5. We must improve our talents, lest we be accounted evil and sloth- ful servants, that receive grace in vain : 2 Cor. vi. 1, ' We beseech you that you receive not the grace of God in vain,'
Doct. 2. That the continued sanctification and perfecting of man once regenerate cometh from God as the God of peace.
This is the blessing prayed for, and when the apostle prayeth for it, he calleth God ' the God of peace.' So elsewhere ; 1 Thes. v. 23, ' The very God of peace sanctify you wholly ; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the com- ing of our Lord Jesus Christ.' He prayeth there for the whole progress of sanctifying grace, till it hath attained its end and final perfection, and giveth God the same title.
Here I shall open to you these five things — (1.) In what sense God is said to be the God of peace ; (2.) The ground and foundation of this peace; (3.) The evidences how it appears that God is pacified; (4.) The conveyance of it to us, or how we come to be interested in this peace ; (5.) The reasons why all increase of grace cometh from him as 8uch.
I. What is the meaning of this title ? God is called ' the God of peace' in two respects —
1. With respect to union and peace with men, especially our fellow- christians. God is the God of peace as he is the author and approver of this peace : 1 Cor. xiv. 33, ' For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints ; ' 2 Thes. iii. 16, ' Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always, by all means.'
2. With respect to our reconciliation with himself after the breach that was between us. Heaven and earth are at an accord, and the great
378 SERMON UPON HEBREWS XIII. 20, 21.
quarrel between us and God is compromised and taken up. In one place the angels come to proclaim ' peace on earth,' Luke ii. 14. -At another time, when Christ solemnly entereth as the Messiah into Jerusalem, they cried out, Luke xix. 38, ' Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.' One of the parties at variance is in the earth, the other in heaven. The angels, the inhabitants of the other world, proclaim peace on earth ; and men, that dwell here below, echo to them again peace in heaven, and that when they gave Christ the honour of the Messias, showing that his great business was to make reconciliation. It is not a primitive original peace, but a reconciliation after a breach, a restoring of peace when it was lost. We had all broken with God, and God was angry with men for sin ; now while God was angry and offended there was no hope to receive any gift of grace from him ; therefore with respect to this is God called ' the God of peace.'
II, The grounds and foundation of this peace ; and that is * by the blood of the everlasting covenant,' which is the only propitiatory sacrij&ce which could appease God, and give his justice full satisfaction and recompense for our offences. Before this peace could be made and this woful breach repaired, there were two things to be removed which stood in the way — God's wrath, and our rebellious nature. The righteous wrath of God is- appeased by the blood of Christ ; our rebel- lion is cured and healed by his Spirit. The latter is but a consequent of the former. The first foundation for this peace was laid in the blood of Christ : Col. i. 20, ' And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself ; ' Isa. liii. 5, ' The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.' The enmity had been irreconcilable and impossible to be removed, unless God had taken this way, unless the Son of God had died for a sinful world, that by the merit of his obedience he might give satisfaction to a provoked God for the wrong we had done him.
III. The evidences that God is pacified. Here are three mentioned — 1. The bringing back of Christ from the dead. This showeth that
God was propitiated, that he hath accepted the ransom that was given for souls. Christ's resurrection is called by the prophet a being ' taken from prison and from judgment,' Isa. liii. 8. While Christ was in the state of the dead, he was in effect a prisoner, under the arrest of divine vengeance ; but when he rose again, then was our surety let out of prison. The expression is notable in the text, ■' Brought again the Lord Jesus from the dead.' The force of the word may be explained with allusion to that carriage of the apostles when they were cast into prison : Acts xvi. 35, 37, 39, ' And the magistrates sent to let them go. Nay, verily,' say they, ' but let them come themselves and fetch us out , and they came and brought them out of prison.' So was Christ brought again. Though Christ had power to rise, yet was he rather raised. The Lord sent an angel to remove the stone, not to supply any lack of power in Christ, but as a judge when he is satisfied sendeth an officer to open the prison doors. Though Christ had power to rise, yet not authority, till the angel rolled away the stone. He did not break prison, but was brought again from the dead. Neither did he perish in prison ; then we could have no assurance of our discharge ; but as ' he died for our offences, so he rose again for our justification,'