480 A SACRAMENT SEllMON ON LUKE XXII. 20.
inheritance,' The lieiis of the new testament are the called. Some are not called at all, as the gentiles, to whom the gospel is not preached. Some are called, but refuse or neglect to accept of this grace ; as they that were bidden to the marriage of the king's son made light of it : Mat. xxii. 5, ' So many are called, but few are chosen,' Others seem to bind themselves to the observation of the covenant, but do not indeed come under the bond of it. Others are called, and are obedient to the heavenly call ; they that choose the things that please God, and take hold of the covenant, Isa. Ivi. 4. These are heirs, the effectually called. Again, they are described by their dedication to Christ: 1 Cor. iii. 23, 'All things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ's is God's.' As Jesus Christ gave up himself to God, humbled himself to do all the work of God ; so they to Christ : ' To them to live is Christ.' Sometimes by their sanctification : Acts. xx. 32, ' To give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified ; ' and Acts xxvi. 18, ' That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an in- heritance among them that are sanctified by faith.' Faith, as it beginneth in brokenness of heart, so it must end in holiness of life, or else we have no title to the inheritance. Such as are washed from the filth of their corruptions by the blood of the new testament : John xiii. 8, ' If I wash thee not, thou hast no part in me ; ' and 1 Cor. vi. 11, 'But now ye are washed, but now ye are sanctified.' Now some of these descriptions agree to the lowest degree of grace ; others include a more perfect measure. Let not poor sinners think them- selves excluded from the testament of Christ if they have not such a measure of grace as others. If they cannot make out their title by their holiness, they should by their brokenness of heart; if not by the bold challenge of faith, yet by their humble plea. There are fathers, and young men, and babes in Christ ; even babes have their share in Christ's testament : 1 John ii. 12, ' I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.' The qualification is sometimes laid down to suit with the strongest, tallest christian, sometimes with the weakest, because Christ's testament was intended for the use of little children as well as for fathers and young men. If you run for refuge, if you receive Christ as offered in the gospel, if you resolve to please God, and take hold of his covenant, these are the characters of the heirs of promise.
7. There are seals, which are the sacraments ; in this text, ' This cup is the new testament ; ' that is, the sign and seal of it. It must be understood saeramentally, for properly the new testament implieth higher legacies than the sacramental cup. But you must expound it as other sacramental phrases are expounded ; as see the like ; circum- cision is called God's covenant, Gen. xvii. 10. That in the 11th verse is meant a token of the covenant ; so ver. 13, ' My covenant shall be in your flesh ; ' that is, the sign of it. The apostle explaineth all this : Kom. iv. 11, ' And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith.' It is a sealing sign appointed by God to make us truly and really sure of our right to Christ's death and blood shed, and all the benefits purchased thereby. It is a confirming sin, not to infidels, but believers. To infidels miracles are for a sign, 1 Cor. xiv. 22 ; but to believers the ordinances of the gospel, as they excite
A SACRAMENT SERMON ON LUKE XXII, 20. 481
our faith by the eye, more to mind and regard the grace contained in the testament itself.
8. There are witnesses of this testament. The witnesses from heaven are the ' Father, Word, and Spirit ; ' and the witnesses on earth, ' the Spirit, the water, and blood ; ' the one external, the other inter- nal ; the one of the truth of the gospel, the other of our interest, as well as the truth of the things themselves.
[1.] The witnesses from heaven : 1 John v. 7, ' There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.' the blessed Trinity, that Jesus is the Son of God and the saviour of the world, in whom all our confidence should be placed, and on whom we should leave the weight of our souls. God seeketh no farther amends for all our wrongs, nor other price for what we need. The Father, Word, and Spirit witness this. The Word, that is Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God, whom the apostle calleth the Word. The Father witnessed by an audible voice from heaven when Christ was baptized: Mat. iii. 17, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; ' which was given very solemnly, in a great congregation of people, and divinely with great glory and majesty. Again renewed before Peter, James, and John, at Christ's transfiguration, Mat. xvii. 5, upon which Peter pleadeth the truth of the gospel covenant : 2 Peter i. 16, 17, ' For we have not followed cunningly-devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty ; for he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom 1 am well pleased.' That God approved Christ and the work he was going about, the Word gave testimony to this, not by naked affirmations, but in his doctrine and mu'acles, ' that he that beiieveth on him shall be saved.' He hath expressed his Father's mind to the world, and his own office in fulfilling it, that there should be no doubt of it. The Holy Ghost witnessed also at his baptism, resurrection, ascension, at the effusion or descent upon the apostles, that still the world hath fuller confirmation: Acts V. 32, 'And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.'