THE
WORKS OF THOMAS MANTON, D.D.
VOL.
X.
THE COMPLETE WORKS
OF
THOMAS
MANTON, D.D,
VOLUME
X.
CONTAINING
SEVERAL
SERMONS UPON THE TWENTY-FIFTH CHAPTER OF ST MATTHEW;
ALSO
SERMONS UPON THE SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER OF
CONTENTS.
several sermons upon matthew xxv.
SEVERAL
SERMONS
UPON
THE
TWENTY-FIFTH CHAPTER OF ST
MATTHEW.
VOL X
SEVERAL SERMONS UPON THE TWENTY-FIFTH OF ST MATTHEW.
SERMON XVII.
And
cast ye the unprofitable servant into utter darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.—mat. XXV. 30.
in these words is
the positive part of the sentence; the master doth not only take away the
talent, but condemneth him to eternal torments. In
them take notice—(1.) Of the reason of the punishment; and
then, (2.) The punishment itself.
1.
The reason of the punishment is represented in the notion and character by
which the party sentenced is expressed,' The unprofitable servant.' The word unprofitable
is sometimes used in a larger, and sometimes in a stricter sense. In a
larger sense it is used for him that deserveth no
reward; so it is said, Luke xvii. 10, 'We are unprofitable servants.' Sometimes
more strictly and properly for the idle and the negligent, for them that do not
their duty, and make no improvement of their gifts. So it is taken here, and in
many other places; \~kai\~ \~ton\~ \~acreion\~ \~doulon\~ \~ekballete\~, 'Cast ye the unprofitable servant.'
2.
The punishment itself is represented by two notions:—
[1.] It is dismal,' Cast him into utter darkness.' [2.] It is doleful,' There
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' First, Dismal; \~eiv\~ \~to\~ \~skotov\~ \~to\~ \~exwteron\~. (2.) It is doleful; \~ekei\~ \~estai\~ \~o\~ \~klauymov\~ \~twn\~ \~odontwn\~. Sometimes hell is expressed by one of
these notions; as Mat. xiii. 42, 'He will cast the tares into a furnace of
fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth;' so Mat xxiv. 51, 'He shall
cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with hypocrites, where shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.' It is notable, that is the punishment of the
luxurious servant, that did eat and drink with the drunken, and beat his
fellow-servants; and here the unprofitable servant is threatened with the same,
though he was not riotous, but negligent Sometimes by
both together; as Mat. viii. 11,12, 'The children of
the kingdom shall be cast into utter darkness; there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth;' and Mat. xxii. 13, 'Take him away, and cast him into utter
darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' [Pg. 4]
Now,
let us first consider the punishment as it is dismal, 'Cast him into utter
darkness.' There are two terms to be explained—darkness, and utter darkness.
1.
Darkness. Heaven is set forth by light, and hell by
darkness. The inheritance of the saints is called an 'inheritance in light.'
Col. i. 12, because that is
an estate full of knowledge; for there we 'see God face to face.' 1 Cor. xiii. 12;
an estate full of joy and comfort, Ps. xvi. 11; an estate full of
brightness and glory: Dan. xii. 3, 'They shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever;' Mat xiii. 43, 'The righteous
shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of heaven.' How base soever
the children of God appear in this world, in the world to come they shall be
wonderful glorious. Now the opposite state of this is set forth by darkness; as
the fallen angels are said to be 'held in chains of darkness.' 2 Peter it 4; or
as Jude hath it, in 'chains under darkness.' Jude 6. Hell is compared to a
prison or dungeon, 1 Peter iii. 19. So Christ speaketh
of hell as the prison wherein damned spirits are held in a wretched and
comfortless estate, in a state most remote from joy and blessedness.
