A Body of Practical Divinity, Sermon 42
Of PERSEVERANCE.
1 Pet. 1.5.
Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation.
THE Fifth and Last Fruit of Sanctification, is Perseverance in Grace. The Heavenly Inheritance is kept for the Saints, 1 Pet. 1.4. and they are kept to the Inheritance in my Text, Who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation. The Apostle asserts a Saints stability and permanency in Grace. The Saints Perseverance is much oppugned by Papists and Arminians, but it is not the less true because it is opposed. A Christians main Comfort depends upon this Doctrin of Perseverance; take away this, and you much prejudice Religion, and cut the Sinews of all chearful Endeavours. Before I come to the full handling and discussing this great point, let me first clear the Sense of it, which I shall first do by way of Concession or Grant. When I say Believers do persevere, First I grant that such as are so only in Possession, may fall away, 2 Tim. 4.10. Demas hath forsaken us. Blazing Comets soon Evaporate. A Building on Sand will fall, Mat. 7.26. Seeming Grace may be lost; no wonder to see a Bough fall from the Tree that is only tied on. Hypocrites are only tied on to Christ by an External Profession, they are not ingrafted. Who ever thought artificial motion would hold long? The Hypocrites motion is only Artificial not Vital. All Blossoms do not ripen into Fruit. Secondly, I grant, that if Believers were left to stand upon their own Legs, they might fall finally. Some of the Angels who were Stars full of Light and Glory, yet did actually lose their Grace; and if those pure Angels fell from Grace, much more would the Godly who have so much Sin to betray them, if they were not upheld by a Superior Power. 3. I grant, true Believers, though they do not fall away actually; and lose all their Grace, yet their Grace may fail in the degree, and they may make a great Breach upon their Sanctification. Grace may be moritura, not mortua, dying but not dead, Rev. 3.2. Strengthen the things which are ready to dye. Grace may be like Fire in the Embers, though not quenched, yet the Flame is gone out. This decay of Grace I shall shew in two particulars. 1. The lively actings of Grace may be suspended, Rev. 2.4. Thou hast left thy first love. Grace may be like a sleepy Habit; the Godly may act faintly in Religion, the pulse of their Affections may beat low. The wise Virgins slumbred, Matt. 25.5. The Exercise of Grace may be hindred; as when the course of Water is stop'd and doth not run. 2. Instead of Grace exercising in the Godly, Corruption may exercise; instead of Patience, Murmuring; instead of Heavenliness, Earthliness. How did Pride put forth it self in the Disciples, when they strove who should be greatest? How did Lust put forth in David? Thus lively and vigorous may Corruption be in the Regenerate; they may fall into Enormous Sins. But though all this be granted, yet they do not, penitus excidere, fall away finally from Grace. David did not quite lose his Grace, for then why did he pray, Take not away thy Holy Spirit from me? He had not quite lost the Spirit. As Eutiches when he fell from a Window, Acts 20. and all thought he was dead, No, saith Paul, there is Life in him: So David fell foully, but there was the Life of Grace in him: Though the Saints may come to that pass they have but little Faith, yet not to have no Faith: Though their Grace may be drawn low, yet not drawn dry: Though Grace may be abated, not abolished; though the wise Virgins slumbred, yet their Lamps were not quite gone out. Grace, when it is at the lowest, shall revive and flourish, as when Sampson had lost his strength, his Hair grew again, and he renewed his strength. Having thus explained the Proposition, I come now to the amplifying this great Doctrin of the Saints Perseverance.
Quest. 1. By what means do Christians come to persevere?
Resp. 1. By the Manuduction and help of Ordinances, Prayer, Word, Sacraments. Christians do not arrive at Perseverance, when they sit still and do nothing. It is not with us as with Passengers in a Ship, who are carried to the end of their Voyage, and they sit still in the Ship; or as it is with Noble-men, who have their Rents brought in without their Toyl or Labour; but we arrive at Salvation in the use of Means; as a Man comes to the end of a Race by running, to a Victory by fighting, Matt. 26.41. Watch and Pray. As Paul said, Acts 27.31. Except ye abide in the Ship ye cannot be saved. Believers shall come to shore at last, arrive at Heaven, but Except they abide in the Ship, viz. in the use of the Ordinances, they cannot be saved. The Ordinances cherish Grace; as they beget Grace, so they are the Breast-Milk by which it is nourished and preserved to Eternity.
