406 SERMON UPON ACTS XVII. 30, 31.
came to recover us from the devil, the v^orld, and the flesh, unto God, that we may love him again, and be happy in his love ; so that they quite mistake the nature of our recovery who dream of a mere exemp- tion from wrath, without an healing our natures, or restoring and putting poor creatures in joint again, which were disordered by the fall or that we can live in the love of God, before we are changed both in heart and life. No ; Christ took another course to call us, not only to pardon and eternal glory, but to repentance ; or strictly to enjoin this duty upon us, that by his grace we might recover a disposition of heart, which in some measure might incline and enable us to love, please, and obey God, and that under pain of his displeasure we might break off our sins, and live unto God ; for he came not to give liberty to any to live in sin.
2. By its promises, for it offereth pardon and life to the penitent believer, and to them only. None can enjoy the privileges of the new covenant but those that are willing to return to the duty which they owe to the Creator. This is gospel : Luke xxiv. 47, ' That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name ; ' compared with Mark xvi. 16, ' He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned.' God and Christ are agreed that salvation should be dispensed upon these terms, and no other. We are not within the reach of the blessing and comfort of the promise till we repent.
3. By its ordinances, or the sacraments and seals of the covenant. As baptism, which serves for this use : Mat. iii. 11, ' I baptize you with water unto repentance ; ' and Acts ii. 38, ' Kepent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.' This is the initial ordinance, which is our first covenanting with God ; and therein we bind ourselves to forsake all known sin, and to live unto God ; and from that time forward we must reckon ourselves as under such a vow, bond, debt and obligation: Kom. vi. 11, 'Beckon yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.' What ! doth our mortification or vivification depend on our esteem or conceit ? Will that kill sin or quicken holi- ness ? The meaning is, count yourselves obliged to die to sin and to persevere in holiness by your baptismal vow and covenant. In the Lord's supper, one great benefit offered and sealed to us is the remission of sins : Mat. xxvi. 28, ' For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins ; ' that is, supposing we make conscience of our baptismal vow, and renew our resolutions against sin, lest we otow cold and remiss in them.
Thirdly, How convenient and necessary this is for our recovery to God.
1. For the honour of God. Surely Christ communicateth the eflects of his grace in a way becoming the wisdom of God as well as his justice. Now as the justice of God required that his wrath should be appeased, so his wisdom required that man should be converted and turned to God, because God, in dispensing pardon, will still preserve the honour of his law and government ; as he doth it in the impetra- tion, so in the application ; as to the impetration that was not without satisfaction ; so to the application, that is not without repentance, or a consent to live according to the will of God. Now this would fall
SERMON UPON ACTS XVII. 30, 31. 407
to the ground if we should be pardoned without submission, without confession of past sin, or resolution of future obedience ; for till then we neither know our true misery, nor are we willing to come out of it ; for they that securely continue in their sins, they despise both the curse of the law, and the grace of the gospel.
2. The duty of the creature is secured when we are so solemnly bound to future obedience. Our first hearty consent to live in the love and service of our Creator, with a detestation of our former ways, is made in a solemn covenant manner, called therefore the bond of the covenant : Ezek. xx. 37, ' I will bring you into the bond of the cove- nant.' So Num. XXX. 2, ' If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, and swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.' And besides, it is made in our anguish, when we drink of the bitter waters, and feel the smart of sin : Acts ix. 6, ' And he, trembling and astonished, said. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? ' And so the fittest time to induce an hatred of sin, and also love to God and holiness, as having then the sweetest and freshest sense of his love and mercy in providing a saviour for us, and offering pardon to us: Ps. cxxx. 4, 'There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayst be feared.' Our thoughts are most conversant about these things : Kom. xii. 1, ' I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.'