SERMON VII.
SERM. VIL.
The Fountain of Life.
SERMON VII.
Treats of the Solemn CONSECRATION of the MEDIATOR.
JOHN xvii. 19. Andfor their fakes Ifanctify myself.
ESUS Chriſt being fitted with a body, and authorized by J acommiſſion, now actually devotes, and ſets himself apart to his work.
In the former fermon you heard what the Father did ; in this you ſhall hear what the Son hath done towards the farther advancement ofthat glorious deſign ofour ſalvation : He fanctified himselffor our fakes.
Wherein obferve, (1.) Chriſt's ſanctifying ofhimself.
(2.) The end or deſignof his todoing.
1. You have Chriſt's ſanctifying of himself.
The word αγιαζω is not here to be understood for the cleanſing, purifyingor making holy that which was before unclean and unholy, either in a moral ſenſe, as we are cleanſed from finby fanctification; or in aceremonial ſenſe, as perſons and things were fanctified under the law; though here is a plain alluſion to thoſe legalrites: But Chriſt's fanctifying himself, imports,
(1.) His feparation, or fetting apart to bean oblation orfacrifice.
So Beza, nempe utfacerdos et victima, as the priest and facrifice.
I ſanctify myself, imports, (2.) His confecration, or dedication of bimselfto this holy use andservice *.
Sothe DutchAnnotations, I fanctify myſelf (i. e.) I give up myselffor a holyfacrifice.
Andto ourEngliſhAnnotations, Ifanctify, (i. e.) I confecrate and voluntarily offer myself a holy and unblemished ſacrifice to thee for their redemption. And thus under the Law, when any day, perſon,or veſſel was confecrated anddedicated to the Lord, it was tointirelyfor his uſeand ſervice, that touse it afterward in any commonſervice,was toprofane and pollute it, as you ſee Dan. v. 3 .
2. The end ofhis ſo ſanctifyinghimself [for theirfakes, and that they might be fanctified†] whereyou have the Finis cujus,
* To ſanctify, is to ſeparate or ſetapart fordivineuſes.
Brentius onthis place.
† The meaning then is this, I ſanctify myself, i. e. for their fakes
SERM. VII.
The Fountain of Life. the end for whom, for their (i. e.)for the electsfake, for them whom thou gaveſt me ; and the Finis cui, the end for which, that they mightbe ſanctified. Where you alſo ſee thatthedeath of Chriſt wholly reſpects us; he offered not for himself asother prieſts did, but for us, thatwe maybe ſanctified.
Chrift is fo inlovewith holiness, that at the price of hisbloodhe willbuy itfor us.
Hence the obfervation is ; Doct. That Jesus Chriftdid dedicate, andwhollyſet himself a part to the work ofa Mediator, for the electsfake.
This point is a glaſs, wherein the eye ofyour faith may fee Jefus Chriſt preparing himself to be offered up toGod for us, fittinghimself todie. And tokeep a clear method, I ſhall open theſetwo things, in thedoctrinal part; First, whathis ſanctify. ing himself implies: Secondly, How it reſpects us.
First, What is implied in this pharſe, " I ſanctify myself,"
And there areleventhings carried in it.
1. This phrafe [" fanctify myself"]implies thepersonalunion of the two natures in Chrift : For what is thatwhich he here calls himself,but the famethat was confecrated to bea facrifice, even his human nature ? This was the ſacrifice.
And this alſowas himſelf: So the apostle ſpeaks, Heb. ix. 14. "He through the " eternal Spirit, offered up himſelf toGod, without ſpot."
So thatour nature,by that affumption, is become himself.
Greater honour cannotbe done it, or greater ground of comfort propofedtous. Buthaving ſpoken of that unionin the former fermon, ſhall remit the reader thither.
2. This ſanctifying, orconfecrating himself to be a facrifice for us, implies, thegreatness and dreadfulness ofthat breachwhich fin madebetwixt God and us. You fee no leſs a facrifice than
Chrift himselfmust be ſanctified to makeatonement. Judge of the greatness of the wound by the breadth of the plaifter.
