Sermons Volume 1, Sermon 2
True Happiness, &c.
REV. xxii. 14.
Blessed are they that do his Commandments, that they may have Right to the Tree of Life, and may enter through the Gates into the City.
THese Words which I have now read, consist of these Two Parts:
First, A Proposition. And,
Secondly, A Proof of this Proposition.
First, A Proposition,Division of the Words. in these Words, that They that do God's Commandments, are blessed.
Secondly, Here is the Proof of this Proposition, in these Words, that They have a Right to the Tree of Life, and shall enter through the Gates into the City.
It is the Connection of both these together, that I intend chiefly to speak unto. Only give me leave, as a Preliminary to the ensuing Discourse, to shew you what is contained in the first and great Word in my Text; and that is, the Word Blessed.
There is therefore, a Twofold Beatitude, or Blessedness: The One is perfect and consummate; the Other initial and incompleat. The former is the Complection of all Good perfective of our Natures, and our entire and satisfying Enjoyment of it. This Blessedness now is only attainable in Heaven; for God alone is the Centre of all Good, and all the Good that is desirable in this World, are but so many Lines drawn from the Centre, to the utmost Circumference of the Creation. There is nothing that can supply the Wants, perform the Hopes, fulfil the Desires, without Confinement circumscribe, without cloying satisfie the most enlarged Capacities of a Rational Soul, but only that God who is infinitely, universally, and indefectively good; and therefore he alone is our objective Happiness: and our formal Happiness is our Relation to, and Union with this All-comprehensive and Incomprehensible Good. Our Assimilation to him, and Participation from him, of all those Perfections which our Natures are capable of enjoying, but our Understandings not now capable of knowing. But this consummate Blessedness, is reserved for our unknown Reward hereafter, and is not that which my Text here speaks of.
There is therefore an imperfect and initial Blessedness, which consists in a Preparation for, and a Tendency unto the other: As those are … be accursed, whose Sins … prepare them for Eterna … so those likewise are … blessed, whose Grace and Holiness prepare them for Eternal Bliss and Happiness.
Now such as these are blessed in a Fourfold Respect.Such a… do God's Commandments, are blessed in Four Respects.
First, They are blessed, in Semine, in the Seed: They go forth bearing precious Seed, In the Seed.and shall doubtless rejoyce in a plentifull Harvest: So the Psalmist tells us, Psal. 97.11.Psal. 97.11. Light is sown for the Righteous, and Gladness for the Upright in Heart. And though they often appear Clods of Earth ploughed up, harrowed, and broken with Affliction; yet is there that blessed Seed cast into them, that will certainly sprout up to Immortality, and Eternal Life, as all the Beauties of a Flower lie couched in a small unsightly Seed: And so truly Grace is Glory in the Seed; and Glory is but Grace full blown.
Secondly, They are blessed in primitiis, in the First-Fruits.In the First-Fruits. They have already received some part of their Eternal Felicity, in the Graces and Consolations of the Holy Ghost; which are therefore called the First-Fruits of the Spirit, Rom. 8.23.by the Apostle, Rom. 8.23. and the Earnest of the Spirit, 2 Cor. 1.22.2 Cor. 1.22. and the Earnest of our Inheritance, Ephes 1.14.Ephes. 1.14. Now, as the Earnest is always part of the Bargain, and the First-Fruits are always of the same kind with the whole Harvest, so is it here; the Graces and Comforts of the Holy Ghost, are the very same now, that they shall be in Heaven it self: And therefore the Apostle blesseth God, Ephes. 1.3.who hath blessed us with spiritual Blessings in heavenly Things in Christ. Better indeed they shall be in Heaven, but not other. Here our Graces often languish under the Load and Pressure of Corruption, but in Heaven they shall be for ever vigorous and triumphant: Here our Waters of Comfort often fail us, our Cistern is often dried up, and our Bottle spent; but in Heaven we shall for ever lie at the Fountain of Living Waters, and take in Divine Communications, as they immediately flow from the Divine Essence, without having them deadned or flatted in the Conveyance. But yet, both by these imperfect Graces and Comforts, we do truly and properlyenjoy God; the Enjoyment of whom in any measure is Happiness, but in the highest measure is Heaven it self. If therefore the Mass and Lump be Blessedness, the First-Fruits must be blessed also.
