1 Cor. Chap. iii. Ver. 21, 22, 23.
"Therefore, let no Man glory in Men. For all Things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the World, or Life, or Death, or Things present, or Things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's."
These words contain a complete and beautiful enumeration of those distinguishing privileges to which human nature is exalted, by virtue of that glorious plan of Redemption, which Jesus Christ the Son of God hath accomplished for our whole fallen race. They were occasioned by some little jealousies and envyings, which had broken out among the Corinthians, in consequence of an undue attachment to particular apostles and preachers of the gospel; some declaring themselves publickly in favour of one, and some of another; some saying they were of Paul, others of Apollos, and others of Cephas. Upon this occasion the blessed Apostle, in the true spirit of Christian Love, and free disinterested impartial Charity, reminds them of this grand and important truth, "that no man can lay any other foundation, than that is laid, even Jesus Christ;" that whatever difference there might be in the particular gifts and talents of their different preachers, yet no preference was to be given on this account, but their attention was solely to be directed to those fundamental principles, which all were labouring to inculcate, though all were not equally agreeable and captivating in their modes of communication and address. These differences were to be considered as accidental and external, and by no means sufficient to warrant any partial personal distinctions. He makes use of a variety of the most sensible and cogent arguments, to dissuade them from a conduct so illiberal and unchristian; and in order most effectually to silence such a spirit of contention, he reminds them, in my text, of the high and exalted privileges to which they themselves were called in Christ Jesus—"Therefore let no man glory in men." As if he had said:
Let none of you value yourselves upon your personal attachment to this or that favourite Apostle; let none of you boast of the superior spiritual excellencies of those particular teachers, to whom you have fondly surrendered your affections; or look upon the spiritual knowledge you have acquired, as proceeding from any powers or virtues in them, superior to those of their brethren: for let me assure you, such vain distinctions are beneath the character of those, who are themselves united to that very Source and Fountain, from whence the living streams of real knowledge, holiness, and happiness, do alone proceed: "For all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's."
What a glorious inheritance is here! the whole universe of things declared to belong to the Redeemed Race of Adam! No prophecy is of private interpretation. From the beginning to the end of the Bible, every prediction, every promise, every truth therein delivered, equally belongs to every individual of the human race: they are addressed to all without exception. What a senseless distinction then is that, which some narrow minds have adopted, and are fond of propagating, that the promises of Scripture are made to none but believers? Whereas, these promises are the very foundation of every one's faith, and the ground upon which every one's hope of Salvation rests.
No son of fallen Adam can apply for pardon upon any other ground, than that the promises of Scripture, which are founded upon the Universal and Impartial Love of God, are made to him, and every other person in the like circumstances. His faith in these promises makes a glorious change, with respect to himself; but, on the part of God, who is "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever," they were made to him before he believed, or thought any thing about them: "We love him, because he first loved us." He hath elected all mankind to salvation, in his Son Jesus Christ. An immortal inheritance is secured to all, by the Merits of this Blessed Mediator; and if any fall short of this salvation, or lose their inheritance, the blame must lie at their own door: "They would not come to Christ, that they might have life."
Should an affectionate parent, with the utmost care and anxiety, make such an ample provision for the sober and virtuous education of his children, as, if accepted and improved by them, would secure to them knowledge, esteem, and happiness in this world; would not such a parent be thought to have done all that love and tenderness could do in this respect, for the future welfare of his offspring? The provision is equally secured to all; and yet, if any thoughtless, perverse, disobedient child, should refuse to avail himself of these paternal blessings, and prefer an idle, dissolute, and abandoned life, to all the advantages which the father had taken care he should be furnished with, he might justly be told, as the Apostle tells the Corinthians—"All these things are yours." Your Father hath made you equal with the rest of his children—knowledge, esteem, and happiness, is as much in your power as in theirs; your falling short of them, therefore, is owing to nothing but your own perverse disposition—"they are yours," but you will not enjoy them.
The same might be said of a temporal inheritance equally divided among a family of children; each has an equal portion: and yet if any child should be so weak and silly, as to chuse to forego the enjoyment of his share, and prefer penury and contempt to opulence and honour, he might still be told, that the portion was his, though he was so foolish as to neglect and forsake it.