" Sacrifice and offering, andburnt-offeringfor fin, thouwouldſt " not; but abody haft thou prepared me," Heb. 8. 5. All ourrepentance, could we ſhed as many tears for fin, as there have fallendropsofrain ſince the creation, couldnothave been our atonement: " ButGodwas inChrift reconciling theworld
" in himself." And had henot fanctified Chrift to this end, he wouldhave fanctified himselfupon us, in judgment and fury forever. fakes I die, that they by my death maybe filled with the Spiritof. holineſs, and may become holy veſſels ofGod, by the Spirit of God revealed.
Marlorat. on this placet
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3. This his fanctifying himself, implies hisfree and volunta. ry undertaking of the work.
It is not, I am fanctified, as if hehad been merely paffive in it, as the lambs that typedhim out were, when pluckt fromthe fold ; but it is an active verb he uſeth here *, I fanctify myself; he would have none think thathe died out ofa neceffity of compulfion,but out of choice :
Therefore he is faid to " offer up himself toGod," Heb . ix..
14.
And Johnx. 18. " I lay down my life of myself : no man " taketh it from me." And although it is often faid his Father fent him, andgave him ; yet his heartwas as much fet on that work, as ifthere had been nothingbut glory, eaſe and comfort in it ; he wasunder no conſtraint, but that of his own love.
Therefore, as when the ſcripture would fet forth the willingnefs of the Father to this work, it faith, Godfent his Son, and God gavehis Son ; ſo when itwould fet forth Chriſt's willingness to it, it faith, he offered up himself, gave himself, and, here inthe. text,fanctified himself.
The facrifice that ſtruggled, and came not without force to the altar, was reckoned ominous and unluckyby the Heathen : our facrifice dedicated himself; he died outofchoice, and was a free will offering. '
4. His fanctifying himself, implies his pureandperfect holiness ; that he had nospot or blemish in him.
Those beafts that prefigured him, were to be withoutblemish, andnone elſe were confecrated to that ſervice. So, and morethan ſo, itbehoved Chrift to be, Heb. vii. 26. "Such a High Priest became us, who is
" holy, harmless, undefield, ſeparate from ſinners :" And what itbecame him tobe, hewas. Therefore, in alluſion to the lambs. offered under the law, the apostle calls him a Lamb without blemish, orspot, 1 Pet. i. 19. Everyother man hatha double ſpot onhim, the heart-ſpot, and the life-ſpot; the ſpot of original, andthe ſpots of actual ſins. But Chriſt was without either, he hadnotthe ſpot oforiginal fin, forhe was not by inan ; he came in a peculiar way into the world, and ſo eſcaped that : nor yet ofactual fins ; for, as his nature, ſo his life was ſpotleſs andpure,
Ifa. liii. 9. " He did no iniquity." And though tempted to fin externally, yet he was never defiled in heart or practice ; he came as near it as he could for our fakes, yet ſtill without fin,
Heb. iv. 15.
Ifhe ſanctifies himself for a facrifice, he must be as the law required, pure and ſpotleſs.
5. His fanctifying himſelf for our fakes, ſpeaks thestrength of his love, andlargeness ofhis heart to poorfinners, thus to fet himSelfwholly and entirely apartfor us : tothatwhathedid and * Έγω αγιαζω εμαυτον.
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ſuffered, muſt all ofithave areſpect and relation tous. Hedid not(when confecrated for us)live amoment, do an act, or ſpeak aword, but it hadfome tendency to promote the great defign ofour ſalvation. He was only and wholly, and always doing your work, when confecrated for your fakes.
His incarnation reſpects you ; Ifa. ix. 6. " For to us a child is born, to us a fon is
"given."
