For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until
his
iniquity be found to be hateful (Psalm xxxvi. 2).
In the foregoing verse, David says, that the transgression of the wicked said
within his heart, "that there is no fear of God before his eyes;" that is, when
he saw that the wicked went on in sin, in an allowed way of wickedness, it
convinced him, that he was not afraid of those terrible judgments, and of that
wrath with which God hath threatened sinners If he were afraid of these he could
never go on so securely in sin, as he doth.
In our text he gives the reason
why the wicked did not fear. It was a strange thing that men, who enjoyed such
light as they did in the land of Israel, who read and heard those many awful
threatenings which were written in the book of the law, should not be afraid to
go on in sin. But saith the Psalmist, They flatter themseIves in their own eyes:
They have something or other which they make a foundation of encouragement,
whereby they persuade themselves that they shall escape those judgments; and
that makes them put far away the evil day.
In this manner he proceeds, until
his iniquity be found to be hateful; that is, until he finds by experience that
it is a more dreadful thing to sin against God, and break his holy commands,
than he imagined. He thinks sin to be sweet, and hides it as a sweet morsel
under his tongue: He loves it, and flatters himself in it, till at length he
finds, by experience, that it is bitter as gall and wormwood. Though he thinks
the commission of sin to be lovely, yet he will find the fruit of it to be
hateful, and what he cannot endure. Proverbs xxiii. 32. "At last it will bite
like a serpent, and sting like an adder."
Here observe,
1. The subject
spoken of is the WICKED MAN, of whom the Psalmist had been speaking in the
foregoing verse.
2. His action in flattering himself in his own eyes; i.e. he
makes himself and his case to appear to himself, or in his own eyes, better than
it is.
3. How long he continues so to do, until his iniquity be found to be
hateful. 'Which may be taken for his sin itself, the wicked will see how odious
sin is to God', when he shall feel the effects of his hatred, and how hateful to
angels and saints; or rather the cause is here put for the effect, the tree for
its fruit, and he will find his iniquity to be hateful, as he will find the
hatefulness and feel the terribleness of the FRUIT of his
iniquity.
Doctrine. Wicked men generally flatter themselves with hopes of
escaping punishment, till it actually comes upon them.
There are but few
sinners who despair, who give up the cause and conclude with themselves, that
they shall go to hell; yet there are but few who do not go to hell. It is to be
feared that men go to hell every day out of this country; yet very few of them
suffer themselves to believe, that they are in any great danger of that
punishment. They go on sinning and travelling in the direct road to the pit; yet
by one mean or other they persuade themselves that they shall never fall into
it,
In my present discourse, I shall,
1. Mention some things in
confirmation of the doctrine, that sinners flatter themselves with the hope of
impunity.
2. Mention some of the various ways wherein sinners flatter
themselves in that hope.
3. Show that sinners generally go on flattering
themselves, till punishment actually overtakes them.
I. I am to mention
some things in confirmation of the doctrine, that sinners flatter themselves
with the hope of future impunity.
1. We are so taught in the word of God.
Beside our text, you may see, Deuteronomy xxix. 18, 19. "Lest there should be
among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day
from the Lord our God. Lest there should he among you a root that beareth gall
and wormwood, "and it come to pass when he heareth the words of this curse, that
he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the
imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst." Where it is supposed
that they whose hearts turn away from God, and are roots that bear gall and
wormwood, generally bless themselves in their hearts, saying, WE SHALL HAVE
PEACE.
See also Psalm xlix. 17,18. "When he dieth, he shall carry nothing
away: His glory shall not descend after him, though while he lived, he BLESSED
HIS SOUL." And Psalm 1:21. "These things thou hast done. and I kept silence:
Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself: But I will reprove
thee, and set them in order before thee."
2. It is very evident, that sinners
flatter themselves that they shall escape punishment, by this, that otherwise
they would be in dreadful and continual distress. Otherwise, as long as they are
in sin, they could never live and go about so cheerfully as they now do: Their
lives would be filled with sorrow and mourning, and they would be in continual
uneasiness and distress; as much as those that are exercised with some violent
pain of body. But it is evident that it is not in fact so; it is apparent that
men are careless and secure; that they are not much concerned about future
punishment, and that they cheerfully pursue their business and recreations.
