PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Complete Works of Thomas Manton — Volume 8
Thomas Manton · 321,683 words · 317 reading sections
Section 61
VeR. 107.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 95 think to go to heaven upon a bed of roses, hut sometimes their way is strewed with thorns, and they have fiery trials : 1 Peter iv. 12, ' Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though Bome strange thing happened unto you;' no more than you would t…
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Use 2. If we be for the present under affliction, let us bear it with patience, observing how God's ends are accomplished. It is smart and grievous now, Heb. xii. 11, but it will be salutary and healtliful ; it will yield to you righteousness, and that righteousness will yield you peace — give the peaceable fruit of ri…
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2. Consider the degree of affliction ; it is not measured out by your- selves, but measured out by a wise God ; though afflicted very much and very sore, the measure it is ordered by God, as well as the kind of it. If it were measured out by ourselves, it would be too light, it would be too gentle ; the patient must no…
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For the reasons : — 1. God is the party with whom we have to do ; whencesoever the trouble doth arise, there is his hand and his counsel in it ; therefore it is best dealing with him about it, in all afflictions, public or private : Amos iii. 6, ' Is there evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it ? ' Let men bu…
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heavy hand, they will not be nuich in calling upon God ; this is con- trary to God's injunction, who expects now with earnestness they will seek him. God reckons upon it ; he could not hear from them before, but now they will pray hard, and will make up their former negli- gence. When God sends a tempest after you, as …
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2. This is accepted by the saints with thanksgiving, and valued by them as a special answer of prayer ; they value it more than temporal deliverance itself many times ; as 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10, Paul })rays for the removal of the thorn in the flesh thrice, when God only gives him this answer, ' My grace is sufficient for t…
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104 siiiiMONS uroN rsALM cxix, [Seu. CXVII. [2.] Tlicre is quicken in^c: iu afllictions, and so it is opposed to fainting, that fainting which is occasioned by too deep a sense of present troubles, or by unbelief, or distrust of God and his promises, and the supplies of his grace. Oh! when troubles press upon us very …
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The argument only is behind, according to iliy word. David, when he begs for quickening, he is encouraged so to do by a promise. The question is, where this promise should be ? Some think it was that general promise of the law, ' If thou do these things, thou shalt live in them,' Lev. xviii. 5 ; and that from thence Da…
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2. They have their offerings. The great work of the priest was to offer sacrifice, and this is our employment, to offer sacrifices to God. What sacrifices do we offer now in the time of the gospel ? Not sin- offerings, but thank-offerings. A sin-offering can be offered but once : Heb. X. 14, ' By one offering Jesus Chr…
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5. Whatever was figured in the old sacrifices, it must be spiritually performed in the duty of prayer and praise. In those legal rites, there was an evangelical equity, or something that was moral and spiritual for us still to observe. As, first, in prayer, truth was the inward part of the sacrifice, for the mere exte…
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VeR, 108.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. Ill for his people ; for as we were maimed in Adam, not only as to graces but also as to gifts, so is our restitution by Christ, that the plaster may be as broad as the soi-e. We have necessary gifts given us by virtue of his ascension, whereby we may lay open our state and case to …
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1, They are to teach us how ready we should be to take all occa- sions of thankfulness and spiritual worship; for besides their vowed services and instituted services they had daily sacrifices and set feasts commanded by God ; they had their free-will-offerings offered to God in thankfulness for some special blessing r…
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Doct. 3. The third point, that these free-will-offerings are accepted with God. ' They shall come with rams,' speaking of the conversion of the Gentiles in terms proper to the old legal dispensation, ' and they shall come with acceptance,' Isa. Ix. 7 ; and Mai. iii. 4, ' Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem b…
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Secondly, Here is his affection to God's word, notwithstanding this condition, ' Yet do I not forget thy law.' There is a twofold remem- brance of things — notional and affective ; and so there is a twofold forgetfulness : — 1. Notional. We forget the word, when the notion of things writ- ten therein has either wholly…
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VePv, 109.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 117 of men that have no principle of tenderness to us, no restraint upon tliem, these begin to vex, molest, and trouble the Church. For the reasons why God permits it so, that his people should carry their lives in their hands. 1. God doth it to check security, to which we are ve…