2. It
is called utter darkness, either because their prisons or dungeons were out of
the city, as appeareth Acts xii. 10, or because they
shall be shut from the feast or rooms of entertainment Their
feasts were usually kept by night; suppers, and not dinners; and then celebrated
with a great many lamps, and candles or torches. Now, those that were not only
shut out from those rooms of entertainment, but cast into dungeons, were left
in a comfortless condition. That it is opposite to the feast, these two places,
Mat. viii. 12, and Mat. xx. 13,
show. And here, when the good servants' enter into the master's joy,' or sit
down and feast with him, then is the naughty servant' cast into utter
darkness;' that is, shut out of the communion of the blessed spirits (who in
the place of happiness have eternal joy), and cast into the dungeon of hell.
Secondly,
Let us consider it as it is doleful,' Where shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.' Their estate shall be sad, and they shall have a bitter apprehension of
it Their apprehension is expressed by two things—their
sorrow and indignation.
1.
Their desperate tormenting sorrow, \~ekei\~ \~klauymov\~, 'weeping.' This dolour
shall arise from the inexplicable torments of body and soul.
2. Their indignation or vexation,' gnashing of teeth.' It is a token of indignation and impatience; as Acts vii.
54, 'When they heard these things, they were cut at the heart and gnashed on
him with their teeth.' I shall explain it more by and by. Two points will arise
hence:
Doct. I. That hell is a
place and state of inexpressible torments.
Doct. 2. That unprofitableness is a damning sin.
The unprofitable servant is condemned, though he did not
waste his master's goods, yet because he did not increase them. There is no
treachery laid to his charge, no riot and wasteful profusion, no opposition to
his fellow-servants, to vex or hinder them in their work. We hear nothing of this
laid to his charge; but he neglected to do that which is good. [Pg. 5]
For
the first point, that hell is a place and state of inexpressible torment, the
argument may seem harsh and ingrate, but this is part of the doctrine that we
must unfold. See the commission of the ministers of the gospel: Mark xvi. 16,
'He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.'
It is gospel preaching to warn men of damnation; we must curse, as well as
bless; and this part of doctrine hath its profit, as well as the more
comfortable.
1. To
those that are carnal, to rouse them out of their security. If men did believe
the torments of hell, they would not sin as they do. Sermons of hell may keep
many out of hell. Ne fugiamus
sermones de Gehenna, ut Gehennam fugiamus.
John startled many by pressing them 'to flee from wrath to come.' And it is
God's usual course to bring to heaven by the gates of hell
2. To
God's children; partly that they may know what they have escaped, to be the
more thankful to their Redeemer. We were all involved in this condemnation; and
it is the Lord's mercy that we are 'as brands plucked out of the burning.' Zech. iii. 2. A child of God is a firebrand of hell
quenched, Eph. ii. 3. It was the pity of our Lord Jesus to rescue us, 1 Thes. i. 10. It is a part of a
Christian's heaven to think of hell. The miseries of this life commend heaven
to us; much more the torments of hell. We know good
the better by the opposite evil; as the Israelites, when they looked back, and
saw the Egyptians tumbling in the waters, it heightened the deliverance, and
made them the more sensible of their own safety. And partly
to warn them, and quicken them to their duty. This motive alone would
beget slavish fear and compulsory obedience; but mixed with others, it doth good. We need this discipline as long as we are in the world.
We are flesh as well as spirit. Adam in innocency
needed to be threatened and told of death. Paul saith,
1 Cor. ix. 27, 'I keep under my body, and bring it
into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a castaway.' If so sanctified a man as Paul,
much more we; and Rom. viii. 13, 'If ye live after the flesh, ye shall
die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live.' It is one of the saints' motives. And partly because they that cannot
endure to hear of such discourses discover much of the guilt and security of
their own hearts. As Ahab said of Michaiah, 'He prophesieth nothing but evil,' so men say of many of the teachers
of the gospel (that yet speak with tenderness and compassion), He preacheth nothing but hell and damnation. Presumption is a
coward and a runaway; but faith meeteth its enemy in
open field: Ps. xxiii. 4, 'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, yet I will fear no evil.' It supposeth the
worst; it can encounter the greatest terrors; but a false unsound peace is a
tender thing, loath to be touched, cannot endure a few sad and sober thoughts
of the world to come, as sore eyes cannot endure the light I snail only speak
of this dreadful place and estate as it cometh under the view of this text,
leaving a more full discussion of this point to the 41st verse of this chapter.
