Characters of True Believers, God in Christ the Believer's Portion, Part One, by Thomas Boston. This audio was created with an artificial voice for the audiobook initiative on Sermon Audio. God in Christ the Believer's Portion, Psalm 142, verse 5. I cried unto thee, O Lord, I said, thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. Having considered the nature of the refuge and portion mentioned in the text, especially that of the refuge, and shewn that those who have taken God in Christ for their refuge and portion should recognize their so doing, I now proceed to another doctrine from the words, namely doctrine. To those who have sincerely made God in Christ their refuge, the same God in Christ is their portion to live on in that refuge. In discoursing from this doctrine, I shall 1. Consider God in Christ as a portion to live on, 2. Show in what respects He is the believer's portion or the portion of those who have taken Him for their refuge, 3. Confirm the doctrine, for, make some practical improvement. One I am to consider God in Christ as a portion to live on. For understanding this, consider, first, man needed and doth need a portion. Portions are given to supply wants, and answer the needs of those who get them. The need is twofold. 1. By necessity of nature, from the moment of his being he needed a portion, something without himself to live upon. Innocent Adam did not need a refuge to flee to, guilt brought on that necessity. While he kept free from sin, none could do him harm. but he needed a portion as he was a creature and therefore was not self-sufficient, which is an incommunicable property of God. Genesis chapter 17 verse 1. I am God all-sufficient. God was infinitely happy in himself before there was any creature, but no creature can be happy in itself, having desires to be satisfied that must be satisfied from another quarter. 2. By necessity of loss. God himself, without the intervention of a mediator, was man's portion at first, and the well-furnished world was but an addition to the bargain, Genesis 1.26.27. It was never given him for his portion, for it was what his innocent soul could never have subsisted on. But when he gave him every herb for the support of his earthly part, he gave him himself as his God for the support of his heavenly part. But man by sin lost his portion, God turning his enemy, and all access to the enjoyment of God being stopped. Thus mankind was left in a starving condition. Secondly, the same way that God became a refuge to which guilty sinners might have access, He became a portion to which starving sinners might have access, namely, in Christ. The former drew with it the latter. One, none less than a God, could ever be a sufficient portion to man. Indeed, if a man had no nobler part than the body, the earth of which it was made, might be a sufficient portion to him, as it is to the beasts. But since he is endowed with a rational soul, which is capable of desires that all the creation cannot satisfy, and none but God Himself can, it is evident, that only God Himself can be a sufficient portion to man. Two, but an absolute God could never be enjoyed as a portion by a sinful creature. Justice stood in the way of it, which requires the sinner to die the death, according to the threatening Genesis 2.17, in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, and therefore forbade the enjoying of their portion by which the sinner might live. What was the life promised in the covenant of works, but that complete happiness flowing from the full enjoyment of God in heaven and the happiness flowing from the full enjoyment of Him here, the covenant then being broken, the justice of God necessarily staved Him off from this? 4. But God having clothed Himself with our nature in the person of the Son, and so became a refuge to the guilty creature, He became also a portion for the starving creature, upon which it might live. As a refuge we find in Him a covet from revenging wrath, and what fully answers the demands of the law on our account. hence taking Him for our refuge, and so sheltering ourselves under the shade of a crucified Redeemer, in whom dwells the fullness of the Godhead, there is nothing to hinder our enjoyment of Him as our portion. Psalm 16 verses 5 and 10. Thirdly, God in Christ then is a portion, legally destined for, and offered to sinners in the gospel. He is a portion for them to live on as well as a refuge for them to flee unto. John 3.16 God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. I take up this in these three things. 1. The soul of man may live on the enjoyment of God. Lamentations 3.24 In Christ. It needs no more to make it live happily. John 6.57 He that eateth me, even he shall live by me. The prodigal, when he was minded to return to his father, was convinced of this. Luke chapter 15 verse 17, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! And if you ask, what is this bread? Our Lord Christ answers, John chapter 6 verse 51, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. And if ye ask, where the strength of this bread lies for nourishing of the soul? It is answered, John chapter 6 verse 63, It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life, Colossians chapter 2 verses 9 and 10. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power. The enjoyment of God in Christ, 1, removes the maladies of the soul, Psalm 103 verse 3. Bless the Lord, O my soul, who healeth all thy diseases. Sin has cast the soul into extreme disorders, has left it in a diseased condition, and the sickness is mortal, which the soul cannot miss to die of eternally, if it be not cured. John chapter 8 verse 24, If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. It is cast into a fever of raging lusts, which cause in it many irregular and preternatural desires, and the answering of these desires does but increase the distemper of the soul. Men whose portion the world is, endeavor to satisfy them from their portion, but all in vain, Ecclesiastes 1.8, the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Habakkuk 2.5. He is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied. Neither can they be satisfied from a holy God, whose holiness is perfectly opposite to their nature. But here lies the matter. The enjoyment of God in Christ kills these desires and frees the soul from them according to the measure of it. John chapter 4 verse 14. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Like as the feverish man's drought is slaked, according to the measure of his recovery wrought by some suitable remedy, so God in Christ being enjoyed by faith, the irregular desires or lusts of the soul die. And when God in Christ shall be perfectly enjoyed in heaven, they shall be perfectly expelled out of the soul. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 23. Thus mortification is the effect of the enjoyment of God in Christ, and as lusts die, the soul lives, lives happily and comfortably. 2. It satisfies the regular cravings of the soul. Isaiah chapter 55 verse 2. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Take away the instincts, flowing from the distemper of the soul by sin, the desires of the heart are brought into a narrow compass, all centering in one thing, namely what is really needful and useful for the soul's well-being. Luke chapter 10, last verse. One thing is needful. Psalm 27 verse 4, One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. And that is to be found in the enjoyment of God in Christ, Psalm 27 verse 4, and chapter 73 verse 25, Foresighted. Now the regular craving of the soul may be comprised in these two things. 1. A desire of what may perfect its nature. Everything has a native inclination towards its own perfection, and the sinful creature being made a new creature has a strong inclination to its own perfection and consequently desires what may advance that. Hence we read of the lusting of the Spirit, Galatians 5.17, the groanings of the gracious soul under the remains of corruption, Romans 7.24. Now that which is perfecting to the renewed soul is the transformation of it into the image of God, 1 John 3.2. For this is it by which it is brought back into the happy state it was created in at first, Genesis 1.27, and without question everything is the more perfect, the nearer it comes to the likeness of Him who is the fountain of all perfection, and therefore holiness is indeed the happiness and the life of the soul. Now the enjoyment of God in Christ answers the desire of the soul according to the measure thereof. And in Christ there is a fulness for satisfying of it, for in him there is a fulness of the spirit of sanctification with light, life, strength, etc. and whatsoever is necessary for nourishing up the new creature to perfection, John 1.16, Revelation 3.1, and through the enjoyment of God in him, the perfection of the soul is carried on, according to the degrees of the enjoyment, 2 Corinthians 4.18, 2. A desire of what may continue it in its perfection. This also is what everything has a native inclination to, since nothing can desire its own destruction. And this, the new creature or renewed soul, is also endowed with, namely, a desire of its being for ever continued in the state of perfection once attained unto. But what portion is sufficient for such a boundless desire of the soul? Not this world, surely, which will not last but will be burnt up, but the eternal God, the everlasting Father of infinite perfections, who is an inexhaustible fountain of perfection for ever. Therefore says the psalmist, My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. Psalm 73 verse 26. 2. There is a sufficiency in God in Christ for the whole man, soul and body too. Romans chapter 11 verse 36. For of him and through him and to him are all things. He is infinite in perfections, therefore there can be nothing wanting in Him, which is necessary for the good of His creature any manner of way. Job 11.7 Canst thou by searching find out God, canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection. Hence David says, Psalm 34 verse 10, They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. So that he who would have a portion that might furnish him with all he needs, both for his soul and his body, may have it in a God in Christ. Thus God in Christ is a portion the whole man may live on. Question, how can that be? Answer one. There is enough in God to give a man full contentment of heart in any lot whatsoever, to cause him say from inward feeling that he has enough, whatever be his wants, Philippians chapter 4 verse 11, I have learned, says the Apostle, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Habakkuk chapter 3 verses 17 and 18, formerly quoted. and that is equivalent to one's having all, and wanting nothing, 2 Corinthians 6.10, Philippians 4.18. A man living thus in a cottage, with coarse fare and a small measure of it, lives better than a discontented king in his palace, Luke 