(2.) To subject ourselves to his commanding will, or to do what he will have us to do. This is principally considered here ; we give up ourselves to God, that our bodies may be employed as instruments of righteousness. All external duties, or fruits of our love to God in Christ, are acted by tlie body ; therefore we resign up ourselves to him to obey him in these things. Surely it is meet that God should rule the creatures that he hath made ; therefore we should be able to say, as the psalmist, Ps. cxix. 94, ' I am thine, save me, for I have sought thy ])recepts.' One that maketh conscience of his resignation to God will be careful both to know and do his will. Paul, as soon as he was smitten with conviction, cries out. Acts ix. 6, * Lord ! what wilt thou have me to do?'
[6.] When you have thus dedicated yourselves to God, you must use } ourselves for him ; for the sincerity of our dedication is known by our use. Many give up themselves to God, but in the use of them- selves thei-e appeareth no such matter. They use their tongues as their own to talk what they please, their hearts as their own to think and desire what they please, their bodies, their wealth, their time, their strength, as if it were all their own, and the hand of consecration had never been upon them : Ps. xii. 4, ' Our tongues are our own ; who is bird over us?' This is the language not of their mouths, but of their lives ; these reassume the possession of that which they had sur- rendered to the Lord. No ; you have, as to disposal, lost all i)roperty in yourselves, and must look upon yourselves ever after not as your
252 SKRMONS UPON ROMANS VI. [SeR XI,
<nvn, but God's ; they are ' vessels set apart for the master's use,' 2 Tim. ii. 21 ; and accordingly we must ' live not to ourselves, but to God;' 2 Cor. v. 15, 'And that he died for all, that they that live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that died for them, and rose again.' Nothing must be alienated from him, but used as he shall direct and appoint. All your powers and faculties are his, and to be employed for him.
Secondly, Let me show you the reasons of it. They are taken from the right God hath in you and to you. Justice requireth that we should give every one his own, to CcBsar the things that are Cfesar's, to God the things that are God's. We do but restore to God that which is his before when we giv^e up ourselves to him. Now we are God's —
1. By his creating us out of nothing : ' It is he that hath made us, not we ourselves,' Ps. c. 3. Surely God hath a propriety in all that we have; for we have all by his creating bounty, as the potter hath power over his own clay. So hath God in all the vessels which he hath formed, ' he formed them for himself.' If the husbandman may call the vine his own which he hath planted in his own ground and soil, God may much more call the creature his own, which he hath made. The husbandman cannot make the vine, but only set it and dress it : but we are wholly and solely of him and from him, and from nothing else, and therefore vfe should be wholly and solely for him, and nothing else.
2. By preservation. God is Lord of all, because he preserveth all : Neh. ix. 6, ' Thou, even thou, art Lord alone ; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are therein, and thou preservest them all, and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.' Preservation is the continuance of our being by his providential influence and supportation : Acts xvii. 28, ' For in him we live, and move, and have our being;' Heb. xi. 3, ' Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.' If we could any moment exempt oui'selves from the dominion and influence of his providence, we might be supposed to be exempted in that moment from his jurisdiction and government ; but man wholly depending on God for being and preservation, we cannot lay claim to our time and strength, not for one minute or moment ; for we can hold neither body nor soul, nor anything that we have, a minute longer than God pleaseth. If you will serve yourselves and please yourselves, live of yourselves if you can.
3. By redemption. That right is pleaded, 1 Cor. vi. 20, ' Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God with your bodies and souls, which are God's.' By creation and preservation we are God's ; but redemption constituteth such a new right and title as doth not only strengthen the former, but also is comfortable to us. If a slave were not killed outright, but continued a day or two, though he died by the stripes given him by his master, there was no plea or accusation could be commenced against the master for the life of his slave, Exod. xxi. 21 ; he was his money, that is, purchased by his money. God hath bought us at a higher rate than money : 1 Peter i.