Intercession for us By his Merit our Right to Heaven is purchased and by his Intercession it is maintained for us SERMON XIV TITUS II. 13 That Blessed Hope c. Doct. II. THE Hope of Christians is a blessed Hope Hope is here put for the thing hoped for as Col. 1.5 For the Hope that is laid up for you in Heaven Where Hope is put for the Object of Hope Now this Matter or Object of our Hope is sometimes called Life sometimes Glory sometimes Joy and Pleasure It is a Life that never shall be quenched or put out Iude 21. Looking for the Mercy of our Lord Iesus Christ unto eternal Life It is a Glory that is Eternal for Duration 2 Cor. 4.17 it is called a far more exceeding and Eternal Weight of Glory for the measure of it it is above our Conceit and Expression as much as a Creature can bear It is Joy and Pleasure without Mixture and without End Psal. 16.11 In thy Presence is Fulness of Ioy at thy right Hand there are Pleasures for evermore Now this Hope is said to be blessed because it puts us into the Fruition of absolute Blessedness We cannot conceive of it now to the full when we come to injoy it we shall find it above all that ever we could conceive or hear of it As much as we see and know of it sheweth it is a blessed thing but we shall understand it best when we hear the great Voice calling us Come up and see But a little to set it before you In Blessedness there must be a Removal of all Evil and a Coacervation and compleat Presence of all that is Good As long as the least Evil continueth a Man is not blessed only he is less miserable If a Man had all things that Heart could wish for what would it avail him as Haman when he wanted Mordecai's Knee Esther 5.13 All this availeth me nothing so long as I see Mordecai the Iew sitting at the King's Gate Ahab had the Kingdom of Israel but yet he fell sick for want of Naboth's Vineyard If a Man were never so well fitted for a Journey a little Gravel in his Shoe would founder him As in Carriages of War though there be a great Train yet if one Peg be missing or out of Order all stoppeth Or in the Body if one Humour be out of Order or one Joint broken it is enough to make us sick or ill at Ease though all the rest be sound and whole so if there be the least Evil a Man cannot be a compleat happy Man Complaining will not suit with Blessedness Now First In the Hope that we look for there is a Removal of all Evil. Evil is twofold either of Sin or of Punishment and in Heaven there is neither Sin nor Misery 1. To begin with Sin that is the worst Evil. Affliction is Evil but it is not Evil in it self but only in our Sense and Feeling if a Man had a Dedolency it is no Pain to a benummed Joint to be scourged But Sin is evil whether we feel it or no but it is worst when we feel it not Certainly that is Evil which separateth from the chiefest Good Affliction doth not separate from God it is a means and an Occasion to make us draw nigh to him many had never been acquainted with God but for their Afflictions but Sin separateth us from God Isa. 59.2 Your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear Let a Man be never so loathsome yet if he be in a State of Grace he is dear to God the Lord taketh Pleasure in him though rough-cast with Ulcers and Sores and thrown into a Prison yet God will kiss him with the Kisses of his Mouth There is nothing so loathsome and odious to God as Sin This grieveth the Saints most Rom. 7.24 O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from this Body of Death If any Man had Cause to complain of Afflictions Paul had he was often in Perils whipped imprisoned stoned but he doth not cry out When shall I be delivered from these Afflictions O but this Body of Death was worst of all Lusts troubled him more than Scourges and his Captivity to the Law of Sin more than Chains and Prisons This is the Disposition of the Saints they are weary of the World because they are sinning here whilst others are glorifying God not only that they are suffering here whilst others are injoying God A Beast will forsake the Place where he hath neither Meat nor Rest. Carnal Men when they are beaten out of the World have a Fancy to Heaven as a Place of Retreat but that which troubles Godly Men is their Sin Well but in Heaven there is no Sin Eph. 5.27 That he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without Blemish There is neither Spot nor Wrinkle upon the Face of the glorified Saints Their Faces were once as black as yours but now Christ presenteth them to God as a Proof of the cleansing Virtue of his Blood And how pure and clean they are without Spot or Wrinkle the Apostle's Words that he might present it imply as if Christ did glory and rejoice in their Purity as the Fruits of his Purchase There you are freed from all Sins With much ado we mortify one Lust but Nature recoileth as Ivy in the Wall if you cut it down it breaketh out again It is much here if the Dominion of Sin be taken away there the being of it is abolished in Heaven it is not at all you will displease God no more and are freed from all the immediate and inseparable Consequences of Original Sin detraction in Duty and the like Here is no perfect Love and therefore the Soul cannot be fixed in the Contemplation of God that 's the Reason of wandring Thoughts but there the Heart cleaves to God without stragling In Heaven we shall be freed from Pride which lasts as long as Life therefore called Pride of Life 1 John 2.16 We cannot have a Revelation now but we grow proud of it 2 Cor. 12.7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the Revelations there was given to me a Thorn in the Flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure Nor can there be an Influence of Grace but we are apt to be proud of it There is a Worm in Manna but then we are most high and most humble because most holy O Christians is not this a blessed Hope that telleth you of a sinless State of being like Christ in Purity and Holiness 1 Iohn 3.2 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 What is it
