Faith and Life

Faith and Life

A Sermon

(No. 551)

Delivered on Sunday Morning, January 24th, 1864, by the

Rev. C. H. SPURGEON,

At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

"Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that
have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; grace and peace be multiplied unto
you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as
his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life
and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to
glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and
precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust."–2 Peter 1:1-4.

THE two most important things in our holy religion are faith and life.
He who shall rightly understand these two words is not far from being a
master in experimental theology. Faith and life! these are vital points
to a Christian. They possess so intimate a connection with each other
that they are by no means to be severed; God hath so joined them
together, let no man seek to put them asunder. You shall never find
true faith unattended by true godliness; on the other hand, you shall
never discover a truly holy life which has not for its root and
foundation a living faith upon the righteousness of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Woe unto those who seek after the one without the other! There
be some who cultivate faith and forget holiness; these may be very high
in orthodoxy, but they shall be very deep in damnation, in that day
when God shall condemn those who hold the truth in unrighteousness, and
make the doctrine of Christ to pander to their lusts. There are others
who have strained after holiness of life, but have denied the faith;
these are comparable unto the Pharisees of old, of whom the Master
said, they were "whitewashed sepulchres;" they were fair to look upon
externally, but inwardly, because the living faith was not there, they
were full of dead men's bones and all manner of uncleanness. Ye must
have faith, for this is the foundation; ye must have holiness of life,
for this is the superstructure. Of what avail is the mere foundation of
a building to a man in the day of tempest? Can he hide himself among
sunken stones and concrete? He wants a house to cover him, as well as a
foundation upon which that house might have been built; even so we need
the superstructure of spiritual life if we would have comfort in the
day of doubt. But seek not a holy life without faith, for that would be
to erect a house which can afford no permanent shelter, because it has
no foundation on a rock–a house which must come down with a tremendous
crash in the day when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the
winds blow, and beat upon it. Let faith and life be put together, and,
like the two abutments of an arch, they shall make your piety strong.
Like the horses of Pharaoh's chariot, they pull together gloriously.
Like light and heat streaming from the same sun, they are alike full of
blessing. Like the two pillars of the temple, they are for glory and
for beauty. They are two streams from the fountain of grace; two lamps
lit with holy fire; two olive-trees watered by heavenly care; two stars
carried in Jesus' hand. The Lord grant that we may have both of these
to perfection, that his name may be praised.

Now, it will be clear to all, that in the four verses before us, our
apostle has most excellently set forth the necessity of these two
things–twice over he insists upon the faith, and twice over upon
holiness of life. We will take the first occasion first.

I. Observe, in the first place, what he says concerning the character
and the origin of faith, and then concerning the character and origin
of spiritual life.

"Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that
have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." So far the faith. "Grace and peace
be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our
Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath
called us to glory and virtue." These two verses, you see, concern the
spiritual life which comes with the faith.

Let us begin where Peter begins, with the FAITH. You have here a
description of true saving faith.

First, you have a description of its source. He says, "to them that
have obtained like precious faith." See, then, my brethren, faith does
not grow in man's heart by nature; it is a thing which is obtained. It
is not a matter which springs up by a process of education, or by the
example and excellent instruction of our parents; it is a thing which
has to be obtained. Not imitation, but regeneration; not development,
but conversion. All our good things come from without us, only evil can
be educed from within us. Now, that which is obtained by us must be
given to us; and well are we taught in Scripture that "faith is not of
ourselves, it is the gift of God." Although faith is the act of man,
yet it is the work of God. "With the heart man believeth unto
righteousness;" but that heart must, first of all, have been renewed by
divine grace before it ever can be capable of the act of saving faith.
Faith, we say, is man's act, for we are commanded to "believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ," and we shall be saved. At the same time, faith is
God's gift, and wherever we find it, we may know that it did not come
there from the force of nature, but from a work of divine grace. How
this magnifies the grace of God, my brethren, and how low this casts
human nature! Faith. Is it not one of the simplest things? Merely to
depend upon the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, does
it not seem one of the easiest of virtues? To be nothing, and to let
him be everything–to be still, and to let him work for me, does not
this seem to be the most elementary of all the Christian graces?
Indeed, so it is; and yet, even to this first principle and rudiment,
poor human nature is so fallen and so utterly undone, that it cannot
attain unto! Brethren, the Lord must not only open the gates of heaven
to us at last, but he must open the gates of our heart to faith at the
first. It is not enough for us to know that he must make us perfect in
every good work to do his will, but we must be taught that he must even
give us a desire after Christ; and when this is given, he must enable
us to give the grip of the hand of faith whereby Jesus Christ becomes
our Saviour and Lord. Now, the question comes (and we will try and make
the text of today, a text of examination all the way through) have we
obtained this faith? Are we conscious that we have been operated upon
by the Holy Spirit? Is there a vital principle in us which was not
there originally? Do we know today the folly of carnal confidence? Have
we a hope that we have been enabled through divine grace to cast away
all our own righteousness and every dependence, and are we now, whether
we sink or swim, resting entirely upon the person, the righteousness,
the blood, the intercession, the precious merit of our Lord Jesus
Christ? If not, we have cause enough to tremble; but if we have, the
while the apostle writes, "Unto them that have obtained like precious
faith," he writes to us, and across the interval of centuries his
benediction comes as full and fresh as ever, "Grace and peace be
multiplied unto you."

