness, and were enemies to
Christ, for the sake of his holiness. So they pretended to be influenced
by enmity against the devil in their opposition to John the Baptist, who
they pretended had a devil; when indeed it was not enmity against the
devil, but against God. Many pretend a great deal of love to God in what
they do, when it is only love to the world at bottom. Eze. 33:31, “And
they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my
people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with
their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their
covetousness.”
The show which they make in their prayers is quite inconsistent with
their hearts. Their very approach to God in this duty has a show of
religion in it without the reality. And those things they say in their
prayers are hypocritical dissembling pretenses. They profess honor,
reverence, trust, humility, a sense of unworthiness, repentance towards
God, trust in Christ as a Mediator, a willingness to forsake sin, from
which they pray to be delivered, and thankfulness for the divine
mercies. In this manner they resemble the Jews spoken of in Isa. 29:13,
“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with
their mouth; and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their
heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of
men;” and in Psa. 78:36, 37, “Nevertheless they did flatter him with
their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart
was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.” And
many of them make a show in words, in conversation with their neighbor,
that is quite inconsistent with their hearts. They are forward in
religious conversation, in giving an account of their experience in a
show of zeal, merely to be seen of men, their God is themselves, their
own honor, and the esteem of men. It is themselves whom they love and
honor in everything, and not God.
They often make that show in their external behavior that is
inconsistent with their hearts. Many who are destitute of the least
spark of love to God, and are at utter enmity with him, will make a
great show of respect to him in many things in their behavior. They may
put on a religious saint-like visage, may seem devout in keeping the
sabbath, and in their attendance on religious duties and the ordinances
of worship, may in some things be very strict, and may appear to do all
from a holy respect to God. So it was of old with the Israelites. Isa.
58:1, 2, 3, “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and
show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that
did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask
of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to
God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore
have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the
day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.”
So did the Pharisees of old. They made a great show of love and holy
regard to God in their behavior. They abounded in religious duties, they
fasted twice a week, and they were very strict in many things. They were
so in many duties of the moral law, they were not extortioners, nor
unjust, nor adulterers. And they were exceedingly exact in duties of the
ceremonial law. They gave tithes of all that they possessed, and so
exact were they in paying tithes, that they tithed all the herbs of
their gardens, as mint, anise, and the like, and put on an exceedingly
religious countenance, and wore a righteous garment for a show of great
humility. And yet had no love to God in their hearts, but were a
generation of vipers, and most bitter enemies to God and Christ, and
cruel persecutors of good men.
V. The practice of wicked men is often very inconsistent with their
profession.
It is so, whether we look at the profession which they make in common
with others who are brought up under the light of the gospel, or at the
distinguishing and extraordinary profession which some of them make.
First, if we look at the professions which they make in common with the
generality of those who are brought up under the gospel. These do in
general profess that there is a God, an infinitely great and holy God,
who hates sin, and who is everywhere present, who always sees them, has
his eye continually upon them, sees what they do in secret as well as
what is done openly. A God, who not only knows all their words and
actions, but sees all their thoughts, and who is able to do what he
pleases with them, and can save or destroy them as he will.
But how does the practice of the greater part of them consist with their
profession when they live in direct opposition to his commands, when
they live as though there were no God that had the care and government
of the world, and as though he were not a holy God, but altogether such
an one as themselves, liking ways of sin as well as they, or as though
they thought him a weak being, and not able to do them any great matter
of hurt, or as though they thought they were stronger than he, and
should be able to make their part good with him another day? 1 Cor.
10:22, “Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?”
How does that wickedness, which many persons who are brought up under
gospel light commit in secret, those abominable secret practices of
which many young people are guilty, agree with their professing that God
is everywhere present? These things they do not commit openly for fear
of human punishment, or for fear of shame and disgrace among men. And
yet they commit them boldly, and live on them in the sight of God, upon
whose favor they profess that their happiness infinitely more depends
than on the esteem of men.
They profess to believe that there is another world, and a future
judgment, and that they must in a little time stand before the
judgment-seat of God, to give an account of themselves to him. And that
then the hidden things of darkness shall be brought to light, and the
counsels of the heart made manifest. And that then God will call them to
a strict account of their improvement of their time, and all their
talents, and that for every idle word men must give account in the day
of judgment. And that then every man shall have his state everlastingly
and unalterably fixed by the sentence of the great Judge, according to
the things done in the body, that they who have done well shall be
invited into heaven, where they shall enjoy honor, and glory, and
pleasure unspeakable forevermore, and that they who have done evil,
shall be sentenced and sent down to hell, into everlasting fire, with
the devil and his angels, where they shall endure unspeakable torments,
as in a furnace of fire, without any end, or any hope, and that they
shall have no rest day nor night; and that their souls shall be fixed in
one or other of those states in a little time, as soon as ever the body
dies.
