Ten Sermons, Sermon 6
SERMON VI.
CHRIST, the Believer's Wiſdom, Righteouſneſs, Sanctification, and Redemption.
I COR. i. 30.
But of him are re in Chriſt Jeſus, who of God is made unto us, wiſdom, righteouſneſs, ſanctification, and redemption.
OF all the verſes in the book of God, this whi… I have now read to you, is, I believe, one of the moſt comprehenſive: What glad tidings does it bring to believers! What precious privileges are they herein inveſted with: How are they here led to the fountain of them all, I mean, the love, the everlaſting love of God the Father! "Of him are ye in Chriſt Jeſus, who of God is made unto us, wiſdom, righteouſneſs, ſanctification, and redemption."
Without referring you to the context, I ſhall from theſe words,
Firſt, Point out to you the fountain from which all thoſe bleſſings flow, which the elect of God partake of in Jeſus Chriſt, "who of God is made unto us." And,
Secondly, I ſhall conſider what theſe bleſſings are, "wiſdom, righteouſneſs, ſanctification, and redemption."
Firſt, I would point out to you the fountain from which all thoſe bleſſings flow, that the … of God partake of in Jeſus, "who of God is made unto us:" the Father, he it is who is ſpoken of here. Not as though Jeſus Chriſt was not God alſo; but God the Father is the fountain of the Deity; and, if we conſider Jeſus Chriſt acting as Mediator, God the Father is greater than he; there was an eternal contract between the Father and the Son: "I have made a covenant with my choſen, and I have ſworn unto David my ſervant;" now David was a type of Chriſt, with whom the Father made a covenant, that if he would obey and ſuffer, and make himſelf a ſacrifice for ſin, he ſhould "ſee his …eed, he ſhould prolong his days, and the pleaſure of the Lord ſhould proſper in his hands." This compact our Lord refers to, in that glorious prayer recorded in the 17th chap. of John; and therefore he prays for, or rather demands with a full aſſurance, all that were given to him by the Father: "Father, I will that they alſo whom thou haſt given me, be with me where I am." For this ſame reaſon the apoſtle breaks out in praiſes of God, even the Father of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt; for he loved the elect with an everlaſting love, or, as our Lord expreſſes it, "before the foundation of the world;" and therefore, to ſhew them to whom they were beholden for their ſalvation, our Lord, in the 25th of Matthew, repreſents himſelf, ſaying, "Come, ye bleſſed children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." And thus, in reply to the mother of Zebedee's children, he ſays, "It is not mine to give, but it ſhall be given to them for whom it is prepared of the Father." The apoſtle therefore, when here ſpeaking of the Chriſtian's privileges, leſt they ſhould ſacrifice to their own drag, or think their ſalvation was owing to their own faithfulneſs, or improvement of their own free-will, reminds them to look back on the everlaſting love of God the Father; "who of God is made unto us, &c."
Would to God, this part of doctrine was conſidered more, and people were more ſtudious of the covenant of redemption between the Father and the Son! we ſhould not then have ſo much diſputing againſt the doctrine of election, or hear it condemned (even by good men) as a doctrine of devils. For my own part, I cannot ſee how true humbleneſs of mind can be attained without a knowledge of it; and though I will not ſay, that every one who denies election is a bad man, yet I will ſay, with that ſweet ſinger, Mr. Trail, it is a very bad … ſuch a one, whoever he be, I think cannot truly know himſelf: for, if we deny election, we muſt, partly at leaſt, glory in ourſelves; but our redemption is ſo ordered, that no fleſh ſhould glory in the divine preſence; and hence it is, that the pride of man oppoſes this doctrine, becauſe according to this doctrine, and no other, "he that glories muſt glory only in the Lord." But what ſhall I ſay? Election is a myſtery that ſhines with ſuch reſplendent brightneſs, that, to make uſe of the words of one who has drank deeply of electing love, it dazzles the weak eyes even of ſome of God's dear children; however, though they know it not, all the bleſſings they receive, all the privileges they do or will enjoy through Jeſus Chriſt, flow from the everlaſting love of God the Father: "But of him are you in Chriſt Jeſus, who of God is made unto us, wiſdom, righteouſneſs, ſanctification, and redemption."
