understand what the Father hath given us in him and what good things he himself offereth to us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Water in several places hath different significations Here and in the Apocalypst saith Grotius I doubt not but that it signifies the Evangelical Doctrine as it contains those things which are necessary and sufficient to obtain eternal life And many of the Fathers differ not much from this who take it to mean the water of Baptism as it is a solemn profession of that Doctrine Piscator and others take it to be meant of the holy Spirit as appears by the 14 vers A well of water springing up to eternal life Joh. 7.39 So Cyril saith it signifies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a quickening gift of the Spirit But with Hammond I conceive it denotes the Grace of God exhibited in Christ. So Theophylact 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the grace of the holy Spirit And Calvin all the whole Grace of renovation aqua viva not metonymically as quickning water but metaphorically saith Piscator because 't is ever springing never failing not like standing or dead water One general Doctrine ariseth from the whole Text as it stands related to the Context That Iesus Christ is meek and gracious slow to anger and full of compassion bearing with the ignorance and folly perverseness and resistance of them he intends to save How often did this woman provoke him how long did she withstand him what feminine artifices doth she use to elude breaking jests making captious fallacies as one disposed to slight and jeer whatever he spake c. yet he would take no denial from her but presented his gracious design as one that heard not O the unutterable treasure of Grace in Christ which all her provocations could not overcome In all this discourse we may read our stiffness and stubbornness Christs gentleness and goodness 1. Doct. Christ is the gift of God 2. Doct. One great reason why men refuse Christ and their own salvation is because they know him not Ignorance is the cause of rejecting Christ and his Grace this keeps souls from him Christ and holiness have no enemies but the ignorant did men know what Christ is and what the love of God was in giving him they must have iron-hearts indeed if they could despise and resist him If thou knewest c. 3 Doct. The blessed Son of God made himself very poor stooped exceeding low for the good of sinners And who it is that saith unto thee give me to drink He was Lord of Heaven and Earth the world was his and the fulness thereof the fowls of the mountains the beasts of the forrest and the cattel upon a thousand hills yet he begs a little cold water of a poor woman to quench his thirst O astonishing condescension deep humiliation Blessed Jesus whither did thy love to sinners carry thee 4. Doct. Knowledg in the mind makes way for a spontaneous motion of the will and affections the understanding is to the will as the needle to the thread If thou knewest thou wouldest When the understanding is enlightned with eye-salve and hath clear apprehensions of Christ as transcendently excellent then the Will puts forth it self in its strongest desires after him as the eye transmits the beauty it beholds to the heart so when there is an assent to the things revealed of Christ in the Word when we do with open face behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord in the Gospel then we are ready to accept of him and his Grace with suitable affections this is plain in the connexion in the Text and from the latter sweet connexion Thou wouldest have asked I would have given c. 5. Doct. If we can but rightly ask Christ will readily give ask and have is the language of the Gospel The Grace of God is free but it must be begged He will be inquired of and sought unto for that he intends and promises to give though this woman was a Samaritan yet he would not deny her living water had she desired it of him We must be touched with the knowledg and sense of our maladies and poverty before we will seek the remedy Therefore the Lord inviteth not the drunken but the dry not the full but the hungry that they may eat and drink To what end should Christ be sent unto us with the fulness of the spirit unless we were empty and 't is not enough to feel our wants so as to see our need of help from another unless the hope of present or near help be added thereunto because if we only see and feel our wants we should do nothing else but groan under our miseries and pine away with sorrow but this is true and profitable knowledg of the Grace of God when we know that the same is offered to us in Christ and that it is reached unto us by his hand and so our hearts are inflamed with vehement propassions and desires after it 6. Doct. Grace is the gift of Christ he is the fountain whence this water flows I would have given thee