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What was wrong with him?
(Arthur Pink)
"One thing you lack" Mark 10:21
Those words addressed by our Lord to the rich young ruler who had approached Him with such apparent eagerness and earnestness, and in whom there were some admirable qualities which are rarely found in young men, especially those of affluence.
Yet there was a fatal defect, for the sequel informs us that he turned from Christ, and "went away sad" (Mark 10:22). What was wrong with him? "'One thing you lack--Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.' At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth." (Mark 10:21-22).
There was a struggle between his convictions and his corruptions; he desired to serve two masters--God and mammon; and when Christ told him that was impossible, he was chagrined.
His fatal deficiency may be described in a variety of ways. He had no conviction that he was a ruined, lost and Hell-deserving sinner, no consciousness that he was a spiritual leper in the sight of God, no realization of his utter helplessness to better his condition. Though religious, he was still in nature's darkness, and therefore, his affections were not raised above the vanities of this world. There was no love for God within him; and consequently, he was unwilling to deny himself, abandon his idols, and give God His rightful place in his life--serving, pleasing, and enjoying Him. He lacked a real and unreserved surrender of his heart to God.
Is that the case with you, dear reader?
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All will be pure, unmingled happiness--or pure, unmingled misery!
("Life's Shortness and Vanity", A funeral sermon by Samuel Davies)
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment--but the righteous to eternal life!" Matthew 25:46
In this present world, our good and evil are blended. Our happiness has some bitter ingredients, and our miseries have some agreeable mitigations.
But in the eternal world, good and evil shall be entirely and forever separated! All will be pure, unmingled happiness--or pure, unmingled misery!
But what gives infinite importance to these joys and sorrows is--that they are enjoyed or suffered in the eternal world, and they are themselves eternal. Eternal joys! Eternal pains! Joys and pains that will last as long as the King eternal and immortal will live to distribute them! As long as our immortal spirits will live to feel them! Oh what joys and pains are these!
And these eternal joys or pains, my friends--are awaiting every one of us! These pleasures, or these pains--are felt this moment by all our friends and acquaintances who have died before us! And in a little, little while--you and I must feel them!
Alas! What then, have we to do with time and earth? Are the pleasures and pains of this world--worthy to be compared with eternal pleasures and pains? "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" The enjoyments and sufferings, the labors and pursuits, the laughter and tears of the present state--are all nothing in comparison. What is the loss of an estate, or of a dear relative--compared to the loss of a blissful immortality?
And if our heavenly inheritance is secure--what does it matter, even if we should be reduced into Job's forlorn situation? What does it matter, even if we are poor, sickly, racked with pains, and submerged in every human misery? Heaven will more than make amends for all!
But if we have no evidences of a title to heaven, the sense of these transitory distresses may be swallowed up in the fear of the horrible miseries of eternity!
Alas! What does it avail--that we play away a few years in mirth and gaiety, in grandeur and pleasure--if when these few years have fled, we lift up our eyes in hell, tormented in eternal flames!
Oh what are all these transitory things--to a candidate for eternity! An heir of everlasting happiness--or everlasting misery!
If we spend our immortality in eternal misery--what sorry comfort will it be that we laughed, and played, and frolicked away our few years upon earth!
As Christians, we are to be nobly indifferent to all the little amusements and pleasures of so short an earthly life.
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment--but the righteous to eternal life!" Matthew 25:46
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The causes of the stupid unconcernedness
(Samuel Davies, "Unseen Things to Be Preferred to Seen Things")
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen--but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary--but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18
Among all the causes of the stupid unconcernedness of sinners about true religion, and the feeble endeavors of saints to improve in it--there is none more common or more effectual, than their not forming a due estimate of the things of time--in comparison to those of eternity!
Our present affairs engross all our thoughts, and exhaust all our activity--though they are but transitory trifles; while the solemn realities of the future world are hid from our eyes by the veil of flesh and the clouds of ignorance. Did these unseen eternal realities break in upon our minds in all their tremendous importance, they would . . .
annihilate the most desired vanities of the present state,
obscure the glare of all earthly glory,
render all its pleasures insipid, and
give us a noble resignation under all its sorrows.
A realizing view of these eternal realities, would . . .
shock the worldling in his thoughtless career,
tear off the hypocrite's mask, and
inflame the devotion of the languishing saints!