Secondly, I come to ſhew what theſe bleſſings are, which are here, through Chriſt, made over to the elect. And,
Firſt, Chriſt is made to them wiſdom—But wherein does true wiſdom conſiſt? Was I to aſk ſome of you, perhaps you would ſay, in indulging the luſt of the fleſh, and ſaying to your ſouls, eat, drink, and be merry. But this is only the wiſdom of brutes—They have as good a guſt and reliſh for ſenſual pleaſures, as the greateſt epicure on the earth—Others would tell me true wiſdom conſiſted in adding houſe to houſe, and field to field, and calling lands after their own names; but this cannot be true wiſdom; for riches often take to themſelves wings and fly away, like an eagle toward heaven. Even wiſdom itſelf aſſures us, "that a man's life doth not conſiſt in the abundance of the things which he poſſeſſes;" vanity, vanity, all theſe things are vanity; for, if riches leave not the owner, the owners muſt ſoon leave them; "for rich men muſt alſo die, and leave their riches for others;" their riches cannot procure them redemption from the grave, whither we are all haſtening apace.
But perhaps you deſpiſe riches and pleaſure, and therefore place wiſdom in the knowledge of books: but it is poſſible for you to tell the numbers of the ſtars, and call them all by their names, and yet be mere fools; learned men are not always wiſe; nay, our common learning ſo much cried up, makes men only ſo many accompliſhed fools; to keep you therefore no longer in ſuſpence, and withal to humble you, I will ſend you to a heathen ſchool, to learn what true wiſdom is: know thyſelf, was a ſaying of one of the wiſe men of Greece; this is certainly true wiſdom, and this is that wiſdom ſpoken of in the text, and which Jeſus Chriſt has made to all elect ſinners; they are made to know themſelves, ſo as not to think more highly of themſelves, ſo as not to think more highly of themſelves, than they ought to think. Before they were darkneſs; now they are light in the Lord; and in that light they ſee their own darkneſs; they now bewail themſelves as fallen creatures by nature, dead in treſpaſſes and ſins, ſons and heirs of hell, and children of wrath; they now ſee that all their righteouſneſſes are but as filthy rags; that there is no health in their ſouls; that they are poor and miſerable, blind and naked; and that there is no name given under heaven, whereby they can be ſaved, but that of Jeſus Chriſt. They ſee the neceſſity of cloſing with a Saviour, and behold the wiſdom of God in appointing him to be a Saviour; they are alſo made willing to accept of ſalvation upon our Lord's own terms, and to receive him as their all in all: thus Chriſt is made to them wiſdom.
Secondly, Righteouſneſs. "Who of God is made unto us, wiſdom, righteouſneſs;" Chriſt's whole perſonal righteouſneſs is made over to, and accounted theirs. Being enabled to lay hold on Chriſt by faith, God the Father blots out their tranſgreſſions, as with a thick cloud; their ſins, and their iniquities he remembers no more; they are made the righteouſneſs of God in Jeſus, who is the end of the law for righteouſneſs to every one that believeth. In one ſenſe, God now ſees no ſin in them; the whole covenant of works is fulfilled in them; they are actually juſtified, acquitted, and looked upon as righteous in the ſight of God; they are perfectly accepted in the Beloved; they are complete in him; the flaming ſword of God's wrath, which before moved every way, is now removed, and free acceſs given to the tree of life; they are enabled now to reach out the arm of faith, and pluck and live for evermore.—Hence it is that the apoſtle, under a ſenſe of this bleſſed privilege, breaks out into this triumphant language, "it is Chriſt that juſtifies, who is he that condemns?" Does ſin condemn? Chriſt's righteouſneſs delivers believers from the guilt of it: Chriſt is their Saviour, and is become a propitiation for their ſins: who therefore ſhall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? Does the law condemn? By having Chriſt's righteouſneſs imputed to them, they are dead to the law, as a covenant of works; Chriſt has fulfilled it for them, and in their ſtead. Does death threaten them? They need not fear: The ſting of death is ſin, the ſtrength of ſin is the law; but God has given them the victory, by imputing to them the righteouſneſs of the Lord Jeſus.
