"Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?-Matthew
20:15.
THE householder says, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with
mine own?" and even so does the God of heaven and earth ask this question
of you this morning. "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine
own?" There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than
the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances,
in the most severe troubles, they believe that Sovereignty hath ordained
their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty
will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children of God
ought more earnestly to contend than the dominion of their Master over
all creation-the kingship of God over all the works of his own hands-the
throne of God, and his right to sit upon that throne. On the other hand,
there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have
made such a foot-ball, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine
of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere
except on his throne. They will allow him to be in his workshop to fashion
worlds and to make stars. They will allow him to be in his almonry to dispense
his alms and bestow his bounties. They will allow him to sustain the earth
and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule
the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends his throne, his
creatures then gnash their teeth; and when we proclaim an enthroned God,
and his right to do as he wills with his own, to dispose of his creatures
as he thinks well, without consulting them in the matter, then it is that
we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to
us, for God on his throne is not the God they love. They love him anywhere
better than they do when he sits with his sceptre in his hand and his crown
upon his head. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It
is God upon his throne whom we trust. It is God upon his throne of whom
we have been singing this morning; and it is God upon his throne of whom
we shall speak in this discourse. I shall dwell only, however, upon one
portion of God's Sovereignty, and that is God's Sovereignty in the distribution
of his gifts. In this respect I believe he has a right to do as he wills
with his own, and that he exercises that right.
We must assume, before we commence our discourse, one thing certain,
namely, that all blessings are gifts and that we have no claim to them
by our own merit. This I think every considerate mind will grant. And this
being admitted, we shall endeavour to show that he has a right, seeing
they are his own to do what he wills with them-to withhold them wholly
is he pleaseth-to distribute them all if he chooseth-to give to some and
not to others-to give to none or to give to all, just as seemeth good in
his sight. "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?"
We shall divide God's gifts into five classes. First, we shall have
gifts temporal; second, gifts saving; third gifts honourable; fourth, gifts
useful; and fifth, gifts comfortable. Of all these we shall say, "Is it
not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?"
I. In the first place then, we notice GIFTS TEMPORAL. It is an
indisputable fact that God hath not, in temporal matters, given to every
man alike; that he hath not distributed to all his creatures the same amount
of happiness or the same standing in creation. There is a difference. Mark
what a difference there is in men personally (for we shall consider men
chiefly); one is born like Saul, a head and shoulders taller than the rest-another
shall live all his life a Zaccheus-a man short of stature. One has a muscular
frame and a share of beauty-another is weak, and far from having anything
styled, comeliness. How many do we find whose eyes have never rejoiced
in the sunlight, whose ears have never listened to the charms of music,
and whose lips have never been moved to sounds intelligible or harmonious.
Walk through the earth and you will find men superior to yourself in vigour,
health, and fashion, and others who are your inferiors in the very same
respects. Some here are preferred far above their fellows in their outward
appearance, and some sink low in the scale and have nothing about them
that can make them glory in the flesh. Why hath God given to one man beauty
and to another none? to one all his senses, and to another but a portion?
why, in some, hath he quickened the sense of apprehension, while others
are obliged to bear about them a dull and stubborn body? We reply, let
men say what they will, but no answer can be given except this, "Even so,
Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." The old Pharisees asked, "Did
this man sin or his parents, that he was born blind?" We know that there
was neither sin in parents nor child, that he was born blind, or that others
have suffered similar distresses, but that God has done as it has pleased
him in the distribution of his earthly benefits, and thus hath said to
the world, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?"
Mark also, in the distribution of mental gifts, what a difference exists.
All men are not like Socrates; there are but few Platos; we can discover
but here and there a Bacon; we shall but every now and then converse with
a Sir Isaac Newton. Some have stupendous intellects wherewith they can
unravel secrets-fathom the depths of oceans-measure mountains-dissect the
sunbeams, and weigh the stars. Other have but shallow minds. You may educate
and educate, but can never make them great. You cannot improve what is
not there. They have not genius, and you cannot impart it. Anybody may
see that there is an inherent difference in men from their very birth.