Peter having described the origin of this faith, proceeds to describe
its object. The word "through" in our translation, might, quite as
correctly, have been rendered "in"–"faith in the righteousness of our
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." True faith, then, is a faith in
Jesus Christ, but it is a faith in Jesus Christ as divine. That man who
believes in Jesus Christ as simply a prophet, as only a great teacher,
has not the faith which will save him. Charity would make us hope for
many Unitarians, but honesty compels us to condemn them without
exception, so far as vital godliness is concerned. It matters not how
intelligent may be their conversation, nor how charitable may be their
manners, nor how patriotic may be their spirit, if they reject Jesus
Christ as very God of very God, we believe they shall without doubt
perish everlastingly. Our Lord uttered no dubious words when he said,
"He that believeth not shall be damned," and we must not attempt to be
more liberal than the Lord himself. Little allowance can I make for one
who receives Jesus the prophet, and rejects him as God. It is an
atrocious outrage upon common sense for a man to profess to be a
believer in Christ at all, if he does not receive his divinity. I would
undertake, at any time, to prove to a demonstration, that if Christ
were not God, he was the grossest impostor who ever lived. One of two
things, he was either divine or a villain. There is no stopping between
the two. I cannot imagine a character more evil than that which would
be borne by a man who should lead his followers to adore him as God,
without ever putting in a word by way of caveat, to stop their
idolatry; nay, who should have spoken in terms so ambiguous, that two
thousand years after his death, there should be found millions of
persons resting upon him as God. I say, if he were not God, the
atrocity of his having palmed himself upon us, his disciples, as God,
puts aside altogether from consideration any of the apparent virtues of
his life. He was the grossest of all deceivers, if he was not "very God
of very God." O beloved, you and I have found no difficulties here;
when we have beheld the record of his miracles, when we have listened
to the testimony of his divine Father, when we have heard the word of
the inspired apostles, when we have felt the majesty of his own divine
influence in our own hearts, we have graciously accepted him as "the
Wonderful, the Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father;"
and, as John bear witness of him and said, "The Word was in the
beginning with God, and the Word was God," even so have we received
him; so that at this day, he that was born of the virgin Mary, Jesus of
Nazareth, the king of the Jews, is to us "God over all, blessed for
ever."

"Jesus is worthy to receive

Honour and power divine:

And blessings more than we can give,

Be Lord for ever thine."

Now, beloved friends, have we heartily and joyfully received Jesus
Christ as God? My hearer, if thou hast not, I pray thee seek of God the
faith that saves, for thou hast it not as yet, nor art thou in the way
to it. Who but a God could bear the weight of sin? Who but a God shall
be the "same yesterday, to-day, and for ever?" Concerning whom but a
God could it be said, "I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed." We have to do with Christ, and we should be
consumed if he changed; inasmuch, then, as he does not change, and we
are not consumed, he must be divine, and our soul rolls the entire
burden of its care and guilt upon the mighty shoulders of the
everlasting God, who–

"Bears the earth's huge pillars up,

And spreads the heavens abroad."

