(3.) God is true in the doctrine of reconciliation and promise of eternal life to Christ's faithful disciples discovered to us in the gospel, or in what he speaks by Christ ; there is a divine character in his doc- trine. The testimony of Christ is the testimony of God. He spake as an original author ; for so it foUoweth, ver. 34, ' He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God;' John vii. 16, 'My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.' He devised it not himself as man, nor acquired it by any human art and industry. As God equal with the Father, he knew all these mysteries ; as man, by communication from his Godhead. God is true in what he revealeth by his Son : so John xiv. 24, ' The word which yon hear is not mine, but the Father which sent me.' You justify God's truth against the objections of your own hearts and the prejudices of the world ; you own it as a doctrine that hath a divine truth only in it, and so build on it.
Use. To persuade us to receive Christ's testimony, and to receive it so as that we put to our seal that God is true. It is easy to reason ; partly —
1. From the honour that is done to God. God justifieth, sanctifieth, glorifieth us, and we justify, sanctify, and glorify God. We justify God : Luke vii. 29, ' And all the people that heard him, and the pub- licans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.' When we receive God's message by Christ, we acquit him of all that the blind world or our carnal hearts lay against him. We sanctify God : Isa. viii. 13, * Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.' To sanctify is to set apart, and to expect and fear more from God than can be expected and feared from all the powers in the world. We glorify God : Eom. iv. 20, it is said of Abraham, ' He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief ; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.'
2. Consider what an honour there is put upon us, that such poor worms as we are should be called to the sealing of God's truth, to con- firm the promises by our consent, and to give it under our hands that we believe the promises, that so others may be moved by our example
390 A SERMON ON JOHN III. 33.
to accept of this waj' of salvation, and so your faitli procures credit to God. Oh ! do not deprive yourselves of this dignity.
3. On the other side, consider what a great dishonour it is to God not to give credit to his word. You blaspheme God when you do not receive his testimony : 1 John v. 10, ' He that believeth not God hath made him a Har.' To make God a liar is to make him no God at all. To have the promise of life unfolded, if we do not heartily embrace it, and firmly build upon it, and be diligent upon these hopes, we carry it so as if his testimony were not true. Hereby you wrong yourselves by your own prejudices, and become a stumbling-block to your brethren,- confirming them in an evil way.
4. You are of the church, and pretend to receive Christ's testimony; you are God's witnesses, it is a mockery, a treachery, if you should not put to your seals, live in the constant sense and belief of eternal blessedness by Christ
5. Consider how careful God's faithful servants have been to per- form their duty in this kind. Moses : Deut. xxxii. 4; ' He is the rock , his work is perfect ; a God of truth, and witliout iniquity, just and right is he.' So Joshua, chap, xxiii. 14, ' Not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord spake concerning you.' So Jacob: Gen. xlviii. 15, 16, ' He blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my father Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads,' &c. It is the great and most acceptable piece of worship ; if you put to your seal to God, God will seal to you : Eph. i. 13, ' In whom also, after ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.'
Object. But you will say, What needeth all this ado ? Do not we believe the scriptures to be the word of God, and Jesus Christ to be the Messiah ? Are we not baptized into his name ? I answer —
1. Many may visibly possess Christ, and yet not believe in him. Christ hath disciples in name, and disciples indeed . John viii. 37, 'If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.' Many pro- fess to know God, but in their works deny him, Titus i. 16. So God refnteth the claim of those that said, ' My God, we know thee ; but ye have not followed the thing that good is,' Hosea viii. 2. We pro- fess God knoweth the heart, and yet we never take care to purge the heart from corrupt lusts. We profess God hath a paiticular provi- dence and care of his people, and yet we shift for ourselves. We pro- fess God is true, yet believe him no further than we can see him.