Even so, "an inheritance incorruptible, immortal, and that fadeth not away," is secured, in Christ Jesus, to every individual of our fallen race: "All things are ours," by virtue of that Heavenly nature, which we inherit from Jesus Christ the second Adam. Upon the birth, growth, and maturity of this Heavenly Nature, depends our possession of this Eternal Inheritance; and this birth, growth, and maturity again depend upon the co-operation of our wills, which are eternally and essentially free, with the Divine Will.
What I have here asserted, is fully consonant to the very letter of Scripture: "God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." But if God is willing to save all, Why are not all saved? Why do not all men come immediately to repentance?—The reason is obvious: it depends not, as some vainly assert, upon a Secret Will of God, distinct from his Revealed Will. Such an idea of the God of Truth and Love, is unscriptural, and even blasphemous—No, it depends wholly upon the co-operation of our wills, with the unchangeable Will of God. The promise is made to all; the inheritance is secured to all; but the possession and enjoyment can never come, till the will of the creature is united to the will of the Creator; till from a deep conviction of his own nothingness by nature, he freely opens his heart to the influences of Grace—and then he finds, by a blessed experience, that, "having nothing, he possesseth all things."
When a minister of Christ, therefore, addresses himself to a sinner, insensible of his fallen condition, and strongly attached to that earthly life, which he inherits from fallen Adam, he cannot use a more effectual argument, than that which the Apostle in my text presses upon the divided and contentious Corinthians—For so far as these jealousies and disputes prevailed among them, they were doubtless under the evil influences of the same corrupt nature, to which the unregenerate are in bondage.
Why, vain mortal, why, alas! art thou so strangely blind to thy best interests, so amazingly neglectful of thy real happiness? Thou fleest from the substance, and embracest a shadow; thou pursuest the vanity of time, and despisest the riches of eternity; thou preferrest the life of a beast to the life of an angel; thou art content to feed upon husks among swine, whilst in "thy Father's house there is bread enough, and to spare."—Thou art in search of a false and delusive happiness in this world, whilst, if thou wouldst but attend to and "know the things that belong to thy peace," thou wouldst soon discover, that "all things are thine." For poor, wretched, sinful, polluted as thou art in thine outward nature, thou hast, within thee, a Seed of Eternal Life, a Birth of the Triune God, a Son of the Second Adam, a Reconception of the Light and Love of God, an Angel near its birth. To this seed, this birth, this son, this reconception, this angel in thy breast, belongs the Kingdom of Heaven, the pure element of Life, and Light, and Love. Jesus Christ, thy Ever Blessed Redeemer, hath sown in thy heart, and in the hearts of all thy fellow-sinners, this Seed of his own Heavenly Nature, by means of which, he affectionately purposes to redeem thee from the bondage of corruption, and exalt thee to a glorious state of life and liberty. As he is invested with "all power both in heaven and in earth," so this offspring of his, which is within thee, will become a partaker of his Power, in proportion as it becomes a partaker of his Life and Spirit, in proportion as it increases in Heavenly Wisdom and Stature.
If thou shouldst ask, how this growth and increase is to be obtained, and how all things are thine?—I could answer thee, that as the earth-born babe could never grow and increase in bodily strength, without a perpetual supply of the light, and air, and food, which this outward world affords; so it is as really and physically true, that the Heaven-born offspring of the Second Adam, can never grow or increase in spiritual strength, without the light, and air, and food of the heavenly world, imparted by its tender and affectionate parent, Jesus Christ: and as nothing disposes the earthly infant to receive that nourishment which is suited to its nature, but the hunger of that nature, earnestly crying for a supply; so nothing can dispose the Heavenly babe within, to receive the precious influences of Divine Life and Grace, which alone can satisfy its nature, but an hunger and earnest desire of this Heavenly Food; or, in other words, the spirit of the will turning to Christ, loathing all other nourishment, and desiring only to be fed with his Bread of Eternal Life.
