A. 5. Pray for sanctification. Job pro- pounds a question, " Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ?" Job xiv. 4. God can do it. Out of an unholy heart he can produce grace. O ! make David's prayer, Psal. Ii. 10., " Create in me a clean heart, O (iod." Lay thy heart before the Lord, and say, " Lord, my unsanctified heart pollutes all it toucheth. I am not fit to live with such an heart, for I cannot ho- nour thee; nor die with such an heart, for I cannot see thee. O create in me a new heart ; Lord consecrate my heart, and make it thy temple, and thy praises shall be sung there for ever !"
Use Sd. Of thankfulness. Hath God brought a clean thing out of an tuiclean, — hath he sanctified you ? wear this jewel of sanctification with thankfulness, Col. i. 12., " Giving thanks to the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheri-
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tancc," &c. Christian, tliou couldest defile thyself, but not sHnctily thyself; but God hath done it, he hath not only chained up sin, but changed thy nature, and made thee as a king's daughter, all glorious with- in. He hath put upon thee the breast- plate of holiness, which, though it may be shot at, can never be shot through. Are there any here that are sanctiliod ? God hath done more for you than millions : they may be illuminated, but not sanctified. He
hath <lone more for you, than if he had made you the sons of princes, and caused you to ride upon the high places of the earth. Are you sanctified ? heaven is be- gun in you ; happiness is nothing but the quintessence of holiness. O how thankful should you be to God ! Do jus that blind man in the gospel, after he had received his sight, " He followed Christ, glorifying God," Luke xviii. 43. Make heaven ring of God's praises !
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Quest. XXXVI. JVHAT are the benefits which flow from namtJfication ?
Axs. Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, in- crease of grace, and perseverance therein to
tlie end.
The first benefit flowing from sanctifica- tion, is assurance of God's love.
2 Pet. i. 10., " Give diligence to make your calling and election sure." Sanctifi- cati<»n is the seed, assurance is the flower which grows out of it : assurance is a con- sequent of sanctification, the saints of old had it, 1 John ii. 3., " We know that we know him," 2 Tim. i. 12 , "I know whom I have believed,"— iiere was senms fides,— the reflex act of faith; and Gal. ii. 20., " Christ hath loved me,"— here was faith flourishing into assurance, ^colampadias, when he vi^as sick, pointed to his heart, saying, Uic sat lucis,—' Here I have light enough,' meaning comfort and assurance.
Quest. 1. Have all sanctified persons as- surance ?
Ans. They have a right to it, and I do incline to believe that all have it in some degree before their last expiring; though their comfin-t may not be so strong, and their vital spirits so weak, that they cannot express what they feel. But I dare not positively aflirm that all have assurance in the first moment of their sanctification; a letter may be written, when it is not seal- ed,—so grace may be written in the heart, yet the Spirit may not set the seal of assu - ranee to it. God is a free agent, and may give or suspend assurance pro licito as he
pleases. "Wliere there is the sanc-tif\'iiig work of the Spirit, he may withhold the sealing work, partly to keep the soul hum- ble, partly to punish our careless walking; we neglect our spiritual watch, grow remiss in duty, and then walk under a cloud ; we quench the graces of the Spirit, and God withholds the comforts : and partly to jMit a difference between earth and heaven. This I the rather speak, to bear up the hearts of God's people who are dejected because they have no assurance ; you may have the wa- ter of the Spirit poured on you in sanctifi- cation, though not the oil of gladness in as- surance ; there may be faith of adherence, and not of evidence ; thei-e may be life in the root, when there is no fruit in the branches to be seen ; so faith in the heart, when no fruit of assurance. Quest. 2. JVhat is assurance ? Ans. It is not vocal, any audible voice, or brought to us by the help of an angel [or revelation. Assurance consists of a practical syllogism, where the word of God I makes the major, — conscience the minor, — i tlie Spirit of God the conclusion. The I word saith, * He that fears and lo\ es God, is loved of God ;' there is the major propo- 1 sition ; then conscience makes the uiin(tr, ' but I fear and love God ;' then the Sjtirit makes the conclusion, ' therefore thou art loved of God,' and this is that which the apostle calls, '• The witnessing of the Spi- rit with our spirits, that we are his chil- dren," Rom. viii. 16.
Quest. 3. Whether hath a sanctified soul such aw assurance as excludes all doubtings f
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