Thirdly, Blessed in Hope. Titus 2.13.They are blessed in Spe, in Hope; whence it is called by the Apostle, That blessed Hope. A blessed Hope it is, because that which we hope for is Eternal Blessedness. The Hope of worldly Things is commonly more tormenting, than the Enjoyment of them can be satisfying. It is an Hope that vitiates and deflowers its Object, and so mightily Over-rates them in the Fancy, that when they come to pass, our Hope is rather frustrated than accomplished: And were it not for that Impatience, which is the constant Attendant of this Hope, it would be a Problem hard to be resolved, whether Expectation or Fruition were the more eligible Estate. Vain therefore and wretched must needs be the Hopes of those things, which cannot answer what is expected from them; like a Golden Dream to a Beggar, or the Dream of a furnish'd Table to one that is hungerstarv'd. But now the Hopes of Heaven can never impoverish the Glories of it, for they are infinite and inexhaustible; and God hath laid up for his, that which the Heart of Man cannot conceive.
A Christian's Hope hath Two Prerogatives above any worldly Hope.Two Properties of a Christian's Hope
One is, That it may attain to a full and final Assurance, as the Apostle speaks to the Hebrews; where he calls it,Heb. 6.11. The full Assurance of Hope unto the End. An Hope it is, because the Object of it is a future Good desired and expected. But yet it is an Hope that is joined with a full Assurance of the Event; an Hope that may flower up into such a Certainty, as to have no Mixture of Fear or Doubting in its Composition; but may be as sure of the Heavenly Inheritance, as if our Reversion were already in actual Possession: Whereas Worldly Hope can never be secure, but some Providence or other may interpose, to disappoint it.
The other Prerogative of a Christian's Hope, is, that though it be thus fully assured, yet the Accomplishment of it shall always have the sweet Relish of Surprize and Wonder; for the Happiness will be far greater than the Hope, and the Inheritance larger than the Expectation; whereas Earthly Hopes, if they grow to any degree of Confidence of Success, upon Frustration they turn into Impatience and Rage: Or if perhaps they do succeed, the Sweetness of the Accomplishment was long before suck'd out and devoured by our greedy Expectation; the Game is torn and eaten, before the Hunts-man can come in. And upon both these Accounts, the pious and obedient Christian is blessed in Hope: It is a blessed Hope that shall certainly be accomplished; and a blessed Hope, the accomplishing of which shall infinitely exceed our Expectations, and fill us, not with Shame, but Eternal Admiration and Wonder.
Fourthly, They are blessed in Right and Title: Blessed in Right.And upon this very Account especially my Text pronounceth those blessed that do God's Commandments, because they have a Right to the Tree of Life, and to enter in through the Gates into the City.
Now these Expressions, according to the Genius and Style of this whole Book, are mystical and allusive; and for the explaining of them I must shew,
First, What the Tree of Life is.
Secondly, What is this City, into which they have a Right to enter.
Thirdly, What it is to enter through the Gates into the City.
Fourthly, What Right it is which Obedience to God's Commandments gives us to the Tree of Life, and to enter into the City.
For the First of these, What this Tree of Life is?What the Tree of Life is.
