of sin, it cannot be separated from hatred of sin; and then, if the grief and hatred be real, they cannot be separated from the desire and effort of being free from sin. The propitiation and advocacy are provided for the soul that is seriously conscious of sin, freed from its remaining power, abhorring its recurrence, and desiring to be freed from it, and at every return into even the conception of evil, hastening to the Saviour. If any one, to whom these marks vouch for his conversion to God, still find that, though habits of sin are broken, yet they are not taken away from him, let him not from that experience despairingly say, that his adoption is now lost, that heaven is now shut against his prayers, and that he can never be readmitted to his Father's face; but let me exhort him to go at once from this lamented experience of still remaining siu, to the still effectual sacrifice; from this additional proof he has received of his utter want of all personal favour, to that mighty Advocate whose plea can never fail. Let him go, and with earnestness renew his solicitation; and so long as he trusts in the great propitiation, so long as he looks for every blessing exclusively at the hands of the great Intercessor, so long as he has recourse to this comfort and instruction given to penitent sinners, so long as there is love to men who believe, be assured, that for him to cast away from him the hope of acceptance with God, were to cast from him that very plea for acceptance with God, with which the wisdom of God is eternally satisfied. Now unto God the Father, be ascribed, &c. Amen. THE TENDENCY OF THE WORD OF GOD TO PRODUCE SANCTIFICATION. A SERMON, PREACHED ON THE AFTERNOON OF SUNDAY, 9th DECEMBER, 1832, By the Rev. THOMAS BROWN, D. D. Sanctify them through thy truth: THE two great points to which these words naturally direct our attention are the necessity of sanctification, and the manner in which that sanctification is effected. In formerly discoursing from these words, I endeavoured to point out the necessity of sanctification, the necessity of being renewed, of being made like to God, from the following considerations;First, That it formed part of the salvation of Christ Jesus. It is not merely deliverance from guilt and punishment-it is not merely deliverance from transgression, that constitutes salvation, but deliverance from its power and dominion, to a resemblance of the divine nature. Next, I said, it was necessary, in as far as it was corresponding to the divine character. There is no view of God more evident than this, that God is a God of holiness; that sin is that abominable thing which God hates, and that he cannot look upon it without abhorrence. Next, I endeavoured to point out the necessity of sanctification, arising from the command of God. This is to be found in every part of the divine record. Next, I endeavoured to prove it as necessary in order to evidence our faith and thy word is truth."-Joun, xvii. 17. union to Christ. Faith without purity is vain. Next, I shewed you that it was necessary for the advancement of God's glory, and the interests of Christ's kingdom in the world. It is not to be expected that any thing but a holy Christian can be instrumental, and beneficial, in advancing the cause of religion in the world. Next, I shewed you it was necessary for the peace of our minds. Without purity there can be no peace. God has said it, and he knows our constitution, that there is no peace to the wicked. Next, I said it was necessary, in order to qualify us for the heavenly kingdom. We must be like God if we would enjoy a hereafter; there must be a meetness for heaven, as well as a title to heaven. Such were some of the points I enlarged on at considerable length. I endeavoured then to shew, that sanctification, to be real, must be universal; it must extend to the whole man, to the thoughts, words, and actions, to the affections and desires of the heart, and to the outward conduct. It is not for you and me to say, I am partly sanctified. The work of the Spirit of God is not confined to this part or that, but the whole man is brought into subjection to the Lord Jesus. | the salvation of individuals in that church is promoted, and their relation to Christ, their turning to God, their growth in grace, their establishment in peace, purity, and meetness for heaven, secured. It is the word of salvation that is preached unto perishing sinners, and it is of essential importance to the most advanced Christian as well as to him that is just beginning to lisp, as it were, the language of praise; it is just of as much importance to those that have made the greatest progress in the divine life, as to those who have made the least; just of as much in the end, as in the beginning. And how valuable must be that word, when it is considered that it comes home to all circumstances, that it is a light to the feet, and a lamp to the path, that it comforts in distress, soothes in the hour of sorrow, and upholds in the hour of death! I observed, also, that it was progressive. But how does the word sanctify us? It is to this that I am now to turn your attention. In the first place, it has a tendency to sanctify, by