SERMON XII. THE NEW MAN.

Eph. iv. 24.

That ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

In treating of these words, it shall be my first object to explain their real nature and import. St. Paul has been describing, in this chapter, the character of the unregenerate Gentiles, who “walked in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” And this description applies, with almost equal force and truth, to a considerable portion of those who have “named the name of Christ:” though they acknowledge with their lips the truth and obligation of the christian religion, they still “walk in the vanity of their minds.” As to any saving view of the truth, “the understanding is yet darkened:” and though their ignorance be removed, with respect to a revelation of the divine will, they are as far as ever from “the life of God;” though the mind is enlightened with the knowledge of the fact, the blindness of the heart remains.

The Apostle proceeds to say of his Ephesian converts, “but ye have not so learned Christ”—“if so be, that ye have heard Him” (or rather, as the phrase may properly imply, forasmuch as ye have heard Him) “and have been taught by Him as the truth is in Jesus.” And what had they heard, as necessary to their salvation by His name, and what is the truth they had been taught?—“that ye put off, concerning the former conversation (the former life and conduct), the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts” (the worldly principles and the sinful habits above described, to which you were addicted before your conversion); and “be renewed (or made new) in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness;” the change thus produced being so great and important as to be compared to a new creation; the inner man being totally different from what he was before. It is said, moreover, that the new man “is created after God in righteousness;” this is fully explained by the same Apostle, in his Epistle to the Colossians, where he is treating on the same subject; he there speaks of the converts being renewed “after the image of Him who created them.” [211] At the creation of Adam, God is represented as saying, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” that is, in perfect innocence and purity. Thus was Adam formed, perfectly upright and holy: by disobedience his nature was changed; he became sinful and unholy; and this change was entailed upon all his posterity. The object, therefore, of the new creation is to restore in us, as far as we are now capable of it, that image of divine righteousness, which man lost by the fall. On considering, then, the holy nature of God, we are at once made acquainted with that change, in the natural man, which the gospel teaches and requires; we are brought to perceive and acknowledge that “true holiness,” which as Christians we are bound to desire and attain.

The same truth may be said to have been substantially revealed to the servants of God under the old dispensation: there is no express mention indeed of a new creation of the individual; but the prophets every where assert, what is similar in effect, that no wicked person, without hearty repentance and an entire change of character, must expect the divine favour. To this purpose is the language of Isaiah: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do well.” [213a] The unclean and unrighteous cannot stand before God. “As I live, saith the Lord God, (by the mouth of Ezekiel) I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, house of Israel?” [213b] The prophet thereto plainly intimating, that notwithstanding all that goodness and long-suffering of the divine nature, which is expressed in a most compassionate invitation, and is confirmed even by the solemnity of an oath, yet if sinners did not “turn from their evil ways,” there was no remedy, but they must die. And the same prophet on another occasion, uses language very similar to that of the text; “I will put a new spirit within you, and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh—that they may walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and do them, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” [214a] Agreeably to this, the same people are subsequently exhorted, to “cast away from them all the transgressions whereby they had transgressed, and to make them a new heart and a new spirit.” [214b] However therefore, the New Covenant doth exceed the Old, with regard to the clearness of its manifestations, and its fuller dispensations of grace, yet are there in both of them the same consistent terms of reconciliation and salvation for rebellious man; in both are injoined the same purity of spirit, and integrity of character; this is the plain, uniform, infallible intimation of both, that “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” [214c]

That the people of old were but partially awake and alive to the great change required to be wrought in them, from sin to righteousness, from the love of evil to the love of good, from a “bondage unto the elements of the world” to the glorious liberty of the children of God, is too fully proved from the complaints of patriarchs and prophets and holy men of every determination. The sound of the gospel, thank God, has now gone forth into all lands, and brought “life and immortality to light;” it has awakened many nations, who lay fast bound in the slumbers of spiritual death; but whether it has vitally and savingly awakened a greater proportion of those, to whom the glad tidings have been revealed, is a matter of reasonable doubt. At least, if we compare what man is by nature, with what he may be and ought to be by divine grace, it must appear, from the life and conduct of the great majority in the christian world, that they have by no means attained that renovation of spirit and principle and character, which can entitle them to the appellation of new creatures.

