THe Sacred Scriptures do hold forth our Lord Jesus Christ to be both the Treasurer and the Treasury of all our blessedness, both in this and in the other world; all our Treasures are in him, as well as from him; 2 Col. 3. In him are hid all the treasures of wisdome and know­ledge; He is our life, and our life is hid with Christ in God, Col. 3.3, 4. The beloved Apostle that leaned upon Jesus his bosome, tells us, 1 Joh. 5.11, 12. This is the Record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Could we ever have wisht it in a surer or sweet­er place, than in the bosome of our blessed Sa­viour, the Son of God, and Prince of Life? And farther, He that hath the Son, hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life, &c. Our life of righteousness, our life of holiness, our life of glory, or our eternal life, our spiri­tual life in these three considerations is wrapt, or bound up in Jesus Christ, the bundle of life: As sin and death came by Adam, so righte­ousness and life came by Jesus Christ; accord­ing to that of the Apostle, Rom. 5.21. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Je­sus Christ our Lord.

This pregnant Text which I am now dis­coursing from, more rich than Hermes Table [Page 20] bespangled with Emeraulds, presents ye with these four most Orient Jewels; the Jewels of Heaven, the choice blessings of the Covenant, (viz. Wisdome, Righteousness, Sanctification, and Re­demption; and that which is the glory of all, this Text acquaints ye with, to your inexpressible comfort, that Christ Jesus is all these in himself, and by himself to ye, and for ye; God the Father hath made him your All in All, Col. 3.11. Christ is all in all, all in all in in Illumination, all in all in Justification, all in all in Reconcili­ation, all in all in Adoption, all in all in San­ctification,2 Tim 4.10. all in all in Redemption, all in all in preservation to his heavenly Kingdome.

And though it be sa [...]d of the Saints enjoy­ment of God in heaven, that God, (i. e.) God the Father is all in all, 1 Cor. 15.28. yet certainly, as God the Father is pleased to communicate himself in the riches of his grace through the Son to his Saints here, so he will everlastingly communicate himself in the treasures of his glory through the Son to his Saints in heaven; as Christ is the Medium of your spiritual uni­on with God here, so he will continue the e­ternal Medium of your glorious communion with God hereafter; in his l [...]ght ye shall see light. The Soul-ravishing Vision of Jesus the Media­tor of the New Covenant, Heb. 12.24. Domine fe­cisti nos pro te, & cor irrequie­tum est, denec ve­nial ad te. Aug. and the Beatifical Visi­on of ever-blessed and glorious Deity in and through the Mediator, is no small part or portion of the Saints Coelestial happiness: God indeed is the Essence of the Soul, the Eter­nal Entity of our happiness, the Father of Spi­rits, is the only rest and centre of our immor­tal [Page 21] Spirits; for 1 Pet. 3.18. Christ once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God; (our approximation or drawing nigh to God being the ultimate end (as to us) of Christs passion) yet the seeing of Christ as he is, when he shall appear in his Fathers glory, when he shall come in power and great glory, to see him as he is in his greatest glory and fullest Majesty, sitting at the right hand of the Fa­ther, and to see our humane nature in him as far exalted above, so far more glorious than those glittering morning stars, the Angels, will be no small part or measure of our blessedness, (though not the quintess [...]nce, compendium or complement thereof) 1 Joh. 3.2. Beloved, now are we the Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: But we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

But to return;

Our Lord Christ is [...] by way of Eminency called, that one Pearl of great price, Mat. 13.46. which the wise Merchant-man sold all that he had and bought. This Pearl eminently and virtually contains all other Pearls in it, is comprehensive of all excellent and Soveraign good, which our souls stand in need of, infi­nitely more precious and excellent than the rest, and infinitely to be prized and preferred above the rest: Christ not only hath, but is wisdome to the simple, rayment to the naked, riches to the poor, rest to the weary, bread of life to the hungry, water of life to the thirsty, righteousness to the guilty, sanctification to [Page 22] the filthy, redemption to the captive, peace and reconciliation to the enemy, power to the faint, a rock and refuge to the afflicted, a shine­ing Sun to the disconsolate, a saving shield to the assaulted; in a word, a full fons of living water, of rich supply to those that labour un­der any distress or misery, whether inward perpl [...]xity, or outward calamity.

Philosophers brag much of their Elixir, Naturalists boast much of their Panacea and Catholicon, and they would bear the world in hand, as though these were Soveraign reme­dies against all maladies, good against all dis­eases; but these, and all other, whether na­tural, artificial, or moral excellencies, are less than Cyphers to Jesus Christ; compared with him, they are less than nothing, and vanity, Isa. 40.17. 1. As Christ is God, the worlds were made by him, and for him, by his power, and for his glory, Heb. 1.2. Col. 1.16. 2. As Christ is Mediator God-man, so he is Heir of all things, Heb. 1.2. whom he, that is, the Fa­ther, hath appointed heir of all things; by whom also he made the worlds: Now can he want light that lives in the midst of the Sun? Can he want air that lives upon the top of the highest Mountain? Can he want water that lives at the Well head? No more can he want light, life, grace, strength, comfort, or any good thing that lives in union and communion with Jesus Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, Col. 2.9.Qui ha­bet haben­tem om [...]ia, habet om­nia. He that hath him that owneth and possesseth all things, hath all things: 'Tis an old and true saying,

Hath the Father given us the Son, the Son of his eternal love, of his eternal bosome? then we may safely make (with the Apostle) this sweet inference, How shall he not with him freely give us all things, Rom. 8.32. All things pertain­ing to life and godliness, as the Apostle expres­seth and explaineth it elsewhere, 1 Cor. 3.21, 22, 23. presents ye with a Christians Invento­ry, and with a Christians tenure.

1. A Christians Inventory: All things. A Christian hath a large dominion, a great pos­session; all things are yours, [...], for all things are yours: Descend from generals to particulars, then all things must be referred to, or subdivided by persons, and things. All persons are yours, that is, for your good and benefit, whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, whether Ecclesiastical or secular persons, whe­ther godly, or ungodly, whether spiritual men, or carnal men; therefore v. 22. he adds the world, the wicked World, or rather the wicked of the world, (who ere long shall be judged by the Saints, as Assessors with Jesus Christ the Supreme Judge) 1 Cor. 6.2. shall be subser­vient to Gods glory, and to the Saints good. Those Slaves and Scullions that rub off the rust, and scoure and cleanse the Vessels of Ho­nor, by temptations, afflictions, imprison­ments, persecutions, &c. (though not intenti­onally, as to them) yet accidentally and even­tually [Page 24] (by the blessing of God) shall really promote and carry on their spiritual and eter­nal interest.

2. As all p [...]rsons, so all things are theirs, whether life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, ver. 22. What can a soul either have or wish for more? for a man not only to enjoy the comforts of life, but also to find sweetness in death; to find meat in this Eat [...]r, to find honey in this Lyon, to live in the midst of death, to lie down in peace in the arms, or rather Jaws of the King of Terrors, for this deadly Enemy, by the death of Christ, to be made one of our best friends.

Again, For a man to be rich in possession, and rich in reversion too, for a man to have an interest in all things present, and an interest in all things future also; to have Territories as broad as the earth, and a treasure as high as heaven, and returns of glory coming in unto him, and upon him, to all eternity; this is an incomparable rich person, and an incompa­rable blessed estate indeed.

2. Note the Tenure: Ye hold all in Capite, in and by union with him who is Gods Heir, and your Head, Ephes. 1. last; and ye are Christs, and Christ is Gods, v. 23. Ye are the Bride, Christ is the Bridegroom; ye are the Body, Christ is the Head; as the Head of Christ is God, so the Head of the Church is Christ.

The Father in an ineffable manner commu­nicated (as of old, the Divine Essence and Na­ture) so at his Incarnation, an unmeasurable, [Page 25] an overflowing fulness of the Spirit and Grace to the Son; yea, it pleased the Fa­ther, that in him should all fulness dwell, even as Mediator, Col. 1.19. And the Son by the Ordi­nation and appointment of the Father, communicates, derives, and by his Spi­rit imparts unto his Saints,Eph. 1.3. Eph. 3.8. all those spiritu­al blessings, all those unsearchable riches, all those riches of glory, or glorious riches, Ephes. 3.16. which he hath received of his Father for them. Some of which heavenly and choicest treasures we find lying in the field, or rather Mine of this Text, (viz.) Wisdome, Righteousness, Sancti­fication, and Redemption.

I shall now (Deo juvante) consider the Text it self, open the sense of the words, and draw some practical conclusions from the whole.

The Apostle having humbled and dejected the Corinthians, ver. 26, 27. of this Chap. in calling upon them to see or consider their call­ing, (for ye see your calling Brethren, &c.) where calling is put metonymically for the persons call­ed, that is, what manner of men they them­selves were, and generally are, which God calls by the Gospel; not the wise after the flesh, not the Mighty, not the Noble, but commonly the foolish, weak, and base, for the poor receive the Gospel. Now in this verse the Apostle com­forts and cheers them,Quos an­tea dejece­rat, nunc supra om­nes mortales evehit, sed ita ut omnem ipsorum dignitatem doceat, non ab ipsis, sed à Christo emanare, idque à Deo, id est, Dei unius vi, ac be­neficio. Beza in loc. and lifts up their heads above all other mortals, by informing them of their Origination from God, their Ʋnion [Page 26] with Christ, their spiritual descent from him in Christ Jesus. But of him are ye in Christ Je­sus. Here the Apostle shews them the true rise of true honour,Corinthio­rum ani­mos de je­cerat revo­cando eos ad intuen­dam suam ipsorum vocationem: quod fuit propemodum acsi dirisset, eos insipien­tes, ignobiles, infirmos omnes fuisse, & quasi non essent, quum ad Chri­stum vocarentur. Quare nunc illos erigit, & pulchrè consolatur, d [...]ens, licèt ex vobis ipsis tales fueritis ut modò estis à me descripti; Attamen jam ex Deo estis. P. Martyr in loc. and of divine dignity, not springing from noble birth, or liberal breed­ing; not from any natural, moral, or secular accomplishments or considerations whatso­ever.

But from the special grace of God, the Fa­ther in Christ Jesus, manifested and put forth in a double act of divine love.

• 1. In Election.
• 2. In Regeneration.

1. In Election. God the Father did chuse all believers in Christ before the foundation of the world, Ephes. 1.4. in that eternal compact, or Foe­deral transactions between the Father and the Son,Emphasis est in ver­bo estis q. d. à Deo vobis est principium qui ea quae non sunt, vo [...]at in Christo ve­rò subsi­stentia, &c. Calvin. commonly called the Covenant of Re­demption: Ye are of God in Christ Jesus; (viz.) by vertue of the Eternal Purpose and Decree of God: The gracious purpose of God the Fa­ther in Christ, is the beginning of the wayes of God; the Original and highest Well-head of all our holiness and happiness, as appears 2 Tim. 1.9. where ye shall find, that both our Salvation and Calling are no other than the ge­nuine efflux and products of Gods purpose and grace given us in Christ Jesus before the world be­gan. [Page 27] So Tit. 1.2. In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, D. Jacomb in his Ser­mon upon Isa. 55.10. promised before the world be­gan. How was this life promised before the world began, but in this everlasting Covenant, wherein the Father promised unto Christ eter­nal life for all his Seed?

Though the Decrees of God are immanent, Decreta Dei nihil ponunt in Actu. and not transient acts, abiding (with reverence) in the Mind or Breast of God, and not actu­ally passing upon the creature, yet Gods eter­nal purpose in electing us in Christ is the primum mobile, the great wheel that sets all the other inferiour wheels at work, that animates, quickens, and actually moves and influenceth, and constantly carries on and perfects all other intermediate acts of grace in order to our Sal­vation.

Gods blessing us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things and places, is said to be in relati­on unto, in correspondence with, in pursuance of his electing us in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in Christ, Ephes. 1.3, 4. They are all Emanations from this Fountain.

Thus in the first place, (and I think not im­properly) we may be said to be of God in Christ Jesus, viz.) of God, originally and primarily,Neque hoc intelligit quoad cre­ationem, sed ait de eo, quod per gratiam & Rege­nerationem consequnti erant. P. Martyr. in Christ Jesus, vertually and radically, by ver­tue of Gods electing love to us in Christ before the world began.

2. More principally, according to the pur­port of this place; we are of God in Christ Je­sus by the grace of Regeneration; we are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, Ephes. 2.10. Believers are of God, i. e. [Page 28] born of God in Christ Jesus; for the Father of our Lord Jesus, as our Spiritual Father, is said to have begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, Eadem sententia est cum illa, qui non ex sangui­nibus neque ex volunta­te carnis, &c. Po­meran. 1 Pet. 1.3. By vertue of his Will we are elected; and by the Power of the same Will we are called and regenerated, Jam. 1.18. Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth, &c. One saith, This sentence is the same with that Joh. 1.13. which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Let it not grieve the Saints in that they are not born of Nobles, nor descended of the blood of Princes, but rather rejoyce and raise up their sp [...]rits in the midst of all reproaches and sufferings, in that they are the Sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus, a Divine Off-spring, of an heavenly Extraction; rejoyce in this, that your names are written in heaven: Ye are wise, noble, honourable, every way glorious creatures in Christ Jesus;Eph 1.6. In Christo Jesu; id est, per Christum Jesum, p [...]opter Christum Jesum, n [...]m per Christum, & propter Christum, accepti & grati sa­mus Patri. in Christ Jesus, that is, by Christ Jesus, and for Christ Jesus; for indeed we can be no way amiable or acceptable to the Father but in the beloved. We are said not only to be Elect in Christ Jesus, but also to be sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. 1.2. For indeed all our good the Father hath laid up in him, and daily dispenseth the same to us by him, and through him.

Thus I have considered the former clause of the Text in haec verba, But of him are ye in Christ Jesus.

Now the latter fall under an Analytical Exa­men, [Page 29] in these words, Who of God is made unto us wisdome, righteousness, sanctification, and re­demption.

For the better explaining whereof, I shall briefly speak to these four.

• 1. Quis.
• 2. Quid.
• 3. A Quo, or unde.
• 4. Quomodo.

1. The Quis: Who is made of God unto us Wisdome; who, or what is the Antecedent to this relative; who? why Christ Jesus: Of him are ye in Christ Jesus; who, or which Christ Jesus is made of God unto us wisdome, &c. Valde ob­servandus est hic lo­cus, in quo, ad quatuor praecipua capita re­vocantur omnia quae in Christo adipisci­mur benefi­cia. Beza.

2. The Quid: What is Christ Jesus made to the Saints; he is made indeed in effect all in all, and all things to the Saints; specifically in this Text these four, wisdome, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; to which four chief Heads all the benefits, dignities and pri­viledges we obtain by Christ, may be reduced, as a learned Writer well observes.

Though the believing Corinthians, and all o­ther truly sanctified in Christ Jesus, as men, are as vile as the dung, and as low as the dust, Factus est nobis à Deo sapi­entia, &c. i. e. ut sa­pientes & justi, & sancti, & liberi si­mus. The­ohylact. in loc. yet as Christians they shine as the stars, and are ex­alted as high as heaven.

1. Their understandings are enlightened by the Spirit of Wisdome and Revelation, their darkness is scattered, their ignorance healed by Jesus Christ their Wisdome; and they (in their measure) like the Angels of God for wisdome, though they are foolish both in the worlds matters, and in the worlds accompt; [Page 30] for commonly the children of this world are wi­ser in their Generation than the children of light; yet they are wise with the wisdome of Christ, the highest and purest wisdome; they are wise for heaven, wise for eternity, wise unto salvati­on. This is the first excellency.

2. They are freed from the guilt and pun­ishment of sin, both from the dominion of sin and condemnation, and reputed righteous in foro coeli, in the Court of heaven, justi­fied, acquitted, and accepted as Heirs of eter­nal life and glory by Jesus Christ their righte­ousness, The Lord their righteousness, Jer. 23.6.

3. They are delivered from the power of sin, and cleansed from the filth of sin, decked with grace, endued with inward holiness, beautifi­ed with this purest glory by Jesus Christ their Sanctification.

4. They are delivered from the power of dark­ness, from the bondage of corruption, from all the pollutions of this world, from the slavish fears of death and hell, redeemed, or ( [...]t least­wise) ere long actually shall be from all the sins, sorrows, sufferings, and miseries atten­dant upon, or contingent unto this mortal and frail life; and lastly, saved from all their e­nemies, and from the hands of all that hate them, Luke 1.71. by Jesus Christ their Redemption.

These are the special dignities the Saints are advanced to, and the spiritual Royalties the Saints by Christ Jesus are invested with; who of God is made unto us wisdome, righteousness, &c.

Here is Christ displayed in all his glory, a [Page 31] Mine discovered in all its Treasures, a Foun­tain opened in all its fulness, our Mediator re­vealed in all his Offices; our illumination, or wisdome, belongs to the Office of Christ, as Prophet; both our Justification and Sanctifi­cation belong to the Office of Christ as High-Priest, and great Apostle of our profession, Heb. 3.1. our Redemption externally from all E­nemies, and internally from all sins and sor­rows, respect the Office of Christ as Lord and King; for our Saviour must be a Princely Sa­viour, a Saviour, and a Prince, Acts 5.31. And the Father hath made him both Lord and Christ, Lord over the dead and living; 'tis he that delivers us from the power of darkness, and translates us into his own Kingdome, Col. 1.13.

3. A Quo, or unde: By whom is Christ made unto us wisdome, righteousness? &c. I answer, by God the Father, who of God is made unto us, &c.

Christ the Son, in the Oeconomy or Dispen­sation of the Mediatorship, must be considered as Gods servant; he is so called, Isa. 42.1. Be­hold my servant whom I uphold.

The Father broke the business to him of our Salvation; 'twas the Father that sent him into the world, and annointed him, Isa. 61.1. He had both his Mission and Commission from his Father, him hath God the Father seal­ed; 'twas the Father that gave him the Spirit without measure, that filled him with an over­flowing fulness of all good to us, and for us; therefore we have this phrase here, who of God is made unto us wisdome, &c.

[Page 32] Neque e­nim Chri­stus crea­tus aut fa­ctus est quoad es­sentiam di­vinam: sed ordi­natus & donatus nobis ad haec bona conferen­da; ergo dicitur fa­ctus nobis. Par.4. Quomodo. How is Jesus Christ, or may Jesus Christ be said to be made unto us wis­dome, &c. who is made to us, non creatione, sed ordinatione; not by Creation, but by ap­pointment; he is constituted, ordained, or ap­pointed by the Father to be our Wisdome, (that is) to be our Prophet, to open our ears to Discipline, and teach us wisdome; to be our Righteousness, that is, to be our Justifier, our High-Priest, to reconcile us to God, and make an attonement for us; to be our Sancti­fication, that is, to be our Sanctifier, (for whom he justifies by his Merit, them he san­ctifies by his Spirit) to restore our souls for us, to renew us in the Spirit of our minds by the Spirit of holiness;Postremo dicitur no­bis factus Redemtio quod ita per cum justificati, & sancti­ficati cer­tam Re­demtionem tandem assequa­mur. Beza. to be our Redempti­on, that is, to be a perfect and compleat Re­deemer to us; by being all this before, he will be Redemption in the abstract, a glori­ous Redeemer or Saviour to the uttermost at the last, Heb. 7.25. Factus est nobis à Deo, &c. id est, qui datus est nobis à Deo; who is made to us of God, that is, who is given to us of God, &c. to be our Wisdome, &c. Christ is not here given of the Father to us empty or scanty, but he comes to us laden and fully fraught with the blessings of heaven, and treasures of the Gospel. [...]. Christus fi­delibus non est datus vacuus, ed ad eos cum amplissimis thesau [...]is venit. P. M

Christ is not given as an ordinary, but as a supereminent and transcendent gift, Joh. 4.10. He is that gift of God; he the Peerless Pearl, and personal Gift, came down from the Father of Lights, and brought all other good and perfect gifts, real, spiritual, divine, [Page 33] immortal excellencies from heaven along with him, Jam. 1.17. Joh. 1.16, 17, 18.

Christ doth not give [...], giftless gifts, as commonly the men of the world give, but gifts of the highest nature, and of the greatest moment: As the Father gives the Son, so the Son gives himself, Tit. 2.16. He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purifie unto himself a peculiar peo­ple, zealous of good works: And with himself he gives us the most suitable, the most profita­ble, the most permanent, the most magnifi­cent and noble gifts; in a word, all spiritual blessings in heavenly things and places, Ephes. 1.3.

Thus have ye the Analysis of the Text; the Propositions most obvious from the Text, are these:

• 1. That Christians are of a Divine Originati­on, they are of God in Christ Jesus.
• 2. That Christ Jesus is given of God the Fa­ther in all his fulness to true Christians.
• 3. That Christ Jesus is given of God the Fa­ther for our wisdome, for our illumination.
• 4. That Christ Jesus is given of God the Fa­ther for our justification or righteousness.
• 5. That Christ Jesus is given of God the Fa­ther for our sanctification or holiness.
• 6. That Christ Jesus is given of God the Fa­ther for our redemption, or for our deliverance from all our enemies and miseries.

To all these Propositions I have in some measure (so far as I have received) spoken: But the Argument I intend (God assisting) at [Page 34] this time, and in this Tract to dilate upon, is contained in the fifth Proposition, (That Christ Jesus is made, i. e. is ordained, is given of God the Father for our sanctification.) Reserving the rest for another Treatise, if these poor la­bours shall find acceptance with the Saints.

Who of God is made unto us—Sanctification.

Doct. Christ Jesus is given of God the Father for our sanctification.

In the prosecution of this precious point, I shall observe this method.

• 1. I shall prove the point.
• 2. Endeavour to shew how, or in what sense Jesus Christ is our sanctification.
• 3. Shew what sanctification is.
• 4. The difference between justification and sanctification.
• 5. The transcendent excellencies of san­ctification.
• 6. The blessed fruits of sanctification.
• 7ly and lastly, Make application of the whole.

1. For the proof of the point, this Text is plain and clear enough; Christ is made of God unto us sanctification. I need call in but two or three more Scriptures for farther con­firmation, That out of the mouth of two or three wit [...]sses every word might be established.

The Testimonies I shall alledge, are these; Tit. 2.14. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purifie unto him­self a peculiar people, H [...]ing. Co [...]. in loc. zealous of good works; con­cerning which Text we may say, as one hath done before us, Singula verba singularem empha­sin [Page 35] habent; every word hath a special empha­sis: The particulars herein may be reduced to these four Principals.

• 1. The Donum or Donativum.
• 2. The Donans.
• 3. The Donati.
• 4. Finis Donationis.

1. The Donum or Donativum; the gift here said to be given is the great God, and that is here, even our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Par­ticle [...] here, is not to be construed disjunctively, but exegetically.

2. The Donans; the giver or restorer of that gift is also Christ himself, who gave him­self.

3. The Donati; the persons on whom this gift is bestowed; i. e. us, who gave himself for us.

4. Finis Donationis; the end wherefore this gift was given, is here expressed to be two-fold.

For

• Redemption.
• Purification.

1. For Redemption: That he might redeem us from all iniquity.

2. For our Purification: And purifie unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Where Christ is a Redeemer, he is also a Purifier; whom he justifies by his Merit and Blood from the guilt and punishment of sin, those he sanctifies by his Spirit and Word, from the contagion and filth of sin: And this he doth two wayes.

• Sacramentally.
• Really.

[Page 36]1. Sacramentally: By instituting divers kinds of offerings and washings, and other ceremo­nial observances in the daies of old; of these the Apostle tells us, that they sanctified to the purifying of the flesh,In soro Ecclesiae. Heb. 9.13. making such as used them externally and Ecclesiastically pure and holy. And thus Christians may be said to be purified in and by the Ordinances of Baptisme, under the Gospel now.

2. Really: By inward, real and spiritual washing and purifying of the inner man, which consisteth in two things:

In washing away the

• Guilt and
• Filth of sin.

The one is done away in Justification, the other in Sanctification.

1. In Justification. The blood of Christ [...] cleanseth us from all sin, 1 Joh. 1.7. So Heb. 1.3. Christ by himself purged our sins, [...]; having made a pur­gation, or purification, that is, by making sa­tisfaction to Divine Justice by the sacrifice of himself.

2. In Sanctification. Christ takes away the filth of sin; sin is called, but never out of its own name pollution, uncleanness, superfluity of raughtiness, the scum of filthiness; and in order to our purification from it, the Blood and Spi­rit, Word and Ordinances of our Lord Jesus are called and compared to water, to cleanse us from all filthiness of flesh and spirit; and as God hath given us many promises to act faith upon, through Christ, for our purification; as Ezek. 36.25. F om all your filthiness; and from all [Page 37] your Idols will I cleanse you; and in v. 29. I will save you from all your uncleanness: So Jesus Christ hath undertaken (by Gods appointment) to see these purifying promises performed in his Saints, in whom they are all Yea and Amen; and to bless and sanctifie his Word and Ordi­nances for his peoples purification, according to the Commandment he hath received from his Father.

Again, Ephes. 5.25, 26, 27. Who loved his Church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, that it should be holy, and without ble­mish. Christ gave himself, that is, to death, (by the will of God, as 'tis expressed, Gal. 1.4.) that he might sanctifie it, that is, (say the Dutch Annotations) that he might separate her from all worldly men, and appropriate her to himself, and cleanse it with the washing of wa­ter by the Word; that is, by his Blood and Spi­rit, whereof the washing of water in Bap­tisme is a sign and seal, and withall, the means whereby the Spirit of Christ doth more and more strengthen this cleansing. The sum whereof is this; Christ by the will of God, and our Father gave himself to death for his Church. The Blood of Christ is the meritorious cause, the Spirit of Christ is the efficient cause,Instrumen­ta in di­vinis ope­rantur acs [...]no [...] o­perantur. the Word and Ordinances are as subservient cau­ses; they work as Instruments in the hands of Christ for the Churches sanctification; all the vertue that is in them, or flows out to the [Page 38] Saints from them, they receive from the effici­ency of Jesus Christ. These Pipes receive the Golden Oyl from this Candlestick.

Lastly, the end of all is this, that he might present her to himself a glorious Church without spot, or wrinkle, &c. Thus the Church must be prepared by the Bridegrooms grace, and so fit­ted for the Bridegrooms glory.

As the Virgins in Esther were to be purified with Oyl of Myrrhe, Esther 2.12. and sweet Odours, before they entred into the Kings Palace, or stood in the Kings presence: So all the Ʋirgins and fol­lowers of the Lamb are to be purified and refi­ned by the Spirit and grace of the Lamb, and perfectly sanctified, compleatly glorified at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, Rev. 19.7.9. Christians, your blessed Saviour is made of God, both righteousness and sanctification to ye; he hath both a glorious Robe of justification to impute, and a glorious Robe of sanctification to impart to all believers; and this, without con­troversie, is the white Linnen of the Saints, which render them truly glorious, which commends them to God, to good men, to the holy An­gels, which garment of glory and beauty they shall wear for ever in their Fathers presence.

The believing Corinthians, called to be Saints, are said to be sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. 1, 2.

The Church considered in her Inherent Grace, is but fair as the Moon, hath many spots in her, but in her Relation to Christ; so she is clear as the Sun, &c. Wherefore, though the Church in her self may be said to be poor, forlorn, deformed, needy▪ yet by Union with [Page 39] Christ, being implanted into him,Ecclesia omnem su­am sancti­tatem ve­nustatem & pulchri­tudinem, omnia sua bona in genere à Christo Je­su sponso suo accip [...] ­re & habe­re dicitur. P. Mart. she is rich with her Husbands riches, holy with his holiness, comely with his comeliness, illustrious with his glory, replenisht with his fulness: He that is in Christ is a new creature, 2 Cor. 5.17. When by faith unfeigned we are united, in­grafted into Christ the true Vine, We really par­take of spiritual life and sensation from him; we are sanctified in him, and by him: Wherefore speaks a worthySanctifi­camur er­go, dum in Christi corpus inserimur, extra quod non nisi pollutio est: nec aliunde eti­tiam nobis confertur spiritus, quam à Christo, per quem Deo adhaere­mus, & in quo simus nova creaturae. Calv. Author, we are then sanctified, when we are ingrafted into Christs body, out of which, instead of sanctification, there is nothing else but pollution, and no o­ther way but from and by Christ is the Spirit of Holiness conferr'd upon us, &c.

Christ in his most heavenly prayer, solemn­ly confesseth, that his Father sent him into the world for the sake of true believers, Joh. 17.18. and that for their sakes he did sanctifie himself, i. e. dedicate and give up himself for an holy Sacrifice, that they (viz.) believers might be sanctified by the truth, (that is, as most render it) might receive remission of sins, and sanctifi­cation of the Spirit; and in fine, the salvation of their souls, as evidently appears from Heb. 10.10. Through the which will we are sanctified, through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all: And v. 14. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified

All which Scriptures seem to a judicious ear to joyn in Consort, and speak one voice and [Page 40] language with the Text and point in hand; That Jesus Christ is given of God the Father for our Sanctification.

Thus much for the first thing promised, (viz.) the proof of the point.

We come to the second general.

2. How, or in what sense Jesus Christ may be said to be our Sanctification; or made, ordained, constituted, or given of God to be our Sanctifica­tion?

I conceive Christ may be said to be our San­ctification in Scripture sense, these four wayes.

• 1. By Imputation.
• 2. By Ʋnion.
• 3. By Assimilation.
• 4. By Influence and Communication.

