shall he not with him freely give us all things?" Especially the blessings he purposely died to procure. Did Christ" suffer without the camp that he might sanctify the people by his blood," and will he deny them the sanctification he thus purchased? Surely he will not. "If while we were enemies, we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Oh! what consolation is here! That love which gave us Christ, can deny us nothing good. We are his offspring, his children, and he is our Father: And will our heavenly Father refuse us what he knows to be necessary for us? I appeal to yourselves. "If a son ask bread of any of you who is a father, will he for bread give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? Now, if ye, being evil," angry, peevish, unkind, if ye "know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more will your heavenly Father," who is pure, boundless, universal love, “give his Holy Spirit to those that ask him?" Sing we then, "Away, my unbelieving fear, Fear shall in me no more take place: My Saviour doth not yet appear, But shall I therefore let him go, And basely to the tempter yield? No, in the strength of Jesus, no, I never will give up my shield." 7. For consider further, he hath invited us to come to him for this blessing: Faithful is he that hath called you."* God hath, in a variety of ways, (by his providence, his word, his ministers, his Spirit,) called us to come to him for sanctification. And will he mock his helpless creatures? Will he deceive our confidence, and disappoint our expectations? Will he bid us come to him for sanctification, and when we are come, turn his back upon us, and refuse us the blessing? Far be the thought from us! Surely this would be a degree of cruelty rarely to be met with among men, abandoned as they are; and to ascribe this to God, would be highly derogatory to his glory, and little less than blasphemy. It would be to impeach his divine love, his darling attribute, and to make him altogether such a one as ourselves. *Ver. 24. 8. But that unbelief, as to this point, may be banished from among us, that it may make its appearance no more, I must add, we have not only the divine wisdom, and power, and love, all engaged to sanctify us, but his faithfulness also. "Faithful is he that hath called you." This intimates that God hath promised it, and this he certainly hath done in many places, and in various forms of expression. By Moses he says, "I will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and soul, and strength." By Jeremiah he says, "I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts;" a promise the apostle thought so precious, that he quotes it twice as a principal and distinguishing blessing of the new covenant. By Ezekiel God promises, "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean; from all your filthiness and idols will I cleanse you. A new heart will I give unto you, and a right spirit will I renew within you." Christ himself assures us," They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled," and that his followers" shall be perfect, as their Father in heaven is perfect." And, to mention no more, St. Peter considers God's promises in general as made with a view to this one end, when he says, "There are given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these (by the accomplishment of these) we might be made partakers of the divine nature," even that image of God in which we were originally created, knowledge, holiness, and happiness, or, in one word, sanctification. 9. Plain it is, then, that this sanctification is promised, and that repeatedly, and in the most express terms. Now, observe who it is that hath made these promises; not a weak and helpless, false and perfidious, fickle and inconstant worm of the earth, whose malice and wickedness might prompt him to deceive us, if he were ever so able, or whose power might be insufficient, if he were ever so willing, to fulfil his promises. But it is God, our Maker, Preserver, and Redeemer, the Great I AM, the everlasting and unchangeable Jehovah, whose wisdom and power, holiness and justice, truth and love, are equally infinite; who is possessed of all possible perfections, and all whose perfections oblige him (so to speak) to fulfil his promises. That love, immense and unsearchable, which first induced him to promise, must as strongly incline him to perform; and this, considering his unerring wisdom and almighty power, he cannot want ability to do. Nay, this he will and must do, because he is holy, just, and true; because it cannot be, that the " Strength of Israel should lie," or deceive. So that it is, in fact, impossible God should neglect to fulfil his promises, for the fulfilment whereof all his attributes stand engaged; yea, as impossible as it is for him to be devested of those attributes, or cease to exist. And this we know is of all impossibilities the greatest. Well then might the apostle affirm "the promises of God in Christ Jesus to be Yea and Amen." The pillars of heaven may give way, the laws of nature be reversed, but no promise of God shall ever fail of its accomplishment. "Should nature fail, and darkness hide the stars, Unchang'd, and fixt, the truth of God remains, Conclude we then with St. Paul in our text,-"Faithful is he that hath called you, who also will do it." 10. But for whom will he do it? For it is manifest these promises are not made without some restriction, in that they are not fulfilled in all men universally. I answer, not for unbelieving, prayerless, careless souls; not for those who despise or neglect these promises. who prefer to them, great and precious as they are, the toys and trifles of earth, the vain amusements and gratifications of sense. Let not these feed themselves with delusive hopes of holiness on earth, or happiness in heaven. Let them not imagine that God will confer so great a treasure upon those who so lightly