the discoveries it makes to us; secondly, by the motives it presents to us; and, thirdly, by the examples it holds out to us. In the first place, the word has a tendency to sanctify us, by the discoveries it makes. Where there is ignorance of divine things, there cannot be much purity; where the mind is darkened, the heart must be corrupted-the life cannot be holy. No doubt, much knowledge maketh mad, and much religious knowledge too, there may be, without any sanctity of character. A man may be profoundly learned in the truths of religion, and yet the light of his own mind may be darkness: he may still continue, notwithstanding all he knows of the ways of God, in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity; he may not be, in any degree, conformed to the divine will and image; he may look unto the Lamb of God, but not behold him in the mirror that is held up to him; and, beholding him in the mirror of salvation, he may go and forget what manner of person he is. But this is not the natural tendency of the thing-this is not the design, and this is not the effect of sacred revelation, nor was the word of God communicated for this purpose. Its tendency is good, if it be used well; but it may be perverted-familiarity with it may defeat the gracious purpose the Lord had in view in communicating it to us. can never be perfected in a world that bears so deeply the stamp of transgression. Moreover, the sensibility of holiness always increases as pollution comes to be detected; and the more intimately the characters of God and his laws are understood, and their matchless excellence admired, the more humiliating will be our own want of conformity to their excellence. Again, in our advances towards perfection, we are always seeing a farther reach at every new step of our rising towards it. How evident, then, that the distinguished feature of our Christian character must be that of penitence; that if we say we have no sin, we are but deceiving ourselves; that our chief confession is the confession of our sins; that our unwearied prayer is, "Forgive us our trespasses;" and that this seriousness of the soul, under a deep impression of its guiltiness in the sight of God, effected by divine grace, is the very object which corresponds with the Christian method, and for which the comfort and instruction of the Christian method have been provided. And may not the text lead me naturally to say, that in the dispensing of this comfort and instruction contained in the gospel method, the gracious and wise method which the sacred writers observe, is impressed by the three following qualities:-1st, By an affectionate concern for souls; 2d, By a free and full proposal of Christ to our acceptance; and, 3d, By an exercise of the strictest jealousy over the grand interests of holiness. How affectionately in the gospel method is manifested the concern for souls -language being uttered the very same as the fondest heart breathes over those choice objects of care and tenderness which are found in the relation and character of children! Again, how free and full the proposal of Christ to your acceptance, setting forth his powerfulness as an advocate, as a propitiation so perfect as to be capable of atoning, were it applied to them, for the sins of the whole world! And how strict the jealousy which, along with this unlimited offer of grace, is exercised over the grand interests of holiness, since every thing written by the power of the Spirit on the subject of guilt and pardon, is expressly that we sin not! Surely, in the first place, the most affectionate concern for souls is a quality inseparable from the Christian method. This method speaks to you and me of mercy and salvation. This message tells us, that the Being of infinite power and holiness condescends to regard us with pity and tenderness. This message declares, that justly as we have deserved eternal exclusion from his favour, he yet seeks our restoration to himself: yes, that such is his compassion, that to fulfil the plan of restoration to himself, he did not spare even his own Son. It assures us, that he waits our return with parental solicitude, and will receive us back with the prompt and generous ardour of the father receiving the prodigal; yea, he pleads with us not for a moment to defer the opportunity of returning to his arms, to the new robe, the ring, and the shoes, and the fatted calf, and give joy even to angels, and share in the honour and happiness of children of his family and heirs of his kingdom. It is true the Christian method yields to us no comfort till it has first brought us to the consciousness of our sins; and accordingly, this is ever its prefatory language, "If you say that you have no sin, you deceive yourselves." But this preliminary rebuke is most gracious; its being heard by us, and entering into our hearts with humiliating and alarming influence, is just the proof that he who sends it remembers us, and cares for us, and loves us; that he thinks of us with a father's heart, and would bring us all within the precincts of his family, and thus bestow on us the riches of his love. "O Israel, put on me your help; why will ye die? What can I do more for my vineyard that I have not done? Mine heart is turned within me; my repentings are kindled together. Return unto me, I will heal your backsliding, I will love you freely, for mine anger is turned away. Whosoever will, let him come. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Incline your ear and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live. Ye shall be my children, saith the Lord Almighty." O what words are these! what a message to be spoken to us on the authority of the eternal God; and not only so, but to be directly sent to us from his own mouth, and conveyed to us with such eloquence from the gracious being whom we have offended, repulsed, and hated! O who may conceive of the ardour and benevolence that dictated the message proclaimed in the Gospel of St. John! This beloved disciple, receiving the very Spirit of his master, as he leant on his bosom at the supper of the communion, how zeal for the human soul glows in his writings how he rises above all the other disciples on the subject of the attractive influence of the love of Christ-O how anxiously his heart pants over the members of Christ's family! And if such was the generosity of sentiment in an ambassador of the grace of God, what must be the generosity of the God of all grace himself as he proclaims to us by his Son the message of redeeming love! He himself declares, that he willeth not that any of us should perish, but that all of us should be reconciled to him, and wins us to his family, and rejoices over us as his children. There is a height and a depth, a breadth and a length, of this love of God which passeth knowledge. O that it may secure our regard, touch our hearts, and effectually draw us to those privileges of God's children, which sin had virtually lost to us, and which, even when restored to us, the consciousness of sin is so ready to interrupt and imbitter. implies, more than all their confessions could do, how exceedingly guilty they are. Their unworthiness and corruptions are spread out in all their aggravation before the Judge, but he pleads still for their acquittal, their safety, their blessedness; and he does so on the principles of equity, for he who pleads is Jesus Christ the righteous, and it must be on principles of equity on which he pleads. And though he pleads for the unworthy, he is Jesus Christ the righteous still; because the powerfulness of his advocacy is secured by virtue of his own atonement. He became substitute and surety for sinners, as far as it could be done with consistency to his own glorious character. He bore what is equivalent to the penalty for sin-he assumed our flesh; he took part of the same that he might redeem us; he that knew no sin was made a sin offering for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He is one with the Father, God manifest in the flesh; and being thus an all sufficient Saviour, he is able to reconcile us. He is God who hath redeemed the church with his own blood; and the magnitude of his love in our redemption is ascertained by the truth that he laid down his life for us; and since in him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily, his obedience, and the satisfaction made in our behalf, have made honourable the law of the judge, infinitely above what the punishment of our whole race could have effected. He pleads, therefore, this obedience and this satisfaction as glorifying both the mercy and equity of God. He pleads with the Father, who anointed him for the pure purpose of reconciling sinners to himself, by the blessing of his grace, and is ever well pleased with his Son, in having In this proposal, there is set before us accomplished the designs of his mercy. the divine provision for the comfort of the As in righteousness, therefore, Jesus soul that is seriously convinced of sin, and Christ the righteous pleads, so in rightdesires to be freed from sin. Christ is eousness it is that he gains his plea. set before us as mediator between God Grace is extended to sinners, even to the and man. In setting Christ before us, the chief. And, lest even the free and ample descriptive language employed sets before proposal of Christ now made, should not us the idea of the court, the judge, the secure your confidence, there remaineth accuser, and the criminals. Heaven is behind, in the text, a more comprehensive the court, and the judge is the Father; and expression still, of its fulness and freepenitent sinners are the parties withness; for the sacrifice of Christ did not whom he is engaged in his mediatorial capacity. He stands at the foot of the judge to meet the charge which the accuser brings against the criminals, but he does not plead any thing for the purpose It is then for the accomplishing of this desire that, in the 2d place, we are met so particularly and unceasingly with the free and ample proposal of Christ to our acceptance. There is nothing but this proposal that can unite the two seemingly irreconcileable things-our consciousness of sin, and our admission to the privileges of God's children; for Christ is proposed to us because of our sin, and the hope of accepting his salvation to us arises from no view of our personal guilt