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4. That they may value eternal life the more, which they would not do if they had a stable condition here in the world. After death there will be a life out of all danger, and a life that is not in our hands, but in the hands of God ; none can take that life from us which God keepeth in heaven. Now that they might look…
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his friends in this sense, hecanse that wliich wonki seem to stop his course, and to ohscnre his glory, doth advance it so much the more : Phil. i. 12, ' The things wliich happened unto me, have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.' The gospel was not ex- tinguished by Paul's imprisonment, but propagat…
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4. Persecutions from pseudo-Christians will also be hot and violent: Rev. xiv. 13, ' AVrite from henceforth, saith the Spirit, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.' Why, the dead that die in the Lord ? they were always blessed from the beginning of the world ; why such a solemn notice from heaven ? Why from hence…
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Use 3. If this should now befall you, as it hath befallen God's choicest servants, and very likely so to do for those reasons I gave, then shrink not, but resolve to endure any extremity rather than take any sinful course for your ease ; nay, l3e not dejected if it should happen : Acts xxi. 13, ' I am ready not only to…
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3. We renounced all at our first coming to Christ. Estate, credit, liberty, life, it was all laid at Christ's feet, if our hearts were really upright with him. A man must lay down self, whatever it be, else he cannot be Christ's disciple. Mat. xvi. 24 ; Luke xiv. 26. This was done in vow, in a time of peace ; therefore…
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2. To remove such objections as may hinder your courage and constancy. [1.] It is a sore temptation to keep our service, but we must stand to God's providence, to honour him by service or suffering, as he shall think good. We are to honour God in his own way, we are not to stretch conscience in the least degree to con…
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3. Of a mixed nature, both to entice by endangering, and endanger by enticing. [1.] As when they put them upon such conditions as may tempt them to folly and sin. Some think the text verified in David, at that time when he said, 1 Sam. xxvi. 19, ' They have driven me out from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, sa…
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VOL. vin. I 130 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SePv. CXX. wisdom of God for lis is greater than the wisdom of any against us. And also because of his watchful providence ; he hath a waking love and care of us night and day : Ps. cxxi. 4, ' Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neitlier skunher nor sleep.' He will be so far …
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Secondly, We come to the persons that managed the temptation, the wicked : ' The wicked have laid a snare for me.' Doct. It is the property of a wicked heart to plot and lay snares for the mischief and ruin of others, especially God's people. David saith here, ' The wicked have laid snares for me,' 1. It is a deliber…
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VeR. 110.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 133 l)ut a false religion, that hath not a Grod to depend upon, breedeth tears, and fear and pusillanimity puts men upon plots and bloody designs, as Herod, when afraid, seeketh craftily to murder Christ, Mat. ii. And as a false religion is ci-afty, so it is mischievous and cruel : …
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And as we should regard his precepts, so it shows in what regard his promises are, which are chiefly his testimony ; therefore it is said, John iii. 33, ' He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.' You give God the glory of his truth by venturing your souls upon his testimony, whereas o…
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[2.] It signifies to make it our work to get and keep up an interest in God's testimonies ; this is to take them for our heritage. Esteem is manifested by prosecution. That which is our chiefest work, that shows us what we take to be our heritage. What ! is it to grow great in the world, to shine in pomp, to flow in pl…
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138 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. CXXI. take that other expression, Eom. viii. 17, ' Heirs, co-heirs Avith Christ.' Christ as mediator, and we as members of his body, possess the same God, one father, one husband, one estate ; we dwell together, live together ; where he is we are. Besides God and heaven there is the …
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(3.) It is a most lasting and durable inheritance, as being eternal : ' I have taken thy testimonies for my licvitage fo7' ever.' You know all estates are valuable according as they last. A lease for years is better than to be tenant at will, an inheritance is better than a lease. Our inheritance lasts for ever and eve…
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SERMON CXXII TJiy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever : for tliey are the rejoicing of my heart. — Ver. 111. Use 1. It informs us what is the reason why a believer, that hatli nothing in hand, nothing to live upon, yet is not only patient, but com- fortable and joyful, as the men of the world when their …
