Sermon V
Opening the Work of the Spirit more particularly, by which the Soul is enabled to apply CHRIST.
Eph. ii. 1. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses andfins.
IN the former sermons we have feenourunionwith Christ in the general nature of it, and the means by which it is effected, both external, by the preaching of the gospel, and internal, by the drawing of the Father. We are now to bring our thoughts yet closer to this great mystery, and confider the bands, by which Christ and believers are knit together in a blessed union .
And if we heedfully observe the scripture-expressions, and ponder the nature of this union, we shall find there are two bands whichknit Christ and the soul together, viz.
1. The Spirit on Christ's part. 2. Faith on our part. The Spirit on Christ's part, quickening us with spiritual life, whereby Christ first takes hold of us, and faith on our part, when thus quickened, whereby we take hold of Christ : Accor
SERM . V. 183 The Method of Grace.
dingly, this union with the Lord Jesus, is expressed in scripture, sometimes by one, and sometimes by the other of these means or bands, by which it is effected. Christ is sometimes said to be in us ; fo Col i. 27. " Christ is in you the hope of glory." And Rom. viii. 10, " And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of fin." And other times it is expressed by the other band on our part, as 1 John v. 20. " We are in " him that is true, even in his Son Christ Jesus." And 2 Cor. v. 17. " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
The differencebetwixtboth these, is thus aptly expressed by alate author *. " Christ is in beleivers by his Spirit, 1 John " iv. 13. The believer is in Christ by faith, John i. 12. Christ
" is in the believer by in habitation, Rom. iii. 17. The believer
" is in Christ by implantation, Rom. vi. 35. Christ is in the " believer as the head is in the body, Col. i. 18. As the root " in the branches, John xv. 5. Believers are in Christ as the " members are in the head, Eph. i. 23. Or as the branches " are in the root, John xv. 1, 7. Christ in the believer, implieth life, and influence from Christ, Col. iii. 4. The be- " liever, implieth communion, and fellowship with Christ, 1 Cor.
i. 30. When Christ is said to be in the believer, we are to " understand it in reference to fanctification. When thebe- " liever is said to be in Christ, it is in order to justification ."
Thus we apprehend,being ourselves first apprehended by Jesus Christ, Phil. iii. 12. We cannot take hold of Christ, till first he take hold of us ; no vital act of faith can be exercised till a vital principle be first inspired: Of both these bands of union we maut speak distinctly ; and first of " Christ quickening "
" us by his Spirit, in order to our union with him," of which we have an account in the scripture before us, You hath he " quickenedwho were dead in trespasses and fius:" In which words we find these two things noted, viz .
1. The in fusion ofa vital principle of grace. 2.The total indifpotedness of the subject by nature. First, The in fusion of a vital principle of grace, You hath he quickened. These words [hath he quickened] are a supplement made to clear the sense of the apostle, which else would have been more obscure, by reason of that long parenthesis betwixt the first and fifth verses, " for as the + learned observe
* Mount Pisgah . p. 22, 23. + Illudvuas regitur a συνεζωοποιησε, ν. 5. eft igitur hoc loco et byperbaton itfynchysis et αποκοπη της περιοδε, que est species τοά
184 SERM . V. The Method of Grace. " this word uses, you, is governed of the verb συνεζωοποιησε, hath " be quickened, ver. 5. So that here the words are transposed " from the plain grammatical order, by reason of the interjec66 tion ofa long sentence, therefore, with good warrant our " translators have put the verb into the first verse, which is repeated ver. 5. and fokeeping faithfully to the scope, have ex- " cellently cleared the syntax and order of the words." Now this verb συνεζωοποιησε, hath he quickened, imports the first vital act of the SpiritofGod, or his first enlivening work upon the soul, in order to its union with Jesus Christ: For look, as the blood of Christ is the fountain of all merit, so the spirit of Christ is the fountain of all spiritual life: And until he quicken us,(i. e.) infuse the principle of the divine life into our souls, we can put forth no hand, or vital act of faith, to lay hold upon Jesus Christ.
This his quickening work, is therefore the first in order of nature to our union with Christ, and fundamental to all other acts of grace done, and performed by us, from our first closing with Christ, throughout the whole course of our obedience : and this quickeningact is said,ver. 5. to be together with Christ : Either noting (as some expound it) that it is the effect of the fame power by which Christ was raised from the dead, according to Eph . i. 19. or rather ,to be quickened together with Christ, notes that new spiritual life which is infused into our deadfouls in the time of our union with Christ : " For it is Christ to
" whom we are conjoined and united in our regeneration, out of " whom, as a fountain, all spiritual benefits flow to us, among " which, this vivification or quickening is one, * and a most " sweet and precious one."
Zanchy, Bodius, and many others will have this quickening to comprize, both our justification and regeneration, and to
oppofedboth to eternal and spiritual death, and it may well be allowed ; but it most properly imports our regeneration, wherein the Spirit, in an ineffable and mysterious way, makes the soul to live to God, yea, to live the life of God, which foul was before dead in trespasses andfins : In which words we have,
Secondly, In the next place, the total indisposedness of the
νανταποδοτε, cujus quidem anomalie caufa eft επεμβολη interjectio fententiæ prolixioris. Pifcator. Pool's Synop . * Ex Christo conjuncto nobifcum, ut capite cum membris. profluunt in nos omnia beneficia, in quorum numero eft vivificatio
Kolloc. in Loc.
SERM . V. 185
1 The Method of Grace. subjects by nature : For, as it is well noted by a † learnedman, " the apostle doth not say of these Ephesians that they were half
" dead, or sick, and infirm, but dead wholly; altogether dead, " destitute of any faculty or ability, fo much as to think one " good thought, or perform one good act." You were dead in respect of condemnation, being under the damning sentence of the law, and you are dead in respect of the privation of spiritual life; dead in opposition to justification, and dead in opposition to regeneration and sanctification : And the fatal instrument by which their souls died is here shewed them ; you were dead in, or by trespasses andfins ; this was the sword that killed your souls, and cut them off from God. Some do curiously distinguish betwixt trespasses and sins, as if one pointed at original, the other at actual fins; but I suppose they are promifcuously used here, and serve to express the cause of their ruin, or means of their spiritual death and destruction : this was their case when Christ came to quicken them, deadinfin, and being fo, they could not move themselves towards union with Christ, but as they were moved by the quickening Spirit of God. Hence the observation will be this,
Doct. That those fouls which have union with Christ, arequickened with a supernatural principle of life by the Spirit of God in order thereunto.
The Spirit of God is not only a living Spirit, formally considered; but he is also the Spirit of life, effectively or casually considered : And without his breathing, or infusing life into our souls, our union with Christ is impossible.
It is the observation of learned || Camero, " that there must " be an unit i on before there can be an union with Christ. Uni- " tion is to be conceived efficiently as the work of God's Spirit, " joining the believer to Christ, and union is to be conceived " formally, the joining itself of the persons together ;" We close with Christ by faith, but that faith being a vital act, pre-
1 Non vocat hiefemimortuosaut aegrotos ac infirmos, fedprorfus mortuos, omni facultate bene cogitandi aut agendi deftituti.
Rolloc. in Loc.
Obfervandum est unionem et unitionem inter sediffere : unio est rerum act us, quiforma rationem habet, nempe act us rerum unitarum qua unitæfunt : unitio autein act us fignificat caufæ efficient is, &c. Camero de Ecclef. p. 222 . VOL . II. Bb
186 The Method of Grace. SERM. V.
a principle of life communicated to us by the Spirit ; therefore it is said, John xi. 26. " Whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die :" The vital act and operation of faith springs from this quickening Spirit: So in Rom. viii.