And what a privilege is here! Well might the angels at the birth of Chriſt, ſay to the humble ſhepherds, "Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy;" unto you that believe in Chriſt, "a Saviour is born." And well may they rejoice at the converſion of poor ſinners: for the Lord is their righteouſneſs: they have peace with God, through faith in Chriſt's blood, and ſhall never enter into condemnation. O believers! (for this diſcourſe is intended in a ſpecial manner for you) lift up your heads; "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I ſay, rejoice." Chriſt is made to you of God, righteouſneſs, what then ſhould you fear? you are made the righteouſneſs of God in him; you may be called, "The Lord our righteouſneſs." Of what then ſhould you be afraid? What ſhall ſeparate you henceforward from the love of Chriſt? Shall tribulation, or diſtreſs, or perſecution, or famine, or nakedneſs, or peril, or ſword? No; I am perſuaded, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things preſent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, ſhall be able to ſeparate you from the love of God, which is in Chriſt Jeſus our Lord, who of God is made unto you righteouſneſs.
This is a glorious privilege, but this is only the beginning of the happineſs of believers: for,
Thirdly, Chriſt is not only made to them righteouſneſs, but ſanctification. By ſanctification, I do not mean a bare hypocritical attendance on outward ordinances (though rightly informed Chriſtians will think it their duty and privilege conſtantly to attend on all outward ordinances.) Nor do I mean by ſanctification, a bare outward reformation, and a few tranſient convictions, or a little legal ſorrow; for all this an unſanctified man may have; but, by ſanctification I mean a total renovation of the whole man; by the righteouſneſs of Chriſt, believers become legally, by ſanctification they are made ſpiritually, alive; by one they are entitled to, by the other they are made meet for glory. They are ſanctified therefore throughout, in ſpirit, ſoul and body.
Their underſtandings, which were before dark, now become light in the Lord: and their will, before contrary to, now become one with the will of God: their affections are now ſet on things above; their memory is now filled with divine things; their natural conſciences are now enlightened; their members, which were before inſtruments of uncleanneſs, and of iniquity unto iniquity, are now inſtruments of righteouſneſs and true holineſs; in ſhort, they are new creatures; "old things are paſſed away, all things are become new," in their hearts; ſin has now no longer dominion over them; they are freed from the power, though not the indwelling and being of it; they are holy both in heart and life, in all manner of converſation; they are made partakers of a divine nature; and from Jeſus Chriſt they receive grace for grace; and every grace that is in Chriſt, is copied and tranſcribed into their ſouls; they are transformed into his likeneſs; he is formed within them; they dwell in him, and he in them; they are led by the Spirit, and bring forth the fruits thereof: they know that Chriſt is their Immanuel, God with and in them; they are living temples of the Holy Ghoſt. And therefore, being a holy habitation unto the Lord, the whole Trinity dwells and walks in them; even here, they fit together with Chriſt in heavenly places, and are vitally united to him, their head, by a living faith; their Redeemer, their Maker, is their huſband; they are fleſh of his fleſh, bone of his bone; they talk, they walk with him, as a man talketh and walketh with his friend; in ſhort, they are one with Chriſt, even as Jeſus Chriſt and the Father are one.
