Lastly.—May not the pitcher, lamp, and trumpet, be an emblem of God’s saints, the teachings of the Spirit, and the happy consequence of the same?—The earthen pitcher may be figurative of our bodies—although, through grace, they are the temples of the Holy-Ghost, yet they are of the earth, earthy: the body is called an earthly house, because it is from the earth, is supported by earthly things, has its present abode on the earth, and will quickly return to it—the first man was of the earth, earthy—so are all his descendents—this shews how frail we are, and how little reason to be proud of ourselves, seeing we came from the dust, and must return to it. Man was formed out of the earth—“The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground;”—the word there used signifies Red earth.—Josephus says, that the first man was called Adam, which in the Hebrew tongue signifies Red; because he was made out of Red earth—for such, he says, is the true and virgin earth. Man, in consequence of the Fall, was doomed to return to it again—his sin and fall had such an awful influence, as to make himself and posterity sensual, earthly, and devilish—to mind, affect, and cleave to earthly things—this is bearing the image of the earthy. But it hath pleased God our Saviour to confer an honor upon our nature, by taking it into personal union with his Godhead; and his mysterious assumption of human nature is, indeed, the wonder of heaven. Here was heaven and earth joined together—God and Man—but how this was done we cannot form any idea; even Solomon, with all the wisdom God gave him, declares of Four things, they were too wonderful for him; and this subject was one of them, “The way of a man with a maid;” or, as Mr. Romaine says, it is in the original, “The way of the Almighty in the virgin, when he took part of the children’s flesh and blood.” By earth is meant the people of God, as creatures; hence the promise, “He shall smite earth with his rod:” this is done when the word comes home with power to the heart.—Again, “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord—Give ear, O heavens, hear, O earth the words of my mouth—I will hear the heavens; they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, the wine, and the oil;”—which is a gracious promise of assurance, taken in these threes declarations, “Yea I have loved thee, I have redeemed thee, I have called thee.” The idea of these bodies being so brittle, makes Infidels, Pharisees, and Hypocrites tremble—but the believer rejoices in the sweet thought, that this house cannot last very long, that it will soon be dissolved or taken down by death; then he will bid a lasting adieu to sin, his greatest grief. What a contrast between the child of God and the man of the world!—while the latter mournfully exclaims on his dying bed, with a wretched old Cardinal, “Farewell, a long farewell to all my greatness!” the believer can look on this world, and say, Farewell, a long farewell to all my littleness.—But this earthen pitcher, these bodies, are the vessels of mercy, afore prepared unto glory, and ordained for it. These earthen pitchers were redeemed from actual as well as original guilt, by our Redeemer, our kinsman. These vessels, although broke to pieces by death, will be raised glorious bodies, fit to hold all the glory our God has in reversion for it—when they will be formed like the glorious body of Jesus—from the loins upward, to the loins downward, of the colour of amber, and be for ever with the Lord. The body will be now for the Lord, and the Lord for the body—the Apostle calls them the temples of the Holy-Ghost, because he has taken possession of their souls—by his gracious inhabitation he has made them new creatures, a new creation, a new, a hidden man of the heart. This was shadowed forth by the light, or lamp in the pitcher. God is light; and this new man is the seed, or child of light: this was not formed by piece-meal, but done at once. When God comes to his temple his train is sure to fill it—his train of divine excellencies—so that when the Spirit takes the sinner’s heart, he brings all his graces with him; and these are called light, marvellous light—Christ formed in the heart the hope of glory, and the salvation of the soul in the pardon of sin, is called a lamp; this is the lamp the wise virgins took, while the foolish ones took the Law—the one went out in obscure darkness, and left them under the curse! while the other shone brighter to perfect day.