There are three things must be done for us, if ever we would avoid perishing. We must be thoroughly convinced of sin. We must be really united to Christ. We must be instated in the covenant of grace.
Restraining grace holds in the sinner, but it is renewing grace that changes his nature.
A man may hope for heaven, and yet not cleanse his heart, nor depart from his secret sins: that hope of salvation that is not accompanied with heart-purification, is a vain hope.
A man's prayer may be a lie. As a profession without sanctity, is a lie to the world, so prayer without sincerity, is a lie to God.
The faith of most is but a temporary faith, endures for a while, and then dies and perishes; true and saving faith, such as is the faith of God's elect, cannot die: it may fail in the act, but not in the habit; the sap may not be in the branch, but it is always in the root. That faith that perisheth, a man may have and perish.
O my brethren, it is not a believing head, but a believing heart, that makes a Christian.
True union makes a true Christian: many close with Christ, but it is upon their own terms; they take and own him, but not as God offers him. The terms upon which God in the gospel offers Christ, are, that we shall accept of a broken Christ with a broken heart, and yet a whole Christ with the whole heart. A broken Christ with a broken heart, as a witness of our humility; a whole Christ with a whole heart, as a witness of our sincerity. A broken Christ respects his suffering for sin; a broken heart respects our sense of sin; a whole Christ includes all his offices; a whole heart includes all our faculties. Christ as King, Priest, and Prophet, and as a Mediator. Without any one of these offices, the work of salvation could not have been completed.
For as he that doth not love God above all, doth not love God at all.
A believer may fall, but he cannot fall away: he may fall foully, but he cannot fall finally; for, underneath are the everlasting arms.
Till the sinner be convinced of sin, he can never be converted from sin.
Some take common faith for saving; whereas, a man may believe all the truths of the gospel, all the promises, all the threatenings, all the articles of the creed to be true, and yet perish for want of saving grace.
Now then, examine thyself by these characters, put the question to thy own soul--Dost thou close with Christ upon gospel terms? Is grace in the heart the principle of thy performances? Dost thou look to the manner, as well as the matter of thy duties? Dost thou all in sincerity? Is there an answerableness within to the law without? Art thou much above duty, when much in duty? Is thy obedience universal? Lastly, is God's glory the end of all? If so, then thou art not only almost, but altogether a Christian.
Nothing maketh a death-bed so uneasy and hard, as a life spent in the service of sin and lust; nothing maketh a death-bed so soft and sweet, as a life spent in the service of God and Christ.
Alas! it is an infinite righteousness that must satisfy for us, for it is an infinite God that is offended by us. If ever thy sin be pardoned, it is infinite mercy that must pardon it; if ever thou be reconciled to God, it is infinite merit must do it; if ever thy heart be changed, and thy state renewed, it is infinite power must effect it; and if ever thy soul escape hell, and be saved at last, it is infinite grace must save it.
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