[3.] From this dedication there results a relation of the persons so dedicated to God, so that from that time forth they are not their own, but the Lord's : Ezek. xvi. 8, ' Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love, and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness, yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine ; ' Eom. xiv. 7, 8, ' For none of us livetli to himself, and no man dieth to himself ; for whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and w^hether we die, we die unto the Lord ; whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.'
[4.] There is another thing, and that is the actual using of ourselves for God. We are vessels set apart for the master's use: 2 Tim. ii. 21, * If a man therefore purge himseK from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.' And accordingly we must live, not to ourselves, but unto God ; it resulteth from all the former : 2 Cor. v. 15, ' And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them.' If we love God, and have a thankful sense of his love and kindness to us, we will do so ; there needeth no other law to bind this upon us but our love. Love is the poise which inclineth the soul to God. If we are dedicated to God, the sincerity of our dedication is known by our use. Many give up themselves to God, but in the use of themselves there appeareth no such matter ; they use their tongues as their own, their hearts as their own, their bodies as their own, their wealth, strength, and time as their own ; but a sincere christian maketh conscience of his dedication : 1 Cor. vi. 15, ' Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ ; shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot ? God forbid ! ' Our members are members of Christ, as we are in covenant with him ; in point of fidelity, we must not do so. And his interest in us obligeth us : Mat. xxii. 21, ' Eender therefore to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's.' We are not our own, but God's : 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20, ' Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.' Do not rob God of his own ; you should make conscience of alienating, that which is the Lord's.
Once more, this is bound upon us by another argument, the certainty of our future account : Luke xix. 23, ' Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, tiiat at my coming I might have received
446 SERMON UPON ZECHARIAH XIV. 20 21.
my own with usury ? ' He will require his own with usury. We should keep a constant and faithful reckoning how we lay out ourselves for God ; we must not spare God something only, but the main drift and business of our lives must be to honour God ; he must have a share in all things we have and do.
I might add, as another binding consideration, the constancy of divine inspection. We are always in the eye and presence of the great God, who still looketh upon us, and considereth whose business we are about, his or our own : Luke i. 75, ' In holiness and righteous- ness before him all the days of our life.' We are always before him, and observed by him.
2. Positive holiness may be considered either with respect to our persons or actions.
[1.] Our persons, when we are renewed by the Spirit, or there is an inward principle of sanctification wrought in our hearts. Other things, when dedicated to God, are changed only in their use, as gold, silver, and goat's-hair ; but when man is dedicated to God, he is changed in his nature ; there is not only a difference between him and others, but a difference between him and himself. There is a difference between him and others, not only as he is set apart for God and dedicated to an holy use ; the godly are set apart for God : Ps. iv. 3, ' But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself ; ' but as he is cleansed, purified, and renewed by the Holy Ghost, and so there is a differ- ence between him and himself: 1 Cor. vi. 11, 'And such were some of you ; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God.' Now this is necessary, that a man should be holy before his actions shall be holy ; for till a man be regenerated, and act from a principle of grace in his heart, all that he doth is but the shadow and imperfect imitation of a good action, as an ape would imitate a man, or as a violent motion doth resemble that which is natural. We are bidden to be holy as God is holy : 1 Peter i. 15, ' But as he that hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.' God as to his essence' and being is holy, and all his acts carry a condecency with his nature : ' He is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works,' Ps. cxlv. 17. So we are ' made partakers of a divine nature,' 2 Peter i. 4, and so live and walk in a godlike manner : 2 Peter i. 3, ' According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness.' Grace is given to beget life, and then we are visibly to express it in a course of godly walking. Grace is planted in the heart, and then the influence of it is diffused throughout all the parts of his life. First there is internal holiness, in the hatred of sin and the love of that which is good, and then external holiness is expressed in avoiding the one and pursuing after the other. In short, actions without life are the motions of puppets, not living creatures. On the other side, if there be a change of heart, there must be fruits becoming it. Habits are known by their acts, and resolution by our practice, and the new nature by newness of conversation. A principle of grace there must be, and a prevalent principle, such as gets the mastery of sin, before a man can be denominated holy. There are mixed principles and mixed operations in a christian, but one is in predominancy