VyHRIST having discoursed with Nicodemus in the beginning of this chapter, about the necessity of regeneration, proceeds to shew in this following discourse, the reason and ground why re- generation and faith are so indispensably necessary, viz. because
482 THE METHOD OF GRACE. SEltM. XXXII. ;
there is no other way to set men free from the curse and condem- nation of the law. The curse of the law, like the fiery serpents in the wilderness, hath smitten every sinner with a deadly stroke and sting, for which there is no cure but Christ lifted up in the gos- pel, " as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness," ver. 14. Neither doth Christ cure any but those that, believingly, apply him to their own souls. The result and conclusion of all you have in my text ; " He that believeth in him is not condemned ; but " he that believeth not is condemned already," &c. In this clause which I have pitched upon we find these three parts ;
1. The sin threatened, viz. Unbelief.
2. The punishment inflicted, viz. Condemnation.
3. The immediate relation of the one to the other ; " he is con- " demned already.""
Fi?st, Let us take into consideration the sin which is here threat- ened, viz. unbelief; the neglecting or refusing of an exalted and offered Jesus. Unbelief is two-fold, viz. negative or positive. Ne- gative unbelief is the sin of the Heathens, who never had the gos- pel among them, nor the offers of Christ made to them ; these can- not believe on him of whom they have not heard. Positive unbe- lief is the sin of men and women under the gospel, to whom Christ is actually opened and offered by the preaching of the gospel ; but they make light of it, and neglect the great salvation : Receive not Christ into their hearts, nor consent to the severe and self-denying terms upon which he is offered. This is the sin threatened.
Second!?/, The punishment inflicted, and that is condemnation : a word of deep and dreadful signification ; appearing, in this text as the hand-writing upon the plaister of the wall unto Belteshazzar, Dan. v. 5. a word whose deep sense and emphasis are fully under- stood in hell. Condemnation is the judgment, or sentence of God, condemning a man to bear the punishment of his eternal wrath for sin ; the most terrible of all sentences.
Thirdly, The immediate relation or respect this punishment hath to that sin of unbelief. The unbeliever is condemned already, i. e. he is virtually condemned by the law of God ; his mittimus is already made for hell; he is condemned, as a sinner, by the breach of the first covenant ; but that condemnation had never been his ruin except it had been ratified by the sentence of God, condemning him, as an unbeliever, for slighting and rejecting the grace offered in the second covenant. So that the believer is al- ready virtually condemned by both, as he is a sinner, and as he is an unbeliever ; as he hath transgressed the law, and as he hath re- fused the gospel ; as he hath contracted sin the moral disease, and refused Christ the only effectual remedy. He is virtually con- demned, and will be, sententially, condemned in the judgment of the
SERM. XXXII. THE METHOD OF GRACE. 433
great day. Unbelief is his great sin, and condemnation is his great misery. Hence the observation will be this :
Doct. That all unbelievers are presently, and immediately under the just and dreadful sentence of God's condemnation. John xii. 48. " He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, " hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, 6( the same shall judge him in the last day." John iii. 36. " He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the " wrath of God abideth on him."
Three things are to be opened in the doctrinal part of this point :
1. What unbelief, or the not receiving of Jesus Christ is.
2. What condemnation, the punishment of this sin, is.
3. Why this punishment unavoidably follows that sin.
First, What the sin of unbelief, or not receiving Christ, is. By unbelief, we are not here to understand the relics or remains of that sin in the people of God, which is mixed with their im- perfect faith ; for there is some unbelief still mingled with faith, in the best of hearts : He that can say, Lord, I believe, hath cause enough to cry out with tears, help tJioic my unbelief However, this doth not bring the soul under condemnation, or into the state of wrath ; the word condemns this unbelief in them, but doth not condemn their persons for this unbelief: But the un- belief here spoken of, is the neglecting or refusing to take Christ as he is offered in the gospel, and so is exclusive of the saving act and effects of faith.
First, It is exclusive of the saving act of faith, which (as hath been already declared) is the due receiving of Christ offered in the gospel, consenting to take him upon his own terms. This, the unbeliever will by no means be persuaded to do ; he will be per- suaded to accept the promises of Christ, but not to accept the per- son of Christ : He is willing to accept Christ in part, a divided Christ, but not to accept Christ entirely, in all his offices. He will accept the righteousness of Christ in conjunction with his own righteousness ; but he will not accept the righteousness of Christ as the sole matter of his justification, exclusive of his own righteous- ness : he is willing to wear the crown of Christ, but cannot be per- suaded to bear the cross of Christ. Thus Christ and unbelievers part upon terms ; God will come down no lower, and the unbe- liever will come up no higher ; God will not alter his terms, and the unbeliever will not alter his resolution ; and so Christ is re- fused, salvation neglected, and in effect the unbeliever chuseth rather to be damned, than to comply with the severe terms of szlu
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denial, mortification, and bearing the cross of Christ. Thus it ex- cludes the saving act of faith.
Secondly, It is exclusive of the saving fruits and effects of faith. Faith produces love to God, but the unbeliever doth not truly love him ; " But I know you (saith Christ to unbelievers) that the love " of God is not in you," John v. 42. Faith purifies the heart of a believer, but the hearts of unbelievers are full of all impurity. The believer overcomes the world, the world overcomes the un- believer : Faith makes the cross of Christ sweet and easy to the believer, unbelief makes Christ, because of the cross, bitter and dis- tasteful to the unbeliever. Thus unbelief excludes both the saving act and fruits of faith, and consequently bars the soul from the saving benefits and privileges of faith, viz. justification and peace with God.
Secondly, Next let us consider the punishment of this sin, which is condemnation. Condemnation, in the general, is the sentence of a judge awarding a mulct, or penalty to be inflicted upon the guilty person. There is a twofold condemnation.
1. Respectu culpce, In respect of the fault.