"And if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." There is nothing more exasperating to the mind of a man, than to find all his kindness and favor slighted; neither is the Lord Jesus so provoked with any thing, as when sinners abuse his means of grace. If it be barren and fruitless under my gospel, if it turn my grace into wantonness, if, after digging and dunging and waiting, it yet remain unfruitful, I will let thee cut it down.
Gospel-means applied are the last remedy for a barren professor; if the gospel, if the grace of the gospel will not do, there can be nothing expected but, "Cut it down."
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."
Matt. 23:37,38.
Yet it cannot be but that this Lord Jesus, who at first did put a stop to the execution of his Father"s justice, because he desired to try more means with the fig-tree--it cannot be but that a heart so full of compa.s.sion as his, should be touched to behold this professor must now be cut down. "And when he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace!
but now they are hid from thine eyes."
When Christ giveth thee over, there is no intercessor, no mediator, no more sacrifice for sin; all is gone but judgment, but the axe, but "a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." Heb. 10:26-28.
The day of grace ends with some men before G.o.d takes them out of this world. Now, then, I would show you by some signs how you may know that the day of grace is ended, or near to ending with the barren professor.
First sign. The day of grace is like to be past, when a professor hath WITHSTOOD, ABUSED, AND WORN OUT G.o.d"S PATIENCE: then he is in danger; this is a provocation; now G.o.d cries, "Cut it down."
There are some men that steal into a profession, n.o.body knows how, even as this fig-tree was brought into the vineyard by other hands than G.o.d"s; and there they abide lifeless, graceless, careless, and without any good conscience to G.o.d at all. Perhaps they came in for the loaves, for a trade, for credit, for a blind; or it may be, to stifle and choke the checks and grinding pangs of an awakened and disquieted conscience. Now, having obtained their purpose, like the sinners of Zion, they are at ease and secure, saying, like Agag, Surely the bitterness of death is past: I am well; I shall be saved and go to heaven. Thus in these vain conceits they spend a year, two, or three; not remembering that at every season of grace, and at every opportunity of the gospel, the Lord comes seeking fruit.
Well, sinner, well, barren fig-tree, this is but an evil beginning.
G.o.d comes for fruit. What have I here? saith G.o.d. What a fig-tree is this, that hath stood this year in my vineyard, and brought me forth no fruit! I will cry unto him, Professor, barren fig-tree, be fruitful; I look for fruit, I expect fruit, I must have fruit; therefore bethink thyself. At these the professor pauses; but these are words, not blows; therefore off goes this consideration from the heart.
When G.o.d comes the next year, he finds him still as he was, a barren, fruitless c.u.mber-ground. And now again he complains, Here are two years gone, and no fruit appears; well, I will defer mine anger for my name"s sake. I will yet wait to be gracious. But this helps not, this hath not the least influence upon the barren fig-tree: Tush, saith he, here is no threatening; G.o.d is merciful, he will defer his anger, he waits to be gracious; I am not yet afraid. O, how unG.o.dly men, that are unawares crept into the vineyard, how do they turn the grace of our G.o.d into lasciviousness!
Well, he comes the third year for fruit, as he did before, but still he finds but a barren fig-tree; no fruit. Now he cries out again, O thou dresser of my vineyard, come hither: here is a fig-tree hath stood these three years in my vineyard, and hath at every season disappointed my expectation; for I have looked for fruit in vain.
Cut it down; my patience is worn out, I shall wait on this fig-tree no longer.
And now he begins to shake the fig-tree with his threatenings: Fetch out the axe. Now the axe is death; death therefore is called for.
Death, come, smite me this fig-tree. And withal the Lord shakes this sinner, and whirls him upon a sick-bed, saying, Take him, death; he hath abused my patience and forbearance, not remembering that it should have led him to repentance and to the fruits thereof: death, fetch away this fig-tree to the fire, fetch this barren professor to h.e.l.l. At this, death comes with grim looks into the chamber, yea, and h.e.l.l follows with him to the bedside, and both stare this professor in the face, yea, begin to lay hands upon him. One smites him with pains in his body, with headache, heartache, backache, shortness of breath, fainting qualms, trembling of joints, stopping at the chest, and almost all the symptoms of a man past all recovery. Now, while death is thus tormenting the body, h.e.l.l is busy with the mind and conscience, striking them with its pains, casting sparks of fire in thither, wounding with sorrows and fears of everlasting d.a.m.nation the spirit of this poor creature. And now he begins to bethink himself, and to cry to G.o.d for mercy: Lord, spare me; Lord, spare me. Nay, saith G.o.d, you have been a provocation to me these three years. How many times have you disappointed me! How many seasons have you spent in vain! How many sermons and other mercies did I of my patience afiord you; but to no purpose at all.