1. By Imputation. 'Tis the saying of a Re­verend man (now with God,) That the perfect purity of Christs Humane Nature is reckoned unto believers by free imputation of faith: M. Wilson in his Christian Dictionary Christ is made unto us Sanctification; this is, (saith he) Sanctification imputed.

Jesus Christ being consecrated, and set a­part of God to be the Messiah and Mediator for mankind, and having for that purpose all the bounty and fulness of the Father pou­red on him, being truly God, and truly Man; and as Man, being conceived of the Holy Ghost without sin, ordained to be a Sacrifice for sin, and to sanctifie and make his people holy, is worthily in Scripture called, That Holy One, Psa. 16.10. Act. 3.1 [...]. Joh. 1.2.20. Also he is termed the Holy of Holies, or most Holy, Dan. 9.24. And to annoint the most Holy.

The poor imperfect Church of Christ, not­withstanding all her blots and spots,Uxor illu­ce scit ra­diis mari­ti. Qui justi­ficantur sanctifi­cantur, hae gratiae in­dividuo nexu cohae­rent. Calv. blains and blemishes contracted by original and actual sins, is reputed as a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, as she shines by the rayes of the Sun of righteousness, through the sanctification or perfect holiness of her Bride­groom Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is a believers righteousness for Justification, and his holiness for sanctification also: These two are Twins inseparable.

The Lamb of God without spot was slain, 1 Pet. 1.18. to purge us from the guilt of sin, for without shedding of blood there could be no remission, Heb. 9.22. And it must be a Lamb without spot and blemish, and offered up to God by the Eternal Spirit: This Lamb must be [...], God-man, or else your polluti­ons had never been removed, your Natures ne­ver sanctified, your consciences never purged from dead works, Heb. 9.14. But Christ by the Hypo­statical union is eminently qualified, to be both vertually and efficiently your sanctification.

As the benefits of Redemption accrue to us by the Kingly Office of Christ, so the bene­fits of Justification and Sanctification do accrue to us by the Priestly Office of Christ, as Pareus notes: Such an High-Priest it became us, who is holy, harmless, separate from sinners, Heb. 7.26. And such an one is Christ: He did not only sa­tisfie divine Justice, pacifie the Fathers wrath, make reconciliation for the sins of the people; but also, as the H [...]gh-Priest of old, he did, and doth still appear before the Lord in gar­ments [Page 42] of glory and beauty. See Exod. 28.2, 3, 4, 5. Those garments of gold, blew, purple, scarlet, &c. did consecrate Aaron to his Priestly Of­fice: Those glorious garments, without con­troversie, did typifie the pure habitual and actu­al holiness of our great High-Priest Jesus Christ, expressed by his annointing, Isa. 61.1. and re­ceiving the Spirit without measure, Joh. 3.34.

That unction and unmeasurable effusion of the Spirit upon him, did consecrate and sancti­fie him to all his Offices, he was annointed for us, to be a Prophet to us, to be a King in us, to be a Priest for us; which fulness of the Spirit of grace in our Head Christ, is reputed to every one sanctified in Christ Jesus for their san­ctification or holiness, which doth also expi­ate and purge out of the sight of God, all their impurity or unholiness: This holy person de­scribed by his glorious titles, (viz.) the Son of God, the Heir of all things, the Maker of the worlds, the brightness of his Fathers glory, the ex­press Image of his person, the upholder of all things by the Word of his Power, is said by himself to have purged our sins, Heb. 1.1, 2, 3. As by the merit of his passive righteousness to purge us from the guilt of sin, so by the influential efficacy of his sanctity, or inherent righteousness, to purge us from the filth of sin, and take down the pow­er of it.

God accepts of believers in themselves im­pure and imperfect, as perfect and compleat in him, who is our Head and fulness.

Thus Christ is our Sanctification, by way of Imputation.

[Page 43]2. Jesus Christ is our sanctification by way of Union: Union with him is the ground or Basis both of our Justification and Sanctification by him: He that hath the Son, hath life, Joh. 1.5.12.Dulcius ex ipso fonte. With him is the fountain of life, Psa. 36.9. by Faith (through the spirit) a believer hath uni­on with Christs person, and so communion with his life: He that believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life, Joh. 3. ult. Whereupon Jesus Christ is called the life, Joh. 14.6. and our life, Col. 3.4. our life of righteousness, our life of ho­liness, our life of glory, or happiness; and this life is in his Son, 1 Ioh. 5.11.

By believing we are united to Christ, who is our Head, Fountain, and Principle of spiritual life, or holiness, as the Head is the Principle and Fountain of sense and motion, Ephes. 4.15.16. From him, the Head, the Apostle tells us, the whole body is fitly joyned and compacted toge­ther, and so maketh encrease to the edifying of it self in love. All the grace that is in us is but a measure or overflowing of his fulness. Christ is —principle of holiness, by which it is wrought, and also the rule unto which it is proportioned. Dr. Rey­nolds in his life of Christ. Heb. 12.2. Christ is the Author and finisher of our faith; he is the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega, both the beginner of our sanctification here on earth, and the perfecter thereof in heaven.

As the members by nerves and ligaments are firmly knit to the Head, the superstructure to the foundation, the branches to the Vine, the Wife to the Husband by the Marriage-knot, so are the Saints of God firmly and closely u­nited to Jesus Christ in the spirit, 1 Cor. 6.17. [Page 44] By vertue of which union they cannot but de­rive and draw down continual supplies of spi­ritual life from him; for he is the life, and he is their life.

Consider a little the nature of this wonder­ful Union, I shall but touch it in transitu.

1. It is an Union of Nature; we are mem­bers of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, Heb. 2.14. because the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same: Christ condescended to assume our Humane Nature, that we might partake of his Divine Nature; he took upon him our rag of flesh, that he might cloath us with his robe of glory.

2. It is an union of and in the spirit, 1 Cor. 6.17. He that is joyned to the Lord is one spi­rit; as man and wife united make one flesh, so Christ and believers united in and by the spi­rit, make up one spiritual Christ.

3. It is an union of relations, and that of the neerest and sweetest: Christ is the everlast­ing Father, Isa 9.6. and begets children to God in his own likeness. Christ is the Son of God, believers are the Sons of God, but Christ is the Son of Gods Nature, but we are the Sons of Gods will; he by eternal Generation, but we by the grace of Regeneration, to confor­mity to whose Image we are predestinated, Rom. 8.29. He is the first-born among many Bre­thren, and is not ashamed to call us Brethren, Heb. 2. which relation also bespeaks likeness, for brethren for the most part resemble brethren.

Lastly, Christ is our redeeming Kinsman, [Page 45] and Husband, and we are his redeemed Kindred and Spouse: These relations also import simili­tude, and proportion between Christ and us: Christ as our Redeemer came to deliver us, &c. that we might be like him, and serve him in holiness and righteousness, Luke 1.74, 75. he came not only to justifie, but also to sanctifie, Tit. 2.16. he came as Redeemer, not only to save from hell, but also to save from sin, Mat. 1.21. not only to deliver us from eternal con­demnation, but also from our vain conversation, 1 Pet. 1.18.Isa. 61.1, 2, 3. not only to proclaim liberty to the Captives, and the opening of the prisons to them that are bound, Zech. 3.3.4. but also to pull off their rotten rags, their nasty prison garments, and to cloath them with change of rayment; to cleanse and wash them from the pollution of sin, and put upon them a robe of righteousness, and renew them with inward holiness, and so to present them as beautiful and glorious, without spot or wrinkle, &c.

To shew consent,M. Jeremy Burroughs in his Saints Treasury. p. 46. I shall take the boldness to transcribe the words of a Famous man (now in heaven:) Our Sanctification (saith he) is not only from Christ meritoriously, but ef­ficiently, and in a kind materially too; he doth not only merit it, and work it by his spirit, but through our union with him, there is a kind of flowing of Sanctification from him into us, as the principle of our life; as from the liver there flows blood into all the parts of the body, so through our union with Christ, he having the fulness of the Godhead in him, from him, as from a Fountain, sanctification flows into the souls of Saints; their sanctification [Page 46] comes not so much from their strugling, I wish all disconso­late souls, despond­ing for want of holiness, would (in the strength of the Lord) take his counsel. and en­deavours, vows, and resolutions, as it comes flowing to them, from their closing with Christ, and union with him: There may be (saith he) a great deal of striving and endeavouring that may be utterly ineffectual for want of having recourse to Christ, as the Spring and Well-head of all grace and holi­ness.

Thus Jesus Christ is our Sanctification; by union with him, we are sanctified in him, and daily receive supplies of grace from him.

3. Jesus Christ may be said to be our Sancti­fication, and to be given of God for our San­ctification, in regard of Assimilation.

1 Christ is the pat­tern of our Sanctifica­tion.1. As Christ is the Author, so Christ is the Rule and Pattern of our Sanctification; formal and compleat Sanctification consists in a souls conformity to Jesus Christ, as the Exemplar or Pattern of his obedience, Heb. 12.3. Consi­der him that endured, &c. i. e. consider him as the Pattern and President of your obedience, both active and passive: Wherefore ye shall find that Christ propounds his own example, as the pat­tern of our obedience, Ioh. 13.15. I have given you an example, i. e. of meekness and humili­ty, that you should do as I have done to you. So Mat. 11.29. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly. Again, Phil. 2.5. Let the same mind be in you as was in Christ; i. e. the same opinion, judgement, affections, compassions. Once more, 1 Pet. 1.15. As he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Christ throughout his whole life was a standing rule, a walking Bible, a visible Commentary on [Page 47] Gods Law, whose ordinary communicable works and duties, are recorded for our imita­tion.

2. Holiness is the Image of Christ:2. Holi­ness is the Image of Christ. Now as the face is both the fountain of that Image or Species which is shed upon the glass, and like­wise it is the exact pattern and example of it too; so Jesus Christ is both the principle of ho­liness, by whom it is wrought, and the pattern to which it is conforme. Now in an Image there are two things.

• 1. Proportion.
• 2. Deduction.

1. Proportion. A similitude of one thing to another.

2. Deduction. A derivation, or impression of similitude upon the one from the other, and with relation thereunto.

Now our Renovation is after the Image of Christ, 1 Cor. 15.49. As we have born the I­mage of the earthly, so we shall bear the I­mage of the heavenly Adam, begat a Son in his own likeness, i. e. his Son was like him in corruption and mortality; so in the Regene­ration, Christ begets children to himself in his own likeness, i. e. like him in grace and holi­ness, in spirituality and immortality, for the seed of which we are begotten is incorrupti­ble.1 Pet. 1.23 When man had lost that glorious Image of God wherein he was created, he became an ugly and a miserable creature presently; ugly, because he had lost his holiness; miserable, be­cause full of guilt and horror; he durst no more draw neer to the most holy inaccessible Maje­sty, [Page 48] than stubble before the flames: No man can see his face, [...] defici­untur. and live: We all by sin are come short of Gods glory, Rom. 3.23. both of the glory of his Image, and of the glory of his Kingdome. Now unless the Lord be pleased to exhibit this Image to us through some glass or veil, we must be for ever both desolate and destitute. And this the Lord hath graciously been pleased to do by the veil of Christs flesh; he is God manifest in the flesh, 1 Tim. 3.16. The glory of God now shines in upon us, and before us, in and from the face of Iesus Christ, Col. 1.15. 2 Cor. 4.6. Christ is the Image of the invisible God, and he that hath seen him, hath seen the Father: So that now by the In­carnation of the Son, there is a Vision of Gods glory, and a restauration of Gods Image, Ioh. 1.18. No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosome of the Father, he hath declared him.

The glittering beamings of the Invisible and Eternal Glory, did and do shine most resplen­dently through the transparent medium of Christs Humane Nature, which seen, and ta­ken in by the eye of Faith, do strangely irra­diate and enlighten, beautifie and glorifie the soul of man,Ephes. 4.23, 24. and renew it according to the I­mage of God, in righteousness and true holiness.

4ly and lastly, Jesus Christ is our Sanctifi­cation, by way of influence and communicati­on: This is more general, and hath some con­nexion with, and dependance upon the former: Ye have received an Ʋnction from the Holy One, i. e. Christ, &c. Ioh. 1.2.20. This Unction is like that oyntment that ran down from the head [Page 49] of Aaron unto the skirts of his garments, to note the plentiful effusion of the Spirit on Christ, and from Christ, unto his lowest members.

1. The Spirit of holiness was Christs right jure proprio, by vertue of the personal union; so that Christ had a plenitude or fulness of the spirit in him, like the fulness of a fountain; but to us the spirit belongs by an inferiour union through Christ our Head,So Bishop Down [...]m in his Ju­stification. by way of influence from Christ our Head: from the grace of the Spirit is derived in such proportion, as Christ is pleased to communicate, yet 'tis the same holiness for truth and substance:Simile. As it is the same light which breaketh forth in the dawn­ing of the day, with that which inhereth in the body of the Sun, shining in his strength; 'tis in Christ in fulness, in us in measure: The A­postle tells us, 2 Cor. 3.18. We are changed into the same likeness with Christ by the Spirit of the Lord.

2. Of this fulness of the Spirit which is in Christ, believers do receive, and grace for grace, Ioh. 1.16. As the Child receives member for member from the Father, and as the paper receiveth letter for letter from the Press, &c. so a sanctified soul receives grace for grace, i. e. all manner of grace, exactly and proportion­ably from Jesus Christ. The glorious Image of Gods holiness in Christ, fashioneth and pro­duceth it self in the hearts of the faithful;Simile. as an Image or species of light shining on a glass, doth from thence fashion it self upon a wall by reflexion: As the head communicates real in­fluences to the body, so Iesus Christ, who is [Page 50] both an head of eminence and of influence, com­municates his spirit, grace, light, life, comfort to his Body the Church; for he that sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified, are both of one: As they are one in Nature, so one in Spirit, and in spiritual likeness also.

For the farther explication and illustration of this deep and illustrious truth, (viz.) That Jesus Christ is our Sanctification. Before I come to the definition of Sanctification,Causa [...]. I shall subjoyn these particulars.

• Causa [...], quae [...] [...]ritor [...]a.
  1. That the will of God is the inward impulsive cause of our Sanctification.
• 2. That the blood of Christ is the moral and me­ritorious cause of our Sanctification.
• Causa ma­terialis.
  3. That the holiness of Christ is the materi­al cause.
• Causa for­malis.
  4. That the infusion of Holiness, or giving of the Spirit, is the formal cause.
• Causa Effi­ci [...]s.
  5. That the Spirit of Christ is the efficient cause.
• Caus [...] Ad­min [...]trae.
  6. That the Word, Ordinances and Faith, are the ministring instrumental causes.
• Polan.
  Causae ex­emplares.
  7. That the Death and Resurrection of Christ, are the exemplary causes or patterns.
• D. Am [...] in [...], Theolog.
  8 y and lastly, That the glory of God in the Consecration and Salvation of a sinful creature, is the supreme end, or final cause of our Sanctifica­tion.

1 The principal moving cause.1. The Will of God is the principal inter­nal moving cause of our Sanctification, Heb. 10.9, 10. Then, said he, Lo I come to do thy will O God: He taketh away the first. that he may esta­blish the second; that is, he taketh away the first [Page 51] sort of Sacrifices and Propitiations, which was the blood of Bulls and Goats, &c. and e­stablish the second standing Sacrifice, (which is) the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, by the which will we are sanctified, v. 10. [...]. i. e. it was the good pleasure of the Fathers will, to appoint and accept this precious Sa­crifice for our Justification, Sanctification, and compleat Salvation. This is the will of God, e­ven our Sanctification, 1 Thes. 4.3. This is the will of his Precept, that Christ Jesus should be our Sanctification; this is also the will of his Purpose, and Eternal Counsel: Why did God chuse us in Christ before the foundation of the world? the Apostle tells us, that we should be holy, Ephes. 1.4. The principal mo­ving cause of our Regeneration, is the will of God; Of his own will begat he us, &c. 1 Jam. 18. What more clear?2 The meritori­ous cause. Omne do­num gratiae Dei in Christo est. Ambr in Ephes. 1. Cau [...]a effi­ciens inter­na propter quam Deus nos rege­nera [...], est meritum, justitia obedientia Christi. Polan.

2. The blood of Christ is the moral and meritorious cause of our Sanctification; all blessings and graces come down from the Fa­ther of Lights through the Sun of Righteous­ness; both grace and glory, holiness and hap­piness, flow in to us through the Channel of Christs blood: The blood of Christ is both [...], and [...]; both the Price of our Re­demption, and the Laver of Regeneration also; as is evident by these Scriptures, Heb. 9.14. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who by the Eternal Spirit offer'd up himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works, &c. 1 Joh. 1.7. The blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin, f om the guilt and filth of sin. Heb. 1.3. [Page 52] He by himself hath purged our sins; Heb. 13.12. And that he might sanctifie the people with his own blood, he suffered without the gate. As a price is said to do that, which a man doth by that power the price purchaseth, so the blood of Christ is said to cleanse us, because the Office or Power whereby he sanctified us, was con­ferr'd upon him sub intuitu pretii, under the condition of suffering; for it was necessary, that Remission and Purification should be both by blood,Morte sua Christus est meritus, resurrecti­on [...] effica­citer [...]ge­nerationem nobis ap­plicat. Syntag. Polan. p. 467. Heb. 9.22, 23. Christ by his bloody death merited, impetrated, and obtain­ed of his Father the spirit of holiness, faith, the word, promises, and all spiritual blessings, in order to his peoples sanctification, Ephes. 1.3, 4. Phil. 1.29. Had it not been for this moral and meritorious cause, (the blood of Christ) which is the sole foundation of the Spirits effi­ciency, of the Faiths existence and instrumen­tality, of the Word and Promises operation and efficacy, we should never have felt the efficiency of the Spirit, nor the working of Faith, nor the effectual operation of the Word and Promises in the Purification of our Natures, or in the conversion of our souls to God.

This purifying vertue of the blood of Christ was typically held forth by divers kinds of of­ferings, and washings, oblations, and abluti­ons under the Law, and other ceremonial observances, which the Apostle hath reference to, Heb. 9.13. The blood of Bulls and Goats, and the ashes of an Heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh; that is, it [Page 53] legally and carnally sanctified them, and made them externally pure and holy, as to the Church, into which they were incorpora­ted: But that which was legally and carnally in the Type, was really, substantially, and spi­ritually effected in the Antitype, the sacrifice of Christs body, typified by that bloody sacrifice of beasts; as ver. 14. following asserteth; How much more (saith he) shall the blood of Christ, &c.

Thus 'tis clear, that the blood of Christ is the moral and meritorious cause of our San­ctification; yea, and the procuring cause of all oth [...]r blessings, causes, helps, and means, which by divine order and appointment con­cur to, co-operate in the production and pro­gress of our Sanctification.

3. What is the material cause of our Sanctifi­cation?

I answer.3 The ma­terial cause. As the Filiation or Sonship of Christ is the material cause of our Adoption, and as the full satisfaction of Christ to the Ju­stice of God, is the material cause of our Re­conciliation; and as the perfect righteousness of Christ, as God-man; is the material cause of our justification, so (I humbly suppose) the perfect purity of Christs Humane Nature, by the Hypostatical Union, united to the divine in one person, and the unmeasurable fulness of the spirit in him, is the material cause of our Sanctification; all the holiness that is in us, is but the beaming forth of his holiness, a ray of his glory, a measure of his spirit, a sprinkling of his Unction, an over-flowing [Page 54] of his fulness, for of his fulness we receive, and grace for grace, Joh. 1.16. In a word, 'tis the communication of the Divine Nature, [...]. Di­vin [...] con­sortes na­turae. So Montanus. 2 Pet. 1.4. The Saints are there said to be partakers of the Divine Nature: But how? not that we are Christed into Christ, or Godded into God, as some of late daies have most absurd­ly (if not blasphemously) imagined. We can­not be partakers of Gods Substance, or Essence, for that is incommunicable to any creature, but believers partake (per Christ) of the com­municable divine qualities and perfections, as wisdome, knowledge, righteousness, holiness, &c. Col. 3.10. Ephes. 4.24. This glorious Image of God we lost in the first, and have it restored in the second Adam.

Christ received the spirit above measure, we have but some drops or drams of it;Joh. 3 34. he was annointed with the Oyl of gladness above his fel­lows, yet for his fellows, whole Christ was gi­ven to us, Isa. 9.6. To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given: His sanctification also must needs be for us, for our good and benefit; For their sakes I sanctifie my self, (saith Christ) that they might be sanctified by the truth, Joh. 17.19. Ho­liness in Christ is as the light in the Sun ever shining, and as water in a living fountain ne­ver sailing,S [...]ile. ever running: He is b [...]th an ever­flowing, and an over-flowing fountain of grace to us; as 'tis endless and boundless in Christ, so it is diffusive and communicative to h s members: J [...]s s Christ is the Candle­stick, from whence the Golden Pipes do empty the golde [...] oyl through themselves, Zech. 4.11, 12. [Page 55] Christ is this Candlestick;See the Dutch An­notat. on the place. the two Olive-trees signifie his Kingly and Priestly Offices; the Golden Oyl, signifieth the gifts and graces of the Spirit: It must needs be so, because it is the pleasure of the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell, Col. 1.19. What is this ful­ness? It is all the fulness of the Godhead [...] bodily, i. e. personally, substantially; for as the Hebrews put souls for persons, as so many souls went down into Egypt, &c. so the Greeks put bodies for persons. Our Lord Je­sus is his Fathers Gazophylacium, the great Ma­gazine of infinite riches and treasures. Note here a Climax, yea three gradations, the God­head, the fulness of the Godhead; yea, all the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily. Now our holiness is a stream derived from this Fountain, a part or parcel of this fulness.

4.4 The for­mal cause. What is the formal cause of our Sanctifica­tion?

I answer, 'Tis the infusion of the habits of grace into us, (as the School-men call them) 'tis the endowment of the soul with inward holiness: So Mr. Perkins, 'Tis the infusion of, or communion with the spirit: So D. Rey­nolds, 'Tis the operation of the spirit dwelling in us, as a spirit of sanctification, Luke 11.13. Joh. 14.16, 17. 'Tis the deriving or drawing down the holiness that is in Christ our Head, by the spirit of holiness, who is the Bond of u­nion and communion between him and us; 'tis the spirits transforming of us into the likeness of our Lord Jesus, or the delineation of the [Page 56] Picture of Christ,The spirit looks di­rectly upon the glori­ous Image of Christ represented in the Go­spel, and draws ex­actly the picture thereof in a Saints heart. Mr. Rich. Vines in Loc. Zech. 13.1. by the spirit of Christ in the soul of man, 2 Cor. 3.18. Its Synonima's in Scripture are very emphatical, 'tis called a quickning, Ephes. 2.1. a birth, Joh. 3.3. a forming of Christ, Gal. 4.19. a Regeneration, or begetting again, 1 Pet. 1.3. a new heart, and a new spirit, Ezek. 36.26. a renewing of the mind, Rom. 12.2. a new creature, 2 Cor. 5.17. the new man, Ephes. 4.24. the renewing of the Holy Ghost, Tit. 3.5. And the Divine Nature, and the Image or likeness of Christ, in respect of its Divine o­riginal and transcendent excellency.

The Father sends the Son into the world to work out eternal Redemption for us; and to that end, to open a fountain in his side and heart for our purification; he furnisht him with an instrumental fulness and fitness, to be the Lord our righteousness, and our Fountain of grace and holiness;Joh. 17.4 Eph 4.8. the Son finisheth his work, ascends up on high, receiveth gifts for men, sends the holy spirit, the sanctifier and comforter, as his Vice-Roy, to dwell in us, and abide with us for ever; and not only to dwell in us, as our heavenly companion and com­forter,Joh 14 16 17. but also to work in us as our Sanctifier, and therefore called. The Spirit of holiness, Rom. 1.4.Joh. 16 14. He shall glorifie me (saith Christ) for he shal receive of mine. He receives from the Son wisdome, righ­teousness, holiness, all gifts and graces where­with Christ was annointed, and bestows them upon the Saints, annoints them with this Un­ction, implants in them these gifts and graces, imprints vpon them the Divine Nature, and therewith sanctifies them; which very impres­sion of the Divine Nature (or likeness of [Page 57] Christ) on the soul of man, by the energy of the spirit, I conceive to be the very formality of sanctification.

For the better explication and dilucidation of this Argument, give me leave to shew what it is to sanctifie.

The word Sanctifie hath many acceptions, the most famous are these two:

• 1. To set apart.
• 2. To cleanse.

In each of which we suppose something pri­vative, and something positive.

1. When it signifies to set apart, we must conceive, not only a setting a thing or a per­son apart from a common or prophane use, but also its or his actual dedication to holy u­ses, or setting apart for God, which is the pro­per notion of it.

2. When it signifies to cleanse, you must not only conceive a purgation from filthiness, but also a plantation of the seed of grace, called the seed of God. The abolition of natural cor­ruption is the privative part; the renovation of Gods Image is the positive part of Sanctifica­tion.

1. To sanctifie, is to set apart, and dedicate. Thus Gods people are set apart, and dedicated by God, and for God.

• 1. Before time.
• 2. In time.

1. Before time. Psa. 1.4. They are set apart by Gods Decree to be an holy seed to himself in and by Chr st, separate from the reprobate and pe­rishing world, to be Vessels of Honor; where­as [Page 58] the Reprobates are called Vessels of wrath, and dishonour,M. Bur­roughs in his Saints Treasury. Psa. 1.4. Him that is godly, God hath set apart for himself; i. e. as a good man saith, Not only actually set apart in vocation, but vertually set apart by God from eternity in Election, Ephes. 1.4. Having chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, &c.

2. In time. They are regenerated, called, or actually sanctified, or set apart to be Vessels of Honour, sanctified, and meet for the Masters service,Wollebius in his Body of Divini­ty. 2 Tim. 2.21. Sanctification is an actu­al Election, by which we are set apart from the miserable and vain world, to act for God by Jesus Christ, and to seek the things that make for his glory. Thus by Regeneration we are called his First-fruits, which under the Law were the Lords portion, Jam. 1.18. Of his own will begat he us, by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of the first fruits of his new creatures;Joh. 3.3. [...]. as they are born from above, so they are born for above; they have heavenly affections, and heavenly conversations, and shall have heavenly Mansions.Joh. 14 2. The Saints of God, among other Titles, are called an holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood, and a Peculiar Peo­ple, 1 Pet. 2.9. The Priests of old were men consecrated to Minister in Gods presence. Now

1. This Consecration infers an holy pre­ciseness, and peculiar singularity in the Saints, to keep themselves unspotted from the world, Jam. 1.28.

2. As God doth consecrate the Saints, so they themselves having received grace from a­bove, [Page 59] do willingly dedicate and consecrate themselves to God. They present their bodies, i. e. their persons, (the body being put Synech­dochically for the whole man) as an holy and living sacrifice, Rom. 12.1. And for this dedi­cation, the Lord calls, when he saith, My Son, give me thine heart, &c. he is pleased to call it by the name of a gift, when 'tis his due debt; and because our free consent is a necessary fruit of his free grace, every gracious soul doth voluntarily surrender or give up it self to God, (as the Macedonians did) 2 Cor. 8.5. Thus in the first place, to sanctifie is to set apart, and dedicate to an holy use.

2. To sanctifie, is to cleanse, together with its positive act, to renew, endow, or adorn with grace: The privative part is cleansing, the positive part is adorning.

First, I shall consider the privative part of Sanctification, as it is a cleansing work.

As the word Sanctifie signifies to separate, so there is a difference between the Saints, and o­thers; but as it signifies to cleanse, so there is a difference between the Saints, and them­selves.

1. They differ from others, because they are a people set apart to live and act for God, whe­ther they eat or drink, buy or sell, they do all for God, that is, with respect to his glory, 1 Cor. 10.31. and so they are distinct from the men of the world, who are meerly byassed by their own principles, swayed by their own in­terests, and act for Carnal Self in all they do.

[Page 60]2. Sanctification makes a difference between them and themselves, inter them unregene­rate, and themselves regenerate; they were filthy before, but washen now; impure be­fore, but holy now; Lyons before, Lambs now; Swine before, but Doves now: May not we say to, and of, the best of Saints that are extant, as the Apostle speaks of the con­verted Corinthians? 1 Cor. 6.11. Such were some of you; i. e. some of you had been Idolaters, Adulterers, Drunkards, Covetous, &c. but now ye are washed, justified, and sanctified in the Name, and by the Spirit of our Lord Je­sus; that is, ye are not the same men and wo­men that ye were before, the grace of God having changed both their relations, and their qualities. As a man, lately converted, an­swered his old Companions, when sollicited to excess of Riot,Ego non sum Ego, [...]. Now I am not I: As sin makes a wonderful cursed change in and upon the soul, from good to bad, yea, to stark naught; so grace makes a wonderful blessed change in and upon the soul, from the worst, to the best relation and condition that the ra­tional creature can attain unto. The deep and ingrained pollution of our nature is purged and done away.

1. Inchoatively, and generally, at our grand bathing in Regeneration, or first conversion, Tit. 3.5. when the soul doth begin at first to wash it self in the Fountain of Christs blood, that Fountain opened for sin, Z [...]ch 13.1. and for uncleanness; that is the first cleansing, then the Leprosie be­gins to be abated, and the soul to be made [Page 61] white in the blood of the Lamb; then sin hath its mortal blow.