living water Christ gives grace to them that ask it of him as we should ask spiritual blessings ardently and importunately so he gives them most freely and liberally Ioh. 6.27 7. Doct. True Grace never fails those that once have it shall never lose it whoever drinks of this water of life which Christ gives shall never perish 'T is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denoting the perpetuity everlastingness of it Grace is sure and the priviledges of it are sure this is the advantage of spiritual comforts that they do not only satisfie our desires but secure us against our fears Once in Christ and for ever preserved in Christ. This certainty of Grace the comfort of a Christian is not respectu rei but Dei One of the Fathers brings in the flesh saying Ego deficiam I will surely fail and miscarry and the world Ego decipiam I will intice and deceive them and Satan Ego eripiam I will snatch and carry them away But God saith Ego custodiam I will keep them there lyes our safety and security he hath said I will never leave them nor forsake them 1. Doct. Christ is the gift of God Christ in a peculiar and eminent manner is termed Gods gift It is the common mode and fashion of great persons to give rich and magnificent gifts suitable to their state and quality regarding more what becomes them to give than their petitioners to ask or receive The great Alexander could tell his suitors whom he had more astonished than relieved with his bounty and favour That though the thing might be too great for them to receive yet it was not too great for Alexander to give If dust and asâ—es can speak and think at this rate O how large is the heart of God! The great and glorious God out of his infinitely overflowâ—ing love and unsearchable riches of Grace hath conferred upon poor lost self destroying
thine eyes a crucified bleeding Saviour Hence that saying of Bernard Cui fons forte sicul es lanynam invocat Iesum non fluxit uberius What hardness of heart could ever stand before Jesus Christ or what Soul ever went to Christ and came away with a hard heart and was not melted as wax before the Sun If Christ do but strike upon the heart though it were a Rock he can make it gush out with a torrent of brinish tears 4. Barrenness Thou complainest of unfruitfulness thou receivest much and returnest little thou art dry and unprofitable make use of Christ in this case the water is not more effectual to make fruitful the barren ground than the dew of Christs Grace to fructifie a barren heart I the Lord can turn a barren wilderness into a fruitful garden Isa. 51.3 He hath promised to make the Wilderness like Eden and the Desert like the Garden of the Lord. He hath said Isa. 35.1 2 6 7 That the desert shall blossom as the rose yea it shall blossom abundantly for in the wilderness shall water break out and streams in the desert and the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water Go to Christ for the fulfilling of those great and precious promises say Cant. 4. ult Lord send out thy spirit to breathe upon my Soul to blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out c. Christ saith Except ye abide in me and I in you ye cannot bear fruit Under the term abiding is implyed making use of Christ drawing sap and nourishment from him Ioh. 15.4 5. 5. Despondency when thou art disquieted with melancholly Psal. 27.13 doubting and distrustful thoughts arising from the weakness of Grace power of Corruption and malice of Satan have recourse to Christ who hath an incomparable faculty of dispelling all these perplexed and pensive conceits that do torture thy mind He himself suffered and was tempted was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and therefore is able to succour us in all our temptations and troubles Heb. 2.18 and 4.15 16. Now if a man be in any trouble in outward estate or body what will he do in such a case He will go and consult with one that hath been in the like condition Do thus make use of Christ for help who hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Heb. 13.5 which words of his being spoken home to the heart of a distrustful perplexed person by his own Spirit must needs be of refreshing vertue and reviving power as that light will ever spring up out of darkness and scatter those mists that darken the mind and disturb our peace 't is he that forgiveth all thy sins and healeth all thy diseases Psal. 103.3 3. Improve this gift of God as a sweet and forcible attractive and help to draw your hearts to the performance of all those duties that are required of you and to assist in the exercise of those graces that are to be found in you As 1. Faith In the want or weakness of Faith make use of Christ who must needs be very helpful for he is the author and finisher of your faith Heb. 12.2 he is infinitely able to begin increase and perfect your faith so as that