Of how many may it be said, (and their own consciences will bear witness to the truth of the accusation,) that their thoughts are ordinarily flowing in much the same channel, their passions yielding to the same excitements, and their pursuits directed to the same end, as they would have been, had the pure doctrines and precepts of Christ never been promulgated. Vast numbers, in the visible Church of Christ, who profess some regard for religion, instead of raising their affections to the standard of the gospel, are seeking to bring down the immoveable standard of the gospel to them: and greater numbers still, of reckless men, bestow not so much as a thought upon that spiritual change, which is absolutely essential to the christian character. For what is the religion of thousands amongst us?—merely, if I may so call it, that traditionary acquaintance with divine things, which is acquired in infancy; that outward assent to evangelical truths, which was handed down to them by their forefathers; a cold respect for the shadow, without any concern for the substance: they are content to observe the forms of religion, because they have been accustomed so to do, and their neighbours do the same; and to attend to what are called the decencies of life, because they would otherwise be disreputable; to crimes and to holiness strangers perhaps alike; satisfied to do no worse, than they see the multitudes around them doing; and resting their claim to God’s favour on a few moral pretensions, or even on the absence of scandalous immorality; probably looking for exemption from the penalties of the divine law, because their transgressions have never been such, as to expose them to the scourge of the law of man.

This, however deplorable, is a true description of no inconsiderable portion of our christian land; to none of us, we may hope, is the description strictly applicable; but it is too probable, that there are many amongst us, who partake more or less of the character here delineated; who practically regard the christian religion as a system to be accommodated to their dispositions and habits and pursuits of life, and not as demanding a total alteration in their views and tempers and motives of action. Though their thoughts are directed to objects, far above those of “the heathen who know not God” and though their morality, upon the whole, be of a higher order and a purer cast, yet are their affections willingly led captive by the ensnaring vanities and engrossing interests of this lower world: heaven is the object of their settled creed, but it is not the main purpose to which their endeavours are anxiously and daily directed; in balancing between this or that pursuit, their thoughts are intent only upon providing for “the meat that perisheth,” without any enquiry or concern, how they may best provide for “that which endureth unto eternal life.” [218] And the morality, on which they so complacently rest, has frequently no connexion whatever with the christian faith; referable rather to philosophy than the gospel, to “the praise of men than the praise of God.” Hence it follows, that their moral obedience is lamentably defective; extending only to the performance of those duties, which least oppose their inclination or their temporal advantage; while even such duties are but imperfectly discharged. Their self-government is wretchedly defective; the controul of their thoughts, the mastery over their passions, the command over their tongue, are attainments which they seldom bind it upon their conscience to acquire. And though they be turned from idols to worship the living and the true God, the fruit of their service, as well as the irregularity of it, affords but too clear a proof, that they “worship him not in spirit and in truth.” However improved, in their moral character, by their acquaintance with the christian religion, they cannot possibly have imbibed its spirit; nor have arrived at that happy change of the natural man, which can be denominated by a new creation. They are working out, or rather seeking to work out, their salvation on maxims of human expediency, and in accommodation to human interests; not with “fear and trembling,” lest they should lose the inestimable prize; they are not evincing, that it is “God that worketh in them both to will and to do.” [220]

I have thus enlarged, on the presents occasion, upon the enormous deficiencies of christian character, because it is of great importance for us to understand, what is not accordant with the principles of the gospel, as well as what is: it is of vital consequence, that we should be thoroughly aware of the insufficiency of that spirit and view, of those maxims and motives of those habits and observances, which pass current for religion in the world.

We cannot put on the new man, unless we put off the old; and we cannot put off the old, unless we thoroughly understand in what it consists. The work is too commonly supposed much easier and much less comprehensive, than it really is: many vicious habits may be corrected, without any essential or fundamental alteration of character. A man may become weary of the pursuits, disgusted with the follies, worn and sated with the profligacies of life; he may find his circumstances impoverished, his reputation impaired, his worldly interest obstructed: and such considerations as these may generate a purpose of moral reform. Or the sinner may feel himself oppressed with the increasing weight of years; infirmities are coming fast upon him; and his conscience, in many a whisper of fear, tells him that something should be done, some preparation made, for the world to which he is hastening, for the account which he will speedily be called to render. The idea of dying with those depravities, to which he has clinged through life, is awful and insupportable. The more flagrant of them are accordingly corrected; and the rest, which are less startling and disquieting, are undisturbedly retained. In all this there is no change of principle, no vital alteration: the old man continues; less hideous in features and outward appearance, but the very same in reality. With this partial renovation the mind is satisfied; the conscience is becalmed; the sinner dies.