Remark in further dwelling upon the text, that the apostle has put in
another word beside "God", and that is, "of God and our Saviour." As if
the glory of the Godhead might be too bright for us, he has attempered
it by gentler words "our Saviour." Now, to trust Jesus Christ as
divine, will save no man, unless there be added to this a resting in
him as the great propitiatory sacrifice. Jesus Christ is our Saviour
because he became a substitute for guilty man. He having taken upon
himself the form of manhood by union with our nature, stood in the
room, place, and stead of sinners. When the whole tempest of divine
wrath was about to spend itself on man, he endured it all for his
elect; when the great whip of the law must fall, he bared his own
shoulders to the lash; when the cry was heard, "Awake, O sword!" it was
against Christ the Shepherd, against the man who was the fellow to the
eternal God. And because he thus suffered in the place and stead of
man, he received power from on high to become the Saviour of man, and
to bring many sons into glory, because he had been made perfect through
suffering. Now, have we received Jesus Christ as our Saviour? Happy art
thou, if thou hast laid thy hand upon the head of him who was slain for
sinners. Be glad, and rejoice in the Lord without ceasing, if today
that blessed Redeemer who has ascended upon high has become thy
Saviour, delivered thee from sin, passing by thy transgressions, and
making thee to be accepted in the beloved. A Saviour is he to us when
he delivers us from the curse, punishment, guilt and power of sin, "He
shall save his people from their sins." O thou great God, be thou my
Saviour, mighty to save.

But be pleased to notice the word "righteousness." It is a faith in the
righteousness of our God and our Saviour. In these days, certain
divines have tried to get rid of all idea of atonement; they have
taught that faith in Jesus Christ would save men, apart from any faith
in him as a sacrifice. Ah, brethren, it does not say, "faith in the
teaching of God our Saviour;" I do not find here that it is written,
"faith in the character of God our Saviour, as our exemplar." No, but
"faith in the righteousness of God our Saviour." That righteousness,
like a white robe, must be cast around us. I have not received Jesus
Christ at all, but I am an adversary and an enemy to him, unless I have
received him as Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. There is
his perfect life; that life was a life for me; it contains all the
virtues, in it there is no spot; it keeps the law of God, and makes it
honourable; my faith takes that righteousness of Jesus Christ, and it
is cast about me, and I am then so beauteously, nay, so perfectly
arrayed, that even the eye of God can see neither spot nor blemish in
me. Have we, then, today a faith in the righteousness of God our
Saviour? For no faith but this can ever bring the soul into a condition
of acceptance before the Most High. Why," saith one, "these are the
very simplicities of the gospel." Beloved, I know they are, and,
therefore, do we deal them out this morning, for, thanks be to God, it
is the simplicities which lie at the foundation; and it is rather by
simplicities than by mysteries that a Christian is to try himself and
to see whether he be in the faith or no. Put the question, brethren,
have we, then, this like precious faith in God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ?

Our apostle has not finished the description, without saying that it is
"like precious faith." All faith is the same sort of faith. Our faith
may not be like that of Peter, in degree, but if it be genuine, it is
like it as to its nature, its origin, its objects, and its results.
Here is a blessed equality. Speak of "liberty, equality, and
fraternity," you shall only find these things carried out within the
Church of Christ. There is indeed a blessed equality here, for the
poorest little-faith who ever crept into heaven on its hands and knees,
has a like precious faith with the mighty apostle Peter. I say,
brethren, if the one be gold, so is the other; if the one can move
mountains, so can the other; for remember, that the privileges of
mountain-moving, and of plucking up the trees, and casting them into
the sea, are not given to great faith, but "if ye have faith as a grain
of mustard seed," it shall be done. Little faith has a royal descent
and is as truly of divine birth as is the greatest and fullest
assurance which ever made glad the heart of man, hence it ensures the
same inheritance at the last, and the same safety by the way. It is
"like precious faith."

He tells us too, that faith is "precious;" and is it not precious? for
it deals with precious things, with precious promises, with precious
blood, with a precious redemption, with all the preciousness of the
person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Well may that be a
precious faith which supplies our greatest want, delivers us from our
greatest danger, and admits us to the greatest glory. Well may that be
called "precious faith," which is the symbol of our election, the
evidence of our calling, the root of all our graces, the channel of
communion, the weapon of prevalence, the shield of safety, the
substance of hope, the evidence of eternity, the guerdon of
immortality, and the passport of glory. O for more of this inestimably
precious faith. Precious faith, indeed it is.

