JL HE aversions of men from Jesus Christ, their only remedy, is as much to be admired as lamented; one would think the news of deliverance should make the hearts of captives leap for joy, the tidings of a Saviour should transport the heart of a lost sinner. A man would think a little rhetoric might persuade the naked soul of a sinner to put on the rich robes of Christ's righ- teousness, which will cost him nothing but acceptance; or the perishing, starving sinner to accept the bread of God which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. This is the great design I have managed in this whole discourse ; the centre to which all these lines are drawn ; many arguments have been used, and many ways attempted to prevail with men to apply and put on Christ, and I am afraid, all too little. I have but laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought ; all these discourses are but the beating of the air, and few, if any, will be persuaded to come unto Christ, who is clearly opened, and freely offered in the gospel to them. For alas ! while I am reasoning, Satan is blind- ing their minds with false reasonings and contrary persuasions ; the god of this world turns away the ears, and draws away the hearts of almost the whole world from Christ ; " The god of this world " hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light " of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, " should shine unto them." Satan is a great and jealous prince, and is well aware, that so many of his subjects as shall be brought to see the misery of their condition, will never endure to abide any longer in subjection to him : it is therefore his great policy to put out their eyes, that he may secure their souls ; to darken their understandings, that he may keep his interest firm and entire in their wills and affections ; and this makes the effectual application of Christ so great a difficulty, that, on the contrary, it is just mat- ter of admiration that any soul is persuaded and prevailed with to quit the service of Satan, and come to Christ. And therefore, in Vol. II F f
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the last place, to discover the great difficulty of conversion, and shew you where it is that all our endeavours are obstructed, so that we can move the design no further, with all our labouring and striving, reasoning and persuading ; as also to mourn over and bewail the misery of christless and unregenerate souls, with whom we must part, upon the saddest terms ; I have chosen this scripture, which is of a most awakening nature, if haply the Lord, at last, may per- suade any soul to come over to Christ thereby.
These words come into the apostle's discourse, by way of prolep- sis ; he had been speaking in the former chapter, of the transcen- dent excellency of the gospel above the law, and, among other respects, he prefers it to the law in point of clearness. The law was an obscure and cloudy dispensation ; there was a vail upon the face of Moses, and the hearts of the people, that they could not see to the end of that which is abolished ; but under the gospel we all, with open face, behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord. Against this discourse, the apostle foresaw, and obviated this ob- jection ; If your gospel be so clear, what is the reason that many, who live under the ministration of it, (and they none of the mean- est, neither for wisdom nor understanding) do yet see no glory, nor excellency in it ? To this he returns in the words I have read, " If our gospel be hid, it is hid from them that are lost, whose eyes " the god of this world hath blinded," &c. q. d. It is true, mul- titudes there are, who see no glory in Christ or the gospel, but the fault is not in either ; but in the minds of them that believe not. The sun shines forth in its glory, but the blind see no glory in it ; the fault is not in the sun, but in the eye. In the words themselves we have three parts to consider :
1. A dreadful, spiritual judgment inflicted.
2. The wicked instrument by whom it is inflicted.
3. The politic manner in which he doth it.
First , We have here a very dreadful, spiritual j udgment inflict- ed upon the souls of men, viz. the hiding of the gospel from them : if our gospel be hid ; for these words, E< 6s kui e?/, are a conces- sion, that so it is; a very sad, but undeniable truth. Many are there who see no beauty in Christ, nor necessity of him ; though both are so plainly and evidently revealed in our gospel, " if our " gospel be hid." It is called our gospel, not as if St. Paul and other preachers of it, were the authors and inventors of it ; but our gospel, because we are the preachers and dispensers of it. We are put in trust with the gospel, and though we preach it, in the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power, using all plainness of speech to make men understand it, yet it is hid from many under our ministry : it is hid from their understandings, they see no glory in it; and hid from their hearts, they see no power in it. Our
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gospel, notwithstanding all our endeavours, is a hidden gospel unto some; this is the sorest, and most dreadful judgment.
Secondly, We have here an account of that wicked instrument by whom this judgment is inflicted, viz. Satan, called here (by a mimesis) the god of this world; not simply and properly, but be- cause he challenges to himself the honour of a god, rules over a vast empire, and hath multitudes of souls, even the greater part of the world, in subjection and blind obedience to his government.