One-Hundred Forty-Five Sermons Upon John 17, Sermon 101
SERMON CI. Of Sanctification, as the Effect of Chriſts Death; Shewing, That no man truly believeth in Christ for Justification, that doth not alſo for Sanctification.
JOH. 17.19.
And for their ſakes I ſanctifie my ſelf, that they alſo may be ſanctified through the Truth.
WE are now come to the end of Chriſts Sanctification, which is two-fold, the finis cui, and cujus. We ſhall put them both together, for ſo they are conjoyned in the following clauſe, That they might be ſanctified through the Truth.
Wherein you have,
1. The final Cauſe.
2. The Manner of accompliſhing it.
The final Cauſe, That they might be ſanctified: and from this the Socinian would argue, That Sanctification in the former clauſe, was not meant of an oblation by way of Sacrifice, becauſe the ſame word is applied to the Apoſtles in the Text, and they were not to be ſacrificed for us.
To anſwer this: Firſt, Some Expoſitours do expound it of their offering up of themſelves by Martyrdom to confirm the truth, for Paul profeſſeth his willingneſſe herein, uſing the word foreign, Phil. 2.15. which was uſed of ſome kinde of their Sacrifices; but we need not runne to that, it's no new thing in Scripture to uſe the ſame word in one verſe, in different ſignifications; and it's a Rule, Talia ſunt praedicata, qualia permittuntur à ſubjectis. The Apoſtles then, needing not ſuch a Sanctification, as Chriſt applied to himſelf, but that for which he prayed in the former verſe. We muſt underſtand it in the ſame ſenſe as there. It's true, by Sanctification, ſome alſo will have Juſtification comprehended, and ſo ſpeak of an imputed Sanctification, but we need not ſtretch the word violently, but underſtand it, firſt, Of making inwardly holy, and then conſequently, A ſetting apart, and dedicating our ſelves wholly unto God by living unto him, and thence obſerve,
That Chriſt died not only for our Juſtification, but Sanctification alſo. Obſerv. Chriſt died not only for our juſtification alſo. Concerning this point conſider,He made himſelf a Sacrifice, not onelyonly to remove the guilt of ſinne▪ but to remove and ſubdue the power of it, not onelyonly to make us happy, but alſo holy.
Let us conſider, What is implied in this, That Sanctification comes by Chriſts death. And
Firſt, We are to know that Chriſt is the Cauſe of our Sanctification ſeveral wayes, partly efficiently, for not only the Father and the Spirit, but Chriſt himſelf alſo is the cauſe of all the holineſſe we have,I. How many wayes is the Chriſt is the cauſe of our Sanctification. and therefore he is called the life, becauſe he gives all ſupernatural life unto his, and is compared to the vine, Joh. 15. becauſe as the branch ſeparated from the Vine can bring forth no fruit; ſo neither is a man able without Chriſt to do the leaſt holy action; he is alſo called the Head, and John 1. Of his fulneſſe we are all ſaid to receive. Thus as God in the courſe of nature is the authour of every natural gift, therefore it's ſaid, In him we live, and move, and have our being, Act. 17.28. So in the way of grace, Chriſt is the authour and finiſher, as of our faith, ſo of every holy work in us The Author, Heb. 12.2. and therefore we cannot ſo much as begin or meet Chriſt, he muſt prevent us; and the finiſher; for although we have begun, yet we have not the ſame manutenency and powerfull preſervation, what we have begun to build would immediately fall to the ground. Thus Chriſt is the Alpha and Omega of our ſpiritual life.
2. Chriſt is the meritorious cauſe of our Sanctification, and therefore not only remiſſion of ſin, but holineſſe and zeal is made the conſequent of Chriſts death; And the Apoſtle doth not only Rom. 7.8. ſhew, that we are juſtified by Chriſt, but alſo that the body of ſinne is mortified thereby. Thus Heb. 10. what Sanctification that Apoſtate had, is attributed to the blood of Chriſt; Chriſt then hath as efficaciouſly merited holineſſe, as happineſſe, He died to deſtroy the workes of the devil; now our captivity to him, was not onelyonly in reſpect of guilt, but that bondage and ſlavery we were in to all luſts; and therefore thoſe two benefits are like Caſtor and Pollux, one cannot be without the other.
3. Chriſt is in ſome large and improper ſenſe, called the formal cauſe of the good in us, an aſſiſtant form, not informing, that is, Chriſt received and applied by faith, doth in a moſt inward and intimate manner live in us, and thereby ſtrengtheneth us; ſo the Apoſtle, Gal. 2.20. I no longer live, but Chriſt in me. Here you ſee Chriſt liveth in a godly man, for by faith we are united unto him, and thus Chriſt becomes our Head, from whom we have all ſpiritual influx: Now an head is a conjoyned and united cauſe, made one with the body, and thus is Chriſt and his Church; and therefore is that ſimilitude of an Head and the Body ſo often uſed.