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5. If the testimonies of the Lord be your heritage, then you will live upon them, and make them the storehouse from whence you fetch all your supplies, as righteousness, peace, comfort, and spiritual strength ; nay, all your outward maintenance. This will be comfort in straits, strength in duty, provision for your fami…
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VkVu 111.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 145 dependent, his comfort doth not hang upon the creature ; if you take away the creature, you do not take away his portion. As the pliilo- sopher could say, when all were hewailing the loss and spoil of the enemy, I carry all mine with me ; so a Christian carries all Ids trea- Kur…
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Doct. 2. The taking of God's testimonies for our lieritage breeds joy and rejoicing in the heart. Now this joy ariseth partly from the portion itself, partly from the disposition of the saints, and partly from the dispensation of God. 1. From the portion itself It is a portion that deserves to be re- joiced in, it is…
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148 SERMONS UPON I'SALM CXIX. [SeR. CXXIII. grace, and affliction, but will bear us out in life and death ; they have a joy that will make them to do and to suffer the will of the Lord. When once they have tasted the comforts of God's presence, other things will go down easy. I might ])ress you to look after this rejo…
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Doct. They that would sincerely and thoroughly obey God must have a heart inclined to his statutes. Here I shall show — 1. What is this heart inclined. 2. The necessity of it. First, What is this heart inclined. God expects the heart in all the service that we do him : Prov. xxiii. 26, ' My son, give me thy heart ;…
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3. It is not a hypocritical will ; or, as one called it, a copulative will. We would, but with such or such a condition. I would, if it did not cost me so dear ; if I were not to mortify lusts, to deny friends, interests, relations. They would come to the supper, Mat. xxii., but one had married a wife, another had a yo…
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Use 1. To press you to get this bent of heart, otherwise all your labour in religion will be in vain, every difficulty will pnt you out of the way, and make you think of a revolt from God ; till this the work of grace is not begun. God's first gift is a new heart : Ezek. xxxvi. 26, * A new heart also will I give unto y…
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(2.) In putting on the heart upon duties that are against the hair and bent of corruption. Such acts of obedience as are most troublesome and burdensome to the flesh, as are laborious, costly, dangerous. Laborious, as private worship, wrestling with God in prayer, holding the heart to meditation and self-examination ; …
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156 SERMONS UPON TSALM CXIX. [SkR. CXXIV. These are most venial in man's account, they are hut partial or half acts. What ! not a thought pass hut we must make conscience of it ? this is intolerahle. Once more, of all thoughts, vain thoughts would escape censure. A thought that hath apparent wickedness in it, a murdei…
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158 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. CXXIV. the grace of Grod into lascivloiisness ;' wresting the truth from its purpose to countenance a laziness. It is good to observe the diiFerent arguings in scripture from the same principle. To instance in this principle, our time is short, what doth a holy man argue from it ? 1 …
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[3.] The carnality and fleshliness of our thoughts: Phil. iii. 19, ' They mind earthly things.' How sweet is it to us to be thinking of v/orldly matters, how to grow great, to advance ourselves here ! This carnal mind is very natural to us. We are in our element, and do with a great deal of savour and sweetness think o…
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3. Envy. It is a sin that feeds upon the mind, 1 Sam. xviii. 9. Those songs of the women that Saul had slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands, they ran in Saul's mind, therefore he hated David. Envy is an evil disease, that dwclleth in the heart, and be- wrays itself mostly in thoughts. VeR. 113.] SERMONS UP…
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[3.] They are considerable from their kind, here are the roots of all evils. Everything that we do, every deliberate act that is done by a reasonable creature argueth some foregoing thought, every temptation is fastened upon the heart by some intervening thought. Before sin be formed, brought forth, and becomes a compl…
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164 SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. [SeR. CXXIY. pcnting, bcHevinp:, minding the work of our salvation. Yea, we have thoughts against the light of nature, filtliy, unclean thoughts, such as defile and stain the heart. Of earthly thoughts, how natural is that, in musing upon that esteem, honour, greatness that we shall have i…
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3. Inure yourselves more to holy meditation. There must be some time to wind up the plummets, and lift up our hearts to God, Ps, XXV. 1. For want of this, no wonder if men's thoughts are loose and scattered, when they are left at random, when they are never solemnly exercised in consideration of divine truth ;' ver. 99…
