6. Serious covenanting with God, or devoting ourselves to him : 1 Pet. iv. 12, ' Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind ; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin ; that he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God ; ' and Rom. vi. 13, ' Neither yield ye your members as instru- ments of unrighteousness unto sin ; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
7. Humiliation for sin. This checketh the pleasure we take in it ; this is begun in fear, continued in shame, and carried on further by
VeR. 14.] SEKMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. 91
sorrow, and ended in indignation ; we fear it as damning ; we are ashamed of it as defiling ; we sorrow for it, as it is an act of unkind- ness against God ; and we have indignation against it, as unsuitable to our glorious hopes, and present interest : Isa. xxx. 22, ' And thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth ; tiiou shalt say unto it, get ye hence.' Hos. xiv. 8, ' Ephraim shall say, what have I any more to do with idols? ' This is the soul's expulsive faculty.
8. Thankfulness for the grace received : 1 Sam. xxv. 32, 33, ' Blessed be God, that kept me from shedding of innocent blood ; ' Gen. xx. 6, ' I withheld thee from sinning against me.' Disappointments of provi- dence, restraints of grace, the power of saving grace : Eom. vii. 2.5, ' I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.'
9. Diligence in God's work. Standing pools are apt to putrify; when men are not taken up for God, they are at leisure for evil: 2 Sam. xi. 2, ' And it came to pass in the evening tide, that David arose from his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself ; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon, and the king sent for her,' etc.
10. The remembrance of the other world, wliither you are hastening : 1 Pet. ii. 11, 'I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.' Y ou need not long for the flesh-pots of Egypt, when you are going to a land that floweth with milk and honey.
SERMON XXI.
Fo7- as many as are led hy the Spirit of God are the sons of God. —
Eom. VIII. 14.
These words are given as a reason of what went before ; that which immediately went before is a promise of eternal life to those who by the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body. The reason may be supposed to relate to the promise, or the qualification : first, to the reward promised. Thus ; they shall live in eternal happ iness and glory, for they are the sons of God; if we be children, God will deal with us as children, bestow the inheritance upon us, and therefore we shall live. Secondly, the qualification. They do by the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body ; the Sjiirit of God sustaineth a double relation, — as our sanctifier, and our comforter. The former is proper to this place ; he is our sanctifier, either with respect to the first infusion of grace, or the continual direction and ordering of grace so infused. Now this must be interpreted with respect to the twofold work of a christian, the mortifying of sin, or the perfecting of holiness ; his restraining or inviting motions. The first belongeth to the one, the second to the other ; if we obey the Spirit's motions in the curbing and restraining evil, and subduing our proneness thereunto, thea we shall live ; ' for as many as are led,' etc. He proveth it a signo
92 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeR. XXI.
notificativo ; this being led and guided by the Holy Ghost is an in- fallible proof of onr adojition, or being taken into God's family : ' for as many as are led by the Spirit of God,' etc. Observe here, —
1. A sure note and qualification, ' as many as are led by the Spirit.'
2. A blessed privilege, ' are the sons of God.' In the former, — [1.] Tlie note itself, or the duty which evidences our claim, ' being
led.'
[2.] Tlie universality of it, 'as many.' It is to be understood inclusive and exclusive ; they, and none but they. There is in the proposition that whicli they call simplex conversio, all that are led are the sons of God ; and backward, all that are the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God.
Doct. That all that are led by the Spirit of God may know and conclude themselves to be children of God.
I shall first explain, (1.) The qualification ; (2.) The privilege.
First, The qualification ; — We are said to be led by the Spirit.
It must be understood actively, with respect to his direction ; and passively on our parts, as we submit to that direction. Tiie Spirit i.'^ our guide, and we must obey his motions.