2. Gradually, and progressively, by de­grees; the Image of Christ is drawn brighter and brighter, goes on from glory to glory in the soul of man, by the Pourtraicture of the spi­rit, 2 Cor. 3.18. and as the righteousness of Ju­stification, so the righteousness of Sanctificati­on also is revealed, and carried on from faith to faith: The path of the just is a shining light, Pro. 4.18. that shineth more and more unto the perfect day: As Naaman by the Prophets order went down,2 Kin. 5.10.14. and washt himself seven times in the streams of Jordan; so the sinful soul of man must go down believingly, and wash it self in the blood of Christ, and in the water of the spirit, in the stream of this Jordan, if ever it will be clean. Christ washt his Disciples feet, Joh. 13.11, 12. alluding to the custome of the Jews, who wearing Sandals, and dirtying their feet daily, were wont to wash their feet daily: So every day, while we converse in and with the world, we contract dirt and filth daily, we must be therefore washing off the dirt, by the renewed acts of faith and repentance dai­ly; we ought to make recourse daily to the blood, spirit, word, and promises of Christ for our Justification, and thereby cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, 2 Cor. 7.1.

3. Totally, or wholly, that is at our disso­lution, when we shall be glorified, when the body of flesh shall lie in the dust of death, then the body of sin shall lie down with it, then [Page 62] the souls of the Saints shall be presented glori­ous, without spot, or wrinkle, be pure from sin, and perfect in holiness. Now through grace, the Saints are freed from the guilt and dominion of sin, but at death they are perfectly free from the being of it: As a worthy man well ob­serves,D. Manton in M. Loves Funeral Sermon. That as sin brought death into the world with it, so death, by way of revenge, carries out sin: 'Tis probable, the time will be in the very moment of expiring, (saith the same Author.) As the soul in the moment of its conjunction with the body, became sinful; so the soul in the moment of its disjunction from the body, becomes perfectly sanctified, and is presented perfect by Christ to God; for no unclean thing shall enter into the New Jerusalem, Rev. 21.27. Thus much for the privative part of Sanctifica­tion, as it is a cleansing work.

2. Something (very briefly) of the positive work of Sanctification, as it is a decking or adorning the soul with grace; under the Law, as there was an Altar for Oblation, so there was a Laver for Ablution; and the Priests were commanded to wash in the great Laver, before they came to minister at the Altar, Exod. 30.18, 19, 20. As the Oblation, or Offering, did note Justification, so the ablution, or washing, did note our Sanctification. And moreover, the legal Priests were to be adorned with gor­geous attire, with glorious garments, when they appeared before the Lord; which garments of glo [...]y and beauty, Exod. 28. without controversie, did figure out, the glorious graces of Christ, and all true Christians; for as Christ is their King [Page 63] and Priest, so they (through the riches of grace) have Communion with him in his Offices, and therefore called a Royal Priesthood, 1 Pet. 2.9. To be sanctified, is more than to be purified; for besides the expulsion of sin in Sanctification, there is an infusion of grace, a new disposition and frame of soul, called a new heart, and a new spirit, Ezek. 36.25, 26, 27. (i. e.) a new mind, new apprehensions, a new will, new desires, new affections, from whence there follows newness of life and conversa­tion.

1. There is a new heart, that is conformity to Gods Nature, when the heart of man is like the heart of God, as David is said to be a man after Gods own heart:2 Pet. 1.4. Conformity to the Divine Nature, is this new heart: The Nature of God, is the pattern of that Sanctification which is wrought in the heart of man.

2. There is a new life, that is, our confor­mity to Gods Law, or revealed Will, whose will is our Sanctification, 1 Thes. 4.3. An holy heart breathes and breaks out into an heaven­ly conversation, Phil. 3.20. Our conversation is in heaven: The first is our habitual holiness, the second is our actual. The sum is this, our habitual conformity to the Nature or Image of God, and our actual conformity to the Will of God, (thereon depending) is formally our Sanctification. Thus I have shewed what it is to sanctifie, and have opened the more emi­nent acceptations of it: We come now to the fifth thing propounded.

5. The Spi it of Christ is the efficient cause of our Sanctification.

The work of Creation is commonly ascri­bed to God the Father, the work of Redemp­tion to God the Son, and the work of Sanctifi­cation to God the Holy Spirit; yet Sanctifica­tion being a work ad extra, is common to all the persons.

1. It is ascribed to God the Father, Jude 1. to them which are called and sanctified of God the Father. 1 Pet. 1.3. Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a live­ly hope, &c.

2. Christ is said to sanctifie us; He is made of God to us Sanctification, 1 Cor. 1.2. To the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, Heb. 13.12. Where­fore Jesus, that he might sanctifie the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

3. The Spirit is said to sanctifie: Hence these phrases, the sanctification of the Spirit, 1 Pet. 1.2. 2 Thes. 2.13, 14. and the Spirit of holiness, Rom. 1.4. The Sanctification of the Spirit, is as ne­cessary as the mercy of the Father, or the sprink­ling of the blood of Jesus.

Christ by the redundancy of his Merit hath impetrated, and obtained the Spirit of the Fa­ther, to sanctifie those whom he means to save, to purifie, and make them meet for glory, whom he died for, and justified by his blood,

The Inchoation is from the Father, the Dis­pensation is by the Son, the Consummation by the Spirit: 'Tis from the love of the Father, and by vertue of the Merit of the Son, that we are sanctified; but 'tis properly the Office, and the [Page 65] distinct personal operation of the spirit of holi­ness to sanctifie; and it must be the mighty pow­er of the eternal spirit, that converts or sancti­fies, because 'tis such a power as is commensu­rate and proportionate to the raising of the dead, Ephes. 1.19, 20. [...], Superemi­nens mag­nitudo. Montan. called the exceeding greatness of his power, &c. We are not san­ctified or converted, as the Papists and Armi­nians say, by a moral suasion, or by the bare improvement of our own free will, nor by the accession of some additional help to Na­ture, but by the most strong, and yet most sweet efficacy of the Almighty Spirit, Psa. 110.3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power; or as some render it, in the day of thy Ar­mies; 'tis therefore called a Regeneration, In die Co­piarum. So M. Ains­worth. a be­getting a soul again, 'tis a new Creation, 'tis a Vivification, or quickning a man before dead in sins and trespasses, not languishing and de­clining, but in a moral sense stark dead; nay, 'tis a Resurrection, a rising out of the grave of sin and death: All these works of wonder, or rather this one mysterious work of Sanctifica­tion, illustrated by these Metaphors, bespeaks no less than the Almighty power of a God,Phil. 3.21 who is able to subdue all things to himself.

1. 'Tis a Regeneration, or a begetting again, 1 Pet. 1.3. Jam. 1.18.

2. 'Tis a Creation, Ephes. 2.10. We are his work­manship, created in Christ Jesus to good works: 2 Cor. 5.17. He that is in Christ is a new creature: Behold, (saith Christ) I make all things new.

3. 'Tis a vivification, or quickning, Eph. 2.1. You hath he quickned, who were dead in sins and [Page 66] trespasses. A natural man is both legally and morally dead, till the Spirit of Life breaths up­on him, and quickens him, Joh. 5.25. That pro­mise is still in fulfilling now, that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.

4. 'Tis a Resurrection, Col. 3.1. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above; yea, 'tis more, a kind of con-session, or sitting together with Christ, Eph. 2.6. And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the hea­venly places in Christ Jesus. If we live to God, we l ve the life of heaven: Now to regenerate, to create, to make all things new, to revive a man dead, to raise up a man out of the grave (as Lazarus) both dead and buried; all these are the Acts of Omnipotency, the works of a God, and all those works are done in this one work, by the invincible efficiency of the Spirit.

6. The word and faith are the Ministring and Instrumental causes of our Sanctification.The Spirit is called the Spirit of Faith. Aristotle calls the hand [...], the instru­ment of instru­ments. Faith being the gift of God, and wrought by the operation of the Spirit, unites the soul to Christ, the Fountain of Holiness, and Head of Influence, and having united the soul to him, continually receives supplies from him: 'Tis the hand of the soul, that useful instru­ment, whereby we apprehend Christ, and whereby we draw down vertue from Christ. Hence, as an Organ or Instrument, it is said to purifie, Acts 15.9. Having purified their hearts by faith. As Faith hath the Noblest Objects, so Faith for its use and office here, is the No­blest [Page 67] grace; Faith indeed infused and created in us by the Spirit,See Dr. Owens death of death, p. 126. Simile. is commonly called the Mother grace, and is it self formally a great part of our sanctification. As the woman sick of the Bloody Issue put forth her hand, and touching the Hem of Christs garment, drew vertue from him, and was healed: So that soul to whom Christ hath given the hand of Faith, doth put it forth, make application of the Merits, and mediation of Jesus Christ for his Purification, and doth in truth draw in vertue by that application, 1 Joh. 3.3. He that hath this hope doth purifie himself, even as he is pure. Faith exerts the office of all the senses, and if all the members 'tis the eye, the hand, the mouth the foot of the Soul, &c. as might be pro­ved easily, if I should exspatiate: As Christ is all in all to the soul in the sanctification of it, so Fai h, (of all graces) is all in all in the out­going of the soul to Christ, and in the Incomes of grace from him.

2. As Faith is the Instrumental,Causa Ad­ministra. Evangeli­um est me­dium, ce [...] instrumen­tum, quo Spiritus sanctus ef­ficaciam suam ex­erit, & fi­dem, & conversio­nem opera­tur. Syn­tag. Polan. so the Word is the ministring cause or medium of sanctification, Psa. 19.7. The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the Soul; the Law in all its Exhortations, Commands, Consolati­ons, Prohibitions, Comminations and Promi­ses, is a perfect Law, serving as a perfect means for conversion: But the Promissory and Consola­tory part [...]h reof, is p [...]incipally more purify­ing: Having these promises, let us cleanse our selves, &c. 2 Cor. 7.1. 2 Pet. 1.4. The Gospel, or Law of Faith, is vehiculum spiritus, the Chari­ot in which the spirit rides to give your souls [Page 68] a gracious visit, Gal. 3.2. Received ye the spirit by the works of the Law, Fides quae creditur. He that makes the Clouds his Chariots, mak [...]s also his Word, his Ordi­nances, and his Ministers, his Chari­ots, where­in he [...]des down into these low­er parts, to give the world a meeting. Mr. Al [...]ens Heaven Opened. p. 172. or by the hearing of faith, i. e. by the hearing of the Gospel, which is the doctrine of faith. The sanctifying spirit accompanying the holy Word; then the Word is sanctifying, Joh. 17.17. Sanctifie them by thy truth, thy Word is truth. When the Gospel is spoken and heard in the evidence and demonstra­tion of the Spirit, and of Power, then is the Arm of the Lord revealed, Isa. 53.1. then the Word of God works and grows mightily for sancti­fication and salvation; then the blind eyes are opened, then are the captives released, then are the dead raised, then are the lepers cleansed, then are the devils dispossessed, then are filthy souls washed, unholy souls sanctified.

7. Causa Exemplaris. The Exemplar, or Pattern, to which our Sanctification, in the two parts of it, (viz.) our mortification and vivification is conformable, is the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ; by vertue of the force and energy whereof, through the opera­tion and application of the spirit of faith, our sanctification is effected. The Apostle Paul holds forth a clear Analogy, or proportion, between our dying to sin, and Christs dying for sin; and between our newness of life, or vivification, and Christs Resurrection, Rom. 6.4 5, 6, 7, 8. where ye may see at large the par­allel between them. And the Apostle Peter tells us, We are begotten again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

8ly and lastly. The glory of Gods Grace in the Consecration and Salvation of a sinful crea­ture, [Page 69] is the supreme end, or final cause of our Sanctification; there is a mutual intimate co­herence, and relation of these three to o [...]e another.

1. The glory of Gods Grace is the Supreme end, as of our Election in Christ, so of our Sanctification by him. All the Acts of Gods love in Christ, whether immanent or transient, they are all for the praise of the glory of his grace, both in this, and in the other world, Eph. 1.4.6. And specifically Sanctification hath a direct tendency unto, and termination in the glory of God. When we keep our bodies and spirits chaste, and holy, we are then said to glorifie God, 1 Cor. 6.20. Glorifie God in your bodies, and in your spirits, which are Gods.

2. Consecration. This is (finis qui) the end for which (quoad nos) we are sanctified, and ne­cessary (necessitate medii) to our Salvation, Jam. 1.18. We are begotten by the Will of God, that we might be a kind of the first fruits of his crea­tures; that is, as Beza, Polanus, and others ob­serve, that we might be consecrated and devoted to the Lord, separated from the common lump of mankind, as an holy offering; at the first fruits un­der the Law were presented to the Lord, as an holy Offering, as the Lords own portion.

3. Salvation. This is our ultimate end: the Apostle Peter acquaints us, 1 Pet. 1.3. We are be­gotten again unto a lively hope, by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, &c. What is that lively hope we are begotten and born to in Regeneration? he tells ye in ver. 4. Even to an inheritance incor­ruptible, und [...]filed, that fadeth not away, reserved [Page 70] in heaven for you. This incomparable Inheri­tance,See Dr. Owens Death of Death, p. 119, 120, 121, 122, &c. dignified with all these transcendent Epi­thets, is comprehended in one word, Salvati­on, 2 Thes. 2.13, 14. God hath from the beginning chosen us to Salvation, that is the end, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth; that is the way and means.

Thus having cleared our way, now we come to the plain and full definition of San­ctification.

Sanctification (in the sense of the Text, and of this Tract) is a new inward habitual frame of grace, infused by the power of the Eter­nal Spirit into the heart of a justified person, uni­ted to Christ, whereby he is renewed after the I­mage of Christ, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness; and thereby enabled to die to sin, and to live to God, for the praise of Gods glorious grace in his Consecration and Salvation.

This definition is the sum of the former dis­course; every part and branch of this descrip­tion hath been already proved in the afore­going particulars, therefore I shall not actum agere, do over the same things again; only give me leave to acquaint you,Holiness is not any single grace a­lone but a Constella­tions con­junction of all gra­ces toge­ther in the Soul. our Sanctifi­cation, or Inherent Holiness, consists in these two things.

1. In the infusing of holy principles, divine qualities, or supernatural graces into the soul, such as the Apostle mentions in Gal. 5.22, 23. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, tem­perance, against such there is no Law. These ha­bits of grace, which are severally distinguish­ed, [Page 71] by the names of faith, love, hope, meek­ness, patience, temperance, &c. are nothing else but the new nature, the new creature, the new man, which after God is created in righte­ousness and true holiness, Ephes. 4.24.1 Joh. 3.9 2 Cor. 1.21. 1 Joh. 2.27. These seeds of holiness, these habits of grace, are those sweet oyntments wherewith all must be annoint­ed that ever expect to be glorified: Though men may talk much of God, and brag much of their Interest in heaven and happiness, yet without these habits and seeds of holiness (I am sure) they shall never reap a crop of bles­sedness.

2. Holiness lies in the use and lively exer­cise of those supernatural graces, or holy ha­bits in the soul: Holy habits must be brought forth into holy acts, gracious habits are, and and must be attended with gracious motions, gracious operations,Act. 10.35. 1 Joh. 1.3.7. 2 Pet. 1.8. Tit. 2.12. [...]. Eth. c. 1. and a gracious Conversa­tion; outward works must be suitable to in­ward habits; as the Phylosophers speak con­cerning the summum bonum, it consists (say they) neque in Idearum contemplatione, neque in virtutis habitu, neither in the contemplation of Idea's, nor in the habit of vertue: But the summum bonum, or chief good, (say they) is the operation or action of the reasonable soul, according to the best and most perfect vertue in a perfect life.

I am sure, Sanctification, which is the true felicity and beauty of the soul of man, con­sists in both (viz.) in internal holy principles, and in external holy practises. Holy habits are golden Talents that must be imployed and im­proved; [Page 72] they are the Candles of the Lord set up in us,Where there are the seeds, there will appear the Flowers of Holiness. not to idle by, but to work and and walk by: Where is holiness of dispositi­on? there is, and will be holiness of Conver­sation: An holy heart expresseth it self in an holy life.

In the next place I shall endeavour, (as I promised) to shew the difference between Ju­stification and Sanctification, and then the transcendent excellencies of Sanctification, as appears by the honourable and excellent titles the Scriptures put upon it, and cloathe it with them, as its proper Robes, and due Orna­ments. And then something as to the Conco­mitants, adjuncts, and fruits of sanctificati­on. And then lastly, Close all with Applica­tion.

How Ju­stification and San­ct fication d [...]ffer.1. Wherein Justification and Sanctificati­on differs.

• 1. They differ in their kind.
• 2. In order of Nature.
• 3. In the manner, or form,
• 4. They differ in degrees.

1 In gene­re.1. They differ in their kind. The righte­ousness of Justification is in the Category of Relation; the righteousness of Sanctification is in the predicament of quality: Justification is a change of a mans Relation and estate, not a change of a mans person; 'tis a change with­out a man, or upon a man, not a change with­in a man: But Sanctification is not properly a Relative, but a real inherent change; not a change without a man, but a change within a man; 'tis the [...] p [...]sion of sin, and the infusi­on [Page 73] of grace or holiness into the soul of Man.

2. They differ in the order of nature;2 In ordi­ne Na­turae. in or­der of nature (Divines hold) justification pre­cedes sanctification, though in order of time, they are both wrought together. In the de­scription of the order of causes, Rom. 8.30. the Link of Justification is set before Glorification in that golden Chain: Beza, Po­lanus, M. Jeremy Burroughs, cum multis aliis, &c. The best Expositors I have met withall, (and many I have read upon the place) do generally conclude, that sanctification is essentially (though not gradu­ally) the same with Glorification, and must of necessity be included in it, because sanctifi­cation is the seed, glorification is the flower; sanctification is the first fruits, glorification is the full crop or vintage; sanctification is the New-born Babe,Eph. 4.13. Glorification is the perfect man arrived to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

Sanctification is like the dawning of the day,Cum sol medium superave­rat axim. like the early glittering and guilding of the Mountains by the Sun-beams; but Glori­fication is the Sun shining in the Meridian, in his greatest strength and splendour: The dif­ference between Glorification and Sanctificati­on is not specifical, but gradual: We are ju­stified by the Merit of Christ from the guilt, and punishment of sin, in order of Nature, before we are sanctified by the spirit from the pollution and filth of sin, and endowed with inward holiness, though in order of time,Qui justi­fi [...]ntur sanctifi­c [...]ntur. Hae gratiae individuo nexu cohaerent, as Calvin speaks, they are wrought together, as the most [Page 74] precious effects of the free grace of God through the blood of Christ.

3 Modo ceu forma.3. They differ in their form. Take three Notes.

1. In Justification, a believer by the hand of Faith receives Christ, and layes hold upon him as the Lord his righteousness, and inwrap­peth his soul with this glorious Robe, and Gar­ment of Salvation; but in Sanctification Faith is considered as a new quality, formally a part of our holiness, and as the root and be­ginning of good works. In Justification Faith is considered as an useful instrument, in Sancti­fication as a special grace, or new quality.

2. In Justification sin is taken away, in re­spect of guilt,Ne impu­tetur. and condemnation, that it be not imputed; but in Sanctification sin is ta­ken away,Ne regnet. as to the dominion, or reigning power of it, that it may not reign; as in glori­fication, (which is the perfection of sanctifica­tion) sin, all the remainders of it shall be quite taken away,Ne restet. that it shall not exist, or have any being left.

3. In Justification Christs righteousness is imputed to us; in Sanctification, a new inhe­rent righteousness is implanted in us; in the first our sins are pardoned, our persons absol­ved, acquitted, and accepted, through the im­putation of Christs righteousness, Rom. 4.6, 7. By the second our souls are renewed, our Na­tures changed, decked and adorned with the graces of the Spirit, Eph. 4.23, 24. by the par­ticipation of Christs holiness. Thus Justificati­on and Sanctification do differ in their form.

[Page 75]4.4 In gradi­bus. Justification and Sanctification do differ in degrees. 1. Justification is one individual perfect act, contingent to all the godly: Some of our best Divines do hold, that Justification is transacted in our first union and incorporati­on into Christ, when the pardon of sin is sealed to a believer at once: How at once? Bishop Downam on Justifi­cation. Burgess upon Justi­fication. I answer with Reverend Downam, at once, as ex­cluding degrees; our justification is perfect at first as well as at last: Or as Learned Burgess, at once, as connoting a state we are put into, upon our believing; And indeed thereupon, some godly learned persons take Justification for one continued act, from our vocation to our glorification, and in that sense we are ju­stified but once.

A justified person is rectus in curia, acquitted by God the Judge of all, in foro coeli, he hath shot the Gulph, he is gone beyond the Gun-shot of condemnation, [...], Rom. 8.1. to him there is not one condemnation: But San­ctification is an inchoate and successive act, carried on by degrees, and compared with Ju­stification; 'tis but imperfect, (though it be an immortal principle, an incorruptible seed, growing up and tending to perfection) for here we know but in part, we see but in part, 1 Cor. 13.9, 10, 11, 12. we see as in a glass darkly. Now the dust is in our eyes, much blindness and darkness in the eyes of the most enlightned, our understandings are part­ly light, and partly darkness; our wills are partly flesh, and partly spirit: we find, do we not? a contrary Principle working, a contra­ry Law rebelling, that when we would do good, [Page 76] evil is present with us, Rom. 7.21. There is a Law in the members, Rom. 7.23 and a Law of the mind: There is a double Enemy carrying on a dou­ble interest in one soul; there is a Jacob and an Esau, strugling and striving for Mastery in one heart; there remains the being of sin, concu­piscence, evil lusting and motions, many sins of ignorance, negligence, and of invincible infirmity in the Saints; for whilest they abide in earthly, they abide in sinful Tabernacles: The bitter moans, groans, complaints, tears, together with the sad lapses of the Saints, do sadly evidence the truth of this,1 Kin. 8.46. Jam. 3.2. 1 Ioh. 1.8. Eccl. 7.20. As a child, as soon as born, is a true man, though not a perfect man, he hath all the parts of a man, not the strength and sta­ture. besides the ample testification of many Scriptures: The Saints that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, are in a sense perfect, and in a sense imperfect, they are perfect as to perfection of parts, every part and faculty of soul and body is sanctified, and yet they are in a sense imperfect, (i. e.) as to perfection of degrees: thus the word perfect is differently to be understood, Phil. 3.12.15. In the 12th ver. it notes the fullest measure, or highest Achme of perfection attainable by a Christian: In the 15th ver. it notes sincerity o [...] integrity, which is a Christians Evangeli­cal perfection. God (according to the tenour of the New Covenant) accepting his person in Christ as perfect, (viz.) in and through Christs perfect righteousness and intercession; and thereupon a believers gracious desires and endeavours for performances, his will for the deed, and his sincerity for perfection.

Perfection of degrees being too great a pri­viledge for a Militant estate, is reserved as one [Page 77] of the peculiar Flowers or Jewels of the Tri­umphant Crown for the Saints to wear in their Fathers Kingdome: [...]. A precious jewel which no­thing can defile, or dull its shining; so is the state above. wherefore among the singular distinguishing Epithetes given by the Spirit of God to our inheritance, this is one, an inheritance undefiled, 1 Pet. 1.4.

By our Justification now we have peace with God, Rom. 5.1. all our sins past and present are actually pardoned, and this favour received, is a pledge of assurance, that for the future, by applying our selves to Christ, we shall receive remission of daily sins; and that at the last day we shall be for ever free from all accusati­ons and condemnation. Our Justification is perfect now; (though the most solemn pro­nunciation of it in a magnificent manner, is the work of the great day) but our Sanctifi­cation is inchoate, imperfect and progressive here; by the supplies of the Spirit of Grace, there must be a going on from faith to faith, from strength to strength; but it shall be most compleat and perfect at Christs appearing: the Picture of Christ will be gloriously drawn, even to the life then; We know, Phil. 1.6. that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

2. The righteousness of justification is e­qually perfect, and equally imputed to all believers; my meaning is, all believers are a­like justified, one as well and as much as a­nother, the weak as much as the strong, the new-born Babes so much as the old Fathers, the feeblest Lambs as much as the Hee-goats of the Flock; he that hath the least, as well [Page 78] as he that hath the greatest measure of the Spirit:Gemmam amplecti­tur Gigas, & pueru­lus; licet Gigas for­tiùs eam amplecti­tur, quàm puerulus, tamen ma­net gemma aequè preci­osa. Luther A Giant holdeth a jewel, and so doth a Child; the jewel is the same, though the Gi­ant holdeth it with a stronger hand: So here, the righteousness of justification is the same, though the faith of believers is not the same, some being weak, and others strong in faith: As to inherent righteousness, there is much dif­ference; but as to imputed righteousness, all the Saints are equal, none have purer linnen than the rest. A believer, of the lowest form in Christs School, of the meanest stature or growth in Christ, of the weakest and dullest capacity in the mysteries of the Kingdome of Christ,So M. Bur­roughs on the Beati­tudes, Matth. 5. is in point of justification, equal with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Samuel, and David, equal with all the most glorious Pa­triarchs, Prophets, Martyrs, and eminent Saints that are. Thou (if a believer) art as much acquitted from sin, and as much accepted as righteous in the sight of God, and as undoubt­ed an Heir of, and hast as true a title to the Inheritance of heaven, as the most famous Saints that are. But there is a great deal of dif­ference among the Sain s themselves, as to sanctification; some Saints are children, some are strong men,1 Cor. 15.41. some are fathers; one star excelleth another star in glory: There are stellae primae & secundae magnitudinis, &c. Some Saints are more sluggish and dull of hearing, more dull and dark in understanding, others are more acute and quick; some are young­lings, weaklings, and have need of milk, (viz.) the principles of the Oracles of God; others are [Page 79] strong men, and have need of meat, can dive into, and digest the deepest mysteries revealed in the Gospel,Heb. 5.12, 13, 14. God having given them senses exercised to discern both good and evil: Some are more dead to duty, and in duty, others are more vigorous, more fervent in spirit, and live­ly; some walk more humbly with God, more holily before God, more exactly and venerably before the world, than others do.

Some do much fully and stain their gar­ments, others (comparatively) walk in white, and keep their garments clean, and also keep themselves unspotted from the world, Jam. 1. ult.

Thus great is the difference between Saint and Saint in sanctification,Cant. 5.10 My belo­ved is white and ruddy, white in the glory of his Dei­ty, ruddy in the pre­ciousness of his Hu­manity, and white in the beauty of his purity▪ and ruddy in the blood of his Obla­tion. Ow­ens Com­munion. p. 52, 53. as great is the difference between man and man in growth and stature; but in justification, the infant of daies, and man of grey hairs, the shrub, and the Cedar, the smaller, and greater stars, the Saints of all dimensions and denominations, of all ages and statures, are equally perfect, and shine equally bright and glorious, because the glory of that righteousness is not inherent in them, as the light is inherent in the body of the Sun; but this robe of righteousness (so 'tis called, Isai. 61.10.) is imputed to them, and put upon them by the Sun of righteousness, their Elder Brother, who wove this garment of Sun­beams for them out of his own Mediatorial ho­liness, both in life and death.

Thus you have had some representation or Adumbration, something shadowed out, of the difference between Justification and San­ctification: Our knowledge of these mysteries [Page 80] ought to be distinct, and clear, and not intri­cate and confused, for the clearer our know­ledge is, the stronger and greater will our comfort be. The great Apostle handles these two great Doctrines, (viz.) Justification and Sanctification, distinctly, and in order. First he begins with Justification, and treats on that Argument throughout the 3, 4, and 5th Chap. to the Romans. Then he falls upon the Doctrine of Sanctification, and insists on that necessary argument, throughout the 6, 7, and 8th Chap. to the Romans, Pareus. as a German Divine well observes. And in this method, since I have pitcht upon this Text, I have endeavour­ed, or made an Essay to handle them, begin­ning with Justification first, expressed by its Synonima, in the Text righteousness, and then proceeded to sanctification afterwards.

Let thus much suffice for the critical diffe­rences between Justification and Sanctificati­on.

We now come in the next place, to the next general propounded to be spoken to, (viz.) to the excellency of Sanctification, illustrated by the high and Honourable Enc [...]miums, where­with we find it dignified in the Scriptures, in which, (as in a glass [...] Mirror) you may be­hold the incomparable beauty and worth of holiness.

1. Holiness is the N me of God, Isa. 57.15. Thus saith the High and lofty One, that inhabi­teth Eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, &c. Gods Name is holy, Psa. 111.9. Holy and Reverend is his Name. How [Page 81] often is he called Holy One, and the Holy One of Israel in the Scriptures? His holiness is himself, when he swears by his Holiness; (as Psa. 89.35. Once have I sworn by my holi­ness,Quicquid est in Deo, Deus est. that I will not lie unto David) he swears by himself; for whatsoever is in God, is God: God is essentially, infinitely, and primitively holy, the Saints only by participation of his holiness, they are called godly from God, Christians from Christ, and Saints from the sanctification of the Holy Spirit: The chosen Generation are an holy Nation, 1 Pet. 2.9. they partake of Gods Name (Holiness.)

2. It is called the Seed of God, 1 Joh. 3.9. [...], peccatum non opera­tur, or, peccato non dat o­peram. As Beza (i. e.) doth not make sin his work and busi­ness. 1 Pet. 1.3. whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, &c. And this seed, (viz.) the Word of God, (i. e.) of which we are begotten and born again, is in­corruptible or immortal, 1 Pet. 1.23. Jam. 1.18. Sanctification by these Texts, and else­where, is held out by the Metaphor of Gene­ration. God the Father of Spirits, is the Spi­ritual Father that begets a soul to himself in Christ, the Word is the Seed of God, of which the soul is begotten again, [...]he Ordinances are the Bed wherein the soul is begotten, Can. 1.16. also our Bed is green, (viz.) flourishing Ordi­nances. Holiness is a Divine Seed.