12.15, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. God satisfies such as with marrow and fat, of which a small quantity fill so as the man desires no more, but rejoiceth in his portion. To all good things whatsoever, that are not formerly in God, are eminently and virtually in him as in their cause. Matthew chapter 19 verses 17 and 18. There is none good but one, that is God. That is to say, as one getting a great sum of money for his portion, may live upon it, because though it is not formerly meat nor clothes, he cannot eat it nor clothe himself with the metal. Yet it is virtually and in effect both meat and clothes, in so far as it can purchase these things to the man, and so is equivalent to all such things, Ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 19, money answereth all things. even so one getting God in Christ for his portion may live upon him, because he can furnish him with all good things whatsoever. So having him to be theirs, they have all in effect, since he has all, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 21, not only all for the soul, but all for the body too. These two grounds being laid, I say there is a sufficiency in a God in Christ for all that is necessary for the whole man, so that they who have Him for their portion have in Him a sufficiency for the body as well as for the soul, and first for their maintenance in meat and drink. That day the man takes God for his portion, his bread is bacon, his provision is secured for time as well as for eternity. That is a clause in the disposition made to them of their portion, Psalm 37 verse 3, Verily thou shalt be fed. Isaiah chapter 33 verse 16, Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure. all living is fed by him, Psalm 145 verse 15. However poor and needy they may be, he who feeds his birds will not neglect his babes, Psalm 147 verse 9. Question, but what can a man make of that sufficiency in God as a portion for maintenance, when he has empty pantries to go to? Answer, If he go by faith to his portion as his maintenance, he may make these four things of it, 1. He may get providential provision brought to him in the channel of the covenant, that is, as an accomplishment of the promise on which he relies. and if that were bare bread and water, it will be more sweet to the godly man than the most delicious meats to one whose portion God is not. So I doubt not Elijah's fare was sweeter to him, 1 Kings chapter 17 verse 6, than the fare of Baal's priests at Jezebel's table. Godly persons in straits helped to live by faith get many sweet experiences, which they want when their lot is more plentiful. And sure I am the creature never tastes so sweet as when it comes in answer to prayer and faith in the promise. Too he may get a little to serve far, as in the case of Daniel and his companions, Daniel 1.15, whose countenances, at the end of ten days, appeared fairer and fatter in flesh, by living on pulse and water, than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Nature may be content with little and grace with less, whereas lust can never get enough. There is a curse that insensibly wastes the provision of some, while the small provision of others, by God's blessing comes to be like the widow's barrel of meal and cruise of oil, 1 Kings chapter 17. She never had much, but yet she never wanted altogether. It is a certain truth, that man doth not live by bread alone, and that as men may eat plentifully and not have enough, so they may be kept at very slender provision, and yet through grace have abundance. 3. When the streams are quite dry, he may get a draught of the fountain that will be strengthening and refreshful to his very body. Moses being in the mount with God, eat none for forty days, and missed neither meat nor drink. It is true that was miraculous, but it tells us that the godly man's portion is able to feed him without meat or drink, and I believe the experience of many of the saints proves that a watering of grace to the soul is even sometimes refreshing and strengthening to the very body, agreeable to these Scripture texts, Isaiah chapter 66 verse 14. Your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb. Psalm 35 verse 9 and 19. My soul shall be joyful in the Lord, it shall rejoice in his salvation. All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him. For he may quietly and contentedly in the faith of the promise hang on at the door of his storehouse, not doubting but his father will seasonably interpose for his help and relief, after he has tried him, and thus feed on hope. Psalm 37 verse 3. Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. And this is one of those ways how the Lord's people are satisfied in days of famine. Verse 19. Do not you observe that sometimes the hungry child cries for bread, and the mother gives him a promise of it sometime after, and thereupon he is easy? And may we not think a promise embraced by faith will have a satisfying influence on a child of God. Secondly for their clothing, that likewise is in a pertinence of the saints' portion, Matthew chapter 6 verse 30. If God so clothed the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? There is a lust for clothing and attire, for satisfying of which earth and seas, and even the most remote countries, Persia and the Indies, are ransacked, and yet that lust is not satisfied, still some new thing is desired. but oh the satisfaction of heart, where the man or woman lodges the key of their wardrobe in the hand of a God in Christ, believing that he will clothe them as is meat in his sight. This made the sheep skins and goat skins wherein the worthies. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 37. wandered about more comfortable to them than the most gorgeous apparel could be to the persecutors. Thirdly, for their housing or lodging, Psalm 90 verse 1, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. They that have God for their portion, though they were cast out of house and hold, will not want a place where they may lodge securely and comfortably. He who made a fiery furnace a comfortable lodging to the three children can make any place sweet to his own. Jacob never lodged a night more comfortably than when he durst not stay at his father's house for Esau, but got the vault of the heavens for the roof of his bedchamber, the bare field for his bed, and a stone for his bolster, Genesis chapter 28, that he preferred as the house of God to all the houses that ever his foot was in, verse 17. Fourthly for their provision with money. They that are lovers of it shall never get enough of it, heap up as they will. Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 10. Nay, it is ruining to them who seek it, use it, and value themselves upon it, as their portion. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 10. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But those whose portion God is shall have as much of it as he sees they really need, and that is abundance. Job 22.25. Thou shalt have plenty of silver. If their portion furnish them not money, it will furnish them money worth, what is as good and better heb, silver of strength ibid. The people of God might be very easy on this head, if they could believe that all the riches of the world belong to Him and are at His disposal, and that infinite wisdom and love carves out their portion of them. and that therefore if their part thereof be small, it is necessary for them that it should be so, and that want is made up another way. Haggai chapter 2 verses 8 and 9. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts, and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. Lastly, for a purchase to them. If men are for a heritage, some possession they might call their own, there is no such sure way for it as to take God in Christ for their portion. God gives bits of the earth, lairdships and lordships, etc., to some few of His children, though but few of them, 1 Corinthians 1.26. The greatest part of those who are so well provided now are those who have no more to expect at His hand, but one whereas worldly men have but bits of this earth, that they can call theirs, they that have God for their portion, have a right to the whole earth as their father's ground, Matthew chapter 5 verse 5. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. It is not the carnal worldlings that fight and worry one another for it, but the meek and quiet ones whose hearts rest in God, that shall inherit the earth. There is often a great difference betwixt the saints and others in this earth in respect of their possessions. They whom God has leased kindness for oft times get the largest share of earth, but betwixt a believer and an unbeliever in that case there is just such a difference as betwixt the young heir and one of his father's tenants. The tenant may be in possession of much of the land, while the young heir possesses not a furrow of it, but he has a right to it all. The tenant has no more than what he must pay a dear rent for and may be turned out of at the term. 2. Whereas worldly men's property is confined to this earth, and they have no peculiar interest in the visible heavens, air, sun, moon, and stars, the children of God's property extends to these also, and they have a peculiar interest in them as the outworks of their father's palace. Psalm 8 verse 3. The visible heavens are a space of the universe, which Providence has kindly put beyond the reach of men to impropriate, so that the beggar and the king are equally free to the air, sun, moon, etc. If it had been otherwise, no doubt the men of the world would have divided these among them too, as well as they have done the earth, waters, and seas, so that the meaner sort would have had the light of the sun, moon, etc., to have paid for to the proprietors, as well as they have their houses and farms on the earth, etc., to pay for. But blessed be God, worldly men's heritage extends not that far. Yea, but the portioners of a God in Christ have a peculiar interest there. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 21 and 22. 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. each of them may look up, and say, That is my sun and my moon, my stars, my air, purchased by the blood of my elder brother, and disponed in the everlasting covenant by his Father to me, to give light to me, and for me to breathe in, by day and night, and discharge to wrong or hurt me. Psalm 121 verse 6. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 3. Whereas worldly men have no claim at all to the highest heavens, and so have no place to go to when they shall be shaken out of the earth at the resurrection, but the pit of hell, the heirs, the portioners of God in Christ, their great interest lies there. Heaven is their own country, their own city, kingdom, and mansion house. It is their own home, which they shall never depart from, if once they were there. It is disponed to them with their portion, and Christ, as their proxy, has taken possession of it for them in their name, Hebrews chapter 6, verse 10, whither the forerunner is for us entered. Hence they are said to be settled there already, Ephesians 2, verse 6. In one word, they enjoy all in their head, Colossians 2, verses 9 and 10, 3. Every man may have this God in Christ secured to him as his portion, in virtue of the everlasting covenant offered in the gospel. For thus the covenant is proposed to be believed, embraced, and appropriated by all to whom the gospel comes. Hebrews chapter eight, verse 10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. A man's portion speaks a disposal of it to him by gift from the donor, and his property in it by claiming it as his own, and so accepting the gift. Thus God in Christ is a portion offered to all to whom the gospel comes, and a portion accepted by believers. I take up this in four things. First the all which man is capable to enjoy is divided into two great parts, God and the creature. This division was made by sin, for before it entered, man enjoyed God and the creature, the latter as the incast to the former, but man falling off from God chose the creature as a portion in opposition to God. Luke chapter 15 verses 12 and 13. The younger said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me, and he divided unto them his living. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. He left his father with his portion. And thus all men by nature, while the two portions are set before them, grasp the creature as their portion. Secondly, man by this choice brought himself into a wretched condition. 1. He betook himself to a portion that could never be sufficient for him. Isaiah chapter 55, verse 22. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not. 2. He lost all right to God as a portion any more. His name became Lomi, not my people. Hosea 1.9. Therefore men in their natural state are said to be without God. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 12. And if man had been ever so willing to have returned to the possession of God as his portion, by the first bargain he could have had no access more than the fallen angels. Genesis chapter 3 verses 22 and 24. Yea, and it was quite beyond his power to have procured himself access to God again as his portion. Thirdly, God in Christ hath freely made over himself as a portion to sinners in the gospel, so that they all may and are welcome to take possession of him as their portion again. This is heaven's grant to poor sinners of the race of Adam from which fallen angels are excluded. John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Compare Proverbs 8.4 Unto you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. And thus the Mercies of the Covenant are called Sinners own Mercies. John chapter 2 verse 8 And the living God the Saviour of all men. 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 10 And salvation the common salvation. Jude verse 3 Question But how hath God made over himself to lost sinners of Adam's race, as a portion, answer, by way of free gift to be received by faith? Hence Christ is called the gift of God. John 4.10 Isaiah 9.6 John 6.32 His righteousness a gift. Romans 5.17 Yea, and eternal life is given, 1 John chapter 5 verse 11. This is the free gift made by heaven to Adam's family, so that they may by faith, every one of them, claim it, and take possession thereof, without fear of vicious intromission. And this is indeed the foundation of faith, for no man can warrantably take what he has no manner of right to, nor can any receive what is not first given him. There must be a giving on God's part before there can be a receiving on our part. John chapter 3 verse 27. The purport of what is said on this head is, that there is a gift of this portion made to you and every one of you, and by this gospel it is intimated to you, 1 John chapter 5 verse 11, so that nothing remains to make it your own in a saving manner, but that you by faith claim it and take possession of it. ye have a clear and solid ground on which ye may do so, whatever be your case. Revelation chapter 22 verse 17. Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. And this brings me to the fourth and last thing, namely faith claims the gift of this portion, appropriates it, and takes possession thereof, so that it becomes actually the believer's own portion in a saving manner, John chapter 1 verse 12. The sinner convinced of his utter poverty and want, and the insufficiency of the whole creation to satisfy the soul in the starving condition that it is therefore in, hears and believes that God in Christ hath given himself as a portion to sinners, and therefore to himself in particular in the word of the promise of the gospel. and therefore trusts and confides in him as his portion for happiness and satisfaction upon the warrant of the word of grace. Thus faith takes possession, and saith as in the text, Thou art my portion. Lamentations 3.24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him. See Psalm 2. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Isaiah 26.3-4 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. Trust in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Thus the man renounceth all other portions, believes a sufficiency in God, and that that sufficiency shall be made forthcoming to him according to the promise, and so rest in God in Christ as his portion. This is saving faith, by which the soul takes God for its portion. even as if where a family is ruined and reduced to beggary, a friend of theirs should draw up a disposition, wherein he makes over to them his estate unknown to them. And while they are going about in a starving condition, he causes intimate it to them, that they may come and claim it, and take possession of it, and so live on it. In that case, those of that family that claim it, enjoy it as their own. But if any of them will not believe the grant of the estate to be made to them, and therefore will not put in their claim to it, nor lay their weight on it, they must starve for all it, it never becomes theirs actually to any saving purpose. Adam's posterity is this family, God in Christ is the friend, the gospel promise in the Bible is the disposition, the preaching of the gospel is the intimation, faith is the making of the claim, and unbelief is the not putting in a claim. Thus have I shown you how God in Christ is a portion for sinners to live on. I shall fourthly and lastly speak of the properties of this portion. One God in Christ is a suitable portion. Isaiah chapter 55 verse 2. Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Many have little satisfaction in the portion given them because it is not suitable to their case. But God in Christ is a portion suited to all the necessities of poor sinners, and therefore they may rejoice in Him. Isaiah chapter 61 verse 7. The whole world cannot make a suitable portion for man's soul. He spake like a fool, who said, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Luke chapter 12, verse 20. The soul being a spiritual substance, carnal things can never be a suitable portion to it, as being quite unsuitable to its nature. But God is a Spirit of infinite perfections and therefore a suitable portion for the soul. 2. The Double Portion Such a portion belonged to the firstborn, Deuteronomy 21.17, by which we may understand that which Elisha prayed for, I pray thee, said he to Elijah, let a double portion of thy Spirit be upon me. This seems to have had something typical in it, for all believers in Christ, in the language of the Holy Ghost, are first born, Hebrews chapter 12 verse 23, denoting that to them belongs the blessing, the dominion, the priesthood, and the double portion. Now God in Christ is their portion, therefore he is the double portion. This world is but the single portion, a portion for unbelievers. Whatever be theirs, God is not theirs. But they that have God for their portion, they have the good things of this life as the incast to the bargain. Matthew 6.33 1 Timothy 4.8 God's dealing with saints and sinners is like that of Abraham with his children, Genesis chapter 25 verses 5 and 6. Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac, but unto the sons of the concubines which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts and sent them away. All is the believer's, Romans chapter 8 verse 17. Compare Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2-3. A full portion, Colossians 1.19, it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell, compared with 2.9. In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. There is no worldly portion that one has or can have, but there is always something wanting in it. There was a want even in paradise. The treasures and kingdoms of the greatest monarch on earth cannot furnish all things, but there is a fullness in God Himself, He is all-sufficient. Genesis 17.1 Ephesians 1.23 The saints in heaven are all filled by him, so that they want nothing. And sometimes he has filled saints on earth, that they have been made to cry, Hold, lest the earthen pitcher, the body, should burst with the incomes of his fulness. For a heart-satisfying portion. Psalm 63 verses 5 and 6 My soul shall be satisfied, says David, as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips, etc. Man's heart is a devouring depth into which if one should cast the fullness of ten thousand worlds it would all be swallowed up, and the heart would still be crying, Give, give!" For the whole creation, yea, all possible creations, cannot be commensurable to the desires of the soul of man, because the Creator enlarged its capacity to the enjoying of Himself an infinite good, nothing less can truly satisfy or still its desires and cravings. But God Himself is a portion satisfying to the soul. While He pours in of His goodness to the soul, it desires nothing beyond Him and nothing besides Him. Psalm 73 verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee. Here is a portion, in which the restless soul comes to rest, like the hungry infant set on the breast. Isaiah chapter 66 verse 11. 5. A certain and secure portion, Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 and 20. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. No worldly portion is so, all of that kind is but movables, which may be lost, but the saints' portion is not so, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 28, a kingdom which cannot be moved. How many have had riches and wealth sometime a day, who have been robbed and spoiled of all, having nothing left them! But none can take away this portion, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Romans chapter 9 verse 29. And this is the advantage of having God for our portion in the tenor of the second covenant beyond that of the first, John chapter 10 verses 28 and 29. I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them Me is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. 