1. That there is a hell, or everlasting torments prepared
for the wicked. It is good to prove a hated truth strongly. Now, it is so, that
there is a hell, if God, or man, or devils be competent witnesses [Pg. 6] in
the case. God hath ever told the world of it, and his witness is true. In the
Old Testament but sparingly, because the state of the world to come was
reserved as a discovery fit for the times of the gospel, 2 Tim. i. 10; yet there God speaketh,
Deut. xxxii. 22, of a 'fire kindled in his anger, that
shall burn to the lowest hell.' God's wrath is represented by fire, which is an
active instrument of destruction; and the seat and residence of it is in the
lowest hell. So Ps. xi. 6, 'Upon the wicked shall he
rain snares, fire, and brimstone.' See more, ver. 41.
2.
Let us see it described here.
First,
As a dismal state,' Cast them out into utter
darkness;' that is
(1.)
Shut them out of the feast; and (2.) Cast them into the dungeon of hell. There
they shall be deprived of all consolation and joy and happiness. As
1. Of
the sight of God, the company of the good angels and blessed spirits; to which
loss there is added the most inexplicable torments of body and soul, which is
exceeding great. And it is a dreadful thing to be deprived of the light of
God's countenance, to be banished out of his presence. The disciples wept when
Paul said, 'Ye shall see my face no more.' Acts xx.
38. What will the damned do when he shall say,' Depart, ye cursed,' as it is in
the 41st verse? Here in the loss all are equal, but not in the pain; all alike
depart from God; they all lose heaven's joys, the favourable
presence of God, and the sight of Christ, the company of the blessed, and their
abode in those happy mansions in Christ's Father's house. Hell is a deep
dungeon, where the sunshine of God's presence never cometh. God is summum bonum, the chiefest good; and in the other world, omne
bonum, all in all. All things there are
immediately from God, rewards and punishments. Better lose all things than God:
Exod. xxxiii. 15, 'If thy presence
go not with us, carry us not up hence.'
Object.
But is it any grief to the wicked to want
God, from whom they have such an extreme averseness and hatred?
Ans. They are sensible of the loss of happiness; their judgment
is changed, though not renewed. Fogs of error, atheism, and unbelief then
vanish; they are confuted by experience. There are no atheists in hell; they
know there is a God, and that all happiness consists in the full enjoyment of
him; which happiness they have lost by their own folly, as by their bitter
experience they can find, being in a place most remote from him: therefore, as
rational creatures, they cannot but be sensible of their loss; and that sense
must needs breed sadness and dejection of spirit; being they look not upon God
as lovely in himself, but as one that might be profitable to them: oculos quos occlusit
culpa, aperiet paena. It
would lessen their torments if their understandings might be taken away: they
know what it is to want God, though their hatred of him still remaineth.
2. The sight of Christ. They had a glimpse before they went
into hell, by the glory of his presence: 2 Thes. i. 9, 'They shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord.' That short experience of Christ's appearing
will remain in their minds to all eternity; it will stick by them. How are they
thrust out? Christ himself, who hath the keys of death and hell, shall bid them
go; as if he had said, I cannot endure your presence. [Pg. 7]
3. From the company of the blessed: Luke xiii. 28, 'There shall
be weeping, and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust
out.' Envy is a great part of their punishment, as well as horror: Luke
xvi. 27, 'And being in torments, he lift up his eyes, and saw
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.' It is a torment to
think that others of the same nature, interests, instruction, do enjoy what
they have forfeited.
4. From an abode in the palace of heaven: Rev. xxii. 15, 'Without
shall be dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters,
and whosoever loveth and maketh
a lie.' If the pavement of heaven is glorious, what will the place itself be?
And from this glorious place they are banished.
