[2.] A thankful acceptance ; for so great a benefit as pardon and life should not be entertained but with a grateful consent, and deep sense of his love, who so freely loved us, and forgave us so great a debt, and doth so freely save us : Luke vii. 47, ' Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much ; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.' Surely Christ should not, cannot be received into the heart without a hearty welcome and cordial embraces.
[3.] It is a fiducial consent, or such as is joined with some confi- dence and affiance ; for there is a confidence and trust to be included in the nature of faith, and cannot be separated from it, and without it we cannot be satisfied with the truth of the offer, and cannot depend upon God's word : Eph. i. 13, 'In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.' Now this trust will make us venture all in his hands, and renounce our dearest lusts and interests.
[4.] It is obediential. We give up ourselves to obey God through Jesus Christ, that we may enjoy, please, and glorify him ; which you do when you receive Christ with a hearty consent of subjection, to be guided, ruled, and ordered by him ; for he is our Lord as well as our
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50 SERMONS UPON PHILIPPIANS III. [SeR. VI.
Saviour : Col. ii. 6, ' As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him ; ' 2 Peter iii. 2, ' Of the commandment of us the apostles of our Lord and Saviour.' We must obey his strictest laws ; and as he is the physician of our souls, we must rest upon his skill, and suffer him to apply his sharpest plasters, take the bitterest medicines, most ungrateful to flesh and blood.
Use. Oh, let us think of these things. The hour of death and judg- ment will come. How sweet will it be then to be found in Christ, not having our own righteousness ? None will be found in Christ but those who believe the gospel, and so accept of Christ as to depend upon him and obey him. We depend upon the merit of his satisfaction for pardon and life, and we keep his commandments and abide in his love, seeking his glory, and yielding ourselves to his obedience, as our Lord and sovereign, that he may conduct us to everlasting glory in his own way. Do this, and you have an interest in his merits and righteousness. We shall one day come to be judged and tried whether we have done so, yea or no ; whether we are unbelievers and rebels against the Lord Christ, or whether sound believers.
SERMON VI.
Tliat I may hnoio Mm, and the power of Ms resurrection, and the felloivship of Ms sufferings, being made conformable to Ms death. —Phil. iii. 10.
Paul goeth on enumerating his advantages by Christ. The first was his interest in Christ's righteousness ; now he mentioneth two other necessary to be added to the former ; for whoever boasts of his justi- fication must show it by his sanctification : ' That I may be found in him, not having my own righteousness ; and that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.'
Here the double benefit is, a conformity to Christ in his life and in his death.
1. To his life, ' That I may know him, and the power of his resurrec- tion.'
2. To his death, ' And the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.'
There is a spiritual inward conformity to the death of Christ, when we die unto sin ; and outward, in bearing the cross. This is spoken here ; and in this latter there is a double benefit which we have in our sufferings for Christ — (1.) Fellowship with Christ ; (2.) Conformity to Christ.
[1.] Our conformity to his life, or ' knowing the power of his resurrec- tion,' is mentioned first, before our conformity to his death, which in order of nature should have preceded, because we should first know what we should propound as our hope and scope before we resolve upon the way of dying to sin and dying to the world. Till we live
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the new life and are excited to the hopes of glory, we cannot encounter sufferings. The new life is the principle, and the hope of glory the end, and the patient continuance in well-doing the way.
Again, it is observable how the apostle increaseth the description of his self-denial, what he accounteth gain, and such gain that he esteemeth all things but loss and dung in comparison of it ; not only to know Christ and privileges, but Christ and the sacred influence of his grace. To desire to be found in Christ, not having our own righteousness, will be assented unto by most. We all desire happi- ness and immunity, to be freed from the penalties of the law and the flames of hell ; this point of submission will not be much scrupled at ; few value the life of holiness, but the apostle ' counted all things loss and dung, to know him and the power of his resurrection.'