3. Holiness is the Will and Word of God, or rather the Will of God revealed in his Word: The word of God is the signification of his will, and 'tis the Royal Mandatory will of God, that we should be holy, 1 Thes. 4.3. This is the will of God, even your sanctification, [Page 82] 1 Pet. 1.15, 16. As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; for it is written, be ye holy, because I am holy. 'Twas the great Honour of King David, that he served his Generation, [...] fa [...]et om­nes vol [...] tates meas. according to the will of God, Acts 13.22. yea, he fulfilled all Gods wills, for the Greek is plural. So 'tis the highest honour of any creature, as well as du­ty, whether of Angel or man, to fulfill the wills of God, the whole pleasure of his will, especially his main design, and great com­mand, in being holy.

4. Holiness is the work of God: All Gods works (as in Creation and Providence) are like himself, honorable and glorious, so the Psalmist cals them, Ps. 111.2, 3. and 'tis our bounden du­ty to consider, and admire them: But here that old rule holds good,Operari sequitar esse. the work is like unto the worke [...]; next to the highest of all Gods works, viz. the Incarnation of the Son of God, the se­cond person in the Trinity, the work of sancti­fication, without controversie, is the most great and glorious, as appears by these Scriptures, 2 Cor. 5.5. He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing, is God. This is called by way of eminency, Gods workmanship, Ephes. 2.10. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, &c. Holiness is the special, peculiar work of the holy God.

5. Holiness is the very Image of God, and this is more than all the former: The s ul as a spirit may be said (in a sense) to b [...]th [...] mage of God; but the soul, as qualifie wi h grace, or adorned with knowledge, wisdome, righte­ousness, [Page 83] holiness,Col 3.10. Eph 4.24. (in which the Image of God omisteth) is the most lively likeness, and I­mage of God in the world: By these graces we should shew forth Gods vertues, 1 Pet. 2.9. 'Tis in the Greek vertues, and not prai [...]es. Now note: [...], vir­tutes. An Image represents a thing in its highest excellency; an image doth not repre­sent the legs, feet, or inferiou [...] parts of a man, but his countenance, head, face, breast, the most Noble parts: So our sanctification, or inherent righ [...]eousness, represents God in his chiefest [...]x [...]elency, as he is glorious in holi­ness, Exod. 15.11. In the works of Creation, and Providence, we see the footsteps, at most, the back-parts of the Almighty; but in the Saints we see his face or Image, though not perfectly drawn, and to the life. An holy soul represents God in the most lively way,Simile. as the Image of a man in his child is more lively seen than in a piece of wood, or stone; so the I­mage of God is more lively seen, and more gloriously drawn in the hearts of his Saints (next to Christ,Col. 1.15. Heb. 1.3. who is the Image of the Invi­sible God,) &c. than in all the creatures in the world besides.

6. Holiness is the life of God, and this is m re, a man may see his Image, but no man can see his life. Grace is called the life of God, Ephes 4.18. Being alienated from the life of God. N w w at is G ds [...]i [...]e? and w [...]at is a Saints life? Go s life consists in this, in willing him­self th [...] chiefest and high [...]st good, and in act­ing for his own glory, as them [...]m [...]te end,Vita est in se reflexio and in ordering all things to this blessed end; this is [Page 84] the excellency of the life of God; and a Saint (through grace) lives this life, he propounds God to be his chiefest good, and the glory of God, as the utmost end of all his actings, and the w ll of God revealed in the Word, he makes his Rule, and drives on all his designs to this end: And this is the excellency of the life of Sanctification which a Saint (in his measure) lives; he acts from right principles by a right line, to a right end; the perfection of which life the blessed spirits live in heaven.

7. Sanctification or holiness is the Nature of God; 2 Pet. 1.4. we are said to be [...], partakers, or Communicants of the Divine Nature, a very high expression. This place I have already o­pened, and cleared it of absurdities: By Di­vine Nature, in a word is meant, the Divine qualities, &c. Grace is nothing else but the re­flexion, or the sparkling forth of the Divine Nature that is in God himself; 'tis a ray from his glory, a beam from his Sun; every Saint is a Diamond of Christs own pointing, shining with light and lustre (in some measure) like himself: One spark of this Divine Nature is of greater worth and value, than rubies, than the Topaz of Ethiopia (in a word) than all the treasures of the earth; nil, to be compared to it.

8. Sanctification is the Glory of God in the soul of man, which is higher yet than all the for­mer, [...], defici­untur. Rom. 3.23. all have sinned, and are come short of the glory of God, (i. e.) of the glorious estate of holiness, in which we were created; and also of the glorious estate of happiness. Adam was planted in a glorious place, Paradise, & adorned [Page 85] with a glorious Ornament (viz.) holiness, the Image and Glory of God, but through sin he fel from both. Now holiness the glory of man, and the glory of God (as to man) lieth in the dust, but when in sanctification the Image of God is renewed in, and restored to the soul, the glory of God and man returns again. Ho­liness is Gods great Title of Honour, Exod. 15.11. Who is like unto thee among the Gods, glorious in holiness? &c. God is said in Scripture to be rich in mercy, plenteous in redemption, Eph. 2.4. Psa. 130.7. Psa. 147.5. Exod 15.11 great in power, infinite in understanding, but glorious in holiness. 'Tis the glory of all his works, Psal. 145.17. The Lord is righteous in all his wayes, and holy in all his works; his holiness shines forth in all his Providences: 'Tis the glory of all his Attributes; his blessed Attri­butes are, as it were, enamelled with holiness; else his Soveraignty would look like Tyranny, else his patience would look like indulgence of sin, else his Justice would look like cruelty, else his special distinguishing mercy would look like respecting of persons, or partiality: All the Attributes of God run in the Channel of his holiness, and partake of its tincture: This glorious Attribute is the ground of the Songs of praise, which are sung to his glory by the Seraphins, Isa. 6.2, 3. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory, which is repeated, Rev. 4.8. Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. Why is Gods day honourable, but that 'tis ho­ly? Why is Christs Spouse beautiful, but that she is holy? Why are the Angels of God such [Page 86] glorious creatures, but that they are holy? take away holiness, and they would soon turn de­vils of darkness: As sin is the basest filth, dishonor, and shame, so è contrario, holiness is the highest honour, the greatest glory, in or up­on any rational soul. Upon all these conside­rations, how glorious is Holiness? But to proceed.

9. Sanctification exalts a Saint above his Neighbour, it lif [...]s him up above the Sphere and Region of other men, Prov. 12.26. The righ­teous is more excellent than his Neighbour. Per­haps a Saint is a po [...]r mean man in the world, and his Neighbour a rich man, a great man, a Knight or Lord, worth several hundreds or th [...]usands a year; but y [...]t the righteous, a per­son vested with the righteousness of Sanctifi­cation, is far more excellent in the esteem of God, than the graceless great ones of the earth, for all their Lands and Lordships, for all their their Noble Par [...]ntage, for all their Eschutche­ons, Ensigns,Psa. 16.3. and Titles of Honour, the Saints are the excellent in the earth: The Saints, in re­gard of Sa ntship, are Gods peculiar treasure, his choice Jewels; Mal. 3.17. all others God reckons but as Luggage and Lumber: The vast difference between man and man, lies in this; one in all his glory, is but a branch of the old stock, and hath but the Image of the earthly; but the o­ther is transplanted into a new stock, the tree of life, 1 Cor. 15.49. and hath the Image of the heavenly en­graven in his soul.

10. Sanctification must needs be excellent, because 'tis one great end, and precious attain­ment [Page 87] of the death of Christ, Tit. 2.14. Christ gave himself for us, not only to redeem us; but also to purifie us. Again, Christ came into the world, and was incarnate, not only to save us from our enemies, and from the hands of all that hate us, wh ch implies Redemption; but also, that we mi [...]h [...] serve him without fear in holiness, and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life, and this takes in Sa [...]ctifi [...]on. Further, the Apostle John tels us, that for this purpose the S [...]n of God ( [...]) appeared that he might u [...] ­loose, or dissolve the works of the Devil, 1 Joh. 3.8. [...]. Dissolvere opera Dia­boli. Mon­tan. See the Dutch An­not on the place. What are these works of the Devil, which Christ came t [...] dissolve? they are lusts, and sins: Christ dissolves these works two wayes:

1. By suffering the punishment of them in his own person, Heb 2.14.15.

2. By regenerating his people by his Spirit, and thereby delivering them from the domi­nion and slavery of sin. The Apostle Paul tels us, that Christ gave himself for his Church that he might sanctifie it, and present it a glorious Chu [...]ch, without spot or wrinkle, &c. Ephes. 5.25, 26. And without controversie, Sanctifi­cation is as honourable and glorious Attain­ment,H [...]b 12.14. as any of the Benefits that accrue to the Saints by the death of Christ; for, (in short) there is no seeing [...]he Face of God without it: without holinesse no man shall see the Lord.

11. The excellency of Sanctification con­sists in this, in that it is a principle of union and communion with God; 1 Joh. 1.3. None but the sanctified in Christ [...]esus c [...]n have fellowship with the Fa­ther, and his Son Jesus Christ. Whilst a person [Page 88] is prophane, unsanctified, what communion can be between Light and Darkness, between Christ and Belial?It was an old saying, [...]. between an holy God, and an impure sinner? God is Light in the ab­stract, 1 Joh. 1.5. and an impure sinner is dark­ness in the abstract, Ephes. 5. Holinesse is the principle of Union and Communion between God and man; Ephes. 2.13. when we are con­verted, sanctified,1 Cor 6.17 He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit. the soul is made nigh to God, (who before was afar off) and is now joined to the Lord in the Spirit.

As a man cannot have communion with the Beasts, because they live not the same life, nor the Beasts with the Plants, because they live a contrary life, no more can a natural man have communion with God, because he lives not the same life; but the Saints, through sancti­fication of the Spirit, live a spiritual life, the life of God, and are therefore fitted for Com­munion with him, and for the communicati­ons of his goodnesse to them.

12. Sanctification turns moral Vertues in­to Graces: Some persons are naturally meek, patient,As 'twas said of Augustus Caesar; He turned brick into Marble. sober, temperate, &c. Some natural persons are morally just and righteous in their dealing and Conversation in the World, ho­nest Dealers, good Pay-masters, make their word their deed. All this a man may be, and do, & yet perish for ever: but when once Wisdome enters into thy heart, whence once Sanctifica­tion in the power of it, comes into thy soul, there is a great change wrought. The new soul acts and works in natural and moral Acti­ons, from inward renewed principles. The [Page 89] principle of Grace (the true Elixir) turns mo­ral Vertues into Graces, and dignifies a mans natural Endowments, and moral actions with a tincture of holinesse, which makes a sweet perfume in Gods Nostrils: hee now acts from God, and for God in all he doth; whether he eats, or drinks, or buys, or sels,1 Cor. 10.31. all is for the glory of God. As carnal hearts are alwayes carnal in spiritual performances, (for the streams never run higher than the Head): so on the contrary, gracious hearts are spiritual in natural and moral actions: The reason is, the new man hath a new principle to act from, and a new End to act for, and aim at, but before he was sanctified, he had neither.

13. Another excellency of Sanctification, is this, That the righteousnesse of Sanctificati­on, next to the righteousnesse of Christ for justification, will be of the greatest worth, and value, support and comfort at death and judg­ment.

At Death and Judgment, the rich mans Riches, the wise mans wisdome, the ambiti­ous mans honours, the voluptuous mans plea­sures, the hypocrites formality, the civil mans civility, and the moral mans morality: These Lying Idols and rotten sticks which unholy persons have made their hope, their stay, and the Rock of their Confidence, shall then all fail them, and sink quite under them: but then shall the pure in heart see God, Mar. 5.8.Mat. 13.43. then shall the Righteous lift up their heads like Princes, and shine as the Sun in the presence of their Father; a dram of saving Grace will [Page 90] be then more valuable and more comfortable, th [...]n mountains of Gold, than millions of Worlds. This was a River of comfort flow­ing in upon Ezekiahs heart, as he lay upon his sick-bed (for ought he then knew) upon his death-bed, (viz.) the review of his sanctified heart & life:Isa. 38.3. Remember, O Lord, how I have walk­ed before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, &c.

Beloved, There will be a great Cry at mid­night, the Bridegroom comes, go forth to meet him, Matth. 25.6. The coming of Christ to Judgment will be very sudden, and very ter­rible to secure sinners: if you, with the foo­lish Virgins, have only oyl in your Lamps, a blaze of profession without: and not with the wise, oyl in your Vessels, the true stock, and treasure of grace in your hearts,Mat. 25.12. Mat. 7.22.23. Read those words, and Tremble. you will cry most dolefully, and shriek most dreadfully at that day; but Christ will not hear you, hee will take no notice of you; The King of glo­ry will enter his Presence-chamber with all his Saints: and shut the door against you, ver. 10. And the door was shut, then knock never so hard,Grace is the Bride­grooms fa­vour, by which they are admitted into his Chamber of Glory. cry never so loud, the door is shut, there's no hope of entrance, the Lord will Answer, I know you not, vers. 12. Then your sop will be sorrow; weeping and wailing, and gnash­ing of teeth, for madnesse and anguish will be y [...]ur portion; no grace, no glory. Where­fore Si [...]s, for the Lords sake, and for your own souls-sake, look about you, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh; If ever ye hope in earnest to be saved, be sure you are truly and through­ly sanctified, for there is no hope of salvation [Page 91] without sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the Truth, 2 Thes. 2.13, 14.

14. And lastly, To name no more: San­ctification is the early dawning of Salvation, the very beginning of Heaven. In that golden Chain, Rom. 8.30. there is mention made of Calling, Justification, and of Glorification, but nothing of Sanctification, to note, that san­ctification is Heaven begun already: it is not only the way to Heaven, but 'tis Heaven it self, the more holy thou art, the more thou dost live the life of God; and the more thou dost anticipate the life of Heaven, that Glori­ous life, which the Angels of God, and the blessed spirits of just men made perfect, live there.Heb 12.22.23.

Thus through the assistance of God, wee have hinted something of the transcendent excellency of Sanctification, which we have in, by, and from our Lord Jesus, who is made of God, (or given of the Father to be) our Sanctification.

Holinesse is the Name of God, the Seed of God, the Will and Word of God; it is the Work of God, 'tis the very Image of God, it is the Life of God, 'tis the Nature of God, 'tis the Glory of God.

Again, Sanctification renders one man far m [...]re excellent than another: 'tis one grand At­tainment of the death of Chr st, 'tis the princi­pal of Union and Communion with God. San­ctification turns moral Vertues into Graces: 'Tis the second best Cordial of Comfort at De [...]th and Judgment. Lastly, 'tis the dawn­ing of Salvation, the Aurora of Glory.

THat Christ is given of the Father to be our Sanctification, we have proved: how Christ may be said to be our Sanctification we have shewed: what are the several Causes con­curring to our Sanctification, we have explain­ed: The definition of Sanctification wee have given: Something of its glory and excellen­cy we shadowed forth in the last Discourse: and now are arrived at the last Stage, the last General, in the doctrinal part propounded, (viz.) what are the sweet streams that issue from this Fountain?They may also serve for Tryals of your e­state. What are the precious Fruits that grow upon this Tree of Sanctifica­tion. You may also call them the inseparable Concomitants, and Adjuncts of Sanctification (if you please.)

1. If you have received the spirit of Sancti­fication, ye have also received the spirit of Supplication, Zech. 12.10. The Spirit is en­titled both the spirit of Grace, and the spirit of Supplication, where he is the former, there he is the other also; where he dwels as the spirit of holinesse, there he dwels as the spirit of prayer. Every sanctified heart is an Harp or Cymbal, to sound forth Gods praises: an habitation of God through the Spirit, Ephes. 2. ult. and the Temple of the Holy Ghost. The Temple of old was an holy place, a place of relative and Typical holiness, and an house of Prayer. Every gra­cious [Page 93] heart (like Gods Altar) offers up to God the sweet sacrifice and incense of praises and Prayers. Every new-born Babe, (for the most part) comes into the world crying.The word Abba, sig­nifieth Fa her, in the Syriack tongue, which the Apostle here reteineth, which also young Children retein almost in all Languages. Annotat. I am sure every spiritual new-born Babe cryes Abba Father, Rom. 8.15. Gal. 4.6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father.

Now, if ye are Prayer-less persons, ye are graceless persons: persons without Prayer,'Twas the saying of an old Di­sciple, A man of much pray­er, is a man of much Grace. are persons without Holiness: or though ye pray, yet if ye pray not in the Spirit, (according to the caution) Ephes. 6.18. (i. e.) in Faith, in fervency, with the vigor and intension of the Spirit, or inner-man, if it be notJam. 5.16. [...]. If ye have no Com­munion ravishing, have yee Commu­nion san­ctifying? an in­wrought prayer (as the phrase is) if yee wrestle not with God in the strength of God, (as Jacob did) if ye have no holy boldness, or Confidence at Gods Throne; if ye never feel the sweet melting, quickening, warming, moving, breathings of the Spirit in your souls; In a word, if ye find no growing conformity in your hearts to the divine Nature by Duty, no sweet sanctifying, refreshing communion with God in Duty: 'tis an evident sign to me, the Spirit of holiness dwels not in yee; and consequently, if ye have not the spirit of Christ, ye are none of his, Rom. 8.9. But as for such as pray in the Spirit, as make conscience of this Duty, and of the spiritual performance of it, and find the rellish of God, and Heaven [Page 94] in private prayer, 'tis one happy sign and symptome of their translation from death to life, from a state of Nature to a state of Grace.

There are diversities of Gifts, but the same Spi­rit. 1 Cor. 1 [...].4.Secondly, If the spirit of Sanctification dwels in thee, the same Spirit, as a spirit of Illumi­nation dwels in thee. If Jesus Christ be thy sanctification, he is thy wisdome also; as thy ho­liness to sanctifie thee, so thy wisdome to in­struct thee. It is the godly or holy man that feels the vertue and influence of that blessed Promise, I will instruct then, and teach thee in the way that thou shouldst go, I will guide thee by mine eye, Psalm. 32.6, 8. verses compared to­gether.

That Text is famous for this purpose,Non acu­mine pro­prii sensus rectè s [...]pe­re homines sed illumi­natione Spiritus. Buling. in loc. What Un­ction is? per unctio­nem, Gra­tiam So. S. intelligit. Beza in loc. 1 Joh. 2.20. Ye have received an Unction from the Holy One and ye know all things.

By this Unction (or annointing) is meant, the gracious operation of the holy Spiri [...], whereby they that are regenerate or sanctified, are also enlightened with the saving Knowledge of Christ. This is compared to the p [...]uring out of costly Ointment, Psalm 45.8. and 137.2.

Unction properly signifies the separation and consecration of a person to the Lord, tog ther with the gifts of Wisdome, Knowledge, Faith, Love, &c. Wherefore it must follow, that a person annointed, consecrated unto God, is al­so illuminated by God, if his person be san­ctified, his eyes are opened, annointed with Eye-salve; if anno [...]nted with Grace, then in­structed in Knowledge;2 Cor. 1.21. Rev. 3.18. if a V ssel full of Grace, then a Vessel full of oyl: a burning lamp, [Page 95] and shining light; For in Ʋnction, sanctifica­tion and illumination are both together inse­parably and indivisibly, as light and heat in the Sun-beams. The holy oyl of Grace casts a sweet perfume, and splendid light in the hearts and lives of the annointed. By vertue of this Unction, Darkness is now in a great measure scattered, and the man is made light in the Lord, Ephes. 5.8. An enlightned soul admires, how foolish he was, and ignorant, even bruitish in his knowledge before Conver­sion, he neither knew God, nor himself, he neither knew his present danger, nor his fu­ture misery▪ he neither saw sin as a vicious, or as a Penal evil, neither the evil in it, nor the evil after it; but went on like a Fool to the stocks, like an Oxe to the slaughter, and ran like a mad man toward the Gulf of Ruine. Before sanct [...]fication, he neither saw his want of Christ, nor knew the worth of Christ. The glory of Christs Person, the beauty of his wayes, the merits of his Blood, the benefits of his Offices, the comforts of his Spirit, the sweetness of his Fellowship, the savour of his Ointments, the blessings of his Kingdome: All these (before Conversion) were hid from his eyes, for the God of this world had blinded him, 2 Cor. 4.4. Besides the natural Veil of darkness he brought into the world with him; he is blinded by another, (viz.) a diabolical: but in and by Conversion, comes in illumina­tion, in turning from Satan to God, his eyes are opened, and his understanding turns from darknesse to light, Acts 26.18. Now the eyes [Page 96] of his understanding being enlightned by the spirit of Wisdome and Revelation, Ephes. 1.17, 18. He comes to know, what is the hope of his Calling, and the riches of the glory of his Inhe­ritance in the Saints. Every word is a word of weight:1 John 5.20. Phil. 1.9, 10. he hath now a visive faculty, an understanding given him to know things that are excellent: he hath now a new spiritual, clear affectionate knowledge of, and a more distinct piercing knowledge in the Mysteries of the Gospel, than ever he had before. An enlightned head, and a sanctified heart go both together. This is the second effect, or rather sweet Concomitant of Sanctification; (viz.) Illumination.

[...], id est. eandem fi­dem ex e­jusdem spiritus affl [...]tu & dono Beza.3. The third Effect, or rather Concomitant, or Adjunct of our Sanctification is Faith; hee that hath the spirit of Holiness, hath also the spirit of Faith: 2 Cor. 4.13. wee having the same spirit of Faith; the spirit of Sanctifica­tion is also the Author of Faith, for Fa th is formally a special part of Sanctification, 1 Joh. 5.1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God; that is, our faith in Christ, is a certain sign and evidence of our Regenera­tion. He that believeth that Jesus is the Christ, i. e. the promised Messiah, Blasphe­mia, & pessima Haeresis e­rat apud Judaeos Consiteri Iesum Mariae filium esse Christum. is born of God. The lear­ned upon the place observe, that there was a great Controversie in the Apostle Johns days, whether Jesus the Son of Mary, was the Christ the promised Messiah, or not? And the blas­phemous and blinded Jewes counted it the worst of Heresies, to confess Jesus the Son of Mary to be Christ.

The Jews were many wayes offended in him, offended in the vileness of his Appear­ance, in the humility of his Conversation, in the ignobleness of his Parentage, in the sharp­ness and Authority of his Doctrine, in the knowledge of his Countrey, (as I might de­monstrate easily); when Christ shall come (say they) we know not whence hee is, but we know, whence this man is, i. e. of what Parentage, and of what Countrey, John 7.27. The Scriptures had fore-told, that the promised Messiah, when he came should redeem Israel, restore all things, pardon sins, seek and save that which was lost, proclaim liberty to the Captives, Comfort those that mourn, bind up the bro­ken-hearted, bring in everlasting Righteous­ness, and save his people with an everlasting sal­vation. But the obstinate and heretical Jewes would not grant all this to the son of Mary; They denyed Christ to be the true Messiah; They Traduced the Son of God, and blasphe­mously in thought and word reputed him an Impostor. Therefore 'tis said, 1 John 11.12, 13. verses: He came to his own, and his own recei­ved him not; Hee came to his own creature man, and generally the generation of man­kind did not receive him, but refuse him, so some expound it: but others, as Calvin give a better sense; Thus, he came to his own, (i. e.) to his own Country men the Jewes (of whom according to the flesh he came, who is over all, God blessed for ever) but they received him not, (i. e.) Rom. 9.5. Sed rectius sentiunt, qui refe­runt ad so­los Judae­os, Cal­vin. 1 Joh. 11. as their King and Saviour, but to as many as re­ceived him, to them gave he power [...], not [Page 98] only power, but also dignity, priviledge to be­come the sons of God, even to as many as believed in his Name; and who are these that thus be­lieve in Christ, and receive him into their hearts? Why, such as are not born of blood, of an high and noble Parentage, which the Jews gloried in, being descended from Abra­ham, nor of the flesh, nor of the will of man; not by any principle of corrupted nature, not by the meer power of our own will, but by the will and grace or gracious will of God,Jam 1.18. Ephes. 2.4. we are born again, or sanctified. Now who are they, that are born of the will of God? Why, they that believe in Christ, and receive him by Faith into their hearts, as God hath promised, and propounded him in the Gospel, as Pro­phet, Priest and King, in all his Offices; or as the Text hath it, as wisdome, righteousness, san­ctification and redemption.

Secundum diversos respectus fides rege­nerationis nostrae pars est: ex re­generatio­ne tan­quam ex fonte ma­nat fides. Calv.Through Faith the soul doth receive in, and conceive with the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, whereby Christ is formed, the new creature is produced, the soul is regene­rate, or born again into a new and divine life: wherefore, if you are born again, or sanctified (which is the same) you have faith in Christ crucified at Jerusalem.

1. You do believe that Jesus is the Christ.

2. You do believe on Jesus Christ.

1. You do believe that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is the Saviour, that there is no sal­vation by any other, Acts 4.12. That he was an­nointed by the Father, as Prophet, Priest and King, Isa. 61.1. for the perfecting of your salvation, for [Page 99] the obtaining of eternal Redemption for you, Heb.Ego saepe & liben­ter hoc in­culco, ut extra Chri­stum, ocu­los & au­res clau­datis, & di [...]atis, nullum vos scrire De­um, nisi qui fuit in Gremio Mariae, & suxit ube­ra ejus. Luther. Credere quod sit Christus, est ab eo sperare quacun (que) de Messia promissa sunt. Calv. Comment. in 1 John 5.1. [...] 12. Luther hath a notable speech upon Psal. 130. Often and willingly (saith he) do I incul­cate this, that you should shut your eyes and your ears, and say you know no God out of Christ, none but he that was in the lap of Mary, and sucked her breasts: He means none out of him. It is not a mystical Christ within you, but the man Christ Jesus without you, who was concei­ved by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified at Jerusalem, rose again, and ascended up into Glory, that you must believe in for the remission of all your sins, for the justification of your persons, and for your e­ternal life. Wee finde it recorded in Scrip­ture, and in History, that this was the Grand Test of a Believer in the Primitive times. Dost thou believe that Jesus is the Christ, or that Jesus Christ is the son of God? because in those dayes it was little less than Death a­mong the Jews, thus to own and confesse Christ.

2. If you are born again or sancti­fied: you do believe on Jesus, you believe on the Name of the Son of God. This is Gods great Commandment, and our great Duty, 1 John 3.23. As God doth offer and propound him in the Gospel, so accordingly ye do re­ceive him into your hearts, with all his Of­fices, with all his Graces, with all his incon­veniencies. You look upon Gods Terms as holy, equitable, and most advantagious to you; Ye trust to Christ, and rely on him a­lone for wisdome, righteousnesse, sanctification, [Page 100] and redemption. Hag. 2.7. Cant. 5.10. Isa. 63.1. Heb 7.25. Heb. 2.17. Heb. 5.2. God tenders his Son in the Gospel as the desire of all Nations, as the chie­fest, or Standard-bearer among Ten thousand, as the most mighty, merciful, and every way glorious and compleat Saviour: God hath made him your All in All, He is of God made unto us wisdome, righteousnesse, &c. Now God requires you should honour the Son, as he hath honoured him, for in honouring the Son, you honour the Father, (and that in the highest manner); God expects you should receive him as he hath offered him; Oh then give glory to him, by receiving him,Justify­ing faith is defined (in short) to bee a Cordial, accepting of Christ as Lord & Saviour, in all his Of­fices, &c. So Dr. Preston, Mr. Wil. Strong, Mr. Bax­ter, &c. by accept­ing of him for your Lord and Saviour. Em­brace your blessed Saviour in the armes of Faith, vail your souls to him, close with him, cling, and cleave to him, glory and rejoice in him, draw down vertue daily from him, lay all your wants upon him, the oftner you come to him, the more welcome, and the suller and richer you shal go from him; As God hath made him your All in All, Joh. 1.16. so believe in him, and make use of him as your All in All.

Now is this precious faith, this faith unfeign­ed, this faith of Gods Elect wrought in your souls, yea, or not. Know assuredly, if you are sanctified in Christ Jesus, if you are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, &c. Ephes. 2.10. This precious grace is wrought in you, called [...] the work of God [...]. John. 6.29. This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he hath sent. Where this precious Faith is, 'tis alwayes found with these preci­ous [Page 101] principal properties, or vital operations: 1. It Animates, 2. It Purifies, 3. It Fructifies, 4. It Pacifies, 5. It Operates, 6. Amplifies, 7. It Corroborates, 8. It Exhilarates.

1. Faith Animates, enlivens and quickens the soul of man, it is such a principle of spi­ritual Life, that a Believer doth not so much live, as Christ by faith lives in him. The spirit of Faith I am certain, if not faith it self (which of all graces leads the Chorum) is the forma informans, whereby a man before both legally and morally dead, is now enli­vened, and lives to God, Gal. 2.20. Hab. 2.4. Rom. 1.17. Heb. 10.38. Our whole life here is a life of Faith, our life hereafter is a life of Vision or Sight; here we walk by faith, and not by sight, 2 Cor. 5.7. How sweet and heavenly is that Life which is derived from, and maintained by the life of Christ himself.