I answer, We find Mention made of this Tree of Life in Two other places of this dark Prophecy; the one is in Ver. 2. of this Chapter: Rev. 22.2.On either Side of the River was there the Tree of Life, which bare twelve manner of Fruits, and yielded her Fruit every Month; and the Leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the Nations. But this, very probably, may be only an Enigmatical Representation of the Doctrine of the Gospel; let us then consult the other place, where Mention is made of this Tree of Life, and that is in Rev. 2.7. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life, that is in the midst of the Paradise of God. Now this carries a plain Allusion to that Description of the Earthly Paradise of which we read, Gen. 2.9. where it is said,Gen. 2.9. God planted the Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden. Now this Tree of Life was so called, not that it had any natural Vertue to perpetuate Man's Life to Immortality, but only from its typical and sacramental Use; God having appointed the Eating thereof as a Sign and Pledge of our Immortality, had we continued in our Innocency and Obedience. And therefore we find, that upon the Fall, God set a Guard upon this Tree, and as it were excommunicates sinful Adam from partaking of this Sacrament of the Covenant of Works, which was both a Sign and Seal of Immortality; signifying thereby, that Sinners have no Right to Eternal Life, according to the Terms of the first Covenant: But this Right being again restored to us by Jesus Christ, therefore they are pronounced blessed that do God's Commandments, because they have a Right to the Tree of Life; that is, to that Eternal Life and Immortality which is brought to light by the Gospel, and to which the Tree of Life in Paradise was a Sacrament and Emblem.
Secondly, Let us enquire what is this City, What is meant by City.into which those that do God's Commandments shall enter? and we have a most large and glorious Description made of it in Chap. 21. of this Book, from Ver. 10. to the end of the Chapter. and, in brief, it is nothing else but Heaven; …the New Jerusalem, that holy City, the City of the Living God, into which no unclean thing shall enter. …For without are Dogs, and Sorcerers, and Whore-mongers, and Idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a Lye.
Thirdly, What is it to enter through the Gates into this City?What it is to enter through the Gates into the City.
I answer, Though in the foregoing Chapter this City is described to have twelve Gates, and in them the Names of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, to signifie to us, that through the Grace of the Gospel, there is a Passage and an Inlet into Heaven for all those that are true Israelites; yet, in true propriety of Speech, there is but one Way, and but one Gate to Heaven: Yea, and our Saviour tells us, that Way is narrow, and that Gate is strait; for so we find his Words;Matth. 7.14. Strait is the Gate, and narrow is the Way, that leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it. The Commandments of God are this Gate to the Heavenly City, and the two Tables of the Law are the two Leaves of this Gate, through which every one must pass, that hopes to be admitted into the New Jerusalem. And although David seems to make this Gate very large, when he tells us, Thy Commandments are exceeding broad; Psal. 119.96.yet that is only to be understood concerning the Authority of its Injunctions, not of the Liberty of its Indulgence. It is exceeding broad in the Extent of its preceptive Power, for it prescribes Rules to all our Thoughts, Words, and Actions, and to every Circumstance of each; but it is exceeding narrow and strait in the Scope and Allowance that it gives us; that as soon may a Camel go through the Eye of a Needle, as we pass through this Gate with the Burthen of one unmortified Lust, or one unrepented Sin.
But why is it said That those that do God's Commandments may enter through the Gates into the City? Quest. Can any enter in as a Thief, or a Robber, over the Wall? Or can any, as an Enemy, scale those Eternal Ramparts, and take it by Invasion?
I answer: This is so expressed, Answ. to denote the free Access and Admission of those into Heaven, who are careful to obey the Commandments of God upon Earth: Such as these are freeborn Citizens of Heaven; their whole Estate, their whole Traffick, all their Treasure and Livelihood is laid up there; they are free Denizens by the Charter of the New Covenant, they may challenge Ingress as their Right and Due; and he who hath the Keys of David,Rev. 3.7. who openeth and no Man shutteth, and shutteth and no Man openeth, opens the Door to these, and lets them into those Eternal Mansions, which he hath purchased and prepared for them.
The Fourth and last Query to be enquired into, What Right Obedience giveth to the Tree of Life, and to the Heavenly City.is concerning that Right which Obedience to God's Commands gives us unto this Tree of Life, and to this Heavenly City; that is, to Eternal Life and Glory. Now here I shall branch out this Query into Two; and so I shall shew you,
I. What that Obedience is, which gives us a Right to Heaven.
II. What that Right is,What that Obedience is that is mentioned in the Text. that this Obedience doth confirm.
I. What that Obedience is, which gives us a Right to Heaven.
I answer: It is not a Legal Obedience, Not Legal Obedience.or a perfect personal Righteousness, that now gives us this Right to Heaven; this is very plain, because to constitute this, it is necessary that there be both Original Purity in our Natures, which since the Fall is miserably vitiated and corrupted; and also a Sinless Perfection in our Lives, in the constant Observation of every Iota of the Law, both as to its Extention, and Intention; that we obey it in every part and tittle of it, and that our Obedience unto every part be raised to the highest degree of Love, Zeal, and Charity. This Title was once good, but it is now lost, by the Fall, in the common Ruine and Rubbish of Mankind; and he who hath not another Title, upon better and easier Terms, will find Cherubims, and the Flaming Sword of Divine Justice, set to guard the Tree of Life from his Approaches; as once they did from guilty Adam.