6. A durable portion, as there is no losing of it, so there is no wasting of it neither. John 4.14. Many have had great portions in the world, who have got through them, having spent so prodigally that they have left themselves nothing. But this portion is infinite, so it is a well that can never be drawn dry. This is enough to bear the believers' ordinary and extraordinary charges, as the Worthies, Hebrews chapter 12, experienced, 7. An everlasting portion, Psalm 73 verse 26. Though men's portion in the world neither be taken from them nor wasted by them, yet it will last no longer with them than the dying hour. When the breath is out, it is no more theirs, it becomes the portion of others after them. But death takes not away the believer's portion, therefore is the phrase, Lay up for yourselves, Matthew chapter 6 verse 20, he will be the believer's portion in time and throughout eternity, and hence it follows that he is eight. Lastly a non-such portion, the best of portions, the most desirable portion, no portion comparable to him, Jeremiah chapter 10 verses 15 and 16. They are vanity and the work of errors. In the time of their visitation they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is not like them, for he is the former of all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance, the Lord of hosts is his name. Psalm 17 verses 14 and 15. And so the believer reckons all but loss and dung in comparison of a God in Christ. Philippians chapter 3 verse 8. So the world's portion being put in competition with Christ and His heavy cross, the Lord's people have rejoiced in their portion in the midst of the most cruel sufferings and would not have exchanged their portion with their persecutors' fullness and ease. 2. The next general head is to show in what respects God in Christ is the portion of His people or the portion of those who have taken Him for their refuge. 1. They have and possess Him as their portion in virtue of the covenant of grace, which is the disposition they have to it. Hebrews chapter 8 verse 10. Being brought within the covenant, they are secured in this which is the portion of God's covenant people, His children and heirs. Others have the offer and grant of this portion, but they are actually possessed of it. Two, they desire Him above all for their portion, Psalm 73 verse 25, often cited. They have seen the vanity and emptiness of created things for a portion, Psalm 27 verse 14, the fullness and sufficiency of God in Christ, and therefore their desires terminate in Him for a portion, John chapter 14 verse 8, Psalm 27 verse 4. They desire Him only, wholly, and forever, and so He is called their desire, Haggai chapter 2 verse 7. all their desires of a portion centering in Him. Three, they choose Him for their portion. When the two parts into which the all is divided are set before them, and they are bid choose, their souls take hold of a God in Christ, and say, Thou art my portion. I will take Thee as my portion and inheritance before all the world. Joshua 24.15 They halt not, as many, betwixt two opinions. They are determined, they are brought to a point. He is their choice. For they claim Him as their portion. Lamentations 3.24. Thou art my portion, saith my soul. Their souls say with Thomas, My Lord and My God. It is the proper work of faith to claim Him as theirs. God insists on this, that they should claim Him, Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 4, Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth? He promises that they shall claim Him, verse 19, I said, Thou shalt call me My Father. and the Spirit of Christ in them causes them to claim Him, Romans chapter 8 verse 15, ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Galatians chapter 4 verse 6, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. According to the measure of their faith, so is their claim, strong or weak, clear or not clear, but wherever faith is, it doth claim God in Christ as theirs. Doubts and darkness may indeed so overcloud the believer that he cannot perceive his claiming God in Christ as his, it is like a pulse so weak that it can hardly be felt. Yea, he may be at that, that he says he has no claim to him as his, that he dare not, cannot claim him as his God or portion, and yet bid him in that case quit his claim. He would not do it for a thousand worlds, which argues that he hath a real claim, though to him as it were imperceptible. 5. Lastly, they rest in Him as their portion, Hebrews chapter 4 verse 3, We which have believed do enter into rest. Their poor hungry souls have been seeking a portion to live on. While they sought among the creatures for it, they could find nothing to rest in as a portion, but a discovery of God in Christ being made to them, and they apprehending Him by faith, their souls say within them now, This is my rest. They are like the merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. They see that there is a fullness in him to satisfy their souls, to answer all their needs and supply all their wants, so they rest in him as their portion. The End of God in Christ the Believer's Portion Part 1 This audio was created with an artificial voice for the audiobook initiative on Sermon Audio. There may be mispronunciations or occasional repetitions. To report a mistake, please email us at info at sermonaudio.com and include the sermon ID or title of the message and the time at which the error occurs. We will do our best to get it corrected for future listeners.