Christ Iesus Mark there is a Redemption in Christ a Price paid but no humane Satisfaction made Free-Grace found out the Remedy not excited by any Works of ours 2. For Deliverance by way of Exchange that seems to have some Place here for Christ was substituted into our Room and Place so far as would stand with the Dignity of his Person and he was made a Captive that we might go free from the Wrath of God though he was never in Bondage to Sin so it is said 2 Cor. 5.21 He was made Sin for us that is a Sin-Offering and he was made a Curse for us Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us He was substituted into our Room and Place saith Austin Suscepit sinâ— malis meritis poenam ut nos sine bonis consequeremur gratiam He did not deserve the Punishment as we do not deserve the Glory only he took our Chains and our Bonds upon himself In Ecclesiastical Story mention is made of one Pambo a Monk a charitable Man after he had given all his Goods for the Redemption of Captives and had nothing left but his Bible Nay says he I will give this away also that hath taught me to give other things and when that was gone Socrates reports of him that he gave himself he went in their stead to stay as a Pledg for them This I have brought as a Shadow and some kind of weak Adumbration of Christ's Love to Men he himself would become the Ransom and be put in our Place and Room that we might go free 3. Another way of Deliverance is by Force and powerful Rescue and thus Christ hath redeemed us as we were under Satan's Power and held under Sin As Abraham rescued Lot when he was taken captive Gen. 14. So did Christ make a Rescue of us when we were led captive by our own Lusts or rather for this was the Type of it as God by a mighty Hand recovered Israel out of Egypt Egypt signified the Kingdom and Power of Darkness so we are said to be snatched and recovered out of the Kingdom of Darkness Col. 1.13 Who hath delivered us from the Power of Darkness By a powerful Rescue hath God snatched and taken us out of our spiritual Egypt out of our natural Bondage The Blood of the Passover was sprinkled on the Door-Posts as the Blood of Christ on our Hearts which is a Mark of Preservation On the Devil's Part our Captivity was a mere Tyranny and Oppression for when God was once satisfied Satan had no more Power by Right over us and therefore Christ redeems us from the Devil by Force and Violence he needs not make Satisfaction to him Therefore it is notable that in the Sufferings of Christ there was not only the Lord 's own Hand and Counsel but also the Powers of Darkness had a hand in them therefore it is said Luke 22.53 This is your Hour and the Power of Darkness Though the Devil did not immediately afflict Christ as some Divines hold though I dare not positively assert it yet by his Instruments the Jews he crucified him and therefore justly for this Injury done to Christ was his Power made void When Christ did something to God he was doing something to the Devil he triumphed over Principalities and Powers by his Cross Col. 2.15 Having spoiled Principalities and Powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in it Thus the Elect the Prisoners of Hope are called out and set free 4. Another way is by paying a Price and Ransom 1 Tim. 2.6 Who gave himself a Ransom for us Eph. 1.7 In whom we have Redemption through his Blood His Blood was the Price paid to God Tho Satan held us Captive yet the Satisfaction must be made to God because Man had not sinned against the Devil but against God and therefore to him it belonged either to condemn or absolve us and let us go free therefore Christ gives Satisfaction to God and by that means he dissolves the Power of Satan for God being satisfied Satan hath no Power over us Thus you see we are several ways redeemed freely as to our selves by way of Price and Satisfaction as to God Christ being substituted in our room and place but by way of Power and Force as to Satan Thus I have discovered our Redemption by Christ with Allusion to the Figures of the Law and Custom of Nations II. I shall more particularly shew you how we are redeemed from Iniquity We were under a double Bondage of Sin the Guilt of Sin and the Power of Sin both which made our Condition slavish The latter is chiefly understood yet I shall speak a little of both we are redeemed from the Guilt of Sin by Christ's Satisfaction from the Power of Sin by his Spirit First From the Guilt of Sin Redemption is made mainly to consist in Remission of Sins Col. 1.14 In whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the Forgiveness of Sin So Eph. 1.7 The Apostle in both places explaineth wherein it mainly consists Now concerning this part I note 1. That it is the Ground and Pledg of all the rest Sin being pardoned the Power of the Devil is abolished the Wrath of God removed the Guilt of eternal Death is taken away Acts 5.31 Him hath God exalted with his Right-hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give Repentance to Israel and Forgiveness of Sin So Luke 24.47 And that Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preached in his Name Repentance is the beginning of all new Obedience and Remission of Sins is the Seed of eternal Life all Duties are included