Some, with a little education do surpass those who have been elaborately
trained. There are two boys, educated it may be in the same school, by
the same master, and they shall apply themselves to their studies with
the same diligence, but yet one shall far outstrip his fellow. Why is this?
Because God hath asserted his sovereignty over the intellect as well as
the body. God hath not made us all alike, but diversified his gifts. One
man is as eloquent as Whitfield; another stammers if he but speaks three
words of his mother tongue. What makes these various differences between
man and man? We answer, we must refer it all to the Sovereignty of God,
who does as he wills with his own.
Note, again, what are the differences of men's conditions in this world.
Mighty minds are from time to time discovered in men whose limbs are wearing
the chains of slavery, and whose backs are laid bare to the whip-they have
black skins, but are in mind vastly superior to their brutal masters. So,
too, in England; we find wise men often poor, and rich men not seldom ignorant
and vain. One comes into the world to be arrayed at once in the imperial
purple-another shall never wear aught but the humble garb of a peasant.
One has a palace to dwell in and a bed of down for his repose, while another
finds but a hard resting-place, and shall never have a more sumptuous covering
than the thatch of his own cottage. If we ask the reason for this, the
reply still is, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight."
So, in other ways you will observe in passing through life how sovereignty
displays itself. To one man God giveth a long life and uniform health,
so that he scarcely knows what it is to have day's sickness, while another
totters through the world and finds a grave at almost every step, feeling
a thousand deaths in fearing one. One man, even in extreme old age, like
Moses, has his eye undimmed; and though his hair is grey, he stands as
firmly on his feet as when a young man in his father's house. Whence, again,
we ask is the difference? And the only adequate answer is, it is the effect
of Jehovah's Sovereignty. You find, too, that some men are cut off in the
prime of their life-the very midst of their days-while others live beyond
their threescore years and ten. One departs before he has reached the first
stage of existence, and another has his life lengthened out until it becomes
quite a burden; we must, I conceive, necessarily trace the cause of all
these differences in life to the fact of God's Sovereignty. He is Rule
and King, and shall he not do as he wills with his own.
We pass from this point-but before we do so we must stop to improve
it just a moment. O thou who art gifted with a noble frame, a comely body,
boast not thyself therein, for thy gifts come from God. O glory not, for
if thou gloriest thou becomest uncomely in a moment. The flowers boast
not of their beauty; be exalted ye sons of comeliness; and O ye men of
might and intellect, remember, that all you have is bestowed by a Sovereign
Lord; he did create; he can destroy. There are not many steps between the
mightiest intellect and the helpless idiot-deep though verges on insanity.
Thy brain may at any moment, be smitten, and thou be doomed henceforth
to live a madman. Boast not thyself of all that thou knowest, for even
the little knowledge thou hast has been given thee. Therefore, I say, exalt
not thyself above measure, but use for God what God has given thee, for
it is a royal gift, and thou shouldst not lay it aside. But if the Sovereign
Lord has given thee one talent, and no more, lay it not up in a napkin,
but use it well, and then it may be that he will give thee more. Bless
God that thou hast more than others, and thank him also that he has given
thee less than others, for thou hast less to carry on thy shoulders; and
the lighter thy burden the less cause wilt thou have to groan as thou travellest
on towards the better land. Bless God then if thou possessest less than
thy fellows, and see his goodness in withholding as well as in giving.