Now how does their practice consist with such a profession, while they
live idle, careless lives, little troubling themselves about the good of
their souls, and have their hearts and pursuits after the vanities of
the world, just as if they never expected any other world but this,
going on in sins against the plainest commands, and loudest warnings,
and fullest light, and conviction of their own conscience? How does this
consist with the profession of a belief that they must in a little time
be called to give account of themselves to God? Would any spectator who
should judge only by their practice, in the least imagine that these men
expected within a few years to burn in everlasting fire, if they did not
please and serve an infinitely holy God, and to be received to an
everlasting paradise of blessedness if they did. Could he be persuaded
to think that such men are in heart, as they profess to be, the
followers of the meek, holy, and humble Lamb of God, of him who laid
down his life for his enemies?
Second, if we look at the profession which some of them make of special
and distinguishing experiences of the influence of God’s grace in their
hearts, their practice is very inconsistent with their profession.
Persons may make a profession of such experiences, and yet be carnal and
wicked men. So did some of the Galatians, of whom the apostle was
afraid, lest he had bestowed upon them labor in vain. They professed
great experience of the sweetness and blessedness which is to be had in
religion, and experienced in the truths of the gospel. Gal. 4:11, 15, “I
am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. Where is
then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had
been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given
them to me.” At their first seeming conversion, they appeared to be
exceedingly lifted up with their new light, and full of joy and comfort,
and full of affection. But by this expostulation of the apostle it
appears that their lives afterwards did not well agree with their
profession. Some wicked men may profess that they have seen their own
utter insufficiency and helplessness, their own vileness and wickedness,
and have been brought to God’s footstool self-emptied and self-abased,
as wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. But yet how ill does
their walk and life agree with such a profession! In this none appear
fuller of themselves than they. None seem to manifest more of a spirit
of self-sufficiency, and of dependence on their own righteousness, or
more high conceit of their own goodness, or are more ready to say to
others, “Stand by thyself, come not nigh to me, for I am holier than
thou.” None appear in their walk and conversation further from lying in
the dust as being poor in spirit than they. So it was with the
Pharisees, they pretended to be extraordinarily emptied of themselves,
and to have a low thought of themselves, in their wearing a rough
garment, and in so often keeping days of fasting. And yet none were more
self-righteous and self-sufficient than these very men, who are set
forth in sacred history as living examples of self-righteousness to all
succeeding ages.
So some of them may profess that they have had great discoveries made to
their souls of God’s glory and excellency, and that they have seen how
much more glorious God is than all earthly things. But if it be so, why
do not they cleave to God, and follow him, rather than other things? If
they have known God to be so much more excellent than the things of the
world, because they have had acquaintance with God, why do they in their
practice cast off God for the sake of the things of the world? Why do
they in their practice prefer a little of the world, a little worldly
gain, a little worldly honor, or a little worldly convenience or
pleasure, before God? Certainly, if God be more excellent than the whole
world, as they profess that they have seen him to be, then surely he is
worth more than so small a part of the world.
So they may tell what love they have found in their hearts to God, how
they have found their hearts drawn out in love to him at different
times. But if they love him so well, why do they take no more care to
please him? Why are they so careless of his honor, and of their duty to
him? Why do they allow themselves in practices which they know he hates,
and utterly forbids?
So they may profess that they have seen the truth of the gospel, and
that they not only think, but know, that the Scripture is the Word of
God. But if it be so, why do they not take more heed to it? why do they
live not only as if they were not certain of it, but as if they were
certain of the contrary? If they know that those commands which are in
the Bible are the commands of God, then they are worthy of the greatest
regard. If they know that those promises and threatenings which are
found there are the promises and threatenings of God, then surely they
should be of great weight with us. Why do they seem to be of so little
weight with them?
So they may tell how God has manifested his love to their souls, has
given his Spirit to witness with their spirit that they are the children
of God, and that they have much communion with God. But if God has done
such great things for them, and they are admitted to such unspeakable
privileges above others, surely they ought to do more than others. They
should not appear more carnal, and careless, and unchristian in their
temper and walk than other men who make no such pretenses. Thus wicked
men’s practice is very often inconsistent with their profession,
agreeably to Tit. 1:16, “They profess that they know God, but in works
they deny him; being abominable and disobedient, and to every good work
reprobate.”
VI. Their practice is inconsistent with their hope of eternal life. Men
in general who live in Christian countries, hope to go to heaven, and
there to possess eternal glory with God, and Christ, and holy saints and
angels, though some of them have a much more confident hope than others.
Some of them think that God has already made over this glory to them by
firm promises, they look on heaven as their own, they think they belong
to that world, and have an inheritance reserved there for them.
But the practice of wicked men is very inconsistent with such a hope, it
is very displeasing to that God, and that glorious Redeemer, with whom
they hope to spend their eternity in heaven. Though they live wickedly,
yet they hope in a little time to go to be with an infinitely holy God,
to be received by him with perfect approbation and delight, to be near
to him, and to dwell in the courts of his love. They hope to enter into
that same holy of holies, into which Christ the forerunner of saints has
entered, and there to dwell, there to be as a pillar in the temple of
God, to go no more out. Yea, they hope there to sit in that heavenly
holy of holies, to be admitted to a higher privilege than the high
priests were of old in the earthly holy of holies, who were admitted
only to appear in the holy of holies once a year. What holiness was
expected of the high priests of old who were admitted to this privilege!
