308 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XVII.
God, and the righteousness thereof, and all these things shall be added to 3'ou.' Gifts, they are for the body, rather than the person that hath them. Men may be carnal, and yet come behind in no gifts. Judas could cast out devils, and yet afterwards was cast out among devils: 1 Cor. xii. 31, the apostle had discoursed largely of gifts, but saith he, ' Yet I show you a more excellent way,' and that is grace, that abideth. Many that have great abilities to pray, preach, dis- course, yet fall away ; according to the place which they sustain in the body, so they have great gifts of knowledge, utterance, to comfort, direct, instruct others, to answer their doubts, to reason in holy dis- course, and yet may fall foully : Heb. vi. 4, 5, ' They may be once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made par- takers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come.' They may have a great share of church gifts. Nay, gifts themselves wither and vanish when the bodily vigour is spent : 1 Peter i. 24, ' All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass ; the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.' Whatever excellency we have by nature, wit, knowledge, strength of natural parts, nothing but what the Spirit of God worketh in us will last for ever. So for seeming, unsound grace, as false faith, such as beginneth in joy, will end in trouble ; it easeth you for the present, but you shall lie down in sorrow. General pro- babilities, loose hopes, uncertain conjectures, vanishing apprehensions of comfort, all fail. The planting of true faith is troublesome at first, but it leadeth to true joy ; you may look upon the gospel with some kind of delectation. Thorns may blaze under the pot, though they cannot keep in the fire. Do not rest in ' tasting the good word of God,' Heb. vi. 5, in some slight and transitory comfort. Hymeneus and Alexander are said to 'make shipwreck of faith,' 1 Tim. i. 19, 20 ; that is, of a false faith. So for a formal profession, men may begin in the Spirit and end in the flesh : Gal, iii. 3, ' Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh ? ' A man may seem to himself, and to the church of God, to have true grace ; nay, he may be enlightened, find some comfort in the word, escape the pollutions of the world, foul gross sins ; yea, these good things may be the works and the effects of the Spirit of God, not of nature only, not professed out of a carnal aim ; but there is no settled root, and therefore it is but of short continuance. But certainly that form that is taken up out of private aims will surely fail. God delighteth to take off the mask and disguise of hypocrites, by letting them fall into some scandalous sins. Paint is soon washed off. Therefore rest not in these things, till solid and substantial grace be wrought in your hearts. Use 6. Is comfort to God's children. Grace is sure, and the privi- leges of it sure. Grace is sure ; through your folly it may be nigh unto death, but it cannot die. This is the advantage of spiritual comforts, that they do not only satisfy our desires, but secure us against our fears : Isa. xxxv. 10, ' The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.' "^nce in Christ, and you shall be for ever preserved. The leaven and ic dough can never be severed when kneaded together, so neither can
VjSR. 11.] SERMONS UFON JOHN XVJl. 309
you from Christ. Grace would be little better than temporal things if it did yield but temporary refreshment. You are sure that nothing- shall cut you ofi' from enjoying God, for nothing shall altogether cause you to cease to love God. The children of God would be troubled, though their grace should not fail, if their privileges should be cut ofi'; but you are sure of both. God will maintain a spark, and the seed remaineth, and the privileges of grace are sure too. This was figured under the law. An Israelite could never wholly alienate his title to the land : Lev. xxv. 23, ' The land shall not be sold for ever ; for the land is mine, for ye were strangers and sojourners with me.' His title to the land shall not be quite cut off, 'it shall not be sold for ever ; ' which was a type of our spiritual inheritance in Christ, which cannot be alienated from us. He might for a while alienate and pass away his inheritance, yet the property remained ; he knew it would return again. So here, God's children are never disinherited. By regenera- tion we are made co-heirs with Christ; we have an interest in the whole patrimony of the gospel. Now God will not cut off the entail, nor take the advantage of every offence which his children commit. To insure us, he hath not only put the entail into our hands, by giving us his promise, but he hath given us earnest and seisin in part, and he hath chosen a feoffee in trust to keep the estate for us ; our heavenly patrimony is kept safe in his hands. It is true we forfeit it by the merit of our actions, but the trust standeth still enrolled in the court of heaven, and is not cancelled. Christ is to look to that, and it being conveyed in and by him as the first heir, he is to interpose his merit ; as under the law, if the person were not able to redeem the inherit- ance, the kinsman was to redeem it. Christ is our kinsman after the flesh, he is our Goel, and maketh all firm and sure between God and us. It is true we lose the evidences that are in our keeping, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost ; but the estate is indefeasible, and cannot be made away from us. Well, then, you see that grace is kept, and the privileges of grace are kept. Oh, what a sweet comfort is this!