Secondly,
This utter darkness implieth
positively a state of woe and misery most remote from this blessedness; for as
they are shut out of the palace of heaven, so they are cast into the prison of
hell, where all as dark, without hope of ever coming out more: 2 Peter ii. 17,
'To whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.' Hell is a region upon
which the sun shall never shine. They know they shall never be reconciled to
God, nor their punishment ended or lessened: 'Their worm shall never die, their fire shall never be quenched,' Mark ix. 44. They
can never hope to be admitted into God's presence more. There are many ups and
downs in a Christian's experience. God hideth his
face sometimes, that he may show it afterwards the more gloriously. The church prayeth,
Ps. lxxx. 19, 'Turn again, and cause the light of thy
countenance to shine upon us, and we shall be saved.' But this is an
everlasting darkness. God doth, as it were, by chains hold them under everlasting
torments. It is a curse that shall never be reversed, a comfortless life that
shall never have an end. Men might lose the face of God if they were
annihilated; but the souls of men and women do not go to nothing, or die as
their bodies, but subsist in a dolesome miserable
state of darkness, and in the place of everlasting imprisonment, where the
devils and damned spirits torment one another. All here are kept safe, without
any possibility of escaping; here God holdeth them in
everlasting chains.
Now
this is just; they that rejected the light are thrust into utter darkness. They
reject the light of the gospel: John iii. 19, 'Men love darkness more than
light.' They despise the light of glory, in comparison of worldly things and
present satisfactions: Ps. cvi. 24, 'They despised
the good land.' They forsake God and their own happiness; that which is now
their sin is then their misery. They first excommunicated God, Job xxii. 17, and that for a trifle. They think his presence a
torment: Mat. viii. 20, 'What have we to do with thee? art
thou come to torment us before the time?' Rom. i. 28,
'They did not like to retain God in their knowledge.' They could not endure to
think of God, and abhorred their own thoughts of God, that they were their
burden.
Secondly,
It is a doleful place and state. Here are two notions,
the one expressing their grief and sorrow, the other their vexation and
indignation.
1. Their grief and sorrow.
In hell there is nothing but sorrow and [Pg. 8] fear, overwhelming
sorrow and despairing fear: it is a helpless and hopeless grief. Carnal men are
prejudiced against godly sorrow; but that is useful and profitable, 2 Cor. vii. 10. These sorrows would prevent those that the
damned suffer in hell. The sorrows of repentance are joys in comparison of
these sorrows; the sorrows of repentance are full of hope. God will afford
comforts to his mourners; but the sorrows of the damned are heightened by their
own desperations; it is for ever and ever. These are small, those swallow us
up; these are curing, those tormenting; here it is like pricking a vein for
health, hereafter wounds to the heart These are mixed with love: Luke vii., she
that loved much, wept much. The cup of wrath is unmixed, confounding and
overwhelming us with continual amazement These are
short, those endless.
2.
Their vexation and indignation. The grinding and the gnashing of the teeth is usually in pain or rage, in pain of body and soul. But of
that afterwards, when I come to speak of hell under the notion of everlasting
fire. Now, as it is a token and effect of rage. Now the damned are represented
as full of rage, blasphemy, and indignation against God, against the saints,
and against themselves.
[1.]
Against God; they have despised his favour, and now
feel the power of his justice and displeasure against them, and have still an
implacable hatred against him. We see in Rev. xvi. 9,
when they were 'scorched with great heat, they blasphemed the name of God,
which had power over these plagues; and repented not, to give glory to God:
they blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and sores, and
repented not of their deeds.' I know that this prophecy doth not concern the
state of the wicked in hell, but their plagues and disappointments in this
world. However the fashion and guise of the reprobate is to be observed, here
when they will not repent, so there when they cannot repent Like men distracted
and mad, they gnaw their tongues, and gnash their teeth; like mad dogs, that
bite their chains, or wild bulls in a net or toil, that roar and foam. They
will curse God that created, and sentenced them to this death; his power, by
which they are continually tormented; his wisdom, by which he governeth the world; his goodness, that to them is turned
into fury; his Son's death and blood, which hath profited so many, and they
have no benefit by it
[2.]