—The word of God is compared to light—this makes us wise to salvation, as it opens to us what we, as poor sinners want—the knowledge of God reconciled and well pleased with us in Christ—Thus “the entrance of thy word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple.” The light of God’s countenance upon the soul is a precious lamp in this pitcher, which is nothing more than the Spirit of God operating as a Comforter, and sweetly assuring the heart of its pardon; while peace is enjoyed, and we can look God in the face with pleasure, and say, My Father!—May not the trumpet be a figure of the testimony that all the saints bear to the freeness of divine grace—to the sovereignty, power and faithfulness of a covenant God, in a gracious experience of these things, “Come hither, all ye that fear God, I will tell you what he hath done for my soul.”—This is proclaiming the glory of God—they shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness; they shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power. Thus when we are called out of darkness, and experience the light of the Son of God—we plead our master’s cause—when we are helped to walk consistently with our holy profession, this is the trumpet we sound—God is faithful—By grace are we saved—He hath, from the beginning, chosen us to salvation—We are bought with a price—He hath remembered us when in our low estate—He brought me out of the horrible pit. We likewise give invitations to others—they took knowledge of the men, that they had been with Jesus—“Come, see a man that told me all that ever I did.” If we meet with a soul in trouble, we sound the trumpet, as those did, of old, to the blind man—“And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort; rise! he calleth thee.” We relate what great things he has done to us; and like the Gadarene, “Go, and proclaim how Jesus met with us—cast out the Devil—clothed us and made us wise.” Here Jesus gets the glory of our salvation; so by a close adherence to his Gospel, we bear our testimony against a form of godliness without the power.—Nor can we be easy without letting others know what state they are in that are cleaving to the Law. We must be faithful if we fall into company with the enemies of Jesus, the Deist, the Arian, the Socinian, or any other characters that oppose his Person and Work. We must openly profess his name and salvation—and having a gracious experience of the truth, we are not easy moved by those adversaries, who are ripening themselves for damnation, by opposing the dear Redeemer—this is the case with some thousands this day in Great Britain. What a mercy to have the truth in the heart; for though a child of God may not be able to answer all the sophisticated arguments of the Arian or Socinian, yet he has got the truth in his soul, which none can dispute him out of; and it is for want of this that many, who have for a time appeared to run well, have got into company with such characters, who first stumbled at the Gospel, then fell into the ditch, from whence they very seldom come out.—Here we must sound the trumpet, and tell all such that if they die in that state, where God is they never can come.—What a mercy to have the light of life—to be taught of God—to know the plague of the heart—the vanity of the world—the weakness of our own arm—the value of the atonement—to be built up and established in our souls—and to long for the glorious appearing of the great God our Saviour. Whatsoever maketh manifest is light—God is the Lord, who hath shewed us the light. This is not mere head knowledge; but what is written in the Scriptures of truth is written in our hearts, by the Spirit—“I will put my law in their hearts—they shall all know me, from the least to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins will I remember no more.” A light to see this truth in the Bible, and the Spirit bearing witness to our souls that this is our privilege and blessing, is an unspeakable mercy; ’tis this disarms death of its sting—’tis this smooths the rugged path of life—sweetens every sorrow—lightens every burthen, and gives a rest to the soul—makes our faces to shine, and comforts the soul in every tribulation—’tis this makes a sick bed easy, and bows the will to God’s—removes the fears of death, and gives an easy passage to glory. Oh, its a blessed thing to have true light to see the Person and Work of Jesus, as our atoning sacrifice, and end of the Law for righteousness: this fills the soul with joy—this inspires the mind with a song of praise through life, and in a dying hour will swell louder, Salvation to God and the Lamb.