The concern of mankind would then be how they might make a safe exit out of this world--and not how they may live happy in their earthly state. Present pleasure and pain--would be swallowed up in the prospect of everlasting happiness--or misery hereafter! Eternity, solemn eternity, would then be our serious contemplation. The pleasures of sin would strike us with horror--as they issue in eternal pain! And our present afflictions, however tedious and severe, would appear but light and momentary--if they work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!
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The bitterest ingredient in the 'cup of divine displeasure'
(Samuel Davies, "Unseen Things to Be Preferred to Seen Things")
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen--but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary--but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18
VISIBLE things are perishable--and may soon leave us. When we think that they are ours--they often fly from our embrace!
Riches may vanish into smoke and ashes--by an accidental fire!
We may be thrown down from the pinnacle of honor--and sink into utter disgrace!
Sensual pleasures often end in excess and disgust--or in sickness and death!
Our friends are torn from our bleeding hearts by the inexorable hand of death!
Our liberty and property may be wrested from us by the hand of tyranny, oppression, or fraud!
In a word, there is nothing which we now enjoy--but we may quickly lose!
On the other hand, our miseries here on earth are temporary. The heart receives many a wound--but it heals again. Poverty may end in riches. A blemished character may be cleared up; and from disgrace--we may rise to honor. We may recover from sickness. And if we lose one comfort--we may obtain another.
But in ETERNITY--everything is everlasting and unchangeable! Happiness and misery are both without end--and the subjects of both well know that this is the case.
It is this eternality and perpetuity, which completes the happiness of the inhabitants of heaven; the least suspicion of an end--would intermingle itself with all their enjoyments, and embitter them; for the greater the happiness, the greater the anxiety at the expectation of losing it. But oh, how transporting for the saints on high, to look forward through the succession of eternal ages, with an assurance that they shall be happy through them all, and that they shall feel no change--but from glory unto glory!
On the other hand, this is the bitterest ingredient in the 'cup of divine displeasure' in the future state--that the misery is eternal! Oh, with what horror does that despairing cry, "Forever! Forever! Forever!" echo through the vaults of hell!
And now, need I offer anything further to convince you of the superior importance of invisible and eternal things--to visible and temporary things? Can you need any arguments to convince you that an eternity of the most perfect happiness--is rather to be chosen than a few years of sordid, unsatisfying sinful pleasures?
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This is the 'hell' of hell
(Samuel Davies, "The Resurrection of Damnation")
"Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come out; those who have done good--unto the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil--unto the resurrection of damnation!" John 5:28-29
Alas! Multitudes shall come forth from their graves, not to the resurrection of life--but to the resurrection of damnation! What terror is in the words!
See them bursting into life from their subterranean dungeons! Horror throbs through every vein--and glares wildly and furiously in their eyes. Every joint trembles and every countenance looks downcast and gloomy! Now they see that tremendous Day of which they were warned in vain--and shudder at those terrors of which they once made light. They now experientially know the grand business of the Day and the dreadful purpose for which they are roused from their slumbers in the grave:
to be tried,
to be convicted,
to be condemned, and
to be dragged away to execution!
"And they will go away into eternal punishment!" (Matthew 25:46) They must go away into the bottomless pit! There they are confined in chains of darkness, and cast into the burning lake of fire and brimstone forever and ever!
In that dreadful word "forever" lies the epitome of torment! This is the 'hell' of hell. If they might be but released from suffering, though it were by annihilation after they have wept away ten thousand millions of ages in extremity of pain--it would be some mitigation, some encouragement. But, alas! When as many millions of ages are passed as the stars of heaven, or the sands on the seashore, or the atoms of dust in this huge earthly globe--their punishment is as far from an end--as when the sentence was first pronounced upon them!
FOREVER! There is no exhausting of that word! When it is affixed to the highest degree of misery--the terror of the sound is utterly insupportable!
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Well, trifle a little longer!
(Samuel Davies, "The Danger of Lukewarmness in Religion")
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold--I am going to vomit you out of My mouth!" Revelation 3:15-16
Are lukewarmness and indifference a suitable temper with respect to a HAPPINESS far exceeding the utmost bounds of our present thoughts and wishes; a happiness equal to the largest capacities of our souls in their most improved and perfect state; a happiness beyond the grave, when all the enjoyments of this transitory life have taken an eternal flight from us; a happiness that will last as long as our immortal spirits, and never fade or fly from us?