2. Faith purifies, where there is life there is motion; where faith is, there is purification. A Believer having a vital prin­ciple, like a living Fountain labours to work out the mud of sin, to cleanse and purge it self from inward filthinesse, so as not to approve it, allow it, or mingle with it, Acts 15.9. ha­ving purified their hearts by faith; as sicknesse is poyson to the blood and spirits, so is sin to the soul; now as all the spirits in their natural moti­ons tend to self-preservation, so the spirit of faith or the spirit by faith musters together, and stirs up all the powers of the Inner-man for self-pu­rification, without purification there can be no preservation, and Faith is the principal grace that purifies.

[Page 102]3. Faith fructifies, a living faith is a work­ing, a fructifying or a fruit-bearing faith, as the Apostle James demonstrates, James 2.14, to the end. They that are purified by faith in the blood of Christ, are zealous of good works: Tit. 2.14. How many Believers at large are there, that look green and fair, and make a brave flourish afar off, but come near them, and well observe them, view their hearts and their lives, or their hearts by their lives, and works, and you shall finde them like the bar­ren Fig-tree which Jesus saw, full of leaves, but without fruit to relieve him in his hunger; the Curse of barrenness will strike to the hearts of such Professors, as it did to the heart of that Fig-tree.Psal. 36.9. Jer. 2.13. Joh. 15.1. Rev. 23.2. By Faith we have Union with Christ the fountain of Life, the fountain of li­ving waters, the True Vine, and Tree of Life, that grows in the midst of the Paradise of God. All these Metaphors bespeak abundant fruitful­ness, and that of the choicest fruit. The grapes of Canaan, the graces of the Spirit, the works of Righteousness, and Acts of charity and mercy to the praise and glory of God by Jesus Christ. In a word, have you faith in Christ Jesus, and hope in Heaven, why then yee bring forth fruit, as they do all the world o­ver, that have recieved the grace of God in truth. Consider well, 1 Col. 4.5, 6.

4. Faith pacifies, as well as fructifies: as it fructifies a barren Desart, and makes the wil­derness and solitary place to blossom as the Rose, as Lebanon, Psa. 35.1, 2 Sharon and Carmel; so it pacifies a troubled Conscience, it stils the rage and sur­ges [Page 103] of this Sea. As once Christ said to the Winds and Waves, so faith in the name and power of Christ speaks to the perplexed soul, peace, and bee still, and there is a great calm. Christians would live more the life of peace, if they lived more the life of Faith, the more of faith, the less of [...]ervile fear, being justifi­ed by faith we have peace with God, &c. Rom. 5.1. Phil. 4.7. And this peace of God passeth all understanding. When the Clouds of Temp­tation, and the winds and waves of passion are up, a few thoughts of Faith will quiet all, asDr. Tho. Goodwin, in his Va­nity of Thoughts. a worthy Man observes. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked, Isa. 57.21. but a true Believer hath peace with God through Je­sus Christ the Prince of peace, he hath peace in Heaven, and peace on Earth, peace with God, and peace with his own conscience, for the Kingdome of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, Rom. 14.17.

5. Faith operates, it acts and works by love, Gal. 5.6. for, in Jesus Christ, neither Circumci­sion availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, Magnes a­moris a­mor. but faith which worketh by love. Faith worketh love, wee love God, when by faith wee apprehend that God loveth us first, 1 John 4.19. we love him, because hee first loved us, and as faith works love, so it works by love; Faith is the great Wheel, the principal Grace, that ani­mates, actuates, moves influences, love, pa­tience, zeal, and every other grace, that sets all other wheels a going, that quickens and strengthens all other graces in their proper re­spective motions and operations.

The words of Dr. Bates, in his Sermon upon Heb. 11.6. ‘In the 11 Chapter to the Hebrews, Faith is represented as the principle of Obedience, conveying vigor and strength to other graces, whereby they become operative to several ends and Objects; Hence those Acts which immediately spring from other graces as their proper stock, are attributed to faith, that be­ing the principle of their heavenly working, in this respect; as the success of an Army re­dounds to the Generals Honor, so the victory which is effected by other Christian qualities, is here ascribed to Faith, which animates them, and leads them forth as their chief Captain.’

6. Faith Amplifies, dilates, enlargeth the heart to run the wayes of Gods Commandments, 1 John 5.1. and 3. verses compared together, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, &c. vers. 1. For this is the love of God, that we keep his Commandments, &c. verse 3. Faith is the ground of Love, and Love the Author of Obedience; holy obedience is the daughter of a lively Faith: when and where Christ dwels in the heart by faith, that soul being rooted and grounded in love, comprehends with all Saints, (secundum quid) what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and heighth of the love of Christ, Ephes. 3.17, 18, 19. Which love like a fire in his bones, like a flame in his bowels, enflames his soul with love to God and Christ, opens, and enlargeth his heart to duties of obedience, to serve the Lord with a most free and Princely spirit. The soul of an affectionate Believer, runs swiftly, chearfully, nobly in the wayes of God, like the Chariots [Page 105] of Aminnadib, Cant. 6.12. Faith thus argues,Ammina­dib, i. e. my volun­tary, free, bounteous, or noble people. Ainsworth in Cant. 6.12. Psal. 103.3, 4. Ephe. 1.3. Hath God loved me in his Son from everlast­ing? and will hee love me to everlasting? Hath God in Christ forgiven such a wretch as I, all mine iniquities? redeemed my life from destruction, and crowned me (even me) with loving-kindness and tender mercies? yea, with all spiritual blessings in heavenly pla­ces in Christ Jesus? Then what shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits? Nothing I can do, nothing I can suffer too much for him; I am, and will be his for ever, at his Command, and for his service. Thus the faith of a sancti­fied Person reasons.

7. Faith Corroborates, it strengthens the weak, it revives the faint, it supports the de­sponding and sinking spirit. The Psalmist in great tryals and troubles had great expe­rience of the supports of faith, Psalm 27.13. I had fainted unless I had believed, to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the Living. Love keeps you from dissembling, Hope keeps you from desponding, Patience keeps you from tyring, but 'tis Faith that keeps you from fainting. When a2 Chron. 2.20. Psal. 57.7. My heart is fixed, in some tran­slations, 't [...]s sufful­tum est cor meum, my heart is under­propt. great multitude from beyond the Sea, on this side Syria came up against Judah, and the people were in sore distress; Jehosaphat their good King encouraged the people, saying, believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established, believe his Prophets, so shall ye prosper, 2 Chron. 20.20. Faith in God is the souls establishment; wherefore, a Believer shall not be affraid of evil tydings, his heart is fix­ed trusting in the Lord: his heart is established, he [Page 106] shall not be affraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies: Thus the Psalmist swee [...]ly sings, Psalm 112.7, 8. The fixation of the soul by faith on God, on Christ, on his Attributes, on his Promises yields the surest strength, the speediest and sweetest relief and succour in the Crisis of any Exigence. When David for fear of Saul was got into a Wood, Jonathan leaves his Father,1 Sam. 23.16. and privately came to Da­vid into the Wood, and strengthened his hand in God. So, when a Believer is in a wood of fears and dangers, he strengthens his hand, the hand of his faith in God; and the more his faith is up, the more his f [...]ars are down. Divines use to compare, the base fears of m [...]n, and the embondaging fears of Death, to the Lead that weighs the Net under water; and faith to the Cork that keeps up the Net from sinking. Hope, the eldest daughter of Faith, is an Anchor, sure and stedfast, Heb. 6.19. but Faith is the Ro [...]k, which this An­chor rests on, according to the Proverb: were it not for Hope, heart would break; and the Scripture tels us,Faith is both [...] sub­stantia, & [...]. argumen­tum. Heb. 11.1. Rom. 8.24. We are saved by hope: but Hope receives all its subsistence & strength from Faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, Heb. 11.1.

8. Faith exhilarates, comforts, cheers the soul, fils it with joy and peace in believing, Rom. 15.13. The God of hope fils the soul with joy and peace in believing. Faith is as a twink­ling star in a dark Night, as a shining Sun in a cloudy Day, as Rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great Rock in a wea­ry [Page 107] Land. The Apostle Peter elegantly ex­presseth the soul exulting operation of saving faith, 1 Pet. 1.8. Whom (that is Christ) having not seen ye love, in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. Faith opens a crevis of light, and springs a Mine of [...] Exa [...]tatis gaudio in­effabili & gloriosa. Beza. exulting joy in the most insulting danger. When once a Belie­ver is justified by faith, and hath peace with God, hee then rejoiceth in the most glorious Hope, (viz.) in the hope of the glory of God, and not only so, but he glories also in tribu­lations, hee glories in them, and he glories over them, because the love of God is shed a­broad [...], effusa est, is poured forth into his heart by the Holy Ghost, Rom. 5.1, 2, and 5. verses. by faith in Christ, and by communion with Christ in his Conquests, hee knows he shal be more than a Conqueror over all his Enemies, Rom. 8.37.Neque enim sim­pliciter di­rit [...], sed [...]: idest, ut vertit Cyprianus Epist. 26. supervincimus. Amplius quam victores sumus. Beza. 'tis not only said Con­querours, but more than Conquerors, as Cyprian and Beza, on the place.

Thus I have endeavoured to present you with some of the precious properties and vi­tal operations of precious Faith, which every one that is born of God, (or sanctified) doth enjoy to his inestimable benefit. Faith is an in­separable Concomitant with, and an infallible evidence of our Sanctification; for whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God, 1 John 5.1. This is the third Adjunct, and e­vidence of our Regeneration.

[Page 108]4th. Effect and evidence of our sanctificati­on, is love to God and to the Brethren. As Christ dwels in the heart by faith, Ephes. 3.17. so the soul sweetly reposeth it self in the bo­some of God by love, 1 John 4 7, 8. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and e­very one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God; he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is Love. You see love to God, and to the Bre­thren is both a sure sign, and a genuine effect of Regeneration (which is synomminous with Sanctification.) This grace of Love is the very soul of all Religion, the very life of the new Creature, the closure of the soul with God in the sweetest manner; he that hath most of this grace hath most of all graces. This is one of the precious things promised in the new Covenant, Deut. 30.6. (viz.) An heart to love the Lord; the Lord thy God will cir­cumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart and with all thy soul. This is made a special effect and evidence of thy spiritual Circumcision, or Sanctification; In Sanctification, as the understanding is enlightned to know God, so the will and affections are renewed, changed, rightly ordered, and enclined to love God as his chiefest good, and as his utmost End: Corn, and Wine, and Oyl, and all the world is then counted nothing to the light of Gods counte­nance. Psalm 4.6, 7. Ca [...]t. 5. [...]0. All other Beloveds are no body to Jesus Christ, the chiefest of ten thousands.

A sanctified soul exactly viewing, and well weighing the glittering pomp and splendor of [Page 109] this world, all natural and moral excellencies on the one hand, and Jesus Christ on the o­ther, cryes out with the Martyr Lambert, Foxes Acti and Monuments. [...], propter eminenti­am cogni­tionis Christi Ie­su. Mont. None but Christ, none but Christ; Counts all things [...] dogs-meat, garbage, to the excel­lency of the Knowledge of Jesus Christ, Phil. 3.8.

A Christian loves himself, his Relations and worldly comforts with a common love, but God and Jesus Christ with a special love. He loves his temporal Enjoiments secondari­ly and subordinately, but he loves God and Christ primarily, intensively and superlative­ly; yea, so highly intensive is his love to God his Father, to Christ his Saviour, to the holy Spirit his souls Comforter, to Heaven and heavenly things, his only Treasure; that his love to other things (comparatively) may be called an Hatred, (i. e.) a much inferiour, a far more remiss love. See Luke 14.26. more distinctly.

First,Amore d [...] ­sideris. A sanctified heart loves God with a love of desire; The strength of the heart goeth out in love, this is called the breathing, thirst­ing, and panting of the heart after God, Psalm 42.1, 2. The soul that loves God above all things, desires God above all things, both in­tensivè with the greatest vigor, and Adequatè as its Adequate and compleat Object: Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.

2. A sanctified heart loves God with a love of Union, Amore u­nionis. as the heart of Shechem clave to Dinah, Gen. 34.3. So an holy soul cleaves unto God in Christ. Barnabas exhort­ed [Page 110] the Disciples, that with purpose of heart they would cleave to the Lord, Acts 11.23. As the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of Da­vid, 1 Sam. 1.18. So this Love, is as it were a knitting of the soul with God: Faith makes a mystical union of Persons, Love makes a moral union of affections. This is the very es­sence of Gospel-love;Amor non est, nisi do­num a­mantis in amatum. God bestows himself on us, and we freely surrender our selves to God.

Thirdly, A sanctified heart loves God with a love of good will, or Benevolence; we wish, and will,Amore Be­nevolen­tiae. give and ascribe all honour and praise, all glory and dominion unto him. This is the genuine product of his love in Christ to us, as Revel. 1.5, 6. Ʋnto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Lord! saith an holy soul,Cant 2.16 let all thine be mine, and let all mine be thine; and let thine be for thy glory; let every person and creature and thing in Heaven above, and in earth beneath be a shril Trumpet, a loud Cymbal to sound forth thy praises.

Amore compla­centiae, & acquies­centiae.Fourthly, A sanctified heart loves God with a love of Complacence and Rest. Where we love, the eye of the soul (the mind) is fixed with a delightful stay, ubi amor, ibi oculus, the Object dwels in the eye: we are still looking where we love;Anima plu [...] est ubi amat, quàm ubi ani­mat. When I awake (saith the Psal­mist) I am still with thee, in my contemplati­ons and affections; My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord, Psalm 104. [Page 111] 34. Love goeth forth upon the feet of De­sire, and rests in the bosome of Delight. There is an holy acquiescence of the heart in God: God saith of his Saints, This is my Rest for e­ver, here will I dwell; the Saint saith of God,Psal. 132.14. Psal. 116.7. Psal. 91.9 [...] Ephes. 2▪ ult. Return to thy rest, O my soul; A Saint makes God the most High his Habitation, and a Saints heart is the Habitation of God through the Spirit. Here lyes the sweetness of holiness, the mar­row and fatness of Religion. This World would be a Dungeon, and Heaven it self a melancholly shade, without the love of God; 'tis this, that makes Heaven and Earth sweet unto the sanctified, Heaven would be no Heaven, God could not be the joy, if he were not the love of Saints,Psal. 16. ult. but there both love and joy shall be full. But whilst the Saints are so­lacing themselves with Heaven, and delight­ing themselves in God, other men are follow­ing after other Lovers. The covetous man makes Mammon his God, the voluptuous man makes Pleasure his God, the Ambitious man makes Honour his God, the Formalist and Hypocrite makes Common grace, self-righte­ousness, a bare profession, or the meer exter­nals of Devotion, his God, and Saviour; be­cause every one of these make some of these their only Treasure and Happiness: They dote upon them, addict themselves to them, trust to them and in them, and love them more than God. But a Saint that knows God, makes Jehovah his God, he hath but one, the living and true God, to honour, love,Psal. 36.9. Psal. 87.7. Col. 3.3. and serve, who is the fountain of his life, and bles­sedness, [Page 112] in whom all his springs are, in whom with Jesus Christ all his Comforts live; and from whom by Jesus Christ all his felicity is conveyed, to make him happy in both worlds. The new creature hath a new heart, according to that full and free Promise, Ezek. 36.26. A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: which new heart I take to bee the Genus of all the following graces. And where there is this new heart, there will bee new Affections, new longings, and earnest breathings of soul after God, Christ, Heaven, and Immortality, for behold, saith Christ, I make all things new, Rev. 21.5.

Love of the Bre­thren, an evidence of Rege­neration.Secondly, As a sanctified person loves his God, so also he loves his Brother; this is made one great evidence of our happy and new Translation, 1 John 3.14. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the Bre­thren: he that loveth not his Brother, abideth in death. Qui dili­git fratrem magis no­vit d le­ctionem, quâ dili­git, quam fratrem quem dili­git. Aug de Trinit. Many a be-nighted soul (I have read and heard) upon the plank of this evidence, have been kept from sinking down into the Whirl-pool of despair; it hath been a refresh­ing Cordial to many a doubting Christian up­on their Death-beds: 1 Joh. 4.7. Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God; and in v. 20. the Apostle draws down a negative inference from the Premises: If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a lyar; for he that lo­veth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? That inter­rogation is a plain Negation: if the amiable and visible workmanship of God be not lo­ved, [Page 113] 'tis impossible the invisible Author of that wo [...]kmanship should.

Query, Who are the Brethren intended in this Epistle?

Answ. 1. There are Brethren by Nation, Acts 7.23.25. Rom. 9 3.

2. Brethren by Nature descended of the sam [...] Parents, Matth. 1.2.

3. Brethren by Office, 2 Pet. 3.15. 2 Cor. 1.1. &c.

4. Bre hren by Grace and super-natural Re­lation, and so understand the Term here.

Query, How shall we know whether we truly love the Brethren, which is so great a sign of our new birth?

Answ. I answer Affirmatively:

1. When we love them as such. The Bre­thren for their spiritual brotherhood, Christi­ans for their Christianity, the Saints for their Sanctification, 1 John 5.1. He that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him; he that loves the Father, loves the Image of the Father in the Childe; Hee that loves the Person, loves the picture for the Persons sake. Grace must be the principal Load-stone of our affection: not Beauty, birth, sweetness of disposition, Breeding, Learning, Wealth, Ho­nour, or any outward, or carnal accomplish­ments whatsoever.

Secondly, When we love and delight in them above all other people: Psalm 16.2, 3. David a King, cals them the Excellent, in whom was all his delight; and Christ prefers his spiri­tual before his own natural Relations, M [...]t. 12.47, 48, 49, 50.

[Page 114]3. When wee love those of the Brother­hood most, that are most gracious, if grace allures Love, (Caeteris paribus) the more of the former, the more of the latter. Christ loved all his Disciples, John 13.1. but John e­minently gracious, was eminently beloved: wherefore called the beloved Disciple, John 21.20.

Noscitur ex Com [...]te, qui no [...] digno [...]i­tur ex se.4. When we singularly and peculiarly love their society above all other; I am (said Da­vid) a Companion to all them that fear thee. The sanctified can have no intimate contenting fellowship with the unholy; Psalm 26.4, 5. I have not sate with vain persons, &c. I have hated the Congregation of evil doers,, and will not sit with the wicked. Again, Psalm 15.4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. This is one Character of an Inhabitant in Gods holy Hill.

5. When we are willing in some cases to lay down our lives for the Brethren: A Christian is bound not only to lay down his life for Christ, and for his Gospel, when God cals him to it, but also in some special Cases for the Bro­ther-hood,Significat in eo [...]o­bari no­stram cha­ritatem, si amorem nostri in fratres transferi­mus, ita ut sui quis (que) quo­dammodo oblitus, a­liis C [...]nsu­lat. Calv. in loc. 1 John 3.16. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and wee ought to lay down our lives for the Brethren. If our love to the Brethren be sin­gular, and to the life, (as Christs was to us) we shal lay down our lives for them; 'tis not a common or cold love of the Brethren that e­vinceth your Regeneration, every new born babe doth (with John) desire to decrease, so that Christ Mystical may encrease, that the [Page 115] Kingdome of Christ be enlarged, the gene­ration of the Righteous multiplied, amplified, and preserved, though it be, (that in the pro­moting of it) he himself, his Honour, his Name, his Li [...]e must lie in the dust of Death.

To these things I have spoken more fully from another Subject, I pass on to the fifth particular.

5. A sanctified, or regenerate person over­comes the world, 1 John 5.4. Hee that is born of God overcometh the world. 1. Here we have two Adversaries, the Regenerate, and the World. Secondly, the Victor, 1. The regenerate who are chiefly defensive, as the whole Armor of God is chiefly defensive, Ephes. 6.14. to 19. verses. 2. The world on the other part, principally offensive, John 15.18, 19, 20.

Now, what is the world? 1. Partly, the men of the world; these lie in wickedness, 1 Joh. 5.19. these hate the Saints, because they are not of the world, but chosen out of the world by Christ, John 19.19.

1. By the world understand wicked world­lings with their persecutions of the Saints.

2. Partly, the lusts of the world,So Calv. & Zanch, in loc. in Charms and A [...]lurements, 1 John 2.16. the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, i. e, all the delights, pleasures, and Contentments, which the flesh or body desires. Thus the world with all its oppositions and insinuati­ons, frowns and flatteries sets upon the Saints.

Secondly, The Victor, he that is born of God overcometh the world, he carrieth away the Con­quest. Whilst the Saints are in the world, h ey [Page 191] are in an estate militant, there is carried on a spiritual War between two Antagonists, (viz) the Spirit of Regeneration in the Saints, and the Spirit of the World with all his worldly lusts and allurements: which Syren songs do draw in, and drown, which Cups of fornicati­on do choak and poyson millions in the world. Now hee that is born of God by the spirit of faith dwelling in him, both as the Forma in­formans, & forma Assistens, is empowred to subdue corruptions within, and to vanquish temptations from without: so that by parta­king of the divine Nature, he escapes the pol­lutions that is in the world through lust, 2 Pet. 1.4. as the Apostle speaks. A sanctified man hath in him the spirit of sanctity, and a spirit of magnanimity (indeed his sanctity is his Mag­nanimity) which makes him so high, that the world cannot master him,Inimicos dei, jam hoc ipso quod non cessimus, vicimus. Cyprian. and so holy, that the VVorld cannot (in some sence) defile him. Thus in his measure he keeps himself unspotted from the world, James 1. ult. by the world is here meant, whatso [...]ver resists the Com­mands of God: Neither the worlds frowns, nor favours, neither [...]s Comminatious, nor its Invitations,Quicquid mandatis Dei resi­stit. Polan. neither the [...]ears of the world, nor the flatteries of the world can turn a regene­rate person from the f [...]ith of Christ, nor from obedience to the Gospel, nor bring h [...]m unto their Bow. In the German Reformation, when some perswaded Erasmus to write to Luther, to bring him back to Popery, or else at leastwise to write against his Doctrine; Erasmus answers, Luther was too great for him to write to, or against. [Page 117] A Gracious spirit is too great a spirit, for the great O [...]es of the world to force by power, or to bribe by favour, into a base compliance with them against the honour of their God, and the conscience of their Duty.

The Aegyptians were wont to paint their Judges without hands, and eyes: without hands, they must not take bribes: without eyes, in judgment they must not be partial. Thus a godly man that hath made God his porti­on, is hand-lelss and eye-less: he is hand-less, the world doth not, shall not bribe him: he is eye-less, he beholds none of the worlds Ter­rors, so as to daunt him.

Thus a sanctified, or regenerate person, in the strength of Christ overcomes the world.

6. A regenerate or sanctified person hath the honour of Sonship. Sanctification layes the foundation of our Adoption: when we are born again, we are born Gods Children; we bear the Image of Christ by grace, as we have have borne the Image of Adam by nature, when we are converted, (ipso facto) we are a­dopted. Regeneration is the root or stock from which, and on which, this Peer-less, and never fading flower Adoption grows. When a sinner becomes a Saint, at that very moment a childe of wrath is made a son of God, a member of the first is made a member of the second Adam; a relative change is contem­porary with a real. Behold (ye Saints) this priviledge with admiration; Behold! What manner of love is this, 1 Joh. 3.1. that we should be called the sons of God, &c.

When Christ had converted the Paralytick, he cals him Son; Mat. 9 2. When Christ had converted the Menstruous woman (which appears by her faith in touching him, and drawing in vertue from him) he cals her daughter, Mark 5.34. daughter, be of good chear, &c. The new creature hath both the white stone, and the new name, the white stone of Absolution, the new name of Adopti­on. There be some Honours a man can never attain to, unless he be born of Nobles, or des­cended of the blood of Princes:Fortuitum est nas [...]i a principi­bus. I cannot teach you to be Princes in this sense, 'tis a rare thing to be born of Princes: but sure I am, unless ye be born again, not of bloods, or of the will of ma [...], but by the will, and of the Spirit of God, 1 John 13.3 John 3. ye shall not see the Kingdome of God, much less become the s [...]ns of God, or Kings and Priests to God, Rev. 1 6. and least of all live and reign as Princes, and Peers of state in Glory. Now every san­ctified soul to his great Comfort may draw up this Syllogisme: He that hath the disposition, and the Affections, and doth the work of a childe of God, is a childe of God; But I have the disposition, and the Affections, and do the work of a childe of God; Therefore I am a child of God.

If ye are right in the Assumption, ye are thrice happy in the Conclusion.

7th. Eff ct of Sanctification. Holinesse brings the soul to its right frame and Temper, Psalm 23.3. He restoreth my soul, &c. San­ctification is the souls restauration, not only to joy and comfort, but also to its former [Page 119] soundness, health and vigour, which was im­paired by the fall. The health of the Bodie consists in the right and sound constitution of of it: when all the members are in their due positure, and all the humours in their right temperature, then the body is in health; so the health of the soul consists in the rectifica­tion, or right Constitution of all the faculties.So Dr. Sybs. By the fall they all suffered deordination, dis­order, deformity, confusion: by Regenera­tion, they are set in joint again, renewed, rightly ordered, and re-inclined to their pro­per, and right objects. Grace coming into the soul (like Physick taken down into the body) works out the peccant humours, [...]. heals the soul of its old distempers, cleanseth it of its former filthiness, and superfluity of naughti­nesse, repairs nature by restoring to it the di­vine Nature, and so makes the soul hail and healthful in Gods service; for indeed, none but the vessel of Honour, which is sanctified, is meet for the Masters use. Sin is the souls sick­ness: what sickness is to the body, that sin is to the soul. Sin is compared to the worst of sicknesses, to the plague of the heart, the noy­some pestilence, the running Leprosie. A sick person cannot walk, nor work with comfort, nor rellish the sweetness of meat and drink, nor enjoy himself in any of his enjoyments. Wherefore health is counted, the greatest tem­poral blessing; far greater than wealth, ho­nour, beauty, &c. Now sin being a spiritual distemper, like a disease Physicians call a Cor­ruption of the whole substance of animals, vitals,Corruptio totius sub­stantiae. [Page 120] naturals; an unholy sinner cannot walk in Heavens way, nor work the works of God, nor savour the things of the Spirit, nor rel­lish the sweetness of Communion with God, nor the pleasures of Piety; his spirit is cor­rupted: this internal Palate and appetite are vitiated, the whole man is quite out of frame and order, he loves (like a Swine) to rowt in the dung and filth, and cannot delight in God, nor in his holy Law. Things that are in themselves most excellent, the great and glorious Mysteries of the Gospel, he looks upon as things contemptible and vile; but sin in in its lusts and acts, viler than the vilest filth he lives in, as his Element, and counts his greatest pleasure and Glory;Phil. 3.11, 19. he glories in his shame. O Lord! how sadly is man fallen? But in sanctification the man is quite altered, the minde is informed, the will is reformed, the affections are rightly ordered, the consci­ence is purged, the Inner-man is recovered to its right temper: yea, the members of the body (which before were weapons of unrigh­teousness) are now made sub-servient to the Spirits Dictates: And the whole man (body soul and spirit) being sanctified,Membra sunt Ar­ma. is now made ready for every good work, to which (before sanctification) it was altogether reprobate. (Beloved Friends,) are your souls thus well and healthy? are they recovered to their right temper? are ye sound in the faith? are ye sin­cere at heart? is the habitual frame of your hearts right with God, and for God, or not? deal impartially with your own souls. 'Tis [Page 121] true, a man that is generally lively and heal­thy, may now and then by accident, get colds and surfets, have fits of weakness, and for some time labour under some infirmities; but a strong Constitution will rub along, wear off, and cast out the disease at last; so an holy, a spiritually healthy man, through humane frail­ty, and strong temptation, may for a time de­cay in grace, yea languish very much; hee may get cold, his love to God, his zeal for God may chil and cool, his faith may weaken, his hope may almost fail, his patience may tire, &c. And through the immoderate cares of this li [...]e, and inordinate affection to the Crea­ture, he may get a Surfet, he may fall into sin, yea fowly fall into great sins,Nemo esse sine delicto potest, quamdiù indument [...] carni one­ratus est. Lactant. de vero cultu. and labour under the sense of a wounded spirit a long time. Notwithstanding all this, the immortal seed of God in him, (of which he is begotten) by the supplyes of the Spirit of Life, will revive and corroborate the man again. The divine Na­ture in him will get head, exert its influence, and repair the man again; Grace like Leaven will ferment the whole lump, the whole soul, and work out the disease of sin;Psalm 1.3. Rev. 22.1. (in a word) the withering stock of Grace within (like a Tree planted by the River of Life) will spring, and flourish, scent, and bud again.

