6. This must not only be represented in the power and demonstra- tion of the Spirit, but received and applied by faith. Sanctification is sometimes ascribed to the gospel, and sometimes to faith, which receiveth the gospel : Acts xv. 9, ' Purifying their hearts by faith.' Our hearts are purified by the word of truth : 1 Peter i. 22, ' Seeing that ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit.' Here they were purified by faith. The word worketh not without an act on our part as well as on God's : ' The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it/ Heb. iv, 2 ; as a plaster worketh not till it be applied to the sore. jSTay, the apostle's word implieth more ; the word must not only be a})plied to the soul, but mingled with the soul, av'yKeKpaiJLevo<i. As in a medicine, the ingredients must be mixed together to do good ; so if we have the word, we must have the Spirit, and we must have faith ; mix it altogether, and then it worketh. Faith receiveth the word as a divine and infallible truth, and that begets an awe.
In short, faith working to sanctification', apprehends the love of God, the blood of Christ, the promises, precepts of the word ; and by all these it is ever purging and working out corruption. By apprehending the love of God : Gal, v. 6, ' In Christ Jesus neither circumcision
422 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [Ser. XXVII.
availeth anything, nor uucircumcision, but faith that worketh by love.' Shall I love that which Grod hateth ? ' Oh ! do not this abominable thing that I hate/ Jer. xliv. 4. Faith representeth God pleading thus : Is this thy kindness to thy friend ? do I thus requite Grod for all his kindness to me in Christ ? There is an exasperation against lusts. It maketh use of the blood of Christ : 1 John i. 7, * The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sins ;' Heb. ix. 14, ' How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God?' That is an excellent purger. In outward purging it is the water and the soap cleanseth, but the hand of the laundress applieth it, and rubbeth the clothes that are washed. Faith apprehendeth the blood of Christ to purge the conscience, it w^aiteth for the sanctifying virtue of his blood, and the grace purchased thereby. So faith maketh use of the promises; this giveth faith encouragement to expect glorious rewards. Assistance is purchased, and acceptance is promised: 2 Cor. vii. 1, 'Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.' Then faith constantly maketh use of the precepts and counsels of the word, by which sin is discovered and taxed. When the word is received by faith, there goeth a light with it to see sin after another manner, although a man did not know it before. Faith persuadeth us that the commands of God are just and equal. There is a believing com- mands, as well as promises ; this is a command from God : Ps. cxix. 66, ' Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I have believed thy commandments.'
SERMON XXVII.
Sanctify them through thy truth .• thy ivord is truth. — John XVII. 17.
Thirdly, I now proceed to the reasons why God sanctifieth by his truth. It is most suitable to God's honour and to man's nature.
First, To God's honour. It was meet that God should give a rule to the creatures, or else how should they know his will ? And then it was meet to honour this rule, by owning it above all other doctrines, by the concomitant operation of his Spirit. This is the authentic proof ; the efficacy of the word is a pledge of the truth of it : John viii. 32, ' And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make ye free,' from the bondage of sin, the devil, and death. A wicked man cannot have an absolute assurance of the truth of the word ; he hath no feeling of the jiower of it. There is a great deal of do. How do you prove the scriptures to be the word of God ? A believer hath the testimony in his own heart : 1 John v. 10, ' He that believeth in the Son of God hath the testimony in himself.' His conscience and his heart are set at liberty by water and blood. This made the apostles bold, and should make ministers so : Rom. i. 16, ' I am not ashamed
VeR. 17.J SEKMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 423
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.' We should not be ashamed to preach it, and you should not he ashamed to profess it : 'It is the power of God.' God will not associate and join the powerful operation of his Spirit with any other doctrine. So David, when he commendeth the law, by which he doth not mean the decalogue, but the whole word of God : Ps. xix. 7-9, * The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul ; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the soul ; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes ; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever; the judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether." He had spoken before of the excellency of the sun, now of the word, intimating that the word of God is as necessary for the heart as the sun is for the world. We can as well be without the sun as without the bible. But how doth he evidence it ? From the effects upon the heart and conscience : comfort and grace are two great evidences of the perfection of the word. No doctrine in the world, save this divine truth set down in scripture, is able to discover the sin and misery of man, the remedy and relief of it in Christ. No doctrine save this alone can effectually humble a soul, and convert it to God, make it sensible of the loss by sin, and restore it to a better condition.