A Sinner's Justification Before God

A
PLAIN SCRIPTURAL ACCOUNT OF A
SINNER’S JUSTIFICATION BEFORE GOD.

IN FOUR SERMONS.

By MR. ROBERT BRAGGE,
MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL.

SERMON I.

Galatians 2:16.

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

II. I shall very briefly show whence it is that any of Adam’s fallen posterity are justified. Had our first parents continued steadfast in God’s covenant, their justification would have been owing to a righteousness of their own, wrought out by their own care and industry; but our justification, who are sinners, and as such are fallen infinitely short of the glory of God, must be owing to another spring; even the free, abounding, superabounding grace of God. Adam’s justification would have been according to the dues of creation; whereas our justification is every way considered above the dues thereof; being wholly of grace, and not of works. This, and no other, is the account which the Scriptures give of it; "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus," Rom. 3:24. In which words are joined what the Arians and Arminians say can never meet; even a being freely justified by grace, and a full price laid down to obtain it: but the seeming contradiction vanishes, by considering, that the price was neither sought, nor brought by us; but is only and wholly the provision and gift of grace; which gift is so contrived, as to manifest the grace of God to the uttermost: it is that grace may shine forth the brighter, and not be eclipsed, that this way of justification was pitched upon; for Christ the Redeemer was, throughout the whole of his suretiship, undertakings, and performances, to the praise of the glory of the Father’s grace. Never did grace so triumph, as in the provision and gift of Christ. Every step the Redeemer took in this great work, was most expressive, as of the love of his heart, so of the grace of the Father’s; which hereby is so fully and gloriously manifested, as to be said to reign, through Christ’s righteousness, to eternal life. "Moreover, the law entered, that the offence might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin has reigned to death, so grace might reign, through righteousness, to eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord," Rom. 3:24, of the reign of which there shall be no end. Our shoutings will be grace, grace, not only when we first come to heaven, but ever after; which will be enlarged rather than straitened, and strengthened rather than grow low and weak, throughout the endless ages of eternity. As they about the throne rest not, so they cease not thus to give glory; of which reign, how small is the portion which the most knowing among us at present know? We write and preach, and think and talk about it, but like so many children; which is the apostle’s own comparison, though he had been wrapt up into the third heaven. As no words could express to the queen of Sheba the glory of Solomon’s kingdom, so less able are words to express the glory of the reign of grace; the superaboundings of which will fill an eternity, as a spring-tide doth our rivers, and employ all heads, hearts, and tongues about the throne; when our likeness to our glorified head, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be complete. Thus much may suffice for the second inquiry.

That this great and solemn transaction may appear to be the pleasure of the Lord, being effected not only with a salvo to his truth and holiness, but in a way most expressive of all the divine perfections? whereby the Father may get to himself, in point of manifestation, a glorious name for ever, the wonderful platform of a sinner’s justification, with all that leads to it, or is contained in it, or is consequential upon it, is spoken of, in Scripture, as his contrivance, and there represented not only as the birth, but as the master-piece of his adorable wisdom: "Wherein he hath abounded towards us, in all wisdom and prudence:" so that the sinner’s justifying righteousness, is the provision and gift of his love and grace; and he who brought in or wrought out this righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ, is his righteous servant: "Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified," Isa. 49:3, saith the Father to Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ finished transgression, and made an end of sin, and reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness, under a double character; the one subordinate to the other; as God’s righteous servant, and by God’s appointment, his people’s righteous surety: who came into this world, as sent by the Father, and set about this great work, as one completely fitted for it, and fully authorized to accomplish it by the Father. Of both these you read at large in the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings," &c., Isa. 56:1. "Christ glorified not himself to be made an High-priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," Heb. 5:5. Neither did he act in his own name in the discharge of that office: "I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not;" whose Father was always with him as Man and Mediator. He both assisted and accepted him, throughout the whole of his obedience, whether active or passive, and was with him in his private life, as well as in his public showing to Israel: he was not alone in the cradle, nor in his reputed father’s house, any more than at Jerusalem, or in the temple; who was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, whereby he was actually and publicly justified, not barely from the false accusations of his enemies, but as his people’s surety and great representative, from all those sins he had undertaken to satisfy for. He told his disciples, that the "Spirit should convince the world of righteousness, because he went to the Father;" for had he not fulfilled all righteousness, instead of being received up into glory, he had been sent back to finish the work which the Father had given him to do.