Thus is Chriſt made to believers ſanctification. And O what a privilege is this! To be changed from beaſts into ſaints, and from a deviliſh, to be made partakers of a divine nature; to be tranſlated from the kingdom of Satan, into the kingdom of God's dear Son! To put off the old man, which is corrupt, and to put on the new man, which is created after God, in righteouſneſs and true holineſs. O what an unſpeakable bleſſing is this! I almoſt ſtand amazed at the contemplation thereof Well might the apoſtle exhort believers to …; indeed they have reaſon always to …, to rejoice on a dying bed; for the kingdom of God is in them; they are changed from …, even by the Spirit of the Lord: … may this be a myſtery to the natural, for it is a myſtery even to the ſpiritual man himſelf, a myſtery which he cannot fathom. Does it not often dazzle your eyes, O ye children of God, to look at your own brightneſs, when the candle of the Lord ſhines out, and your Redeemer lifts up the light of his bleſſed countenance upon your ſouls? Are you not aſtoniſhed, when you feel the love of God ſhed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Ghoſt, and God holds out the golden ſceptre of his mercy, and bids you aſk what you will, and it ſhall be given you? Does not that peace of God, which keeps and rules your hearts, ſurpaſs the utmoſt limits of your underſtandings? And is not the joy you feel unſpeakable? Is it not full of glory? I am perſuaded it is; and in your ſecret communion, when the Lord's love ſlows in upon your ſouls, you are as it were ſwallowed up in, or, to uſe the apoſtle's phraſe, "filled with all the fulneſs of God." Are not you ready to cry out with Solomon, "And will the Lord, indeed, dwell thus with men? How is it that we ſhould be thus thy ſons and daughters, O Lord God Almighty!"
If you are children of God, and know what it is to have fellowſhip with the Father and the Son; if you walk by faith, and not by ſight; I am aſſured this is frequently the language of your hearts.
But look forward, and ſee an unbounded proſpect of eternal happineſs lying before thee, O believer! What thou haſt already received, are only the firſt fruits, like the cluſter of grapes brought out of the land of Canaan; only an earneſt and pledge of yet infinitely better things to come: the harveſt is to follow; thy grace is hereafter to be ſwallowed up in glory. Thy great Joſhua, and merciful High Prieſt, ſhall adminiſter an abundant entrance to thee into the land of promiſe, that reſt which awaits the children of God: for Chriſt … not only made to believers, wiſdom, righteouſneſs, and ſanctification, but alſo redemption.
But, before we enter upon the explanation and contemplation of this privilege,
Firſt, Learn hence the great miſtake of thoſe writers, and clergy, who, notwithſtanding they talk of ſanctification and inward holineſs (as indeed ſometimes they do, though in a very looſe and ſuperficial manner) yet they generally make it the cauſe, whereas they ſhould conſider it as the effect, of our juſtification. Of him "are ye in Chriſt Jeſus, who of God is made unto us wiſdom, righteouſneſs," and then ſanctification. For Chriſt's righteouſneſs, or that which Chriſt has done in our ſtead without us, is the ſole cauſe of our acceptance in the ſight of God, and of all holineſs wrought in us: To this, and not to the light within, or any thing wrought within, ſhould poor ſinners ſeek for juſtification in the ſight of God: for the ſake of Chriſt's righteouſneſs alone, and not any thing wrought in us, does God look favourably upon us; our ſanctification at beſt, in this life, is not complete: Though we are delivered from the power, we are not freed from the in-being of ſin; but not only the dominion, but the in-being of ſin, is forbidden by the perfect law of God: For it is not ſaid, "thou ſhalt not give way to luſt, but, thou ſhalt not luſt." So that whilſt the principle of luſt remains in the leaſt degree in our hearts, though we are otherwiſe never ſo holy, yet we cannot, on account of that, hope for acceptance with God. We muſt firſt therefore, look for a righteouſneſs without us, even the righteouſneſs of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt: For this reaſon the apoſtle mentions it, and puts it before ſanctification in the words of the text. And whoſoever teacheth any other doctrine, doth not preach the truth as it is in Jeſus.