II. There is therefore another Obedience which gives a Right unto the Tree of Life; It is Evangelical Obedience.and that is an Evangelical Obedience; which, according to the Grace, Condescension, and Equity of the Gospel, shall be accepted unto, and rewarded with Everlasting Happiness. Now this Evangelical Obedience consists not indeed in Innocency and Perfection, but in sincere Desires, and proportionable Endeavours after it; when we strive to the utmost to live holily, and to walk more strictly with God, according to the Rules that he hath prescribed us in his holy Word: And it consists of Two Parts; Mortification of our corrupt and sinful Affections, whereby we die daily unto Sin: And the Spiritual Penovation, and Quickning of our Graces, whereby we increase daily in spiritual Strength, and make farther Progresses in Holiness and true Piety. And as it consists of these Two Parts, so hath it also these two Adjuncts.
1. The one is, True Repentance for our past Sins, reflecting upon them with Shame and Hatred, confessing and bewailing them with Sorrow and Contrition, and endeavouring, with all Earnestness and Sincerity, to abstain from the Commission of the like for the future.
2. The other is, A True and Lively Faith, whereby we rely on the Blood and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ, for the Remission of our Sins; and upon his perfect Righteousness, and prevalent Intercession for the Acceptation and Reward of our imperfect Obedience.
Whosoever doth thus sincerely do the Commandments of God, universally and constantly, with his whole Strength and Mind, as though he expected to be saved by the Merits of his own Works; and yet, after all, doth so entirely rely on the Merits of Jesus Christ for Salvation, as though he had never done any thing: He it is, and he alone, who hath this Right unto the Tree of Eife, and shall enter through the Gates into the Heavenly City. For he doth his Commandments out of a sincere Love; and God, who is Love, will own his Sincerity.
Secondly, I come now to consider what that Right is,What Right Obedience gives to Eternal Life. which this Evangelical Obedience, or doing the Commands of the I aw, according to the Favour and Mercy of the Gospel, doth confer upon us, by virtue of which we may assuredly expect Eternal Life. And here,
I. It cannot be a Right of Purchace, or Merit. Not a Right of Purchace.It is a foolish Presumption, and intollerable Arrogance, to think we can deserve any thing at the hands of God, unless it be his Wrath by our Sins. For,
1. In all proper Merit there must be an Equivalence,In Merit there must be an Equivalence. or at least a proportion of Worth between the Work, and the Reward: Which to imagine between our Obedience, and the Heavenly Glory, is to exalt the one infinitely too high, and to abase the other infinitely too low. What proportion is there between a Cup of cold Water given to a Disciple of Christ, and that Ocean of Everlasting Joy and Pleasure, which shall be the Reward of it? A Man might more reasonably expect to buy Stars with Counters, or to purchaseaKingdom with Two Mites, than think to purchase the Heavenly Kingdom by paying down his Duties, and good Works, which are no way profitable unto God,Job 22.3. (For is it any Pleasure to the Almighty that thou art righteous; or is it any Gain unto him, that thou makest thy Way perfect?) and bear no more proportion to the infinite Glory of Heaven, than a single Cypher doth to the numberless Sands of the Sea.
2. The very Grace that enables us to do the Commandments of God,Grace to obey is given freely. is freely bestowed upon us by himself; and therefore the Obedience we perform unto him, merely by his own Assistance, cannot be said (without a grand Impropriety) to merit any Reward from him. Such kind of Merit is but an idle and frivolous pretence: For certainly, he who gives me Money to buy an Estate of him, doth as freely give me that Estate, as if I had never bought it of him, but he had immediately bestowed the Land upon me, and not the Summ of Moncy.