I shall conclude this discourse by endeavouring to return an answer to the following inquiry, which contains the greatest difficulty that can be raised against the head of doctrine I am upon; which lies at the bottom of every sinner’s heart, in objecting against the being of a God, and the truth of the gospel in general, as well as this of a sinner’s justification before God in particular. The objection is this: Why was sin suffered to enter this world, which hath hurled such confusion quite round the globe; to finish which, in a way of satisfaction cost God so dear, as the blood of his own and only begotten Son? To which I answer: "God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions," Eccl. 7:29. The first sin was, to be sure, the genuine birth of free will. Now, to ask why God made a free agent, and suffered him to act suitably to his nature, that is, freely, would be a vain and a foolish inquiry. We may safely conclude, that had not God known how to deal with such an enemy as sin, so as to bring glory to himself, and good to the chosen people, out of all the confusion with which sin has filled this world, he would never have suffered it to have entered; but the same super-creation grace which prevented the fall of the elect angels, would have interposed, and prevented the fall of the elect among the children of men; so that the gospel is a full answer to this bold inquiry: according to which, God is commending his love in the gift of his Son; may we not safely say, so as it could no other way be so sweetly and fully, so surprisingly and gloriously recommended? "But God commends his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," Rom.5:8. He also, who is an infinitely wise and holy God, takes occasion from the aboundings of sin, to manifest the superaboundings of his grace: "Moreover, the law entered that the offence might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin has reigned to death, so might grace reign to eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord," Rom. 5:20. In the gospel we have a new display of all the divine perfections; according to which, God, who is love, is not content to manifest his love in a direct way, as it was manifested towards the elect angels, and, without any more to do, fix us in glory, but has pitched upon such ways of manifesting his love, as contain in them fathomless depths, unmeasurable heights, and incomprehensible breadths and lengths; for the love in God’s heart being infinite, must be as great as all transient acts can express for ever; not only such as are plain and obvious, but such as are in the deep waters, and take the most astonishing compass and turns.

There are two New Testament texts, as full of glory, as any in the whole book of God, which I would turn to, and direct how they may with safety be received, and feasted upon, and should be so by the whole household of faith. The first of them is this; "That in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ; both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him," Eph. 1:10. The other is this, "And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven," Col. 1:20. Now to carry these texts beyond the election of the Father’s grace, is to abuse them; but to understand them of the full birth of electing and redeeming love, is to make a right use of them; and of that other which is like to them, "Whom the heaven must receive, till the times of the restitution of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began," Acts 3:21. Neither man, the inhabitant, nor this earth, on which he dwells, are what they originally were, or as they at first came out of the hand of God; but both are what they became through sin, like the sherds of a broken vessel. Man is a child of darkness; a slave to sin and Satan; a wolf to his neighbour; a rebel to his God, and the destroyer of himself: and as for the earth on which man walks and dwells, sin has turned it into a howling wilderness; its atmosphere is filled with irregular winds, hurricanes, and storms; with noxious vapours, blasts, and lightnings; with terrible thunder, and sometimes with prodigies and frightful sights: the earth is so far from being alike fruitful, that in it are sandy deserts, and barren heaths, hard rocks, and flaming mountains. Its fields bring forth thorns, and briers, and weeds, in an abundance; there is the nettle, and the hemlock, with other poisonous plants, and hurtful fruits; its insects are many of them armed with stings, and some full of deadly poison: there is the viper and the scorpion; its birds and beasts are birds and beasts of prey: and as for men, how many are the defective, as well as monstrous births among them? Thousands are blind, and deaf, and crooked from the womb; and thousands are strangled in the birth: all are born mortal; and how many die soon after they are born? They just salute the world, and so take leave of it. All which things are the fruits of the curse, and undeniable instances and proofs of God’s hatred of sin, and of his holy displeasure against sinners.

But, after all that can be said on this head, to silence gainsayers, that wise and most comprehensive saying of Christ, occasioned by the gospel’s being hid from the wise and prudent of the world, and revealed unto babes, should satisfy all true believers: "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight," Luke 10:21. To his sovereign will and pleasure, who works all things after the counsel of his own will, it seemed good, for wise and holy ends, to suffer the fall of our first parents, and, by them, sin to enter: and to his sovereign grace it seems good, thus wonderfully to overrule it, as to the whole election of his grace. All which lessens not the evil that is in sin; no more than the skill of the physician, in prescribing a sovereign antidote, lessens the malignity that is in poison: nor is it any ways the least excuse for sinners, who transgress the law with hearts full of enmity against the gospel. Might natural men quite round the globe have their wills, Christ would be in heaven alone. To quarrel with electing love, as it is manifested in the gospel, and with Him, that justifies such as believe in Jesus, is to quarrel with the best and the only effectual way of drawing us out of the pit, and bringing us safe to glory. How empty would the story of Joseph have been, had he not been envied, and sold by his brethren, with all that was consequential thereupon! Whereas it is now one of the most remarkable and surprising that was ever written. How sweet did Israel’s bondage in Egypt, make Israel’s rest in Canaan! and how astonishing and full of God was their deliverance! God’s sovereign will and pleasure is, in many instances, the ne plus ultra of the believer’s inquiries: no other, nor better reason can be given, why the world is not as many millions of years old as it is thousands; and why the globe of this earth is not as large as the body of the sun; and why the numbers of the elect are not double and triple to what they are, who, considered in the first fruits and in the full vintage, will be an innumerable multitude. He, who works all things after the counsel of his own will, is in these things accountable to none; neither to man, nor to angels: none may say to God, what doest thou? whose own glory, in the manifestation of it, must, beyond all dispute, be his highest end: a consideration which should not only quiet, but rejoice all who believe unto righteousness: who cannot desire more than is entailed on them, in that single, but great text: "Let none glory in man, for all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come: all are yours; and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s," 1 Cor. 3:21, 22. Can the great soul of man, when ennobled and enlarged by regenerating grace, open its mouth wider or desire more? Let us therefore, who are among God’s justified ones, join in giving thanks with those of whom the apostle speaks; "All things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgivings of many, redound to the glory of God," 2 Cor. 4:15. In so high and comprehensive a sense does praise wait for God in Zion; whose inhabitants are encouraged to praise God by being told, as from the mouth of God, Whoso offers praise, glorifies me. They therefore whom God justifies, should not, upon every slight occasion, or new trouble, hang their harps upon the willows, but rather look up to have them new tuned, by a fresh anointing.