Therefore they undoubtedly flatter themselves, that they shall not be eternally
miserable in hell, as they are threatened in the word of God
3. It is evident
that they flatter themselves with hopes that they shall escape punishment, as
otherwise they would certainly be restrained at least from many of those sins in
which they now live: They would not proceed in wilful courses of sin. The
transgression of the wicked convinced the Psalmist, and is enough to convince
every one, that there is no fear of God before his eyes, and that he flatters
himself in his own eyes. It would be impossible for men allowedly from day to
day to do those very things, which they know are threatened with everlasting
destruction, if they did not some way encourage themselves, they should
nevertheless escape that destruction.
II. I shall mention some of the
various ways wherein sinners flatter themselves in their own eyes.
1. Some
flatter themselves with a secret hope, that there is no such thing as another
world. They hear a great deal of preaching, and a great deal of talk about hell,
and about the eternal judgment; but those things do not seem to them to be real.
They never saw any thing of them; they never saw hell, never saw the devils and
damned spirits; and therefore are ready to say with themselves, How do I know
that there is any such thing as another world? When the beasts die, there is an
end of them, and how do I know but that it will be so with me? Perhaps all these
things are nothing but the inventions of men, nothing but cunningly devised
fables.
Such thoughts are apt to rise in the minds of sinners, and the devil
sets in to enforce them. Such thoughts are an ease to them; therefore they wish
they were true, and that makes them the more ready to think that they are indeed
true. So that they are hardened in the way of sin, by infidelity and atheistical
thoughts. Psalm xiv. 1. " The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."
Psalm xciv. 6, 7. "They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the
fatherless. Yet they say, the Lord shall not see; neither shall the God of Jacob
regard it,"
2. Some flatter themselves that death is a great way off, and
that they shall hereafter have much opportunity to seek salvation; and they
think if they earnestly seek it, though it be a great while hence, they shall
obtain. Although they see no reason to conclude that they shall live long, and
perhaps they do not positively conclude that they shall; yet it doth not come
into their minds that their lives are really uncertain, and that it is doubtful
whether they will live another year. Such a thought as this doth not take any
hold of them. And although they do not absolutely determine that they shall live
to old age or to middle age, yet they secretly flatter themselves with such an
imagination. They are disposed to believe so, and do so far believe it, that
they act upon it and run the venture of it.
Men will believe that things will
be as they choose to have them, without reason, and sometimes without the
appearance of reason, as is most apparent in this case, Psalm xlix. 11. "Their
inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling
places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names."
The
prepossession and desire of men to have it so, is the principal thing that makes
them believe so. However, there are several other things which they use as
arguments to flatter themselves. Perhaps they think with themselves, that since
they are at present in health, or in youth, or that since they are useful men,
do a great deal of good, and both them selves and others pray for the
continuance of their lives; they are not likely to be removed by death very
soon.
If they shall live many years in the world, they think that it is very
probable they shall be converted before they die; as they expect hereafter to
have much more convenient opportunities to become converted, than they have now.
And by some means or other, they think they shall get through their work before
they arrive at old age.
3. Some flatter themselves that they lead moral and
orderly lives, and therefore think that they shall not be damned. They think
with themselves that they live not in any vice, that they take care to wrong no
man, are just and honest dealers, that they are not addicted to hard drinking,
or to uncleanness, or to bad language; that they keep the Sabbath strictly, are
constant attendants on the public worship, and maintain the worship of God in
their families. Therefore they hope that God will not cast them into hell. They
see not why God should be so angry with them as that would imply, seeing they
are so orderly and regular in their walk; they see not that they have done
enough to anger him to that degree. And if they have angered him, they imagine
they have also done a great deal to pacify him.
If they be not as yet
converted, and it be necessary that they should experience any other conversion
in order to their salvation, they hope that their orderly and strict lives will
move God to give them converting grace. They hope that surely God will not see
those that live as they do go to hell. Thus they flatter themselves, as those we
read of. Luke xviii. 9. "That trusted in themselves that they were
righteous."