1, 2. The apostle, having in the first verse opened the blessed estate of them that are in Christ, shews us, in the second verse, how we come to be in him : " The Spirit of life (faith he) which
" is in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of fin and " death ."
There is indeed a quickening work of the Spirit, which is fubfequenttoregeneration,consisting in his exciting, recovering, and actuating of his own graces in us: and from hence is the liveliness of a Christian ; and there is a quickening act of the Spirit in our regeneration, and from hence is the spiritual life of a Christian ; of this I am here to speak, and, that I may speak profitably to this point, I will in the doctrinal part labour to open these five particulars.
First, What this spiritual life is in its nature, and properties. Secondly,In what manner it is wrought or inspired into the soul. Thirdly, For what end, or with what design, this life is so inspired.
Fourthly, I shall shew this work to be wholly supernatural. And then, Fifthly, Why this quickening must be antecedent to our actual closing with Christ by faith.
First, We shall enquire into the nature and properties of this life, and discover (as we are able) what it is. And we find it to consist in that wonderful change which the Spirit of God makes upontheframe and temper of the foul,by his infusing or implanting the principles of grace in all the powers and faculties thereof. : A change it makes upon the soul, and that amarvellous one, no less than from death to life; for though a man be physically a livingman (i. e.) his natural foul hath union with hisbody, yet his foul having no union with Christ, heistheologically a dead man, Luke xv. 24. and Col. ii. 13. Alas, it deserves not the name of life, to have a soul serving only to season, and preserve the body a little while from corruption : To carry it up and down the world, and only enable it to eat and drink, and talk, and laugh, and then die : Then do we begin to live, when we begin to have union with Christ the fountain of life, by his Spirit communicated to us : From this time we are to reckon our life * as some have done: There be many changes made upon
Hic jacet fimilis, cujus aetas multorum annorumfuit, ipfe feptem duntaxat annos vixit.
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this, many are changed from prophaneness to civility, and from mere civility to formality, and a shadow of religion,who still remain in the state, and power ofspiritualdeath, notwithstanding ; but when the Spirit of the Lord is poured out upon us, to quicken us with the new spiritual life, this is a wonderful change indeed: It gives us an effefupernaturale, a new
being, which is therefore called anew creature, the new man, the hidden man of the heart : The natural essence and faculties of the soul remain still, but it is divested of the old qualities, and endued with new ones, 2 Cor. v. 17. "Old "things are passed away,behold, all things arebecomenew."
And this change is not made by altering and rectifying the disorders of the life only, leaving the temper and frame of the heart still carnal; but by the infusion ofa supernatural permanent principle into the soul, John iv. 14. " It shall be in him a
" well of water :" principles are to a course of actions, as fountains or springs are to the streams and riversthatflow from them, and are maintained by them : and hence is the evenness, and constancy ofrenewedfouls in the course of Godliness. Nor is this principle or habit acquired by accustoming ourselves to holy actions, as natural habits are acquired by frequent acts, which be get a disposition, and thence grow up to an habit or second nature, but it is infused, or implanted in the foul by the Spirit of God. So we read, Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26. " A new " heart also will I give you, and anew spirit will I put within 66 you :" It grows not up out of our natures, butisputor infused into us : as it is said of the two witnesses, Rev. xi. 11. who lay dead in a civil sense, three days and a half, that the spirit of life from God entered into them ; so it is here in a spiritual sense, the spirit of life from God enters into the dead, carnal heart: it is all by way offupernatural infusion. Nor is it limited to this, or that faculty of the soul, but grace or life is poured into all the faculties: " Behold all things
66 are become new," 2 Cor. v. 17. The understanding, will, thoughts, and affections, are all renewed by it: the whole inner man is changed; yea, the tongue and hand, the discourses and actions, even all the ways and courses of the outward man are renewed by it.
But more particularly, we shall discern the nature of this Spiritual life, by considering the properties of it ; among which, these are very remarkable.
First, The soul that is joined to Christ, is quickened with a divine life, so we read in 2 Pet. i. 4. Where believers are said Bb 2
188 The Method of Grace.
SERM . V. to be partakers of the divine nature : averyhigh expression, and warily to be understood. Partakers of the divine nature, not essentially ; so, it is wholly incommunicable to the creature, nor yet hypostatically, and personally ; so, Christ only was a partaker of it ; but our participation of the divine nature, must be understood in away proper to believers ; that is to fay, we partake of it by the in habitation of the Spirit of God in us, according to 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17. " Know ye not that ye are the " temple of God, and that the SpiritofGod dwelleth in you ?" The Spirit, who is God by nature, dwells in, and actuates the soul whom he regenerates, and by sanctifying causes it to live a divine life: from this life of God, the unfsanctified are said to be alienated, Eph. iv. 18. but believers are partakers of it.
Secondly, And being divine, it must needs bethe most excellent, and transcendent life that any creature doth, or can live in this world: it fur mounts the natural, rational, and moral life of the unsanctified, as much as the angelical life excels the life of flies, and worms of the earth .
Some think it a rare life to live in sensual pleasures; but the scripture will not allow so much as the name of life to them; but tells us, " they are dead whilst they live," 1 Tim. v. 6.
certainly it is a wonderful elevation of the nature of man, to be quickened with such a life as this. There are two ways wherein the blessed God hath honoured poor man above the very an gels of heaven. One was by the hypostatical union of our nature in Christ, with the divine nature; the other is by uniting our persons mystically to Christ, and thereby communicating spiritual life to us : this latter is a most glorious privilege, and in one respect a more singular mercy than the former ; for that honour which is done to our nature by the hypostatical union, is common to all, good and bad, even they that perish have yet that honour; but to be implanted into Christ by regeneration, and live upon him as the branch doth upon the vine, this is a peculiar privilege, a mercy kept from the world that is to perish, and only communicated to God's elect, who are to live eternally with him in heaven.
Thirdly, This life infused by the regenerating spirit, is a most pleasant life. All delights, all pleasures, all joys, which are not phantastic and delusive, have their spring and origin here, Rom. viii. 6. " To be spiritually minded is life and peace,' (i. e.) a most serene, placid life; such a soul becomes, fo far as it is influenced and sanctified by the Spirit, the very region of life and peace : when one thing is thus predicatedofanother, in cafu recto, (faith a learned man) it speaks their intimate
SERM . V. The Method of Grace. 189 connexion: peace is so connatural to this life, that you may either call it a life that hath peace in it, or a peace that hath life in it : yea, it hath its enclosed pleasures in it, " Such as a " stranger intermeddles not with," Prov. xiv. 10. Regeneration is the term from which all true pleasure commences ; you never live a chearful day, till you begin to live to God : therefore it is said, Luke xv. 24. When the prodigalfon was returned to his father, and reconciled, then they began to be merry.
Nonecanmake another, by any words, to understand what that pleasure is which the renewed foul feels diffused through all its faculties, and affections, in its communion with the Lord, and in the sealings and witnessings of his Spirit. That is a very apt and well known fimilitude which Peter Martyr used, and the Lord blessed to the conversion of that noble marquis Galeacus : if, said he, a man should fee a company of people dancing upon the top of a remote hill, he would be apt to conclude they were a company of wild distracted people; but if he draw nearer, and behold the excellent order, and hear the ravishing sweet music that are among them, he will quickly alter his opinion of them, and be for dancing him felt with them.