What holiness then may well be expected of those who hope to be admitted
to a so much greater privilege! Their wicked life is very unsuitable to
that state of heaven. Those who are in heaven are all perfectly holy,
and so must they become if ever they go to heaven. They will perfectly
hate all wickedness, and perfectly delight in the contrary. How
disagreeable therefore is the hope of spending eternity in such a
heaven, to their wallowing like swine in the filth and mire of sin, and
feeding with such eagerness and delight on the loathsome objects of
their lusts, as worms feed with pleasure on the loathsome carcass!
Their wicked life is very unfit for the company of heaven, with which
they must spend an eternity, if ever they arrive there, even with the
holy angels and saints. Heb. 12:22, 23, “But ye are come unto mount Sion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels; to the general assembly and church of the
first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect.” How disagreeable is a
carnal, worldly, sensual, impure life, to a hope of being one of such an
assembly as this to all eternity!
Their wicked life is very disagreeable to the eternal business of
heaven, which consists in employing their faculties altogether on holy
objects, in employing their understandings in viewing and contemplating
the holy perfections of God, and his wonderful works, and their wills
and affections in loving God, and delighting themselves in him, and
their whole souls in praising and serving him. Rev. 22:3, 4, “And there
shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be
in it; and his servants shall serve him; and they shall see his face;
and his name shall be in their foreheads.” How inconsistent is a life
spent in this world in the service of lust and of the devil, to a hope
of spending eternity in such a holy manner as this!
Their wicked life is unfitted for the pleasure and entertainment of
heaven, which consist in delighting and rejoicing in God, in loving him,
and in holy communion with him. How unsuited to a hope of enjoying such
a happiness as this throughout eternity is it to place all one’s delight
and happiness here in hoarding up worldly pelf, in gratifying the bodily
appetites and sensitive desires, and in those pleasures that are common
to the cattle and the swine?
Wicked men hope to spend their eternity in that world, which is a world
of perfect peace and love, and to dwell there forever, where are no jars
nor strife, but perfect agreement, harmony, and love forever. Yet many
of them live a life of malice and contention in this world, are very
often in one strife or other, and always carry about in their breasts a
malice and hatred towards some of their neighbors, and towards some of
those same persons with whom they pretend to hope to spend their
eternity in such perfect love and amity. If we in our thoughts compare
the life that many men actually live in this world, with that life which
they hope to live in another world, how ill do they consist together;
how disagreeable and shocking is the comparison, or the union of them in
our thoughts! How many are there who now are drunkards or unclean
persons, or who live in the neglect of secret prayer, and who cast off
fear and restrain prayer before God. And how many that are mere
earth-worms in covetousness and eagerness after the world; how many
proud men whose God is their earthly honor; how many wrathful men who
spend their days in hatred of their neighbor; how many such are there
who hope in a little time to be with an infinitely holy God, in his
glorious presence, in his holy of holies, and with Jesus Christ, and in
the arms of his love, and to be of the assembly of holy angels and
saints in perfect purity, holiness, and love, loving, contemplating, and
admiring God’s glory, and enjoying unspeakable blessedness in communion
with God! Thus wicked men’s practice disagrees with their hopes.
VII. The practice of wicked men is inconsistent with itself.
First, their practice at one time is inconsistent with their practice at
another. They are not of a piece with themselves at different times, but
are such as the apostle James compares to “a wave of the sea, driven of
the wind and tossed;” and such as he called “double-minded.” At one time
they are of one mind, with respect to the things of religion; and at
another, of another; and so have one mind against another. It is so with
false professors of religion. They are not steadfast in God’s covenant,
nor in the practice of religion. At one time they may seem to be much
affected with the things of religion, and greatly engaged in their
spirits about it, as though they could even pluck out their own eyes for
God and Christ’s sake, may be full of religious conversation, and may
seem forward in religious deeds. But, if we observe them, all their
goodness is as the morning cloud, all their religiousness is over, and
they appear as carnal, and senseless, and as irreligious as ever. Their
religious affections are all gone, their religious practice is gone, and
“it is happened unto them according to the true proverb. The dog is
turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her
wallowing in the mire.”
So it is with the hearers, that hear the Word of God, and anon with joy
receive it, but in time of temptation fall away. So it was with many of
Christ’s followers. They followed him for a while, and by and by left
him.
There were some who seemed to believe in Christ and followed him for a
while. But Christ did not commit himself to them, he knew they were of
an unstable mind, and would not be consistent with themselves. Some of
them were for a while greatly affected with his preaching and with the
miracles that he wrought, and it is said of them that the glorified God
who had given such power to men, and said, “Never man spake like this
man.” John 7:46. And it seems as though some of the same Jews who had
their affections so raised when Christ was coming into Jerusalem, and
who cried, “Hosannah to the son of David, blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord;” did presently after cry, “Crucify him, crucify
him!” There are many professors like those, and like the Israelites,
that sang God’s praise, and soon forgat his works, and waited not for
his counsel, that “turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their
fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.” That is, a bow
that missed the mark to which it seemed to direct the arrow. The arrow
seems to be pointed right, as though it would hit the mark, but yet the
bow unexpectedly tends quite another way.