being in itself less heinous than the personal guilt of others, but simply from the view that we are chargeable before God with what is in itself infinitely hateful. Yet a method of restoring us is proposed. exhaust its power to save in the redemption of the first believers; nor were its precious benefits limited to the people of the Jews, to whom it was first addressed; nor are its blessings kept for any one He is the propitiation for our sins, but not for ours only. His atonement, as it was applied to all our race, is capable of pardoning all our race. To speak indeed, of its pardoning, though never applied to us, is unmeaning language. It cannot be an atonement for our salvation, unless our sins are pardoned by it. Our sins are not pardoned by it, unless it be applied to us ; but then to the capability of the extension of the atonement, to the inherent virtue of this atonement, no limits can be set. Not the most inveterate transgressors are placed beyond the reach of its pardoning merit; not the transgression of the darkest stain is removed from its cleansing power. What are all mankind, all that ever have lived, all that ever shall live? They are beings whose numbers can be reckoned, whose rank in the scale of existence can easily be ascertained; but the character of Jesus as God in our nature, cannot be estimated; it stands forth in glory, which, in moral dignity, sinks infinitely beneath it the whole creation of intelligences. The propitiation made in his person, my brethren, is to be considered as not only taking away the sins of us who believe, but if the whole world would believe, it is equally capable of taking away the sins of the whole world. Who, then, can doubt the power to benefit his own individual case, of what is thus announced universally full? or who, conscious of his need of an atonement, can reasonably doubt that he will receive the blessing of it, especially when he reflects, that even the multitudes that have discarded him, are still invited to come and receive it. Whoever comes, then, to this propitiationwhoever comes to this propitiation bewailing his sins, must not allow a suspicious thought to interrupt that confidence which we are called to repose in the fulness of the atonement, and in the freeness of its offer. Whoever would reason you into the idea, that the propitiation is not able to meet your case, account that person an enemy equally to the honour of the Saviour, and your own peace. Say you to every such accuser-There is an advocate with the Father. The satisfaction of Christ is an infinite satisfaction. I will not, I ought not, to despair of pardon. I will raise my supplication, in the persuasion of receiving a gracious answer. I look from myself to my Surety-from my guilt to his atonement-from the throne of justice to the mercy seat-from the judgment that might righteously have consumed me, to that Lamb as it has been slain, whose blood is sufficient to take away my sins. Say all this in the exercise of faith, with humbleness, with repentance for every sin, with a resolution to rest implicitly in the perfection of the propitiation with which God has declared himself well pleased, seeking before all, in the atoning sacrifice, the means of rendering you like in holiness to him who rendered the sacrifice. But this leads me to state, in the last place, that to the mercy of the proposal of Christ, and the affectionate concern for souls, are united the strictest jealousy for the interests of holiness. "These things write I unto you, that ye sin not." The direct result of teaching you forgiveness through the great propitiation of Christ, is moral purity. If forgiveness had been declared as unpurchased by an infinite ransom, the guilt had been lessened in your estimation; and if guilt had been named by extenuating names— -if the message brought by us to you, had conveyed the reconciliation of your conscience to God, by certain tidings of an indulgent and endearing exercise of mercy on his part towards you, then, whatever temporary ease the believing of our word might have given you, it would have proved itself to right reason never to have come from a God of purity, because the peace it offered was separated from holiness. But O to learn, as you do from the Bible, that the salvation of your souls were utterly hopeless, except for the sacrifice of infinite value; to learn that, in order to the remedy for sin, the counsels of eternal wisdom were employed, a blessed Trinity entering into the covenant of grace-the Father giving up the Son-the Son devoting himself to the Father's will, and the Holy Spirit carrying forward the merciful scheme; to learn that, for remission of sin, an atonement had been presented, the value of which rises beyond the computation of every created intelligence; to learn that the plans of eternal wisdom, that the incarnation, that the sacrifice on the cross, that the mediation of his Son, that the advocacy with the Father, that all has been combined in the work of taking away your sins, how efficacious to render an evil in itself as hateful in your souls as the reality ought to make it? What a power has all this to give the body of sin in your hearts its deadly |