VeR. 37.] SERMONS UPON ACTS II. 37, 38. 257
no thought for the body.' A man's main care is to save the soul. Christ, to divert them, puts them upon that : Mat. vi. 33, ' But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.' These worldly questions perplex men's hearts ; as their trouble is, so they inquire. If they distrust God's pro- vidence, what more usual than these questions ? Once more, it is not about speculations, but practicals; not, What shall we say? but, What shall we do ? Not about events : Luke xiii. 23, ' Lord, are there few that are saved ? ' but about duty. Chrysostora observeth well, They say not, How shall we be saved ? but, ' What shall we do to be saved ? ' It is presumptuous folly to hope for the end without the means. There is somewhat to be done if we mean to be saved. Balaam said, ' Let me die the death of the righteous,' Num. xxiii. 10. At oportuit sic vixisse — We should live so. There are means leading to every end. We must not think to go to heaven with hand in bosom, and land at the haven of glory when you turn the boat to the stream. Salvation will not be had without duty. That is worth nothing that is gotten for nothing. You cannot imagine such a worthy thing will cost you no pains. There is a proportion still between the means and the end : 1 Thes. ii. 12, ' That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you to his kingdom and glory ; something that will answer the great- ness of your hopes. Many will go to heaven as far and as fast as good hopes and good wishes will carry them. They make a gentleman-like life of the profession of godliness ; their rents are brought in by their stewards, whether they sleep or wake, work or play. No ; these con- verts propound it, ' What shall we do ? ' what course shall we take to save our souls ?
But is not this a legal question, ' What shall we do ? ' as if heaven were to be had for doing ?
Some tliink this is spoken with respect to the covenant of works, the sense of which is upon our hearts naturally. It is true such a question may be put in a legal way, as the young man that came to Christ, Mat. xix. 16, 'And behold one came, and said unto him, Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life ? ' He was a rich man, but he saw his happiness lay not in riches, but in everlasting sal- vation ; he desireth that, but he would earn it, and seek his justifica- tion by works. But to inquire after the necessary means without such a presumption of merit is not legal. Christ answereth him according to his legal apprehensions : ver. 17, ' If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.' That was the best way to humble a proud pharisee, to bid him make good his pretensions to keep the whole law in all points without sin; that was to hold him to his own covenant. But now Peter answereth these according to their meaning ; they inquire after the way and means of relief : ' Repent, and be baptized for the remission of sins.' Well, then, we have found it a good and weighty question.
II. It is fitly propounded. It argueth a good and hopeful state of soul if anxiously and seriously put. We ask it in jest at other times, but convinced men are in the greatest earnest. Things now begin to be real, and seem other than formerly they did ; they think, and speak, and talk like men in another world. Sin is another thing. They were
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wont to marvel what made men keep such a stir about sin ; what harm was it to take a little forbidden pleasure ? that it was hard measure to be held so closely to duty ; but now they have other thoughts, are at a loss, ' What shall we do? ' This question seriously put argueth —
1. Their present helplessness, or a sense of their lost condition. They speak like men at a loss, and at their wit's end, finding Jesus to be the Christ, of whose death they were guilty, and so liable to God's lieavy judgment. They had cried out, ' His blood be upon us and our children.' They could not undo what they had done, and now know not what to do. They speak like men wholly void of senses ; as Eeuben, 'The child is not, and whither shall I go?' Gen. xxxvii. 30. So upon this their perplexity ariseth. Sin will put men to a nonplus, and bring men to be shiftless and helpless ; as Christ spake when he stood in our room, John xii. 37, ' Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say ? ' Job vii. 20, ' I have sinned ; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men ? ' What shall a sinner do ? In earth there is no balm for his wounds. It is as the white of an egg. If he look to heaven, there is a God to condemn him ; if to hell, there are devils to torment him. Their minds are distracted with the sense of the present evil. Now thus it should be before we can be brought home to Christ. He came to save that which was lost. You should be at such a loss that nothing should comfort you on this side Christ. Till the prodigal was brought to penury, and could no longer sustain himself by his shifts, he never thought of returning to his father ; but then he did. There are two remarkable parts in conversion — to bring a man and himself together, to biing Christ and him together. A man cometh to himself by compunction, or a sense of his misery ; but one great means to bring him to Christ is helplessness, when he can no longer shift for himself, and patch up a happiness by his own devices. Till we are at a loss, we go about like Ephraim : Jer. xxxi. 22, ' How long wilt thou go about ? ' Man is a proud creature, loath to be beholden, would be sufficient to his own happiness ; but when all his confidences are broken, then he casts himself into the arms of Christ, to be by him brought to God, when we see our utter inability to help ourselves.