There are many disciples like Judas, who was at one time a disciple, and
a traitor at another. It is commonly so that when false professors come
to be tried by any remarkable allurements of the world, or by special
difficulties which they meet with in the way of duty, that their
practice as such times is quite inconsistent with their practice at
other times. While times are smooth, and the way plain, and the external
practice of religion seems to be consistent with their worldly
interests, they are very religious. But when times are changed, and they
cannot be religious without seeing them crossed, they appear quite
another sort of men.
Thus their practice at one time is inconsistent with their practice at
another.
Second, their practice in some things is inconsistent with their
practice in others at the same time.
1. Their moral and religious practice in some things does not consist
with their irreligious and impure practice in others. False professors
are very commonly widely different in this respect from those who are
sincere and upright. Sincere Christians are universally holy. They have
regard to all God’s commands. It is their sincere desire, aim, and
endeavor to do their duty in every respect. But it is generally far
otherwise with hypocrites. In some things they are like Christians, in
others like heathens. Sometimes they appear earnestly religious in
duties that immediately respect God, as in attending ordinances, and in
appearing devout in external duties of the first table. But in duties
that respect their neighbor, there is but little appearance of
Christianity. Some behave themselves like saints in God’s house, and
like devils at home. Some seem to be very religious abroad, in the house
of God, and also at the houses of their neighbors, at private meetings,
and in religious conferences. But if you follow them into their own
families, and observe their carriage there towards those who dwell under
the same roof, towards their wives, or husbands, or children, or
servants, their behavior there does not at all consist with the other.
So some may carry themselves well in their families, and yet are
wretchedly negligent of the religion of the closet. Some seem to be
religious men, who are not honest men. Some are honest men, and are not
religious. They are willing to pay their debts, to speak the truth, and
to avoid all knavish actions, all low and underground management. But as
to religion, or to seeking God in the religious use of his ordinances,
and in reading his holy word, in meditation and prayer, there is but
little of this to be seen in them.
Some are honest men with respect to strict commutative justice, but they
are not charitable men. They are selfish, covetous, close, and
unmerciful. Some seem to be generous and liberal, and yet are very proud
and haughty. Their honor is their God. Some are very strict and
exemplary as to all that can be seen of men, but secretly they live in
some abominable practice. So their practice does not consist with
itself. It is not of a piece. God complains of this self-inconsistency
in Israel of old. Hos. 7:8, “Ephraim hath mixed himself among the
people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.” “He hath mixed himself among the
people;” that is, he was conversant with the heathen nations, and
mingled the religion and customs of an Israelite with those of the
heathen; so that he was inconsistent with himself, he was partly an
Israelite and partly a heathen. “He is a cake not turned,” alluding to
their custom of baking cakes on the hearth, or in the sun; where, if
they were not turned, one side would be baked, and the other raw. So
they on one side seemed to appear religious, and like saints, but on the
other, wicked and impure. So it was with the Pharisees. In some things
they appeared eminently religious, but in others they behaved themselves
as some of the vilest of me. Mat. 23:14, 23, “Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence,
make long prayers; therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint,
and anise, and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other undone.” A true saint is sanctified throughout, in soul,
body, and spirit. He has put off the old man with his deeds, and has put
on the new man. He is all over a new creature. He has not only a new
hand and head, but he is a new man, all the members are new. But
hypocrites are monsters. They have a saint’s tongue, and a devil’s
heart. The members do not well consist together. They are inconsistent
with themselves as they go about to serve two masters, God and Mammon,
which Christ has taught us to be a great inconsistency. They are alike
inconsistent as the Samaritans were, who would serve the God of Israel
and their own god too. 2 Kin. 17:28, etc. “Then one of the priests, whom
they had carried away from Samaria, came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught
them how they should fear the Lord. Howbeit every nation made gods of
their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the
Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.”
There is the like inconsistency in them as was in Judas, who betrayed
Christ with a kiss. How ill did those two things in Judas consist
together, his coming to him and kissing him, his seeming to show himself
his friend, and at the same time betraying him to death! But it was not
greater inconsistency than is commonly found with hypocritical
professors, who carry themselves as Christ’s friends, and as though he
were very dear to them in some things, and yet act the part of mortal
enemies in others, and by their wicked behavior do indeed betray his
cause and interest.
2. Their wicked practice in one thing is inconsistent with their wicked
practice in others. It is a common thing for wicked men to quarrel with
God for permitting those things which they allow themselves, and
practice with delight. It is common for wicked men to ascribe the blame
of their wickedness to God, therein following their first father, Adam.
So men will often lay the blame of their being unconverted, and having
lived so wicked a life, so carnal, careless, and evil a life, to God,
and especially under conviction, to quarrel with God for it. And yet
they approved of those things which they did themselves, with full
consent and approbation.