And he would never have been the ſon of man,but tomakeyou the fons and daughters of God. God wouldnot have come down in the likenessoffinful fleſh, in the habit ofa man,but toraiſe up finfulmaninto the likeness ofGod. Allthe miracles hewrought were for you, to confirmyour faith. When heraiſed up Lazarus, John xi. 42. " Because ofthe people which " ſtandby, I faidit, thattheymight believe that thou haſtſent
" me." Whilehe lived onearth, he lived as onewholly fet apart for us ; and when he died, hedied for us,Gal. iii. 13. " hewas
" made acurſe for us." Whenhehanged onthat curſed tree, he hanged there in ourroom, anddidbut fill our place. When he wasburied, he was buried for us : for theendof it was, to perfume our graves, against we come to lie down in them. And whenhe roſe again, itwas, as the apoſtle faith, " for ourjuſtifi
" cation," Rom. iv.25.
When he aſcended intoglory, he proteſted it was about our buſineſs, that he went to prepare places for us : and ifit hadnot been fo, hewould have told us, John xiv. 2. And now he is there, itis for us that he there lives; for " he ever lives tomake interceffion for us," Heb. vii. 25.
And whenhe ſhall return again tojudge the world,he will comefor us too. "Hecomes(whenever itbe) tobe glorified in his faints,
" andadmiredinthem thatbelieve," 2 Theff. i. 10. He comes togatherhis faintshome tohimself, that where he is, there they all may be, in foul and body with him for ever. Thusyoufee how, as his confecration for us doth ſpeak him fet apart for our uſe; fo he did wholly bestow himself, time, life, death, and all upon us; living and dying for no other end, but toaccomplish this great work offalvation for us.
6His fanctifyinghimselfforus plainlyſpeaks thevicegerency ofhis death, that it was in our room orstead.
When the prieft confecratedthe ſacrifice, itwas ſet apart for the people.
So 'tis faidfor the ſcape-goat; "And Aaronſhalllayboth hishandsup66 on theheadof the live goat, and confefs over him all the i- " niquities ofthe childrenof Ifrael, and all their tranfgreffions
" in all their fins,putting themupon thehead ofthe goat, and " ſhall ſend him away by the hand of a fitman into the wilder- " neſs," Levit. xvi. 21. Thus Ifa. liii. 6, 7. He stood in our
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room, to bear our burden. And as Aaron laid the iniquities of thepeople upon the goat, ſo were ours laid on Chriſt :It was faid tohim in that day; On thee be their pride, their unbelief, their hardness of heart, their vain thoughts, their earthly-mindedneſs , &c.
Thou art confecrated forthem, to be the facrifice in their room.
His death was in our ſtead, as well as for our good. Andso much his ſanctifying himself [for us] imports.
7. His fanctifying himself, imports the extraordinariness of hisperson: for itſpeaks him to be bothpriest,facrificeand altar, all in one : a thing unheard of in the world before.
So that his name might well be called Wonderful.
Ifanctify myself : I fanctify, according to both natures ; myself, that is, myhuman nature, which was the facrifice upon the altar of my divine nature; for 'tis the altar that fanctifies the gift. As the three offices never met in one perſon before, ſo theſe threethings nevermet in one prieſt before. The priests indeed confecrated the bodiesof beasts for facrifices, but never offered up their own fouls and bodies as a whole burnt-offering, as Chriſt did.
And thusyou have the import of this phrase, 1fanctify myselffor theirfakes.
Secondly, I ſhall ſhew you briefly the habitude and reſpect that all this hath to us ; for untous the ſcriptures every where refer it.
So in 1 Cor. v. 7. " Chriſt our paſſover is facrificed " for us." Eph . v. 2. " He loved the church, and gave himself
" for it ." See Tit. ii. 14. This will be made out, by a threefold confideration of Chriſt's death.
And, 1. Let it beconſidered, thathe was not offered up to Godfor his own fins : for he was moſt holy.
Ifa. liii. 9. No iniquity wasfound inhim.
