[1.] Those that do so, will in time overcome malice and prejudice, and convince the world that God is in them of a truth, and they are a heavenly and holy people, and have a spirit and a presence that others have not : Prov. xii. 26, ' The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour.'
[2.] They will reprove the world : Heb. xi. 7. Noah condemned the world by his ready obedience to God's warning.
[3.] They will make the world wonder : 1 Peter iv. 4, ' They think it strange you run not into the same excess of riot with them.' It is no wonder to see men proud, covetous, revengeful, carnal, self-seeking: corrupt nature will sufficiently prove this. As it is no wonder to see the sun move, though it was a wonder in Joshua's time when the sun stood still ; so it is no wonder to see men loose and wicked ; but it is a wonder to see men holy, heavenly, mortified, self-denying.
[4.] You will justify the ways of God against the cavils of atheists and profane carnal men : Mat. xi. 19, ' Wisdom is justified of her children ; ' and Israel justified Sodom, Ezek. xvi.
Use 2 is to exhort us to get this Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts, that he may work in us a divine nature, or that spiritual and divine
492 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeR. X.
temper which will teach us to live above and against the inclinations of the flesh.
1. The means of infusing the divine nature into us is the doctrine and example of Christ. First, His doctrine, which discovereth higher things than the flesh inclineth us unto, and is the only cure of the carnal spirit. This word was indited by the Holy Spirit : ' For holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost : ' 2 Pet. ii. 21. He inspired the holy apostles, first to speak, and then to write, the doctrine of Christ ; he ' led them into all truth : ' John xvi. 13. The same Spirit attested this doctrine by miraculous gifts: Heb. ii. 4 ; is con- veyed by it : Gal. iii. 2, ' Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or the hearing of faith ? ' He prepareth and assisteth the ordinary ministry, that they may be fitted to convey this great gift : Acts XX. 28, ' Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers ; ' and 2 Cor. iii. 6, ' Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter but of the spirit.' He writeth this doctrine upon the heart : Heb. X. 8, and 2 Cor. iii. 3. Doth so renew and sanctify our souls, that we may live unto God. Secondly, The example of Christ, for he had the days of his flesh : John i. 14 ; and Heb. v. 7 ; lived in the world, as men do, but not after the flesh ; and God in our nature is the fit pattern for us to imitate, that we may be in the world as he was in the world, and not please the flesh, as he pleased not himself. To this example we are to be conformed ; but it doth not barely work as an example, but as sanctified and accompanied by the Spirit ; for it is said : 2 Cor. iii. 18, ' Beholding the glory of the Lord, as in a glass, we are changed into his image and likeness ; ' and so we are made par- takers of this new and divine nature.
2. When the Spirit cometh to work it in us, we must not neglect and refuse his help, but give place to his motions ; as when the waters were stirred, they presently put in for cure. To smother convictions breedeth atheism and hardness of heart. When he reproveth, you must hearken and observe : Prov. i. 23, when he knocketh you must open : Eev. iii. 20 ; when he draweth, you must run : Cant. i. 4. The smarter the reproof, the louder the knock, the stronger the drawing, the more you are boimd to improve it, or else you are left in worse condition than before, by resisting or quenching the Spirit. It will be your advantage to obey him speedily, before the heart cool again : Isa. liv. 6. It is a time of finding which God may not give you again ; delaying and shifting is a sign the help offered is rather looked upon as a trouble than a favour ; and it is but a deceit of heart to elude the importunity of the present conviction : Mat. xxvii. 24, 25, ' Pilate took Avater and washed his hands, saying before the multitude, I am innocent of the blood of this man.' His conscience boggles, and he makes use of this shift to put off the conviction. Surely God demandeth a present obedience : Heb. iii. 7, 8, ' To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts ; ' and all serious people will take the advantage : Gal. i. 16, ' Immediately I consulted not with flesh and blood ; ' Ps. cxix. 60, ' I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.'