SERMON II.

Galatians 2:16.

2. I shall proceed to show what part is, in Scripture, assigned unto the Lord Jesus Christ, in the business of a sinner’s justification before God; where I beg leave to premise, for the preventing of mistakes, which some are ready to run into, and for the clearing of several texts of Scripture, which the Arians are very fond of; that in many places of Scripture, especially in the New Testament, where Christ speaks of himself, and is spoken of, it is spoken of him either as the Son of man, or as sustaining the character, and discharging the office of a Mediator. Thus is that scripture to be understood, in which Christ tells his disciples, that "the Father is greater than he;" and that other, with many more, where Christ assures us, that "the Son can do nothing of himself;" and thus I shall all along consider him. This lessens not the necessity, nor the truth of Christ’s being truly God, as well as man, but presupposes it; for, as in nature a human body, suppose it had life and motion, without a human soul, would be fit for no post of service, neither in church nor in state; so Christ’s human nature alone, though the first creature, and the noblest of all creatures, without his divine, would no ways be fit to sustain the character, nor to discharge the office of a Mediator. If we suppose a crystal globe to be never so large and clear, would it, of itself, have in it any light or heat: but if we could suppose it filled with the body of the sun, how would it glow and shine? He, in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, which is affirmed in Scripture of the Lord Jesus Christ; for it is said, "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," Col. 2:9, must outshine in glory, and outdo in usefulness, all mere creatures, though there were never so many worlds of them, and be infinitely fit and capable to be Head of the church, and Saviour of the body: nothing can be too difficult for him to effect, nor too great for him to accomplish; be it to finish transgression, in a way of satisfaction, or to bring in everlasting righteousness. Let us conceive, if we can, of any more fit to quicken the dead in sins, and to raise the dead in nature; to govern the world, and to judge it; to bring off more than conquerors and safe to glory, such as belong to the whole election of the Father’s grace, or to make all things new, than He is in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This being premised, Christ’s part in the business of a sinner’s justification before God, according to the Scripture, is to bring in a justifying righteousness for the whole election of the Father’s grace. He, as the Surety of a better covenant, was called of God, and freely undertook to pay his people’s debts, both that of satisfaction to the law, as a broken covenant, and that of service to the law, as a covenant of works. He was accordingly made of a woman, and made under the law: "When the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law," Gal. 4:4, that is, under its perceptive part, as a covenant, as well as its penalty, a broken covenant; its perceptive part, as a covenant, being its principal part; to enforce which, all penalties, even among men, are added to their laws: as a covenant, the first Adam transgressed it; and therefore it became Christ, the second Adam, thus to fulfill it. God’s perfect law was, to be sure, in the utmost perfection thereof, written on Christ’s heart and nature, and so expressed throughout the whole of his life: "Thy law is within my heart," Ps. 40:8. He did more and better work for God, that is, work of greater worth and consequence, in the short space of thirty odd years, than the first Adam would, or could have done, had he continued steadfast in God’s covenant to this day. Christ was fulfilling all righteousness whilst lying in the cradle; which, doubtless, was part of his humiliation: of whom, whilst an infant, it may be said, that the first Adam, at the head of this lower creation, was but as his menial servant, being the figure of him who was to come, "who is the figure of him who was to come," Rom. 5:14. Christ, the second Adam, was fulfilling all righteousness throughout the whole of his private life; for this also was part of his humiliation. Suppose the natural sun should be taken out of the heavens, and be so lessened and darkened, as to be hid for a time in one of the caverns of this earth, to bring about any of his adorable purposes, who made it; would not this surprise and fill with wonder all the inhabitants of this globe? I may safely say, that the obscure and private life of Christ, the Sun of righteousness, was fuller of wonder. He went on fulfilling all righteousness, active as well as passive, at Jerusalem, and every where else, till he bowed on the cross his high and holy head, saying, "It is finished." Christ’s suretiship righteousness may be well called, for it really is, a robe of super-creation righteousness, being, in all respects, beyond and above the dues of creation; which no creature, neither men nor angels, could so much as ever have thought of, and much less have expected at his hand, who was their Creator, how liberal soever in other respects he had been towards them. This robe lay hid in the uppermost and most secret recesses of God’s wardrobe, or rather heart, being wholly super-creation grace: though Adam had, in a sense, the moon under his feet, he could not thus challenge a being clothed with the sun, which was not then risen in his horizon; though the first Adam’s world was made by Christ, and he was Christ’s figure, yet he knew it not. This excellent and excelling piece of knowledge was reserved for gospel times; which so ennobles the dispensation we are under, that it is called the kingdom of God, and of heaven. Christ’s suretiship righteousness may be also called, for it really is, a robe of super-angelic righteousness: which as far excels and outshines the righteousness of all the elect angels, as the shining of the sun, in its meridian strength, does that of the new moon: for, would it not be blasphemy to call theirs, as Christ’s is called, ‘‘the righteousness of God, or to say that they are "made the righteousness of God," in their own, as we are said to be made in Christ’s righteousness? God no where calls their righteousness, as he does Christ’s, "my righteousness; I bring near my righteousness," Isa. 46:13. Christ’s suretiship righteousness may be also called, for it really is, a super-paradisiacal righteousness. Had our first parents continued steadfast in God’s covenant, their robe of justifying righteousness had been complete: but not of like worth with this, the merit, as well as the atoning virtue of which is infinite. What is the richest livery of a lackey, if compared with the royal robes of a king? Nothing done by the figure of him that was to come, can be compared with what was done by Christ, the substance, whose suretiship righteousness has in it to an overflowing, all the endearing, recommending properties, which that of a Saviour can have, to recommend it to sinners. As,