Secondly, From hence alſo, the Antinomians and formal hypocrites may be confuted, who talk of Chriſt without, but know nothing, experimentally, of a work of ſanctification wrought within them. Whatever they may pretend to, ſince Chriſt is not in them, the Lord is not their righteouſneſs, and they have no well-grounded hope of glory: For though ſanctification is not the cauſe, yet it is the effect of our acceptance with God; "who of God is made unto us righteouſneſs and ſanctification." He therefore, that is really in Chriſt, is a new creature; it is not going back to a covenant of works, to look into our hearts, and, ſeeing that they are changed and renewed, from thence form a comfortable and well-grounded aſſurance of the ſafety of our ſtates: No, but this is what we are directed to in ſcripture; by our bringing forth the fruits, we are to judge whether or no we ever did truly partake of the Spirit of God, "We know (ſays John) that we are paſſed from death unto life, becauſe we love the brethren." And however we may talk of Chriſt's righteouſneſs, and exclaim againſt legal preachers: yet, if we are not holy in heart and life, if we are not ſanctified and renewed by the Spirit in our minds, we are ſelf-deceivers, we are only formal hypocrites: For we muſt not put aſunder what God has joined together; we muſt keep the medium between the two extremes; not inſiſt ſo much on the one hand upon Chriſt without, as to exclude Chriſt within, as an evidence of our being his, and as a preparation for future happineſs; nor on the other hand, ſo depend on inherent righteouſneſs or holineſs wrought in us, as to exclude the righteouſneſs of Jeſus Chriſt without us. But,
Fourthly, Let us now go on, and take a view of the other link, or rather the end, of the believer's golden chain of privileges, redemption. But we muſt look very high; for the top of it, like Jacob's ladder, reaches heaven, where all believers will aſcend, and be placed at the right hand of God. "Who of God is made unto us, wiſdom, righteouſneſs, ſanctification, and redemption."
This is a golden chain indeed! And, what is beſt of all, not one link can ever be broken aſunder from another. Was there no other text in the book of God, this ſingle one ſufficiently proves the final perſeverance of true believers? for never did God yet juſtify a man, whom he did not ſanctify; nor ſanctify one whom he did not completely redeem and glorify; no, as for God, his way, his work, is perfect; he always carried on and finiſhed the work he began; thus it was in the firſt, ſo it is in the new creation; when God ſays, "let there be light," there is light, that ſhines more and more unto the perfect day, when believers enter into their eternal reſt, as God entered into his. Thoſe whom God has juſtified, he has in effect glorified: for as a man's worthineſs was not the cauſe of God's giving him Chriſt's righteouſneſs, ſo neither ſhall his unworthineſs be a cauſe of his taking it away; God's gifts and callings are without repentance; and I cannot think, they are clear in the notion of Chriſt's righteouſneſs, who deny the final perſeverance of the ſaints; I fear, they underſtand juſtification in that low ſenſe, which I underſtood it in a few years ago, as implying no more than remiſſion of ſins: but it not only ſignifies remiſſion of ſins paſt, but alſo a f… deral right to all good things to come. If God has given us his only …on, how will he not with him freely give us all things? Therefore, the apoſtle, after he ſays, "who of God is made unto us righteouſneſs," does not ſay, perhaps he may be made to us ſanctification and redemption; but he is made: for there is an eternal, indiſſoluble connection between theſe bleſſed privileges. As the obedience of Chriſt is imputed to believers, ſo his perſeverance in that obedience is to be imputed to them alſo: and it argues great ignorance of the covenant of grace and redemption to object againſt it.
By the word redemption, we are to underſtand, not only a complete deliverance from all evil, but alſo a full enjoyment of all good both in body and ſoul: I ſay both in body and ſoul: for the Lord is alſo for the body; the bodies of the ſaints in this life are temples of the Holy Ghoſt; God makes a covenant with the duſt of believers; after death, though worms deſtroy them, yet, even in their fleſh ſhall they ſee God. I fear, indeed, there are ſome Sadducees in our days, or at leaſt heretics, who ſay, either that there is no reſurrection of the body, or that the reſurrection is paſt already, namely, in our regeneration: Hence it is, that our Lord's coming in the fleſh, at the day of judgment, is denied; and conſequently, we muſt throw aſide the ſacrament of the Lord's Supper. For why ſhould we remember the Lord's death until he come to judgment, when he is already come to judge our hearts, and will not come a ſecond time? But all this is only the reaſoning of unlearned, unſtable men, who certainly know not what they ſay, nor whereof they affirm. That we muſt follow our Lord in the regeneration, be partakers of a new birth, and that Chriſt muſt come into our hearts, we freely confeſs, and we hope, when ſpeaking of theſe things, we ſpeak no more than what we know and feel: but then it is plain, that Jeſus Chriſt will come, hereafter, to judgment, and that he aſcended into heaven with the body which he had here on earth; for, ſays he, after his reſurrection, "handle me, and ſee; a ſpirit hath not fleſh and bones, as you ſee me have." And it is plain, that Chriſt's reſurrection was an earneſt of ours: for, ſays the apoſtle, "Chriſt is riſen from the dead, and become the firſt fruits of them that ſlept;" and as in Adam all die and are ſubject to mortality; ſo all that are in Chriſt, the ſecond Adam, who repreſented believers as their foederal head, ſhall certainly be made alive, or riſe again with their bodies at the laſt lay.