Through the “deceivableness of unrighteousness,” through the wiles of Satan and the evil propensity of our own hearts, we are always in danger of being too easily content with our spiritual condition; we look too much to the outward and visible form, and too little within; to little to the habitual principle, the constraining motive, the cast of character: and it is in this, that the difference between the old and the new man, in the christian world essentially consists. Suffer me to point out again a few of the broad lines of distinction. The old man, whatever of religion he may profess, lives principally for himself and the world; he may think of religion, and speak of it, and pray for it with the lips, but it has no dwelling place in his heart, is not the business of his life. However observable, in many respects, his moral deportment may be, his character is seldom consistent. From some evil pursuits he abstains, in others he wilfully and constantly indulges; some evil passions are kept in creditable order, others are let loose; some duties he professedly performs, and others he professedly omits. And nothing is done with a true christian motive, or christian view; nothing from a sense of absolute and uncompromising obedience to the will of God. Nor is it surprising, that there should be such deficiencies and inconsistencies in his character; he has no principle or means, by which he can possibly walk uprightly with his God. He does not “believe with the heart unto righteousness;” he does not seek, nor desire, to “live in the spirit and walk in the spirit;” there is no life in his devotion, no sincerity in his prayer: he “asks not faithfully” for repentance and holiness, and they cannot be “effectually received.” He is not disposed to bring his understanding and heart into subjection to the divine will. He studies not that holy word, which ministers the principle of a divine life, and the spirit of obedience to the soul. He lives for earth and not for heaven. He is too proud to be taught the humiliating doctrines of revelation; too full of himself, to bow implicitly to his Redeemer. In a word, nature is his book and not the Bible; the world is his teacher and not the Spirit of God; earthly and not spiritual subjects are the delight of his heart; he walks not “by faith, but by sight.”

The new man is the reverse of all this; he humbles himself, as a sinner, at the foot of the cross, under a deep sense of his own guilt and the divine mercy; desirous only to be reconciled and saved; he constantly studies the mysteries God’s word, with a submissive understanding and an obedient heart; he rests his only hope on the merit of a Redeemer, whose promises and whose law he receives with all his mind and soul and strength; he prays “without ceasing” for the Holy Spirit, is directed by His teaching, supported by His power, and comforted by His heavenly illumination. Doubtless he must live in the world, and by the world, as well as other people; but he does not live for the world; his heart is not there, his delight is not there; he is a redeemed pilgrim, journeying in a far country, returning to his Father’s house; and his heart is musing on the “many mansions” there, and full of the inspiring influential hope, that one of them is prepared for him.

Such holy principles are continually manifested by a determination of purpose, a decisiveness of character, a devoted spirit of uniform obedience to the revealed will of God. As the conscience bears witness, so does the life: “the tree is known by its fruit;” all evil affections are resolutely mortified, all sinful pleasures and pursuits utterly abandoned. The sincere Christian, the new man, has an earnest desire and care upon his soul, to be “righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” [226a] For this blessing he daily prays; in this work he daily advances: “loving the Lord God with all his heart,” and “loving his neighbour as himself,” he is of all men the most inclined, as he is assuredly the most bound, to “live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world.” [226b]

These remarks suggest the necessity of further admonition on this head. Many persons have been led to entertain enthusiastic notions on the subject of the new man, the new creation, the new birth. They have supposed it principally to consist in certain inward experiences or feelings, which they have been enabled to trace to some particular event or period: the Holy Spirit, as they believe, then beginning, for the first time, to work upon their understandings and hearts; and thus leaving an indelible impression, the seal of their redemption, the earnest of their certain acceptance with God. Far are we from denying, that such sudden conversions may and do take place: still farther from denying that, whether sudden or gradual, a change from the old to the new man is attributable to the aid of a divine energy and power. It is, properly speaking, a new creation; the imparting of a new nature: and cannot be effected without the hand of the original Creator: without the operation of that Spirit, which “moved upon the face of the waters,” which “breathed into the nostrils the breath of life, so that man became a living soul.” [227a] Our Liturgy has correctly and fully embodied the testimony of scripture, on this as on other points: we are taught to pray, that God will “create in us new and contrite hearts.” This blessing must proceed from that Holy Spirit, who still in His ordinary dispensations, as formerly in His miraculous gifts, “divides unto every man severally as He will;” [227b] not as it were capriciously, but according to His own infinite wisdom and goodness, as He judges expedient to the case of each individual. But this divine grace is not communicated for the mere purpose of producing a glowing affection, a familiar experience, an enraptured view of spiritual things: nor can any inward feelings alone prove that such grace has been administered at all: the proof must be manifested, in the way pointed out by the text: the new man “is created, after God, in righteousness and true holiness.” A holy character and a righteous life are the proper and indispensable evidences of such a change; a faithful walking with God, a sober self-government, an upright dealing with all mankind.

I counsel you, my brethren, in the language of truth and the spirit of affection, to be content with no other evidence: equally far be you removed from that carnal profession of the gospel, which despises or neglects the mighty change required of every sincere believer; and from those fanciful notions of spiritual experience, which leave the heart and the character arrayed in the spotted garment of sin: both in the one case and the other, you will be “grieving the spirit,” and “quenching the spirit.” In your principles and life, as well as in your views and affections and desires, “let old things pass away, and all things become new;” [229a] “put off the old man with the deceitful lusts,” and thus let the new man be put on. “Abhor that which is evil: cleave to that which is good.” [229b] This is the method ordained of God, by which we are to “work out our salvation;” this our plain, this our necessary duty. Pray we fervently, strive we diligently, that we may be thus effectually turned from sin to holiness, “from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God.” [229c]