4. Some make the advantages under which they live an occasion of
self flattery. They flatter themselves, because they live in a place where the
gospel is powerfully preached and among a religious people, where many have been
converted; and they think it will be much easier for them to be saved on that
account. Thus they abuse the grace of God to their destruction; they do that
which the scriptures call despising the riches of God's goodness: Romans ii. 4.
"Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long
suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to
repentance?"
Some flatter themselves, because they are born of godly parents,
who are dear to God, who have often and earnestly prayed for them, they hope
that their prayers will be heard; and that encourages them to go on in the way
of neglecting their souls. The Jews had great dependence upon this, that they
were the children of Abraham: John viii. 33. they make their boast. "We be
Abraham's seed; and in verse 39. "Abraham is our father."
5. Some flatter
themselves with their own intentions. They intend to neglect themselves, and
give themselves liberty for a while longer, and then to reform. Though now they
neglect their souls, and are going on in sin; yet they intend ere long to bestir
themselves, to leave off their sins, and to set themselves to seek God. They
hear that there is great encouragement for those who earnestly seek God, that
they shall find him. So they intend to do; they propose to seek with a great
deal of earnestness. They are told, that there are many who seek to enter the
kingdom of heaven, who shall not be able; but they intend, not only to seek, but
To STRIVE However, for the present they allow themselves in their ease, sloth,
and pleasure, minding only earthly things.
Or if they should be seized with
some mortal distemper, and should draw near to the grave, before the time which
they lay out in their minds for reformation, they think how earnestly they would
pray and cry to God for mercy; and as they hear God is a merciful God, who
taketh no delight in the death of sinners, they hence flatter themselves that
they shall move God to have pity on them.
There are but few who are sinners,
and know themselves to be such, who do not encourage themselves with intentions
of future repentance and reformation; but few who do not flatter themselves,
that they shall in good earnest set themselves to seek God some time or other.
Hell is full of GOOD INTENDERS who never proved to be TRUE PERFORMERS: Acts
xxiv. 25. "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will
call for thee."
6. There are some who flatter themselves, that they do and
have done, a great deal for their salvation, and therefore hope they shall
obtain, when indeed they neither do what they ought to do, nor what they might
do in their present state of unregeneracy; nor are they in any likely way to be
converted They think they are striving, when they neglect many moral and some
instituted duties; nor do they exert themselves as if it were for their lives;
they are not violent for the kingdom of leaven.
There are doubtless many
such; many are concerned, and are seeking, and do many things, and think that
they are in a very fair way to obtain the kingdom of God; yet there is great
danger that thy will prove at last to be some of the foolish virgins, and be
found without oil in their vessels.
7. Some hope by their strivings to obtain
salvation of themselves. They have a secret imagination, that they shall, by
degrees, work in themselves sorrow and repentance of sin, and love towards God
and Jesus Christ. Their striving is not so much an earnest seeking to God, as a
striving to do them selves that which is the work of God. Many who are now
seeking have this imagination, and labor, reach, pray, hear sermons and go to
private meetings, with the view of making themselves holy, and of working in
themselves holy affections.
Many, who only project and design to turn to God
hereafter, are apt to think that it is an easy thing to be converted, that it is
a thing which will be in their own power at any time, when they shall earnestly
set themselves to it.
8. Some sinners flatter themselves that they are
already converted. They sit down and rest in a false hope, persuading themselves
that all their sins are pardoned; that God loves them; that they shall go to
heaven when they die; and that they need trouble themselves no more: Revelation
iii. 17. "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have
need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked."
III. Sinners very generally go on flattering
themselves in some or other of these ways, till their punishment actually
overtakes them. These are the baits by which Satan catches souls, and draws them
into his snare. They are such self flatteries as these that keep men from seeing
what danger they are in, and that make them go securely on in the way they are
in, "as the bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his
life."