Take him, death. O good Lord, saith the sinner, spare me but this once; raise me but this once.
Indeed I have been a barren professor, and have stood to no purpose at all in thy vineyard; hut spare, O spare me this one time, I beseech thee, and I will he better. Away, away, you will not; I have tried you these three years already; you are naught: if I should recover you again, you would he as bad as you were before. (And all this talk is while death stands by.) The sinner cries again, Good Lord, try me this once; let me get up again this once, and see if I do not rnend. But will you promise me to mend? Yes indeed, Lord, and vow it too. I will never be so bad again, I will he better. Well, saith G.o.d, Death, let this professor alone for this time: I will try him a little longer; he hath promised, he hath vowed, that he will amend his ways. It may be he will mind to keep his promises. Vows are solemn things; it may he he may fear to break his vows. Arise from off thy bed. And now G.o.d lays down his axe. At this the poor creature is very thankful, praises G.o.d, and fawns upon him, shows as if he did it heartily, and calls to others to thank him too. He therefore riseth, as one would think, to be a new creature indeed.
But by that he hath put on his clothes, is come down from his bed, and ventured into the yard or shop, and there sees how all things are gone to sixes and sevens, he begins to have second thoughts, and says to his folks, What have you all been doing? How are all things out of order! I am I cannot tell how much behindhand; one may see if a man be but a little laid aside, that you have neither wisdom nor prudence to order things. And now, instead of seeking to spend the rest of his time for G.o.d, he doubleth his diligence after this world. Alas, he saith, all must not be lost; we must have provident care. And thus, quite forgetting the sorrows of death, the pains of h.e.l.l, the promises and vows which he made to G.o.d to be better, because judgment was not speedily executed, therefore the heart of this poor creature is fully set in him to do evil.
These things proving ineffectual, G.o.d takes hold of his axe again, sends death to a wife, to a child, to his cattle. I will blast him, cross him, disappoint him, cast him down; and will set myself against him in all that he putteth his hand unto. At this the poor barren professor cries out again, Lord, I have sinned; spare me once more, I beseech thee. O take not away the desire of mine eyes; spare my children, bless me in my labors, and I will mend and be better.
No, saith G.o.d, you lied to me last time, I will trust you in this no longer; and withal he tumbleth the wife, the child, the estate, into a grave.
At this the poor creature is afflicted and distressed, rends his clothes, and begins to call the breaking of his promise and vows to mind; he mourns and prays, and like Ahab, a while walks softly at the remembrance of the justness of the hand of G.o.d upon him. And now he renews his promises: Lord, try me this one time more, take off thy hand and see; they go far that never turn. Well, G.o.d spareth him again, sets down his axe again: "Many times he did deliver them, but they provoked him with their counsels, and were brought low for their iniquities." Now they seem to be thankful again, and are as if they resolved to be G.o.dly indeed. Now they read, they pray, they go to meetings, and seem to be serious for a while; but at last they forget. Their l.u.s.ts p.r.i.c.k them, suitable temptations present themselves; wherefore, they return to their own crooked ways again.
Yet again, the Lord will not leave this barren professor, Luke 13: 6-9, but will take up his axe again, and will put him under a more heart-searching ministry, a ministry that shall search him and turn him over and over--a ministry that shall meet with him, as Elijah met with Ahab, in all his acts of wickedness: and now the axe is laid to the roots of the tree. Besides, this ministry doth not only search the heart, but presenteth the sinner with the golden rays of the glorious gospel: now is Christ Jesus set forth evidently, now is grace displayed sweetly; now, now are the promises broken, like boxes of ointment, to the perfuming of the whole room. But alas, there is yet no fruit on this fig-tree. While his heart is searched, he wrangles; while the glorious grace of the gospel is unveiled, this professor wags and is wanton, gathers up some sc.r.a.ps thereof, tastes the good word of G.o.d and the power of the world to come, drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon him, but bringeth not forth fruit meet for him whose gospel it is; takes no heed to walk in the law of the Lord G.o.d of Israel with all his heart, but counteth that the glory of the gospel consisteth in talk and show, and that our obedience thereto is a matter of speculation--that good works lie in good words, and if men can finely talk, they may think they bravely please G.o.d. He thinks the kingdom of G.o.d consisteth only in word, not in power; and thus proves ineffectual this fourth means also.