Against the saints. They hate them, and have an envy
at all the felicity that betideth them in this world:
P& xxxvii. 12, 'The wicked plotteth against the
just, and gnasheth at him with his teeth;.' so Ps. cxii. 10, 'The horn of the righteous shall be exalted with honour: the wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall
gnash with his teeth, and melt away.' The godly are their opposite party; then
their blessedness shall be so great that they shall envy their happiness when
they see the godly in good case, and themselves miserable. At the great day the
wicked shall see the believers' joy to the increase of their own sorrow.
[3.] Against themselves; their own hearts shall reproach
them: Hosea xiii. 9, 'Thou hast destroyed thyself.' They shall rave and vex at
their own past folly, past neglects, and past abuse of grace, and past refusal
of that happiness which others enjoy, when they find their own [Pg. 9] delights
salted with the present curse. Little comfort and satisfaction shall they have,
when they remember they came thither to avoid the tediousness of a few blessed
duties.
Use. Is to shame us that we make no more preparation to escape
this dreadful estate; or, in the language of the Holy Ghost, that we do not'
flee from wrath to come.' No motion can be earnest and speedy enough. There are
two things that are very great wonders:
1.
That any man should reject the Christian faith, so clearly promised in the
predictions of the prophets, before it was revealed, and confirmed with such a
number of miracles, when it was first set afoot, received among the nations by
so universal a consent, in the learned part of the world, notwithstanding the
meanness of the instruments employed in it; and perpetuated to us throughout so
many successions of ages, who have had experience of the truth of it. And yet
still we have cause to complain: Isa. liii. 1, 'Lord, who hath believed our report?' Some cannot outsee time and look beyond the grave: 1 Peter i. 9, 'He that lacketh these
things is blind, and cannot see afar off;' and 2 Peter iii. 3, 'There shall
come in the latter times scoffers, and mockers, walking after their own lusts.'
Many dare not question the precepts of Christianity, because of their
usefulness to human society and reasonable nature; they doubt of the
recompenses, and yet have a secret fear of them, and seek to smother it by
their incredulity and unbelief. But alas I it will not do. They scoff at others
as simple and credulous; none so credulous as the
atheist; there is a thousand to one against him: at least, if it prove true, in
what a case are they? It will do them no hurt to venture upon probabilities
until further assurance. What assurance would you have? Luke xvi. 30, 31, 'You have Moses and the prophets; if you
believe not them, neither will you be persuaded if one came from the dead.'
Will you give laws to heaven? God is not bound to make a sun for them to see
that wilfully shut their eyes; yet that way what
assurance would you have to prove this is no phantasm? Doth God need a lie to
persuade you to your duty? But
2.
The greater miracle is that any should embrace the Christian faith, and yet
live sinfully and carelessly; that they should believe as Christians, and yet
live as atheists. You cannot drive a dull ass into the fire that is kindled
before him: Prov. i. 17,
'Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird.' How can men
believe eternal torments, and yet with so much boldness and easiness run into
the sins that do deserve them? Many times not compelled by any terror, nor
asked or invited by any temptation, but of their own
accord they tempt themselves, and seek out occasions of sinning. On the other
side, can a man believe heaven, and do nothing for it? If we know that it will
not be lost labour, there is all the reason we should
not grudge at it: 1 Cor. xv. 58,
'Be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as ye know that your labour shall not be in
vain in the Lord.'
Now
there are three causes of this:—(1.) Unbelief; (2.) Inconsideration; (3.)
Want of close application.
[1.] Want of a sound belief. Most men's faith is but
pretended, as appeareth by the effects. [Pg. 10]
(1.)
By our proneness to sin. If God did govern the world by sense, and not by
faith, we should be other manner of persons than we are, in all holiness and
godliness of conversation. If we were sure and certain that for every law we
break, or for every one whom we deceive and slander, we should hold our hands
in scalding lead for half an hour, how afraid would men be to commit any
offence? Who would taste meat, if he knew there were present
death in it? yea, that it would cost him bitter
gripes and torments? How cautious are men of their diet that are prone to the stone, or gout or colick, where it
is but probable the things we take will do us any hurt? We know certainly that'
the wages of sin is death.' yet how little are we concerned at sin t
(2.)