And again. It is common for wicked men to contend with men, and hate
their neighbor, for doing the same thing that they do themselves, and
allow in themselves. So an unjust man, a backbiter and reviler, a
revengeful man, will condemn in others the sin which he allows in
himself. And so, many other instances might be mentioned. And thus I
have showed through all the instances proposed, how wicked men are
inconsistent with themselves.
APPLICATION
I. Hence we may see the woeful ruin which sin has brought on the nature
of man. Man was not thus in his first estate. If we had nothing but the
light of nature, or the light of our own reason to guide us, that would
be sufficient to lead us to conclude that man in his first estate was
not made thus by his Creator, who has made other things in such
excellent order and harmony. We see that God hath so made the world,
that one thing sweetly harmonizes with another, all things are adapted
to each other, the nature of one thing to the nature of another; one
thing to be subservient to another; and all things subject to the laws
that the Creator has fixed.
We therefore, without the Scripture, should have all reason to conclude
that man, the most noble of all the creatures in the visible world, was
not made in this state of woeful inconsistency with himself; so that all
the faculties of his nature are at war with each other, and at war with
themselves; so that now there is nothing but the most dreadful confusion
to be seen.
But the Scripture teaches us plainly that God saw all things that he had
created and made, and behold, they were very good; and particularly that
God made man upright, and that it is himself that has brought ruin on
his own nature. In man’s first estate all things were in perfect order
in his nature. There shone such a light in his understanding as led him
to right judgments of things, all the dictates of his understanding were
consistent one with another. And then his reason, the superior faculty,
kept its place, and bare rule in him over the other faculties, and there
was no principle or faculty of his nature but what was subject to its
dictates, nothing rose up in rebellion against it. His will then was
agreeable to his reason, and agreeable with itself. There was a perfect
harmony between his outward appearance and his inward character. His
mouth and his heart and his mouth and practice then agreed together, and
his practice then was of a piece. Until he ate of the forbidden fruit,
all was in perfect order, and peace, and decorum, both within and
without.
But what was the consequence when man hearkened to the devil, and
rebelled against his Maker? We learn, by what has been said under this
doctrine, that then the Spirit of God departed from him, and with his
influence, God’s holy image also, the life, the crown, and glory of his
nature left him, and all light, and regularity, and order were gone, and
a worse darkness and confusion succeeded than was in the primitive chaos
when it was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the
deep. And such is the woeful confusion of the nature of all men now in
their fallen state. Now their reason determines one thing, and their
governing practical judgment the reverse of it. And their judgment in
some things is utterly inconsistent with their judgment in others. Now
the will is in no consistency with the reason, but commonly determines
directly contrary to its dictates. Men’s wills are in such bondage and
slavery to their lusts, that they are not only determined contrary to
their own consciences to choose those things which their reason tells
them are unjust, and vile, and unbecoming their nature, but also those
things which their reason at the same time declares to be exceedingly
against their own highest interest, even so as to tend to their
everlasting perdition. Yea, their dispositions are not only contrary to
their own reason and consciences, but contrary to themselves. There is
not only war between faculty and faculty, but the very same faculty is
at war with itself, so that they do in some respects choose and refuse
the same things at the same time. There are some things that they seem
earnestly to wish for, and yet indeed are at the same time utterly
averse to and refuse, and will by no means accept of when offered. Yea,
they will not have them though they are urged, and entreated, and
pleaded with for years together to accept of them. So inconsistent are
their dispositions with themselves, that they will not have spiritual
and divine things as they are, nor yet will they have them otherwise.
They do not like God as he is, they find abundance of fault with him,
they are urged to accept of him as their God, but they will by no means
comply with it. They reject him, and have an enmity against him. They
love to keep at a distance from him, and to have as little as possible
to do with him, and will not hearken to him, or submit to him, but are
ever maintaining a kind of warfare against him, because they do not like
him as he is. And yet they would not like him if he were any otherwise.
If it were possible that he could be altered from what he is in any
respect whatsoever, they would refuse to accept of him as their God
then. They are enemies to him because he is so holy and just a God, and
yet they would not like him if he were unholy and unjust. They do not
like his almighty power, and yet they would not like him if he were
weak. They also dislike his knowing all things, and yet they would
dislike him if he were ignorant. They quarrel with God for the exercise
of his infinite mercy and grace to others, and the more for its being so
great in some instances, in being exercised towards those who are so
unworthy. And yet they would not like him if he were not infinitely
merciful. They would wish him to be merciful enough to pardon the most
unworthy, and yet sometimes quarrel with him because he is no more
merciful.
Now there is a similar inconsistency in them with themselves in that
they do not like men for being godly. They have an enmity against such
sort of men. And at the same time, they do not like those who are godly,
they hate men for being wicked, and will have a bitter spirit against
them for it. The world in its fallen state cannot agree with the church
of God. It has always had a spite against it, and has almost always from
the beginning of the world hitherto been persecuting it. And yet neither
can they agree among themselves, but are at the same time contending and
quarreling with one another. And as there is no suiting them in this
world, so neither is there any suiting them in another. They would
neither go to heaven, nor to hell. They do not like heaven because it is
holy. And yet they would not like it if it were a world of wickedness.