Or are lukewarmness and indifference a suitable temper with respect to a MISERY beyond expression, beyond conception dreadful; a misery inflicted by a God of almighty power and inexorable justice upon all obstinate, incorrigible rebels for numberless, willful and daring provocations; inflicted on purpose to show His wrath and make His power known? A misery proceeding from the united fury of divine indignation, of the turbulent passions of a guilty conscience, of malicious tormenting devils? A misery (who can bear up under the horror of the thought!) that shall last as long as the eternal God shall live to inflict it--as long as sin shall continue evil to deserve it--as long as an immortal spirit shall endure to bear it--a misery that shall never be mitigated, never intermitted, never, never, never see an end?
And remember, that a state of eternal happiness or misery is not far remote from us--but near us, just before us! The next year, the next hour, or the next moment--we may enter into it!
Oh, sirs, does an apathetic, careless attitude befit us in such a solemn situation? Is a state of such eternal happiness--or such misery; is such a state which we must shortly enter--a matter of indifference to us? Oh, can you be lukewarm about such matters? Was such a exceeding stupidity ever seen under the canopy of heaven, or even in the regions of hell--which abound with monstrous and horrid beings? No! the vilest demons below cannot make light of these things! Mortals! can you trifle about them?
Well, trifle a little longer--and your trifling will be over, forever! You may now be indifferent about the improving of your time; but time is determined to continue its rapid course, and hurry you into the ocean of eternity, though you should continue sleeping and dreaming through all the passage!
Therefore awake, arise--before your doom is unchangeably fixed!
Let the criminal, condemned to die tomorrow, be indifferent about a pardon; let a drowning man be careless about catching at the only plank that can save him; but oh do not be careless and indifferent about eternity--and such amazing realities as heaven and hell!
If you disbelieve these things--you are infidels.
If you believe these things, and yet are unaffected with them--you are worse than infidels! Not even hell itself can find a precedent of such a conduct. The devils believe--and tremble! You believe--and trifle with things whose very name strikes solemnity and awe through heaven and hell.
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There lies his mortal body, moldering into dust--and feeding the worms!
Samuel Davies, "Life and Immortality Revealed in the Gospel"
(A sermon preached at the funeral of a young man, on September 1, 1756)
"It is appointed unto men once to die--but after this, the judgment!" Hebrews 9:27
Do you expect a pleasant eulogy of our deceased young friend? This is not my usual practice--I have things of much greater importance to engage your attention. The dead have received their just and unchangeable doom at a superior tribunal; and besides, our eulogies or censures may be often misapplied. My business is with the living--not to flatter their vanity with compliments, but to awaken them to a sense of their own mortality, and to a preparation for it.
However, if you must have his eulogy--I will draw it for you in the most important and interesting light:
Here was a youth in the bloom of life, in the prime of his strength and health, who seemed as secure from the stroke of death as any of us. Here lies a youth who launched into the world, no doubt, with the usual projects and expectations of a happy old age. But where is he now? Alas! In yonder grave lies the blooming, promising flower--withered in the morning of life! There lies his mortal body, moldering into dust--and feeding the worms!
Come to his grave, you young and mirthful ones, you lively and strong ones, you men of business and bustle; come and learn what you must shortly be! Come and see your own destiny! Thus, shall your limbs stiffen, your blood stagnate, your faces wear the pale and ghastly aspect of death, and your whole frame dissolve into dust and ashes!
Thus shall your all your temporal purposes be broken off, all your schemes vanish like smoke, and all your hopes from this world perish. Death perpetually lurks in ambush for you--ready every moment to spring upon his prey!
"Oh that DEATH!" (said a man of large estate, strong constitution, and cheerful temper,) "I do not like to think of death--he comes in and spoils all."
So he does indeed! He spoils all your thoughtless mirth, all your foolish amusements, and all your great schemes. Methinks it befits you to prepare--for what you cannot avoid! "It is appointed unto men once to die--but after this, the judgment!" Hebrews 9:27
But was our departed friend nothing but an animal, a mere machine of flesh and bones? Is the whole of him putrefying in yonder grave? No! I must draw his character farther. He was an immortal being; and no sooner did he take his last breath--than his soul took wing, and made its flight into the eternal realm. There it now dwells. And what amazing scenes now present themselves to his view! What extraordinary, unknown beings does he now converse with!