By our backwardness to good works. Sins of omission will damn as well as sins
of commission, small as well as great. It is not said, Ye have robbed, but, Ye
have not fed, ye have not clothed; not, Ye have blasphemed, but, Ye have not
invoked the name of God; not done hurt, but done no good: 'And cast the
unprofitable servant,' &c.
(3.)
By our weakness in temptations and conflicts. We cannot deny a carnal pleasure,
yet we are told, Rom. viii. 13, 'If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.1 Nor withstand a
carnal fear, yet we are told, Mat. x. 28, 'Fear not
him that can kill the body, but fear him that can cast both body and soul into
hell.' But shrink at the least pains of duty, when we are told on the one hand,
1 Cor. xv. 58, 'That our labour
shall not be in vain in the Lord;' on the other side, Rev. xxi.
8, 'That the fearful and unbelieving shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second
death.' On the other side, that it is the most irrational thing to go to hell
to save ourselves the labour of obedience. The whole
world promised for a reward cannot induce us to enter into a fiery furnace for
half an hour. If one much desiring sleep, which is Chrysostom's
supposition, should be told that if he once nodded he should endure ten years'
torment, would he venture?
(4.)
By our carelessness in the matters of our peace. If we were in danger of death
every moment, we would not be quiet till we got a pardon. All men by nature are
children of wrath, liable to this horrible estate that hath been described to
you; but yet few run for refuge, Heb. vi. 18, 19, nor 'flee
from wrath to come,' Mat. iii. 7. Seek 'peace upon
earth.' Luke ii. 14. Labour 'to
be found of him in peace.' 2 Peter ii. 14. How can a
man be at rest, till he be secured, and can bless God for an escape?
[2.]
Want of serious consideration. The scripture calleth
for it everywhere: Ps. 1. 22, 'Consider this, ye that forget God;' and Isa. i. 3, 'My people will not consider.' Many that have faith
do not act it, and set it a-work by lively thoughts. When faith and knowledge
are asleep, it differeth little from ignorance or
oblivion, till consideration «waken it Carnal sensualists put off that they
cannot put away, Amos vi. 3. Many that know themselves
wretched creatures are not troubled at it, because they cast these things out
of their thoughts, and so they sleep; but their damnation sleepeth
not, it lieth Vatching to
take hold of them; they are not at leisure to think of eternity.
[3.] Want of close application: Rom. viii. 31, 'What shall
we then [Pg. 11] say to these things?' Job v. 27, 'Know this for thy good.'
Whether promise or threatening, we must urge and prick our hearts with it.
Self-love maketh us fancy an unreasonable indulgence
in God, and that we shall do well enough, how slightly and carelessly soever we mind religion. We do not lay the point and edge
of truths to our own hearts, and say, Heb. ii. 3, 'How shall we escape if we
neglect so great salvation?' These are the causes. Now there is no way to
remedy this but to get a sound belief of the world to come, and often to
meditate on it, and urge our own hearts with it.
Doct. 2. That unprofitableness is a damning sin.
If
there were no more, this were enough to ruin us. By unprofitableness I do not mean want of success; to the
best, gifts may be unprofitable: Isa. xlix. 4, 'I have laboured
in vain,' saith the prophet Isaiah; but want of endeavour,
omitting to do our duty. The scope of the parable is to awaken us from our
negligence and sloth, that we may not prefer a soft and easy lazy life before
the service of God, and doing good in our generation.