But there is one part of this history must not be overlooked—the pitchers were broken before the light could well be seen, or any victory gained. Every man, by nature, is represented as whole; but when the Holy Spirit operates upon the soul, it is broken to pieces, that the light may appear. The language and complaint of Job, is doubtless the experience of every one taught of God—“I was at ease, but he hath taken me by the neck, shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark;” and surely if the Prodigal Son had never been broken in pieces, by a sense of want, he would not have longed for his father’s house.—By the light the Israelites got the victory; and it is only by the light of the Spirit we get a victory over the blindness of our hearts—by a discovery of the obedience of Jesus, we get the victory over the Law—the Spirit demonstrating to our hearts, that by him, all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses.—By a discovery of the sufferings and death of Jesus, we overcome all our guilt, original and actual—while faith receives the atonement, and hears the glad tidings, “I, even I, am he that blotteth out all thy transgression.” This received, embraced, and relied upon, will overcome all guilt, depravity, and misery—“They overcame by the blood of the Lamb;”—this is a receipt in full of all demands; so that whatever the Law or conscience says, our advocate steps in, and shews his hands and his side—this is enough for us.—By this same light we see in God’s word, the wonderous plan of salvation—the stability of the covenant—the eternity of God’s love—the Person of Jesus, as our representative in heaven for us—with many precious promises, and God’s faithfulness to them. This brings comfort into the mind, overcomes our fear, and bears us up in trouble. When Satan is permitted to harrass the mind, by insinuating the probability of our fall into awful errors, we can answer, it is written, “He shall guide into all truth.” Thus we overcome by the word of our testimony.—But as it was necessary the pitchers should be broken, that the light appear, and our Lord Jesus is called the breaker—so, by his Spirit’s gracious teaching we are broke off from the world—“Come out from among them.”—We are broke from a form of Godliness—from false views of God, and often from the esteem of the world—from trusting in the Law—from our own righteousness—and from carnal professors, who have only a name to live, while they are dead! So we are broke in pieces with a sense of guilt, with groaning under the wrath of God, the fears of death, the curse of the Law, and the bondage we feel. God approves of this, as the effect of the work of his own Spirit—“a broken and a contrite heart, O God thou wilt not despise;”—thou hast sore broken us in the place of Dragons.—When peace is proclaimed to the soul, and we are led to see Jesus as a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. When the matter becomes personal, and we can say, “’Twere you my sins, my cruel sins, his chief tormentors were!”—this lays the sinner low, while his heart is dissolved in tears, and love, and blood—“They shall look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn.”—When our souls are led to reflect on our sins and daily infirmities, with the long-suffering of God to us, the mercy and truth he hath shewn us, the way he hath led us, the great things he has done for us, the deliverances he has wrought, the prayers he has answered, the appearances we have had of his faithfulness and love—these things melt the heart, overcome the soul, lay us in the dust, and create the most delightful thoughts of Jesus, so that we can give him the glory due to his name.—Here the Lord overcomes all our evil with good, and fulfils this promise, “They shall loathe themselves in their own sight, for their iniquities, when I am pacified towards them, saith the Lord.”—Thus the light the Lord has given us appears in the above manner—life, faith, hope, love, repentance, godly sorrow, the fear of God, and Bible humility—these implanted in the mind by the Spirit’s gracious inhabitation, are clearly seen by us at times, and, perhaps, always by others. This light appears conspicuous in ministers and saints in general, by the various trials with which they are exercised. Whatever graces or light the Holy Ghost is pleased to communicate to us is sure to be tried—“the Lord trieth the righteous;” hence Job says, “When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Those very afflictions and trials that drive the hypocrite from his profession, make the saint shine brighter. St. Peter encourages believers under their trials, with this—“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trials which are to try you;”—remember they were all ordered in the Covenant, in number, weight, and measure; and while they break you off from an arm of flesh, from the world and self, they try your graces, and make them appear clear to yourself—thus God promises, “And thine age (or spiritual birth) shall be clearer than the noon day; thou shalt shine forth and be as the morning.” Afflictions are not to destroy but to try us, just as silver and gold are tried in the fire, lose their dross, and become purer and brighter. Faith is tried, and becomes more precious than gold which perisheth. Hope of eternal life is tried, and grows more strong and lively, sure and stedfast, amidst the greatest storms. Love to Jesus, his word, ministers, and people, is often tried—by the trial it appears that nothing can separate the saint and his beloved. Patience is tried in afflictions—humility, meekness, and every other grace. But in all times of tribulation, though the outward man, or pitcher decays, yet the inward man is renewed, day by day.—How needful the cross, to keep us humble—dependent—wean us from the world—furnish us with many petitions to God, and make us long for glory. How sweet are those lines of the excellent Watts—
Had but the prison wall been strong
And firm, without a flaw,
My soul had long in darkness dwelt,
And less of glory saw.