in Repentance and all Blessings in Pardon The Gospel is nothing else but a Doctrine of Repentance and Remission so that the Devil cannot hold us as his Captives nor Sin rule in us as in Slaves This is the Ground and Pledg of the rest 2. Sin being pardoned we are freed from the Penalties of Sin viz. the Evils after Sin Sin hath a long train of Judgments all which are done away when Sin is pardoned It will not stand with the Honour of his Mercy to forgive the Debt and yet to require Payment it is a mocking to say I forgive the whole Debt and yet to expect part of Payment Certainly God forgiveth us our Debts as we are bound to forgive others so we are bid to pray Mat. 6.12 Forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors Now we are bound to forgive them wholly and not in part It would not stand with God's Justice to exact the Debt twice of Us and of our Surety Isa. 53.4 Surely he hath born our Griefs and carried our Sorrows Obj. But we are still subject to Corruption and Misery the Miseries of the present Life and Death hereafter Answ. 1. As to Miseries The Afflictions of God's People seem to be Punishments but are not and differ as much as a Punishment and a Medicine God acts
I would Gal. 5.17 Go to Christ for help he was sent for this purpose to redeem you from Iniquity and dissolve the Devil's Work 1 John 3.8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the Works of the Devil It is his Office to purge the Church to set us at Liberty to destroy Satan's Power to free us from our Passions and Corruptions therefore go complain to him of the strength of your Sins for he will help you Vse 4. Comfort in our Conflicts You are sure of a final Victory before you enter into the Combate e're long we shall be out of the reach of Temptation and the Spirit shall be all in all Vse 5. Examination 1. Art thou sensible of thy natural Bondage so as to grieve under it As the Apostle Rom. 7.23 24. I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin which is in my Members O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death If it be not thus with thee Redemption by Christ will never be precious there is sighing and weariness they lay their sad Estate to Heart as the Church hung their Harps upon the Willows it is the Grief of their Souls that their Lusts held them in Captivity The Children of God complain more of the Relicks of Sin than wicked Men do of the full Power of it 2. Hast thou any Freedom Sense of Bondage is a good Preparative but it is not enough All Christ's Subjects are Kings they rule over their own Lusts though not freed from them altogether they strive against them and keep them under And there is not only a freedom from Ill but a freedom to Good Psal. 110.3 Thy People shall be willing in the Day of thy Power They do not serve God by Constraint but are free to Good and serve God with a great chearfulness as before they served their Lusts. Rom. 7.22 I delight in the Law of God after the inward Man They consult with the Word of God which was before their Bondage and Terror they have an Ability and Strength to do that which is Good there is a new Life in them yet so as they are still excited by the Spirit Vse 6. It informeth us what is true Liberty not to live at large John 8.36 If the Son therefore shall make you free you shall be free indeed Not to have Power and Sovereignty over others not to exercise Command and Authority over others but to subdue our Lusts not to be left to our selves to do what we please that is the greatest Bondage Rom. 6.20 VVhen ye were the Servants of Sin ye were free from Righteousness but to do the Will of God 1 John 3.5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our Sins and in him is no Sin He died to take away Sin and to make us like himself that the World might know that he was a pure and holy Saviour SERMON XXI TITUS II. 14 And purifying unto himself a peculiar People c. IN this latter Branch I observed Christ's Act and then his Aim His Act he gave himself His Aim and Intention And here is the privative part of Deliverance To redeem us from all Iniquity This I have finished I come to the Positive part And purify to himself a peculiar People zealous of good VVorks He never communicates his Blessings where he doth not bestow his Grace He did not only free us from Hell but from Sin It is well for the Godly that Christ came to take away the proud and carnal Heart to take away Corruption and Iniquity which is their greatest Eye-sore But this is not all there is a positive Blessing Christ did not only come to deliver us from Sin but communicate Grace That he might purify to himself a peculiar People Two Points I shall open to you I. That whomsoever Christ maketh his People he first purifieth them or by purifying them maketh them his People II. Those that are purified are reckoned his Treasure or peculiar People Doct. I. That whomsoever Christ maketh his People he first purifieth them or by purifying maketh them his People Here I shall shew you 1 st The Necessity 2 dly The Manner of it First The Necessity of this Purification 1. In regard of God Father Son and Holy Ghost Every Person in the God-head in the dispensation of Grace hath a distinct personal Operation Election is ascribed to the Father Redemption to the Son and effectual Application to the Holy Ghost Now every one of these Operations respects Holiness Election Ephes. 1.4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the Foundation of the World that we might be holy and without blame before him in Love Redemption Ephes. 5.25 26. Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of Water by the Word Sanctification 2 Thess. 