Here then, O believers! is one, though the loweſt, degree of that redemption which you are to be partakers of hereafter; I mean, the redemption of your bodies: For this corruptible muſt put on immortality. Your bodies, as well as ſouls, were given to Jeſus Chriſt by the Father: they have been companions in watching, and faſting and praying: Your bodies therefore, as well as ſouls, ſhall Jeſus Chriſt raiſe up at the laſt day. Fear not, therefore, O believers, to look into the grave; for to you it is no other than a conſecrated dormitory, where your bodies ſhall ſleep quietly until the morning of the reſurrection; when the voice of the archangel ſhall ſound, and the trump of God give the general alarm, "Ariſe ye dead, and come to judgment;" earth, air, fire, water, ſhall give up your ſcattered atoms, and both in body and ſoul ſhall you be ever with the Lord. I doubt not but many of you are groaning under crazy bodies, and complain often that the mortal body weighs down the immortal ſoul; at leaſt this is my caſe; but let us have a little patience, and we ſhall be delivered from our earthly priſons; …re long, theſe tabernacles of clay ſhall be diſſolved, and we ſhall be cloathed with our houſe which is from heaven: hereafter, our bodies ſhall be ſpiritualized, and ſhall be ſo far from hindering our ſouls through weakneſs, that they ſhall become ſtrong; ſo ſtrong, as to bear up under an exceeding and eternal weight of glory; others again may have deformed bodies, emaciated alſo with ſickneſs, and worn out with labour and age; but wait a little, until your bleſſed change by death comes; then your bodies ſhall be renewed and made glorious, like unto Chriſt's glorious body: of which we may form ſome faint idea, from the account given us of our Lord's transfiguration on the Mount, when it is ſaid, "His raiment became bright and glittering, and his face brighter than the ſun." Well then may a believer break out into the apoſtle' triumphant language, 'O death, where is thy ſting! O grave, where is thy victory!"
But what is the redemption of the body, in compariſon of the redemption of the better part, our ſouls? I muſt, therefore, ſay to you believers, as the angel ſaid to John, "Come up higher," and let us take as clear a view as we can, at ſuch a diſtance, of the redemption Chriſt has purchaſed for, and will ſhortly put you in actual poſſeſſion of. Already you are juſtified, already you are ſanctified, and thereby freed from the guilt and dominion of ſin: but, as I have obſerved, the being and indwelling of ſin yet remains in you; God ſees it proper to leave ſome Amalekites in the land, to keep his Iſrael in action. The moſt perfect Chriſtian, I am perſuaded, muſt agree, according to one of our articles, "that the corruption of nature remains even in the regenerate; that the fleſh luſteth always againſt the ſpirit, and the ſpirit againſt the fleſh." So that believers cannot do things for God with that perfection they deſire; this grieves their righteous ſouls day by day, and, with the holy apoſtle, makes them to cry out, "Who ſhall deliver us from the body of this death!" I thank God, our Lord Jeſus Chriſt will, but not completely before the day of our diſſolution; then will the very being of ſin be deſtroyed, and an eternal ſtop put to inbred, indwelling corruption. And is not this a great redemption? I am ſure believers eſteem it ſo: for there is nothing grieves the heart of a child of God ſo much, as the remains of indwelling ſin. Again, believers are often in heavineſs through manifold temptations; God ſees that it is needful and good for them ſo to be; and though they may be highly favoured, and wrapt up … communion with God, even to the third heaven, yet a meſſenger of Satan is often ſent to buffet them, leſt they ſhould be puffed up with the abundance of revelations. But be not weary, be not faint in your minds: the time of your complete redemption draweth nigh. In heaven the wicked one ſhall ceaſe from troubling you, and your weary ſouls ſhall enjoy an everlaſting reſt; his fiery