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[2.] The bodies of God's people and their temporal lives are exposed to a great deal of hazard and danger from evil men, who are ready to molest and trouble us, sometimes upon one pretence, and sometimes upon another. They that indeed would go to heaven, and have a serious sense of the world to come upon their hearts, …
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2. The next thing considerable in a hiding-place is capacity to I'cceive us ; and so there is in God ; we may trust him with oar souls, with our bodies, with our peace, with our goods, with our good name, with our all. Our souls, all that concerns us between this and the day of judgment, as St Paul did, 2 Tim. i. 12, '…
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2. The excellence of a shield lies in that it is hard and impene- trable. So this answers to the invincible power of God's providence, by which he can break the assaults of all enemies ; and such a shield is God to his people : Ps. cxliv. 2, ' My strength and my shield, in whom I trust.' 3. Shall I add one thing more …
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5. It directeth us how to expect this blessing, in what manner; only in the way and manner that it is promised, Zejih. iii. 3. Seek righteousness, seek meekness, it may be you shall be hid ; not abso- lutely, but as referring it to God's will. There is the keeping of the outward man, and the keeping of the inward man. …
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Use 1. Admire the goodness of God, who will be all things to his people. If we want a house, he will be our dwelling-place ; if wc want a covert, he will be our shield, our hiding-place ; whatever wo want, God will supply it. There is a notable expression : Ps. xci. 9, ' Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my ref…
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4. This trust ever succeeds well. It will be of great use to you to still and calm your thoughts, and free you from many anxious cares, and in due time it will bring deliverance according to his promise. How may we thus trust in God ? Why ! commit and submit your persons and all your conditions and affairs to his provi…
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First, In defiance of all difficulty, own God as your hiding-place and shield. David when he was driven from his palace royal, and wandered up and down for his life, and when his enemies began to say, Now there is no help for him in God, Ps. iii. 3 ; all Israel were against him. Many there be which say thus : his son d…
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[3.] The inducing consideration, my God ; he is the comfort and refuge of my soul, more than all men are to me. Friends are dear, but God should be dearer. None is ours so much as he is ; he is my God, therefore it is liim that I will please ; my God's commands I will conform myself to. All the business is to show on …
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Use 1. Information, to show us how we should make sin odious to us, both by way of caution and humiliation ; caution against the admission of sin, and humiliation because of the commission of it. 1. Caution. When thou art sinning, remember it is against thy God, who hath made thee, who hath kept thee, who hath bought …
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But yet we should avoid them so — 1. That we should not be familiar with them. Eschew all unne- cessary voluntary fellowship and familiarity : Ps. xxvi. 4, ' I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.' We are not to choose them for our companions, lest we be corrupted and deadened by thei…
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VeR. 115.] SERMONS UPON PSALM CXIX. 183 2. They will molest and disturb us in the exercise of godliness by their scoffs and persecutions ; you can never be acceptable to them if you live as you should. Why ? For you will upbraid their consciences by your lives, dart conviction and reproofs into them ; as Noah con- dem…
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7. The great judgments that follow evil company ; therefore we must not voluntarily cry up a confederacy with them : Rev. xviii. 4, * Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.' In conversing with the wicked there is a double danger — infection of sin, and…
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But to pursue this argument a little further. To give some obser- vations, then some helps against evil company. First, Some observations. 1. This concerns young ones especially, and those that are not in a radicated state of grace. Indeed, it concerns all. If you mean to keep close to God, you must divorce your hear…
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2. A sincere resolution to walk with God, to keep in with God firmly set ; for here David saith, ' Depart from me, ye evil-doers ; for I will keep the commandments of my God.' His resolution was set, there- fore he shakes them off. When Ruth's resolution was set, Naomi left oft" persuading. When Paul's company saw his …
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1. To direct us in the exercise of grace formerly received. A ship already rigged needs a pilot ; so, although God hath renewed the heart, yet there needs direction how to exercise and put forth that grace that we have received ; therefore David, Ps. cxix. 5, ' Oh, that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes ;' and…
917 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1870); OCR text from Internet Archive. OCR may contain scanning/transcription errors. Verify quotations against page images when precision matters.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.