2.13 God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth It is for the Honour of every Person that their Intention may not be frustrate and chiefly upon this ground because by this means they would justify and honour their personal Operation to the World Those that are chosen by the Father must be of a choice Spirit Christ will not be the Head of an ulcerous Body he will not be like Nebuchadnezzar's Image whose Head was of fine Gold his Breast and his Arms of Silver his Belly and his Thighs of Brass his Legs of Iron his Feet part of Iron and part of Clay Dan. 2.32 33. A beautiful Head upon a Negro's Body is monstrous We are Vessels formed and set apart for the Master's use Those that are under his forming come new out of the Forge Unclean Vessels can never be used to any good purpose unless they be washed and sweetned They are to be looked upon as God's Choice Christ's Purchase and the Spirit 's Charge Or if you will have it in other Relations they are God's Children Christ's Members and the Spirit 's Temples God's Children must resemble their Father Christ's Members must be like their Head and the Holy Ghost will not dwell in a defiled Temple 2. With respect to themselves and their relation to one another they must be purified 1 Pet. 1.22 Seeing that ye have purified your selves in obeying the Truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned Love of the Brethren see that ye love one another with a pure Heart fervently The Purification of our own Souls maketh us to love Purity in others for Similitude is the ground of Delight and Complacency No Man can delight in the Purity of others unless he be in some measure purified himself Holy Men are only fit for this Communion and Society others go in the way of Cain Jude v. 11. Who was of that wicked one and slew his Brother And wherefore slew he him because his own
thee pray to God for us that he take away the fiery serpents In Adversity Men will own the faithful Servants of God against whom they have murmured when all is well Moses forgetteth the injury and prayeth to God for them and God though he doth not take away the Serpents yet he provideth a Remedy unlikely in appearance a Brazen Serpent to cure the bites of Living Serpents but Divine Institution conveyeth a Blessing The word of Command is that they should look upon the brazen serpent and the word of Promise is that they should be healed Numb 21.8 Make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole and it shall come to pass that every one when he is bitten that looketh upon it shall live This is in short the History Secondly The Mistery or Typical use of the Brazen Serpent The chief things represented in it are Sin Christ and Faith the deadliness of Sin the manner of our deliverance by Christ and the Nature of Faith 1. Israelites deadly Sin and Misery occasioned the setting up of the Brazen Serpent so the occasion of Christs sending into the World was Mans Sin and Misery we being all bitten by the old Serpent and so liable to the Curse The Devil is called the old serpent Rev. 12.9 And in the appearance of a Serpent he deceived our first Parents Therefore we read that the serpent beguiled Eve 2 Cor. 11.3 Humane Nature was then stung to Death by Sathan and the Venome dispersed its self throughout the whole Race of Mankind Among the Israelites there were but a few stung here all there their Bodies here the Soul there Temporal Death followed here Eternal In the Sting of these fiery Serpents two things representeth our Misery by Sin 1. It is painful 2. Deadly 1. This Sting is painful The bitings did presently cause pains and an intolerable thirst and burning which was very grievous to them so the sting of Sin is painful not alwaies felt but soon awakened In Spiritual things we are more stupid and are not so sensible of the Maladies of the Soul as they were of the pains of the Body We are subject to bondage Heb. 2.14 Though we do not alwaies feel actual horrour There is a fire smothering in our Bosoms though it be not blown up into a Flame One of our Spiritual Diseases is a Lethargy and it is a great part of our Misery not to know our Misery If Conscience were not lulled asleep we would be more sensible Surely Sathans bites are more painful than those of these Serpents his Darts are called fiery darts Eph. 6.16 His Darts are dipt in the gall of Asps and Vipers Boiling Lusts will in time awaken raging Fears and Despair O what horrour and torment will Sin procure to us if it be not speedily cured Sin is an Evil and a Mischief whether we feel it yea or no but we shall soon feel it an Evil as the stung Israelites felt the biting of the Serpents Sin in the Life will make Hell in the Conscience it seemeth a sweet draught while we are taking it down but there is rank poison at the bottom A wounded Spirit findeth it now Prov. 18.14 A wounded spirit who can bear Horrour and anguish of Conscience is insupportable ask any Man whose Heart is well awakened and he will tell you that the sense of the guilt of Sin is more bitter to the Soul than the gall of Asps no terrour comparable to the terror and sting of an accusing Conscience Gods terrors are compared to a Fire that drinketh up the Blood and Spirits Iob 6.4 The arrows of the almighty are within me the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me No poison more burning than Sin in an awakened Conscience it may lie asleep till you come to dye in Sin stupid and benummed Creatures But then the sting of death is sin 1 Cor. 15.56 Death is made terrible by those sad horrors and apprehensions which Sin raiseth in us 2. This Sting is