Indeed, the priests under the law offered for themſelves, as well as the people; but Chriſt did not ſo,
Heb . vii. 27. " He needed not daily, as thoſe High Priests, to " offer up facrifice, firſt for his own fins, and then for the peo- " ples." And indeedhadhebeen a ſinner, what value or efficacy could have been in his facrifice ? He could not have been the facrifice, but would have needed one. Now, if Chrift were moſt holy, and yet put to death, and cruel fufferings ; either his death and fufferings must be an act of injustice and cruelty ; or itmust reſpect others, whoſe perfons and cauſe he ſuſtained inthat fuffering capacity. He could never have fuffered or diedby the Father's hand, hadhe not been a finner by imputation. And in that reſpect, as Luther ſpeaks, he was. the greateſt of finners; or, as ths prophet Ifaiah ſpeaks, all cur finsweremade to meet upon him : not that he was intrinfically, but was made fo, ſo, by imputation, as is clearfrom2 Cor. v.
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21. " He was made fin for us, who knew no fin."
So that hence it is evident, that Chriſt's death, or facrifice, is wholly a reſpective or relative thing.
2. Itis not tobe forgotten here, that the ſcriptures fre quentlycall the death of Chriſt a price,
1 Cor. vi. 20. and a ransom, Mat. xx. 28. or counterprice †. To whom thendoth it relate, but to them that were, and are in bondage and captivity ? Ifit was toredeem any, itmust be captives : but Chrift himſelfwas never in captivity ; he was always in his Father's bofom, as you haveheard; but we were in cruel bondage and thraldom, under the tyranny of fin and Satan : and it is weonly that have the benefit ofthis ranſom.
3. Either the death of Chriſt muſt relate to believers, or elſe he muſt diein vain. As for the angels, those that ſtood in their integrity, needed no ſacrifice, and those that fell, are totally excluded from any benefitby it: he is nota Mediator for them .
And among men thathave need of it, unbelievers have no ſhare in it, they reject it; fuch haveno part in it.
Ifthen he neither died for himſclf, as I proved before, nor for angels, nor unbelievers ; either his blood must be ſhed with reſpect tobelievers, or, which is most abfurd, and never to be imagined, ſhed as water upon the ground, and totally caft away : fo that you fee by all this, itwas for our fakes, as the text ſpeaks, that he fanctified himself. Andnow we may ſay ; Lord, the condemnation was thine, that the justification might be mine ; the agonythine, that the victory mightbe mine ; the pain was thine, and the ease mine ; thestripes thine, and the healing balm iſſuing from them mine ; the vinegar and gall were thine, that the honey and sweet might be mine ; the curse was thine, that the bleffing might be mine ; the crown ofthorns was thine, that the crown ofglory might be mine ; the death was thine, the life purchased by it mine ; thou payedſt theprice that I might
☐ enjoy the inheritance.
We come next to the inferences oftruth deducible from this point, which follow.
Inference 1. If Jesus Chriſtdid wholly ſet himself apart for believers, how reasonable is it that believersshould confecrateand fet themselves apart wholly for Christ ? Is he all for us, and ſhall webe nothing forhim ? What he was, he was foryou ? What ever he did, was done for you ; And all that he ſuffered, was fuffered foryou. O then," I beſeech you Brethren, by themerΟ 2
† Λύτρον ἀντιλυθρον, i. e. pretium exadverfo refpondens.
The Fountain of Life.
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" cics ofGod, preſentyourbodies," i. e. your whole ſelves, (for ſobody is there * fynecdochically put to fignify the whole perfon) Iſay." preſent your bodies a living facrifice, holy, accepta- " ble toGod, which isyour reaſonable ſervice," Rom. xii . 1. As your good was Chriſt's end,ſo lethisglorybe your end.
Let Chrift be the " end of your converſation," Heb. xiii . 7. As Chrift couldfay, To me to live is you ; ſo doyou fay, " For us to live is Chriſt," Phil i 21. O that all who profeſs faith in Chrift, could fubſcribe cordially to that profeſſion, Rom. xiv.
8. " None ofus liveth to himself, and no mandieth to himself; " but whether we live, we live tothe Lord; and whether we
" die, we die to the Lord : ſo then whether we live or die, we " are the Lord's."
This is to be a Chriſtian indeed.
What is aChriſtian, but an holy dedicated thing to the Lord ? And what greater evidence can there be, that Chriſt ſet himfelf apart for you, than your ſetting yourſelves apart for him ?