When the apostle, Simon Peter, writes "to them that have obtained like
precious faith with us, through the righteousness of God, and our
Saviour Jesus Christ," does he write to you? does he write to me? If
not, if we are not here addressed, remember that we can never expect to
hear the voice which says, "Come ye blessed of my Father;" but we are
today in such a condition, that dying as we now are, "Depart ye cursed"
must be the thunder which shall roll in our ears, and drive us down to
hell. So much, then, concerning faith.

Now we shall turn to notice with great brevity, the LIFE. "Grace and
peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus
our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things
that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that
hath called us to glory and virtue." Here we have, then, brethren, the
fountain and source of our spiritual life. Just as faith is a boon
which is to be obtained, so you will perceive that our spiritual life
is a principle which is given. A thing which is given to us, too, by
divine power–"according as his divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness." To give life at all is
the essential attribute of God. This is an attribute which he will not
alienate; to save and to destroy belong unto the Sovereign of heaven.
"He can create, and he destroy," is one of the profoundest notes in the
ascription of our praise. Suppose a corpse before us. How great a
pretender would he be who should boast that it was in his power to
restore it to life. Certainly, it would be even a greater pretence if
anyone should say that he could give to himself or to another the
divine life, the spiritual life by which a man is made a Christian. My
brethren, you who are partakers of the divine nature, know that by
nature you were dead in trespasses and sins, and would have continued
so until this day if there had not been an interposition of divine
energy on your behalf. There you lay in the grave of your sin, rotten,
corrupt. The voice of the minister called to you, but you did not hear.
You were often bidden to come forth, but ye did not and could not come.
But when the Lord said, "Lazarus, come forth," then Lazarus came forth;
and when he said to you, "Live," then you lived also, and the spiritual
life beat within you, with joy and peace through believing. This we
ought never to forget, because, let us never fail to remember, that if
our religion is a thing which sprang from ourselves, it is of the
flesh, and must die. That which is born of the flesh in its best and
most favourable moments, is flesh, and only that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. "Ye must be born again." If a man's religious life be
only a refinement of his ordinary life, if it be only a high attainment
of the natural existence, then is it not the spiritual life, and does
not prepare him for the eternal life before the throne of God. No, we
must have a supernatural spark of heavenly flame kindled within us.
Just as nothing but the soul can quicken the body and make it live, so
the Spirit alone can quicken the soul and make the soul live. We must
have the third master-principle infused, or else we shall be but
natural men, made after the image of the first Adam. We must have, I
say, the new spirit, or else we shall not be like the second Adam, who
was made a quickening spirit. Only of the Christian can we say that he
is spirit, soul, and body; the ungodly man has only soul and body, and
as to spiritual existence, he is as dead as the body would be if there
were no soul. Now the implantation of this new principle, called the
spirit, is a work of divine power. Divine power! What stupendous issues
are grasped in that term, divine power! It was this which digged the
deep foundations of the earth and sea! Divine power, it is this which
guides the marches of the stars of heaven! Divine power! it is this
which holds up the pillars of the universe, and which one day shall
shake them, and hurry all things back to their native nothingness. Yet
the selfsame power which is required to create a world and to sustain
it, is required to make man a Christian, and unless that power be put
forth, the spiritual life is not in any one of us.

You will perceive, dear friends, that the apostle Peter wished to see
this divine life in a healthy and vigorous state, and therefore he
prays that grace and peace may be multiplied. Divine power is the
foundation of this life; grace is the food it feeds upon, and peace is
the element in which it lives most healthily. Give a Christian much
grace, and his spiritual life will be like the life of a man who is
well clothed and nurtured; keep the spiritual life without abundant
grace, and it becomes lean, faint, and ready to die; and though die it
cannot, yet will it seem as though it gave up the ghost, unless fresh
grace be bestowed. Peace, I say, is the element in which it flourishes
most. Let a Christian be much disturbed in mind, let earthly cares get
into his soul, let him have doubts and fears as to his eternal safety,
let him lose a sense of reconciliation to God, let his adoption be but
dimly before his eyes, and you will not see much of the divine life
within him. But oh! if God shall smile upon the life within you, and
you get much grace from God, and your soul dwells much in the balmy air
of heavenly peace, then shall you be strong to exercise yourself unto
godliness, and your whole life shall adorn the doctrine of God your
Saviour.