There also, my friends, you and I must before long be! We too must be initiated into those grand mysteries of the invisible world, and mingle in this assembly of immortal beings. We must share with angels in their bliss and glory--OR with devils in their agonies and terrors!
And our eternal destiny shall be according to our present character. "The hour is coming, in which all who are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and shall come forth; those who have done good--unto the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil--unto the resurrection of damnation!" John 5:28
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Poor in self--rich in Jesus!
(James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit")
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3
The Lord's people are all poor; they see and feel that sin has stripped them of every excellence; and has left them wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked. They can do nothing of themselves, they can procure nothing for themselves; but free grace has made ample provision for them, and the Gospel informs them that Jesus has everything they need--and that all that He has, is for them!
When they look at, or into themselves--they are discouraged; but when they look to Jesus--they rejoice! He has riches of grace--and riches of glory; and He says, "Every one who asks--receives." He gives liberally, and upbraids not. Here then is the present blessedness of the Lord's poor: Jesus has all they need! And He is their Redeemer and Friend! Those who seek Him shall not lack any truly good thing.
Am I poor? If so, Jesus bids me come to Him--and buy gold, clothing, wine, and milk without price--all that is necessary to comfort and support in time, and render me happy throughout eternity! Poor in self--rich in Jesus! Poor at present--rich in eternity! "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven!"
"All things are yours!" 1 Corinthians 3:21
"And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus!" Philippians 4:19
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Our great lesson!
(James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit")
"I will instruct you." Psalm 32:8
At best we know but little--and we are slow to learn. But the Lord has promised to instruct us. The Lord's teaching always produces . . .
humility,
self-loathing,
confidence in God,
zeal for His glory, and
devotes the heart to His glory!
The Lord's teaching always . . .
brings us to the feet of Jesus, and
delivers us from the present evil world.
Under Divine instruction we learn . . .
the true nature of sin,
the vanity of the world,
the emptiness of creatures, and
the fullness and preciousness of Christ!
Is God willing to instruct us? Then let us be early and often at His throne of grace, praying, as the Psalmist did, "Show me Your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me--for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4-5. Then shall we exclaim, as Elihu did, "God is exalted in His power. Who is a teacher like Him!" Job 36:22
The Lord will teach us to profit, and sanctify us through the truth He imparts. Christ is our great lesson--and to know Him rightly--is life, peace and joy!
Is Jesus your Teacher? Then . . .
sit at His feet,
treasure up His Words,
and show forth His praise!
He says, "Learn of Me." Learn to . . .
know Him,
love Him,
obey Him, and
live upon Him!
"Teach me Your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path!" Psalm 27:11
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Carry all your concerns to Him--in the arms of faith!
(James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit")
"Casting all your care upon Him--because He cares for you!" 1 Peter 5:7
The Lord knows all His people--all their needs, and all their trials.
He thinks upon them--to bless, deliver and supply them.
He keeps His eye upon them--in all places, at all times, and under all circumstances.
He has them in His hand--and will not loosen His hold.
He looks upon them always as His own 'treasured possession' . . .
the objects of His eternal love,
the purchase of His Son's blood,
the temples of His Holy Spirit.
They are precious in His sight!
He knows they are weak and fearful--and that they have many enemies. He teaches them to cast themselves and all their cares into His hands! And He has given them His promise--that He will care for them.
It is a Father's care which He exercises. It is a wise, holy, tender, and constant care. Therefore all will be well with you--only trust Him.
Believe that He cares for you this day. Carry all your concerns to Him--in the arms of faith! Leave all with Him, persuaded that He will manage all by His infinite wisdom, and bring all to a good outcome by His omnipotent power.
Cast all your cares upon Him--as fast as they come in.
Do not worry about anything.
"Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you! He will never allow the righteous to be shaken!" Psalm 55:22
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He cannot love you more!
(James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit")
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6
The Lord cares for His children!
He knows our needs--and has promised to supply them.
He knows our foes--and will deliver us from them.
He knows our fears--and will make us ashamed of them.
All creatures and things are in His hand, and at His disposal; all circumstances are under His absolute control. He . . .
directs the angel,
feeds the sparrow,
curbs the devil, and
manages the tempest!