" This is the marriage covenant,Hof. iii. 3." Thou shaltbe for me, and not for another ; fo will I be for thee. "
Ah, what a life is the life of a Chriſtian ! Chriſt all for you, and you all for him.
Bleſſed exchange ! Soul, (faithChrift) all Ihave is thine.
Lord, (faith the ſoul), and all I have is thine.
Soul, (faith Chriſt), my perſon is wonderful, but what I am, I am for thee : mylife was ſpent inlabour andtravail, but livedfor thee. And Lord, (faith thebeliever), my perſon is vile, and not worththy accepting ; but, ſuch as it is, it is thine; my foul, withalland every faculty; mybody, and every memberof it, my gifts, time, andall my talents are thine.
Andfeethat as Chriſt bequeathedand made over himself to you, ſo ye, in like manner, bestow and make over yourſelves tohim. He lived not, neither died (as you hear) for himself, but you. O that you, in like manner, would down with felf, and exalt Chriſt in the room ofit. "Wo, wo is me, (faith one)
" that the holy profeſſion of Chriſt is made a ſhewy garment bymany to bringhome a vainfame; and Chriſt is made to " ſerve mens ends.
This is to ſtopan ovenwith aking'srobes.
Exceptmen martyr and flay the bodyof fin, in ſanctified ſelf- " denial, they ſhall never be Chrift's martyrs and faithfulwit- " neſſes . O if I couldbe maſter of that houſe-idol, myſelf,
" mine own, mine own wit, will, credit, and eaſe, how bleffed " were I ! O but we have need to be redeemed from ourſelves,.
" rather than from the devil and the world.
Learn to put out * Synsadoche Hebraica, pro vos totos. SicPareus in loc.
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" yourſelves, and to put in Chrift foryourselves.
I ſhould make a tweet bargain, and give old for new, if I couldthuffle out ſelf, and ſubſtitute Chriſt my Lord in place of my self;
" to ſay, not I, but Chrift; net my will, but Chrift's ; not my " eaſe, not my lufts, not my credit, but Chriſt, Chrift.- Q
" wretched idol, myself, when thall I ſee thee whollydecourted, « and Chriſt wholly put in thy room ? O it Chrift had the " full place and room of myself, that all my aims, purpoſes, thoughts and defires would coaft and land upon Chrift, and notupon myself."
He ſet himself apart for you believers, and no others ; no, not for angels, but for you : Will ye alſo ſet yourſelves apart peculiarly for Chriſt ? be his, and no other's ? Let not Chrift and theworld ſhare and divide your hearts in two halves betwixt them; let not the world ſtep inandſay, halfmine
You will never do Chriſt right, nor anſwer this grace, till you can ſay, as it is, Pfal. lxxiii. 25. " Whom have I in heavenbutthee ?
" andonearth there is none that Idefire incomparison ofthee.
None but Chriſt, none but Chrift, is a proper motto for a Chriſtian.
He left the highest and beſt enjoyments, even thoſe. in his Father's bofom, to let himselfapart for death and ſuffering for you: Are you ready to leave theboſom ofthe best and ſweet, eſtenjoyments, youhave in this world, to ſerve him ?
Ifyou Stand not habitually ready to leave father, mother, wife, chil. dren, lands, yea, and life too, to ſerve him, you are notworthy ofhim, Matth . x. 37.
Hewas ſo wholly given up toyour ſervice, that he refused not theworſt and hardeſt part of it, even bleeding, groaning, dyingwork ; hislove toyou ſweetned all this to him ; Can you ſay ſo too; do you "account the reproaches of Chriſt greater
"riches than the treaſures ofEgypt, as Moſes did ?" Heb. xi. 26.
He had ſo entirely devoted himself to your work, that he couldnotbe at reſt till it was finiſhed: he was ſointentupon it, thathe"forgot to eat bread," John iv. 31, 32.
So it ſhould be with you; his ſervice ſhould be meat anddrinktoyou.
