SERMON IV.
That I may win Christ — Phil. iii. 8.
Third point. That there should be some application when we consider Christ and address ourselves to know him. (1.) What is this applica- tion ; (2.) Why.
I. What is this application.
I shall give you — (1.) Some distinctions ; (2.) Some observations.
1. Distinctions. There is a twofold application ; one that more im- mediately respects comfort, the other duty. The application of comfort is when I respect Christ under such a term as implies some privilege to me ; that he is my saviour, stood in my room before God, bearing my sins, and suffered the wrath of God for me : Gal. ii. 20, ' Who loved me, and gave himself for me.' The application that more immediately respects duty is, when I apprehend Christ under such a term as infer- reth my obligation to duty and obedience ; as here he speaketh of the knowledge of Christ not only as the Lord, but my Lord : John xx. 28, ' My Lord and my God/ Now this application is always necessary, and yet questionable. My laying claim to privileges may be dis- allowed, but my obligation to duty is clear and certain.
2. Another distinction. There is the application of faith and the application of assurance.
[1.] The application of faith is a particular application of Christ and the promise to ourselves, so as to excite us to look after the benefits and ends for which Christ is appointed. This certainly is necessary for all. That which God revealeth I should know for my good : Job v. 27, ' Hear it, and know it for thy good ; ' Eom. viii. 31, ' What shall we then say to these things ? ' In this business it is the more necessary, because we are concerned both in the merit of the Redeemer and the offer of grace in the promise : Acts xiii. 26, ' To you is the word of this salvation sent.' It is a message from God ; sent to excite me to accept of the remedy offered. It is my duty to make general grace particular ; as to obey commands moral, so also evangelical. And the true nature of faith is an accepting of Christ, to be to me what God appointed him to be, and to do for me what God hath appointed him
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to do for poor sinners ; suppose, to ' be prince and saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins,' Acts v. 31 ; for certainly I for my particular am to accept of the offered remedy ; and since the grace of God hath not excepted me, I am not to except myself.
[2.] The application of assurance is, when I actually determine that my own sins are pardoned, that I am adopted into God's family, or that I am appointed to eternal glory by Jesus Christ. This cannot be made without some sense of our sincerity, because the promises of God require a qualification, and performance of duty in the person to whom the promises are made. Therefore we cannot be certain of our own interest till we have performed the duty and have the qualification. We must certainly know that we have performed the duty and are duly qualified. On this application the apostle speaketh, 1 John iii. 19, ' Hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.'
[3.] The application, which concerneth our own interest in privi- leges by Christ, may be either implicit or explicit, dark and re- served, or clear and open.
(1.) Implicit, dark and reserved, when we have not so full a persua- sion of our good estate, but comfortable encouragements to wait upon God in the way of our duty. This is expressed, 1 Tim. i. 15, ' This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.' Believers make a shift sometimes to creep into the backdoor of the promise. The general proposal of grace on God's part, and serious diligence on ours in seeking after it, giveth some hope, though as yet our sincerity be not fully witnessed to us, and we have not that sure and firm claim which we may have afterwards.
(2.) More explicit, clear and open. This is expressed in those forms: Eph. i. 6, ' To the praise of his glorious grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved ; ' 2 Cor. v. 1, ' We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' A chris- tian knoweth not only where he is, but where he shall be : 2 Tim. v. 8, ' Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day ; and not to me only, but unto all them that love his appearing.'
Secondly, I shall give you some observations.
1. That the application of faith may be without the application of assurance ; sometimes they go both together. The application of faith we have, and must have, because the promise of pardon to the peni- tent believer is universal, that it includeth you as well as others. God offereth pardon and life to you, and you must consent to accept it upon his terms ; and that Christ may be yours, and you his, to the ends pro- pounded in the gospel, you must choose him, and depend upon him as the only mediator, resolving to venture your souls and all your hopes upon him. You are not christians without it. But it may be all this while you do not know that he doth or will own you, because the sin- cerity of faith and love is doubtful to you. Sometimes they go together, -as when your interest in him and his interest in you is clear : Cant. ii. 16, ' My beloved is mine, and I am his.' Kesiguation and full appro- priation here is clear.