He is your Father--and His love to you is infinite. You are His delight--His dear child. Will He neglect you? Impossible! Cast then your cares upon Him. Tell out all your desires, fears, and troubles to Him; let Him know everything; keep nothing back. And then in the confidence of faith, expect Him to fulfill His Word, and act a Parent's part.
Bless Him for all He has given, for all He has promised. Plead with Him for all you may need. But never for one moment, or under any circumstances, distrust Him! He cannot love you more! He is your ever present help. He will rejoice over you to do you good, with His whole heart, and with His whole soul.
"Cast all your care upon Him, because He cares about you!" 1 Peter 5:7
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Where shall you find a rock?
(Samuel Davies, "Jesus Christ, the Only Foundation" 1757)
"The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men! The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be burned up!" 2 Peter 3:7, 10
The fiery deluge of divine vengeance, which has been gathering and swelling for thousands of years; but has been, as it were, restrained and kept within bounds by divine patience--shall then rise so high as to burst through all restraints, and overwhelm the guilty globe, and turn it into a universal ocean of liquid fire! This resistless torrent shall sweep away all the refuges of lies, and those who trusted in them--into the gulf of remediless destruction!
Well my friends, where shall we find a support to bear us up in this tremendous day? Where shall we find a rock to build upon, that we may be able to stand the shock, and remain safe and unmoved--in the wreck of dissolving worlds? What can uphold us--when this vast machine of our world, formed with so much skill and strength by the hands of a divine Architect, shall be broken up and fall to pieces?
Now, now is the time for us to find the refuge; it will be too late when all created supports are swept away, and this solid globe itself is dissolved beneath our feet into a sea of fire!
And where will you look? Where will you turn? This earth, and all its riches, honors, and pleasures--will prove to be but a quicksand in that day! Your friends and relations, were they ever so great or powerful--can then afford you no support! Therefore, think--where shall you find a rock on which you may build a happiness that will stand the shock in that dreadful day?
Everything else besides Christ . . .
is sliding sand,
is yielding air,
is a breaking bubble!
In that dread day . . .
wealth--will prove to be a vain shadow,
honor--will prove to be an empty breath,
pleasure--will prove to be a delusive dream,
your own righteousness--will prove to be a spider's web!
If we rely on these, disappointment and doom are inevitable!
Nothing but Christ, nothing but Christ, can stably support us in that dread day! "He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress--I will never be shaken!" Psalm 62:2
His righteousness is infinitely perfect, equal to the highest demands of the divine law--and therefore a firm, immovable ground of trust. We may safely venture the weight of our eternal all--upon this rock! It will stand forever, without giving way under the heaviest pressure; without being broken by the most violent shock. Let thousands, let millions, with all the mountainous weight of guilt upon them, build upon this foundation, and they shall never be moved!
The firm foundations, the stately columns, the majestic buildings of Nineveh, Babylon and Persia, and all the magnificent structures of antiquity, though formed of the most durable stone, and promising immortality--are now shattered into ten thousand fragments, or lying in ruinous heaps!
But here in Christ--is a foundation for immortal souls--a foundation that will remain the same to all eternity! His righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, His strength an everlasting strength, and Himself the everlasting Father. He ever lives forever to make intercession for His people, and therefore he is able to save to the uttermost, to the uttermost point of duration--all who come unto God by Him!
Millions and millions of depraved, wretched, ruined creatures, have always found Him perfectly able, and as perfectly willing--
to expiate the most enormous guilt;
to deliver from the most inveterate corruptions;
and to save to the very uttermost!
Ten thousand times ten thousand, have built their hopes upon this rock--and it has never failed so much as one of them! Manasseh, Paul, and Mary Magdalen, and thousands more atrocious sinners--have ventured upon this all-sufficient rock with all their load of sin upon them, and found it able to sustain them!
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Go to Him just as you are--and receive from Him all you need!
(James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit")
"Come unto Me." Matthew 11:28
Jesus calls you to His throne of grace. He is there waiting to hear, relieve and bless you. You are to go to Him just as you are--and receive from Him all you need.
He will give you:
wisdom--to direct your steps;
peace--to keep your hearts;
strength--to do His will;
righteousness--to justify your souls;
and rest--unspeakably sweet.
He is glorified in bestowing these blessings upon you. He calls you this morning, this moment--to receive all you need--without money and without price. What a precious Savior is Jesus! What a kind and tender Friend!