Observe, again, that in describing this life, he speaks of it as one
which was conferred upon us by our being called. He says, "We were
called unto glory and virtue." I find translators differ here. Many of
them think the word should be "By"–"We are called by the glory and
virtue of God"–that is, there is a manifestation of all the glorious
attributes of God, and of all the efficacious virtue and energy of his
power in the calling of every Christian. Simon Peter himself was at his
fishing and in his boat, but Jesus said to him, "Follow me;" and at
once he followed Christ. He says there was in that calling, the divine
glory and virtue; and, doubtless, when you and I shall get to heaven,
and see things as they are, we shall discover in our effectual calling
of God to grace, a glory as great as in the creation of worlds, and a
virtue as great as in the healing of the sick, when virtue went from
the garments of a Saviour. Now, can we say today, that we have a life
within us which is the result of divine power, and have we, upon
searching ourselves, reason to believe, dear friends, that there is
that within us which distinguishes us from other men, because we have
been called out by mankind by the glory and energy of the divine power?
I am afraid some of us must say "Nay." Then the Lord in his mercy yet
bring us into the number of his people. But if we can, however,
tremblingly say, "Yes, I trust there is something of the life in me;"
then as Peter did so, do I wish for you that benediction, "Grace and
peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ." O brethren, whatever men may say against the
faith of God, there is nothing in the world which creates virtue like
true faith. Wherever true faith enters, though it be into the heart of
a harlot or of a thief, what a change it makes! See her there; she has
polluted herself many times; she has gone far into sin. Mary has been a
sinner; she hears the preaching of the Saviour; standing in the crowd
she listens to him one day as he preaches concerning the prodigal, and
how the loving father pressed him to his bosom; she comes to Jesus and
she finds forgiveness. Is she a harlot any longer? Nay, there she is,
washing his feet with her tears, and wiping them with the hairs of her
head. The woman who was a sinner, hates her evil ways and loves her
gracious Lord. We may say of her, "But she is washed, but she is
sanctified, but she is saved." Take Saul of Tarsus. Foaming with blood,
breathing out threatenings, he is going to Damascus to drag the saints
of God to prison. On the road he is struck down; by divine mercy he is
led to put his trust in Jesus. Is he a persecutor any longer? See that
earnest apostle beaten with rods–shipwrecked–in labours more abundant
than all the rest of them–counting not his life dear unto him, that he
may win Christ and be found in him. Saul of Tarsus becomes a majestic
proof of what the grace of God can do. See Zaccheus, the grasping
publican, distributing his wealth, the Ephesians burning their magical
books, the jailer washing the apostle's stripes. Take the case of many
now present. Let memory refresh itself this morning, with the
recollection of the change which has been wrought in you. We have
nothing to boast of; God forbid that we should glory, save in the cross
of Christ, but yet some of us are wonderful instances of renewing
grace. We were unclean, our mouths could utter blasphemy; our temper
was hot and terrible; our hands were unrighteous; we were altogether as
an unclean thing, but how changed now! Again, I say, we boast of
nothing which we now are, for by the grace of God we are what we are,
yet the change is something to be wondered at. Has divine grace wrought
this change in you? Be not weary with my reiteration of this question.
Let me put it again to you till I get an answer; nay, till I force you
to an answer: Have you this precious faith? Can you not answer the
question? Then, have you not that divine life, that life which is given
by divine calling? If you have the one, you have the other; and if you
have not both, you have neither; for where there is the one, the other
must come, and where the one has come, the other has been there.

II. I have thus fully but feebly brought the subject before you, allow
me to remind you that another verse remains which handles the same
topics. In the fourth verse, he deals with the privileges of faith, and
also with the privileges of the spiritual life.

