(1.) Acceptance : John i. 12, ' To as many as received him.' Who- soever do broken-heartedly, thankfully, and heartily take the Lord Jesus to be their Lord and Saviour, and are resolved to seek their happiness in God through him, are adopted into his family, and are made heirs according to the hope of eternal life : Heb. vi. 18, ' Who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us.' They have a heaven of glory at their lives' end. They cannot be satisfied till they are in their city of God, till they have a right, and get some possession of Christ and his benefits, which is mainly done by faith and hope. We believe Christ to be that to us as the gospel sets him forth to be ; consent he shall be such a one to us, and therefore trust in him, and resign up ourselves to him, that he may do the works of a saviour for us and in us. AVell, then, do you heartily entertain him in your souls for these ends ? and do you depend upon him, that he will according to his word accomplish these ends ? namely, deliver you from the guilt, and power, and punishment of sin ; also work grace, and preserve, and quicken, and strengthen it unto eternal life. Then we begin to live in him : Gal. ii. 20, ' The life that I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.'
(2.) Adherence. There is first choosing and then cleaving : Acts xi. 23, ' And exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord ;' Cant, iii. 4, 'I found him whom my soul loveth ; I held him, and would not let him go.' Abiding in him : John xv. 4, ' Abide in me.' There is no fear of breaking the union on his part. His gracious ■ presence is secured by his love and promise. All the danger is in breaking on our part. And though Christ doth finish the work he hath begun, yet we must use caution and watchfulness ; not consent to quit him upon any terms. This adherence is a con- tinuance in faith, and love, and strict obedience.
{1st.) In faith : Col. i. 23, ' If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.' He had spoken of their reconciliation with God through Christ ; now the comfort did depend on their perseverance. It is not enough for us to assent to the truth of the gospel, and once to embrace Christ, and choose the good things offered by him for our portion, but still Christ must be precious to us, and our faith firm and fixed.
(2d) Love : Rom. viii. 35, ' Who shall separate us from the love of Christ ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
SERMON UPON PROVERBS III. 18. 19
nakedness, or peril, or sword ? ' Cant. viii. 7, ' Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it ; if a man would give all the substance of his house, it would be utterly contemned.' Love cannot be bribed nor quenched ; nothing can unclasp those mutual embraces.
(3c?.) Strict obedience and holiness : Kev. xxii. 14, ' Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have a right to eat of the tree of life.'
[4.] And this when there are sore temptations to drive us from God : Rev. ii. 7, ' To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.'
Use 1. To persuade us to get and keep this wisdom, and this saving knowledge of Christ, which may produce faith, love, and obedience.
1. Consider the motives propounded, life and blessedness. These are most desirable things. All would be happy, and all would live to enjoy them ; yea, the general desire of all men is to prolong their life, though in misery ; but this life is happy, and it is eternal, and recom- mended to us with all the advantages which the place heaven can afford us. The tree of life is gone, when paradise was defaced by the flood ; but God hath provided a better life by the death of his Son, that we shall live for ever, both in body and soul, eternally in heaven. Nothing else but this deserveth to be called life. The bodily life is short ; it is a dying life or a living death. It floweth from us as fast as it Cometh to us ; but this never fadeth, but endureth for ever. The bodily life is subject to pain and misery, but the heavenly, full of joy and endless glory. The bodily life is supported with meats and drinks, but there God is all in all. The bodily life is consistent with sin, but this life is pure and perfect : ' We shall see God as he is, and be like him,' 1 John iii. 2 ; Jude 2, 4, ' Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.' In the bodily life we have a mixture of sorrow with all our comforts, but here is full contentment and satis- faction : Ps. xvi. 11, 'In thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.'