3. All our Obedience is imperfect, and therefore,All our Obedience is imperfect. if it deserve any thing, it is only Punishment for the Defects and Failures of it. This Coin is not currant, this Metal is base and adulterated, the King's Stamp defaced and obliterated, the Edges clip'd, and the Superscription, which should be on both sides Holiness to the Lord, is on the Reverse at least, A Sacrifice to Hypocrisie, Formality, and Vain-Glory; and therefore this counterfeit and base Alloy will not pass for Purchase-Money; and had it what it deserves, it would be melted down in the Furnace of Hell.
4. Suppose it were perfect, which it is not,Obedience is due from us. yet is it no more than our bounden Duty; and Duty can never be meritorious. We are bound by the Law of Nature, and, as we are Creatures who have received our Beings, and the Continuance and Preservation of them from God, to employ our selves faithfully and assiduously in his Service; and if, for our greater Encouragement therein, he hath promised, and will bestow upon us a vast and unconceivable Reward, we must attribute it wholly to the Supererogation of his free Bounty; for without this, all our Services were due to him before.Luk. 17.9, 10. Thus our Saviour tells us, Doth the Master thank the Servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye; when you shall have done all those things that are commanded you, say, (not in a complemental way, but with Truth and Sincerity) we are unprofitable Servants, we have but done that which was our Duty to do. And therefore certainly, if we cannot deserve Thanks, much less can we deserve so ample a Reward as Eternal Life: And therefore those that think to purchase Heaven and Eternal Life by doing that which is not commanded, nor their Duty, will find a fearful Disappointment of their presumptuous Hopes, when they shall hear that sad Greeting, Who hath required these things at your hands?
This Right then of Merit and Purchase is excluded, and no Man can have a Right to Heaven upon the Account of the Worth and Value of his Works.
There is therefore a Threefold Right which they that do the Commandments of God, Athreefold Right to Heaven.have to Heaven, and Eternal Happiness.
1. They have a Right of Evidence.
2. They have a Right of Inheritance.
3. They have a Right of Promise.
1. Obedience to God's Commandments gives us a Right of Evidence to Eternal Life.A Right of Evidence. He is judged to have the best Right to an Estate, who can produce the best Evidence for it. Now the best Evidence that can be shewn for Heaven, is our unfeigned Obedience: All other things that Men may rely upon to justifie their Title, will prove but forged Deeds, to which only the Spirit of Presumption or Enthusiasm hath set his Seal, and not the Spirit of God; and therefore we find how miserably the Confidence of those Wretches were dismounted, and their Hopes frustrated, who came with Lord, Lord, Matth. 7.22.Have we not prophesied in thy Name, and in thy Name cast out Devils, and in thy Name have done many wonderful Works? All this may be, and yet be no good Title, no good Evidence for Heaven; for if those who cast out Devils, have not cast out their Lusts; if those who prophesie in his Name, by their Sins dishonour and blaspheme that Name; if those who are Workers of Miracles, are yet Workers of Iniquity, he professeth against them, that he knows them not; and commands them to depart from him for ever, as Workers of Iniquity; Matth. 7, 22, 23.whereas on the contrary, we find a joyful and blessed Sentence pronounced upon others, according to the Evidence brought in for them by their good Works; so our Lord himself tells us, Come ye Blessed of my Father, Matth. 25.30.inherit the Kingdom prepared for you: for I was hungry, and ye gave me Meat; for I was thirsty, and yet gave me Drink; a Stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye cloathed me; sick and in Prison, and ye visited me. This Particle [For] is not a Note of Causality or Merit, but only of Evidence; for as Evidences prove our Right to our Possessions, so likewise our Obedience and good Works do effectually prove the Right which we have to Eternal Life, through Christ's Purchase, and God's free Donation; and therefore the Evidence being clear, the Sentence must in Equity proceed accordingly. God, as a just and righteous Judge, instates them in the Possession of the Kingdom of Heaven, because they visited, and relieved, and cherished his Son in his Members: Not that their Love to him, or their Charity to them purchased any such Right; but only proves and evinceth it: It is not the Cause of their Justification, but a Reason why God declares them justified; as the Deeds which I produce are the Reason why an Estate is adjudged mine, though the Cause of my Title to it be either my own Purchase, or another's Gift. As therefore those are said to have no Right nor Title to what they pretend, who can shew no Evidence for it; so those who obey not the holy Will and Commands of God, have no Right to the Tree of Life, because they have no Evidence to shew, nor no Plea to urge for it, but will certainly be cast in their Suit.
