SERMON UPON JOHN XVIII. 11. 9
honour ; it is else but an empty title : Mai. i. 6, ' If I then he a father, where is mine honour ? If I l3e a master, where is my fear ? ' So for fear or childlike reverence, that we dare not offend him : Ps. ciii. 13, * As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.' His children, and those that fear him, are equivalent expres- sions : 1 Peter i. 17, ' If ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.' I illustrate by that, Jer. xxxv. 6, ' And they said, We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your sons, for ever.' So for obedience: 1 Peter i. 14, 'As -obedient chil- dren, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance ; ' Eph. v. 1, ' Be ye followers of God, as dear children.' So for delighting in communion with him : Rom. viii. 15, ' For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father ; ' Gal. iv. 6, ' And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.' This is most felt in prayer ; Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and supplications ; ' Rom. viii. 26, ' Like- wise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities ; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered ; ' Jude 20, ' But ye, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.' Here we have the nearest familiarity with God whilst we dwell in the flesh, and our souls are carried to God as light bodies move upward. This is the matter of the evidence, but the Spirit giveth a sight or sense of this ; if he be not grieved and ill-treated, but his sanctifying motions be obeyed, he sheddeth abroad the love of God in our hearts, and fiUeth us with much joy and peace.
3. If this be faithfully done, and there be no other reason to break our confidence, the bare affliction, or the greatness and grievousness of your afflictions, should not ; for these sharp afflictions are not only consistent with this relation, as the instance of Christ showeth, but also it is an act of his fatherly love and discipline. The exhortation speaketh to us as children : Heb. xii. 5-8, ' Ye have forgotten the exhortation that speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him ; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as sons ; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not ? but if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers; then are ye bastards, and not sons.' God's children must look to be chastened ; neither must our Father's hand be slighted, nor must we faint under it. It is an act of love and kindness to us, that he will not suffer us to go on in our sins. God seemeth to cast off them whom he leaveth to their own hearts' lusts : Hosea iv. 17, ' Ephraim is joined to idols ; let him alone.' But he loveth whom he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. The rod of correction will not wholly be laid aside while God's children are in the flesh. In heaven, where there are no dangers, there is no use of it any more, because then we are
10 SERMON UPON JOHN XVIII. 11.
fully and perfectly sanctified, but here you must be content to submit to the discipline of the family. Certainly you must not question his love because something falleth out contrary to your desires. God is a Father when he frowneth and when he smiletli ; he is the God of the valleys as well as of the hills and mountains ; his love doth not alter with our condition, the comfort of adoption is for such a time.
4. Because of our imperfection both in holiness and comfort, we must submit to the authority of a father, when we cannot see our interest in his special fatherly love. Alas ! most are so ill settled in the peace and comfort of the gospel, that every notable afiiiction reviveth our guilty fears ; as the Sareptan said to Elijah when her child died, ' Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son ? ' 1 Kings xvii. 18. She looked upon that sad providence as a judgment for her sins ; so it is if God awakeneth in us a spirit of bon- dage. Besides, there is none of us but may justify God, that he is not needlessly severe ; yea, some have so sinned, that though they be not Jilii irce, children of wrath, yet they are Jilii suh ira, children under wrath ; though they need no regeneration or conversion, yet they have grieved the good Spirit of God by walking inordinately, therefore their business is to submit to the authority of God, justly correcting and punishing them for sins : Micali vii. 9, ' I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him.' And by unfeigned repentance to renew their claim, and promise greater loyalty and fidelity for the future : Jer. iii. 19, ' Thou shalt call me, My father, and shalt not turn away from me.' They must get their wounds healed, make up the breach between God and them, sue out their pardon in the name of Christ, and get a renewed grant of it, and a sense of their adoption.