deadly As the biting of the Fiery Serpents could not be cured but was present Death till God found out a Remedy so this sting of Sin is deadly Rom. 5.12 By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Gen. 2.17 In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye dying thou die Rom. 6.23 The wages of sin is death Death Temporal Eternal Thou art a dead Man lost for ever if thou art not cured Those who were not solicitous about their Cure are a figure of the impenitent who obstinately continue in their Sins though they bring destruction upon them Not only Death Temporal which consists in the separation of the Soul from the Body but Death Spiritual which consists in an estrangement from God as Author of the Life of Grace yea Death Eternal which consists in a separation both of Body and Soul from the presence of God for evermore and is a perpetual living to deadly pain and torment This Second Death is set forth by two solemn Notions the worm that never dyeth and the fire that shall never be quenched Mark 9.44 By which is meant the Sting of Conscience and the Wrath of God Prov. 8.36 All they that hate me love death 2. Christ is set forth by the Brazen Serpent Here I shall shew you 1. The Resemblances 2. The Superexcellency of Christ above this and all the Shadows and Types of him 1. The Resemblance between Christ and the Brazen Serpent 1. The Brazen Serpent was a Remedy of Gods own prescribing out of his great Mercy So is this Remedy for lost Sinners the meer Fruit of Gods Love Iohn 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son the causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Occasion or outward moving Cause was our Misery the causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the inward impulsive Cause was his own love and pity to lapsed Mankind God found out the Remedy we neither plotted it nor asked it he saw the world of Mankind was perishing and involved in Eternal Ruine and because there was no Intercessor therefore his own Arm wrought out Salvation Herein the Antitype differeth from the Type The stung Israelites having Death in their bosoms go to Moses Moses goeth to God for he saw there could be no help elsewhere then God said Make thee a brazen serpent The motion came from them first but here it is quite otherwise God is the offended Party yet he maketh the first motion 1 Iohn 4.19 We love him because he loved us first There God found out the Remedy but here his meer love began the whole business and did set at work all the Causes that did concur to our Salvation we neither minded our Danger nor asked our Remedy 2. The conveniency of this Type to set out the low Estate and Humiliation of Christ. The form of a Serpent was chosen to shew
not only shew them what they must do but how they may come to do their Duty in this kind for saith he The Grace of God which bringeth Salvation c. In the Words you may observe the Teacher the Lesson the Encouragement and Inducements to learn First The Teacher is the Grace of God described ver 11. Secondly The Lesson is the whole Duty of our Heavenly Calling set forth ver 12. and there 1 st Negatively in departing from Evil denying Vngodliness and worldly Lusts. 2 dly Positively in cleaving to that which is good We should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World Where you may observe that the Duty of the Creature is distributed into three Ranks and Parts according to the several Objects to which it is refâ—â—red soberly we must walk as to our selves righteously as to our Neighbour and godly that the Lord himself may not be defrauded of his Portion There are in a moral Consideration but three things in the World thy Self thy Neighbour and God and suitably doth the Apostle distribute and parcel out Christian Offices and Duties soberly as to our selves righteously as to our Neighbour and godly as to God Thirdly The Encouragements to learn and they are two If we look forward there is Hope if we look backward there is Gratitude or an Obligation arising from the Death of Christ. In short the two great Motives and Inducements are the Hope of eternal Life and the End of Christ's Death Hope of eternal Life ver 13. Looking for the blessed Hope c. the End of Christ's Death ver 14. who gave himself for us c. The Text being long I shall forbear Exposition till I come to handle the several Branches I shall first begin with the Teacher described ver 11. The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men. The Grace of God is described by its Property it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Grace bringing Salvation or tending to Salvation as the Word signifies and by a special Adjunct its present Manifestation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it hath appeared suddainly broken out like the Light of the Morning after a dark Night and then there is the Extent of that Manifestation it hath appeared to all Men. Some indeed refer this Extent not to the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it hath appeared but to the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bringing Salvation and they read it as we do in the Margent The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation to all Men hath appeared there is not much Difference To supersede all Doubt and Dispute about the matter all Men here signifies all sorts of Men for the Apostle had spoken of Servants and Bond-men that they in their Relations should glorify God and he proves it by this Argument The Grace of God hath appeared to all Men that is to the Bond-man as well as to the Lord and Master therefore they in their places are to discharge their Duties as well as others for the Gospel as I said hath appeared to all Men and presseth all sorts of Duties I. I begin with the thing described The Grace of God It is a term that admits of divers Acceptations sometimes it is put for God's eternal Favour and Good-Will sometimes for the Effects of this Favour as Grace infused and bestowed upon the Creature Ephes. 