All the delights in the sensual life, all the pleasure that ever your lusts gave you, are but as the putrid, stinking waters of a corrupt pond, where toads lie croaking and spawning, compared to the crystal streams of the most pure and pleasant fountain.
Fourthly, This life of God, with which the regenerate are quickened in their union with Christ, as it is a pleasant, fo it is also a growing increasing life, John iv. 14. "It shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." "
It is not in our sanctification, as it is in our justification ; our - justification is complete and perfect, no defect is found there ; but the new creature labours under many defects : all believers are equally justified,but not equally sanctified : Therefore you read, 2 Cor. iv. 16. that " the inward man is renewed day by 46 day:" And 2 Pet. iii. 18. Christians are exhorted " to grow " in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour : " if this work were perfect, and finished at once, as justification is, there could be no renewing day by day, nor growth in grace.
Perfectum eft cui nihil deeft, & cui nihil add i potest : i. e. that is perfect which wants nothing, and to which nothing can be added. The apostle indeed prays for the Theffalonians, "that " God would sanctify them," ολοέλας, -wholly, perfectly,
1Theff. v. 23. And this is matter of prayer and hope; for, at
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it will grow up to perfection; but this perfect holiness is reserved for the perfect state in the world to come, and none but * deluded, proud spirits boast of it here: but when " that " which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be " done away," 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10. And upon the imperfection of the new creature in every faculty,that warfare and daily con.
flict spoken of, Gal. v. 17. and experienced by every Christian, is grounded: grace rises gradually in the soul, as the sun doth in the heavens, "which shinethmore and more unto a perfect day," Prov. iv. 18.
Fifthly, to conclude; This life with which the regenerate are quickened, is an everlasting life. "This is the record, that God " hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son," I John V. 11. This principle of life is the feed of God; and that remains in the foul for ever, I John iii. 9. It is no transient, vanishing thing,but a fixed, permanent principle, which abides in the soul for ever ; am an may lose his gifts, but grace abides ; the soul may, and must be, separated from the body, but grace cannot be separated from the soul: when all forsake us, this will not leave us .
This infused principle is therefore vastly different, both from the extraordinary gifts of prophecy, wherein the Spirit sometimes was said tocomeupon men, under the Old Testament, I Sam. x. 6, 10. and from the common vanishing effects he somer times produceth in the unregenerate, of which we have frequent accounts in the New Testament, Heb. vi. 4. and John v. 35. It is one thing for the Spirit to come upon am an in the way of present influence,and assistance, and another thing to dwell in a manas in his temple.
And thus of the nature, and quality of this blessed work of the Spirit in quickening us.
Secondly, Having seen the nature and properties of the spiritual life, we are concerned in the next place to enquire into the way and manner in which it is wrought, and infused by the Spirit: and here we must say,
First of all, that the work is wrought in the soul very mysteriously; fo Christ tells Nicodemus, John iii. 8. "Thewindblow. " eth where it listeth, and thou he a rest the found thereof, but " canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth, fo is everyone that isbornofthe Spirit : " There be many opinions amongphilofophers about the original of wind; but we have no
Perfection of sanctification is not found in this life, unless in the dreams offomephanatics. Ames.
SERM . V. The Method of Grace. 191 certain knowledge of it : we describe it by its effects and properties, but know little of its original : and if the works of God in nature be so abstrufe, and unsearchable, how much more so are these sublime, and supernatural works of the Spirit ? We are not able to solve the Phaenomena of nature, we can givenoaccountofour own formation inthewomb, Ecclef. xi. 5. Who can exactly describe how the parts of the body are formed, and the soul infused ? " It is curiously wrought in the low- " est parts of the earth," as the Pfalmist speaks, Psal. cxxxix.
16. but how, we know not. Basil faith, divers questions may bemovedaboutafly, which may puzzle the greatest philosopher : we know little of the forms, and essences of natural things, much less of these profound, and abstruse spiritual things.
Secondly, But though we cannot pry into these secrets by the eye of reason , yet God hath revealed this to us in his word, that it is wrought by his own almighty power, Eph. i. 19. The apostle ascribes this work to the exceeding greatness of the power of God: and this must needs be, if we confider, how the Spirit of God expresses it in scripture by a new creation : (i. e.)a giving being to something out of nothing, Eph. ii. 10. In this it differs from all the effects of human power : for man always works upon some pre-existent matter, but here is no such matter: all that is in man,the subject of this work, is only apaffive capacity, or receptivity,but nothing is foundinhim to contribute towards this work: this supernatural life is not, nor can it be educed out of natural principles : this wholly transcends the
of all natural power: but of this more anon.
Thirdly, This also we may affirm of it; that this divine life is infused into all the natural faculties and powers of the soul, not one exempted, 1 Thef. v. 23. The whole foul and spirit is the recipient subject of it: and with respect to this general infusion into all the faculties and powers of the soul, it is called anew creature ; a new man; having an integral perfection, and fulness of all its parts and members: it becomes light in the mind; John xvii. 3. Obedience in the will ; 1 Pet. i. 2. In the affections an heavenly temper and tenderness, Col. iii. 1, 2. And so is variously denominated, even as the sea is from the
hores it washes, though it be one and thesamesea. And here, we must observe, lies one main difference betwixt are regenerate foul, and an hypocrite ; * the one is all of a piece, as
Ab uno defuperprincipio quodconvenienter voluntati operatur dependent prima, fecunda et tertia. Quemadmodumminimapars ferri
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I may say, the principle of spiritual life runs into all, and e very faculty and affection, and sanctifies, or renews the whole man; whereas the change upon hypocrites is but partial and particular ; he may have new light, but no new love; a new tongue, but not a new heart; this or that vice may be reformed, but the whole course of his life is not altered.
Fourthly and lastly, This infusion of spiritual life is done instantaneously ; as all creation-work is : hence it is resembled to that plastic power, which, in a moment, made the light to shine out of darkness ; just so God shines into our hearts, 2 Cor. iv. 6.
It is true, a soul may be a long time under the preparatory works of the Spirit, he may be under convictions and humilia. tions, purposes and resolutions a long time ; he may be waiting at the pool of. Bethesda, attending the means and ordinances, but when the Spirit comes once to quicken the soul, it is done in a moment : even as it is in the infusion of the rational foul, the body is long ere it be prepared and moulded, but when once the embryo or matter is ready, it is quickened with the spirit of life in an instant : so it is here : but O what a blessed moment is this ! Upon which the whole weight of our eternal happiness depends; for it is Christ in us, (i. e.) Christ formed in us, who is the hope of glory, Col. i. 27. And our Lord expresly tells us, John iii. 3. That except we be regenerate and born again, we cannot fee the kingdom of God. And thus of the way, and manner of its in fusion.
Thirdly, Let the design and end of God, in this his quickening work, be next considered; for what end, and with what design and aim this work is wrought. And if we consult the
in this matter, we shall find this principle of life is infused,in order to our glorifying God, in this world, by a life of obedience, and our enjoying of God in the world to come.
First, Spiritual life is infused in order to a course of obedience in this world, whereby God is glorified: So we read in Eph. ii, 10. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God " hath before ordained that we should walk in them ;" habits are to actions, as the root is to the fruit, it is for fruit sake that we plant the root, and ingraffthe branches. So in Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. Anew spirit will I also put within you, and " ferri lapidis magnet is fpiritu movetur, per multos annulosferreos extent a : ita etiam qui funt virtute præditi, divino spiritu attract i, cum prima manfione, conjungantur, deinceps autem alii ufque adpoftremam. Clem, Alexand. Strom. hb. 7.