8. Blessed effect or Priviledge. If thou art sanctified, or regenerated, thou hast a true and undoubted Title to the Kingdome, 3 Joh. 3.5. Except ye are born again ye cannot see, ye cannot enter into the Kingdome of God. This Nega­tive is inclusive of the Affirmative. If ye [Page 122] are born again, ye shall both see, and enter into Gods Kingdome. This Kingdome of God (if born again) is thy Inheritance. If thou hast the sanctification of the Spirit, thou art begotten again unto a lively hope; this lively is also a most glorious hope; here hope is put for the object hoped for; and what is that? the 3d. v. informs ye, an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, which fadeth not away, reserved in hea-for ye. The children of Regeneration are most certainly, and unquestionably the chil­dren of the Kingdome: Sanctification is the Genuine and Evangelical Title to salvation; see 2 Thes. 2.14. When ye are born from a­bove, ye are at that instant born for above, ye are born children of God, brethren of Christ. Companions with Angels, and heirs of Glory: Nay, let me tell ye more, Sanctifi­cation is the very entrance into the Kingdome of God:Sanctifi­catio est Ing [...]estus in Regnum Dei. Ca [...]v. Phil 3.20. Holinesse is not only the way to Hea­ven, but it is Heaven it self. A sanctified per­son lives the life of Heaven, * his conversati­on is in Heaven, he lives rhe Life of God, whilst his body is here on earth; it is life eternal (in the ptesent tense) in specie, and in primitiis, in the kind and first-fruits of it, to know God in Christ, John 17.3. When ye begin to be ho­ly, ye then begin to enter into the white cloud of Glory. Ah then! seeing every one would be happy, who would not be holy? Holinesse becometh thine House (O Lord) for ever: Without holinesse no man shall see the Lord (that is) with joy hereafter▪ Heb. 12.14. No, nor any enjoy­ment of the favour and fellowship with God [Page 12] here. An unsanctified person is very miser­able, he misseth heaven in both Worlds, he hath nether holiness, nor happiness, he hath neither the seed, nor the flower, neither the first-fruits, nor the Vintage: he hath not a grain of saving Grace, no sweet dews falling from heaven on him, not a drop of the wa­ter of Life to comfort him: But his soul is like the Heath in the Desart, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the dry and parched places in the wildernesse, in a salt land, and not inhabited, Jer. 17.6. A most dismal state: saltness, and barrenness is his doom here, fire and brimstone is his portion for e­ver: Certainly, an unholy man must needs be very miserable.

Lastly, True sanctification is an abiding, flourishing, progressive Principle,

1. It is an abiding Principle: it lives and abides in it self,Semen manen [...]. and it also quickens the soul in the life, and keeps the soul in the love of God for ever, 1 Pet. 1.23. A man externally sanctified may fall away, and come to no­thing, like a barren Tree he may lose in time both leaves and fruit: but a man internally sanctified, can never fall away, neither total­ly, nor finally; for the Name, and Nature of God, the Mark and Seal of God, the Image and Seed of God is in him: And this is in­corruptible and immortal;1 Pet. 4.14. the spirit of Glo­ry and of God rests upon him, the sp rit of Holiness dwels and abides in his soul for e­ver, the Father, Son, and Spirit, (according to their omnipotency, faithfulness, and im­mutability) [Page 124] will never suffer their seed, seal, nature, image to be lost. Though Hymenaeus and Philetus, (hypocrites and hereticks) may err concerning the truth, overthrow the faith of some, and throw themselves and others down to H [...]ll: Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth who are his, 2 Tim. 2.17, 18, 19. The love of God in Election, and in Vocation (or Sanctification) is like himself, unchangeable. The Gifts, Joh. 13.1. Rom. 11.29. and Calling of God are without Re­pentance. There may be partial and gradual Apostacy in some of the Saints of God, they may backslide in their apprehensions, in their affections, and in their conversations, as is too too manifest by the Scripture-evidence, and by sad experience: but to backslide totally from all the truths of God, and from all the pro­fession of the Gospel, and with the mind and will, with the consent of the whole soul, and finally to fall away, bid an eternal farewell, or depart from God for ever; This cannot, shall not be.

Among others, consult these Texts: Heb. 12.6, 2. He that is the Author, will also be the Finisher of our faith; 1 Phil. 6. Hee that hath begun the good work in ye, will also perfect it. And Jer. 32.40. And I will make (saith God) an everlasting Covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from me. Here God in the Riches of his Grace through Christ, undertakes both for himself and his Saints: 1. For himself; I [Page 125] will not turn away from them to do them good. 2. For his Saints: I will put my fear into their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Though they fall, they shall rise again, though they step aside into the wayes of death, God will bring them back, and give them repentance unto life; They may turn from God for a season, but they shall never finally depart from him; The Gates of Hell shall never prevail a­gainst them: that is, either the infernal spirits, Eph. 6.12. called principalities and powers, or the strength of Death and powers of the Grave shall ne­ver dissolve the Union between Christ and them: for I am perswaded, that neither Death, nor Life, nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Pow­ers, nor things present, nor things to come, Rom. 8.38, 39. nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2. It is a flourishing and progressive Prin­ciple; Psalm 92.12, 13, 14.The Mot­to of the Palm-tree is, Depressa Resurgo. The Righteous shall flourish like the Palm-tree, he shall grow like a Cedar in Lebanon: Those that be planted in the house of the Lord, shall flourish in the Courts of our God, they shall bring forth fruit in old age: they shall be fat and flourishing. Cant. 8.16. A­wake, O North-wind, and come thou South, blow upon my Garden that the spices thereof may flow out: in adversity, in prosperity, under deser­tion, under consolation, come smiles, come frowns, come the warm summer of joy, or the cold winter of sorrow: All the gales and blasts of Divine Providence, shall sweetly con­spire to open the Spices of Gods Garden to ri­pen, [Page 126] and diffuse the savour of the graces of the Spirit in the hearts of Saints: the North-wind is ripening, the South wind is refresh­ing, by both, the Spices shall flow out. Grace small at first, like a grain of Mustard-seed, in tract of time will grow to a Tree of so great a bulk, that the Fowls of the Ayr may lodge in the branches of it: and of so high a stature, s [...] to reach from earth to Heaven. A spark of Grace (like a spark of fire) is kept alive in a sea of water;Cant. 8.7. Many waters shall not quench it, neither shall the floods drown it. I give to them (saith Christ) eternal life, and they shall never perish, &c. John 10.28, 26.

Lastly, Where-ever the Image of Christ is, it is progressive. The picture or likeness of a man in a frame grows not, 'tis alwayes at a stand, but the image of a man in his childe is far different, 'tis lively, vigorous, and pro­gressive; 'tis the property (as well as duty) of every real Saint, to perfect Holinesse in the fear of God, 2 Cor. 7.1. to forget the things behind, to reach forth unto those before, to press on towards the Mark: Phil. 3.13.14. Rom. 1.17, Psal. 84.7. 2 Cor. 3.18. Gratia Consum­mata est Gloria per­ficiens. As the wicked grow worse and worse, the Saints grow better and better, they go on from faith to faith, from strength to strength, and from Glory to Glory, till they are swallowed up in Heavens Glory. The path of the just is as the shining light, that shi [...]eth more and more un­to the perfect day, Prov. 4.18. Well then, cast up your Accompts, examine your hearts, consider your waves. Are ye stars or Mete­ors? are ye burning Lamps, shining Lights, or Dark-lanthorns? grow, (I am sure) ye do, [Page 127] either in sin, or holiness, upward, or down­ward, Hell-ward, or Heaven-ward: And go ye do daily, either forward, or backward, either toward the Mount of God, the H [...]ll of Holiness,, or towards the Lake of Fire, the burn­ing Tophet. If ye are Saints, rise up, Ascend, your Lord is risen, Why seek ye the living among the dead? If ye are sanctified by him▪ [...] Comes of [...] privat. & [...] Terra, A Saint i [...] not an earthly, but an heavenly-minded man. Grace like fire, is al­waies as­cending to its Center. ye are risen with him; If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, Col. 3.1. Set your affections on things above, and not on things beneath, or on the earth; [...], i. e. minde the things above, and not the things on, or of the earth.

If ye are redeemed from the earth, your Contemplation, your Communion, your Conver­sation is, and ought to be above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God; And the nearer [...]o [...]e, theOmnis ascensus (in this sence) as well as de­scensus, ve­locior in fi­ne, quam in principio. swifter should your pace bee: Gird your Loins, Trim your Lamps, fill your Vessels, prepare your Souls, do all diligence, make your Calling and Election sure, for [...]. doing these things, ye shall never fall, but have an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdome, &c. 2 Pet. 1.10, 11. so doing, ye shall have Magnificent and Royal En­trance, the Gate of Heaven opened, full As­surance, and most ample Reception into Glo­rie. Thus having gone through the Doctri­nal part of the Propos [...] ion, we proceed to Ap­p ication.

Now for Application.

If Jesus Christ be given of God the Father for our Sanctification; Then in the first place, Use 1 [Page 128] by way of Information: Ye that are the Saints of God, hence learn to give distinct Glory in Believing, to the several Persons in the Blessed Trinity. Get right apprehensions of the Divine Persons, and of the several en­dearments, with which their Personal opera­tions are clothed and represented, and so wor­ship, and glorifie the Trinity of Persons, in the Unity of the Divine Essence. God is most ho­noured, your minds most enlightened, and your hearts most warmed and comforted, when your thoughts are most distinct, expli­cit and clear in this matter: in so doingTuum No­men san­ctificetur rect [...] per nomen in­telligimus benefi [...]ia personarum Patris offi­ciū, merita & benefi­cia filii Mediato­ris, & offi­cium ac be­n [...]ficia Spi­ritus san­cti, quae in Scripturâ revelantur, & praedi­cantur. M. Chem­nit. Harm. Evangel. p 610. Col. 1.12 Joh. 16.14. you hallow, or sanctifie the Name of God indeed. The Saints are Gods gift, the Sons purchase, the Spirits charge. God in the Eternal Com­pact, gave the Saints to Christ, to save, and Christ gives them to the Spirit to sanctifie, and soTuum No­men san­ctificetur rect [...] per nomen in­telligimus benefi [...]ia personarum Patris offi­ciū, merita & benefi­cia filii Mediato­ris, & offi­cium ac be­n [...]ficia Spi­ritus san­cti, quae in Scripturâ revelantur, & praedi­cantur. M. Chem­nit. Harm. Evangel. p 610. Col. 1.12 Joh. 16.14. fit them for Glory. If the Father had not loved you before all worlds, the Son had not Redeemed you, and if the Son had not Re­deemed you, the Spirit had never Sanctified you; and the Spirit works as the Sons Spirit, He (that is the Spirit) shall glorifie me, (saith Christ) for he shall receive of mine, &c. Now Consider the love of the Father in Election, the merit of the Son in Redemption, and the efficacy of the Spirit in Sanctification; and give distinct glory to each Person.

1. Consider the love of the Father in Ele­ction: 'Tis from the love of the Father that we are blessed with all Spiritual blessings, Eph. 1.3, 4. &c. that we are chosen in Christ, that we might be ho­ly, &c. Christ himself was a gift of the Fa­thers [Page 129] love, for God so loved the world, John 3.16 that he gave his only begotten Son, &c. this was unut­terable, and unconceivable love indeed: where­fore give due praise to the Father.

2. Consider the wonderful love and merit of the Son, his love was transcendent, his me­rit was Infinite,Rev. 1.5, 6 wherefore to him that hath lov­ed us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God, and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen. It was superlative love in Christ to lay down his precious life, to spill his precious blood for you, Gal. 2.20. Christ by the merit of his blood (the price of your Sanctification) hath impetrated and obtained of the Father, the holy Spirit, with all the gifts and graces of the same for your sanctification and salvation; see John 16.7, 13. John 14.16, 17.

3. Consider the infinite power and efficacy of the Spirit: The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, (called the Spirit of Holiness Rom. 1.4.) quickens the Saints to a new life, and dwelleth in them Rom. 8.11. This new life of holiness which is in Christ Jesus, is by the Spirit of life imparted to you, Rom. 8.2. For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8. 2 hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Holiness in us is the fruit of Christs Purchase, the product of his merit, the sprinkling of his Unction, a parcel of his Fulness, and a measure of his Spirit; we have as great need of his Spirit to sanctifie us, as of his blood to justifie us; yea, the Eternal Spirit was indis­pensibly [Page 130] needful to sanctifie and dignifie the blessed Sacrifice, of Christs Humane Nature upon the Cross, or else I must profess my Ig­norance of that Text, Heb. 9.14.

[...]. Supe emi­nens mag­nitudo vir­tutis ejus. So Monta­nus.'Tis not only the power, but the exceeding greatness of the Spirits power to raise up a person, morally dead to an estate of newness of life; 'tis a work proportionate to that power God wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead▪ and set him at his own right hand in the Heavenly places, Eph. 1.19, 20. Notwith­standing the Fathers E [...]ection, and the Sons Redemption, yet without the Spirits Efficacy, we had all at this day, lain rotting, ( [...]ike stink­ing Carrion) in the Grave of sin and death. Gods Mercy, Christs Merit, and the [...]pirits efficacy,It is very observable that all the three Per­sons chal­lenge an equal share in the working of holiness in the crea­ture, it be­ing such a part of Gods G [...]o­rie. Mr. Burroughs Saints Treasury. p. 16. must have their distinct glory. The Father is said to sanctifie, the Son to Sanctifie, the Spirit to sanctifie; but with their distinct Idioms or Characters, our sanctification is from the Father in the Son and by the Spirit; the Inchoation is from the Father, he is the prime [...]i [...]inal, the Dispensation is by the Son, he is the way of Communication, the Appli­cation and Consummation is by the Spirit; he receives of the Father and the Son, and shows it unto us, that is, he works grace or holiness in us. Thus all the persons work jointly, and yet distinctly, the love of the Fa­ther makes way for the Mediatorship of the Son, and the Mediatorship of the Son for the Office of the Spirit. The Sanctification of the Spir t is as necessary as the blood of Jesus, you may see 1 Pet. 1.2. how all the persons have [Page 131] their distinct operations. Communion with the Spirit is as sweet and choice a priviledge as the Grace of our Lord Jesus, or the Love of God the Father. 2 Cor. 13.14. Thus sanctifie the Name of God, give Glory to the Father, Son and Spirit, to the Triuni Deo, the three one God, (three in Persons, one in Essence and Nature) for your Sanctification.

I [...] Jesus Christ be made of God Sanctifica­tion Use 2 to us, (the Procuring, Meritorious and Moral cause of our Sanctification) then pri­marily and principally, let your thoughts as­cend to God the Father, as the supreme origi­nal of your Sanctification; let not your thoughts stop or stay till they center in him. 'Tis the Father, who of his own will hath begotten us by the Word of Truth; Jam. 1.18. 'tis God the Father of our Lord Jesus, who of his aboundant Mercy hath begotten us again, &c.1 Pet. 1.3 Therefore we ought to bless and exalt his aboundant Mercy as the A­postle doth: 'Tis the Father, the Heavenly Husbandman, that purgeth the Branches,John 15.1, 2. that they might bring forth fruit.

As we ought to believe in Christ the Medi­atour, so in God as the first Fountain and Au­thour of Grace, and as the ultimate end of our happiness.

1. As the Fountain of all Grace, John 3.16. God so loved the world, that he gave, &c. Ephes. 2.4, 5. God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, when we were dead in sins, Ephes. 2.4, 5. Rom. 4.24 hath quickened us together with Christ. We must believe in him that raised our Lord Jesus from the dead: He that believeth in [Page 132] me, So Dr. M [...]ton Expounds it in his Commen­tary on Jude. believeth not in me, but in him that sent me; there not is not negative, but corrective, not only in me, but his thoughts must ascend to the Father also, who manifests himself in me: for God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself, &c. 2 Cor. 5.19.

2. You must believe in God as the ulti­mate end of your happiness. Christ suffered for sins, 1 Pet. 3.18 the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. When the Mediatour brings the Soul into peace with God, by Justification, and in­to the likeness and fellowship of God by San­ctification, he hath attained the utmost end of his Mediatourship, and the Soul hath at­tained its chiefest good, and utmost happiness: therefore is it said, that the Saints by Christ do believe in God, 1 Pet. 1.21 &c.

I would not wittingly or willingly speak a word for a world to detract any thing from the honour of my blessed Saviour, or from the glory of the sacred Comforter; but to re­ctifie your understandings, and to heighten your apprehensions of the Fathers love, be­cause many Christians carry all things in the Name of Christ, and of the Spirit, (being more apprehensive of the Sons love, and of the Spi­rit's grace) than of the Fathers aboundant mercy; Give me therefore leave to subjoin these four weighty Reasons.

Reas. 1. Because all grace begins with the Father: he is the first in order of Being, and the first in order of Working, the Fountain of the Trinity (as we may conceive) 'tis the Father that floweth out to us in Christ by the [Page 133] Spirit: he is the Father of lights, Jam. 1.17. And the Text tells ye, we are of God in Christ Jesus: 'tis true, Christ as the second Person, is coequal with the Father, in power and glo­ry: but Christ as Mediatour must be consi­dered as the Fathers Servant,Isa. 42.1. as his elect or chosen Instrument.

Reas. 2. Glorifie the Father, for whatsoever good Christ hath done for you, or in you, all is done with respect to the Fathers love and grant.2 Tim. 1.9 Joh. 17.2. God hath saved us according to his own Purpose and Grace, given us in Christ Jesus. God gave Christ power over all Flesh, that he should give eternal life to those God had given him. Righte­ousness, Holiness, Heaven and Happiness, is the Fathers free Grant or Donative.Rev. 19.18 To her it was granted to be covered with fine Linnen, the Righteousness of the Saints: and fear not little Flock, [...]. 'tis your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdome, Luke 12.32. or that King­dome. 'Tis very observable, that in all Christs expressions of love to us, he still expresseth obedience to his Fathers Will, there is a dou­ble ground of hope, as Stella speaks,See Stella at large, de amore Dei. cap. 18. the Son lov­eth us, because the Father requireth it: and the Father loveth us, because the Son asketh it.

Reas. 3. It is a great support and comfort to a Believer in the act of believing, to consi­der the Love of the Father, as well as the Me­rit of the Son. Two are better than one,1 Joh. 2.23, 24. 2 Ep. Joh. 9. 'tis often made a great priviledge to have both the Father and the Son. The Fathers love the Sons Merit, severally and apart considered will not yeild that full joy and peace in be­lieving, [Page 134] as both conjoyned. There's no com­ing to God but by Christ, for God out of Christ is consuming fire: Again Christ sepa­rated from the Father doth not yeild so firm a ground of confidence. The Fathers Act with the Sons Merit gives us full security. Christ and the Father also are a Believers Guardians, John 10.28, 29, 30. a double cord is not bro­ken easily; this two-fold custody is the best se­curity.

The Father is represented as the offended Party by mans sin. Conscience quakes and trembles: now for a soul to know that God was in Christ reconciling the World to him­self: and that Christ came from Heaven to do his Fathers Will, and that the Father hath made him over to us in all his fulness, as wisdome, righteousness, sanctification and re­demption: This settles the soul in peace,Thou wilt keep him in peace, peace (so it is in the Hebrew) whose minde is stayed on thee. Isa. 26.3. It pleas [...]d the Father that in him should all ful­ness dwell. peace, in perfect peace, Isa. 26.3.

Reas. 4. Because in the Fathers love there are many engaging Circumstances, not to be found in the other Persons.

1. In the Fathers Love and Acts of Grace, there is an Original fulness: Christs fulness as Mediatour, is but drawn out of the Fathers plenty Col. 1.19.

2. The fulness of the Son in the dispensing of it, is limited by the Fathers will, all that Christ dispensed was according to the charge and commandment of the Father, Mat. 20.23. To sit on my right-hand left is not mine to give (saith Christ) save to those for whom it is prepared of my Father. Christ as Mediatour [Page 135] was limited by the Fathers Will: To what end did God give Christ power over all Flesh? but to give eternal life, to as many a God had given him, to none other.Joh. 17.2. Now it is sweet to think, that the Father himself loveth us, who is first in Order, and whose Will is absolute, and that he hath laid up an inexhaustible trea­sure in his Son for us.

3. In the Fathers Acts you have the pu­rest and freest apprehensions of love. 'Twas the Father that began, and (as we conceive) broke the business of our Redemption, and that sent his Son into the world to accom­plish it. The Son as Mediatour can have an higher motive than his own love (viz.) the Fathers Will, but the Father can have no higher motive than his own Love. After the Apostle had treated of Election, Predesti­nation to Adoption, Remission of sins, &c. Eph. 1.11, 12. he concludes all under the Will of God. The [...], or the good pleasure of the Fathers Will, was the Well-head, or Fountain, Cause of all those acts of Grace that passed out unto the creature by the personal operations of the Son and Spirit. The love of the Father was antecedent to the merit of Christ, and to the operation of the Spirit; therefore in the Fa­thers Acts of Grace, ye have the apprehensions of the first and freest love: you have great reason therefore from Spiritual, Scriptural Considerations to glorifie and praise the Fa­ther, as the original Authour of all your holi­ness and happiness. Thus much for the second Use.

Use 3 If Jesus be given of God for our Sanctifica­tion, then we may safely infer, that Sanctifi­cation is neither an easie, nor a common work.

1. Sanctification is no easie work. God takes it to be his prerogative, I am the Lord that sanctifies you, Levit. 21.8. Grace is his own proper immediate creature, mans Will contributeth nothing to the worke, but resist­ance and rebellion,Domine er­rare per me potui, re­dire non potui. Aust. Meditat. wherefore God makes the soul willing in the day of his power, Psal. 110.3. and outward means work not, unless the mighty power of the Spirit works with them, or else, why should the same Word Preached by the same Minister, mollifie some, and har­den others?Zech. 13.1. Christ must come from Heaven, and open a Fountain in his own side and heart for our purification:Heb. 9.14 Nothing but the blood of Christ can purge your Consciences from dead works. If any other means had been ef­fectual, Christ had never been made of God Sanctification to us. 'Tis observable, Sanctifi­cation is not onely expressed by a Creation, (i. e.) Luke 11.21, 22. 1 Joh. 4.4 a making of things out of nothing, but also by a victory, or a powerful overcoming of opposition: In Creation, as there was no­thing to help, so there was nothing to resist or hinder, but when God comes to sanctifie or convert a soul, besides a Death in sin, God finds a strength of resistance against Grace. There­fore Sanctification is wrought by the power of the Almighty: We deserve it not, it comes from the Fathers Good-will, and Christs Me­rit; and we work it not, 'tis wrought in us [Page 137] by the power of the Holy Ghost.

2. Sanctification is not a common work: the making of man at first was not a Com­mon but a special work,Gen. 1.26 let us make man after our own likenesse, the making of other creatures was by the word of power, but the making of man was an act of counsel. And sure I am the forming of Christ in the soul, the new workmanship created in Christ Jesus,Ephes. 2.10 to good works is one of the greatest and most glorious works of God, farre surpassing the Creation of Heaven and Earth: Wherein God shews himself an Artist to the uttermost. Sanctifica­tion is the decking of the soul with Christs I­mage, a representation of God in his highest Excellency: and this is not a common but a special Priviledge, a divine Ornament which God bestows on none, but upon his choice Fa­vourites: a special and peculiar people.1 Pet. 2.9.

Let all such that are in some measure san­ctified, Use 4 or that truely desire to be sanctified, wait on God till the work be accomplished. Though your wills be perverse and obstinate, God can bend and bow them. God never made a Creature too strong for himself: he that hath begun the good-work in you will perfect it: he is able to do this thing in us,Phil. 1.6. and for us, and he is faithful in the perfor­mance of his Promises to us.

1. He is able: Who hath resisted his will: Rom. 9.19 Isa. 59.1 Phil. 3.21 1 Thes. 5.24. Heb. 10.23 His hand is not shortned: He by the mighty power of his Spirit can subdue us and all things to him­self.

2. He is faithful, Faithful is he that hath pro­mised, [Page 138] who also will do it. Believe O ye doubting despon­ding Souls in the veracity, fidelity, and immutability of the great and good God: Hear what God, and not what the Tempter speaks. God hath promised to work in you to will and to do, [...]. Et velle, & perfi­cere. These words are a M [...]osis. Phil. 2.13. That Assertion carries along with it the nature of a Promise: Hath not the living and true God Promised in the New Covenant to sprinkle you with clean water, to circumcise your hearts, to put his Law into our mindes; to write his Law in our hearts; to take away the heart of stone; to give us the ministration of his Spirit; not to quench the smoaking Flax, that is, to kindle it; not to break the bruised Reed, that is, to strengthen it: and to send forth Judgement unto Victory, that is, to carry on the work of Sanctification in the Soul, (in spight of all oppo­sition) till it be compleat in Glory. Oh then! What re­mains? but that we should all act Faith upon Gods power and faithfulness, in making good his Promises, or else wee shall discomfort our selves needlesly, and dishonour God exceedingly. And withal remember, 'tis very expedient to turn these Promises into Prayers, and act Faith on them in Prayer. The Promises are as so many Bills under Gods own hand, which in the name of Christ we ought to pre­sent to the Father, and to put them in suit; at the throne of Grace. Thus come in Faith, and ye shall go away with Comfo [...]t.

Use 5 (As a consequent of the former) let such as are distressed through the sense of Sin, and for want of holiness look up to Christ Jesus for Sanctification: he of God is made unto us Sanctification,Joh. 6. Joh. 14.1 believe in the Mediatour, in him whom God hath sent; honour the Son as ye honour the Father, God hath so appointed it: Look up to him all ye the ends of the Earth and be saved,Isa. 45.22 so look up to him, and ye shall be also sanctified: be daily look­ing up to Jesus the Authour and Finisher of your Faith; the Alpha and Omega of your holiness, [...]. Aspicientes in illum. Isa. 61.1. 1 Joh. 1.7 Heb. 12.2. Look up to Christ, for the Spirit of Sanctification from Christ, if e­ver ye would partake of his Unction. The Christal stream, wherein we are washed and made clean, flows out of Christs own heart. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin: Faith makes Application of this blood, and so it purifies: you may be poring long enough on your own filthiness, and be filthy and dejected still, unless you [Page 139] look up to this Fountain, and see Christ given of God for your Sanctification; you must apprehend him as the Lord your Righteousness, and also as the High-Priest of your ho­liness, else your Consciences will never be pure, nor peace­able: Naaman by the Prophets order, was to go down and dip himself seven times in Jordan, if he would be cured, 2 Kings 5.10. So by Gods order and appointment you must go down daily by the renewed Acts of believing to this Fountain, and bathe and wash thy unclean Soul in the streams of this Jordan, (I mean Christs blood) if ever thou wouldest be healed of thy sinful Leprosie.

My sixth Use shall be to press us all to a serious sense of Use 6 our absolute need of holiness: Sanctification is not a thing indifferent, which a man may have, or not have, and yet be happy; no such matter: You must be holy, if ye will be happy; 'tis the unum necessarium, the one thing needful.Luk. 10 42 Prov. 4.7 Sanctification is the principal thing: Sanctification is the Wedding-Garment, which renders ye amiable in the eyes of the King of Heaven: without this, the King will say, Binde him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness. Mat. 22.12, 13. Certainly, this Wedding-garment is woven of the glorious beams of the Sun of Righteousness, 'tis both the Righteousness of Christ imputed and impart­ed; Christs Righteousness (say others) with Faith and Ho­liness.So Calvin and other Modern Writers. The Graces of the Spirit are as Parliament-Robes. The Peers (say some) by rule of Peereage, are not to sit in Parliament without their Robes. The Graces of the spi­rit are the Jewels of the Covenant, and Robes of Heaven; No living or reigning there; no sitting in Heaven as Peers of State, as Kings and Priests without these Robes of Glo­ry; the Righteousness of Christ for Justification, and the Graces of Christ for Sanctification, without all this white Linnen, the Righteousness of the Saints. Sanctification is the Seal or Mark of Heaven. There is a Necesse est put upon Sanctification.

1. For the honour of God, of each Person in the Tri­nity.

2. For our own happiness.

• 1. For the honour of the Father, that his choice be not disparaged.
• 2. For the honour of the Son, that his Members be not deformed, nor polluted.
• [Page 140]3. For the honour of the Holy Spirit, that his charge may not miscarry, or fall short of Glory.

1. For the Honour of the Father whose choice we are, we are chosen in Christ to be holy, Ephes. 1.4. and chosen to the Sanctification of the Spirit, 2 Thes. 2.14. Meere morality hath something of Majesty in it in the eye of nature. Those abominable Bruits at Rome could not practice their filthy lascivious pranks, while grave Cato was on the Theatre; the most carnal men have some inward respect for holiness, for all their quarrelling with it, and dislike of it. Now should not Gods chosen be an holy People, and live holily, they would be a dishonour to his Name, a scandal to his Gospel a cloud to his Glory. God therefore chiefly aims at our holi­ness in all his dispensations. I shall instance in these three. 1. God Chuseth us. 2. Calleth us. 3. Correcteth us, that we might be holy.

1. God Chuseth us, the chosen Generation are to be an holy Nation, and to shew forth Gods vertues. God chuseth us that we should be of a choice Spirit, [...] virtutes, 1 Pet. 2.9 he loved us with a singular love, that we should be persons of singular lives to him.

2. God calleth us that wee may be holy, that hee may put the honour of holiness upon us, in the eye of the whole world; Be ye holy in all manner of conversations, as he is holy; 1 Pet. 1.15 Mat. 5.16 [...] demum est vera re­ligio imi­tari Deum quem Colis. Lactan. Let your light so shine before men, that they seeing your good-works. &c. That is true Religion, when we imitate God whom we worship. 'Tis impossible God should set his love upon a person altogether unlike himself, similitude is the ground of Fellowship, can two walk together except they are agreed, for what communion hath light with dark­ness, or Christ with Belial? Surely, none at all.

3. Why doth the Lord many times correct his people, but that they might be holy; this is the sweet fruit that grows upon the sowre tree of affliction; this is all the fruit to take away their sin, Isa. 27.9. and more expresly, Heb. 12.10. To make them partakers of his Holiness. We are Threshed, that our husks may fly off; Winnowed, that we may be pur­ged; Tried in the Furnace, that our Graces may be bright­ned, and our dross, our lusts consumed, God never afflicts his people but for their profit; (Though we may not) yet God many times seeth we have great need of affliction,1 Pet. 1.6 be­cause we have need of sanctification, many times the Saints [Page 141] get such deep spots in their Consciences, and stains in their Garments, that nothing but the Salt and Vinegar of affli­tion will rub them out: God had rather see his people in a suffering, than in a sinful state; he had rather hear them cry, than see them filthy: and better a thousandfold to be preserved in Brine, than to rot in Honey.