II. So far most men probably have gone with us; but when we come
to the second point, GIFTS SAVING, there will a large number who will
go from us because they cannot receive our doctrine. When we apply this
truth regarding the Divine Sovereignty to man's salvation, then we find
men standing up to defend their poor fellow creatures whom they conceive
to be injured by God's predestination. But I never heard of men standing
up for the devil; and yet I think if any of God's creature have a right
to complain of his dealings it is the fallen angels. For their sin they
were hurled from heaven at once, and we read not that any message of mercy
was ever sent to them. Once cast out, their doom was sealed; while men
were respited, redemption sent into their world, and a large number of
them chosen to eternal life. Why not quarrel with Sovereignty in the one
case as well as the other. We say that God has elected a people out of
the human race, and his right to do this is denied. But I ask, why not
equally dispute the fact that God has chosen men and not fallen angels,
or his justice in such a choice. If salvation be a matter of right, surely
the angels had as much claim to mercy as men. Were they not seated in more
than equal dignity? Did they sin more? We think not. Adam's sin was so
wilful and complete, that we cannot suppose a greater sin than that which
he committed. Would not the angels who were thrust out of heaven have been
of greater service to their Maker if restored, than we can ever be? Had
we been the judges in this matter we might have given deliverance to angels
but not to men. Admire then, Divine Sovereignty and love, that whereas
the angels were broken into shivers, God hath raised an elect number of
the race of men to set them among princes, through the merits of Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Note again, the Divine Sovereignty, in what God chose the Israelitish
race and left the Gentiles for years in darkness. Why was Israel instructed
and saved, while Syria was left to perish in idolatry? Was the once race
purer in its origin and better in its character than the other? Did not
the Israelites take unto themselves false gods a thousand times, and provoke
the true God to anger and loathing? Why then, should they be favoured above
their fellows? Why did the sun of heaven shine upon them while all around
the nations were left in darkness, and were sinking into hell by myriads?
Why? The only answer that can be given is this, that God is a Sovereign,
and "will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he
hardeneth."
So, now, also, why is it that God hath sent his word to us while a multitude
of people are still without his word? Why do we each come up to God's tabernacle,
Sabbath after Sabbath, privileged to listen to the voice of the minister
of Jesus, while other nations have not been visited thereby? Could not
God have caused the light to shine in the darkness there as well as here?
Could not he, if he had pleased, have sent forth messengers swift as the
light to proclaim his gospel over the whole earth? He could have done it
if he would. Since we know that he has not done it, we bow in meekness,
confessing his right to do as he wills with his own.
But let me drive the doctrine home once more. Behold how God displays
his Sovereignty in this fact, that out of the same congregation, those
who hear the same minister, and listen to the same truth, the one is taken
and the other left. Why is it that one of my hearers shall sit in yonder
pew, and her sister by her side, and yet that the effect of the preaching
shall be different upon each? They have been nursed on the same knee, rocked
in the same cradle, educated under the same auspices, they hear the same
minister, with the same attention-why is it that the one shall be saved
and the other left? Far be it from us to weave any excuse for the man who
is damned: we know of none: but also, far be it from us to take glory from
God. We assert that God makes the difference-that the saved sister will
not have to thank herself but her God. There shall even be two men given
to drunkenness. Some word spoken shall pierce one of them through, but
the other shall sit unmoved, although they shall, in all respects, be equally
the same both in constitution and education. What is the reason? You will
reply, perhaps, because the one accepts and the other rejects the message
of the gospel. But must you not come back to the questions, who made the
one accept it, and who made the other reject it? I dare you to say that
the man made himself to differ. You must admit in your conscience that
it is God alone to whom this power belongs. But those who dislike this
doctrine are nevertheless up in arms against us; and they say, how can
God justly make such a difference between the members of his family? Suppose
a father should have a certain number of children, and he should give to
one all his favors, and consign the others to misery-should we not say
that he was a very unkind and cruel father? I answer, yes. But the cases
are not the same. You have not a father to death with, but a judge. You
say all men are God's children; I demand of you to prove that. I never
read it in my Bible. I dare not say, "Our father which art in heaven,"
till I am regenerated. I cannot rejoice in the fatherhood of God towards
me till I know that I am one with him, and a joint heir with Christ. I
dare not claim the fatherhood of God as an unregenerated man. It is not
father and child-for the child has a claim upon its father-but it is King
and subject; and not even so high a relation as that, for there is a claim
between subject and King. A creature-a sinful creature, can have no claim
upon God; for that would be to make salvation of works and not of grace.