Those that flatter themselves with hopes of living a great while
longer in the world, very commonly continue so to do till death comes. Death
comes upon them when they expect it not; they look upon it as a great way off,
when there is but a step between them and death. They thought not of dying at
that time, nor at anytime near it. When they were young, they proposed to live a
good while longer; and if they happen to live till middle age, they still
maintain the same thought, that they are not yet near death; and so that thought
goes along with them as long as they live, or till they are just about to
die.
Men often have a dependence on their own righteousness, and as long as
they live are never brought off from it. Multitudes uphold themselves with their
own intentions, till all their prospects are dashed in pieces by death. They put
off the work which they have to do till such a time; and when that comes, they
put it off to another time, until death, which cannot be put off, overtakes
them. There are many also that hold a false hope, a persuasion that they belong
to God; and as long as they live, by all the marks and signs which are given of
a true convert, they never will be persuaded to let go their hope, till it is
rent from them by death.
Thus men commonly uphold themselves, and make
themselves easy, till hell fire makes them uneasy. Everlasting ruin comes upon
them as a snare, and all their hopes are at once cut off, and turned into
everlasting despair: I. Thessalonians v. 3. "When they shall say, Peace and
safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with
child; and they shall not escape."
APPLICATION
1. Hence we learn
one reason why there are but few saved, and why so many perish from under the
gospel. All men know that they must die, and all that sit under the light of the
gospel have been told many a time, that after this there is an other world; that
there are but two states in that other world, a state of eternal happiness, and
a state of eternal misery; that there is but one way of escaping the misery and
obtaining the blessedness of eternity, which is by obtaining an interest in
Christ, through faith in him; and that this life is the only opportunity of
obtaining an interest in Christ. Yet men are so much given to flatter themselves
in those ways which we have mentioned, that there are but few that seasonably
take care of their salvation. Indeed they cannot but be in some measure
concerned about their souls; yet they flatter themselves with one thing or
other, so that they are kept steadily and uninterruptedly going on in the broad
way to destruction.
2. Hence we learn the reason why awakening truths of
scripture, and awakening sermons, make no more impression upon men. It is in
itself a wonderful and surprising thing, that God's denunciations of eternal
misery, and threatenings of casting sinners into the lake that burneth with fire
and brimstone for ever and ever, do not affect them, do not startle them. But
the truth is, they flatter themselves, by such means as we have mentioned, that
this dreadful misery is not for them; that they shall escape it, though
multitudes of others are involved in it. They take not these threatenings to
themselves; they seem to think that they do not belong to them.
How many are
there in this congregation, who, for all the awakening sermons they have heard,
are yet secure in sin! And who, although they are sensible that they are in a
Christless condition, and are still going on in sin, yet intend to go to heaven,
and expect that by some means or other they shall arrive there. They are often
told, that God is very angry with them; yet they think God is a very merciful
God, and they shall be able to pacify him. If they be told how uncertain life
is, that doth not awaken them, because they flatter themselves with long life.
If they be told how dangerous it is to delay the business of religion, they
promise themselves, that they will hereafter engage in it with more earnestness
than others, and so obtain the end, the salvation of their souls. Others, when
they are told that many shall seek who shall not he able to obtain, think
surely, that they, having done so much for salvation, shall not be denied.
3.
Let every sinner examine himself, whether he do not flatter himself in some of
those ways which have been mentioned. What is it in your own minds which makes
you think it is safe for you to delay turning to God? What is it that encourages
you to run such a venture as you do by delaying this necessary work? Is it that
you hope there is no such state as heaven or hell, and have a suspicion that
there is no God ? Is It this that makes you secure ? Or is it that you are not
much afraid but that you shall have opportunity enough a great while hence to
mind such things? Is it an intention of a future seeking a more convenient
season? And are you persuaded that God will hearken to you then, after you shall
have so long turned a deaf ear to his commands and gracious? Are you encouraged
to commit sin, because you hope to repent of it? Are you encouraged by the mercy
of God to be his enemies? And do you resolve still to provoke him to anger,
because you think he is easily pacified ?
Or do you think that your
conversion is in your own power, and that you can turn to God when you please?