SERM. V. 103 The Method of Grace. " cause you to walk in my statutes, an dye shall keep myjudg-
" ments and do them." This is the next, or immediate design and end, not only of the first infusion of the principle of life into the soul, but of all the exciting, actuating, and assisting works of the Spirit afterwards. Now this principle of spiritual life infused, hath a twofold influence into obedience.
First, This makes it sincere and true obedience, when it flows from an inward vital principle of Grace. The hypocrite is moved by something ab extra, from without, as the applause of men, the accommodation of fleshly interests, the force of education; or if there be anythingfromwithinthatmoveshim, it is but self-interest, to quiet a disturbing conscience, and support his vain hopes of heaven : but he never acts from anew principle, anew nature, inclining him to holy actions. Sincerity mainly lies in the harmony and correfpondency of actions to their principles : from this infused principle it is, that men hunger and thirst for God, and go to their duties, as men do to their meals, when they find an empty, craving stomach. Oreader, pause a little upon this ere thou pass on, ask thy heart whether it be so with thee : are holy duties connatural to thee? Doth thy soul move and work after God by a kind of supernatural instinct ? This then will be totheeagood evidence of thy integrity.
Secondly, From this infused principle of life, results the ex cellency of our obedience, as well as the fincerityof it: forby virtue and reason thereof, it becomes free and voluntary, not forced and constrained, it drops like honey, and of its own accord, out of the comb, Cant. iv. 11. Or as waters from the fountain, without forcing, John iv. 14. An unprincipled professor must be pressed hard by some weight of affliction, erehe will yield one tear, or pour out a prayer, Psal. lxxviii. 34.
" When he flew them, then they fought him." Now the freedom of obedience is theexcellencyofit, God's eye is much upon that, I Cor. ix. 17. Yea, and the uniformity of our obedience, which is also a special part of the beauty of it, results from hence : he that acts from a principle, acts fluentlyanduniformly, and there is a proportion betwixt the parts of his conversation : this is it which makes us holy, εν παση ανατροφης in all manner of conversation, or in every point, and turning of our conversations, as the word imports, 1 Pet. i. 15. Where ashe that is moved by this, or that external accidental motive, must needs be very uneven, " like the legs ofa lame man," as the expression is, Prov. xxvi. 7."which are not equal:" Now a VOL . II. Cc
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word of God and then the discourse runs muddyand prophane, or carnal again : allthatevenness, anduniformity that are in the several parts of a Christian's life, are the effect of this infuled principle of spiritual life.
Thirdly, Another aim and design of God in the in fusion of this principle of life, is thereby to prepare and qualify the soul for the enjoyment of himself in heaven' : " Except a man be born " again he cannot fee the kingdom of God," John iii. 3. All that thall possess that inheritance must be begotten again to it, as the apostle speaks, 1 Pet. i. 3, 4. This principle of grace is theveryfeedof that glory; it is éternal life in the root and principle, John xvii. 2. by this the soul is attempered and qualified for that state and employment. What is the life of glory, but the vision of God, and the soul's assimilation to God by that vi fion ? From both which results that unspeakable joy and delight which passeth understanding : but what vision of God, assimilation to God, or delight in God, can that foul have,which was neverquickenedwith the supernatural principleofgrace ? The temper of such fouls is expressed in that fad character, Zech. xi. 8. "My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me." For want of this vital principle it is, that the very fame duties andordinances, which are the delights and highest pleasures of the saints, are no better than a mere drudgery and bondage to o thers, Mal. i. 13. Heaven would be no heaven to a dead foul; this principleoflife, in its daily growth and improvement, is our meetness, as well as our evidence, for heaven: these are the main ends of its in fusion.
: Fourthly, In the next place, according to the method propo fed, I am obliged to thew you, that this quickeningwork is wholly supernatural; it is the sole and proper work of the Spirit of
God. So Christ himself exprefly afsserts it, in John iii. 6,8. " That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
" of the Spirit is Spirit: the windbloweth where it lifteth, and " thou he a rest the found thereof, but canst not tell whence it " cometh, nor whither itgoeth ; so is every one that is born of
" the Spirit."
Believers are the birth or offspring of the Spirit, who produceth the new creature in them in an unintelligible manner, even to themselves. So far it is above their own ability to pro duce, that it is above their capacity to understand the way of its production : as if you shouldafk, Do you know from whence the wind comes ? No: Do you know whither it goes ? No : But you hear and feel it when it blows ? Yes : Why, fo is eve ty one that is born of the Spirit: he feels the efficacy, and dis-
SERM . V. The Method of Grace. 195 cerns the effects of the Spirit on his own foul, but cannot understand, or describe the manner of its production : This is not only above the carnal, but above the renewed mind to comprehend; we can contribute nothing, I mean actively, to the production of this principle of life : we may indeed be said to concur passively, with the spirit in it; that is, there is found in us a capacity, aptness, or receptiveness of this principle of life: our nature is endowed with such faculties and powers as are meet subjects to receive, and instruments to act this spiritual life: God only quickens the rational nature with spiritual life.
It is true also, that in the progress offanctification, a man doth actively concur with the Spirit, but in the first production of this spiritual principle he can do nothing : he can indeed perform those external duties that have a remote tendency to it, but he cannot by the power of nature perform any saving act, or contribute any thing more than a passive capacity to the im plantation of anew principle : as will appear by the following arguments.
Arg. 1. He that actively concurs to his own regeneration, makes himself to differ ; but this is denied to all regenerate men,
1 Cor . iv. 7. " Who maketh thee to differ from another ? And " what haft thou that thou didst not receive ?"
Arg. 2. That to which the scripture ascribes both impotency and enmity, with respect to grace, cannot actively, and of itself, concur to the production of it: but the scripture afcribes both impotency and enmity to nature, with respect to grace.
It denies to it a power to do any thing of itself, John xv. 5. And, which is less, it denies to ita power to speak a good word, Mat. xii. 34. And, which is least of all, it denies it power to think a good thought, 2 Cor. iii. 5. This impotency, if there were no more, cuts off all pretence of our active concurrence; but then if we confider that it ascribes enmity to our natures, as well as impotency, how clear is the case ! See Rom. viii. 7. "The carnal mind is enmity against God." And Col. i. 21. " And you that were enemies in your minds by
" wicked works." So then nature is fo far productive of this principle, as impotency and enmity can enable it to be fo.
Arg. 3. That which is of natural production, must needs be subject to natural dissolution ; that which is born of the flesh is flesh, a perishing thing, for every thing is as its principle is, and there can be no more in the effect, than there is in the cause : but this principle of spiritual life is not subject to dissolution, it is the water that springs up into everlasting life, John iv. 14,
CC 2
196 The Method of Grace. SERM.V. ThefeedofGod,which remainethinthe regenerate foul, 1John iii. 9. And all this,because it is " born not ofcorruptible, but " of incorruptible, feed," I Pet. i. 23.
