[2.] Till we believe in Christ, we can have no comfort or use of all his offices. How can we learn of him the way of salvation, till we believe him to be the ])rophet sent of God to teach the world the way to true happiness ? Mat. xvii. 5, ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well jileased ; hoar ye liim.' How can we obey him, unless we believe in iiim that he is our Lord, who hath power over all flesh, at whose judgment we must stand or fall? Acts xvii. 30, 31, 'Now commandeth all men everywhere to re})ent, because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man
John III. 16.] the sixteenth sermon. 3.55
whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath pjiven assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead.' How can we depend upon the merit of his obedience and sacrifice, and be comforted with his gracious promises and covenant, and come to God with boldness and hope of mercy in liis name, and be confident that he will justify, sanctify, and save us, unless we believe that he is a priest, who once made an atonement, and continually makes intercession for us ? Heb. ix. 25. In the days of his flesh, when any came for any benefit to him, he put him upon his trial, ' Believest thou that I am able to do this ?' Mark ix. 23, ' Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.' 'Believest thou that I am able?' to Martha, Jolm xi. 2.G. Thus they were not capable of any benefit till they believed.
3. With respect, to that holiness and obedience which God expected from the creature. Christ came to restore us to God, which he doth both as a Saviour and lawgiver to his church; and till we believe in him, both these qualities and functions miss of their effect.
[1.] As a Saviour, he came to take away the curse of the law, and to put us into a capacity to. serve and please God, by giving us his Spirit to renew our natures and heal our souls : Isa. liii. 5, ' The chastisement of our peace -svas upon him, and with his stripes we are healed ; ' 1 Peter ii. 24, ' Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead unto sin, should live unto right- eousness ; by whose stripes ye were healed.' We shall never mind our duty, nor be capable to perform it, unless we believe tliat he is such a Saviour.
[2,] As a lawgiver, obliging us by his authority to live in obedience unto God. The kingdom of the Mediator is clearly subordinate to the kingdom of God ; for he came not to vacate our duty, but to establish it ; he came to restore the lost groat to the owner, the lost sheep to the possessor, the lost son to the father. As the grace of Christ doth not vacate the mercy of God, so the authority of Christ, that novum jus imperii, doth not free us from the authority of God. Now, who will submit to aa authority tliat is not convinced of it, or doth not believe it ? But when once we believe, then we bow heart and knee.
4. With respect to our comfort. Often in scripture faith is repre- sented as a quieting grace. The comfort, quietness, and peace of the soul dependeth much upon faith in Christ as aa all-sufficient Saviour, which banishes our fears, and makes us in our greatest hardships to trust Christ with all our happiness, and to feast the soul with a constant peace and everlasting joy. Whether this world be turned upside down and be dissolved ; whether we be in poverty and sickness, or in health or wealth ; whether w^e be under evil repute or good ; whether persecution or prosperity befall us, how little are we concerned in all these if we 'know in whom we have believed'? 2 Tim. i. 12. Heaven is where it was before, and Christ is at the right hand of God ; how little then should all these things disturb the peace and comfort of that soul that shall live with God for ever ? Ps. cxii. 7. But sin is our greatest trouble. If sin be your trouble, I answer, Is it your infirmity or iniquity ? If infirmity, ' There is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus,' &c., Eom. viii. 1. If iniquity, break
356 THE SIXTEENTH SERMON. [JOHN III. IC
■off Tonr sin by repentance, and then there may be comfort for you ; forC'hrist canie to save us from our sins.
Use 1. I« to confute men's presumptions of their eternal good estate, x\-hereby many damnably dehide their own souls.
1. Sc>me, -when they hear that whosoever believeth shall be saved, have a carnal notion of Christ, that if he were alive they would own him, and receive him into their houses, and use him more friendly than the Jews did. This is but a knowing Christ ' after the flesh,' 2 Cor. V. 16. He is not to be received into your houses, but into your hearts. Besides, we do not know our own hearts, or what we should have done if we had lived then ; a person of such contemptible appear- ance as Christ was, and so free in liis reproofs of th« sins of the times, would not have been for our turn no more than theirs. The Jews said, Mat. xxiii. 30, ' If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been guilty of the blood of the prophets.' The memory of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram was as detestable to the carnal Jews as that of Judas and Pontius Pilate to Christians ; but they were not a whit the better men, no more are we.