4.7 To every one of us is given Grace according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ. Sometimes it is put for the Gospel which is the Charter by which we hold this Grace and so it is said Rom. 6.15 You are not under the Law but under Grace i. e. under the State of the Gospel Here I take it in the first sense viz. for the gracious Will and good Pleasure of God to do Good to Men or to shew Mercy to the Creature for God's Kindness and Bounty to Men is expressed by several terms the most usual are two Grace and Mercy I will shew how they agree and how they differ They both agree in this that they are Attributes which merely respect the Creature The Love and Knowledg of God first falleth upon himself God knows himself and loves himself and then the Creature But now the Mercy and Grace of God are merely transient and pass out to and respect the Creature only God cannot be gracious to himself and merciful to himself as he loves himself and knows himself and therefore herein they agree But now in some respects they differ Grace properly signifies the Freeness of God's Love Mercy relates to the Misery of the Creature God's external Motive is our Misery and his internal Motive is his own Grace Mercy respects us as we are in our selves worthy of Condemnation Grace respects us as we are compared with others that are not elected As for Instance if the Question be Why any are chosen to Life it is out of Mercy because they are lost and undone Creatures But then if the Question be Why these are chosen above others then the ultimate Reason is God's Grace Once more the Angels that never sinned are saved meerly out of Grace and not out of Mercy it is not proper to say they are saved out of Mercy for they were never miserable but Men that were once miserable are saved not only out of Grace but also out of Mercy In short Mercy signifies that Love of God which helps the Miserable and Grace signifies a Property in God to give forth things freely and without desert Grace doth all gratis freely and without any Merit or Precedent Obligation or Debt Note then Doct. 1. That the original and first moving Cause of all the Blessings we have from God is Grace Survey all the Blessings of the Covenant and from first to last you will see Grace doth all Election Vocation Justification Sanctification Glorification all is from Grace There 's a clue of Scriptures which will lead us through all these steps and direct us to Grace 1. For Election Rom. 11.5 6. There is a Remnant according to the Election of Grace And then he adds presently for Paul cannot mention Grace but he must run out into the Praise or Vindication of it And if by Grace then it is no more of Works otherwise Grace is no more Grace But if it be of Works then it is more Grace otherwise Work is no more Work Mark the Context The Apostle's drift in that place is to prove that all Israel are not cast away that thô the Nation of Israel were past by yet there were a Remnant chosen according to the Election of Grace Grace is spoken of by the by but he takes every little Occasion to digress into the Commendation of Grace and what doth he say The Foundation and Ground of Salvation is God's Election and the impulsive Cause of Election is God's Grace Why is there a Remnant there 's an Election and why is there Election it is according to Grace 2. Our Calling when Election breaketh out in time and becometh
1 Pet. 2.3 If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious A Man hath at first a Taste that he may have trial how sweet the Ways of God are Now if after trial you are not satisfied but make choice of the World again it is a mighty Wrong and Contempt you put upon Grace for you do as it were declare and pronounce that you have made trial and upon Experience have found the Pleasures and Profits of the World are better than all the Comforts that flowed from the Grace of God The whole Aim of the Word is to perswade Men to make trial of the sweetness of Grace Psal. 34.8 O taste and see that the Lord is good and that his Grace is good but now your Experience is a flat Negative and Contradiction to the Word and you do as it were say I have made trial and I find no such Sweetness in it None wrong Grace so much as they that have tasted of Grace and yet have turned aside to the Profits and Pleasures of the World again and grow weary after some Strictness of Profession Vse 2. To press you to glorify Grace This is the Glory God expects from you Ephes. 