And such is the jarring and confusion that is in their disposition, that
those things that they do choose are impossibilities, and
self-contradictions, and self-inconsistencies. They would have a
sufficient Savior and not a holy one. They would have one good, and
excellent, and holy enough to save them, and yet would not have one with
any holiness at all. They have a mind to have salvation from misery,
without salvation from sin; when sin is their misery. They have a mind
to have light, and yet to keep darkness without light. They would have a
light consisting in darkness; and sweet, consisting in bitterness; and
good, consisting in evil. They would have such a sort of happiness as is
impossible in its own nature. For they would have happiness with
unholiness, which is as much as to say they would be happy men, and yet
remain destroyed and ruined. And when life and death are set before them
to choose, and they are urged to make their choice, and told that they
must certainly have one or the other, that there is no possibility of
avoiding it; yet they will come to a deliberate, determinate choice to
have neither one nor the other. They are always halting between two
opinions, they are always choosing and yet never come to a choice.
Instead of those holy principles that man had in his heart at first,
that sweetly consented one with another, he has now introduced into his
soul a number of vile and hateful lusts, that clash one with another:
pride clashing with covetousness, and covetousness thwarting sensuality,
and sloth crushing all these. And instead of the purity in body and
mind, which man had at first, he is now, if he has any show of purity,
become like a whited sepulcher, that is beautifully adorned outside, and
within full of dead men’s bones, and all uncleanness. Their faces
disagree with their hearts, and their mouths disagree with their hearts.
They have the visage and show of saints, and the hearts of devils. Their
prayers are filled up with thanksgiving, adoration, great honor to God,
praise and glory to him, a show of humility before him, a show of
repentance for sin, trust, thankfulness, desire of obedience, and trust
in Christ alone; when within is nothing but a slight and contempt of
God, enmity against God, distrust of God, pride, self-righteousness,
obstinacy, and disobedience, without one jot or tittle of honor, or
love, or trust, or humility, or repentance, or obedience, or any of
those things that there is a show of in their prayers. And now they say
and profess one thing, and practice another. They will show one thing to
God, and do another, and will live all their days in this world
carnally, contentious, and alienated from God, in the indulgence of
brutish lusts and filthiness. And yet hope when they die to go to be
with him, and in eternal communion with him in perfect holiness, and
with holy angels, spending an eternity in holy contemplation and praise,
and to have these things for their everlasting happiness. And when they
seem to practice well for a time it lasts but a little while, but their
practice at one time is utterly inconsistent with that at another. Yea,
if they were narrowly observed, their practice at the same time is
inconsistent with itself: saints at church, and heathen at home; saints
before the world, heathen in secret; with the tongues and faces of the
children of God, and with the hearts of the children of the devil.
Such work has the fall made in the nature of man, such a creature as
this is man become, instead of shining as at first, in the holy and
lovely image of God. Thus has the fall of man ruined God’s workmanship.
And if the fall has thus ruined man, what can be more effectually
ruined? Does not this show that it is indeed so, that man is in a lost
and undone condition. And can it be expected that any other can ever
restore to him the divine image, but only that same God that made him at
first? And how vain are the attempts of natural men to rectify their
natures in their own strength, wherein is such woeful ruin and
confusion! And is there not need of a mighty Savior in order to this?
II. This subject may be applied in the way of conviction to natural men,
in several particulars.
First, hence you may see your folly. Wisdom is ever consistent with
itself, and wise men are not wont to act inconsistently.
Self-inconsistency in temporal things is ever looked upon as a note of
folly. Those men that talk very inconsistently, are accounted to talk
very foolishly. And so those men that act inconsistently with themselves
in temporal matters, are looked upon as acting very absurdly and
ridiculously, and it is common with men to treat such with derision.
Certainly, then, to be so exceedingly self-inconsistent in such great
concerns as we have spoken of, is the highest degree of folly.
The inconsistency of the judgment of wicked men shows their folly. It
shows the foolishness of those practical judgments they govern
themselves by, that they make them contrary to the plain dictates of
their own reason. Men oftentimes count the judgments of others very
foolish, because they are very inconsistent with other men’s reason,
though their judgments are formed according to the best light of their
own reason. But how much more foolish is it for men, in such things as
infinitely concern them, to make such practical judgments of things as
are plainly contrary not only to other men’s reason, but to their own;
so as to determine their will and their practice by those judgments! As
for instance, when men’s practical judgment and conclusion within
themselves, by which they determine their choice and practice, is that
it is best for them for the present, to neglect their souls and seek the
vanities of this world, which are but for a moment, more than their
eternal welfare.
And how does it show the folly of men’s judgment when some of their
judgments are inconsistent with others; as when in one thing they will
judge that a long-continued eternity is of less importance than this
short and fleeting life! So it shows the great folly of men’s wills and
dispositions, that they are so inconsistent, that in some respects they
will both choose and refuse the same things, will wish and pray for
them, and take pains for them, and yet will not have them when offered.