To distinguish aright between the letter of both Testaments, and the Spirit of power, which accompanies the preaching of the gospel, as it is revealed in both Testaments, and makes it become effectual, is of the utmost consequence: for though the letter of the gospel is suited to us, as we are rational creatures; yet such is the blindness of the sinner’s mind, through sin, and the hardness of his heart, that instead of giving life, it kills; whereas the promised Spirit, who is a Spirit of light, life, and power, suits us, as we are dead in sins, and without strength. The apostle thus distinguishes, and so should we: "Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life," 2 Cor. 3:6. By the letter of the word, God is drawing us with the cords of a man, which is his own phrase, "I drew him with the cords of a man," Hosea 11:4. To which cords I would refer all gospel calls and invitations, exhortations and dehortations; and those most solemn protestations, that he delights not in the death of sinners. "Say to them, as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live: Turn ye, turn. ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" Ezek. 33:2: And the most condescending of entreaties; "As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God," 2 Cor. 5:20. And those strong arguings; "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently to me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness," Isa. 55:2. As in Scripture there is the language of creation due, such as that to Cain, "If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted?" Gen.4:7; so there is the language of the law, as a rule of walk; which is the very best consideration of the moral law, which was written as a rule of duty on the hearts and consciences of our first parents before God entered into covenant with them, of which the apostle speaks; "Who show the works of the law written upon their hearts," Rom. 2:15. There is also the language of the law, as a covenant of works; which is, Do this, and live; "Or, the man that does these things shall live in them," Rom. 10:15. There is also a language of the law, as a broken covenant, which includes the thunders of Sinai, and tells us what sin is, and what it deserves, and is, according to the righteous judgment of God, due to sinners for their sins; how he might have appointed all to wrath, instead of appointing any to obtain salvation by Jesus Christ. Under this head is included the language due to free-will, though fallen, of which the law takes no notice, to make any abatements. The greatest part of Scripture language is that of Sinai, which is adapted to show to sinners both their want of Christ, and his worth. This takes in the doctrinal part of Scripture, with all its calls and invitations, its motives and encouragements, with all its absolute promises; such as that great word of promise, which has all along been, and shall, to the end of time, be made good to the whole election of the Father’s grace; "I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people," Heb. 8:10. The full birth of which fruitful promise is reserved till the dawn of latter day glory, when the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and all Israel be saved: we see but the first fruits of electing love; the full vintage will not be till the glory of the Lord, as it shines forth in the face, and in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be so revealed, that all flesh shall see it together. In the mean while, we, who preach the gospel, are to publish it in general terms, leaving it to the Spirit, to make special application thereof to the chosen people. Thus Christ preached it; "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life," John 3:16. And so should we, of whose success in so doing we read; "The election has obtained it," Rom. 11:7. And of their acceptance; "For we are to God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish," 2 Cor. 2:15. We may safely conclude, that as the numbers of the elect are such as shall, in the end, be found to be most for the manifestation of his glory, who chose them, so is every circumstance relating to them; such as the time of their birth into this world, as well as the time of their being born again, and brought safe to glory.

I shall conclude this discourse, by putting God’s justified ones upon acting a kind becoming part towards all mankind, that is, pleading the promise of the Spirit for all flesh. This, in a way of eminency, is called the promise of the Father under the New Testament: "But wait for the promise of the Father;" says Christ, Acts 1:4; as the promise of the Messiah was the promise of the Father under the Old: and as Old Testament saints pleaded day and night the one, so should New Testament saints be as instant and constant in pleading the other; for it is by making good this word of promise, that the man of sin is to be destroyed, "Whom the Lord shall destroy by the Spirit of his mouth, and by the brightness of his coming," 2 Thess. 2:8. The fulness of the Gentiles is to be brought in, and all Israel is to be saved. They who are made the righteousness of God in their justification, and, in that sense, are clothed with the sun, should endeavour to be of as public use and service, in a spiritual sense, as the sun is in a natural; whose light and influences are not restrained to any place, nor part of the globe, but reach and enlighten, at due seasons, as well as cherish the whole earth. Thus should the prayers of New Testament saints, for the pourings forth of the Spirit, as he is Christ’s glorifier, reach the pagan parts of the world, that they may be brought to cast their idols to the moles, and to the bats: they should also reach the Mahometan parts of the world, that they may no longer be imposed upon by that false and filthy prophet, Mahomet, but be brought thankfully to exchange the Koran for the Bible: thus should they reach the Antichristian parts of the world, that seventy millions of souls, which Papists are computed to be, may no longer carry the mark of the beast in their foreheads, but be brought to hate the whore, and make her desolate: they should also reach God’s ancient people the Jews, who, concerning the gospel, are enemies, for our sakes, because that was, by the express command of God, preached to the Gentiles; but, as touching the election, they are beloved, for the Father’s sake; or as they once were a chosen people, and shall as certainly be called, as they are for a time rejected, whose call will be like life from the dead. Thus for believers to ply the throne, and to plead the promise of the Spirit, is to become public blessings to mankind, greater blessings than most imagine. A saint thus plying the throne, in a cottage, may be, and is of greater consequence than many a prince on the throne.