it can have no other vertue or power but such as is derived only from him 'T is he by whom we believe in God who raised him from the dead his own Disciples finding their faith infirm and weak did repair to him for more strength and for a larger measure of it acknowledging him to be able and themselves impotent and unable to do it saying Luke 17.5 Lord increase our faith 2. Repentance Does any lye and groan under the guilt and burden of impenitency O let him address himself to Christ in this sad case who came into the world to call sinners to repentance not as we in the Ministry to call outwardly but to call with an effectual voice and to cause to repent Mat. 11.13 God not only gave him to the world to be a Saviour but hath exalted him to be a Prince to give repentance and remission of sins Act. 5.31 If thy heart be secure and senseless go to Christ who will freely give not sell and work in thee godly sorrow that leads to repentance unto salvation not to be repented of That repentance you frame in your selves will miserably deceive you so that Austin said that repentance doth drown more than sin when you think you can sufficiently do it your selves whereas Christ alone doth give true and acceptable repentance 3. Love Christ is the best teacher of Love that ever the world had who taught it not only by his words but by his blood by his life and by his death Wouldest thou learn to love Go to Christ if thou canst not learn it of him thou canst never learn it Love is the greatest commander of love and the most effectual argument that can insuperably constrain us to it and none ever loved at the rate and measure that Christ hath loved to stand by such a fire is the way for a congealed heart to melt and the coldest affections to grow warm A lively Faith still holding Christ the glass of infinite love and goodness before our faces is the greatest lesson in the art of love A believing view of the nature undertaking love obedience doctrine example sufferings intercession and Kingdom of Jesus Christ must needs inflame believers hearts with an answerable degree of love O steep that stiff and hardned heart in the blood of Christ and it will melt and it will change thy unkind unthankful heart in the very nature of love to come over with Thomas and by the passage of his wounds wind thy self into his heart 4. Obedience both active and passive to which Christ is both an incomparable motive and admirable pattern He fulfilled all righteousness and became obedient to the death of the Cross Lo I come to do thy will O God was his resolution when he came into the world and not my will but thine be done when he went out of it He hath said he will write his Laws in your hearts and cause you to walk in his statutes and give you one heart and one way that ye may serve him for ever Ezek. 36.27 Christs obedience is thine walking in Christ all the acts of it are exerted and performed in the strength of Christ. 5. Prayer would you know how to pray as to have your Prayer accepted and answered let Christ be made use of who is the alone Mediator that by the vail of his flesh hath made a new and living way into the holy place and sits at Gods right hand making request for you So that by him you may have free access with boldness to the throne of grace Heb. 10.19 20. Have you a friend in the Court that will plead your cause and speak a good word to the King and will you not make use of
him O Let us come boldly to the throne of grace Heb. 4.16 In Christ we have access Eph. 2.18 and 3.14 Rom. 8.34 1 Ioh. 5.4 Ioh. 14.13 If ye ask any thing in my name I will do it in time of the Law if any sinned he was to go to the High Priest who was to mediate and intercede for him to God So now we must come to Christ who mediates and makes intercession for us though we have transgressed he hath suffered though we be unworthy yet he is worthy if we and our suit be commended by one of so great worth and such interest in the Father can we doubt of success He will give us also his spirit to help our infirmities and teach us what to pray for as we ought and lead us by the hand unto God and enable us to cry Abba Father 4. Improve Christ as the purchaser and conveyer of all blessings and benefits to your Souls which they stand in need of are you empty and hungry come to him for food are you naked come to him for clothes are you weak come to him for strength if wavering for stedfastness if weary for rest 1. Let the poor needy and hungry Soul come to Christ and not lay out its money for that which is not bread but hearken unto him eat that which is good and let your soul delight it self in fastness Isa. 55.2 3. He alone will feed and fill the Soul and satiate it with his goodness He will make a feast of fat things a feast of wines on the lees of fat things full of marrow of wines on the lees well refined Isa. 25.6 O labour to â—ake