If men can merit salvation, then to save them is only the payment of a
debt, and he gives them nothing more than he ought to give them. But we
assert that grace must be distinguishing if it be grace at all. O, but
some say is it not written that "He giveth to every man a measure of grace
to profit withal?" If you like to repeat that wonderful quotation so often
hurled at my head, you are very welcome, for it is no quotation from Scripture,
unless it be an Arminian edition. The only passage at all like it refers
to the spiritual gifts of the saints and the saints only. But I say, granted
your supposition, that a measure of grace is given to every man to profit
withal, yet he hath given to some a measure of particular grace to make
that profit. For what do you mean by grace, which I put out, to profit?
I can understand a man's improvement in the use of grace, but grace improved
and made use of by the power of man I cannot comprehend. Grace is not a
thing which I use; grace is something which uses me. But people talk of
grace sometimes as if it was something they could use, and not as influence
having power over them. Grace is something not which I improve, but which
improves, employs me, works on me; and let people talk as they will about
universal grace, it is all nonsense, there is no such thing, nor can there
be. They may talk correctly of universal blessings, because we see that
the natural gifts of God are scattered everywhere, more or less, and men
may receive or reject them. It is not so, however, with grace. Men cannot
take the grace of God and employ it in turning themselves from darkness
to light. The light does not come to the darkness and say, use me; but
the light comes and drives the darkness away. Life does not come to the
dead man and say, use me, and be restored to life; but it comes with a
power of its own and restores to life. The spiritual influence does not
come to the dry bones and say, use this power and clothe yourselves with
flesh; but it comes and clothes them with flesh, and the work is done.
Grace is a thing which comes and exercises an influence on us.
"The sovereign will of God alone
Creates us heirs of grace;
Born in the image of his Son,
A new-created race."
And we say to all of you who gnash your teeth at this doctrine, whether
you know it or not, you have a vast deal of enmity towards God in your
hearts; for until you can be brought to know this doctrine, there is something
which you have not yet discovered, which makes you opposed to the idea
of God absolute, God unbounded, God unfettered, God unchanging, and God
having a free will, which you are so fond of proving that the creature
possesses. I am persuaded that the Sovereignty of God must be held by us
if we would be in a healthy state of mind. "Salvation is of the Lord alone."
Then give all the glory to his holy name, to whom all glory belongs.
III. We now come, in the third place, to notice the differences which
God often makes in his Church in HONOURABLE GIFTS. There is a difference
made between God's own children-when they are his children. Note what I
mean: One hath the honourable gift of knowledge, another knows but little.
I meet, every now and then, with a dear Christian brother with whom I could
talk for a month, and learn something from him every day. He has had deep
experience-he has seen into the deep things of God-his whole life has been
a perpetual study wherever he has been. He seems to have gathered thoughts,
not from books merely, but from men, from God, from his own heart. He knows
all the intricacies and windings of Christian experience: he understands
the heights, the depths, the lengths, and the breadths of the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge. He has gained a grand idea, an intimate knowledge
of the system of grace, and can vindicate the dealings of the Lord with
his people.
Then you must meet with another who has passed through many troubles,
but he has no deep acquaintance with Christian experience. He never learned
a single secret by all his troubles. He just floundered out of one trouble
into another, but never stopped to pick up any of the jewels that lay in
the mire-never tried to discover the precious jewels that lay in his afflictions.
He knows very little more of the heights and depths of the Saviour's love
than when he first came into the world. You may converse with such a man
as long as you like, but you will get nothing from him. If you ask why
is it, I answer, there is a Sovereignty of God in giving knowledge to some
and not to others. I was walking the other day with an aged Christian,
who told me how he had profited by my ministry. There is nothing humbles
me like that thought of yon old man deriving experience in the things of
God, receiving instruction in the ways of the Lord from a mere babe in
grace. But I expect that when I am an old man, if I should live to be such,
that some babe in grace will instruct me. God sometimes shutteth the mouth
of the old man and openeth the mouth of the child. Why should we be a teacher
to hundreds who are, in some respects, far more able to teach us? The only
answer we can find is in the Divine Sovereignty, and we must bow before
it, for has he not a right to do as he wills with his own? Instead of being
envious of those who have the gift of knowledge, we should seek to gain
the same, if possible. Instead of sitting down and murmuring that we have
not more knowledge, we should remember that the foot cannot say to the
head, nor the head to the foot, I have no need of thee, for God hath given
us talents as it hath pleased him.