Notice the PRIVILEGE OF FAITH first. "Whereby are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises"–here is the faith, "That by
these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust." Here is the life
resulting from the faith. Now, the privileges of faith first. The
privileges of faith are, that we have given to us "Exceeding great and
precious promises." "Great and precious"–two words which do not often
come together. Many things are great which are not precious, such as
great rocks, which are of little value; on the other hand, many things
are precious which are not great–such as diamonds and other jewels,
which cannot be very great if they be very precious. But here we have
promises which are so great, that they are not less than infinite, and
so precious, that they are not less than divine. I shall not attempt to
speak about their greatness or their preciousness, but just give a
catalogue of them, and leave you to guess at both. We have some of them
which are like birds in the hands–we have them already; other promises
are like birds in the bush, only that they are just as valuable and as
sure as those which are in the hand.

Note here, then, we have received by precious faith the promise and
pardon. Hark thee, my soul, all thy sins are forgiven thee. He who hath
faith in Christ hath no sin to curse him, his sins are washed away,
they have ceased to be; they have been carried on the scape-goat's head
into the wilderness; they are drowned in the Red Sea; they are blotted
out; they are thrown behind God's back; they are cast into the depths
of the sea. Here is a promise of perfect pardon. Is not this great and
precious?–as great as your sins are; and if your sins demanded a
costly ransom, this precious promise is as great as the demand.

Then comes the righteousness of Christ: you are not only pardoned, that
is, washed and made clean, but you are dressed, robed in garments such
as no man could ever weave. The vesture is divine. Jehovah himself has
wrought out your righteousness for you; the holy life of Jesus the Son
of God, has become your beauteous dress, and you are covered with it.
Christian, is not this an exceeding great and precious promise? The law
was great–this righteousness is as great as the law. The law asked a
precious revenue from man, more than humanity could pay–the
righteousness of Christ has paid it all. Is it not great and precious?

Then next comes reconciliation. You were strangers, but you are brought
nigh by the blood of Christ. Once aliens, but now fellow-citizens with
the saints and of the household of God. Is not this great and precious?

Then comes your adoption. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." "And if
children, then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ, if
so be we suffer with him that we may be glorified together." Oh, how
glorious is this great and precious promise of adoption!

Then we have the promise of providence: "all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his
purpose." "Thy place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks." "Thy
bread shall be given thee and thy waters shall be sure." "As thy days
thy strength shall be." "Fear not, I am with thee; be not dismayed, I
am thy God." "When thou passest through the rivers, I will be with
thee, the floods shall not overflow thee. When thou goest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flames kindle upon
thee." When I think of providence, the greatness of its daily gifts,
and the preciousness of its hourly boons, I may well say, here is an
exceeding great and precious promise.

Then you have the promise too, that you shall never taste of death but
shall only sleep in Jesus. "Write, blessed are the dead which die in
the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they cease from
their labours; and their works do follow them." Nor does the promise
cease here, you have the promise of a resurrection. "For the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality." Beloved, we know that if Christ rose
from the dead, so also them who sleep in Jesus, will the Lord bring
with him. Nor is this all, for we shall reign with Jesus; at his
coming, we shall be glorified with him, we shall sit upon his throne,
even as he has overcome and sits with his Father upon his throne. The
harps of heaven, the streets of glory, the trees of paradise, the river
of the water of life, the eternity of immaculate bliss–all these, God
hath promised to them who love him. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, but he hath
revealed them unto us by his Spirit;" and by our faith we have grasped
them, and we have today "the substance of things hoped for, and the
evidence of things not seen." Now, beloved, see how rich faith makes
you!–what treasure!–what a costly regalia!–what gold mines!–what
oceans of wealth!–what mountains of sparkling treasures has God
conferred upon you by faith!

But we must not forget the life, and with that we close. The text says,
he has given us this promise, "that"–"in order that." What then? What
are all these treasures lavished for? For what these pearls? For what
these jewels? For what, I say, these oceans of treasure? For what? Is
the end worthy of the means? Surely God never giveth greater store than
the thing which he would purchase will be worth. We may suppose, then,
the end to be very great when such costly means have been given; and
what is the end? Why, "that by these ye might be partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world
through lust." O, my brethren, if you have these mercies today by
faith, do see to it that the result is obtained. Be not content to be
made rich in these great and precious promises, without answering God's
design in your being thus enriched. That design, you perceive, is
twofold; it is first that you may be partakers of the divine nature;
and, secondly, that you may escape the corruption which is in the
world.