1.6 To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath made you accepted in the Beloved If an Artificer shew you a curious Piece of Workmanship he expects to be praised for his Skill A Wrestler that hath foiled his Adversary expects to be praised for his Strength not for his Beauty that is not a proper Praise A King in his Royal Gifts expects to be praised for his Magnificence So sutably the Lord who doth all things freely and according to the motion of his own Will expects to be praised for his Grace therefore you should be always ecchoing out Grace Grace Zech. 4.7 and admiring the Dispensations of God's Love It is a sure sign a Man hath received no Benefit by Grace if his Heart be not stirred up to praise Grace certaialy he that is a Partaker of it must needs be most affected with it Let us see a little what cause we have to praise God above the Angels and above other Men. 1. Above the Angels I do not mean the bad Angels with whom God entered not into Treaty he dealeth with them in Justice not in Grace but even the good Angels In some respects we have more cause to bless God than even the good Angels Thankfulness and Gratitude looks to the freeness and graciousness of the Gift rather than the greatness of it it looks not to the benefit so much as the good-will of the Giver It is true God hath been exceeding good and bountiful to the Angels in creating them out of nothing that they are the Courtiers of Heaven but mark how good and gracious he is to us above them The Angels never offended him but he is bountiful and gracious to us notwithstanding the Demerits of our Sin his wronged Justice interposed and put in a Bar yet Grace breaks out and is manifested to us unworthy Creatures There was nothing that hindred God from doing good to the Angels A holy God hath a blessed righteous holy Creature but Justice must be satisfied as to us we are a Generation of sinful Men the wretched Children of Apostatizing Adam we had forsaken God and cast him off which the Angels never did that had a long Experience of God's Goodness and Bounty The very Angels wonder at the Grace shewed to us especially at that by which Justice is satisfied 1 Pet. 1.12 Which things the Angels desire to look into 2. Above other Men. There 's a common and inferior sort of Grace which is made known to all the World The whole Earth is full of his Goodness but this Grace that bringeth Salvation that 's peculiar to the Elect to a few poor base Creatures in themselves a little handful whom God hath chosen out of the World Joh. 14.22 How is it that thou wouldst manifest thy self unto us and not unto the World Free Grace doth pick and choose and how it chooseth out things that are in themselves of no account Look as when God chose a Sacrifice for himself the Lion was not offered but the Lamb and the Dove so God hath chosen not those that are accounted Gods but a few despicable Creatures Free Grace many times chuseth the worst that all the Glory might be of God If a Man might chuse Trees for Building he would not chuse crooked ones but those that are straight and fittest for his use and purpose But when God comes to look among the Sons of Men many times he chuseth the most crabbed Pieces and calls them with a holy Calling according to the purpose of his Grace It is a wonder sometimes to see how Grace makes the difference between two Persons involved in the same Guilt Justice can make no Separation when Men are in a like Case they must look for the same Judgment but Grace makes a great Separation Many of God's Elect are as deep in Sin as those now in Hell yet God makes a difference Both the good and bad Thief were involved in the same Condemnation yet one is taken into Paradise and the other went unto his own place Thus praise and glorify Grace Hath appeared unto all Men. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appeared signifies it is broken out of a sudden like a Star or like a Light that was not seen before and so it refers to the late Manifestation of the Gospel in the Apostles days Now on a sudden it broke out So Luke 1.78 79. Through the tender Mercy of our God whereby the Day-spring from on high hath visited us to give Light to them that sit in Darkness and in the shadow of Death It is meant of the breaking out of the Gospel as the Day doth after a dark Night so here the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implieth the same Doct. 2. That Grace in the discoveries of the Gospel hath shined out in a greater Brightness than ever it did before This Grace appeareth in the Gospel there and there only is it clearly manifested In the Prosecution of this Point I shall shew I. What Darkness there was as to the knowledg of Grace before II. How much of Grace is now discovered I. What a Darkness there was before the eternal Gospel was brought out of the Bosom of God There was a Darkness both among Jews and Gentiles In the greatest part of the World there was utter Darkness as to the knowledg of Grace and in the Church nothing but Shadows and Figures 1. This Grace was not known in the World only a little of it was Psal. 33.5 The Earth is full of the Goodness of the Lord some inferiour Grace was made known to them in the Creation and in the course of Providence by showers of Rain and fruitful Seasons Grace on this side Heaven but nothing of the Secrets of God's Bosom of the Incarnation of God of the Expiation of Sin
begging to his own Creature and deals with us as importunately as if the Benefit were his own thus doth he pray us to be reconciled And then God threatens eternal Death to stir us up to take hold of eternal Life he tells us of a Pit without a Bottom and a Worm that never dies Sometimes he seeketh to work upon our Hope and sometimes upon our Fear he not only tells us of the loss of Happiness which is very grievous to an ingenuous Spirit Heb. 12.14 Follow Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord But he tells us of those eternal Torments that are without End and Ease of a Worm than never dies and of a Fire that shall never be quenched O whose Heart doth not tremble at the mention of these things Then on the other side we have Promises as great as Heart can wish for and more 2 Pet. 1.4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises It hath not entred into the Heart of Man to conceive of these things Who ever hired a Man to be happy or a thirsty Man to drink or a hungry Man to eat