4▪ Chriſt is the final cauſe of our Sanctification, that is, we are made holy to this end, both that we might ſhew forth the praiſes and glory of Chriſt, as our Redeemer, as alſo that we ſhould live to him, and ſet all our affections and deſires upon him, deſiring with Paul, To know nothing but Chriſt crucified, 1 Cor. 2.1.
Secondly, In that by Chriſts death we are ſanctified, there is implied, II. What is implied in our being ſanctified by Chriſt.That we of our ſelves are very impure and unclean, that we are like ſo many noiſome dunghils. For our being unſanctified, doth imply,
1. Our filthineſs or uncleanneſs; this is the ſtate of every man till ſanctified by Chriſt, he is like an unclean leper, his riches, his honours, his greatneſs, his parts, his morality doth not free him from this impurity, ſo that he ought to abhor himſelf as a monſter, as a toad. This is the foundation of all our miſery, that we doe not look upon our ſelves as ſo many vile carkaſſes, as ſo many dead dogs. Till this be laid as the firſt principle, Chriſt is not prized, Sanctification is not ſought after: Oh therefore ſtand like the leprous perſon afarre off, and cry out, I am unclean, unclean? Thou wouldſt be aſhamed as Adam was to come with this nakedneſſe and filthineſſe upon thee into Gods preſence.
2. Being unſanctified, doth imply, That even the holy things we are imployed about, do not ſanctifie us, but we rather pollute them. Hag. 2. He that was unclean, though he touched the holy things, though he ranne to the Temple and the Altar, yet he was not thereby ſanctified, but he rather polluted them, and thus while a man is unſanctified, thoſe very duties, prayers and ordinances, he doth runne unto, will condemn him, as appeareth Iſa. 1. by that ſevere expoſtulation with them, that abounded in their Sacrifices, yet did not waſh them or make them clean.
3. There is implied an utter unfitneſſe and indiſpoſition to any good work; as on the other ſide, a veſſel ſanctified was meet for his maſters uſe; So that till we be ſanctified by Chriſts blood, we have no fitneſſe for any holy duty, iron can as well ſwim and logs flie, as a natural man be prepared to do that which is holy and ſupernatural.
III. What may be inferred from our being ſanctified by Chriſts ſanctifying himſelf.Thirdly, That our Sanctification is here attributed to Chriſts Sanctification of himſelf, we ſee,
1. That the initials and beginnings of Sanctification, are wholly from him. Some have endeavoured to make the very Heathens partakers of ſome kinde of ſanctification, making a pietas pagana, as well as Chriſtiana, but they are to fear leſt that might be applied to them, which Bernard did to Abailardus, Dum ſudat Platonem facere Chriſtianum, ſcriptum facit Ethnicum. There is no ſanctification but where Chriſt is, and Chriſt and his body cannot be ſeparated, as the gold onelyonly in the Temple was ſanctified; and this is good to lay us low, and to make us admiring of the grace of Chriſt, How is it thou art ſanctified, and others remain prophane, polluted like bruit beaſts, who hath made this difference? Who infuſed this holy nature into thee? Waſt thou not as loathſom, as wallowing in the filth of thy luſts, as others till Chriſts blood did cleanſe thee?
2. Not only the initials, but progreſſives, and conſummatives in Sanctification, are to be attributed to his Sanctification. Therefore you heard him called the finiſher, as well as the authour of our faith; and the Diſciples, though already ſanctified, yet are ſtill more and more to be ſanctified. It's true, here is a difference between our firſt Sanctification, and the increaſe of it at firſt, we were wholly paſſive; Chriſt found us dead in our ſinnes, and wallowing in our blood, but afterwards he findes us alive, onelyonly needing his continual exciting and quickening grace; Therefore Paul, though converted, yet ſtill lives a life of faith in Chriſt; we need Chriſt all the day long: How unholy, earthly, dull and lumpiſh is thy heart, if Chriſt did not conſtantly ſanctifie it?