2. Sanctification is absolutely needful for the honour of God the Son, least his members should be deformed, and polluted; head and members must be proportionate like to one another;Dan. 2.31, 32, 33 it were monstruous that Christ should have such a strange body; as Nebuchadnezars Image, which he saw in his Dream, the head of Gold, the arms and breasts of Silver, the thighs of Brasse, the feet of Iron and Clay: so strange and odd it is, that Christ should have such a mis­shapen Body, altogether unlike himself: 'tis not for Christs honour to be the head either of a monstrous or ulcerous bo­dy: by how much we retain of sin, by so much we dishonour our Redeemer, and put him to shame: therefore all Christs aim is to make us holy. Christ pitched on Sanctification as the fittest blessing to bestow upon us, to make us holy and so to make us in and with himself honourable. Every di­stinct society must have some distinct honour; now Christ hath set apart his Church as a distinct society to himself; He bestows not on her worldly pomp or splendour, other societies have enough of that, but he beautifies her with ho­liness the best Ornament: For holiness becometh thine House O Lord for ever, Psal. 93.5. This is a farre greater gift, than any outward greatness, for moral excellencies do far transcend civil or natural.Rom. 10.12 Eph. 2.4 Rom. 11.33 Exod. 24.6 God is said to be rich in Mercy, plentious in Redemption, aboundant in Goodness and Truth, infinite in Power, unsearchable in Coun­sel, but he is glorious in Holiness, Exod. 15.11. Gods Goodness is his Treasure, but his Holiness is his Glory. A­gain Christ in giving us Sanctification, did not onely re­spect its Excellency, but also our want of it. Christ came into the world to repair and make up the ruines of the Fall; in the Fall we lost not onely Gods Love, but also Gods I­mage; therefore that the Plaister might be as broad as the sore, he died not onely to reconcile us, but also to sanctifie us, that he might sanctifie the people with his own blood, he suffered without the Gate, Heb. 13.12.Exod. 30.17, 18, 19, 20, 21 His blood was not only [...] a Price, but also [...] a Laver, where­in [Page 142] to wash us, and make us clean; as under the Law there was both a Laver, and an Altar; to shew that we must bee sanctified as well as justified. Christ came into the world not only to abolish the guilt of sin,The Son of God ap­peared. [...] ut dissol­vat opera Diaboli. Si hodie quoque in Helvetiis Thermae Taberien. ses, &c. valetudi­narios [...]e­flituunt, id quidem di­vinae tri­buendam est b [...]nigni­tati; nam nullae res Terrenae vim in se habent sa­luta [...]em ho­min [...]us, nisi effi [...]a­ces r [...]d dantur per po ea [...]iam omnipoten­tis B [...]ling. in Joh. 5.4 Numb. 35 6, 25. which makes against our Interest, Peace, and Comfort; but also to destroy the power of sin, and cleanse us of the filth of sin, which makes against Christs Glory: Christ dyed that the Gospel, and all the precious Ordinances and Promises of the same might be under a blessing and conduce to the advancement of ho­liness, Ephes. 5.26. That he might Sanctifie us by the wash­ing of water through the Word.

Christ hath procured a Treasure of Grace to be con­veyed to the Church by the spiritual use of Ord [...]nances, John 17.19. I Sanctifie my self for their sakes (saith Christ) that they might be Sanctified through the Truth. That prophane Wretch Celsus, decries Christianity, as though it were a Nursery of wickedness, and a Seminary of all looseness; such abom [...]nable thoughts he had of the Doctrine of Free-Grace. Origen wise y answers him: The Gospel is not an Invitation of a Thief to debauch men, but the Invitation of a Physitian to cure men of their enormi­ties: 'Tis an Hospital, to heal them of their Diseases, a Fountain to cleanse them of their Filthiness When ever ye come to hear the Wo d, or to the use of any Ordi­nance, expect then to re [...]p th: fruits of Christs purchase; look upon the Ordinances as sprinkled by Christs blood, as influenced by Christs Spirit.

When ye come to this Pool of Bethesda there wait, and wait earnestly for the Angels stirring of the waters, as the impotent folk did, John 5.2, 3, 4. the Angel of the Co­venant, Christ in his Prophetical Office, must stir in these waters of the Sanctuary, manifest his Power and Presence in them, and stir in thy heart also▪ Open thy immortal Gates, move and melt thy bowels for thee, if ever they are effectual.

'Tis very observable, that under the Law all the Ci­ties of Refuge, were Cities of Levites, and Schools of Instruction. And there the Man-Slayer must stay till the death of the High-Priest; So, in like manner, if yee flie from the Pa [...]s [...]er of Blood, (the Law and Wrath of God) to Jesus Christ for Re­fuse, for Reconciliation, for Justification, as [Page 129] your High-Priest; you must come to Christ also for teaching, as your Prophet, ye must learn the Trade of holiness in Christs School, as well as look for reconciliation by Christs Crosse. To conclude, Your Head is holy, so must the members be, or else ye exceedingly dishonour your Head, and disgrace his Glo­rie.

3. 'Tis for the honour of God the holy Spirit; the Father and the Son have commit­ted the Saints to the Spirits charge, to this very end and purpose, that they might be san­ctified: Sanctification is made the Spirits per­sonal operation, 2 Thes. 2.14. 1 Pet. 1.2. The Spirit is to shape and fashion all the Vessels of Mercy, and prepare them for Glory, he is to deck the Spouse of Christ with the jewels of the Covenant. 'Tis the great advantage the Saints have in the Oeconomy or dispensation of Grace, that they have the Father, to pur­pose it, the Son to purchase it, and the Spirit to work it, the Father, Word, and Spirit are all one, and agree in one for our sanctificati­on. Now 'tis a great grief to the Spirit, when the work of Grace doth not go on and pro­sper in the soul; for, 'tis he that worketh us to this very thing, and therefore is called the Spi­rit of holinesse, 'Tis not for the Spirits honour, that Gods Nursery or Plantation commit­ted to his care and charge should not thrive and flourish. 'Tis not for the Spirits honour to dwell in defiled Temples, nor to let the people go naked without their Ornaments: 'Tis not for the Spirits honour, that any commit­ted [Page 130] by the Father and the Son to his charge, should perish or miscarry, should fall away ei­ther totally from all Grace, finally for all time, for ever, to miss of heaven in the end. The Father hath left the Son in charge to be the Captain of our salvation, Heb. 2. and to bring ma­ny children to Glory. The Son hath left the Spirit in charge with all his Fathers children, to gu [...]de them by his Counsel, and to bring them to his Glory. When Christ (as man) left earth, and went to Heaven, he comforts his Disciples by sending another Comforter, and who he is, Christ tels ye, even the Spirit of truth, to guide his people into all truth; for he shall not speak from himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will shew you things to come, he shall glorifie me, for he shall re­ceive of mine, and shall shew it unto you; all things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you, John 16.13, 14, 15. The Spirit of Christ is Christs Pro-rex, or Viceroy by Comm ssion from his Father and himself, to rule and govern the affairs of his providen­tial Kingdom, Ezek. 1.20, 21. The spirit of the living creature was in the wheels: The Spirit acts the Angels (called living Creatures), and the living creatures or Angels, act and move the wheels, (that is) the Transactions of divine Providence in the world, and Christ by the Spirit governs and guides his Subjects in his spiritual Kingdome; [...], aux viae vobis erit in omnem veritatem. So Beza in John 16.13. the Spirit is Dux viae, the Captain of the way, to lead his people into all truth, their Glorious Guest to dwell with [Page 131] them, and to abide with them for ever, John 14.16, 17. and by his inhabitation and con­stant influence and operation, to perfect his own work in them, and ripen their souls for Heaven. Thus our sanctification is absolute­ly necessary for the honour of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

2. Our sanctification is absolutely, and in­dispensibly needfull, as for the honour of God, so also for our attainment of true happiness: [...] the mascu­line [...]r­ticles must be refe­red to [...]. Holi [...] is. N [...]gat que [...]q [...]am poss vide­re D [...]m sine san­ctimon a [...] moniam am [...] o­culis [...] de­b [...]mus De­um, quam qui refor­mati fue­rint ad e­jus imagi­nem. Calv. Grace and Glory, holiness and happiness, san­ctification and salvation, individuo nexu cohae­rent, These are tyed and twisted together with a knot inseparable, and indissoluble. There is no going to Heaven, without holiness no man shall see the Lord, Heb. 12.14. Some there are, which ignorantly, and fondly do restrein the word Saints, to the Saints departed; the Saints in Heaven; but we must be Saints here, or else can never expect to be Saints hereafter. The Apostle denyes (saith Calvin) that any one can see God without holiness, because he shall see God with no other eyes, than those which shall be renewed ac­cording to his Image; the Image of God, is b [...] begun on earth, 'tis perfectly and compleatly drawn by the Vision of God in Heaven. Be sure you are real Saints sanctified in Christ Je­sus, and not only nominal, and notional, as too many are: your Saintship is all the evidence you have to shew for your inheritance: be sure then, you keep your evidence fair, and clear, without blots and blurs: Unless ye are begotten again unto a lively hope; what have ye to do with that inheritance, gilded with so ma­ny [Page 132] glorious Epithets? [...], &c. Math. 5.8. [...]. 1 Pet. 1.2, 3. How can they see God that have not a pure heart, nor a pure eye (indeed, the pure heart is the pure eye) The Degree of Vision will be according to the degree of sanctification; the more gra­cious we are in this, the more glorious wee shall be in the other world. The Apostle tels us, Col. 1.12. we must be made meet to be par­takers of the inheritance of the Saints in light: What should a carnal heart do with Heaven? that knows no other heaven, but to eat, drink, and wallow in sensual delights: (as the Glut­ton at a feast cryed, There's no heaven like to this); We must not look for a Turkish Para­dise in Heaven, but for a pure sin-less state, not to bathe our souls in carnal pleasures, but to be Consorts of the immaculate Lamb; and Competitioners with the Angels: Perfection of Grace,As one saith, Con­sortes Ag­ni, Angel­lorum Can­didati. and fulness of joy in the presence of Gods Glory is the Saints heaven. Swine know not what to do with Pearls, nor carnal creatures with the life and joyes above. Sup­pose that which is not to be supposed; were it possible an unsanctified person should go to heaven, that holy place and holy Compa­ny would be an hell to him,Coelum est altera Ge­henna damnato­rum. he would be as weary of heaven, as ever water was of run­ning, (according to the Proverb:) If the faint Image of God in his Saints, if the glympse of Gods presence in his Ordinances, be so irk­some and unpleasant to an unholy soul here, Oh how terrible and contrary to his spirit, would the most glorious Presence of God in heaven be? where the Seraphims cry continu­ally, [Page 133] Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth, &c. where God displayes his holiness in the great­est splendor and glory. God is perfect light,Isa. 6.3. Revel. 4 8. 1 Joh. 1.5. the man is darkness, they could never agree together. An unsanctified person indeed may desire Heaven, as a disproportionate good, as a place better to be tolerated than the tor­ments of hell: he may desire heaven as a privation of suffering and misery, but not as a privation of all sin, nor as the perfection of Grace and holiness; nor as it is the nearest union of the soul with God, and the highest fruition of the chiefe good. Thus for him to desire, or long for Heaven, is against the very grain and hair of his spirit, altogether inconsistent with, and contrary to his old un­renewed nature. Now on the contrary, the Saints, whose eyes are enlighted with the eye-salve, and by the prospective of Faith,Rev. 3.18. have had a view of this King and Kingdome,Isa. 33.17. these make a right Scheam or draught of Heaven,2 Cor. 5.17. If any man be in Christ, he is a new Creature. Gloria quam ha­bebunt con­formem Christi cor­pori incom­prehensibi­lis est. Calv. in Phil. 3.21. and their believing hopes of interest in this Kingdome, and of communion with this Com­pany that is above, do engage them to pu­rification, 1 John 3.2, 3. He that hopes and longs to see Christ, as he is, and to be like him, both for constitution of soul and tem­per of body, he must ever labour to be holy, and he will be trying, and practising here on earth, to conform to Christ before-hand.

He that expects that his vile body shall be made like Christs Glorious body, (1) in spi­rituality, purity, clarity, strength, splendor and Glory, he will possess his Vessel in sanctifi­cation [Page 134] and honour; hee dares not use his body meerly as a streiner for meats and drinks, nor as an unclean channel for lusts to pass through; but he will honour it, as a Temple of the holy Ghost; h [...]s mind that shall see God, he will not fi [...]l with chaffe and vanity, with worldly cares, or unclean [...]houghts, his affections that should cleave to God intensively, and insepa­rably, he will not prostitute to every base ob­ject: he will labour to keep his garments clean, to walk without spot, and blamelesse, till the coming of the Lord.

Thus with respect to the fruition of our hopes, and the attainment of our happiness, we are engaged, and not engaged only, but en­clined, and sweetly constrained also to habi­tual, and actual holiness, or as the Apostle ex­cellently phraseth it, to cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, 2 Cor. 7 1. and perfect holi­liness in the fear of the Lord.

Use 7. In the seventh place: This point in­forms us of the excellency of Sanctification, or Holiness; ye have heard already much of its absolute necessity, now something of its trans­cendent Excellency. Holiness is the Name of God, the Will of God, the Work of God, the Seed of God, the Nature of God, the Image of God, the life of God, the Glory of God, the lustre and splendor of the soul, the health and vigour of the soul, the soul of man is the Physical Image of God, but the holiness of the soul is the Ethical or qualitative image of God. 'Tis the seed of Glory, the beginning of Heaven, the first fruits and fore-runners [Page 135] of eternal Life. 'Tis a known Maxim, That which partakes of the nature of the whole,Quicquid participat de naturâ totius, est pars totius. is a part of the whole: the filings of Gold are Gold ramenta auri sunt preciosa, Grace is very precious, true sanctifying saving grace is Glory; The holy people are the most precious honou­rable people in the world;Isa. 43.4. Since thou wast pre­cious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee, &c.Prov. 12.26. The righteous is more excel­lent than his Neighbour.

See how many honourable Titles God doth honour his Saints in Scripture with;

• 1. They are his portion, Deut. 32.9.
• 2. They are his pleasant portion, Jer. 12.10.
• 3. They are his inheritance, Isa. 19.25. others are the works of his hands, but the Saints are his inheritance.
• 4. They are the dearly beloved of his soul, Jer. 12.7.
• 5. They are his Treasure, his peculiar treasure, Exod. 19.5. and his peculiar people, 1 Pet.
  Segallah, et [...], are the same.
  2.9. Titus 2.14.
• 6. They are the Apple of his Eye, Zech. 2.8. whoso toucheth you, toucheth the Apple of mine Eye.
• 7. They are his Glory, Isa. 46.13.
• 8. They are the house of Gods Glory, Isa. 60.7.
• 9. They are a Crown of Glory, Isa. 62.3.
• 10. They are the Throne of God, Exod. 17.16. the words may be read thus: because the hand upon the Throne of the Lord, and so by many they are translated.
• 11. The Throne of Glory, Jer. 4.21.
• 12. The Ornament of God, Exek. 7.20.
• [Page 136]13. The Beauty of his Ornament, Exek. 7.20.
• 14. The Beauty of his Ornament set in Maje­sty, Ezek. 7.20.
• 15. A Crown of Glory, Isa. 62.3.
• 16. A Royal Diadem, Isa. 62.3.
• 17. Lastly, The excellent in the Earth, Psalm 16.3. the Saints that are in the earth, are the excellent in the earth, the Jewels of the world: you may enlarge in your own Thoughts.

This then serves to inform the mistaken and blind world, that Grace is no disgrace, that holiness is no dis-enobling, but a most gene­rous, princely and glorious thing. Brave spi­rits (as the world accounts them) think pre­ciseness, an inglorious, and the power of God­liness a base thing, that taketh off from their Grandure and Generosity. Coguntur esse mali, nè viles habeantur. Salvian. Salvian complains that in his time, the Great Ones were deter'd from serious holiness, because it was Contem­ptible. It was Gentleman-like to be wicked, but Peasant, or Vassal-like to be Godly; whereas the service of God is the noblest and sweetest liberty, but the service of sin the vi­lest slavery: Though your jolly spirits think they are the freest men on earth; The Apo­stle nips their Courage with that Cooling-Card, 2 Pet. 2.19. While they promise them li­berty, they themselves are the servants of Corrup­tion; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. They are the slaves of Satan in the bonds of lust: I wish that all Prodigals and presumptuous sinners, would seriously mind that Text: But (my Brethren) [Page 137] I trust, that ye have otherwise learned Christ; If so be, ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, then ye do put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, &c. ye do put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, [...] in sanctitate veritatis. vulg. or holiness of Truth, Ephes. 4.22.23, 24.

I trust the Lord hath given ye an understan­ding to know things that are excellent, and to ap­prove them, that ye may be sincere, and without of­fence till the day of Christ; as the Apostles prays for the Phillippians, Phil. 1.9, 10. Many excel­lent Gifts the Father of Lights bestows upon his Children; indeed every good and perfect gift comes from him.Jam. 1.17. Christ himself is the first Best Gift of God; A Gift of Gifts, and sanctification in, or by Christ Jesus,Joh. 1.10. I take to be the next Best. Now you that are righte­ous with this inherent Righteousness,1 Cor. 1.2. hold on your way, and prosper, the Lord be with ye, The Angel of his presence save ye, The Spirit of Jesus guide ye to the Hill of holiness, and help you to perfect holiness in the fear of God. You are under the vertue of sure and sweet promises for your great encouragement in Heavens way: The Righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean bands shall be stronger and stronger, Job 17.9. The Lord strengthen your hearts,See these Texts: Isa. 40. 2 last verses. Phil. 1.6. Heb. 12.2. Ezek. 36.27. and quicken your speed, by these powerful and precious Pro­mises: and give ye a prosperous arrival at the fair Havens of rest and peace. Amen.

We come now to close the whole with these two uses:

[Page 138]1. By way of Conviction, 2. By way of Caution. Though I know the Rules of Me­thod, and the exigence of the Subject, Com­mand me, yet I shall not proceed directly by way of Examination, because that hath been already done, from that Text, Rom. 1.7. To all that be at Rome, beloved of God called to be Saints: from whence the doctrine of calling hath been discussed, the nature of Saintship, and the signs and tryals of Sanctification have been largely shewn. We shall therefore (God willing) proceed to the next in order, viz. the Use of Conviction.

Use 8. This Doctrine of Sanctification we have so long insisted on, serveth for Con­viction. If those that are Gods, and Christs, are sanctified in Christ Jesus; if God the Fa­ther hath given them Christ his Son for their sanctification, to make them holy: Then this Point brings doleful news, sad tidings in the mouth of it to three sorts of Persons:

• To the Prophane,
• To the Persecutors,
• To the Scorners.

1. The profane, who mock at sin and slight holiness,1. The prophane. are hereby convicted and condemn­ed. God hath no Birthright for such profane Esaus. The people, who are the Lords porti­on, are an holy Nation, washed from their fil­thinesse: If ye are converted, ye are washed and sanctified, in the name and by the spirit of the Lord Jesus, 1 Cor. 6.11. but prophane ones [Page 139] have a spot upon them, which is not the spot of Gods Children, Deut. 32.5. see what St. John speaketh of such kinde of persons, as wallow in their filthiness. 1 John 3.8. He that commit­teth sin, is of the Devil, for the Devil sinneth from the beginning; he that tradeth in sin, [...] qui operam dat▪ pecca­to. So Beza. and mak­eth sin his constant businesse, work, or practise, as a workman doth his calling, and followeth the same daily and deliberately. A godly man may slip into sin through humane frailty, and in the hurry of temptation may be overtaken with a fault: But it is the profane man that is a trader in sin, and a constant worker of ini­quity. Though such men may presume that they belong to God, yet our Saviour expresly speaks, they are the Devils Children, John 8.44. Ye are of your father the Devil, for his works ye do, &c. These men have not the least pre­tence of a claim to Heaven, they come exceed­ing short of Hypocrites, who pretend to holi­ness, and seem to be so; but the prophane are neither civil, nor moral. Such gross sinners are called Dogs and Swine. They are weltring in the gall of bitterness, and bound fast with the bond of iniquity, as Peter told Simon Magus, Acts 8.23. All that such kinde of sinners have to say (for the most part) for themselves, is this,

• 1. That God is merciful.
• 2. That their hearts are better than their lives.

To the first I answer, that God is holy, and just, as well as mercifull and gracious. The Lamb will turn a Lion, the Saviour of the world will come as a terrible Judge in flaming [Page 140] fire to render vengeance to the ignorant, and disobe­dient, 2 Thes. 1.8. And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the wicked and ungodly ap­pear? 1 Pet. 4.18. They shall appear indeed, but like as chaffe before the Whirl-wind, and as stubble before the flames.All the Attributes of God, as justice, mercy, &c. do run in the chan­nel of his Holiness. Sinners do little think, that Gods mercy is an holy mercy, which in a saving manner he will dispence to none out of Christ; Sinners do err exceeding­ly to think, that God is prodigal either of his own mercy, or of his Sons Blood; 'tis only the sanctified in Christ Jesus, exclusively, who shall be the objects of his saving mercy, the mer­cy of God, and the merit of Christ, are most sacred and precious things, 1 Pet. 1.18. The former is bestowed on none, the latter is spilt for none but an holy and a peculiar people. Justice must be satisfied,1 Pet. 2.9. else mercy can be ne­ver dispensed: if the merit of Christ be thine, then the mercy of the Father is thine, otherwise though the Ocean of Gods pardoning mercy be boundless and bottomless, thou shalt not taste one drop of it. Well then, wouldst thou know that God will be mercifull to thy soul at the last day, it highly concerns thee to know Christ, in the power of his Resurrection, and in the fellowship of his sufferings in this thy Day. Phil. 3.10.

2. To the other Plea: That their hearts are better than their lives.

I answer, This is to appeal to a witness, that cannot be found; to a witness, that is, (as to us) invisible: 'tis as if a man should lay claim to another mans Land, and pretend he hath lost [Page 141] the evidences; the guilt of the prophane is written in Capital legible letters, upon the frontispiece of his Conversation, every eye may see it:Vita est index ani­mi, index futuri, & index a­terni. See Mat. 12. from 34 to v. 37. Cor instar Promptua­rit est bo­norum, & malorum. Pareus. As a good tree brings forth good fruit, so a bad tree brings forth bad fruit: Men do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles. As a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things, so an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil things. A good man speaks good words, and doth good works; and the Apostle tels us, Rom. 2.6. God will reward every man accor­ding to his deeds. Your hearts can never be good, when your tongues and lives be bad; Your Lord Christ speaks expresly, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

The doom of the prophane is dreadful, to instance but in two particulars.

1. The unclean shall not enter into, or pass over the way of holiness, Isa. 35.8. And an high way shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; See the Dutch An­notat, on the place. the unclean shall not pass over it, &c. The meaning of that place is this, The true Church shall be no bar­ren Wildernesse, or untrodden Desart, but in it shall be shewed the true way to salvation by faith in Jesus Christ; who cleanseth us from all our sins, and giveth us his holy Spirit, to re­generate, and renew us to an holy life, but the unclean, or prophane shall not pass in this high way of Holiness; The dogs shall be with­out, out of the pale of the true Church, Re­vel. 22.15.

[Page 142]2. The unclean shall not enter into the new Jerusalem. That most holy place, and blessed state is an heavenly Mansion, and preferment for Doves; not for Vultures; for sheep, not for Goats or Swine. not for the unclean, but for the holy.Regnum coelosum clausum est incredul [...]s, blasphe­mis, exe­cratis, & iis, qui se­cundum carnem, ambu [...]ant, sed idem apertum est electis, & vocatis sanctis. Pignet. No Anathema must be there, Re­vel. 21.27. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever work­eth abomination, or maketh a lye, but they which are written in the Lambs book of life. The in­heritance above is a possession for the sancti­fied, and none else, Acts 26.18. that goodly Countrey the Eternal Canadn, is divided among the Saints, 'tis the peculiar portion of an holy p [...]culiar people: but the Flaming Tophet, the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone is the lot of the prophane.

2. This Point brings sad tidings to the per­secutors, that hate holy persons, and holy things for the sake of holinesse;2. The Persecu­tors. who labour to deface the Image, and spiritual worship of Christ, to pull down the honour and glory of God in the world, and to root out holinesse from the earth.Christianos ad leones. Et pu [...]onos Deus Apo­stolos no­vissimos elegit ve­luti Bestia­rios. Tertul. John 19.12. Whatsoever these mens pre­tences are, as 1. State-policy, as Haman told King Ahasuerus, when he thought to extermi­nate the whole Jewish Race; 'tis not for the Kings profit that these men should live; Or 2. Fear of Rebellion, these are no friends to Cesar; as hath been the old Calumny: these are Enemies to Government; This unjust charge the Jews insinuate against Christ before Pilate: If thou let this man go, thou art not Ce­sars friend? whosoever maketh himself a King, [Page 143] speaketh against Cesar. Whereas the Scepters and Crowns of Princes have no better friends under heaven, than Religion, and religious men: Or 3. Expediency of an uniformity in all modes in Religion: whereas 'tis as possi­ble for all men to come into the world with the self-same faces for figure and feature, as for all men in the same Nation to agree in the same, and in all the modes and circum­stances of the same Religion: as the Empe­rour wisely told that Satyrist, objecting, why he had so many men of so many opini­ons in his Army, yet notwithstanding 'tis the white of holinesse which they shoot at. The shining lustre of the Saints spiritual worship, and holy Conversation draws a Cloud over theirs, and puts a check upon them: there­fore they hate and persecute.

The original moral cause of defaming the names, of spoiling the goods, of confiscating the estates, of hating and persecuting the per­sons of the Saints, is the inbred enmity in the seed of the Serpent against the seed of the woman, Gen. 3.15. And the Apostle speaking of Isaac the Son of the Promise, and of Ishmael the Son of the Bond Woman, hath this expression, Gal. 4.29. But as then, he that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is now. 'Tis said of the Panther, that he hates a man with such antipathy, that he will run at the very picture of a man to tear it in peeces; so vile ungodly wretches, acted by the Divel (the old murtherer, John 8.44.) hate the very picture of Christ whereever they [Page 144] see it. These (beloved) are very far off from the blessed estate of sanctification (of which we have been speaking) that (were it in their pow­er) they would not suffer a Saint to breath, nor permit holiness to spring, and blossome in the earth: Oh that such poor creatures were made sensible, what sad work they make, what a pittiful trade they drive.

Persecution is,

• 1 A very wicked practise.
• 2 A very fruitless practise.
• 3 A very dreadful practise.

1. A very wicked practise, condemned not only by Scriptures,Hanc ve­niam peti­mus (que), da­mus (que) vi­cissim. by the light of Na­ture, by the Rules of common Equity, but also condemned by the Ancient Fathers, and Councels.

First, we begin with Tertullian. See (saith he) doth not this amount to the elogy of ir­religiousnesse, Videte, ne, & hoc ad irreligiosi­tatis elo­gium con­currat, a­dimere li­bertatem Religionis, & inter­dicere op­tionem di­vinitatis, ut non li­ceat mibi colere quod velim, sed cogar colere quod nolim. Tertul. Apol. cap 23. or may not we well call it, a most irreligious thing, to take away the liberty of my Religion, and forbid me the choice of my Divinity, so that it may not be lawfull for me, to worship what I will, but I must be forced to worship what I am unwilling to. And in many o­ther places this external compulsion he ascribes to prophaneness.Lex nova non se vindicat ultore gladio. Clemens Alexand. Stromat. 8. Clemens Alexander, and La­ctantius also consented to that Maxime of Ter­tullian, The Law of Christ doth not right it self with a punishing sword.

Athanasius, speaking of the Arians, who at first forced men to their Heresie by prisons,Atque ita seipsam quam non sic pia, nec Dei cultrix manif [...] ­stat. A­than. in his Ep. ad Solitar. [...]. Epiphan. and punishments, concludes of that Sect, it evi­dently declares it self thereby to be neither pious, nor to have any reverence of God. Epiphanius gives this as the Character of the semi-Ar­rians; they persecute them that teach the truth, not confuting them with words, but delivering them that believe aright to hatred, wars, and swords, having now brought destruction, not to one City, or Countrey alone, but to many.

Again, The Councel of Sardis Ep. ad Ale­xand. expresly affirms, that they disswaded the Emperour from interposing his secular power to compel them that dissented:Praecipit sancta Sy­nodus, Ne­mini dein­ceps, vim inferre: Cui enim vult, Deus miseretur, & quem vult indu, rat. And the Coun­cel at Toledo, by one of their Canons condem­ned the ugly trade of persecution. The holy Synod commandeth, that none hereafter shall by force be compelled to the faith, for God hath mer­cy, on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardneth.

These instances (among many more pro­ducible) I have named, whereby 'tis evident, that persecution was long since condemned, as wicked, both by Fathers and Councels. Ye shall ever finde it the black mark of the Beast, and false Prophet, to persecute the Image of Jesus.

[Page 146]2. As it is a wicked, so it is a fruitlesse Practice.

