bread; and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear; and your soul shall live ; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knewest not; and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy God, and for the holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. This is the language of invitation but divine invitation implies an obligation to accept it; otherwise, the conduct of those who made light of the gospel supper, and preferred their farms and merchandise before it, had been guiltless. The concluding verses of this passage express those things literally, which the foregoing ones described metaphorically the persons invited, and the invitation, are the same in 'both. The thirst which they are supposed to possess, does not mean a holy desire after spiritual blessings, but the natural desire of happiness which God has implanted in every bosom; and which, in wicked men, is directed not to the sure mercies of David, but to that which is not bread, or which has no solid satisfaction in it. The duty, to a compliance with which they are so pathetically urged, is, a relinquishment of every false way, and a returning to God in His name who was given for a witness, a leader, and a commander to the people; which is the same thing as repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. The encouragements held up to induce a compliance with this duty, are, the freeness, the substantiality, the durableness, the certainty, and the rich abundance of those blessings, which as many as repent and believe the gospel shall receive. The whole passage is exceedingly explicit, as to the duty of the unconverted; neither is it possible to evade the force of it by any just or fair method of interpretation. Jeremiah vi. 16. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein. The persons here addressed are, beyond all doubt, ungodly men. God himself bears witness of them, that their ears were uncircumcised, and they could not hearken; for the word of the Lord was to them a reproach, and they had no delight in it. ver. 10 Yea, so hardened were they, that they were not ashamed when they had committed abomination, and so impudent that they could not blush, ver, 15. And such, for any thing that appears, they continued; for when they were exhorted to walk in the good way, their answer was, We will not walk therein. Hence, the awful threatening which follows: Hear, O earth, behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. ver. 19. The good way, in which they were directed to walk, must have been the same as that in which the patriarchs and prophets had walked in former ages; who, we all know, lived and died in the faith of the promised Messiah. Hence, our Lord, with great propriety, applied the passage to himself.* Jeremiah directed to the old paths, and the good way, as the only medium of finding rest to the soul: Jesus said, Come unto ME, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. We see in this passage also, as in many others, in what manner God requires sinners to use the means of grace: not by a mere attendance upon them, (which, while the end is disregarded, and the means rested in instead of it, is not using, but perverting them,) but with a sincere desire to find out the good way, and to walk in it. God requires no natural impossibilities. No man is required to believe in Christ, before he has opportunity of examining the evidence attending his gospel: but he ought to search into it, like the noble Bereans, immediately, and with a pure intention of finding and following the good way; which, if he do, like * Matt. xi. 28. them he will soon be found walking in it. If we teach sinners, that a mere attendance on the means of grace is that use of them which God requires at their hands, and in which consists the whole of their duty, as to repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be found false witnesses for God, and deceivers of the souls of men. The New Testament is still more explicit than the Old. Faith in Jesus Christ, even that which is accompanied with salvation, is there constantly held up as the duty of all to whom the gospel is preached. John xii. 36. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. The persons to whom this passage was addressed, were unbelievers; such who, though Jesus had done so many miracles among them, yet believed not on him: (ver. 37.) and it appears that they continued unbelievers, for they are represented as given over to judicial blindness and hardness of heart. (ver. 40.) The light which they were exhorted to believe in, appears to be himself, as revealed in the gospel; for thus he speaks in the context, I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in me should not abide in darkness. And that the believing which Christ required of them was such, as, had it been complied with, would have issued in their salvation, is manifest, from its being added, that ye may be the children of light; an appellation never bestowed on any but true believers. John vi. 29. This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. These words contain an answer to a question. The persons who asked it were men who followed Christ for loaves, who believed not, and who, after this, walk'ed no more with him. (ver. 26. 36. 66.) Christ had been rebuking them for their mercenary principles in thus following him about, and charging them, saying, Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth ́unto everlasting life. (ver. 27.) They replied, by asking, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? which was saying, in effect,'' We have been very zealous for thee in following thee hither and thither; yet thou dost not allow that we please God: thou direçtest us to labour for that which en dureth unto everlasting life. What wouldest thou have us do; what can we do; what must we do, in order to please God? To this question our Lord answers, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent: which, if it be a proper answer, is the same as saying, This is the first and greatest of all duties; and, without it, no other duty can be acceptable. It has been said, in answer to the argument from this passage, "The words contain a declaration, that believing in Christ for salvation is necessary to the enjoyment of eternal life, and that faith in him is an act acceptable and pleasing to God; but afford no proof, that it is required of men in a state of unregeneracy. To declare to unregenerate persons the necessity of faith, in order to salvation, which is what our blessed Lord here does, falls very far short of asserting it to be their present duty." We see, by this answer, that Mr. Brine, who will be allowed to have been one of the most judicious writers on that side the question, was fully convinced of three things. First: That the persons here addressed were unregenerate sinners. Secondly: That the faith recommended is saving. Thirdly: That, when faith is called the work of God, it does not mean the work which God performs, but an act of theirs, which would be acceptable and pleasing to him. Yet we are told, that our Lord merely expresses the necessity of it, without asserting it to be their present duty. Was it not the object of their inquiry, then, What was their present duty? or, What they ought to do, in order to please God? What else can be made of it? Further: How can our Lord be supposed, in answer to their question, to tell them of an act which was necessary, acceptable, and pleasing to God, but which was not their present duty? Is such an answer worthy of him? Nay, how could their believing be an act acceptable and pleasing to God, if it were not their present duty? God is pleased with that only in us which he requires at our hands. John v. 23. The Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not * Mr. Brine's Motives to Love and Unity, &c. p. 42. him; the Father which hath sent him. That men are obliged to honour the Father by a holy, hearty love to him, and adoration of him, under every character by which he has manifested himself, will be allowed by all, except the grossest Antinomians: and, if it be the will of the Father that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father, nothing less can be required of them than a holy, hearty love to him, and adoration of him, under every character by which he has manifested himself. But such a regard to Christ necessa. rily supposes faith in him: for it is impossible to honour him, while we reject him in all or any of his offices, and neglect his great salvation. To honour an infallible teacher, is to place an implicit and unbounded confidence in all he says: to honour an advocate, is to commit our cause to him: to honour a physician, is to trust our lives in his hands and to honour a king, is to bow to his sceptre, and cheerfully obey his laws. These are characters under which Christ has manifested himself. To treat him in this manner, is to honour and to treat him otherwise, is to dishonour him. The scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, abound with exhortations to hear the word of God, to hearken to his counsel, to wait on him, to seek his favour, &c. all which imply saving faith. HEARKEN unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. HEAR instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that HEARETH me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me, wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me, love death!-How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? TURN you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.-HEAR, ye deaf, and look, ye blind, that ye may see. HEARKEN diligently unto INCLINE your ear, and come unto me: HEAR, and your soul shall live.-SEEK ye the Lord while he may be found, CALL YE UPON HIM while he is near. This is my beloved Son: HEAR him.-And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not HEAR that prophet, shall be destroyed from me. |