Thus fed, supported, and strengthened, by a Vital Union with thine adorable Redeemer, thou standest not in thine own strength, but in his; not in thine own righteousness, but the Righteousness of Christ within thee; not in thine outward and perishing nature, but in thy inward, Angelical, and Divine Nature. In this nature, sweetly mingling with its own kindred element, thou art safe, firm and collected; all temporal objects are beneath thy feet; like Adam in his paradisiacal state, the earth, and all that is therein, is subject to thy will. Health and sickness, prosperity and adversity, storms and calms, spiritual comforts or spiritual distresses, the vicissitudes of life, the horrors of death, the vanity of time, and the riches of eternity, are all at thy command, and thou makest them all subservient to thy spiritual growth and consolation.
All these powers, virtues, and enjoyments, are thine; thine by the Free Gift of God in Christ Jesus, imparted to thee; and made thine, at the very moment the "Seed of the Woman" was inspoken into Adam's fallen nature. It is true, they are in an hidden state, and require the strongest exertion of thy will co-operating with thy Saviour, in calling them forth. They can only appear and manifest themselves, in proportion as thy will is given up to Christ, in proportion as thou diest to thine earthly nature, and its earthly desires, and becomest one Desire, one Will, one Spirit with thy Redeemer. This is not a sudden and instantaneous work: the process is slow and painful. Many a right hand must be cut off; many a right eye must be plucked out; many a favourite passion must be sacrificed, many a weary step taken, many a temptation baffled, many a victory obtained against the devil, the world, and the flesh, before "all things are thine" by actual possession.
The combat is tedious, and the victory sometimes appears doubtful. But be not discouraged at this—darkness as well as light, doubt as well as assurance, weakness as well as strength, will help thee on thy way. Thy Redeemer is perpetually watching over his own offspring; he eyes thee with ineffable compassion throughout thy whole progress, and renders all its vicissitudes subservient to thy real and eternal welfare.
Think not, that it is necessary to thy spiritual growth, that thou shouldst walk in perpetual sun-shine, beneath a clear unclouded sky. The howling winds, the beating rain, are equally necessary at times; and are as powerful and operative in spiritual, as in earthly vegetation. Through these, and worse than these, even the gloomy vale of the shadow of death, the invisible hand of an Omnipotent Redeemer shall conduct thee safe to a region of uncreated light and glory, where eternal nature, in its essential and unchangeable splendors, manifests the Beatifying Presence of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in their full and undivided Trinity of Glory.
What though pain of body, and inward anguish of soul, should assault thee; what though disease should blast the bloom of health, and convulsion rack and rend thine earthly frame; what though death, with all his grim attendants, should knock at thy door, summon thee to relinquish all thy temporal prospects, and to enter at once into the world of spirits; this single reflection, that Christ has made "all things thine," will be sufficient to support thy sinking frame; nay, more, thou wilt rejoice in thy deliverance from the captivity of the body, look forward with transport into the Paradise to which thou art hastening, nor "cast one longing lingering look behind."
Such an address as this, from a minister of Christ, to a poor thoughtless sinner, I cannot but think, by the blessing of God, would have a more sure and certain effect upon his hardened heart, than all the terrors of eternal damnation, thundered, as is too frequently the case, with more than brutal violence and impetuosity against him. For such a method would open two things to his mind, which are equally necessary to be revealed to him, neither of which he can attend to in his present thoughtless condition, viz. the sin and vanity of his fallen life, and the comfort, happiness, and glory of his redeemed nature—one should never be opened without the other: it would only be probing the wound, without administring the restoring balsam. This method which I have mentioned, was that which our dear Redeemer and his blessed Apostles always used; and if Christian ministers would more carefully tread in their footsteps, they might be sure of greater success: not perhaps in the way of extraordinary awakenings, violent convictions, and instantaneous joys; but in the still, calm, and soothing ways of the Gospel of Peace and Love.
We should never tell the sinner, that he is by nature under the bondage of the devil, the world, and the flesh, without acquainting him, that he has in him an High and Heavenly Nature, to which he would do well to attend, as to a Light shining in the midst of his darkness: When we point out the destructive consequences of sin, we should enlarge at the same time upon the delights of holiness, and the exalted privileges of those that follow it. Thus we should imitate the Apostle in my text, who, upon giving this advice to his Corinthian brethren, "Let no man glory in men," immediately adds this high and encouraging motive to their practice of it, "For all things are yours."