Reproach from the world, or church, though it breaks the heart, makes us prize a name and a place in the covenant of redemption. Persecution, for imputed righteousness’ sake, tries our profession and principles, and gives an occasion to rejoice in the honor of suffering for Christ’s sake.—A body of sin and death, called the plague of the heart, tries our hope, and helps us to prize the blood of Jesus more and more.—Pain of body—delays of answer to prayer, try our patience.—False doctrines in the world, try our love; while the devil’s fiery darts of blasphemous thoughts, often try our faith—thus as our earthen vessels break, the light appears; and we often shout victory, through the atonement and righteousness of Jesus, and by the faithfulness of God.—This light appears in the whole of their conduct, as external evidences of an internal work—in their love to, and zeal for the truth as it is in Jesus—in their unfeigned love to the brethren, as they stand manifest in each other’s consciences that they are called by grace—in their just dealings with each other, and the world at large—“the Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, O mountain of holiness.”—In their integrity, uprightness, affection, and sincerity, at home and abroad, they are to shine as lights, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.—In allegiance and obedience to the higher powers—knowing the powers that be, are ordained of God. A christian may and ought to be a good subject, under any government—“Fear God, honor the king,” is the command of the Holy-Ghost—that whereas the world speaks against you, as evil doers, they may, by your conversation which they shall behold, glorify God, in the day of visitation. The grace of God makes men good fathers, good masters, good subjects, and honest tradesmen.—Believer, take care that you show to the world and the church, what great things God has done for you, by having your conduct squared according to the precepts of the New Testament, which is to be the rule of your actions; and as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy. Thus the light appears, and you proclaim to all around, that you have been with Jesus, and learned of him. And while the Pharisees condemn you as an Antinomian in principle, shew them that your high principles are heavenly ones, by the effects produced—take the New Testament for your rule of conduct, and then fear not.—This light appears in a steady, uniform, constant attendance on all the ordinances of God’s appointment—prayer, private and public—hearing those ministers that exalt the Saviour in every sermon—a submission to the ordinance of baptism, by immersion, as soon as it appears to them right—an attention to the Lord’s supper, from a principle of love to Jesus—godly conversation with the most experimental christians. Here the light is seen: I mention these things because many of my adversaries have circulated it, far and near, that I am an Antinomian, and deny all practical religion!—When will mankind forbear lying against each other; and those who contend for the Law, keep the ninth commandment as they ought to do? “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”
Finally.—Soon will the earthen pitcher be broke by death! then the soul enlightened, will enter into perfect day—see as it is seen—know as it is known. The blessed Spirit, in the article of death, will be poured out upon the soul, to fit her for her passage. Hence he is promised, as the early and as the latter rain—a greater light comes into the soul, as it is about to depart into the regions of endless light—in the light of faith the departing soul sees the pardon of sin, the obedience of Jesus its own—sees heaven open—angels ready waiting, and whispering to the saint, The master is come, and calleth for thee! while the saint exclaims, Come, Lord Jesus! come quickly!—thus he enters into rest, while Jesus is his everlasting light, his god and glory.—I close this Sermon, in the language of Dr. Watts’ Description of a Saint’s Life and Death, under the fine emblem of a Summer’s Day and Setting Sun.
Just so the Christian, his race he begins—
He melts into tears when he mourns for his sins;
And travels his heavenly way.
But as he draws nearer to finish his race,
Like a fine setting sun, he looks richer in grace,
And gives a sure hope at the end of his days,
Of rising in brighter array.
Which may God grant to us all.—AMEN.
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