To be a partaker of the divine nature is not, of course, to become God.
That cannot be. The essence of Deity is not to be participated in by
the creature. Between the creature and the Creator there must ever be a
gulf fixed in respect of essence; but as the first man Adam was made in
the image of God, so we, by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, are in a
yet diviner sense made in the image of the Most High, and are partakers
of the divine nature. We are, by grace, made like God. "God is love;"
we become love–"He that loveth is born of God." God is truth; we
become true, and we love that which is true, and we hate the darkness
and the lie. God is good, it is his very name; he makes us good by his
grace, so that we become the pure in heart who shall see God. Nay, I
will say this, that we become partakers of the divine nature in even a
higher sense than this–in fact, in any sense, anything short of our
being absolutely divine. Do we not become members of the body of the
divine person of Christ? And what sort of union is this–"members of
his body, of his flesh, and of his bones?" The same blood which flows
in the head flows in the hand, and the same life which quickens Christ,
quickens his people; for, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God." Nay, as if this were not enough, we are married into
Christ. He hath betrothed us unto himself in righteousness and in
faithfulness; and as the spouse must, in the nature of things, be a
partaker of the same nature as the husband, so Jesus Christ first
became partaker of flesh and blood that they twain might be one flesh;
and then he makes his Church partakers of the same spirit, that they
twain may be one spirit; for he who is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit. Oh, marvellous mystery! we look into it, but who shall
understand it? One with Jesus, by eternal union one, married to him; so
one with him that the branch is not more one with the vine than we are
a part of the Lord, our Saviour, and our Redeemer. Rejoice in this,
brethren, ye are made partakers of the divine nature, and all these
promises are given to you in order that you may show this forth among
the sons of men, that ye are like God, and not like ordinary men; that
ye are different now from what flesh and blood would make you, having
been made participators of the nature of God.

Then the other result which follows from it, was this, "Having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust." Ah, beloved, it were
ill that a man who is alive should dwell in corruption. "Why seek ye
the living among the dead?" said the angel to Magdalene. Should the
living dwell among the dead? Should divine life be found amongst the
corruptions of worldly lusts? The bride of Christ drunken! Frequenting
the ale-house! A member of Christ's body found intoxicated in the
streets, or lying, or blaspheming, or dishonest! God forbid. Shall I
take the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? How can
I drink the cup of the Lord, and drink the cup of Belial? How can it be
possible that I can have life, and yet dwell in the black, dark, foul,
filthy, pestiferous tomb of the world's lusts? Surely, brethren, from
these open lusts and sins ye have escaped: have ye also escaped from
slothfulness? Have ye clean escaped from carnal security? Are we
seeking day by day to live above worldliness, and love of the things of
the world, and the ensnaring avarice which they nourish? Remember, it
is for this that you have been enriched with the treasures of God. Do
not, oh, I conjure you, do not, chosen of God and beloved by him, and
so graciously enriched, do not suffer all this lavish treasure to be
wasted upon you.

There is nothing which my heart desires more than to see you, the
members of this Church, distinguished for holiness: it is the
Christian's crown and glory. An unholy Church! it is of no use to the
world, and of no esteem among men. Oh! it is an abomination, hell's
laughter, heaven's abhorrence. And the larger the Church, the more
influential, the worse nuisance does it become, when it becomes dead
and unholy. The worst evils which have ever come upon the world, have
been brought upon her by an unholy Church. Whence came the darkness of
the dark ages? From the Church of Rome. And if we want to see the world
again sitting in Egyptian darkness, bound with fetters of iron, we have
only to give up the faith, and to renounce holiness of life, and we may
drag the world down again to the limbo of superstition, and bind her
fast in chains of ignorance and vice. O Christian, the vows of God are
upon you. You are God's priest: act as such. You are God's king: reign
over your lusts. You are God's chosen: do not associate with Belial.
Heaven is your portion; live like a heavenly spirit, so shall you prove
that you have the true faith; but except ye do this, your end shall be
to lift up your eyes in hell, and find yourself mistaken when it will
be too late to seek or find a remedy. The Lord give us the faith and
the life, for Jesus' sake. Amen.