2. Those that do God's Commandments have a Right of Heirship, and Inheritance unto Eternal Life; A Right of Helrship.for they are born of God, and therefore Heaven is their Patrimony, their Paternal Estate; for so are the Words of the Apostle,1 Joh 2.29. Every one that doth Righteousness, is born of God: And if they are born of God, then, according to the Apostle's Argumentation,Rom. 8.17. If Children, then Heirs, Heirs of God, and Joint Heirs with Christ, who is the Heirof all things. The Trial of thy Legitimation, whether thou art a true and genuine Son of God, will lie upon thy Obedience to his Commands; For in this, 1 Joh. 3.9.10.says the Apostle, the Children of God are manifest, and the Children of the Devil: Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit Sin; and whosoever doth not Righteousness, is not of God. Now if by our Obedience and Dutifulness it appears that we are indeed the Children of God, our Father will certainly give us a Child's Portion, and that is no less than a Kingdom. So saith our Saviour,Luk. 12.32. Fear not, little Flock; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.
3. A Right of Promise.Those that do God's Commandments have a Right to Eternal Life, by Promise and Stipulation; and therefore it is called Eternal Life, Tit. 1.2.which God that cannot lie hath promised. Indeed, the whole Tenour of the Gospel is nothing else but the Exhibition of this Promise, and a Comment upon it. This is the Summ of the Gospel, the Terms of the Covenant, the Indenture made between God and Man;Matth. 19.17. If thou wilt enter into Life, says our Saviour, keep the Commandments. And in another place our Lord tells us,Matth. 7.21. Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven.
And thus you see what Right it is, that Obedience to the Commands of God gives us to Eternal Life: A Right of Evidence, a Right of Heirship, and a Right of Promise.
But, Object. may some say, Is not this again to establish the antiquated Covenant of Works; Do this, and live? And doth not this abolish the Law of Faith, He that believeth shall be saved? Is it not the Office of Faith alone to convey unto us a Right and Title unto Eternal Life?
I answer, Answer. No, it doth no prejudice unto Faith; for we still affirm, that our original and fundamental Right to Heaven is grounded, not upon our Obedience, but Christ's; not upon our Works, but upon his; his Merits and Purchase, which, through Faith, are imparted and imputed to us. Yet give me leave to say, that I think the Notion of Justifying and Saving Faith is very much, if not generally mistaken by us: And as the Soul is the most noble, and most vital Principle of Man, and yet is most unknown to him what it is, and how it operates; so Faith, which is the vital Principle of Christians, and by which the Just are said to live, is yet most unknown, both as to its Nature and Operations, unto the Generality of them: Some place it in Assurance, some in Affiance and Recumbence; some in one Act of Faith, and some in another; which are either the Effects of Faith as true, or the Degrees of it as strong, rather than the proper and adequate Nature and Essence of it; and then they mightily puzzle themselves how to accord and reconcile Faith and Obedience in carrying on the great Work of our Salvation, which yet were never at a variance about it, but only in their mistaken Hypothesis: For what is Faith, but an Assent to a Testimony? The very force and import of the Word can carry no other Sense: And he that saith he believes, must needs mean he believes some Record or Testimony; or else he speaks that which neither himself, nor any other can understand. Consequently therefore a Divine Faith must be an Assent to a Divine Testimony; that is, to the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures. But now if this Faith rest only in a bare and naked Assent to the Truth of Divine Revelation, it is but Historical and Dogmatical; which, though it be a Divine Faith in respect of the Objects believed, yet is it but Humane and Natural in respect of its Principle and Motives. But when this Assent to the Truths of the Scripture is joined with proportionable Affections to those Truths, and doth excite us to Actions conformable to the Discoveries of the Divine Will, there this Faith