To encourage New Testament saints thus to plead this great promise, Christ spoke those sweet words: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Matthew 7:11. Were it as natural for man to desire to be useful, as it is to be famous in his generation, we who believe should give the God and Father of Christ no rest, till the Spirit, from on high, is poured forth upon all flesh. Believing parents cannot pray to greater, nor to better purpose, for those dear parts of themselves, their children, than to beg for them the Spirit, as he is Christ’s glorifier; nor believing children for their respected parents. Thus should all the saints pray for all in authority, and all godly magistrates pray for all they rule: thus should all gospel ministers beg him, for the churches committed to their care; and church members beg him for their pastors: thus should godly relations and friends beg him for one another; even masters for their servants, and servants for their masters. Such prayers put up in faith, would not return to us empty, but soon bring down such a blessing upon us and ours, as should turn our declining autumn, in a spiritual sense, into a promising spring. Would any gladly know the principal cause of those many gray hairs, in a spiritual sense, which, in town and country, are upon persons professing godliness, upon families and churches? I should return this short answer: the promise of the Spirit is not pleaded as it ought to be by us of the New Testament; neither do we desire and expect him, under his New Testament character, which is that of Christ’s glorifier; "He shall glorify me," says Christ. Christ’s glorifier, being our Teacher, Sanctifier, and Comforter, should encourage all the followers of the Lamb to wait and to watch for him, more than they who watch for the morning; and to look up as duly as the morning light appears, for a fresh anointing, to enable them, becomingly, like God’s pardoned and justified ones, to perform the duties, to bear the burdens, and to resist the temptations of every day. This is the way to be filled with his comforts, and with his fruits; such as love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, with which the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, should abound, that he may be glorified.

SERMON III.

Galatians 2:16.

The use and office of faith, in the business of a sinner’s justification before God, is not to piece out the glorious robe of Christ’s suretiship imputed righteousness; but the faith of the operation of God points out the persons for whom this righteousness is designed by the Father, and was wrought out by the Son; which may be said of a work of grace in general, and belongs to faith in common with other graces. Faith therefore has a further office, or is of further use in our justification; for it is as the eye of the new creature, by the realizing acts of which the soul takes in the suitableness and worth of the wedding garment, which appears to be rather a rag, or a cobweb, than a robe, to the most knowing of the children of men, till faith is wrought. It is also the new creature’s hand, by which it receives and puts on this garment of salvation, so perfumed with love, the folds of which are so full of grace and truth. The gift of righteousness, as it is called, Rom. 5:17, must have an hand to receive it; and the robe of righteousness, which is the name given it, Isa. 61:10, must be put on, and worn before God: they who, under a sense of sin, are summoned by the court of conscience to appear before God, as a Judge, must have something to plead with, and before his Majesty. Now, as Christ’s righteousness is our alone effectual plea for pardon and acceptance, so faith is as the lip of the new creature, by which this righteousness is with all humility urged and pleaded: to do which we are encouraged by Scripture declarations, calls, and commands, as well as by examples, and are heard, though it is done by us, as with stammering, as well as with trembling lips. Faith is also as the ear of the new creature, by which the awakened, quickened soul listens to the Lord Jesus Christ, calling upon the very chief of sinners to forsake their sins, and all refuses of lies, and hiding places of falsehood, and to look to him as the only finisher of sin, and fulfiller of righteousness, for all righteousness to bring them into, and to continue them in a pardoned, justified, reconciled, adopted state for ever. It is also as the knee of the new creature, by which it bows before Christ, as the Lord our righteousness, and submits, though not without some reluctance, especially at times, to this way of a sinner’s justification before God. It is also as the tongue of the new creature, which shouts, Grace, grace, as to the whole of our salvation, so to this branch of a sinner’s justification, and sings the praises, as of its provider, so of him that brought in our justifying righteousness. It is also as the foot of the new creature, by which it walks with, and follows after Christ, as the Lord its righteousness; and by so doing adorns the gospel, as well as evidences itself to be faith unfeigned.