2. Auxilio Spiritus, By the Sacred Influence and Concurrence of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is continually at work in the Heart of a Believer, to carry on Grace to Perseverance; it drops on fresh Oyl to keep the Lamp of Grace burning. The Spirit excites, strengthens, encreaseth Grace, and makes a Christian go from one step of Faith to another, till he comes to the end of his Faith, Salvation, 1 Pet. 1.9. It is a fine Expression of the Apostle, 2 Tim. 1.14. The Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. He who dwells in an House keeps the House in repair; the Spirit dwelling in a Believer, keeps Grace in repair. Grace is compar'd to a River of the Water of Life, Iohn 7.38. This River can never be dried up, because Gods Spirit is a Spring which continually feeds it.
3. Grace is carried on to Perseverance by Christs daily Intercession. As the Spirit is at work in the Heart, so is Christ at work in Heaven. Christ is ever praying that the Saints Grace may hold out, Iohn 17.11. Conserva illos, Father keep those whom thou hast given me; keep them as Stars in their Orb, keep them as Jewels, that they may not be lost. Father keep them. That Prayer Christ made for Peter, was the Copy of his Prayer he now makes for Believers, Luke 22.32. I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not, foreign, that it be not totally eclipsed: How can the Children of such Prayers perish?
Quest. 2. By what Arguments may we prove the Saints Perseverance?
Resp. 1. A veritate Dei, from the Truth of God. God hath both asserted it and promised it. 1. God hath asserted it, 1 Iohn 3.9. His Seed remaineth in him, 1 Iohn 2.27. The anointing ye have received of him abideth in you. 2. As God hath asserted it, so he hath promised it: The Truth of God, the most Orient Pearl of his Crown, is laid a Pawn in the Promise, Iohn 10.28. I give unto them eternal Life, and they shall never perish. Jer. 32.42. I will make an everlasting Covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my Fear in their Hearts, that they shall not depart from me. God will so love his People, that he will not forsake them; and they shall so fear him that they shall not forsake him. If a Believer should not persevere, God should break his Promise, Hos. 2.19. I will betroth thee unto me for ever, in righteousness and loving kindness. God doth not Marry his People to himself, and then Divorce them; he hates putting away, Mal. 2.16. Gods love tyes the Marriage Knot so fast, that neither Death nor Hell can break it asunder.
2. The second Argument is, à potentia Dei, from the Power of God. In the Text we are kept by the Power of God unto Salvation; every Person in the Trinity hath an hand in making a Believer persevere. God the Father establisheth, 2 Cor. 1.21. God the Son confirms, 1 Cor. 1.8. God the Holy Ghost Seals, Eph. 1.13. so that it is the power of God keeps us. Alas, we are not kept by our own power. The Pelagians held, That Man by his own power might overcome Temptation and persevere. But St. Austin confutes them, Man (saith he) prays unto God for Perseverance, which would be absurd if he had power of himself to persevere. And saith St. Austin, If all the power be inherent in a Mans self, then why should not one persevere as well as another? why not Judas as well as Peter? So that it is not by any other than the power of God that we are kept: As the Lord preserved Israel from perishing in the Wilderness till he brought them to Canaan; the same care will he take, if not in a miraculous, yet a spiritual, invisible manner, in preserving his People in a state of Grace, till he brings them to the Celestial Canaan. As the Heathens feigned of Atlas, That he did bear up the Heavens from falling: The power of God is that Atlas which bears up the Saints from falling. It is disputed whether Grace of it self may not perish, (as Adam's) yet sure I am, Grace kept by the power of God cannot perish.
3. The third Argument is taken ab Electione, from Gods electing Love; such as God hath from all Eternity elected to Glory, cannot fall away finally; but every true Believer is elected to Glory, ergo, he cannot fall away. Wat can frustrate Election, or make Gods Decree void? This Argument stands like Mount Sion which cannot be moved. Insomuch that some of the Papists hold, that such who have absolute Election cannot fall away, 2 Tim. 2.19. The Foundation of God stands sure, having this Seal, The Lord knows them that are his. The Foundation of God is nothing else, but Gods Decree in Election; and this stands sure, God will not alter it, others cannot.