To conclude:
He was ſowholly given up to yourwork and ſervice, thathe would not fuffer himself to be in the leaſt diverted, or taken off from it: and ifPeter himself counſel him to favour himſelf,he ſhallhear, " Get thee behind me, Satan." Ohappy were it if our hearts werebut ſo engaged for Chriſt ! In Galen's time it was proverbial, when they would expreſs the impoſſibility of a thing, Youmay asfoon take offa Christianfrom Chrift.
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Thus you feewhat uſe you ſhouldmake ofChriſt's fanctifying himſelffor you.
Inference 2. If Chriſt hath ſanctified or confecrated himself for us ; learn hence, whata horrid evil it is, to use Christ or his blood, as a common and unfanctified thing.
Yet ſo ſome do, as theapoſtle ſpeaks, Heb. x. 29.
The apoſtate is faid to tread upon the Son ofGod, as if he were no better than thedirt underhisfeet, andtocounthisblood anunholy (or common) thing.
But wo to them that ſodo, they ſhall be counted worthy of fomethingworse than dying without mercy, as the apoftle there ſpeaks.
And as this is the fin ofthe apoſtate, ſo it is alſo the finof all thoſe thatwithout faith approach, and ſo prophane the table ofthe Lord, unbelievingly and unworthily handling thoſe aweful things.
Such " eat and drink judgment to themſelves, not " diſcerning the Lord's body," 1 Cor. xi. 29.
Whereas the bodyofChriſt wasa thing of thedeepeſt ſanctification that ever Godcreated; fanctified (as the text tells us)toa far more excellent and glorious purpoſe than everany creature in heaven or earthwas fanctified.
Itwas therefore the great fin of thoſe Corinthians, not todifcernit, and not tobehave themſelves towards it,when they saw andhandled the ſigns ofit, as became ſo holy athing.
Andas itwastheir great fin, ſoGoddeclared his juſt indignation against it, in thoſe ſore ſtrokes inflicted for it.
As they difcerned not the Lord'sbody, ſo neither didthe Lorddiſcern their bodies from others in the judgments that were inflicted.
And, asone wellobſerves, Goddrew the model andplatform of their punishment, from the ſtructure andproportion of their fin.
And truly, if the moral and ſpiritualfeeds and originalsofmany ofouroutwardafflictions and fickneſſes were butduly fifted out, poſſibly we might find a greatpart of them in the bowels ofthis fin.
The just and righteous God willbuild up the breaches we make upon the honour ofhis Son, with the ruins ofthatbeauty, ſtrength and honour which hehath given ourbodies. O then, when you draw nigh toGod in that ordinance, take heed to fanctify his name,by a ſpiritualdifcerning of this moſt holy, and moſt deeplyfanctified body of the Lord; ſanctified beyond all creatures, angels or men, not onlyin reſpect ofthe Spirit which filledhim, without meaſure with inherentholiness, but alſo in reſpectofits dedication to fuch a ſervice as this, it being ſet apart by him to ſuch holy, folemn ends and uſes, as you have heard.
And let it, for ever, be a warning tofuch as have lifted up
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The Fountain of Life. their hands to Chriſt in a holy profeſſion, that they never lift uptheirheel against him afterwards byapoſtacy. The apoftate treads onGod's dearSon, andGod will tread upon him for it.
" Thou hast troddendown all thaterr from thy ſtatutes," Pfal. схіх. 118 .
Inference 3.What a choice pattern oflove tofaintshavewehere beforeus ! Callingallthatare in Chrift to an imitation of him, eventogive up ourſelves to their fervice, as Chrift did ; not in the ſame kind, fo,none can give himself for them, but as we are capable.
You see herehow his heart was affected to them, that hewould fanctify himself as a facrifice for them.
See to what aheight of duty the apoſtle improves this example of Chrift, 1 John iii. 16. " Hereby perceive we the love ofGod,be.
" cauſe he laiddownhis life for us; and weought alfo to lay "down our lives forthe brethren."
Some Chriftians cameup fairly to thispatternin primitivetimes; Prifcilla andAquila laid down theirnecks for Paul,Rom. xvi. 4. i. e. eminently hazarded their lives for him ; and he himself could " rejoice, if he
66 were offered up upon the facrifice and ſervice of their faith,"
Phil. ii. 17.