Arg. 4 I four new birth be our resurrection, a new creation, yea, a victory over nature, then we cannot, actively, contribute to its production; but under all these notions it is represented to us in the scriptures ; it is our resurrection from the dead, Eph. v. 14. And you know the body is wholly passive in itsre furrection: but though it concurs not, yet it gives pre-exiftent matter : therefore the metaphor isdesignedly varied, Eph. iv. 24. where it is called a creation : in which there is neither active concurrence, nor pre-existent matter; but though creation excludes pre-exiftent matter, yet in producing something out of nothing, there is noreluctancynor opposition; therefore to shew how purely supernatural this principle of life is, it is cloathed and presented to us in the notion ofa victory, 2Cor. x. 4. And so leaves all to grace.
Arg. 5. If nature could produce, or but actively concur to theproductionofthis spiritual life, then the best natures would be soonest quickened with it; and the worst natures not at all, or at last, and least of all: but contrarily,we find the worst natures often regenerated, and the best left in the state of spiritual death: withhowmany sweet homiliticalvirtues was the young man adorned ? Mark x. 21. yet graceless : and what a sink of finwas Mary Magdalen, Luke vii. 37. yet sanctified. Thus beautiful Rachel is barren, while Leah bears children. And there is scarce any thing that affects and melts the hearts of Christians more than this comparative consideration doth, when they confider vessels of gold cast away, and leadenones chosen for such noble uses. So that itisplainenough to all wife, and humble fouls, that this new life is wholly of supernatural production.
Fifthly, and lastly, I shall briefly represent the necessaryante. cedency of this quickeningwork of the Spirit, to our first clof ingwith Christ,by faith and this will easily let itself into your understandings, if you but consider the nature of the vital act of faith; which is the soul's receiving of Christ, andrestingupon himforpardonandsalvation: in which two things are neceffari-
Jy included,viz.
1. The renouncing of all otherhopesanddependencies. 2.TheopeningoftheheartfullytoJesus Christ. First, The renouncing of all other hopes and dependencies whatsoever. Self in all its acceptations, natural, sinful, and moral, is now to be denied, and renounced for ever, else Christ can neverbereceived,Rom.x. 3. not onlyfelfin its vilest pol
SERM. V. The Method of Grace. 197 lutions, but self in its richest ornaments, and endowments : but this is as impossible to theunrenewed and natural man, as it is for rocks or mountains to start from their centre, and Ay like wandering atoms in the air : nature will rather chuse to run the hazard of everlasting damnation, than escape it bya total renunciation of its beloved lusts, or self-righteousness: this supernatural work necessarily requires a supernatural principle, Rom. viii. 2.
Secondly, The opening the heart fully to Jesus Christ, without which Christ can never be received, Rev. iii. 20. but this also is the effect of the quickening Spirit, the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus : sooner may we expect to see the flowers and blossoms openwithoutthe influence of the fun, than the heart andwillofa sinner opentoreceive Christ without a principle of
life first derived from him: and this will be past doubt to all that confider, not only the impotence of nature, but the ignorance, prejudice, and aversations of nature, by which the door of the heart is barred, and chained against Christ, John v. 40. So that nature hath neither ability, nor will, power, or desire, to come to Christ: if any have an heart opened to receive him, it is the Lord that opens it by his Almighty Power, and that in the way of an infused principle of life supernatural.
Quest. But here itmaybedoubted and objected, against this position. If we cannot believe till we are quickened with spiritual life, as you say, and cannot be justified till we believe, as all say, then it will follow, that are generate foul maybe in the
of condemnation for a time, and consequently perish, if death shouldbefal him in that juncture.
Sol. To this I return, That when we speak of the priority of this quickening work of the Spirit to our actual believing, we rather understand it of the priority of nature, than of time, the natureandorder of the work requiring it to be so: a vital principle must, in order of nature, be infused before a vital act can be exerted. First, Make the tree good, and then the fruit good: and admit we should grant some priority in time also to this quickeningprinciple, before actual faith, yet the absurdity mentioned would be no wayconsequent upon that concession: for as the vital act of faith quickly follows the regenerating principle, so the foul is abundantly secured against the danger objected; God never beginning any special work of grace upon the soul, and then leaving it, and the soul with it, in hazard, butprefervesboth to the finishing and compleatingofhis gracious design, Phil. i. 6.
198 SERM.V The Method of Grace.
First Use of Information. Infer. 1. If such be the nature and necessity of this principle of divine life, as you have heard it opened in the foregoing discourse, then hence it follows, That unregenerate men are no betterthandead men. So the text represents them. " You hath " he quickened who were dead in trespasses and fins:" (i. e.) spiritually dead, though naturally alive; yea, and lively too as any other persons in the world. There is a threefold consideration of objects, viz .
J. Naturally.
2. Politically. 3. Theologically. First Naturally, To all those things that are natural, they are alive: they can understand, reason, discourse, project, and contrive, as well as others ; they can eat, drink, and build, plant, and fuck out the naturalcomfortof these things, as much as any others. So their life is described, Job xxi. 12. " They " take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the found of the organ; they spend their days in wealth," &c. And James V. 5. " Ye have lived in pleasure upon earth," as the fish lives in the water its natural element, and yet this natural sensual life is not allowed the name of life, 1 Tim. v. 9. such persons are dead whilst they live ; it is a base, and ignoble life, to have a soul only to salt the body, or to enable a man for a few years to eat, and drink, and talk, and laugh, and then die.
Secondly, Objects may be considered politically, and with respect to such things, they are alive also : they can buy and fell, and manage all their worldly affairs with as much dexterity, skill, and policy, as other men ; yea, " the children of this " world are wiser in their generation than the children of light,"
Luke xvi. 8. The entire * stream of their thoughts, projects, and studies, running in that one channel ; having but onedefign to manage, they must needs excel in worldly wisdom: But then,
Thirdly, Theologically considered, they are dead ; without life, sense, or motion, towards God, and the things that are above: their understandings are dead, 1 Cor. ii. 14. and cannot receive the things that are of God: their wills are dead, and cannot move towards Jesus Christ, John vi, 65. Their affections are dead, even to the most excellent and spiritual objects ; and all their duties are dead duties, without life or spirit. This is the fad case of the unregenerate world.
free me from him who is a man only of one business. Bern.
SERM. V. 199 The Method of Grace.
Infer. 2. This speaks encouragement to ministers and parents, to wait in hopes offuccefs at last, even upon those that yet give them little hope of conversion at the present.
The work you fee is the Lord's, when the Spirit of life comes upon their dead fouls, they shall believe, and be made willing; till then, we do but plough upon the rocks : yet let not our hand flack in duty, pray for them, and plead with them ; you know not in which prayer, or exhortation, the Spirit of life may breathe upon them: Can these dry bones live ? Yes, if the Spirit of life from God breathe upon them, they can, and thall live: what though their dispositions be averse to all things that are spiritual and serious, yet even such have been regenerated, when more sweet and promising natures have been passed by, and left under spiritual death .
It was the observation of Mr. Ward, upon his brother Mr. Daniel Rogers, (who was a man of great gifts and eminent graces, yet of a very bad temper and constitution,) Though my brother Rogers, faith he, hath grace enough for two men, yet nothalfenough for himself.
It may be you have prayed, and striven long with your relations and to little purpose, yet be not discouraged. How often was Mr. John Rogers, that famous successful divine, a grief of heart to his relations in his younger years, proving a wild and lewd young man, to the great difcouragement of his pious friends; yet, at last, the Lord graciously changed him, so that Mr. Richard Rogers would say, when he could exercise the utmost degree of charity or hope, for any that at present were vile and naught, I will never despair of any man for John Roger's Jake.
" Infer. 3. How honourable are Christians by their new birth!