darts cannot reach thoſe bliſsful regions: Satan will never come any more to appear with, diſturb, or accuſe the ſons of God, when once the Lord Jeſus Chriſt ſhuts the door. Your righteous ſouls are now grieved, day by day, at the ungodly converſation of the wicked; tares now grow up among the wheat; wolves come in ſheep's cloathing: but the redemption ſpoken of in the text will free our ſouls from all anxiety on theſe accounts; hereafter you ſhall enjoy a perfect communion of faints; nothing that is unholy or unſanctified ſhall enter into the holy of holies, which is prepared for you above: This, and all manner of evil whatſoever you ſhall be delivered from, when your redemption is hereafter made complete in heaven; not only ſo, but you ſhall enter into the full enjoyment of all good. It is true all ſaints will not have the ſame degree of happineſs, but all will be as happy as their hearts can deſire. Believers, you ſhall judge evil, and familiarly converſe with good, angels: You ſhal… ſit down with Abraham, Iſaac Jacob, and all the ſpirits of juſt men made perfect; and, to ſum up all your happineſs in one word, you ſhal… ſee God the Father, Son and Holy Ghoſt; and, by ſeeing God, be more and more like unto him, and paſs from glory to glory, even to all eternity.
But I muſt ſtop: the glories of the upper world crowd in ſo laſt … my … I am … the redemption ſpoken of is unutterable; we cannot here find it out; eye hath not ſeen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the hearts of the moſt holy men living, to conceive how great it is. Was I to entertain you whole ages with an account of it, when you come to heaven you muſt ſay, with the queen of Sheba, "Not half, no, not one thouſandth part was told us." All we can do here, is to go upon Mount Piſgah, and by the eye of faith, take a diſtant view of the promiſed land: we may ſee it, as Abraham did Chriſt, afar off, and rejoice in it; but here we o…y know in part. Bleſſed be God, there is a time coming, when we ſhall know God, even as we are known, and God be all in all. "Lord Jeſus, accompliſh the number of thine elect! Lord Jeſus, haſten thy kingdom!"
And now, where are the ſcoffers of theſe laſt days, who count the lives of Chriſtians to be madneſs, and their end to be without honour? Unhappy men! you know not what you do. Were your eyes open, and had you ſenſes to diſcern ſpiritual things, you would not ſpeak all manner of evil againſt the children of God, but you would eſteem them as the excellent ones of the earth, and envy their happineſs: your ſouls would hunger and thirſt after it: you alſo would become fools for Chriſt's ſake. You boaſt of wiſdom; ſo did the philoſophers of Corinth: but your wiſdom is the fooliſhneſs of folly in the ſight of God.—What will your wiſdom avail you, if it does not make you wiſe unto ſalvation? Can you, with all your wiſdom, propoſe a more conſiſtent ſcheme to build your hopes of ſalvation on, than what has been now laid down before you? Can you, with all the ſtrength of natural reaſon, find out a better way of acceptance with God, than by the righteouſneſs of the Lord Jeſus Chriſt? Is it right to think your own works can in any meaſure deſerve or procure it? If not, why will you not believe in him? Why will you not ſubmit to his righteouſneſs? Can you deny that you are fallen creatures? Do not you find that you are full of diſorders, and that theſe diſorders make you unhappy? Do not you find that you cannot change your own hearts? Have you not reſolved many and many a time, and have not your corruptions yet dominion over you? Are you not bond-ſlaves to your luſts, and led captive by the devil at his will? Why then will you not come to Chriſt for ſanctification? Do you not deſire to die the death of the righteous, and that your future ſtate may be like theirs? I am perſuaded you cannot bear the thoughts of being annihilated, much leſs of being miſerable for ever. Whatever you may pretend, if you ſpeak truth, you muſt confeſs, tha… conſcience breaks in upon you in your more ſober intervals, whether you will or not, and even conſtrains you to believe, that hell is no painted fire. And why then will you not come to Chriſt? He alone can procure you everlaſting redemption.