[1.] As to the way of entering into covenant with God, there is required : —
(1.) True repentance and faith : ' Kepentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ,' Acts xx. 21. Repentance respects God as our end, and faith respects Christ as Mediator, as the only way of returning to God, from whom we have strayed by our own folly and sin.
(2.) In the exercise of this repentance and faith, there must be a forsaking the devil, the world, and the flesh, and a giving up ourselves to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as our creator, redeemer, and sanctifier. For the former, there are three great enemies to God and us — the devil, the world, and the flesh ; reckoned up, Eph. ii. 2, 3, ' In time past ye walked according to the course of this world, after the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience : among whom also we all had our conversa- tion in times past, in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.' There all your enemies appear abreast : the devil as the grand deceiver and principle of all wickedness ; the world with its pleasures, honours, and profits, as the bait by which the devil would deceive us, and steal away our hearts from God, and divert us from looking after the one thing necessary ; the flesh, as the corrupt inclination in us, which entertaineth and closeth with these temptations, to the neglect of God, and wrong of our own souls. This is importunate to be pleased, and is the proper internal cause of all our mischief ; for every man is enticed and drawn away by his own lusts. Now these must be renounced before we can return to God by Jesus Christ ; for, as Joshua told the Israelites, so must we say to all of you : Josh. xxiv. 23, ' Put away the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.'
104 -WISDOM IS JUSTIFIED [Mat. XI. 18, 19.
First, There must be a renouncing of our idols before our hearts can incline unto the true God. We must be turned from Satan to God, Acts XX. 18. And the world must be renounced, Titus ii. 12: ' Deny- ing all ungodliness and worldly lusts.' And we must not look upon ourselves as debtors to the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof, Rom. viii. 10. God will have no copartners and competitors in our hearts.
And then the second part, in exercising of our faith and repentance, is giving up ourselves to God the Father, Son, and Spirit, as our cre- ator, redeemer, and sanctifier. And therefore in baptism, which is our first entrance and initiation into the Christian religion, we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Mat. xxviii. 19, which im])lieth a dedication and giving up ourselves to them, according to their personal relations. To the Father, as our creator, to love him, obey him, and depend upon him, and be happy in his love as dear children. To Christ as our Redeemer, to free us from the guilt of sin and the wrath of God. To the Holy Ghost, to guide and sanctify us, and comfort us with the sense of our present interest in God's love, and the hopes of future glory.
[2.] As to our progress and perseverance, wliich is our walking in the narrow way, three things are required ; and that —
(1.) As to the enemies of God and our souls. As there is a renounc- ing required at first, so at length there is requisite an overcoming the devil, the world, and the flesh : Rev. ii. 7, ' To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the para- dise of God.' We overcome the devil when we keep up our resistance, and stand out against his batteries and assaults: 1 Peter v. 8, 9, ' Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour ; whom resist stedfast in the faith.' We overcome the world when the terrors and allurements of it have less force and influence upon us : 1 John v. 4, 5, ' Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world ; and this is the victory that over- cometh the world, even our faitli : who is he that overcometh the world, but he tliat believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ? ' and Gal. vi. 14, ' But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.' We overcome and subdue the flesli when we have ' crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts,' Gal. v 24 ; when we get the mastery over the passions and affections thereof ; and though we be sometimes foiled, yet the drift and bent of our lives is for God and our salvation.
(2.) As to God, to whom we have devoted ourselves. We must love him above all, and not put him off with what the flesh can spare, or the world will allow, or the devil will suffer us to go on contentedly with ; but we must serve him sincerely, ' in holiness and righteousness all our days,' Luke i. 75. The love and patient service of our Creator is our great and daily work.