IV. Wherein the truth of Sanctification lieth.Fourthly, This Sanctification purchaſed by Chriſt muſt be in truth and integrity; ſo Chriſt addeth, ſanctified in the truth, that is, truly, in oppoſition to thoſe legal and ceremonial ſanctifications which did only cleanſe the body, but not reach to the ſoul. Although in the New Teſtament we have no ſuch external bodily Sanctification, yet ſtill there is an outward Sanctification, and an inward, both coming by Chriſt, and one ſeparable from the other. Thus you heard, the apoſtate is ſaid to be ſanctified by the blood of Chriſt, which was not indeed and truly ſo, for then he would not have totally fallen off, but in reſpect of the external adminiſtration. Hence 1 Cor. 1.2. the whole Church of Corinth, though afterwards reproved for many ſinfull practices, yet are called ſanctified, and that partly, becauſe of the external diſpenſation of the Ordinances which they enjoyed: So that there is a Sanctification external, and a Sanctification internall: External, is when by our Baptiſme, and Chriſtian profeſſion: We acknowledge our ſelves ſeparated from the world to live unto God; but internal is when we are ſo indeed: How ſhall we call the prophane, ungodly perſon, a ſanctified one? Look to the truth of Sanctification here mentioned in the Text. Now the truth of it lieth,
1. In the manner of working of it. The Spirit of God by the Word doth thus ſanctifie; therefore ſome underſtand this in the Text, by the truth, as formerly our Saviour prayed. God himſelf is the onelyonly Authour of Sanctification. We cannot make our ſelves holy, no more then we can make our ſelves men, yet God works not in the order of grace immediately, no more then in the order of nature, where he makes uſe of ſecond cauſes. Thus in the working of grace, he appointeth ſecond means, as the Miniſtry and Ordinances; and therefore Paul, 1 Cor. 3. ſaith, They were Miniſters by whom the Corinthians did beleeve; and there is no better diſcovery of true Sanctification, then to examine the manner and way how thou haſt received it; for if the Spirit of God by the Word hath wrought it in thee, then fear not, this is of a more noble and ſupernatural being, then what morality or principles of civility can incline unto thee; As Chriſt himſelf was in his bodily nature conceived by the holy Ghoſt in an extraordinary manner. Thus is every one ſanctified in an higher and more ſublime way, then all the moral and prudential dictates of nature can carry us unto: Oh then prove thy ſelf, what hath the Spirit of God and his Word done unto thee! That was not more wonderfull in thoſe who had a prophetical Spirit, then in ſuch who are ſanctified. To enable men to ſpeak with ſtrange Tongues, is not more admirable, then to give a man a ſtrange heart to what he had once, and ſtrange in reſpect of others.
2. It's true Sanctification, when it hath the univerſality and integrity of all parts, which is the whole Image of God, as Paul prayeth, 1 Theſſ. 5. I pray God ye be ſanctified throughout in ſpirit, ſoul and body. This work of Sanctification, it's an entire, compleat, harmonical compages of all holineſſe, take any part of it away, and you diſſolve the whole fabrick. It's true, Sanctification though it have not perfect and compleat degrees, but not true, if it want any eſſential parts, and therefore called the Image of God, which cannot be one grace, no more then a man can be a man in one part, and a beaſt in another, but the Syſteme of all.
3. It's true Sanctification in the permanency and continuance of it. Perſeverance doth not make Sanctification to be true, but the truth of Sanctification makes it perſevere: Perſeverance is an effect, not a cauſe of true Sanctification, as the Apoſtle ſpeaks, 1 John 2.19. They went from us, becauſe they were not of us; As leaves fall from the Tree, when they have no more of their wonted nouriſhment; and this diſcovers the falſhood of thoſe who appear ſanctified onelyonly in ſome fits, and upon ſome ſad afflictions on them.
4. Truth of Sanctification is diſcovered by the purity of our aims and ends. They love God, they obey him from ſuch holy grounds as are ſuitable to the ſanctified nature: As the hungry man loveth his food, becauſe of his naturall deſire to it. Thus a ſanctified man loveth and doeth that which is holy for holineſſe ſake.
5. True Sanctification is growing, and proficient every day more and more. That which hath ſolid root doth not wither, but ripens and flouriſheth by the Sunne-beams. The Apoſtles though already ſanctified, yet are ſtill to be more ſanctified; and certainly ſuch is the ſweetneſſe and peace which Sanctification brings, that it's no wonder if the heart be never ſatisfied, but ſtill crieth like the horſleech, Give, Give.
6. True Sanctification will make a man diligently and fruitfully improve all the inſtituted means for the increaſe of it, becauſe the Spirit of God works holineſſe; Therefore he is fearfull to grieve it: Becauſe the Miniſtry is to make more holy, therefore he prizeth it, and labours to profit by it, yea, becauſe afflictions are ſent by God to ſanctifie the heart, therefore he is humble under them, and prayeth more earneſtly for the Sanctification of them, then the removal of them.
7. This Sanctification, though inchoate and imperfect here, yet ſhall be perfected hereafter in Heaven. Chriſts prayer, Chriſts Spirit, Chriſts merit will at laſt obtain their compleat and ultimate effect, which is full Sanctification in Heaven, when there will be no more need to pray for further Sanctification.
Ʋſe. Hath Chriſt thus merited, and pray'd for Sanctification? Then know, Chriſt hath done nothing to encourage prophane and ungodly men: Chriſt died not, neither is he a Redeemer or Saviour, but to ſuch who are made holy. This may amaze and aſtoniſh all ſuch, as divide the effects of Chriſts death, yea and divide Chriſt himſelfe; They look upon him, as a Saviour, but not as a Sanctifier; They would have his blood to waſh away the puniſhment of their ſinnes, but not the filth and pollution of them: Oh let the ungodly know, They ſet up an Idol-Chriſt; There is no ſuch Christ as pardoneth, but ſanctifieth not alſo! Come then more earneſtly to be healed of thy ſoul-pollution, then they did of bodily diſeaſes.