How madly would a man be looked upon to act, that should so act in
temporal concerns, if he was sick and like to perish for want of a
certain medicine, and should wish and long for that medicine, and ask
others to seek it for him, and yet when it was bought and offered, he
should utterly refuse it!
What folly does it argue that men’s dispositions are so inconsistent
with each other, that there is no suiting them with anything! They are
pleased neither with piping nor mourning, with eating nor fasting. They
will not have God, or Christ, or heaven as they are, and yet will not
have either any otherwise. How would men, if they manifested such a
disposition in temporal things, often be hissed at, as most ridiculous,
childish, and foolish. Yea, and be accounted to act like madmen! And
what folly does it discover that they will choose and accept of nothing
but that which is impossible in its own nature, and a
self-contradiction, as when they will have happiness without holiness!
If any man should act thus in temporal things, if he would have no house
because he could not build one in the air, if he refused to go because
he could not go without feet, or to see because he could not see without
eyes, what words would be thought adequate to describe his folly! Yet
this is the very folly of sinners with regard to their salvation.
How would men be looked upon if they acted thus in their temporal
affairs! If they must inevitably perish in the winter if they did not
labor in the summer, and yet spend all the summer in halting between two
opinions. Or if they were sick with some deadly disease, and were told
that they must inevitably die if they did not send for a physician, yet
were undetermined, and when the distemper increased upon them, still
continued undetermined, and when it was come to extremity, and seemed
very near death, still could not come to a conclusion; or if a house
should be on fire over their heads, and they could not make up their
minds to flee from under it.
And what folly does it argue for men, that their practices are so
inconsistent with their hearts, and that they say one thing and do
another, and so are unsteady in their practice, and inconsistent with
themselves at different times! It is looked upon as great folly, and
what persons are much to be ashamed of, to be so unsteady in temporal
matters, to undo one day what they did another. And so, in their
practice in some things to be inconsistent with their practice in
others. In one thing to act like a friend, and in another like an enemy.
Persons that do so in temporals are abhorred of men, and looked upon as
not fit for human society.
Second, you may hereby be convinced of your misery. A man cannot be
happy, and cannot but be miserable, with whom it is thus. It shows a man
to be undone. He, whose nature is brought into such violation, is
evidently brought into a state of ruin. Where there is such
self-inconsistency and self-opposition, a man is at war with himself,
and therefore must be miserable. It is a calamity for a man not to be at
peace with his neighbor, and to live in contention with those that are
about him. But certainly it is a much greater calamity for him to be at
war with himself, to have his judgment at war with his judgment, and his
will at war with his reason and conscience, and his will at war with
itself, and one lust thwarting another, and his outward man at war with
his inward man, his mouth contradicting his heart, his practice
contradicting his profession, and contradicting itself. It is impossible
that such a man should enjoy any happiness as long as things are thus
within him. Do what you will here, you cannot make him happy. If you
take him and place him in a palace, and set him on a throne, and clothe
him in the robes of princes, and put a crown of gold on his head, and
set before him the richest dainties, feed him and feast him as much as
you will, still he that so disagrees with himself, is a miserable
wretch. Though he may be stupid, yet it is impossible he should enjoy
any true peace or rest. How should he, in whom all things are in such
utter confusion and uproar within, and in whom there is so much
self-opposition.
This may convince us of the truth, and show us the reason, of Isa.
57:20, 21, “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot
rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my
God, to the wicked.”
How should he have any peace, who is his own enemy, who chooses and
practices these things which his own conscience condemns, and which his
own reason tells him tend to his own ruin? How should he have any peace,
that hates his own soul and loves his own death, and that has one lust
holding him one way, and another the contrary, so as in some respects to
choose and refuse the same thing, to wish for a thing that at the same
time he hates and refuses, and so goes on from day to day in warring
against himself?
Third, this shows your inexcusableness. By this inconsistency with
yourself, you are condemned out of your own mouth in that you act
contrary to your own conscience. Your own conscience condemns you in
your will and practice being contrary to your own reason. Your own
reason condemns you in acting contrary to your profession. Your own
profession condemns you in the sense in which the apostle speaks of a
heretic as being condemned of himself. Tit. 3:10, 11, “A man that is a
heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that he
that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself:”
i.e. he in departing from his former profession is inconsistent with
himself. His present heretical tenets are contrary to his former solemn
profession, and therefore that former profession condemns him.
Consider how inexcusable you, who are thus inconsistent with yourself in
your wickedness, will appear at the last day, when you come to stand
before the judgment-seat of God, when you are by him called to an
account for your wicked life, how will your mouth be stopped. When you
are called to an account why you have preferred things of such short and
uncertain continuance as the things of this vain world, to the great
things of the eternal world, what will you have to say for yourself,
when it shall appear that herein you acted in direct opposition to the
plain dictates of your own reason, and that this choice is inconsistent
with the judgment and choice you were wont to make in temporal things?
And what will you say for yourself when you are called to give an
account why you rejected God, and Christ, and heaven for their holiness;
when it so plainly appears that you would not like them, and would not
have accepted them, if they had been any other way than holy?
