By THOMAS BOSTON.
IV.
(Continued from p. 310.)
Thus thou seest, O my soul, how that carnal wisdom, notwithstanding it speaks fair and with a good deal of seeming reason, is quite contrary to the wisdom that is from above. It promiseth fair, but its promises are not always performed; it threatens sore, but neither do its threatenings always come to pass; it makes molehills mountains, and mountains molehills: therefore reject the wisdom of the world, for it is foolishness with God. Carnal policy would make thee fear him that can but kill the body, yea, that cannot do so much now, and to cast off the true fear of God. O my soul, remember that word, and make use of it for strengthening thee. Prov. xxix. 25, The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Never go to seek temporal profit by putting thy soul in hazard; but wait thou on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land, Psalm xxxvii. 34; for His way is the safest way, however carnal wisdom may speak otherwise of it, and may account the following of it mere folly; but remember thou that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, 1 Cor. i. 25.
Fifthly, It supposes that we must not make men our rule, to follow them any farther than they follow Christ. Be ye followers of me, says the apostle, as I am of Christ, 1 Cor. xi. 1. Wherein they follow Christ I may follow them, but in nothing else. All men are fallible; the greatest of men have had their own spots. Luther’s opinion of Christ’s corporal presence in the sacrament, affords a notable instance of this. Therefore, O my soul, let not man’s authority prevail with thee to go off the road at all. If Christ Himself tell thee not, O my soul, where He feedeth, thou mayest be left to turn aside to the flocks of His companions. Have a care of putting the servants of the Lord in His own room; but follow thou Him.
II. Wherein is Christ to be followed? What are those things in Him that I must imitate Him in? What was the copy that He did cast, which I must write after, in order to my being a fisher of men? What He did by Divine power is inimitable; I am not called to follow him in converting sinners by my own power; to work miracles for the confirmation of the doctrine that I preach, &c. But there are some things wherein He is imitable, and must be followed by preachers, if they would expect to be made fishers of men.
First, Christ took not on Him the work of preaching the gospel without a call, Is. lxi. 1—”For,” says He, “the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” In this He must be followed by those that would be catchers of men. He was sent by the Father to preach the gospel; He went not to the work without his Father’s commission. Men must have a call to this work, Heb. v. 4. They that run unsent, that take on the work without a call from God, cannot expect to do good to a people, Rom. x. 14. Jer. xxiii.—I sent them not, therefore they shall not profit this people. Tell me then, O my soul, whether thou hast thus followed Christ or not? Hadst thou a call from God to this work of the preaching of the gospel? Or hast thou run unsent?
In answer to this, I must consider that there is a twofold call—an extraordinary and an ordinary call. The first of these I was not to seek, nor may I pretend to it. The question then is, Whether I had an ordinary call from God, or not, to preach the gospel? There are these four things in an ordinary call, which do make it up,—1. Knowledge of the doctrine of the Christian religion above that of ordinary professors, 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. This I endeavoured to get by study and prayer unto the Lord, and did attain to it in some measure, though far below the pitch that I would be at. My knowledge was lawfully tried by the
Church, and they were satisfied. 2. Aptness* to teach, some dexterity of communicating unto others that knowledge, 1 Tim. iii. 2; 2 Tim. ii. 2. This was also tried by the Church, and they were satisfied. This hath been acknowledged by others whom I have taught; and God has given me some measure of it, however small. 3. A will some-way ready to take on the work of preaching the gospel, 1 Pet. v. 2. This I had, for any thing I know, since ever the Lord dealt with my soul, unless it was in a time of distress. And though I did a long time sit the call of the Church, in not entering on trials, when they would have had me, yet this was not for want of will, but ability for the work, and want of clearness for entering on such a great work at that time. I had, notwithstanding, some desire to that work, which desire my conscience bears me witness, did not arise from the desire of worldly gain; for I would have desired that then, and would go on in the work now, though there were no such thing to be had by it, yea, through grace, though I should meet with trouble for it. Neither was it the love of vainglory, Lord, thou knowest, but that I might be capable to do something for God. I remember, that when I was a boy at school, I desired to be a preacher of the gospel, because of all men ministers were most taken up about spiritual things. This my desire to the work did then run upon. 4. The call of the Church, which I had without any motion from myself, not only to enter on trials, but, being approved, to preach the gospel as a probationer for the ministry, which does say, that what I have done in this work I have not done without a call from God in an ordinary way, and that I have not run unsent. Blessed be the Lord, that made my darkness as noon-day.
(To be continued.)
“Only he can claim to be evangelical who with full consciousness rests entirely and directly on God and on God alone for his salvation.”—Professor Warfield.
*That is, ability.