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16
"Come!" He says, "Come to Me! Do not go to SELF, to the world, to the empty cisterns which creatures idolize; but come unto Me, and I will do immeasurably more than all you can ask or imagine!
Your sins--I will pardon;
your graces--I will revive;
your comforts--I will restore;
your holiness--I will increase;
your efforts to glorify Me--I will crown with success;
I will bless you--and you shall be a blessing!"
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You are walking in the midst of snares and traps!
(James Smith, "The Pastor's Morning Visit")
"Be very careful, then, how you walk!" Ephesians 5:15
To honor Jesus in your thoughts, words, and every action--should be your constant aim.
You are in an enemy's land; surrounded by temptations; and have a heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked!
This present world is not your home! Satan's family are not to be your intimate friends. Riches, honors, or pleasure--are not to be your objects of pursuit. You are walking in the midst of snares and traps! Be watchful, prayerful, depending upon Jesus, and cultivating fellowship with Him.
O keep your eye on Jesus, as your example! Walk by His Word--as your rule. Do not be venturesome or presumptuous, but avoid the very appearance of evil. Never leave the Lord's ways--to join the world's vanities or to please a carnal lust. Keep close to Jesus--and follow on to know the Lord.
Walk as a beloved child, who going home to his loving Father's house! "Be very careful, then, how you walk!"
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If you dare!
(Samuel Davies, "The Universal Judgment!")
"Then I saw a great white throne--and HIM who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened . . . If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life--he was thrown into the lake of fire!" Revelation 20:11, 12, 15
What an astonishing scene is this! The stable earth and sky cannot bear the majesty and terror of His look; they fly away affrighted! This is the Judge before whom we must stand; and this is the manner of His appearance!
But is this the babe of Bethlehem--who lay and wept in the manger?
Is this the supposed son of the carpenter, the despised Galilean?
Is this the man of sorrows?
Is this He who was . . .
arrested,
condemned,
buffeted,
spit upon,
crowned with thorns,
executed as a slave and a criminal, upon the cross?
Yes, it is Him! The very same Jesus of Nazareth!
But oh how changed! How deservedly exalted! Heaven and earth flee before Him!
Now let his enemies appear and show their contempt and malignity!
Now, Pilate--condemn the King of the Jews as a usurper!
Now, you Jews, raise the clamor, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Now bow the knee in scorn, spit in His face, and buffet Him! Now tell the scourged impostor that He must die!
Now despise His grace,
now laugh at His threatenings, and
now make light of His displeasure--if you dare!
Ah! now their courage fails, and terror surrounds them! Now they try to hide in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. Now they call to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
But, alas! That LAMB who once bled as a sacrifice for sin--now appears in all the terrors of a LION! Oh! could they hide themselves in the bottom of the ocean, or in some rock that bears the weight of the mountains--how happy would they think themselves!
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The conflagration of the world!
(Samuel Davies, "The Universal Judgment!")
"The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare!" 2 Peter 3:7, 10
The present state is but the infancy of the world. All the events of time, even those which make such great noise to us, and determine the fate of kingdoms--are but as the trivial games of little children. But if we look forward and trace events to maturity, we meet with vast, significant and majestic events! To one of those scenes I would direct your attention this day; I mean the solemn, tremendous, and glorious scene of the universal judgment!
You have sometimes seen a stately building in ruins; come now, and view the ruins of a demolished world! Come now, and view the whole universe severely laboring and agonizing in her last convulsions, and her well-ordered system dissolved!
You have heard of earthquakes here and there which have laid huge cities in ruins; come now, and feel the tremors and convulsions of the whole globe, which blend cities and countries, oceans and continents, mountains, plains and valleys--in one giant heap!
You have a thousand times beheld the moon walking in brightness, and the sun shining in its strength; come now, look and see the sun turned into darkness, and the moon into blood!
It is our lot to live in an age of war, blood, and slaughter; an age in which our attention is engaged by the dubious fate of kingdoms. Draw off your thoughts from these trifling objects for an hour, and fix them on more solemn and vital objects. Come view this dread scene!
"The world alarmed, both earth and heaven o'erthrown,
And gasping nature's last tremendous groan;
Death's ancient scepter broke, the teeming tomb,
The Righteous Judge, and man's eternal doom!"