[1.] Because the saints are said, in Scripture, to have access by faith into the grace wherein they stand: "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand," Rom. 5:2, that is, we stand actually pardoned, and actually justified before God, as well as actually reconciled with God. These privileges, with all others of a like nature, were designed for the elect from everlasting, and given them in Christ, their Head, and great representative, before the world began; but they have not, according to the Scriptures, access to them, or a standing in them, as to their own persons, such as is actual and applicatory, till such time as they are born again, or believe. Thus the sun, moon, and stars, were lighted and hung up in the firmament, long before any of us were born, or had a bodily eye; but their light was not actually let in, or brought into us, no, not a single beam, till such time as the eye was formed, and we were born into this world; then, and not before, were we filled with the light of the natural sun, and were actually possessed fits rays to the several ends and uses for which they are given us. Thus gifts, how freely soever they may be designed for us, and given to us, are not ours before we receive them: there must be the receiving, as well as the giving hand, before the poor are actually possessed of the rich man’s alms. Thus it is in the affair before us: Christ’s righteousness is called a gift, which is received by faith: "How much more shall they, who receive an abundance of grace, and of the gifts of righteousness," Rom. 5:13, which sufficiently intimates, that though this gift of righteousness is destined for us, yet it is not ours, for our personal and actual justification, till we believe. It is not a pardon, in the king’s design and purpose; nor in the secretary’s office; nor in the messenger’s hand; no, nor in the malefactor’s pocket, that will set the criminal free, in the eye of the law: it must be produced and pleaded in open court. Now, both God’s courts are still to be met with in the holy Scriptures; in the law is that of Sinai, and in the gospel is that of Zion: faith of the operation of God appeals from that of Sinai to that of Zion, where it pleads this righteousness; and so doing, the guilty, self-condemned sinner is according to the rule of the word, really and actually acquitted, and declared righteous, with equal certainty, though not with like solemnity, as it will be declared in the last and great day of public judgment; and may, on sure Scripture grounds, take in the comfort, and give God the glory of so great a blessing, as a being freed from hell, and entitled to heaven, by being made the righteousness of God, in a way of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Federal representation and vital union, a being represented by Christ, and a being united to the Lord Jesus Christ, must be different things; though the former is the foundation or ground-work of the latter. To be represented by Christ, belongs to the whole election of the Father’s grace, long before they are either born, or born again; but united to Christ they are not, till they are born again; for it is impossible to be united to such a living, life-giving head as Christ is, and yet remain dead in sins. Dead sinners may be represented by Christ, and are so, even as many of them as belong to the election of the Father’s grace; but not a soul that is united to Christ can remain dead in sins: "To whom coming, as to a living stone; ye also; as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house," 1 Peter 2:4.

To conclude: with all your gettings, your first and chief care should be to get faith, which has so many precious promises made to it; not only of salvation and eternal life, in the general, but of forgiveness of sin, of justification, of reconciliation, of adoption, and of sanctification in particular; to work which the Spirit is promised, and the Scriptures are written; to give which Christ is exalted, and a throne of grace is erected. Remember, faith comes by hearing, not the sayings of a Plato, or of a Seneca, but the word of God, as it is contained in the Bible; which is a book so prefaced, as no other book is, and so attested: for the Old Testament is prefaced by Israel’s deliverance out of Egypt, and by all the miracles wrought by the hand of Moses, in bringing it about, which was effected before the five books of Moses were written; and the New Testament, by all the miracles wrought by Christ: who was born, crucified, raised from the dead, and ascended up into heaven, before any of that was written: and as it is a book so prefaced as a book never was, so never was a book so well attested as the Bible is; not only by a cloud of witnesses, or by the experience of all the saints, both dead and alive, who have found, and still find, in numberless instances, these things to be facts and truths, which are therein related; or by miracles of all sorts, and by a cloud of martyrs, who, by thousands, have sealed with their blood what they knew of its being the book of God, or of the truths contained therein; but it is gloriously attested, by being undeniably written on the palms of God’s hands in his providential dispensations; who, to go no higher, in the rise, succession, riches, and duration of the four universal monarchies, has been fulfilling Scripture prophecy; and so be has in the rejection and present state of the Jews, who many days have been without a king, a sacrifice, and an idol, according to Scripture prophecy. How exactly is the New Testament a fulfilling of the Old; and not only the present state of Europe, as to its divisions into ten kingdoms; the kings of which have, according to Scripture prophecy, given away their power to the beast; but the present state of all the world is visibly a fulfilling of Scripture prophecy! Are not the Jews, at this day, the scattered and the despised people the Scriptures say they should be? Is not Antichrist the long-lived man of sin, and the cruel man of blood, the Scriptures say he should be? Are not the pagan parts of the world the dark places, and the habitations of cruelty, the Scripture says they should be? Do not the seven Asiatic churches lie desolate, as they were threatened by Christ, unless they repented? Is not Mahomet the false prophet the Scriptures say he should be? and are not his followers many, like the waters of a great river, the river Euphrates, to which they are compared in Scripture? Does not the whole world lie in wickedness, as the Scriptures say it does? And is not every saint as a brand plucked out of the burning, as the Scriptures say they are? Are not the deists the scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and ridiculing the promise of Christ’s coming, as the Scriptures say they should? Are not the black marks of those perilous times, the last days, upon us? Are not the foolish virgins as many, nay more, than the wise? And are not all slumbering and sleeping, as the Scriptures say they would be? Let us therefore prize the book of God, as a king does his crown, and hold it fast as a king does his sceptre: let us lay it up in the cabinet of the heart, and express it throughout the whole of our lives: let us view Christ and ourselves, his wisdom and our own folly; his righteousness, and our own guilt; his riches, and our own poverty; his fulness, and our own emptiness; his strength, and our own weakness, in the light thereof; in this the finite worth of Christ, and the true value of grace, and use of faith, and of every thing else, is faithfully set down; according to which, "All who believe are justified, from all things from which there was no being justified by the law of Moses," Acts 13:39.

