Of course, you will all he anxious to know, II. How this assurance is to be obtained —
It is not the fruit of any enthusiastic impression or conceit.
*> Cant. ii. 16. c 1 John iii. 14, 19, 24.
rt 1 John iv. 1.'3. e 1 John v. 19, 20. f Gal. ii. 20.
8 Rom. viii. 15. 10". h 2 Cor. v. 1 — 3. ' Rom. viii. :J4 — 39.
I do not deny, but that many " profess that they know God, whilst in works they deny him-*.;" and that it is possible for men so to deceive themselves, as to possess all the confidence of the most established believer : yea, there are not wanting multitudes who carry this delusion with them even to the bar of judg- ment ; and, even in the presence of their Judge, will claim his favour ; saying, " Have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name done many wonderful works ?" whilst they will only draw upon themselves that damnatory sentence, " Depart from me ; I never knew you, ye workers of iniquity1." If any would attain a scriptural assurance, they must try them- selves by the test proposed to them by St. John — the test of their obedience to God's commands.
This is a suitable way of attaining it —
[How do we judge of a tree, but by its fruits? We should not be satisfied with beholding its foliage, however luxuriant it might be : we should desire to behold, and to taste, the fruit : and by that we should form our estimate of its real worth. In like manner, if a child or servant professed pre-eminent regard for us, we should naturally expect that regard to manifest itself by an observance of our commands. This, then, is the way by which God will judge of us, and by which we also must judge ourselves. Our Lord has plainly told us, " He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth mem:" and again; "He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruitn." Well, therefore, may our Lord accuse us of inconsistency, when we profess our- selves his, without obeying his commandments : " Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say0?" We may set this down as an unquestionable truth, that if " Christ be made unto us righteousness, he will be to us sanctification also p." And if we say, "There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," we must never forget the description there given of those persons ; namely, that " they walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit q."]
It is also a certain way of attaining it —
[From whence is it that any person is enabled to keep God's commandments? Our blessed Lord has told us that
k Tit. i. 16. I Matt. vii. 22, 23. m John xiv. 21.
n John xv. 5. ° Luke vi. 46. p 1 Cor. i. 30.
i Rom. viii. 1.