It will then appear that you have voluntarily rejected Christ and his
great salvation, and refused to accept of heaven, and that you are
condemned of yourself in it, in that at the same time you evinced the
great necessity of those things in praying for them, and doing many
things in order to the obtaining of them.
When it shall then appear how you had a mind to have impossibilities: as
a sufficiently worthy Savior, and not a holy one; salvation from misery,
and not salvation from sin, the source of all misery; and happiness
without holiness. It shall from hence most plainly appear, that you did
in effect utterly refuse to accept of any Savior or any salvation at
all, and would not be saved from misery at all, and refused to accept of
any happiness at all, because you would have no salvation, no happiness,
but such as was impossible in the nature of things, such a salvation as
was not and could not be. And then how just will it appear to your own
conscience, and to the world, that you should e’en go without salvation!
And when it shall appear how you had life and death set before you, and
were told the necessity of coming to a choice, and were so often urged
to it, and had so much opportunity for it, and yet refused. How just
will it appear that divine justice should make your choice for you, when
you refused to make any for yourself!
And how will you appear condemned out of your own mouth, when you shall
be called to an account by the Judge, why you so often professed to God
in your prayers that he was an infinitely great and holy God, and yet
never feared him. And why you so often said to God that he was a
sovereign and righteous God, and yet never submitted to him. And why you
so often said to him that the was an all-sufficient and faithful God,
and yet never would put your trust in him. And why you so often said to
him that he was an infinitely glorious, and excellent, and good God, and
yet never loved him. And why you so often owned that he was an
infinitely gracious and bountiful God, and what you had received
abundance of kindness from him, and owned him to be the author of all
those good things of your life that you enjoy, and yet never were truly
thankful to him, but improved those things that you owned were the gifts
of God, against himself who was the giver of them. Why you so often
owned in your prayers before God that you were a poor sinful, vile
creature for your sins, and yet never would forsake your sins, and
begged of God to keep you from sin, and yet carelessly and willfully
went on in the commission of sin? What will you say to such
interrogations of the Judge of heaven and earth? Will not your mouth be
stopped when it shall appear that what has already so often proceeded
out of your own mouth, does so much condemn you? And what will
hypocrites and self-pretenders to experiences say, who have told what
discoveries they had of the glory of God, of Christ, and of heaven. When
the Judge inquires of them, why they set so light by this God, and did
so prefer the dust of the earth and the filth of sin before him? When
those who have often told what love they have felt to the Lord Jesus
Christ, are asked why they took no more care to please and honor him,
and why they rather chose from time to time to reject him than sacrifice
their worldly interest.
So when wicked men are inquired of why, when they professed to believe a
future state, they took no more pains to prepare for it. Why, when they
professed to be the followers of Christ the Lamb of God, they were no
more like him? Why, when they owned him for their head, and expressed
such wonderful love to him, they could turn and become his enemies? Why,
when they lived in hope of a life of such unspeakable glory in heaven,
they set their affections wholly on this world? Why, seeing they made
such a show of regard to God and their duty at one time, they discovered
such a total disregard at another? Why, when they made such pretenses to
religion, and had such appearances of it in some things, they were so
irreligious and wicked in others? What will they answer? Wicked men will
appear self-condemned every way: their own reason and their own
consciences, their own mouths and their own actions, have condemned
them. Their reason and consciences will still condemn them, and God will
condemn them, and men and angels will and must condemn them. So that
they will appear universally condemned, they will have nothing to say
for themselves, nor will any one have anything to say for them.
Fourth, if you are so inconsistent with yourself, you need not wonder
that God will enter into no friendship with you, or that he does not
receive you into his favor. Many natural men are ready to wonder that
god will not receive them into favor — they do so much in religion.
But if you consider what has been said, you need not wonder at it. A
wise man will make no friendship with another who is very inconsistent
with himself in those things wherein men are concerned with him. He will
not associate himself with him, nor care to have such to communicate
with him. For men know that such persons are not to be depended on. One
does not know where to find them, nor how to suit them, and if they will
be so inconsistent with themselves, certainly they will not be very
consistent with others that trust them. God therefore justly refuses to
receive such persons into union with him. It is not consistent with his
divine wisdom to give himself to them in a covenant relation.
No wonder that Christ will not commit himself to such persons as these.
John 2:23, 24, 25, “Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in
the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles
which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he
knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew
what was in man.” Christ knew that there was no dependence to be had
upon them. He knew they would not prove consistent with themselves.
Fifth, how vain and inconsistent is the dependence of wicked men on
themselves! If this be the case with natural men, if all natural men are
as we have heard, so absurdly inconsistent with themselves, how
unreasonable is their high thought of themselves, and their trusting to
their own goodness, to their own prayers, and their other performances!
And that they do so, is an evident sign of their woeful ignorance of
themselves. If such persons saw themselves as they are, and to be such
as we have described them, certainly they would be far from trusting in
their own excellency and goodness, but would see themselves to be
polluted, wretched, miserable, lost creatures, and would no more say in
their hearts, “I am rich, and increased with goods;” but would rather
condemn themselves, and cry out with self-abhorrence and amazement,
“Unclean, unclean, undone, undone!”
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