SERMON IV.

Galatians 2:16.

As man was created the mouth of this lower creation, in point of praise, and in point of service as the hand thereof; for what would this world have signified, had no man been formed to adore, and serve him that made it? so our Immanuel is as the hand in point of service; therefore he is called the man of God’s right hand, Ps. 80:17, and in point of praise he is as the mouth of the whole universe. By him God receives, and will receive for ever, such a revenue of glory, as could no other way have been paid to him. Mere creatures, whether they are men or angels, being mutable by nature, may praise God, and serve him one day, and be struck dumb to praise, and grow lame to his service the next, as in the case of the non-elect angels, and of our first parents; whereas our Immanuel is "the same yesterday, today, and for ever;" and, as such, is a fit basis to support the whole universe. Is it beneath the wisdom of a king to order his palace to be built on a quick sand, or his crown and sceptre to be made of glass? and will God entrust reeds and rushes, that is, mere creatures, with the manifestation of his glory? Firm and strong as the pillars of heaven, and of this earth may be, they owe all their stability and strength to Christ, and so do elect men and angels theirs, in answering the ends, the one of their creation, the other of their redemption; to the same Jesus, who is said, "to bear up the pillars of the earth," Ps. 75:5, and "to uphold all things by the word of his power," Heb.1:3, which includes heaven as well as earth; and is called, by God, "his righteous servant, in whom he will be glorified," Isa. 49:3. That Christ should be able, in the short space of thirty odd years, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sin, and reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, is a like wonder, with God’s creating such a world as this is, in the space of six days. How will it astonish and delight us, when we come to glory, to think, that the Lord of heaven and earth should be the Lord our righteousness! that he, who there sits on the Father’s throne, should, to bring about our justification and salvation, consent to hang in this lower world on a tree! Between his righteousness being upon us for our actual justification, and faith of the operation of God, there is, for the comfort of all who believe, a close connexion, which is my next head of discourse.

6. My next province is to assign to good works their proper use in this weighty affair, according to the Scriptures, which are most express, in excluding the best works performed by the best of saints, from being either in whole, or in part, our justifying righteousness before God. Thus Abraham’s works, though very excellent in themselves, are carefully excluded; "What shall we say then, that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found? for if Abraham was justified by works, he has whereof to glory; but he was not so justified before God," Rom. 4:2. That this is the sense and meaning of this verse, is plain from the next; "For what says the Scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness," verse 3. His readiness to offer his son, by way of sacrifice, at God’s command, was a high instance of obedience; but this was not counted to him for righteousness, as to be sure it would have been, and set as in the front of Abraham’s good works, had they been either in whole, or in part, his justifying righteousness before God. David’s resolution to make mention of God’s righteousness, and of that only, must be exclusive of all those works of righteousness, which might be called his own. Thus the apostle’s desire to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness, excludes not only some, but all those works of righteousness he had wrought, or should maintain, to the very end of life, though he was a tree of righteousness, more and more loaded therewith. His saying, "not of works, lest any man should boast," bars them from being part of our justifying righteousness before God; and so does that other text, "Now to him that works not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness," Rom. 4:5. But we need go no further than my text for the full proof of this: it was in primitive times, a known truth, which none disputed, that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. We may safely conclude, therefore, as the apostle does, that "we are justified by faith, without the deeds of the law; for by the law is the knowledge of sin," Rom. 3:20. The dagger that gives the wound, may as soon cure it, as the law justify any: such as thus seek to be justified, are so far from attaining their end, that they are doctrinally fallen from grace, Gal. 5:4, and do as much as in them lies, to make the death of Christ vain and ineffectual, Gal. 2:21. Good works, how spiritual soever they may be, are not a valuable consideration laid down by us, for the robe of Christ’s righteousness; which can no more be purchased by us, than the power of giving the Holy Ghost could by Simon the sorcerer. Such a purchase would aggrandize the saint, to the depreciating of the Saviour, whose righteousness is called a gift, but not once a sale, in Scripture; neither are good works our warrant to look to Christ for righteousness, to justification and life. To bar this, we are told, as has been observed, how it is, that, as to ourselves, we are considered by God, when he justifies any, not as saints, but as sinners: But to him that works not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Our warrant to receive Christ, as the Lord our righteousness, is not human, but divine; the call and promise of the gospel, and not any worth or worthiness in us; Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.