Well, now the axe begins to be heaved higher, for now indeed G.o.d is ready to smite the sinner: yet before he will strike the stroke, he will try one way more at last; and if that misseth, down goes the fig-tree.
Now this last way is to labor and strive with this professor by his Spirit. Therefore the Spirit of the Lord is now come to him; but not always to strive with man, Gen. 6:8; yet awhile he will strive with him, he will awaken, he will convince, he will call to remembrance former sins, former judgments, the breach of former vows and promises, the misspending of former days. He will also present persuasive arguments, encouraging promises, dreadful judgments, the shortness of time to repent in; and that there is hope if he come.
He will show him the certainty of death and of the judgment to come, yea, he will pull and strive with this sinner. But behold, the mischief now lies here; here is laboring and striving on both sides.
The Spirit convinces, the man turns a deaf ear to G.o.d; the Spirit saith, Receive my instruction and live, but the man pulls away his shoulder; the Spirit shows him whither he is going, but the man closeth his eyes against it; the Spirit offers violence, the man strives and resists: he has "done despite unto the Spirit of grace."
Heb. 10:29. The Spirit parleyeth a"second time and urgeth reasons of a new nature, but the sinner answereth, No; I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. Amos 4: 6-12. At this, G.o.d comes out of his holy-place, and is terrible; now he sweareth in his wrath they shall never enter into his rest. Ezek. 34:13. I exercised towards you my patience, yet you have not turned unto me, saith the Lord. I smote you in your person, in your relations, in your estate, yet you have not returned unto me, saith the Lord. "Cut it down; why c.u.mbereth it the ground?"
The second sign that such a professor is almost, if not quite past grace, is when G.o.d hath GIVEN HIM OVER, or lets him alone and suffers him to do any thing, and that without control; helpeth him not either in works of holiness, or in straits and difficulties: "Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone." "Woe be to them when I depart from them." "I will laugh at their calamity; I will mock when their fear cometh."
Barren fig-tree, thou hast heretofore been digged about; G.o.d"s mattock has heretofore been at thy roots; thou hast heretofore been striven with, convinced, awakened, made to taste and see, and cry, O the blessedness! Thou hast heretofore been met with under the word; thy heart has melted, thy spirit has fallen, thy soul has trembled, and thou hast felt something of the power of the gospel. But thou hast sinned, thou hast provoked the eyes of his glory, thy iniquity is found to be hateful; and now perhaps G.o.d has left thee, given thee up, and lets thee alone.
Heretofore thou wast tender; thy conscience startled at the temptation to wickedness, for thou wert taken off from the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. 2: 20-22; but that very vomit that once thou wert turned from, now thou lappest up again,
Seest thou a man that heretofore had the knowledge of G.o.d, and that had some awe of majesty upon him; seest thou such a one sporting himself in his own deceivings, Rom. 1:30, 31, "turning the grace of G.o.d into lasciviousness, and walking after his own unG.o.dly l.u.s.ts?
His judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and his d.a.m.nation slumbereth not." 2 Pet. 2:13.
Dost thou hear, barren professor? It is astonishing to see how those who once seemed sons of the morning, and were making preparations for eternal life, now at last, for the rottenness of their hearts, by the just judgment of G.o.d are permitted, being past feeling, "to give themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." Eph. 4:18, 19. A great number of such were in the first gospel days; against whom Peter and Jude and John p.r.o.nounce the just judgment of G.o.d. 2 Pet. 2:3-8; Jude 5-8. Barren fig-tree, dost thou hear? These are beyond all mercy; these are beyond all promises; these are beyond all hopes of repentance; these have no intercessor, nor any more share in the one sacrifice for sin. For these there remains nothing but a fearful looking for of judgment.
These men go whither they will, do what they will; they may range from opinion to opinion, from notion to notion, from sect to sect, but are steadfast nowhere: they are left to their own uncertainties; they have not grace to establish their hearts; and though some of them have boasted themselves of this liberty, yet Jude calls them wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. They are left to be fugitives and vagabonds in the earth, to wander everywhere but to abide nowhere, until they shall descend to their own place, with Cain and Judas, men of the same fate with themselves.
