VeR. 1.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 31
maintain commerce between man and man ; if they be kind in their relations, it is for their own peace and quiet ; nothing is done as in and to the Lord, as the apostle enjoineth, Eph. v. God is neither at the beginning nor at the end of any of these actions ; the love of God is not their spring and rise, nor the glory of God their aim. If they pray, there is no intention beyond self, and the welfare of their own natures ; the matter is but the outward work of the law, 'ip'yov vo/jlov, Rom. ii, 15, and their aim is but the freedom and welfare of nature. (3d.) There are legal ends. When wicked men are most devout, it is but to quiet conscience, to satisfy God for their sins by their duties ; they would fain buy out their peace with heaven at any rate : Micah vi. 6-8, ' Wherewith shall I come before him ? what shall I give for the sins of my soul ? ' They are devout, charitable, that by diligence in worship, and exceeding in charitj^ they may expiate the offences of a carnal life. If peace of conscience were to be purchased with money, they would not spare ; they would rather part with anything than their corruptions, because nothing is so dear to a carnal heart as sin. So that you see devout nature is very corrupt and perverse, and therefore all its actions are justly hated of God: Prov. xxi. 27, ' The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination ; how much more when he offereth it with an evil mind ? ' that is, to buy an indulgence in other sins, that he may sin them freely and with leave from heaven. In short, all their duties of worship and charity are performed as a sin-offering, and not as a thank-offering ; to satisfy God, not to glorify him ; usually they are extorted from him in a pang of conscience, as a mariner casts out his goods in a storm, or a traveller yieldeth his money when beset with thieves ; there is no true delight in God or in obedience. And thus I have showed you what it is to be sanctified in heart and life, which was the first thing propounded.
Secondly, Let me now show why God's called people must be sanc- tified, and that briefly and in few words.
1. For the honour of God, of every person in the Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit. For the honour of the Father, that his choice may not be disparaged : Eph. i. 4, ' He hath elected us to be holy ; ' 2 Thes. ii. 14, ' Chosen to the sanctification of the Spirit.' There is some conscience in the world that maketh them adore strictness ; mere morality hath some majesty with it in the eye of nature, but especially gospel holiness ; whereas looseness is looked upon with scorn and con- tempt ; so that his chosen people would be a dishonour to him if they were not sanctified. Therefore God the Father aimeth at it in all his dispensations ; he chooseth us that we may be of a choice spirit. As when Esther was chosen out among the virgins, she was purified and decked with ornaments, and had garments given her out of the king's wardrobe, so we are made holy, being chosen of God. And then he calleth us, that he may put this honour upon us in the eye of the world, to make us like himself : ' Be ye holy, as he that hath called us is holy,' 1 Peter i. 15. It were monstrous that God should set his affections upon a people altogether unlike him;i that he should call them to be so near himself that continue corrupt and carnal. It is
^ ' Ea demum vera est religio, imitari quem colis.' — lactant.
32 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [YeR. 1.
the aim of his providences as well as his special grace; we are afflicted 'that we may be partakers of his holiness,' Heb. xii. 10; threshed that onr husk may fly off. God certainly delighteth not in the afflictions of his people ; no, he ' loveth the prosperity of the saints,' Ps. xxxv. 27, but he had rather see them in any condition than see them sinful. Again, it is for the honour of God the Son, whose members we are. Head and members must be all of a piece, like one another. It were monstrous that Christ should have such a body as Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, where the head was of pure gold, and the thighs brass, and the feet iron, &c. ; and it were an odd sight that a face of Europe should be put upon the body of a negro or Ethiopian ; and as strange and odd it is that Christ should have a disproportioned body, quite unlike himself ; yea, it is little for his honour that he should be the head of an ulcerous body, as well as a monstrous body. So much of sin as you continue, so much you disparage your Redeemer and put him to shame ; therefore all Christ's aim is to make us holy; for that end he redeemed us, that he might sanctify us, and make us a glorious church, without spot and wrinkle, Eph. v. 26, 27. When Christ was upon the cross, in the height of his love, he was d(3vising what he should do for his church to make her honourable and glorious, and he pitched upon sanctification as the fittest blessing that he could bestow upon us. Every distinct society must have some distinct honour and privilege ; now Christ had set apart the church as a distinct society to himself, and therefore he would not bestow upon her pomp and worldly greatness — other societies had enough of that — but holiness, grace, which is our splendour and ornament : Ps. xciii. 5, ' Holiness becometh thy house, 0 Lord, for ever.' And indeed this was a far better gift than any outward greatness and excellency could be ; for moral excellences are far better than civil and natural. It is God's own honour to be holy, therefore it is said that he is ' glorious in holiness,' Exod. xv. 11. He is elsewhere said to be 'rich in mercy,' Rom. x. 12 ; Eph. ii. 4 ; but here, ' glorious in holiness.' His treasure is his goodness, but that which he accounts his honour is his holiness or immaculate purity ; as you know among men their wealth is dis- tinguished from their honour. But in this gift Christ hath not only respect to the excellency of it, but to our need and want. Christ was then repairing and making up the ruins of the fall. Now we lost in Adam the purity of our natures as well as the favour of God ; there- fore, that the plaster might be as broad as the sore, he would not only reconcile us to God, but sanctify us; his blood was not only Xiirpov, a pi'ice, but Xovrpov, a laver, wherein to wash us and make us clean : as under the law there was in the tabernacle a great laver as well as an altar, to show we must be washed and sanctified as well as re- conciled to God ; and Christ came not only to abolish the guilt of sin, which is against our interest, our peace and comfort, but also to destroy the power of sin, which is against God's glory. And as this was Christ's aim in redemption, so also in the gospel, and all the precious promises of it : he died that ordinances might be under a blessing, and conduce to the promotion of holiness ; for so it is there in Eph. V. 26, ' That he might sanctify us by the washing of water through the word.' There is a treasure of grace purchased, and left