The silly persecutor doth but beat the air, plow the sand, and kick against the pricks: his work is senslesse, and fruitlesse; though he may bring others to the fire, he doth but la­bour in the fire, (as the Prophet speaks:) his work will be burnt up, and come to nothing, as with the Children of Israel in the Land of Aegypt, Exod. 1.12. the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied: So the more the Saints are persecuted, the more they are augmented; this is a strange (yet a true) Paradox; the more they are depressed,Depressa resa [...]go. and oppressed, the more they grow (like Camomile) the more they rise up (like the Palm-tree); 'tis apparent by all stories in all Ages, that the more precious blood hath been spilt,Sanguis Ma tyrum semen Ec­clesiae. the more precious seed (multiplying into an innumerable off-spring) hath been sown. All along, the Blood of the Martyrs hath been the seed of the Church. This, not only the Pagan Emperours of old, notwithstanding all the havock they made of the Lambs of Christ; but also the mighti­est Christian Emperour, that ever sweyed the Western Scepter had experience of.

Charles th [...] fifth son of Pepin, King of France, Emper [...]ur o [...] Germany, after all his Warrs, Slaughters, stirs, and Buzzles in the world to extirpate the Protestant faith, at last was wea­ry, and le [...]t the matter much as he found it; and betook himself to a private life. And when in his retirement, he came to dye, he dep [...]ted in the same faith, (as the renowned [Page 147] Historian Thuanus relates) which in his life­time he had persecuted;Se quidem in [...] prop [...] [...] it, & Patris haereditate, & passionis merito, alt ro cont [...] [...] terum sibi donare, ex cujus dono, illud sibi merito v [...]iret; [...] fiduciâ fretus, minimè confundatur, &c. Thuan. Hist. lib. 21. Casting himself with his whole soul upon God, he thus reasoned; That for his part, he was on the account of any merits of his own, unworthy to obtain the Kingdome of Heauen; but his Lord, and God, who had a double right unto it, one by inheritance of his Father, the other by the merit of his own Passion, Contented him­self with the one Granted the other unto him; by whose Grant, he rightly laid claim thereunto, and resting in this faith, or Confidence, he was not con­founded, &c.

Another instance is out of Sulpitias Severus, Non [...]x pr [...]ss [...] co [...]si [...] & [...] p. qui [...] [...] foe­ [...] dissen­tion h [...] a­g [...]tam [...] e­rat. Su p. Severus, in the end of his second Book, Ithacius, w [...]h some other Bishops his Associates, procu ed Maximus the Tyrant, to put Priscillianus a Gro­stick, with some others to dea [...]h: and to banish some of their follow rs: w [...]t follow thereon? Hoc modo, (saith the Histori [...]n) homines luce indignissimi, pessimo exemplo necati, aut exiliis mulctati; O [...] this manner, were those most unworthy wretches, either slain, or punished by banish­ment, by a very bad precedent: and what wa [...] the success of this Fury? He tels us, the Heresie, was so far from being expressed by it, that it was the more confirmed and propogated. And what en­sued hereupon in the Chu ch it self? the Au­thor tels us in the end of hi E clesiastical sto­ry. Amongst ours, a lasting war of discord was kind­led; which after, now it hath been carried on for [Page 148] fifteen yeares with shameful Contentions, could by no means be allayed.

Those that have read the Germane, French; and Brittish Annals, will set to their seals, that this is true, that persecution hath ever been a vain unprofitable Work, a beggarly, poor Trade, none have thriven by it, that have fol­lowed it, yea, a most destructive Trade. How have Countreys, and Kingdomes been invelo­ped in blood and war, in confusion and distra­ction, where this phrensie hath reigned, and raged.

3. Persecution of the Saints of God for Conscience-sake, is not only a most wicked, and fruitlesse, but also a most dreadful pra­ctise, and that for two Reasons, (to name no more:)

1. Christ espouses his Saints injuries; he takes them as done unto himself: Saul▪ Saul, why persecutest thou me? said Christ to Saul. As a Christian shares with Christ in all his disho­nours,Acts 9.4. Psal 69.9. He that toucheth you, touch­eth the Apple of mine eye, Zech. 2.8. The reproaches of them that reproach thee, are faln upon me: so, Christ partakes with Chri­stians in all their persecutions, he accounts himself concern'd in all their injuries. Now, is it not dreadfull to be an enemy to Jesus Christ? Is it not dreadfull to be found a fighter against God? Is it not dreadful to war against Heaven? to pull down Almighty and eternal Vengeance on a mans head?

2. As the Persecutors ordain their Arrows against the Saints, (their cruel Laws, Edicts, Fines, Pains, Penalties, as they have done) in one part of the world, or other in all Ages: [Page 149] so God hath (by way of requital) ordained his Arrows against the persecutors; (if they turn not) God hath prepared for them the in­struments of Death, the Scripture speaks ex­presly, he ordaineth his Arrows against the Per­secutors, Psalm 7.13. And those Arrows, (viz. divine judgments) shall be sharp in the hearts of Christs Enemies. 'Tis confessed, an igno­rant persecutor may be pardoned upon great Repentance; there is mercy for such.Videtur innuere Paulus, nullum esse veniae lo­cum, nisi ubi suppe­tit igno­rantiae ex­cusatio. Calvin. his verbi [...] neque Paulus piaculum suum ex­tenuat, neque in­nocentiae suae voca­tionem trihuit; sed aequitatem, & misericordiam praedicat, quae miserta incredulitatis & insertiae, peccantem, (sed errore, potius quam mal [...] ­volentiâ) revocavit. Bulinger. 1 Tim. 1.13. Paul was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious, and he obtained mercy, because he did it ignorantly through unbelief; but a knowing persecutor, convinc'd of the Truth he persecutes, and totally falling from it, and maliciously hating the truth, and persecuting the professors of it unto the death; This mans Crime is (I think) unpardonable. Satan hath set the seal of Hell upon him: or else I know not what to make of that Text, Heb. 10.26, 27. For if we sin wilfully, after we have received the knowledge of the Truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment, and fiery in­dignation▪ which shall devour the Adversaries.

3. This Point serves to convict and con­demn the Scorner, that scoffs at holinesse,Prov 14.9. Fools make a mock at sin, (and as the wise man speaks) that is, (as Expositors upon the place) make a laughing-stock, or a may-game at it, they slight Holinesse the highest Excellency, [Page 150] and make nothing of it. But 'tis bad jesting with edg-tools: [...]ulum est [...] Scoffing is the over-flow­ing of Gall and malice, and a black mark, let it be found, where it will; especially, when Religion or holiness is made a by-word, or Reproach, to sit in the seat of the Scorner, is an high degree of wickedn [...]ss, and utterly in­consistent with a godly state, and bespeak a man at present to be in a cursed state, To sit in the Throne of the persecutor,Psal. 1.1. and in the Chair of the Scorner, are Diabolical prefer­ments equally dreadful and damnable. In­deed scorning seems to have some preceden­cy, for it makes way for persecuting. First, men hate and scorn the wayes of God (which is the scum of Rancor, and malice) and then they persecute them. Scorners do a sad work, and they will have sad wages.

1. They do a sad work, when they deride men for their Holiness, they deride men for that which is the express Image, and Glory of God, for God is Glorious in Holinesse, Exod. 15 11. yea, in so doing, they deride God in his highest Excellency, and consequently sin against him with an high hand. Holy Brethren, as the Saints are called, Heb. 3.1. should be no more a disgrace, than Holy Father, as God himself [...], John 17.11. You hate God more than his Saints, if you hate them for their holiness; for holiness in the Saints shi­neth but wi [...]h a faint and weak lustre,Q [...]i f [...]cit [...] but GoD being the fountain of Holiness, it must needs sh [...] with infinite lustre, & splendour, Holy, and reverend is thy Name, Psalm 111.9, [Page 151] Gods Name is Reverend, because holy, so ho­liness ought to be matter of our greatest re­spect and reverence, and not of reproach, and scorn. A word to Scorners.

Let all scorners return speedily, yet there may be mercy for them. The Spirit of God bewails your condition, and calls upon ye to return; You that are the worst sort of Sin­ners, hear what the Spirit saith, Prov. 1.22, 23. How long will scorners delight in scorning, and fools hate knowledge? turn ye at my reproof, &c. Now when God calls, Cum De­us loqui­tur cum risu, legas cum luctu. if you refuse and will not regard his Counsel, he will laugh at your calamity, and mock, when your fear cometh. See Prov. 1.24, 25, 26, 27. You that make a mock at holiness, God will make a mock of you, if ye turn not.

2. Scorners will have sad wages if they turn not. Prov. 3.34. Behold, he scorneth the scorners, but giveth grace to the lowly: as they scorn God maliciously, so behold, (a note of Attention) God will scorn them with per­fect detestation and abhorrency. As 'tis the greatest mercy for God to accept a mans per­son, to receive him into Grace and Favour; so 'tis the greatest misery for God to refuse, and scorn a mans person with indignation.

3. As a Consequent of the former, the scoffing Ishmaels must be cast out: as scorners cast themselves out of Gods love, so God will; cast them out of his presence, and Kingdome Without are dogs, Revel. 22.15. the dogs not only, that tear in pieces the Saints persons, but the dogs that bark at the shining splendo [Page 152] of the Saints holiness; these are without, and shall without repentance, be without for ever. These dogs bark not at the Moon so much, as against the Sun of Righteousness.

Ejice An­cillam. &c.The son of the Bond-woman was cast out, Gen. 21.9, 10. he must not be an Heir with the son of Sarah, (the marrow of that Ejection Typical, was spiritual and Eternal) no more must scorners that live, and die so, have any co-partnership with the Saints in their inhe­ritance. So much is more than intimated in that Allegory, Gal. 4.30. Oh then, let none that ever intend to be sanctified, or saved, presume to deride the Name of Holinesse; but let them honour, and reverence it, as the most honourable Title under Heaven, yea, as a Divine thing:2 Pet. 1 4. for 'tis the sparkling forth of the Divine Nature.

Thus much for Conviction.

Now we are come to the last Use.

Lastly, in the ninth and last place. This Doctrine of Sanctification serveth for Cauti­on,9th. Use. to prevent mistakes. I shall lay it thus:

If Jesus Christ be given of God for our san­ctification, then it concerns us all to look in­to our sanctification: let us all be sure that we are sanctified, if we miscarry here, we miscarry irr [...]coverably, we miscarry everlast­ingly; and to use the Apostles words: Let us therefore fear least a Promise being left us of en­tring into his Rest, any of us should seem to come short of it, Heb. 4.1. Let us all concern our selves to know this, that God hath set apart him [Page 153] that is godly for himself, as the Psalmist speaks, Psalm 4.3. he is eternally set apart in Electi­on, and actually set apart for God in Vocati­on. As the Beasts worshippers have the Beasts mark, so Gods Children have Gods seal, and impress, 2 Tim. 2.19. The foundation of God standeth sure, having this Seal, the Lord knoweth who are his; and let every one that nameth the Name of the Lord, depart from iniquity. Gods Seal hath a double Motto, and noting his peo­ples preservation, the Lord knoweth who are his; the other noting their sanctification, they de­part from iniquity. There are many wild flow­ers in the Field, gay and beautiful; that look like right flowers in the Garden, but are not the same. Some Mettals, as Copper, and Brass, burnisht, look like Gold at a distance: but though all Gold glisters, yet all is not Gold that glisters: so, many things at a di­stance look like Sanctification,Omne si­mile non est idem. but at a nearer view, and by an exacter tryal, and scrutiny, they appear in their colours, to be quite con­trary, not only diversa, but adversa also. I might mention many, but I shall name these four only, inclusive of all the rest, which in my reading I have received from worthy hands:

• Civility.
• Formality.
• Restreining Grace.
• Temporary, or
• Common Grace.

1. Civility, which is nothing else, but a fine, smooth demeanour in the world,Gal. 6.12. a fair [Page 154] shew in the flesh, as the Apostle phraseth it, ra­ther heathenish strictness, than Christian holi­ness; it is something to be a Civilian, but much more to be a Christian. Ye may descry it by these Notes:

Note. 1 1. Meer Civility, is usually accompanied with ignorance of God, and of the Mysteries of his Kingdome. Men may be no Drun­k [...]rds, no Swearers, noAs A­lexander kept him­self from Darius his Virgins, and Scipio from a most beau­tiful Cap­tive Lady. Adulterers, no rude debauched persons, and yet grosly ignorant of spiritual matters, as Nichodemus was, John 3.10. a Ruler in Israel, a strict Pharisee, a civil Person, but a meer Ignoramus in the new birth,

Now spiritual life, or holinesse, (where­ever it is) begins with Knowledge;Quarta expositio eorum est, qui pu­tant allu­sisse Pau­lum ad mundi creationem, &c. Buling. in 2 Cor. 4.6. where is Life, there is Light: indeed the grace of God is the Light of Life. As in the old, so in the new Creation: the beginning of the Creation of God is Light, Gen. 1.3. 2 Cor. 4.6.

A sanctified person called out of darkness into Gods marvellous light, he sees his way, and knows his Duty, he hath received an Unction from the holy One; And what he doth, he doth upon right Principles,1 John 2.20. Omat bo­num fit ex integrā Causa. by a right Rule, and to a right End. Civil men live plausibly, but know not the ground, nor end of their Acti­ons. Faith in God through Jesus Christ is not the Principle, the word of God is not the Rule, the Glory of God is not the End of their Actings. They neither live to God, nor for God, not according to his Will revealed [Page 155] in his VVord, nor for the honour and glory of his Name.Ephes. 1.17, 18. The Spirit of Wisdome and Re­velation hath not enlightned their understan­ding, to see into the mysterie of his Will; they do not act out of faith in Christ, and pure love to God in what they do.

2. Jesus Christ is little prized by civil men; Note. 2 they are satisfied with their own, but do not hunger and thirst after Christs Righteousness. The Law is more natural to men, than the Go­spel; men naturally are more for doing, than than for believing. Therefore legal straines, and moral M xims, suit more with them, than Gospel Doctrines, and promises that breed Faith. Men naturally desire to be un­der a Covenant of works, because ignorant of the glory of the Covenant of Grace. Meer civil men see not the merit of Christs blood, they apprehend not the sweetness of his fel­lowship, nor the efficacy of his Spirit, but go on smoothly without rub, and difficulty; whereas to a true Christian, Jesus Christ is All in All, the Author,Heb. 12.2. and maintainer of his life, the Alpha and Omega of his happinesse; the man doth not live so much, as Christ lives in him, and every day,Gal. 2.20. he seeth an in­dispensible need of Christ, and what abun­dant cause he hath, to bless God for Christ, who is made to him wisdome, righteousness, sanctifi­cation, and redemption.

3. Usually some reigning lust keeps com­pany Note. 3 with Civility. Civility, is but a freer slavery, one way or other, Satan holds them captive; by one fetter of sin or other, they [Page 156] are entangled: I have observed, (common­ly) this sin is Covetousness. The young man in the Gospel, was a civil honest man, a fair Dealer in the world, and had kept all those say­ings from his youth (as to the letter of them); but his possessions were a snare unto him; at the narrow Bridge of self-denial,Matth. 19.22. Christ and his soul parted: There is some sweet morsel rolled under the Tongue, some delicate Dali­lah lying in the Bosome, some reigning sin kept with greater allowance from Consci­ence. Commonly this Viper is worldly-min­dedness.

Note. 4 4. Civil men take more care about their actions, than about their lusts: wrath, pride, concupiscence, vain, worldly unclean thoughts, and affections are digested: because the con­versation seems to be smooth and fair, these crawling Vermine swarm without controul. Civilility is all for an outward carriage, it minds not the frame of the heart, nor the right tempering of the affections: But holy Paul complaines of the law in his members, and of the motions of lust within him, which fall not under the cognizance of the light of Nature;Rom. 7.7, 23, 24, 25. the first risings of sin, the least rebellion of Nature forbidden in the Tenth Command­ment, a true Saint is sensible of, and deeply humbled for.1 King. 6.8. But the affairs of the inward man, the workings of the heart, are not mind­ed by meer civil men, but the eyes of sound Christians, like the windows of the Temple, are broad inwards, they look much with­in: they mourn over the sins of their hearts, [Page 157] as well as over the sins of their lives.

2. Formality, or pretended grace. The Apostle speaks of true holiness, Ephes. 4.24. in opposition to that which is feigned, and counterfeit. Ye may discover it also by these four Marks:

1. False grace is acted from forreign con­siderations. Mark. 1 The Hypocrites principles of mo­tion are without him, as popular applause, carnal respects, by-ends, just as Puppets that want the natural motion of life within them, and are artificially moved by an outward force.He may be forma assi­stens to him, but not forma informans in him. The Spirit of God may assist an hy­pocrite in some duties, but he is not in him, as an informing, quickning, renewing prin­ciple. But true Grace, in the heart of the san­ctified, is like a living Fountain naturally bub­ling up, and working towards God, and hea­ven, out of his belly shall flow forth, Joh. 7.37.38. Rivers of li­ving Waters. True Grace hath an inward pro­pensity, a natural tendency to comply with the will of God; The Law of God is written in his heart, he delighteth in the Law, in the inner­man, Rom. 7.22. This is the peculiar Cha­racter of a Saint, which no Formalist, or hy­pocrite in the world can do.

2. False grace is shy of Gods sight and Mark. 2 presence. Hypocrites neither can,Hypocrita cupit vide­ri justus. Hypocrita in verbis sanctus, in corde va­nus; intus Nero, foris Cato, &c. nor do ap­peal to God for their sincerity, nor do they live, as in the eye of his Omniscience and Om­nipresence; but their chiefest care is to blind the world, to seem, and not to be just, he con­verseth more with men than with God: Yet the godly can appeal to God for their since­rity, [Page 158] though they tremble at their defects, and impurity: like Peter, John 20.17. He ap­peals to Christs Omnisciency, Lord, thou know­est all things, and thou knowest that I love thee. So holy Job expostulates the case thus: Let me be weighed in an even ballance, that God may know mine integrity, Job 31.6. He could ap­peal to God, the un-erring Rule of Righte­ousness, in this matter: he knew his integri­ty would hold weight. And at another time he hath this self-abasing expression: Mine eye seeth thee, therefore I abhor my self in dust and ashes, Job 42.5.6. As he could hold fast his integrity, so he could also loath and ab­hor himself in dust and ashes, at the sight of Gods glorious Majesty and purity, and in the sense of his own defects and failings.

Mark. 3 3. False grace grows not better and better, but rather worse and worse; pretences wither rather than thrive: an hypocrite goes back­ward, rather than forward, every day, Jer. 7.24. The Lord by the Prophet complains th [...]re, that his people hearkned not, nor enclined their ear, but walked in the counsels, and in the ima­ginations of their evil hearts, and went backward, and not forward; False grace (like bad salt) grows worse and worse, til it be cast out into the Dunghil: but true grace, from a grain groweth unto a Tree, from a morning glympse to a perfect Noon, Prov. 4.18. The path of the just, is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect Day; from smoaking flaxe it is blown up to fragrant flame. Ni­codemus that came to Christ at first by night, [Page 159] for fear of the Jews, afterwards openly de­clareth for him, and bestowed much cost up­on the dead body of our Lord.John 19.39. Grace gets ground upon the flesh, and by degrees ad­vanceth to a Victory. Now examine your hearts whether ye encrease, or decrease, whe­ther ye go forward, or backward, whether your faith, love, zeal, patience,Rev. [...].4. heavenly-mindedness, &c. thrive, or not? If ye have left your first Love, if ye have lost your care of Duty, sense of sin, and hungring, and thir­sting appetite after Christ, and his Righteous­ness, 'tis a sad sign.

Remember therefore from whence ye are fallen and repent, and do your first works; be also watch­ful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to dye. 'Tis Christs Blessed Counsel, Revel. 2.5. Revel. 3.2.

4. False grace is not humble. Formalists Mark. 4 are commonly proud and self-conceited per­sons:Notare ve­rò operae, pretium est, nomi­nem spiri­tu esse pauperem nisi qui in nihilum apud se redactus, in Dei misericordiam recumbit. Calv. in Matth. 5.3. with true Grace there goeth alwayes a spiritual poverty, or a sense of spiritual wants; the poor in spirit are first in order of the Beatitudes, Matth. 5.3.

The more knowledge the Saints have, the more they discern their ignorance, the more faith, the more they bewail their unbelief? Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief, Mark 9.24. The more they love him, the more they blame their hearts, for loving him no more; they call upon their souls to love him most [Page 160] intensively. Grace grows most, and thrives best in a low and humble soyl; the lowest Valleys are far more fruitful than the high­est Mountains: 'tis a good sign when the soul is kept hungry, and humble in the sense of its wants, amidst the height of its enjoyments.

What re­straining Grace is.3. The next is Restraining Grace, which is nothing else but an awe, put by God upon the Conscience, constraining a man to forbear sin, though he doth not hate it.

You may discern it by these signs:

Sign. 1 1. Love is of little use and force with such spirits: They are under a spirit of bondage, chained up by their own fears, not moved by the great Gospel Motive,Rom. i2.1. (viz.) Mercy. 'Tis our Duty to serve God with Reverence, and fi­lial fear, but not with a servile and distrustful fear:Heb. 12.2 [...]. a servile fear hath little of Grace in it, much of Torment. We ought to fear God much, but to love him more; Love is the very life and soul of all Gospel-obedience.

Sign. 2 2. Restraining Grace doth not destroy sin, but only prohibit the acts of it. Abimelechs lust was not mortified, when God with-held him from Sarah, Gen. 20.6. 'twas only sus­pended, not subdued, the heart was not re­newed, though the action was curbed; as Is­rael had an adulterous heart towards other Lovers,Hos. 2.6. when their way was hedged up with thorns: But when the Spirit of holinesse in power comes,2 Cor. 3.17. he comes as a Spirit of Liber­ty. He frees the soul from the servitude of base lusts, and mortifies them: and both strongly and sweetly turns, and enclines the [Page 161] heart, to hate every false way, and to run the wayes of Gods Commandments with an en­larged heart.Psal. 119.3 [...].

4. The fourth thing that looks like Sancti­fication, and yet is not, is common, or tem­porary grace. This is a distinct thing from all the rest, 'tis higher than all the former; it differs from Civility, because 'tis more Chri­stian, and Evangelical; it differs from For­mality, because that is in shew only, but this is a real work on the soul. 'Tis better than restraining grace, because that avoids sin, and performs Duties out of slavish fear, but this seemeth to have some affection for Christ, his Word, and Kingdom; 'tis good in it self, but not the best, not throughly sanctifying, and saving: this a man may have and yet fall a­way, and depart from God, so it was with the stony and thorny ground, Matth. 13. This is the nearest to true Grace of all the former: of this the Apostle speaks, Heb. 6.4, 5. which is called an enlightning, a taste of Christ, and of the powers of the world to come, and a partaking of the Holy Ghost, (i. e.) of the common gifts of the Spirit, abilities for holy duties, great parts, &c. from whence I shall briefly note these three things.

• 1. That the Light here spoken of,
  Quam per­niciosum sit inflarē notitia sine chari­tate in sa­cris legi­tur, Prov. 26.12. P.M.
  is not humbling:
• 2. The taste is not ravishing.
• 3. Their gifts are not renewing.

1. Their light is not humbling. Know­ledge puffeth up, love edifieth, 1 Cor. 8.1. Foundations sink, that are not laid deep e­nough; [Page 162] you can never magnifie Christ enough nor abase self enough, Christ is most magni­fied when self is most abased:Isa. 2.19. This Dagon must fall down before the Ark, sound humi­liation brings sure and solid Consolation; we must not rashly close with Christ in the pride of our hearts, as they did, but be sure we have depth of earth, broken and contrite spirits.

2. Their tast was not ravishing, nor en­creasing, they had but loose, and slight de­sires after happiness, Glances upon the Glory of Heaven, and the comforts of the Gospel, and no more; just as Balaam, Oh that I might die the death of the Righteous, &c. and like that spiritual carnal Notion, (as a learned man phraseth it),Dr. Fuller. Lord, evermore give us of this bread, John 6.34. They were not serious desires, not holy breathings after Christ, pro­ceeding from a sound principle, neither were they transforming, nor encreasing; the Saints that have a tast, groan for a full communion of Graces as well as Comforts: but in tem­porary Believers, there is a loose assent, some slight affection, profession for a while, rejoi­cing in the light for a season, &c. But all at last (like Blazing Meteors) vanish, and come to nothing.

Vocat par­ticipatio­nem Spiri­tus, quia is est, qui unicaique distribuit prout vult, quicquid est lucis, ac intelligentia. Calv. Heb. 6.43. And lastly, In Heb. 6.4. it is said, they were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, (i. e.) of some gifts of the Holy Ghost; yea, perhaps those eminent Gifts, which in the Primitive times God imparted to his Disciples, 1 Cor. 12.4. [Page 163] There are diversities of Gifts, but the same spirit. Var iis do nis spiritus sancti Deus ornabat fideles in primitiva Ecclesi [...]; ut loque­rentur linguis, ut prophetarent. Cujusmodi enumerat Apostolus, 1 Cor. 12. & 14. Pareus in loc.

Now these gifts of the Holy Ghost that hypocrites partake of, are not renewing, throughly sanctifying: they may have good abilites for the edification, and comfort of o­thers, but in the mean time being unsanctifi­ed, they themselves may become Cast-awayes.1 Cor. [...] 27.

Though a man could speak with the tongue of men, and Angels, yet having not charity, (true love to God) he were but as sounding Brass, and as a tinkling Cymbal, 1 Cor. 13.1. A man may pray sweetly, preach excellently, talk of the things of God knowingly, and affectionately, yet All is but as tinkling with God, if there be no saving Grace; Nay Belo­ved, 'tis possible, a man may have the Spirit of God (in a sense), and yet be an Hypo­crite, a Reprobate, and fall short of Heaven.

Quer. May a man have the Spirit, and yet not throughly sanctified?

Answ. 1. A man, like Saul, or Balaam may have the Spirit transiently, but not abidingly,He is in all per di­vinitatis praesenti­am: in the Saints on­ly per in­habitatio­nis grati­am. P. Lumb. 1 sect. dist. 17. for a time, but not for ever: A Formalist may have some glympses of the Spirit, like the glancing of the Sun-beams for a short time upon a Glass-window, but a Saint enjoyes his in-dwelling presence: the Spirit is in all, and so he may be in an hypocrite, by his divine presence, but not by in-habitation, he is in all, but he dwells in his Saints only.

2. 'Tis possible a man may have the Spirit on­ly [Page 164] as a spirit of Bondage, but a Saint only, hath the Spirit, as the spirit of Adoption, Gal. 4.5, 6. the legal operation of the Spirit, work­ing fear and horror was in Cain and Judas: the Evangelical operation of the Spirit, work­ing faith in God, love to God, boldness be­fore God, &c. this is in every sanctified soul, that shall be saved.

For fur­ther satis­faction, peruse Mr. Burgesses Refinings. M. Roberts Believers Evidences. Mr. Meads Almost Christian, &c. John 3.5. 2 Cor. 3.18.3. And lastly, To name no more, (for I judge in these three, lies the Characteristical difference between the Saints having the Spi­rit, and the unsanctified): an hypocrite may have the Spirit in some inferiour operation, but the Saint only in effectual Regeneration and spiritual Transformation: A man may have the Spirit, and not be born of the Spirit; A man may have the Spirit, as a spirit of sharp Conviction, but not as the spirit of com­pleat Conversion. The Spirit may be in a a man by way of common illumination, and yet not, by way of saving Sanctification; re­newing the whole man,Grace is Conformi­tas cum Archetypa, a confor­mity of the soul with God; the Archetype (or first pattern.) 2 Cor. 7.1. See Dr. Gorden's Childe of Light, &c. reforming the whole life, Conforming, and transforming both, into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

This is the peculiar priviledge of the Saints; no sinner shall share in this favour; no stran­ger shall inter-meddle with this joy.

Finally (my Brethren) this Doctrine of Sanctification is not only essential to, but is of the very essence of your happiness: And the great and constant Duty you should be found in, is to perfect holinesse in the fear of God. Some truths belong ad bene esse, to the well and comfortable being of a Christian, as the [Page 165] doctrine of Assurance of Gods love, peace of Conscience, joy in the holy Ghost, &c. but sanctification belongs ad esse, to the very be­ing of Christianity, 'tis your life both spiritual and eternal. If ye are not holy men, (my Bre­thren, ye are dead men, & will be damned men: no grace, no glory, no,Heb. 12.13. nor the least comfortable vision of God, or Heaven: wherefore let all labour, (as the wise King adviseth) to get wis­dome, Prov. 4.7. Wisdome (Grace, Holinesse) is the principal thing, therefore get wisdome; and with all thy getting, get understanding. This is the one thing needful, Luke 10. ult. And let those that have received Grace, exercise and encrease it: Grace grows by its exercise, [...]. suppedita­te suffici­te sugge­rite. Beza. be daily adding to your faith vertue, and to vertue knowledge, &c. and that with all diligence, as ye are exhorted, 2 Pet. 1.5, 6. be daily clean­sing your selves from all [...]thiness in the Foun­tain of Christs blood, and in the Laver of the Promises; and forgetting the things behind, Phil. 3.14. be daily pressing on towards the mark for the prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus. And dai­ly keep your Garments clean: and be alwayes ready for the coming of your Lord; that ye may be found of him without spot and blame­less, enwrapped in his holiness.

For Conclusion, that ye may all so be, and do in the fear of God: I commend ye to God, Acts 20.32. and to the word of his Grace, which is able to build ye up, and to give ye an inheritance amongst all them that are sanctified. Amen, and Amen.