Note, again, when speaking of honourable gifts. Not only knowledge,
but office is an honourable gift. There is nothing more honourable to a
man than the office of a deacon or a minister. We magnify our office, though
we would not magnify ourselves. We hold there is nothing can dignify a
man more than being appointed to an office in a Christian church. I would
rather be a deacon of a church than Lord Mayor of London. To be a minister
of Christ is in my estimation an infinitely higher honour than the world
can bestow. My pulpit is to me more desirable than a throne, and my congregation
is an empire more than large enough; an empire before which the empires
of the earth dwindle into nothing in everlasting importance. Why does God
give to one man a special call by the Holy Ghost, to be a minister, and
pass by another? There is another man more gifted, perhaps, but we dare
not put him in a pulpit, because he has not had a special call. So with
the deaconship; the man whom some would perhaps think most suitable for
the office is passed by, and another chosen. There is a manifestation of
God's Sovereignty in the appointment to office-in putting David on a throne,
in making Moses the leader of the children of Israel through the wilderness,
in choosing Daniel to stand among princes, in electing Paul to be the minister
to the Gentiles, and Peter to be the Apostle of the Circumcision. And you
who have not the gift of honourable office, must learn the great truth
contained in the question of the Master, "Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with mine own?"
There is another honourable gift, the gift of utterance. Eloquence hath
more power over men than all else besides. If a man would have power over
the multitude, he must seek to touch their hearts, and chain their ears.
There are some men who are like vessels full of knowledge to the brim,
but having no means of giving it forth to the world. They are rich in all
gems of learning but know not how to set them in the golden ring of eloquence.
They can collect the choicest of flowers, but know not how to tie them
up in a sweet garland to present them to the admirer's eye. How is this?
We say again, the Sovereignty of God is here displayed in the distribution
of gifts honourable. Learn here, O Christian man, if you have gifts, to
cast the honour of them at the Saviour's feet, and if you possess them
not, learn not to murmur; remember that God is equally as kind when he
keepeth back as when he distributeth his favours. If any among you be exalted,
let him not be puffed up; if any be lowly, let him not be despised; for
God giveth to every vessel his measure of grace. Serve him after your measure,
and adore the King of Heaven who doth as he pleaseth.
IV. We notice in the fourth place, the gift of USEFULNESS. I
have often done wrong in finding fault with brother ministers for not being
useful, I have said you might have been as useful as I have been had you
been in earnest. But surely there are others even more earnest, and more
efficient: others labouring as constantly, but with far less effect. And,
therefore, let me retract my accusation, and in lieu thereof assert that
the gift of usefulness is the result of God's Sovereignty. It is not in
man to be useful, but in God to make him useful. We may labour ourselves
with all our might, but God alone can make us useful. We can put every
stitch of canvass on when the wind blows, but we cannot make the wind blow.
