Thus it is evident that a man may in this life be justified, sanctified, pass from death to life, may enjoy eternal life, and be born again through faith in these several correspondent facts.  His faith, however, can make them no more certain; because they must exist, and be solemn and unalterable facts before he can be called upon to believe them.  The truth of the above five facts, we perceive, are embraced in our resurrection.  If we are not, in our resurrection, to be justified, sanctified, born again, and obtain eternal life, then we cannot be justified, sanctified or born again here through faith in those truths;—­because there would be no such truths in existence for us to exercise faith in.  If the objector will not allow these facts unalterably to exist previous to believing, what then will he call upon us to believe?  Will he call upon us to believe that we have an eternal life in Christ when no such fact exists, and contend that our believing this lie will create the fact?  This would be the most ridiculous absurdity.

But the truth exists, and the believer by faith enjoys it before hand.  He enjoys it by anticipation, not in reality.  It can be brought to his understanding or experience no other way, only through the gospel medium of faith.  I challenge the objector to show me between the lids of the new Testament, any regeneration, new birth, justification, or sanctification, that has already taken place in any other sense than through faith.  All these things in their reality are to take place in our resurrection, when we shall be like the angels of God and by faith we bring them present to our minds and enjoy them here.  Dr. Watts says—­“Faith brings distant prospects home, Of things a thousand years ago, Or thousand years to come.”  Paul, therefore, exhorts us to forget the things that are behind, and reach forward to those that are before—­to press to the mark &c. because the reality—­the object of our faith lies before us.  But persons, who do not understand the operations of faith on the mind in view of its correspondent truth, and who honestly believe that the new birth has in reality already taken place with them, are always looking back to the time they were born again, and telling over their “old experiences” Now this is right in them, if they have passed through the reality; for every man ought to look to the substance in which he exercises faith and hope.  But certainly the scriptures exhort us to look forward, and anchor our faith and hope within the vail, where our forerunner hath for us entered.  It is therefore certain that the reality exists there, and is yet to come.  Such persons then, in looking back to their experience, are mistaking the birth produced by faith for the real birth itself.  This is just as unreasonable as it would be to suppose that the foretaste, we sometimes enjoy of immortal life, was that life itself.  It is true we at times enjoy a heaven on earth.  But as it respects the kingdom of immortal glory, “eye hath not seen, ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the glory that shall be revealed in us.”  The reality is therefore yet to come, and by faith we receive only an antepast of its joys.