Let us now enter upon the majestic scene! But alas! what images shall I use to represent it? Nothing that we have ever seen, nothing that we have ever heard, nothing that has ever happened on the stage of time--can furnish us with proper illustrations. All here is low and groveling--when compared with the grand phenomena of that day!
We are so accustomed to trifling earthly objects, that it is impossible that we should ever raise our thoughts to a suitable pitch of elevation. But before long, we shall be amazed spectators of these majestic wonders--and our eyes and our ears will be our instructors!
But it is now necessary we should have such ideas of them--as may affect our hearts, and prepare us for them. Let us therefore present to our view, those representations which divine revelation--our only guide in this case--give us . . .
of the person of the Judge, and the manner of His appearance;
of the resurrection of the dead, and the transformation of the living;
of the universal gathering of all men before the supreme tribunal;
of their separation to the right and left hand of the Judge, according to their characters;
of the judicial process itself;
of the decisive sentence;
of its execution,
and of the conflagration of the world!
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The annals of hell--or the biography of devils!
(Samuel Davies, "The Universal Judgment!")
Though we are too apt to think that we are not accountable for our words--He who is to be our Judge, has plainly told us that "for every careless word which men speak, they shall give an account in the day of judgment." Matthew 12:36
"For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." Ecclesiastes 12:14
What astonishing discoveries will this trial of every hidden thing make!
On the one hand--what noble dispositions which never shone in full beauty to mortal eyes! What generous purposes crushed in embryo for lack of power to execute them! What pious and noble actions concealed under the veil of modesty, or misconstrued by ignorance and prejudice! What affectionate aspirations, what devout exercises of heart, which lay open only to the eyes of Omniscience, are now brought to full light, and receive the approbation of the Supreme Judge before the assembled universe"!
But on the other hand--what works of shame and darkness are then revealed! What hidden things of dishonesty! What dire secrets of treachery, hypocrisy, lewdness, and various forms of wickedness--all artfully and industriously concealed from human sight! What horrid exploits of sin now burst to light in all their hellish colors--to the confusion of the guilty, and the astonishment and horror of the universe!
Surely the history of mankind must then appear like the annals of hell--or the biography of devils! Then the mask of deceit will be torn off--and men will appear in their true characters. Their hearts will be, as it were, turned outwards--and all their secrets exposed to full view!
The design of this judicial inquiry will not be to inform the omniscient Judge--but to convince all worlds of the justice of His proceedings. And this design renders it necessary that all these 'secret things' should be laid open to their sight, that they may see the grounds upon which He passes sentence.
Does not the prospect of such a 'revealing' fill some of you with horror? For many of your actions, and especially of your thoughts--will not bear the light. How would it confound you, if all your secret thoughts were now all published, even in the small circle of your friends! How then, can you bear to have them all fully exposed before God, angels, and the universe! Will it not confound you with shame, and make you objects of everlasting contempt to all worlds!
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The unsearchable riches of Christ!
(Samuel Davies)
"The unsearchable riches of Christ!" Ephesians 3:8
Consider what rich blessings Christ has purchased for His people; purchased not with corruptible things such as silver and gold--but with His own precious blood! The purchase price recommends and endears the blessings, though they are so great in themselves, as to need no such recommendation! What can be greater or more suitable blessings to hell-bound sinners, than . . .
pardon for the guilty,
redemption for slaves,
righteousness and justification for the condemned,
sanctification for the unholy,
rest for the weary,
comfort for mourners,
the favor of God for rebels and exiles,
strength for the impotent,
protection for the helpless, and
everlasting happiness for the heirs of hell!
And, to sum up all--grace and glory, and every good thing, and all the unsearchable riches of Christ--for the wretched and miserable; for the poor, the blind, and naked!
These are blessings indeed, and, in comparison with them--all the riches of the world are impoverished, and vanish to nothing!
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Well, when you are suffering the punishment of this sin in hell!
(Samuel Davies, "The Nature and Danger of Making Light of Christ and Salvation")
"But they made light of it." Matthew 22:5
Consider what those things are, which engross your affections, and which tempt you to neglect Christ and your salvation.
Have you found a better friend than Christ, or a more substantial and lasting happiness than His eternal salvation?
Oh! what trifles and vanities, what dreams and shadows are men pursuing--while they neglect the important realities of the eternal world!