I shall observe of what use the written word is in this weighty affair, of which the law and light of nature knew nothing before the fall, the whole thereof being matter of pure revelation: "If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted?" Gen. 4:7, is the language of creation-due; but our being justified by faith, and accepted to eternal life, in the Beloved, is all of grace, and the peculiar language of the gospel. Both Testaments are full of the glory of Christ, as the Lord our righteousness, and of encouragement to seek to him for all righteousness, to bring us into, and to continue us in a pardoned, justified, reconciled, adopted state for ever: both Testaments also testify, that "in the Lord shall all the believing seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory," Isa. 45:24, whose faith, in opposition to the popish notion of believing as the church believes, is described by knowledge: "By his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many,"’ chap. 43:11, of which we have a more full and particular account in the New Testament, especially in the epistle to the Romans, where this righteousness is called a gift; and is, in so many words, said "to be to all, and upon all them that believe, and that without difference; as really to all justifying intents and purposes upon Abraham’s believing seed, as upon Abraham the father of the faithful; as really upon New Testament saints, as upon those of the Old; as really upon us, at this distance of time, as upon primitive saints, and the apostles themselves; as really upon babes, as upon fathers in Christ. Were Moses, and all the prophets, upon earth; was Paul, with all the apostles, here; and should the true believer ask them their thoughts concerning his state, they would unanimously declare him a justified person: one freed from all condemnation on the one hand, and entitled to heaven, on the other. God’s written word is full of the excelling worth of this righteousness, and of the gracious designs of God in providing it; how and to what ends it is upon us who believe, and with what certainty and success. There we have the Father’s testimony concerning his Son, as the Lord our righteousness, and his command to us to hear him; whose calls and counsels direct to Christ, as the end of the law for righteousness, and whose charge is to go no where else. In a word, we are taught the one and only way of a sinner’s justification before God; and, by the same word, we are directed and encouraged to get into it, and to abide therein. Here the purposes of God are put into promises, that faith may go to a throne of grace, and plead them. Grace in the heart and purpose of God, is like gold in the mine; but grace in the promise, be it those promises which relate to our justification, or any other gospel privilege, is like gold in the mint; it is ours to traffic with, in a spiritual sense.

shall next consider the use of conscience, in this momentous affair. In this court, the law keeps its register, as it relates to duty, and to sin; and the justice of God an account of the numbers, and aggravating circumstances of every sinner’s sins, how great sinners they are in the eye of the law, and what is due to them, according to the righteous judgment of God, for their sins. Here God’s testimony concerning his Son is received, when this court is purged and renewed; and our believing with the heart is noted or set down. All the witnesses to a believer’s justification are heard in this court, and all objections against it are here canvassed and answered. In this court, the world, the flesh, and the devil, lodge their accusations against the believer, drawn from the strength of his corruptions, and from the weakness of his faith; and here it is that they are removed: so that this court, which was once full of bribes, and false reports, as well as with false witnesses, being renewed by the Spirit of Christ, and sprinkled with his blood, is, less or more, filled with peace and with joy in believing. This matchless robe of righteousness has in the folds thereof peace with God; and all clothed therewith may and should rejoice in the hope of his glory: they should also glory in tribulation, and call the world’s frowns theirs, as well as its smiles; adversity, as well as prosperity; and death itself, as well as life. This they are enabled, in some good measure, to do; when he, who searches the deep things of God, is pleased to shine in upon their graces, and to shed abroad the love of God, in the provision and gift of this righteousness in their hearts, and to witness with their spirits that therein they are made the righteousness of God; who, as he is Christ’s glorifier, never sets his seal to a blank for the world, the flesh, and the devil, to fill up at pleasure, as some libertines would persuade themselves and others; but first renews and works faith, and so witnesses to his own work: in the light of whose witnessing presence the robe of Christ’s righteousness appears to be most glorious, and all clothed therewith to be most safe and happy; by which their doubts are answered, and all their fears are scattered, and they go on their way rejoicing. Instead of sinning, they are brought to obey, with a high hand of filial love and reverence; and find, by blessed experience, that the joy of the Lord is their strength, to bear, as well as to do his will. As the least mote makes the eye water, so the least sin makes the conscience, that is sprinkled with the blood of Christ, smite; other consciences may be scrupulous, but these only are truly tender.

I shall, in the last place, mention the error of the Antinomians; where I shall show who and what the true Antinomians are: for all are not so, who are so nick-named by the enemy. The apostle Paul was so called in his day, and so was Christ; and thus are many of Christ’s faithful ministers called in our dark day, for preaching no other doctrine than that contained in my text. The Antinomians are either speculative or practical: speculative are such as endeavour to persuade themselves and others, that sin can do them no harm. That it shall not destroy nor damn the true believer, we readily own; but of the hurt it does them, they have less or more the experience, whenever they fall into sin; as David had, under the Old Testament, and the apostle Peter had, under the New. They likewise say, that God sees no sin in his people: none for which to condemn them, we readily grant; but that he sees sin in the best of them, to purge it out by his word, and by his rod, is what we affirm. They say further, that believers are not to pray for the forgiveness of their daily sins; not distinguishing between that which is virtual, in the purpose of God, and in the purchase of Christ, and that which is actual, according to the word. It is not to be forgiven in purpose, or in purchase, that the believer prays; but to have purposed and purchased forgiveness actually applied to him, according to the word. Their worst notion is, that believers are not under the law, as a rule of duty to Christ; but may live as they list, sin not being able to hurt them. I would hope that of these there are very few, if any, among Protestant Dissenters. Such would do well to remember, so as to copy after the apostle Paul, who bewailed sin in its remains, Rom. 7:24, and desired to have it further mortified, Phil. 3:20, and was under the law to Christ, 1 Cor. 9:21. Practical Antinomians are those the apostle speaks of; "For many walk, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are enemies to the cross of Christ; whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things," Phil. 3:18. These, it is to be feared, are many, and that their numbers are daily increasing: they gather not honey and sweetness, with the bee, but with the spider, poison from this flower of paradise, the doctrine of a sinner’s justification before God.

APPLICATION.