They are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor " of the will of man, but of God," John i. 13. (i. e.) not in an impure, or mere natural way, but in a most spiritual and supernatural manner : they are the offspring of God, the children of the Most High, as well by regeneration as by adoption ; which is thegreatestadvancement of the human nature, next to its hypoftatical union with the second person. Oh what honour is this for a poor sinful creature, to have the very life of God breathed into his foul! All other dignities of nature are trifles compared with this ; this makes a Christian a sacred hallowed thing, the living temple of God, 1 Cor. vi. 19. The special object of his delight.
Infer. 4. How deplorable is the condition of the unregenerate world, in no better cafethan dead men ! Now to affect our
200 SERM.V. The Method of Grace. hearts with the miferyoffuch conditions, let us confiderand compare it in the following particulars.
First, There is no beauty in the dead, all their loveliness goes away at death ; there is no spiritual beauty or loveliness in any that are unregenerate: It is true, many of them have excellent moral homilitical virtues, which adorn their conversations in the eyes of men ; but what are all these, but so many sweet flowers
strewed over a dead corps ?
Secondly, The dead have no pleasure nor delight; even so the unregenerate are incapable of the delights of the Christian life: " To be spiritually minded is life and peace," Rom. viii. 6 (i. e.) thisistheonly serene,placid, and pleasant life : when the prodigal, who was once dead, was alive, then he began to be merry, Luke xv. 24. They live in sensual pleasures, but this is tobedeadwhilealive, in scripture-reckoning.
Thirdly, the dead have no heat, they are as cold as clay : fo are all the unregenerate towards God and things above: their huts are bot, but their affections to God cold and frozen : that which makes a gracious heart melt, will not make anunregene rate heart move.
Fourthly, Thedeadmustbeburied,Gen. xxiii.4. "Bury my " dead out of my fight :" So must the unregeneratebeburied out of God's fight for ever : buried in the lowest hell, in the place of darkness, for ever, John iii. 3. Wo to theunregene rate, good had it been for themtheyhadnever been born.
Infer. 5. How greatly are allmen concerned to examine their condition, with respect to spiritual life and death ! It is very com mon for men to * presume upon their union with, and interest in Christ : This privilege is,by common mistake,extendedgemerally to all that profess the Christian religion,and practise the external duties of it, when, in truth, no more are, or can be, united to Christ, than are quickenedby the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus, Rom. viii. 1, 2. O try your interest in Christ by this rule, if I am quickenedby Christ, I have union with Christ. And, First, If there be spiritual sense in your fouis, there is fpiri. tual life in them: there are αισθητηρια, senses belonging to the spiritual, as well as to the animal life, Heb. v. 14. They can feel, and sensiblygroan, under foul pressures and burdens of fin, Rom. vii. 24. The dead feel not, moannot, under the burdens of fin, but the living do: they may be sensible, indeed, of the evil off in,with respect to themselves, but not as against God; dam-
Byprefuming they hope, and by hoping they perish. Ames.
SERM. V. 201 The Method of Grace. nationmayscarethem,butpollutiondoth not; hell may frigh them, but not the offending of God.
Secondly, If there be spiritual hunger and thirst, it is a sweet sign of spiritual life; this sign agrees to Christians ofadayold,
1 Pet. ii. 2 . Even" new born babes desire the sincere milk of " the word:" If spiritual life be in you, you know how to expound that scripture, Psal. xlii. 1. without any other interpreterthanyour own experience: you will feelfomewhat like the gnawing of an empty stomach, making you restless during the interruption of your daily communion with the Lord.
Thirdly, If there be spiritual conflicts with fin, there is spiritual life in your soul, Gal. v. 17. Not only a combat betwixt light in the higher, and lust in the lower faculties ; not only opposition tomoregross external corruptions, that carry more infamy and horror with them, than other fins do : but the same faculty will be the feat of war ; and the more inward, and secret any lust is, by so much the more will it be opposed, andmournedover.
In a word the weakest Christian may,upon impartial observation, find such signs of spiritual life in himself (if he will allow himself time to reflect upon the bent and frame ofhisownheart) as desires after God, conscience of duties, fears, cares, and sorrows, about fin; delight in the societyofheavenly and spiritual men, a loathing andburdeninthe company of vain and carnal persons.
Object. O ! but I have a verydeadheart to spiritual things. Sol. It is a sign of life that you feel, and are sensible of that deadness; and besides, there is a great deal ofdifferencebetwixt Spiritual deadness and death : the one is the state of the unregenerate, the other is the disease of regenerate imen.
Object. Some signs of spiritual life are clear tome, but I cannot close with others.
Sol. If you can really close with any, it may satisfy you, though you be dark in others : for ifa child cannot go, yet if it can fuck; but if it cannot fuck, yet if it can cry ; yea, if it cannot cry, yet if it breathe, it is alive.
VOL. II. Dd
202 SERM . VI. The Method of Grace.
VI. SERMON
Describing that Act on our Part, by which we do actually and effectually apply CHRIST to our own Souls.
JOHN i. 12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God ; even to them that believe on his name. NOfooner is the soul quickened by the Spirit of God, but it answers, in some measure, the end of God in that work, by its active reception of Jesus Christ, in the way of believing : What this vital act of faith is, upon which so great a weight depends, as our interest in Christ, and everlasting blefsedness, this scripture before us will give you the best account of; wherein, (omitting the consideration of the coherence and context of the words) we have three things to ponder.
First, The high and glorious privilege conferred, viz . " Pow- " er to become the sons of God."
Secondly, The subject of this privilege described, " As many " as received him ."
Thirdly, The description explained, by way of opposition, " even as many as believe on his name."
First, The privilege conferred is a very high and glorious one, than which no created being is capable of greater ; " power " to become the sons of God:" This word εξασιαν is of large extent and signification, and is,by some, rendered " this right, 66 by others this dignity, by others this prerogative, this pri- " vilege or bonour:" It implies a title or right to adoption, not only with respect to the present benefits of it in this life, but also to that blessed inheritance which is laid up in heaven for the sons of God. And fo Grotius rightly expounds it of our consummate sons hip, consisting in the actual enjoyment ofblessedness, as well as that which is inchoate : not only a right to pardon, favour and acceptance now, but to heaven, and the full enjoyment of God hereafter. O what an honour, dignity, and privilege is this !
Beza, hoc jus: Piscator, hanc dignitatem. Light foot, prærogativam. Heinsius, privilegium ; nec multo aliter voce εξεσίας Hellenista ufi videntur cum Chaldeorum
ןטלש
exprefferunt. Heinf.
SERM. VI. 203 The Method of Grace.
66 Secondly, The subjects of this privilege are described: " As many as received him." This text describes them by that very grace,faith, which gives them their title and right to Christ and his benefits ; and by that very act of faith, which primarily confers their right to his person, and secondarily to his benefits, viz. receiving him : there be many graces besides faith, but faith only is the grace that gives us right to Christ ; and there be many acts of faith besides receiving, but this receiving or embracing of Christ, is the justifying and saving act: " As many as " received him," [οσοι δε ελαβον αυτον,] as many, be they of any nation, sex, age, or condition. For " there is neither Greek, " nor Jew, circumcision, nor uncircumcifion, Barbarian, Scy- " thian, bond or free: but Christ is all, and in all," Col.