Look thou certainly, fruitless professor, for an eternal disappointment in the day of G.o.d; for it must be; thy lamp will he out at the first sound the trump of G.o.d shall make in thine ears; thou canst not hold up at the appearance of the Son of G.o.d in his glory; his very looks will he to thy profession as a strong wind is to a blinking candle, and thou shalt he left only to smoke.
Oh, the alteration that will befall a foolish virgin. She thought she was happy, and that she should have received happiness with those that were right at the heart; but behold the contrary: her lamp is going out, she has now to seek for saving grace, when the time of grace is over; her heaven she thought of has proved a h.e.l.l, and her G.o.d has proved a devil. G.o.d hath cast her out of his presence, and closes the door upon her. She pleads her profession and the like, and she hath for her answer repulses from heaven. "So are the paths of all that forget G.o.d; and the hypocrite"s hope shall perish; whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be the spider"s web: though he lean upon his house, it shall not stand; he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure."
Take heed, therefore; thy soul, heaven, and eternity lie at stake; yea, they turn either to thee or from thee upon the hinge of thy faith, If it be right, all is thine; if wrong, then all is lost, however thy hope and expectations are to the contrary.
There are bare notions, there are common workings, and there is a work that is saving and that will do the soul good to eternity.
1. There are bare notions, and they that have them are such unto whom the gospel comes in word only, 1 Thess. 1:5; 1 Cor. 4:19, 20; such whose religion stands in word only, and is not attended with a power suitable: that is, there goes not with the word a power sufficient to subdue and work over the heart to a cordial and gracious close with thut word that comes to them. Yet such is the noise and sound of the word, that they are willing to become professors thereof; there is some kind of musicalness in it, especially when well handled and fingered by a skilful preacher.
"And lo," saith G.o.d unto such preachers, when their auditory is made up of such kind of hearers, "lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they do them not."
2. But then, besides these there is another sort, and they go further than these. For to them the word came, not in word only but also in power: though not in such a power as is sufficient, absolutely against all attempts whatsoever, to bring the soul to glory.
(1.) They attain light or illumination to see much of their state by nature. Heb. 6:4.
(2.) This light stands not in bare speculation, but lets fall upon the conscience convincing arguments to the bowing and humbling of the spirit. 1 Kings, 21: 27-29.
(3.) They submit to these convictions and reforms, and may for a time not only come out from them that live in error, but escape the pollutions of the world by the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter, 2:18-20; Gal. 3:4; 4:20.
(4.) Yea, so powerful will this dispensation be, that it will prevail with them to do and suffer many things for the vindication of the truth of that gospel which they profess. For the word will be sweet unto them; Christ, the gift of G.o.d, will be relished by them.
Heb. 6:4, 5. The powers of the world to come will be in them; some workings of the Holy Ghost will be in them; and joy, which is as oil to the wheels, will be with their souls. Luke 8:13.
Thus is it with some professors, who yet cannot be said to depart from iniquity, because the things that now are upon them abide with them but awhile: "For awhile they believe; they rejoice in the light for a season," and after that return to their old course, and are again entangled with their iniquities and overcome.
Now the causes of this declension, or falling away again unto iniquity, are many.
One is, that this work, this work of power which they have been made partakers of, has not been thorough enough upon all the powers of their souls. Their understandings, their judgments and consciences have been dealt with, but the power of G.o.d has not been upon their wills and minds and affections rightly to subdue them to the grace of the gospel.
Therefore also such persons, upon the withdrawing of those influences that at present are mighty upon them, do forthwith forget both what they had and what work it made upon them. Straightway they forget what manner of men they were. It is said of Israel, "They sang his praises; they soon forgat his word." So these; they forget.
They forget what light and what convictions they had. They forget what sorrow for sin they had. They forget what tastes of Christ and his word they had.
They forget what joy and comfort they had. They forget how fair for heaven they were. And they forget how cleansed once they were. "They have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins." 2 Pet.
1:9.
Now, forgetfulness makes things that are past as nothings; and if so, then it can lay no obligations upon the mind to engage it to delight in them; no, not in thoughts of them, as if they were remembered by us.
Forgetfulness is a very dangerous thing; it makes preaching vain, profession vain, faith vain, and all to no purpose. 1 Cor. 15:1, 2.
Such profession is but a dream; and such professors but as dreamers; all vanishes in the morning. This made Paul so caution the Corinthians that they should forget not the preaching; arid the writer to the Hebrews so earnestly call them, in their backsliding, back to the remembrance of former days, and to the recollecting what it was that then made them so willingly endure their great fight of affliction.