Is it because you have been born of godly parents that you are so secure? Or do
you imagine that you are in a fair way to be converted? Do you think that what
you have done in religion will engage God to pity you, and that he never can
have the heart to condemn one who has lived in so orderly a manner? Or do you
think that you are indeed converted already? And doth that encourage you to take
a liberty in sinning ? Or are you secure, because you are so stupid as to think
nothing about these things? Do you let these concerns wholly alone, and scarcely
ever think at all how it will be with you after you are dead?
Certainly it
must be one or more of these things which keeps you in your security, and
encourages you to go on in sin. Examine, therefore, and see which of them it
is.
4. By the text and doctrine be persuaded to leave off thus flattering
yourselves in your own eyes. You are therein informed, that those who do as you
do commonly continue so doing till their punishment actually comes upon them.
Thereby you may be convinced of the vanity of all such flatteries. Be afraid of
that which you are sure is the devil's bait: "Surely in vain is the net spread
in the sight of any bird," Proverbs i. 17.
You are not only told in the
scriptures, that sinners are generally thus allured to hell, but your own reason
may convince you that it is so. For doubtless other sinners have as much ground
to hope to escape punishment as you; and it is evident, that they generally do
hope to escape. Men under the gospel almost universally think they shall not go
to hell: If it were otherwise, they could have no peace or comfort in the world.
Yet what multitudes have we reason to conclude go down from under the preaching
of the gospel to the pit of destruction! Now, this is surely enough to convince
any sober, prudent person of the folly of such flattery, and of the folly of
every one that doth not immediately set about his great work with his might. If
you could have access to the damned, you would hear many of them curse
themselves, for thus flattering themselves while they lived in this world; and
you would have the same doctrine preached to you by their wailings and yellings
which is now preached to you from the pulpit.
If your temptation to security
be unbelief of the fundamental doctrines of religion, such as the being of God,
of another world, and an eternal judgment, you may consider, that though that
makes you secure at present, yet it will not do always, it will not stand by
when you come to die. The fool often in health saith, There is no God; but when
he comes to die, he cannot rest in any such supposition. Then he is generally so
much convinced in his own conscience, that there is a God, that he is in
dreadful amazement for fear of his eternal wrath. It is folly, therefore, to
flatter yourselves with any supposition now which you will not then be able to
hold.
If you depend on long life, consider how many who have depended on the
same thing, and had as much reason to depend on it as you, have died within your
remembrance.
Is it because you are outwardly of an orderly life and
conversation, that you think you shall be saved ? How unreasonable is it to
suppose, that God should be so obliged by those actions, which he knows are not
done from the least respect or regard to him, but wholly with a private view! Is
it because you are under great advantages that you are not much afraid but that
you shall some time or other be converted, and therefore neglect yourselves and
your spiritual interests? And were not the people of Bethsaida, Chorazin and
Capernaum, under as great advantages as you, when Christ himself preached the
gospel to them, almost continually, and wrought such a multitude of miracles
among them? Yet he says, that it shall be more tolerable in the day of judgment
for Sodom and Gomorrah, than for those cities.
Do you expect you shall be
saved, however you neglect yourselves, because you were born of godly parents?
hear what Christ saith, Matthew iii. 9. ''Think not to say within yourselves, we
have Abraham to our father." Do you flatter yourselves that you shall obtain
mercy, though others do not, because you intend hereafter to seek it more
earnestly than others? Yet you deceive yourselves, if you think that you intend
better than many of those others, or better than many who are now in hell once
intended.
If you think you are in a way of earnest seeking, consider, whether
or no you do not mind other things yet more? If you imagine that you have it in
your own power to work yourselves up to repentance, consider, that you must
assuredly give up that imagination before you can have repentance wrought in
you. If you think yourselves already converted, and that encourages you to give
yourselves the greater liberty in sinning, this is a certain sign that you are
not converted.
Wherefore abandon all these ways of flattering yourselves; no
longer follow the devil's bait; and let nothing encourage you to go on in sin;
but immediately and henceforth seek God with all your heart, and soul, and
strength.