in his sweetest consolations fresh every morning the Soul cannot live without some comfort or other if it finds no such sweetness in Christ it will look for it elsewhere and if it tast nothing in his ways to keep it up it will go down to earthly delights for relief 2. Let the wretched naked Soul make use of Christ and not sow together Fig-leaves as Adam Gen. 3.7 Never think to patch together a deal of filthy rags to cover thy uncleanness and nakedness Isa. 64.6 But if thou know that thou art naked then buy of Christ white raiment that thou maist be clothed and the shame of thy nakedness do not appear Rev. 3.18 Christs righteousness is a long white robe to cover thy nakedness see Ezek 16. begin the Soul according to its nativity is naked and filthy but Christ spreads his skirt over it and puts on excellent ornaments he will take away thy filthy garments and cloathe thee with change of raiment Zech. 3. begin 3 Let the weak improve Christ for strength who will perfect his strength in their weakness so that thou maist say with the Apostle When I am weak then I am strong 2 Cor. 12.9 And by his strength I can do all things Phil. 4.13 Trust not in your own strength but rely upon the power of Christ in all your performances art thou to grapple with some strong corruption or temptation and desirest to overcome it hast thou some weighty and difficult duty to perform make tryal of Christ and thou shalt find that he gives power to the faint and to them that have no might Isa. 40.29 4. Let the wavering make use of him for stability and fixedness Art thou afraid of Apostacy in these backsliding times go to Christ to stablish thee 1 Thes. 3.13 That he establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God even our father at the coming of our Lord Iesus Christ with all his saints He is a Rock if thou build on him thou shalt never be moved Matt. 16.10 God stablisheth your Souls in Christ 2 Cor. 1.21 If you can get rooted and built up in him and established by him in the faith you need not fear though you must beware of being spoiled through Philosophy and vain deceit Col. 2.7 8. Do you fear falling away from the Grace or Truth of God then make special use of Christ who is able to establish you and keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy Iude 24. 5. Let the weary Soul come to Christ and he shall find rest make use of this gift of God which is far more suitable to a wandering sin-sick soul than the softest bed to the wearied body what was prophesied by Lamech concerning his Son Noah is compleatly fulfill'd in Christ whereof Noah was a type Gen. 5.29 He called his son Noah rest for saith he this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands Think often on that soul-refreshing promise Matt. 11 28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you c. Come poor restless easeless and dejected souls let others weary themselves in seeking riches and reputation in the world to you I faithfully promise rest which is the thing you want Fecisti nos domine propter te inquietum est cor nostrum donec veniat ad te 5. Improve this gift of God as a standing cordial against those failings and despondencies of spirit and make use of it in the midst of those sad thoughts and miâ—givings of heart you may be under through fear of wrath terrours of conscience and shrinking apprehensions of death and judgment 1. Is God angry doth he begin to thunder and write bitter things against thee and his waves and billows go over you so that your moisture is dried up and you almost overwhelmed with the fierceness of his wrath Now let faith recollect it self and say Well Christ is mine in whose wounds is room enough to hold and in whose heart is readiness enough to receive all that fly unto him true indeed there is a terrible storm of justice gathering over my head and ready to fall upon me but my Christ is my shelter an hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest Isa. 32.2 A flood of vengeance is coming but I am got into the Ark destruction near but Christ is my Passover my little Sanctuary able and willing to save to the uttermost with all kinds and degrees of Salvation Heb. 7.25 He hath trodden the wine-press alone and of the people there was none with him Isa. 63.3 O then enter into this rock for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his Majesty till the indignation be over-past When God is angry with thy soul take Christ in thine arms and come to him 2. Art thou grown strange to him and alienated thy self from him by sin none is so proper and necessary to be made use of as Christ in this case who is the peace-maker between God and man who hath not only made peace between those but so ratified and confirmed it that nothing shall be ever able to dissolve it God reconciles the world to himself by Christ 2 Cor. 5.19 not only them that were strangers but even