—Haſte, haſte away to him, poor beguiled ſinners. You lack wiſdom; aſk it of Chriſt. Who knows but he may give it you? He is able: for he is the wiſdom of the Father; he is that wiſdom which was from everlaſting. You have no righteouſneſs; away, therefore, to Chriſt: He is the end of the law for righteouſneſs to every one that believeth. You are unholy; flee to the Lord Jeſus: he is full of grace and truth! and of his fulneſs, all may receive that believe in him. You are as if afraid to die; let this drive you to Chriſt; he has the keys of death and hell; in him is plenteous redemption; he alone can open the door which leads to everlaſting life. Let not, therefore, the deceived reaſoner boaſt any longer of his pretended reaſon. Whatever you may think, it is the moſt unreaſonable thing in the world not to believe on Jeſus Chriſt, whom God hath ſent. Why, why will you die? Why will you not come unto him, that you may have life? Ho! every one that thirſteth, come unto the waters of life and drink freely: Come, buy without money and without price. Were theſe bleſſed privileges in the text to be purchaſed with money, you might ſay, we are poor, and cannot buy: or, were they to be conferred only on ſinners of ſuch a rank or degree, then you might ſay, how can ſuch ſinners as we, expect to be ſo highly favoured? But they are to be freely given of God to the worſt of ſinners. To us, ſays the apoſtle; to me a perſecutor, to you Corinthians, who were unclean, drunkards, covetous perſons, idolaters. Therefore, each poor ſinner may ſay then, why not unto me? Has Chriſt but one bleſſing? What if he has bleſſed millions already, by turning them away from their iniquities; yet he ſtill continues the ſame: he lives for ever to make interceſſion, and therefore will bleſs you, even you alſo. Though, Eſau like, you have been profane, and hitherto deſpiſed your heavenly Father's birth-right; even now, if you believe, Chriſt will be made to you of God, "wiſdom, righteouſneſs, ſanctification, and redemption."
But I muſt turn again to believers, for whoſe inſtruction, as I obſerved before, this diſcourſe was particularly intended. You ſee brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, what great bleſſings are treaſured up for you in Jeſus Chriſt your Head, and what you are entitled to by believing on his name, take heed therefore, that ye walk worthy of the vocation where with ye are called: Think often how highly you are favoured, and remember you have not choſen Chriſt, but Chriſt hath choſen you. Put on (as the elect of God) humbleneſs of mind, and glory, but O, let it be only in the Lord—for you have nothing but what you have received of God; by nature you were as fooliſh, as legal, as unholy, and in as damnable a condition as others; be pitiful therefore, be courteous, and as ſanctification is a progreſſive work, beware of thinking you have already attained. Let him that is holy, be holy ſtill, knowing that he who is moſt pure in heart, ſhall hereafter enjoy the cleareſt viſion of God—let indwelling ſin be your daily burden, and not only bewail and lament, but ſee that you ſubdue it daily by the power of divine grace, and look up to Jeſus continually to be the Finiſher, as well as Author of your faith—build not on your own faithfulneſs, but on God's unchangeableneſs—take heed of thinking you ſtand by the power of your own free will—the everlaſting love o… God the Father muſt be your only hope and conſolation—let this ſupport you under all trials—remember that God's gifts and callings are without repentance—that Chriſt having once loved you, will love you to the end. Let this conſtrain you to obedience, and make you long and look for that bleſſed time, when he ſhall not only be your wiſdom, and righteouſneſs, and ſanctification, but alſo compleat and everlaſting redemption. Glory be to God in the higheſt.