is Justifying and Saving. And certainly this is not so very distant from Obedience, as to be thought hardly reconcileable with it. As for Instance, A Man may give a bare Assent to this great Gospel-Truth, that Jesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners, and yet this Faith may not save him, because it may be unoperative, and pass no farther than the Act of the Understanding: This is a dead Faith, which can never bring any Man to Heaven; yea, such a Faith as the very Devils, Jam. 2.19.and Damned Spirits in Hell have, who believe and tremble. Another Man believes the same Truth, and assents to the same Proposition; but this his Assent influenceth his Affections, and governs his Actions, in Conformity to the Nature and Consequences of such a Belief: And because he is assured that Jesus Christ came into the World to be the Saviour of it, therefore he loves him, trusts in him, relies upon him, hopes in his Promises, and obeys his Commands. And this,What Saving Faith is. indeed, is a true Saving, Justifying Faith; for Saving Faith is a firm Assent unto the Truths of God revealed in the holy Scriptures, working in us proportionable Affections and Actions. He who so believes the Glory of Heaven, as to have his Endeavours thereby quickned to use his utmost Diligence for the obtaining of it: He who so believes the Torments of Hell, as thereby to be terrified from doing any thing that might expose him to so great and fearful a Condemnation: He who so believes the Attributes of God, as thereby to be excited to fear him for his Greatness, to love him for his Goodness, to imitate him in his Bounty, Purity, and Holiness: He who so believes the All-sufficiency, Merits, and Mediatory Office of Jesus Christ, as thereby to be engaged with all his Soul to love him, to trust in him, to rely upon him alone for Salvation, and to yield to him all sincere Obedience, as the Law requires; such an one's Faith is Saving and Justifying. So that you see there is no such Discord between Faith and Works, as some would imagine; for that Faith that saves us, must work by Love; Gal. 5.6.and those Works which capacitate us for Salvation, must be the Obedience of Faith, Rom. 16.26.as it is called, Rom. 16.26.
Now, Use. What is the End of all this, but to press you to true practical Holiness, and a strict Obedience to the Commandments of God? If I should go from one Person to another, and ask you one by one, Do you hope to be saved? Where is the Man that would not testifie the Confidence of his Hopes, by his Disdain at the Question? Yea, but remember that Salvation is a litigious Claim, and you have a powerful Adversary that puts in a strong Plea against you, even the Justice of God, and his Eternal Wrath and Vengeance; whose Title to us, were it but better weighed and considered, would wofully stagger the Hopes of most Men, and make their Faces gather Blackness, and smite their Hearts with Amazement, and their Knees with Trembling. In a Matter of such infinite Importance, it highly concerns us to examine our Right and Title, and to peruse and try our Evidences, lest at the Day of Trial we be cast in our Suit, and pay dreadful Damages unto the Justice of God.
Only those who do God's Commandments have this Right to the Tree of Life. Christ hath indeed purchased Salvation for all,Heb 5.19. but he is the Author of Salvation only to those who obey him, as the Author to the Hebrews speaks:Heb 2.14. And, Without Holiness no Man shall ever see the Lord. The Inheritance is indeed purchased, but where are your Evidences of your Heirship? Sirs, flatter not your selves with any vain Conceits of the Mercy of the Gospel, in prejudice to the Authority of the Law: The Commandments are the Statute-Law of God's Kingdom, the Gospel is his Court of Chancery; but neither Justice nor Equity will relieve those who have not done their utmost to observe his Statute-Law; and therefore those who indulge themselves in their Sloth, and wilful Neglect, both of what they ought, and might have done, do but deceive their Souls with vain Hopes; they have no Right to the Eternal Inheritance, but their Portion must for ever be with Dogs and Swine, without the holy City into which no unclean thing shall ever enter. And if any think this Legal Preaching, let mine ever be so.