Nothing but unbelief bars men from Christ and his benefits. As many as [received + him ; the word signifies " to accept, " take," or, (as we fitly render), to receive, assume, or take to us, a word most aptly expressing the nature and office of faith, yea, the very justifying and saving act : and we are also heedfully to note its special object, ελαβον αυτον : The text faith not
αυτα, his, but αυτον, him, i. e. his person, as he is clothed with his offices, and not only his benefits and privileges. These are secondary, and confequential things to our receving him ‡. So that it is a receiving, assuming, or accepting the Lord Jesus Christ, which must have respect to the tenders and proposals of the gospel, " for therein is the righteousness of God revealed " from faith to faith," Rom. i. 17. therein is Jesus Christ revealed, proposed, and offered unto sinners, as the only way of justification and salvation; which gospel-offer, as before was opened, is therefore ordinarily necessary to believing, Rom. x.
11, 12, 13, &c. Thirdly, This description is yet further explained, by this additional exegetical clause, [even to them that believe in his name] ; here the terms are varied, though the things expressed in both be the fame ; what he called receiving there, is called believing on his name here, to shew us that the very essence of saving faith, consists in our receiving of Christ. By his name, Dd 2
Λαμβανειν and παραλαμβανειν, both signify to receive. ‡ The gospel offer is God's act, made by means of the word : ac ceptance is man's act ; yet so, as it is also the gift of God; for a man cannot receive the Mediator, unless faith, which is the instrument of this acceptance, be given him by God. t
204 The Method of Grace. SERM . VI. we are to understand Christ himself: it is usual to take these two, believing in him, and believing in his name, as terms convertible, and of the same importance,
ומשו ומש אוה אוח
nomen fuum, et nomen ejus ipfe eft * : His name is Himself, and himself is his name . So that here we have the true nature, and precious benefits, of saving faith, excellently expressed in this scripture; the sum of which take in this proposition:
Doct. That the receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ, is thatfavingand vital act of faith, which gives the soul right both to his perfonand benefits. We cannot act spiritually, till we begin to live spiritually : Therefore the spirit of life must first join himself to us, in his quickening work, (as was shewn you in the last sermon), which being done, we begin to act spiritually, by taking hold upon, or receiving Jesus Christ, which is the thing designed to be opened in this sermon.
The soul is the life of the body, faith is the life of the soul, and Christ is the life of faith, There are several forts of faith, besides saving faith, and in saving faith there are several acts, besides the justifying or saving act; but this receiving act,which is to be our subject this day, is that upon which both our righteousness and eternal happiness do depend. " This, as a form, " differences saving faith from all other kinds or forts of " faith †;" by this it is that we are justified and saved. " as many as received him, to them gave he power to become " the sons of God :" yet it dothnotjustify and save us by rea fonofany proper dignity that is found in this act, but by rea-
of the object it receives or apprehends. The same thing is often expressed in scripture by other terms, as " Coming to "
John vi . 35. Trusting or staying upon Christ, Ifa. 1. 10. But whatever is found in those expressions, it is all comprehended in this, as will appear hereafter. Now, the method into which I shall cast my discourse on this subject, that I may handle it with as much perfpicuity and profit as I can, shall be,
First, To explain and open the nature of this receiving of Christ, and shewyou what it includes.
Secondly, To prove, that this is the justifying and saving act of faith .
. † Form a vel aliquidformae analogumponitur differentiae laco.
SERM. VI. 205 The Method of Grace. Thirdly, To shew you the excellency of this act of faith.
Fourthly. To remove some mistakes, and give you the true account of the dignity and excellency of this act .
Fifthly, And then bring home all, in a proper and close application.
First, In the first place then, I will endeavour to explain and openthenature of this receiving of Christ, and thew you what is implied in it.
And, indeed, it involves many deep mysteries, and things of greatest weight. People are generally very ignorant and unacquainted with the importance of this expression, they have very flight thoughts of faith, who never passed under the illuminating, convincing, and humbling work of the Spirit : but we shall find, that saving faith is quite another thing, and differs in its whole kind and nature from that traditional faith, and common afssent, which is so fatally mistaken for it in the world‡.
For, First, It is evident, that no man can receive Jesus Christ in the darkness of natural ignorance : we must understand and difcernwho and what he is, whom we receive to be the Lord our righteousness. If we know not his person, and his offices, we do not take, but mistake Christ. It is a good rule in the civil law, Non consent it qui nonfentit : A mistake of the person invalidates the match. He that takes Christ for a mere man, or denies the satisfaction of his blood, or divests him of his human nature, ordeniesanyofhis most glorious and necessary of-
There are divers other expressions by which the nature of saving faith is expressed in scripture, viz . Eating Christ's flesh, and drinking his blood, John vi. 40. Coming to Christ, Mat. xi. 28. Having the Son, 1 John v. 12. Trusting or depending upon him, for which the Hebrew uses three emphaticalwords
חטב זא and non. The first signifies a firm and stable trust. The second, to lean or depend with security. The third, to betake one's self to a sanctuary for a protection. All which is supposed or included in our receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ : in eating and drinking we must receive meat and drink ; coming to Christ is necessarily supposed in receiving him, for there is no receiving at a distance. Having the Son, and receiving him, are notions of the same importance ; and for trusting, relying with security, and betaking ourselves to Christ for refuge, they are all involved in the receiving act ; for as God offers him to us as the only prop of our hearts and hopes, fo we receive him to rely upon him : And as he is held forth in the gospel as the only Asylum, or city of refuge, so we take or receive him, and accordingly betake our souls to him for refuge.
206 The Method of Grace. SERM . VI.
fices, let them cry up as high as they will his spirituality, glory, and exemplary life and death, they can never receive Jesus Christ aright : This is such a crack, such a flaw, in the very foundation of faith, as undoes and destroys all. Ignorant is non eft consensus : All saving faith is founded in light and knowledge, and therefore it is called knowledge, Ifa. liii. 11.; and seeing is inseparablyconnectedwith believing, John vi. 40. Men must hear and learn of the Father, before they can come to Christ, John vi. 45. The receiving act of faith is directed and guided by knowledge. I will not presume to state the degree of knowledge, which is absolutely necessary to the reception of Christ ; I know the first actings of faith are, in most Christians, accompanied with much darkness and confusion of understanding : but yet we must say in the general, that wherever faith is, there is so much light as is sufficient to discover to the soul, its own sins, dangers and wants; and the all-fufficiency, suitableness, and necessity of Christ, for the supply and remedy of all; and without this , Christ cannot be received. "Come unto me, all ye that labour, and areheavyladen, and I will give you rest," Mat. xi. 28 .
Secondly, The receiving Christ necessarily implies the affentofthe understanding of the truths of Christ revealed in the gospel, viz. his person, natures, offices, his incarnation, death, and satisfaction ; which affent, though it be not in itself saving faith, yet is it the foundation and ground-work of it ; it being impossible the soul should receive and fiduciallyembrace, what the mind doth not affent unto as true and infallibly certain || . Now, there are three degrees ofaffent; conjecture, opinion, and belief. Conjecture is but a flight and weak inclination to afsent to the thing propounded, by reason of the weighty objections that lie against it. Opinion is a more steady and fixed affent, when am an is almost certain, though yet some fear of the contrary remains with him, Belief is a more full and assured affent to the truth; to which the mind maybe brought four ways.
First, By the perfect intelligence of sense, not hindered or deceived. So I believe the truth of these propositions, Fire is hot, water moist, honey is sweet, gall is bitter.
Secondly, By the native clearness offelf-evidencing principles. So I believe the truth of these propositions, The whole is more than a part ; the cause is before the effect.