And in the next times, what moreknown, even to the enemies of Chriſtianity, than their fervent love one to another ? Ecce quam mutuo ſe diligunt, et mori volunt pro alterutris ! See how they love one another, and are willing todie one for another !
But alas ! the primitive ſpirit is almoſt loſtinthis degenerate age: instead of laying down life,how few will laydown twelvepence forthem ? I remember, it is the obſervation ofalateWorthy, upon Matth. v. 40., That he is perfuaded there is hardly thatman tobe found this day alive, that fully underſtands and fully believes that ſcripture. O, did menthink what they do for them, is done for Chriſt himself, it wouldproduce other effects than are yet viſible.
Inference 4. Lastly, IfChriſt ſanctifiedhimself, thatwe might be fanctified by [or in) the truth: then it will follow, by found conſequence, That truefanctification isa good evidence that Chrift fet apart himself to die for us .
* In vain did he ſanctify himself (as to you) unless you be fanctified.
Holy fouls onlycan claim the benefit of the great facrifice. Otry then, whether true holineſs (andthat is only to bejudgedby its conformity to its
* Nordid Chriſt ſo ſanctify himselffor us, thatwe should continue tobewicked, and ſtrangers tothe communion ofthe Spirit, and his ſanctifying influences. Whoſoever are void ofthis, invainpromiſe themselves intercourse with Chriſt.
Mufc. on this place.
SERM. VII.
The Fountain of Life.
66pattern, 1 Pet. i. 15. " As he that calledyou is holy, fo be ye holy") ; whether fuch aholiness as is, and acts (according to its meaſure) likeGod's holiness, in the following particulars, be found in you.
1. God is universally holy in all his ways ; fo Pfal. exlv.-17.
" His works are all holy :" whatever he doth, ' tis ſtill done as becomes aholyGod: he isnot onlyholy in all things, but at all times unchangeablyholy.
Beye thereforeholy in all things, and at all times too, if everyou expect the benefit of Chrift's ſanctifying himſelf to die for you .
O brethren, let not the feet ofyour converſation be as the feet ofalame man, which are unequal, Prov. xx. 7.
Be not ſometimes hot, and fometimes cold ; at one time careful, at a nother time careless; one dayin a ſpiritual rapture, and the next in a fleſhly frolic; but be ye holy εν παση ἀναστροφή, 1 Pet. i.
15. " in all manner ofconversation," in everycreek and turning of your lives : and let your holinesshold out to the end. " Let
" him that is holy, beholy ſtill," Rev. xxi. 11.
Not likethe hypocrites paint, but as a true natural complexion.
2.God is examplarily holy, Jeſus Chriſt is thegreat pattern ofholiness .
Be ye examples ofholiness too, unto all that are aboutyou. " Let your light ſo ſhine before men, that they
" may see your good works," Matth. v. 16.
As wicked men infectone another by their examples, and diffuſe their poiſon and malignity, wherever they come; fodo ye diſſeminate godlineſs inall places,and companies; and let thoſe that frequently con verſe with you, eſpecially those ofyour own families, receive a deeperdye and tincture ofheavenlineſs every time theycome nigh you, as the cloth dothby every new dipping into the fat.
3. God delights in nothing but holiness, and holy ones; he hath ſet all his pleaſure inthe faints. Be ye holy herein, as God is holy.
Indeed, there is this difference betwixt God's choice and yours ; he chuſes not men,becauſe they areholy, but thatthey maybe ſo; ſoyou are to chuſe them for your de lightful companions,thatGodhathchoſen and made holy. " Let
" all your delights be in the ſaints, even them that excelin vir " tue," Pfal. xvi. 3 .
4.Godabhors and hates all unholiness; do yeſo likewise that ye may be like your Father which is in heaven.
And when the ſpirit of holiness runsdown thus upon you, a ſweeter evi. dence theworld cannot give, that Chriſt was ſanctified for you.
Holy ones mayconfidently lay the hand oftheir faith on the headofthis great facrifice, and ſay, " Chriſt our paſſover is fa
" crificed for us ."