esteem it, or that he will force this sanctification upon any one against his will. Nor let any suppose that their own desire is to have no part in this work, or that they are not to be "workers together with God." But let them remember, that "God worketh in them to will and to do, of his good pleasure," they are to use the grace he gives, and to "work out their own salvation with fear and trembling." as 11. To explain this point a little. There is by nature no merit and no strength in us. We can do nothing but sin till his grace prevent and accompany us, and, of consequence, can do nothing to deserve his grace; nay, can do nothing but what deserves his wrath, and curse, and eternal punishment. But this, notwithstanding, without any regard to our merit, or rather, contrary to our demerit, his grace does in fact prevent and accompany us all. Yes, that grace which is saving hath appeared unto all men," and "the true light enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world." It quickens the dead soul, enlightens the dark mind, awakens the stu 66 consider our ; if we cherish pid conscience, excites in us good desires, and in various ways helps our infirmities. It is every way sufficient for us, and through it "strengthening us, we can do all things.' Now, upon our receiving or rejecting, using or abusing this grace, our salvation turns. If we stop our ears to its calls, and shut our eyes against its light; if we stupify our conscience with the opiates of pleasure, and silence its clamours in the hurry of business and the distraction of care; or, to speak in Scripture language, if we grieve, quench, and do despite to the Spirit of God, our sanctification is prevented, and our salvation precluded. But, on the contrary, if we come to the light that our deeds may be reproved;" if we " incline our ear, and hear that our soul may live;" if we ways," and encourage, instead of stifling convictions the motions, follow the drawings, and obey the dictates of the Spirit of truth and love, our sanctification is promoted, and our eternal salvation secured. Thus only can we reconcile those two grand and fundamental truths, written in every page (almost) of the Bible, that "all our salvation is of God," and yet "all our damnation of ourselves;" that we must acknowledge him the author of our sanctification from first to last, and yet blame ourselves if we are not sanctified. Thus only can we see the reason of those exhortations, promises, and threatenings contained in Scripture, which can only affect intelligent beings, possessed of liberty of choice and action. And thus only, in fine, can we understand the suitableness and necessity of those means we are enjoined to use in order to our sanctification here, and our salvation hereafter. 12. For be it observed, God hath appointed certain means with a view to our sanctification, and hath only promised to sanctify those who are found in the use of them. Such especially are faith, and, in order thereto, hearing the word, prayer, and watchfulness. The necessity of faith in this view, is very apparent, particularly as it has for its object the promises of sanctification, and the Lord Jesus, "in whom these promises are Yea and Amen." By faith, according to the apostle, the ancient worthies "obtained promises,"* and we must, doubtless, obtain them in the same way. We, like them, "seeing the promises," though apparently afar off, must be "persuaded of them, and embrace them." We must believe, assuredly, that the Lord hath promised this holiness, and must rely firmly upon him for the accomplishment of his promise. And inasmuch as it will only be accomplished in and Heb. xi. 33. good. The more we discern, by the light of grace, the vanity of the world, the more must our hearts be disengaged from it. The same I may say of sin in general: the more evil it appears, the more shall we hate and guard against it. And with regard to holiness, the more excellent in its nature, and happy in its tendency, it seems to us, the more shall we love and pursue it. Now, who can say he is as much enlightened in these respects as he may be? Surely none. And surely then, none can reasonably think he is arrived at the top of the ladder in holiness, and can therefore advance no further. But while we are in the world, we may and must consider it to be our duty and privilege, to " grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2. But when the apostle prays that we may be perfectly sanctified, he means as far as we are capable of being in this world; "that the darkness may pass away, and the true light continually shine :" "that we may walk in the light, as he is in the light,' having daily fellowship with him, and one with another. "That we may have an unction from the Holy One teaching us all things," the " Spirit of truth guiding us into all truth." He means further, that our will should be wholly conformed to, and swallowed up in the will of God, so that we may lie in his hands as clay in the hands of the potter, to be disposed of according to his will, and formed after his likeness, choosing him for our only portion, and resigning up all our designs and desires to him. Again, that our conscience should continually feel the cleansing virtue of Jesus's blood; that we should wash in the fountain and be ever clean, saying, from the heart, "Every moment, Lord, I have and that we should find continual matter of rejoicing in the testimony of a good and tender conscience. He means, lastly, that our passions and appetites should be so regulated and inflamed with divine love, that "a peace passing understanding may keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus," and we may "dwell in love, and in God, and God in us." Thus shall we be able to adopt the following language, very expressive of the full assurance of hope: ""Tis done at last, the great deciding part, The world's subdued, and thou hast all my heart: |