134 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. II.
merit but as they come from the grace of God, and are washed with the blood of Christ. But neither salve will serve for this sore.
[1.] It is not enough to ascribe grace to God. All justiciaries will do so. The pharisee said, God, I thank thee I am so and so. You confound the covenants when you think we may merit of God by his own grace. God maketh us righteous by grace ; and if by the exercise of it we deserve life, Adam under the covenant of works must then have been said to be saved by grace, because he could not persevere in the use of his free-will unless he had received it from God.
[2.] Nor as dyed in the blood of Christ, because faith disclaimeth all works as to the act of justification ; and there is no merit if it be of grace. Learn then to admire grace with comfort and hope. Merit- mongers are left to be confuted by experience. Surely men that cry lip works seldom look into their own consciences. Let them use the same plea in their prayers they do in their disputes : give me not eternal life till I deserve it :, Lord, let me have no mercy till 1 deserve it. Or let them dispute thus, when they come to dispute with their own consciences in the agonies of death ; then, Opliinum est inniti mentis Christi
3. Observe, the gifts that God is wont to give are not earthly riches, worldly power, transitory honours, but eternal life. This was the great end for which he was ordained by the Father. Many come to Christ as that man, Luke xii. 13, ' Master, speak to my brother, to divide the inheritance with me.' He looked upon him as aliquem. magnum, one furnished with great power, fit to serve his carnal ends. Such fleshly requests are not acceptable to our mediator. The Lord loveth to give blessings suitable to his own being. He liveth for ever, and he giveth eternal life to the elect. Learn, then, how to frame your requests. Say, I will not be satisfied with these things: 'lie- member me with the favour of thy people : 0 visit me willi thy sal- vation ; that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation ; that I may glory with thine inheritance,' Ps. cvi. 4, 5.
4. Observe, from the expression, ' eternal life.' Our estate in heaven is expressed by life and eternal life. This is a term frequently used to signify the glorified estate. Now it doth imply not only our bare subsistence for ever, but also the tranquillity and happiness of that state.
[1.] It is life: 'Heirs together of the grace of life/ 1 Peter iii. 7. Lite is the most precious possession and heritage of the preature ; there can be no happiness without it. All our comforts begin and end with life. Life is better than food : Mat. vi. 25, ' Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?' Poisons and cordials are all one to a dead man. Creatures base, if they have life, are better than those which are most excellent : ' a living dog is better than a dead lion.' All creatures desire to preserve life. All the travail of men under the sun is for life, to prop up a tabernacle that is always falling: Job ii. 7, ' Skin for skin, and all that a man hath, will he give for his life.' All our labour and care is for it ; and when we have made provision for it, it is taken from us. It is called 'the life of our hands,' Isa. Iviii. 10. We make hard shift to maintain it. This life is a poor thing, it is no
YeR. 2.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 135
great matter to be heir to it : James iv. 14, ' What is your life ? it is €ven a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.'
[2.] It is life eternal ; not like the earthly life, which is but as a vapour, a little warm breath, or warm smoke, turned in and out by the nostrils. Our present life is a lamp that may be soon quenched ; it is in the power of every ruffian and assassinate. But this is life eternal. In heaven there is a fair estate ; the tenure is for life ; but we need not take thought for heirs ; we and our happiness shall always live together. The blossoms of paradise are for ever fresh and green : therefore if we love life, why should we not love heaven ? This is a life that is never spent, and we are never weary of living. This life is short, yet we soon grow weary of it. The shortest life is long enough to be encumbered with a thousand miseries. If 3'ou live till old age, age is a burden to itself : ' The days shall come in which they shall say, We have no pleasure,' Eccles. xii. 1. Life itself may become a burden, but you will never wish for an end of eternal life ; that is a long date of days without misery and without weariness. Eternity is every day more lovely. Well might David say, ' The loving-kindness of God is better than life.' Men have cursed the day of their birth, but never the day of their new birth. Those that have once tasted the sweet and benefit of God's life never grow weary of it.