Now, because we think omissions are no sins, or light sins, I shall take this
occasion to show the heinousness of them; and here I shall show two things:
First,
That there are sins of omission. Sins are usually
distinguished into sins of omission and commission. A sin of commission is when
we do that which we ought not; a sin of omission, when we leave that undone
which we ought to do. But when we look more narrowly into these things, we
shall find both in every actual sin; for in that we commit anything against the
law, we omit our duty, and the omitting of our duty can hardly or never fall
out but that something is preferred before the love of God,
and that is a commission. But yet there is ground for the distinction, because
when anything is formally and directly committed against the negative precept
and prohibition, that is a sin of commission; but when we directly sin against
an affirmative precept, that is an omission. We have an instance of both in Eli
and his sons. Eli's sons defiled themselves 'with the women that assembled at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,' 1 Sam. ii. 22. Eli sinned in
that' he restrained them not,' 1 Sam. iii. 13. His was an omission, theirs a
commission.
Secondly,
That sins of omission may be great sins appeareth
1. Partly by the nature of them. There is in them the
general nature of all evil; that is, \~anomia\~, 'a transgression of a law,' 1 John
iii. 4; a disobedience and breach of a precept, and so by consequence
a contempt of God's authority. We cry out upon Pharaoh when we hear him
speaking, Exod. v. 2, 'Who is the Lord, that I should
obey his voice?' By interpretation we all say so; this language is couched in
every sin that we commit, and every duty we omit Our negligence is not simple
negligence, but downright disobedience, because it is a breach of a precept;
and the offence is the more, because our nature doth more easily close with
precepts than prohibitions. Duties enjoined are perfective, but prohibitions
are as so many yokes upon us. We take it more grievously for God to say, 'Thou shalt not covet,' than for God to say,' Thou shalt love me, fear me, and serve me:' We are contented to
do much which the law requireth, but to be limited
and barred of our delights, this is distasteful. To meet with [Pg. 12] man's
corruptions indeed, the decalogue
consists more of prohibitions than precepts; eight negatives, the fourth and
fifth commandments only positive. To be restrained is as distasteful to us as
for men in a fever to be forbidden drink; nature is more prone to sin. But to
return, there is much disobedience in a sin of omission. When Saul had not done
what God bid him to do, he telleth him, 'Rebellion is
as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry.' 1 Sam. xv. 11; implying that omission is rebellion,
and stubbornness parallel to idolatry and witchcraft.
2.
Partly by the causes of them. The general cause is corrupt nature: 'They are
all become unprofitable.' Rom. iii. 12, compared with
Ps. xiv. 3, 'They are altogether become filthy.' There is m all by nature a
proneness to evil, and a backwardness to good. Onesimus before conversion was unprofitable, good for
nothing, Philem. v. 11; but grace made a change, make
him useful in all his relations. The particular causes are—(1)
Idleness and security; they are loath to be held at work: Isa. lxiv. 7, 'None stirreth
up himself to lay hold on, thee;' 'They forget his commandments,' Jer. ii. 31, 32. (2.) Want of love
to God: Isa. xliii. 22, 'Thou hast been weary of me, O Israel ·,' and Rev. ii. 4, 'Nevertheless I have something against thee, because
thou hast left thy first love.' And (3.) Want of zeal
for God's glory: 'Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.'
3.
Partly by the effects—internal, external, eternal.
[l.] Internal; gifts and graces languish for want of employment: 1 Thes. v. 19, 'Quench not the Spirit' Thomas his omission
made way for his unbelief, John xx. 24.
[2.]
External; it bringeth on many temporal judgments. God
put by Saul from being king for an omission: 1 Sam. xv. 11, 'It repenteth me for setting up Saul to be king, for he hath
not done the thing that I commanded him;' forbearing to destroy all of Amalek. For this he put by Eli's house from the priesthood:
1 Sam. iii. 13, 'I will judge his house for ever, because his sons made
themselves vile, and he restrained them not.' Eli's omission is punished as
well as his sons' commission, yet it was not a total omission. Compare 1 Sam.
ii. 23-25, 'And he said unto them, Why do ye such
things? for I hear of your evil dealings by ail this
people; nay, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear of you; ye make the
Lord's people to transgress: if one man sin against another, the judge shall
judge him; but u a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?