The Sovereignty of God is seen also in the diversity of ministerial
gifts. You go to one minister and are fed with plenty of good food: another
has not enough to feed a mouse; he has plenty of reproof, but no food for
the child of God. Another can comfort the child of God, but he cannot reprove
a backslider. He has not strength of mind enough to give those earnest
home strokes which are sometimes needed. And what is the reason! God's
Sovereignty. One can wield the sledge hammer but could not heal a broken
heart. If he were to attempt it, you would be reminded of an elephant trying
to thread a needle. Such a man can reprove, but he cannot apply oil and
wine to a bruised conscience. Why? Because God hath not given to him the
gift. There is another one who always preaches experimental divinity; and
very rarely touches upon doctrine. Another is all doctrine, and cannot
preach much about Jesus Christ and him crucified. Why? God hath not given
him the gift of doctrine. Another always preaches Jesus-blessed Jesus;
men of the Hawker school-and many say, oh! they do not give us experience
enough; they do not go into the deep experiences of the corruption which
vexes the children of God. But we do not blame them for this. You will
notice that out of the same man will at one time flow streams of living
water, while at another time he will be as dry as possible. On one Sabbath
you go away refreshed by the preaching, and the next you get no good. There
is Divine Sovereignty in all this, and we must learn to recognize and admire
it. I was preaching on one occasion last week to a large crowd of people,
and in one part of the sermon the people were very much affected; I felt
that the power of God was there; one poor creature absolutely shrieked
out because of the wrath of God against sin; but at another time the same
words might have been uttered and there might have been the same desire
in the minister's heart, and yet no effect produced. We must trace, I say,
Divine Sovereignty in all such cases. We ought to recognize God's hand
in everything. But the present is the most godless generation that ever
trod this earth, I verily believe. In our fathers' days there was hardly
a shower but they declared that God caused it to fall; and they had prayers
for rain, prayers for sunshine, and prayers for harvest; as well when a
haystack was on fire, as when a famine desolated the land; our forefathers
said, the Lord hath done it. But now our philosophers try to explain everything,
and trace all phenomena to second causes. But brethren, let it be ours
to ascribe the origin and direction of all things to the Lord, and the
Lord alone.
V. Lastly, GIFTS COMFORTABLE are of God. O, what comfortable
gifts do some of us enjoy in the ordinances of God's house, and in a ministry
that is profitable. But how many churches have not a ministry of that kind;
and why then have we? Because God hath made a difference. Some here have
strong faith, and can laugh at impossibilities; we can sing a song in all
ill weathers-in the tempest as well as in the calm. But there is another
with little faith who is in danger of tumbling down over every straw. We
trace eminent faith entirely to God. One is born with a melancholy temperament,
and he sees a tempest brewing even in the calm; while another is cheerful,
and sees a silver lining to every cloud, however black, and he is a happy
man. But why is that? Comfortable gifts come of God. And then observe that
we ourselves, differ at times. For a season we may have blessed intercourse
with heaven, and be permitted to look within the veil? but anon, these
delightful enjoyments are gone. But do we murmur on that account? May he
not do as he will with his own? May he not take back what he has given?
The comforts we possess were his before they were ours.
"And shouldst thou take them all away,
Yet would I not repine,
Before they were possessed by me
They were entirely thine."
There is no joy of the Spirit-there is no exceeding blessed hope-no
strong faith-no burning desire-no close fellowship with Christ, which is
not the gift of God, and which we must not trace to him. When I am in darkness
and suffer disappointment, I will look up and say, he giveth songs in the
night; and when I am made to rejoice, I will say, my mountain shall stand
fast for ever. The Lord is a Sovereign Jehovah; and, therefore, prostrate
at his feet I lie, and if I perish, I will perish there.
But let me say, brethren, that so far from this doctrine of Divine Sovereignty
making you to sit down in sloth, I hope in God it will have a tendency
to humble you, and so to lead you to say, "I am unworthy of the least of
all thy mercies. I feel that thou hast a right to do with me as thou wilt.
If thou dost crush, a helpless worm, thou wilt not be dishonoured; and
I have no right to ask thee to have compassion upon me, save this, that
I want thy mercy. Lord, if thou wilt, thou art able to pardon, and thou
never gavest grace to one that wanted it more. Because I am empty, fill
me with the bread of heaven; because I am naked, clothe me with thy robe;
because I am dead, give me life." If you press that plea with all your
soul and all your mind, though Jehovah is a Sovereign, he will stretch
out his sceptre and save, and thou shalt live to worship him in the beauty
of holiness, loving and adoring his gracious Sovereignty. "He that believeth"
is the declaration of Scripture "and is baptized, shall be saved; but he
that believeth not shall be damned." He that believeth in Christ alone,
and is baptized with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, shall be saved, but he who rejecteth Christ and believeth not
in him, shall be damned. That is the Sovereign decree and proclamation
of heaven-bow to it, acknowledge it, obey it, and God bless you.