Thirdly, By dilcourse, and rational deduction. So I believe ۱
[ See Dr. Sclater, on Rom. iv. 3.
SERM. VI. 207 The Method of Grace.
the truth of this proposition, Where all the partsofathing are, there is the whole.
Fourthly, By infallible testimony, when any thing is witnessed or asserted, by one whose truth is unquestionable *. And of this fort is the affent of faith ; which is therefore called our receiving the witness of God, 1 John v. 9. our setting to our feal that God is true, John iii. 33. This prima veritas, divine verity, is the very formal object of faith: into this we resolve our faith. Thus faith the Lord, is that firm foundation upon which our affent is built. And thus we see good reason to believe those profound mysteries of the incarnation of Christ ; the hypostatical union of the two natures in his wonderful person ; the mystical union of Christ and believers; though we cannot understand these things,by reason of the darkness of our minds. Itfatisfies the soul to find these mysteries in the written word ; upon that foundation it firmly builds its affent; and without such an assent of faith, there can be no embracing of Christ : all acts of faith and religion, without affent, are but as so many arrows
at random into the open air, they signify nothing for want ofa fixed determinate object.
It is therefore the policy of Satan, by injecting or fomenting atheistical thoughts, (with which young converts use to find themselves greatly infested)to undermine and destroy the whole work of faith . But God makes his people victorious over them : yea, and even at that time they do affent to the truths of the word, when they think they do not : As appears by their tenderness and fear of fin, their diligence and care of duty. If I discern these things ina Christian's life, he must excuse me if I believe him not, when he faith he doth not affent to the truths of the gospel.
Thirdly, Our receiving Christ necessarily implies our hearty approbation, liking, and estimation; yea, the acquiefcence of our very fouls in Jesus Christ, as the most excellent, suitable, and complete remedy for all our wants, fins and dangers, that ever could be prepared by the wisdom and love of God for us: We must receive him with such a frame of heart as rests upon,
It is not becoming, that God, when he would speak to men, should confirm his words with arguments, as if otherwise he was not to be believed ; but, as becomes himself, he speaks as the supreme Judge of all things, whose (prerogative) it is, not to argue, but to pronounce what is truth, &c. Lactan. defalfa religione, p. (mihi)
179. Faith fails, where the divine authority of the scripture is wanting..
208 SERM . VI. The Method of Grace.
" and trusts in him, if ever we receive him aright; To them " that believe he is precious," 1 Pet. ii. 7. This is the only sovereign plaister in all the world that is large enough, and efficacious enough, to cure our wounds: And therefore as Christ is most highly esteemed, and heartily approved, as the only remedy for our souls; so the sovereign grace and wisdom of God are admired, and the way and method he hath taken to save poor souls, by Jesus Christ, most heartily approved, as the most apt and excellent method, both for his glory, and our good, that ever could be taken : For it is a plain case,that none will espouse themselves with conjugal affections, to that person whom they efsteem not as the best for them that can be chosen :
None will forsake and quit all for his sake, except they account him as the spouse did, The chiefest of ten thousand." There are two things in Christ, which must gain the greatest approbation in the soul ofa poor, convinced sinner, and bring it to rest upon Jesus Christ.
First, That it can find nothing in Christ that is distaftful, or unsuitable to it, as it doth experimentally find in the best creatures. In him is no weakness, but a fulness of all saving abilities; "Able to save to the uttermoft :" No pride, causing him toscorn andcontemn the most wretched fool that comes to him : No inconftancy or levity, to cause him to cast off the foul, whom he hath once received: No passion but a Lamb for meekness and patience: There is no spot to be found in him, but " He is alto- " get her lovely," Cant. v. 16.
Secondly, As the believer can find nothing in Christ that is distastful, so it finds nothing wanting in Christ that is necessary, or desire able : Such is the fulness of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that is in Christ, that nothing is left to desire, but the full enjoyment of him. O faith the soul, how completely happy shall I be, if I can but win Christ ! I would not envy the nobles of the earth, were I but in Christ. I am hungry, and athirst, and Christ is meat indeed, and drink indeed ; this is the best thing in all the world for me, because so necessary, and so suitable, to the needs of a soul ready to perish. I am a law-condemned, and a self-condemned sinner; trembling for fear of the execution of the curse upon me every moment; in Christ is complete righteousness tojuftifymyfoul ; O there is nothing better for me than Christ. I fee myself plunged both in nature and practice, into the odious pollutionsof fin, and in Christ is a fountain opened for fin and for uncleanness : His blood is a fountain of merit, his spirit is a fountain of holiness and purity: None but Christ, none but
SERM . VI. The Method of Grace. 209 Christ. O the manifold wisdom, and unsearchable love of God, to prepare, and furnish such a Christ, so fully answering all the needs, all the distresses, all the fears and burdens ofa poor sinner ! Thus the believing foul approves of Christ as best for it. And thus in believing, it gives glory to God, Rom. iv. 21. Fourthly, Receiving Christ consists in the consent and choice of the will; and this is the opening of the heart and stretching forth of the soul to receive him : " Thy people shall be willing day of thy power," Psal . cx. 3. It is the great design, and main scope of the gospel, to work over the wills of poor sinners to this : And this was the great complaint of Christ against the incredulous Jews, Johnv. 40. " Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life."
It is disputed by some, whether faith can be seated in two distinct faculties, as we seem to place it, when we say it involves both the approbation of the judgment, and the consent of the will. I will not here in tangle my discourse with that fruitless dispute. I am of the fame judgment with those divines, that think faith cannot be expressed fully by any one single habit, or act of the mind or will distinctly, for that (as * one well notes) there are such descriptions given of it in scripture, such things are proposed as the object of it, and such is the experience of all that sincerely believe; as no one single act, either of the mind or will, can answer unto: Nor do I fee any thing repugnant tofcripture or philosophy if we place it in both faculties. Consent (faith + Vasquez) seems to denote the concourse of the will with the understanding ; but to leave that, it is most certain the saving, justifying act of faith lies principally in the consent of the will, which consent is the effect of the Almighty Power of God, Eph. i. 19. He allures and draws the will to Christ, and he draws with the cords ofa man, (i. e.) he prevails with it by rational arguments : For the soul being preparedbyconvictions of its loft and miserable estate by fin, and that there is but one door of hope open to it for an escape from the wrath to come, and that is Christ; being also satisfied of the
Dr. Owen in his doctrine of Justification, p. 135 . + Consent seems to denote the concurrence of the will with the understanding, by relishing the same thing which the understanding doth perceive. 12. 2. 15. a. 1. Faith is not a simple act, but consists of diverse parts, knowledge, affent, and trust, which do not all belong to the same faculty. Wendel. Theol. p. 450. VOL . II . Ec
210 The Method of Grace. SERM. VI.
completeness of his saving ability, and of his willingness to make it over for our salvation, upon such just and equal terms ; this cannot but prevail with the will of a poor distressed sinner, to consent, and choose him.
Fifthly and Lastly, The last, and principle thing included in our receiving of Christ, is the respect that this act of acceptance hath, unto the terms upon which Christ is tendered to us in the gospel †, to which it is most agreeable, 1 Cor. xv. 11. " So we " preach, and foye believed:" Faith answers the gospel-offer, as the impress upon thewaxdoth the engraving in thefeal; and this is of principal consideration, for there is no receiving Christ upon any other terms but his own, proposed in the gospel to