If crowns and kingdoms, if all the riches, glories, and pleasures of this present world were ensured to you--as a reward for making light of Christ, you would even then make the most foolish bargain possible; for what are these in the grand scale--when compared to eternal joy, or eternal misery! "What is a man profited, if he shall gain even the whole world, and lose his own soul!"
But you cannot realistically hope for the ten thousandth part of these worldly trifles! And will you cast away your souls for such a pittance?
Alas! what does the richest, the highest, the most voluptuous sinner do--but lay up treasures of wrath against the day of wrath! Oh how will the unhappy creatures torture themselves forever with the most cutting reflections, for selling their Savior and their souls--for such trifles! Let your sins and earthly enjoyments save you then, if they can! Then go and cry to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you in the day of your damnation!
The time is hastening on, when you will not think so lightly of Christ and salvation. Oh, sirs, when God shall commission DEATH to tear your guilty souls out of your bodies, when devils shall drag you away to the place of torment, when you find yourselves condemned to everlasting fire by that Savior whom you now neglect--what would you then give for a Savior!
When you see that the world has deserted you, that your companions in sin have deceived both themselves and you, and all your merry days are over forever--would you not then give ten thousand worlds for Christ!!
And now, dear immortal souls! Whenever you spend another prayerless, thoughtless day; whenever you give yourselves up to sinful pleasures, or an over-eager pursuit of the world--may your conscience become your preacher, and sting you with these solemn truths!
I cannot but fear, after all, that some of you, as usual, will continue careless and impenitent. Well, when you are suffering the punishment of this sin in hell, remember that you were warned, and acquit me from being accessory to your eternal ruin!
And when we all appear before the supreme Judge, and I am called to give an account of my ministry: when I am asked, "Did you warn these creatures of their danger? Did you lay before them their guilt in making light of these things?" You will hear me answer, "Yes, Lord, I warned them in the best manner I could--but they would not believe me; they would not regard what I said!"
Oh sirs, must I give in this accusation against any of you? No, rather have mercy on yourselves--that I may give an account of you with joy, and not with grief!
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What is it to be a Christian?
(Samuel Davies, "The Sacred Import of the Christian Name")
"The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch." Acts 11:26
What is it to be a Christian?
1. To be a Christian--is to depart from iniquity. To this, the name obliges us; and without this we have no right to the name. "Let every one who names the name of Christ--depart from iniquity!" 2 Timothy 2:19. That is, let him depart from iniquity--or not even dare to take that sacred name!
Christ was perfectly free from sin--He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." His followers also shall be perfectly free from sin--in a little time! Before long, they will enter into the pure regions of perfect holiness, and will drop all their sins, along with their mortal bodies--into the grave!
But this, alas! is not their character in the present state--but the remains of sin still cleave to them! Yet even in the present state, they are laboring after perfection in holiness. Nothing can satisfy them--until they are fully conformed to the image of God's dear Son!
They are hourly conflicting with every temptation, and vigorously resisting every iniquity in its most alluring forms. And, though sin is perpetually struggling for the mastery, and sometimes, in an inadvertent hour, gets an advantage over them--yet, they are assisted with divine grace, so that no sin has any habitual dominion over them. Romans 6:14.
Hence they are free from the gross vices of the age--and are men of good morals. This is their habitual, universal character; and to pretend to be Christians without this prerequisite, is the greatest absurdity!
What then shall we think of the debauched, defrauding, worldly, profligate, profane 'Christians', who have overrun the Christian world? Can there be a greater contradiction?
A loyal subject in arms against his sovereign;
an ignorant scholar;
a sober drunkard,
a charitable miser;
an honest thief--
are not greater absurdities, or more direct contradictions!
To depart from iniquity--is essential to Christianity, and without it there can be no such thing as a Christian!
There was nothing that Christ was so remote from--as sin! And therefore, for those that indulge themselves in sin--and yet to wear His name, is just as absurd and ridiculous as for an illiterate dunce to call himself a university professor!
Therefore, if you will not renounce iniquity--then renounce the Christian name! You cannot consistently retain both!
Alexander the Great had a fellow in his army who had his same name--but was a mere coward. "Either be like me," said Alexander to him, "or lay aside my name!"
You servants of sin, it is in vain for you to wear the name of Christ! It renders you the more ridiculous, and only aggravates your guilt! You may with as much propriety call yourselves 'princes' or 'kings'; as 'Christians', while you are so unlike Christ!
You are a scandal to His precious name!
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