Notwithstanding they hearkened not to the voice of their father.' His
admonition was grave and serious, yet it was not enough. All Israel knew their
sin before; Eli took upon him to reprove them secretly, whereas the fact was
open, and he should have put them to open shame: and then his rebukes were mild
and soft; he should have frowned upon them, punished them, but his fondness
would not permit that.
[3.] Eternal, here in the text: 'Cast the unprofitable
servant.' &c. These sins Christ will
mainly inquire after at the day of judgment; and ver. 42, 43 of this chapter,
and Mat. vii. 19, 'Every tree that [Pg. 13] bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire;' though not had or
poisonous fruit. By all these arguments it appear-eth that
sins of omission may he great sins.
Thirdly,
That some sins of omission are greater that others.
All are not alike, as the more necessary the duties, the more
faulty the omission: Heb. ii. 3, 'How shall we escape if we neglect so
great salvation?' 1 Cor. xvi.
22, 'If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha,' Not if a man hate, but if he love not, &c.
These are peccata contra remedium, as others contra officium.
By other sins we make the wound, by these we refuse the plaster. Again, if
the omission be total: Jer. x. 25, 'Call not on the
name of the Lord;' Ps. xiv. 3, 'None seeketh after
God.' Again, when seasonable duties are neglected: Mat.
xxv. 44, 'When I was an hungered ye fed me not;' 1
John iii. 17, 'He that hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother in need;' Prov.
xvii. 16, 'Why is there a price put into the hand of a fool?' And then
when it is easy, this is to stand with God for a trifle: Luke xvi. 24, Desideravit guttam, qui
non dedit micam; Amos ii. 6, 'They sold the poor for a pair of
shoes.' And when convinced of the duty: James iv. 17, 'To
him that knoweth to do good,
and doeth it not, to him it is sin.'
Fourthly,
In many cases sins of omission may be more heinous and
more damning than sins of commission. (1.) They are the ruin of most part of
the carnal world. Carnal men are often described by their omissions,' To be without
God.' Eph. iii. 12; Ps. x. 3, 4, 'The wicked through
the pride of their heart will not seek after God; God is not in all their
thoughts;' Jer. ii. 32, 'None stirreth
up himself to seek after God.' And (2.) Partly because these are most apt to harden us more. Foul
sins scourge the conscience with remorse and shame, but these bring on
insensibly slightness and hardness of heart; and therefore Christ saith,
publicans and harlots shall enter into the
Fifthly,
The first and main evil of sin was in the omission: Jer. ii. 13, 'My people have forsaken me, the fountain of
living waters;' James i. 14, 'Every
man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.' First
enticed from God, and then drawn away to sin, therefore the work of grace is to
'teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts.' Titus ii.
12. By ungodliness is meant, not denying God, but neglecting God; there our
chief mischief began; for when we do not look upon God as our chief good, then
we seek happiness in the creature.
Use 1. To show that if the
unprofitable servant be cast into hell, what will become of them that live in
open sins, that bid defiance to God? [Pg. 14]
2. To
condemn the unprofitable lives of many; they live as if they had only their
souls for salt to keep their bodies from stinking; cumber the ground, Luke
xiii. 7; do not good in their relations, are neither comfortable to the bodies
nor souls of others. Certainly how mean and low soever
you be in the world, you may be useful. Dorcas made
coats for the poor. Servants may adorn the gospel, Titus ii. 10.
3. If
sins of omission be so dangerous, we may cry out with David, Ps. xix., 'Who can understand his errors?' The children of God
offend in these kind of sins oftener than in the other
kind. They are not guilty of drunkenness or uncleanness, but of omission of
good duties, or slight performance of them. Paul complaineth, Rom. vii.
18,19, 'For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth
no good thing; for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is
good, I find not; for the good that I would, I do not.' And should not you
complain likewise? A child is not counted dutiful because he doth not wrong and
beat his father; he must also give him that reverence that is due to him. Alas!
how many duties are required of us to God and
men, the neglect of which we should humble ourselves before God for I