Doct. That all God's children aie heirs of a blessed and glorious inheritance. I shall show you, —
1. The agreement between common heirs and them.
2. The difference.
3. Those properties which show the greatness of the inheritance. First, The agreement ; in these things : •
1. There is an inheritance provided. We have a right to all the good things God hath jiromised, especially eternal life ; therefore the people of God are called ' heirs of salvation,' Heb. i. 14 ; ' heirs of the kingdom,' Jam. ii. 5 ; and the heavenly estate is called ' the inheritance of the saints in light,' Col. i. 12. Those excellent things which are to be enjoyed by us in the other world are in the nature of an inheritance.
2. The conveyance is by promise and covenant ; as otiier heritages are conveyed by formalities of law, so is this. The covenant is so offered by God, and so it must be accepted by us : Ps. cxix. Ill, ' Thy testimonies I have taken as an heritage for ever.' As we say a man's estate lieth iu bills and bonds, so are God's testimonies our heritage ;
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not the promises, but the things promised. And so it is said, Heb. vi. 12, that God's holy ones did tln-ough faith and patience inherit the
3. Our tenure is by sonship. [1.] It is free ; for the inheritance is not purchased by us, but freely bestowed upon us. A child's tenure differeth from a servant's ; the one earneth his wages, and the other hath his estate from his father's bounty and free gift ; so is ours the gift of God, Rom. vi. 23, in opposition to works ; called therefore 'the reward of inheritance,' Col. iii. 24. Though servants earn what they leceive from men, yet from the Lord Christ, whatever they receive for faithfulness in their calling, it is a free retribution ; though they are servants to men, yet they are sons to God, for all are children and heirs in heaven ; there is no distinction of servants and sons there. In short, whatever is promised to any work of ours, it is not from any worth in the work, but from God's free grace. [2.] It is full ; for the inherit- ance is more thau a legacy. God showeth his goodness to all his creatures, but to his children he giveth the inheritance. As Isaac had the inheritance from Abraham, but to his sons that he had by con- cubines he gave gifts, and sent them away. Gen. xxv. 5, 6. AH men taste of his common bounty, but his saints have their inheritance reserved for them ; which showeth that we should put a distinction between our heavenly inheritance, and those earthly enjoyments which flow in the channel of common providence. Alas ! That far exceedeth anything we enjoy here ; all things here are but mean and fading in themselves, and liable to spoil and devastation from others ; but this is our eternal and durable estate, which the wicked shall not partake of, whatever gifts God bcstoweth on them now.
4. There is a time between right and possession ; and in the mean- time the heirs live by hope, till the inheritance fairly descendeth to them ; so here : Titus iii. 7, ' Being justified by faith, we are made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.' We are heirs, but it is little that we enjoy now ; God's sons and heirs make no fair show in the flesh ; to outward ajipearance there is little difference between their condition, and the condition of the men of the world. For God will not distinguish the heirs of promise from others by their outward condition, but internally. There is hope of a better estate, and surely to expect such great things, and not be affected with them, argueth a dead and stupid heart. Is a right notliing before possession ? Or is the expectation so grounded, a vain fancy .'' Surely a christian is or will be a great man. Is the heir nothing better than a slave, because he doth not as yet come to the enjoyment of what is provided for him ? A right and a hope should give us more joy than usually we find in ourselves; if it were a vain expectation, and not grounded upon a right, it were less ; but being it is so, we should be more affected with it.
5. As an heir hath not only assurance of the inheritance, but present supply and maintenance, and other demonstrations of love to support his expectation from him that adopted him, that all the estate falleth to' him ; so in the meantime God's children have the pledges of his love, the possession of the heavenly inheritance is begun here in the kingdom of grace ; and is afterwards completed in the kingdom of glory. The Spirit now with his comforts and graces is set forth under
134 bliUMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeR. XXV.
!i double notion of earnest, and first fruits, Epli. i. 14, ' The earnest of inheritance.' ' First fruits,' Eom. viii. 23. There are two acts of a christian, to loolc, and long for this estate : look for it, because it is sure ; tiud long for it, because it is good. God giveth us a pledge and earnest, to show how sure ; a taste, to show how good ; thus far they agree.