4. The fourth Argument is taken, Ab Unione cum Christo, from Believers Union with Christ. They are knit to Christ, as the Members to the Head by the Nerve and Ligament of Faith, so that they cannot be broken off, Eph. 5.23. What was once said of Christ's Natural Body, is true of his Mystical, a Bone of it shall not be broken. As it is not possible to sever the Leaven and the Dough, when they are once mingled and kneaded together; so it is impossible, when Christ and Believers are once united, ever to be separated: Christ and his Members make one Christ. Now is it possible that any part of Christ should perish? How can Christ lose any Member of his Body Mystical and be perfect? In short, Si unus excidat quare non & alter? If one Believer may be broken off from Christ, then by the same Rule why not another? Why not all? And so Christ should be an Head without a Body.
5. The fifth Argument is taken, ab Emptione, from the Nature of a Purchase. A Man will not lay down his Mony for a Purchase which may be lost, and the Fee-simple alienated. Christ died that he might purchase us as a People to himself for ever, Heb. 9.12. Having obtained eternal Redemption for us. Would Christ (think we) have shed his Blood, that we might believe in him for a while, and then fall away? Do we think Christ will lose his Purchase?
6. The sixth Argument is, A Victoria supra mundum, from a Believers Victory over the World. The Argument stands thus, He who overcomes the World doth persevere in Grace; but a Believer doth overcome the World, ergo, he perseveres in Grace, 1 Iohn 5.4. This is the Victory over the World, even your Faith. A Man may lose a single Battle in the Field, yet at last win the Victory. A Child of God may be foild in a single Battle against Temptation (as Peter was) but at last he is Victorious. Now if a Saint be crowned Victor, if the World be conquered by him, he must needs persevere. I come next to answer some Objections of the Arminians.
1. The first Objection of the Arminians is, If a Believer shall persevere in Grace, then to what purpose are all those Admonitions in Scripture, Let him take heed lest he fall, 1 Cor. 10 12. and Heb. 4.1. Let us fear lest any of you seem to come short. These Admonitions seem to be Superfluous and Vain, if a Saint shall certainly persevere.
Answ. No, these Counsels and Admonitions are necessary to Caution Believers against Carelesness; they are as Goads and Spurs to quicken them to a greater Diligence in working out Salvation. These Admonitions do not imply the Saints can fall away, but they are Preservatives to keep them from falling away. Christ told some of his Disciples they should abide in him, yet he exhorts them to abide in him, Iohn 15. His exhorting them was not in the least to question their abiding in him, but to awaken their Diligence, and make them pray the harder that they might abide in him.
2. The second Objection is, Heb. 6.4. it is impossible for those who were once enlightned, and have tasted of the Heavenly Gift, and were made Partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have felt the Powers of the World to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again to Repentance.
Answ. This place of Scripture hath no Force in it; for the Apostle here speaks of Hypocrites, he shews how far they may go, yet fall way. 1. They who were once enlightned.] Men may have great Illuminations, yet fall away. Was not Iudas enlightned? 2. They have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost.] The common Gifts of the Spirit, not the special Grace. 3. They have tasted the good word of God.] Tasting here is opposed to Eating; the Hypocrite may have a kind of Taste of the sweetness of Religion, but this taste doth not nourish. There is a great deal of difference between one that takes a Gargle, and a Cordial: The Gargle only washeth his Mouth, he tasts it, and puts it out again; but a Cordial is drank down, which nourisheth and cheers the Spirits. The Hypocrite, who hath only some smack or taste of Religion (as one tasts a Gargle) may fall away. 4. And have felt the powers of the World to come.] That is, they may have such Apprehensions of the Glory of Heaven, as to be affected with it, and seem to have some joy in the thoughts of it, yet fall away; as in the Parable of the stony ground, Matt. 13.20. All this is spoken of the Hypocrite; but it doth not therefore prove, that the true Believer, who is effectually wrought upon, can fall away. Though Comets fall, it doth not therefore follow that true Stars fall: That this Scripture speaks not of sound Believers, is clear from Verse 9. But we are perswaded better things of you, and things that accompany Salvation.