Salvation is so acceptable and the heavenly and blessed Hope so glorious that we should purchase it at any rate but God taketh all Methods to awaken Man Thus the Gospel may well be said to be a powerful Instrument of our Salvation because it hath a powerful Tendency that way 2. Because it hath the Promise of the Spirit 's Assistance Rom. 1.16 the Gospel is said to be the Power of God unto Salvation not only because it is a powerful Instrument which God hath appropriated to this Work but this is the Honour God puts upon the Gospel that he will join and associate the Operation of his Spirit with no other Doctrine but this And therefore the Apostle saith Gal. 3.2 Received you the Spirit by the Works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith How come you to receive the Spirit either by endeavouring to get Acceptance with God according to the Terms of the Law or by the Doctrine of the Gospel The Assistance of the Spirit is joined with no other Doctrine This is the Authentick Proof of the Excellency of that Doctrine that God hath reserved the Power of his Grace to go along with it he will not associate and join his Spirit with any other Doctrine The Law as it is contra-distinguish'd from the Gospel it is called the Ministration of Condemnation 2 Cor. 3.9 and the Ministration of Death to fallen Man ver 7. It is the Office of the Law to condemn a Man not to save him Not as if preaching of the Law did make us guilty but shews us to be guilty to him that is guilty of Death it puts the Guilt before their Eyes that knowing it and feeling it he may be terrified and despair in himself and beg for Deliverance To this end the Apostle gives us an account of his own Experience Rom. 7.9 I was alive without the Law once that is I thought I was alive and did not know my self or feel my self guilty of Death I thought my self to be in as good a condition towards God as any Man but when the Commandment came Sin revived and I died then I counted my self to be lost and utterly undone A Sinner before the Law comes is like a Beggar that dreams he is a King and that he wallows in Ease and Plenty but when he awakes his Soul is empty and he feeleth his Poverty and his hungry Belly and his Rags confute all his Dreams and false Surmises So we thought our selves to be alive in a good condition towards God but when the Law comes then we see our selves to be dead and lost Therefore the Law as it is opposed to the Gospel is not the Means of Salvation so it is only the Law of Sin and Death Rom. 8.2 For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Iesus hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death Object You will say these seem to be hard Expressions to call it the Law of Sin and Death but you must understand it aright To Man fallen the Law only convinceth of Sin and bindeth over to Death it is nothing but a killing Letter but the Gospel accompanied by the Power of the Spirit bringeth Life Again Psal. 19.7 it is said there The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the Soul therefore it seems the Law may also be a word of Salvation to the Creature I answer By the Law there is not meant only that part of the Word which we call the Covenant of Works but there it is put for the whole Word for the whole Doctrine of the Covenant of Life and Salvation as Psal. 1.2 His Delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth he meditate day and night And if you take it in that stricter sense then it converteth the Soul but by accident as it is joined with the Gospel which is the Ministry of Life and Righteousness but in it self it is the Law of Sin and Death Look as a thing taken simply would be Poison and deadly in self yet mix'd with other wholsome Medicines it is of great use is an excellent Physical Ingredient So the Law is of great use as joined with the Gospel to awaken and startle the Sinner to shew him his Duty to convince him of Sin and Judgment but it is the Gospel properly that pulls in the Heart Vse To press you to regard the Gospel more as you would Salvation it self for it bringeth Salvation By way of Motive and Encouragement 1. Consider the greatness of the Salvation Heb. 2.3 How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation It is not a slight matter in the Gospel God doth not treat with you about Trifles your eternal Life lies upon it we preach to you a Doctrine that tends to Salvation That so the Argument may be more operative consider what is Salvation Salvation implieth a Deliverance from Danger and Distress and a preservation in a condition of Safety Sometimes he is called a Saviour qui quod semel factum est conservat ne pereat that keepeth a thing in a condition of Safety tho it were never lost In this sense God is said to save Man and Beast Psal. 36.6 O Lord thou preservest Man and Beast As he doth preserve them from Decay and Ruin so he is the Saviour of all Men 1 Tim. 4.10 There is not a Creature but may call God Saviour But this Salvation I speak of is a Salvation proper but to a few Creatures not a general Preservation or Act of Providence here is not only Safety but Glory it is a translation to a place of Happiness Again he is said to save that delivers out of Danger and Destruction as the Shepherd that snatcheth the Lamb out of the Teeth of the Lion saveth him and in common speech we call him a Saviour that delivers from Evil. But mark this
Sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the Presence of the Lord Acts 3.19 Then it is of Use to make you constant in walking in the Fear of the Lord Eccles. 12.13 14. Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole Duty of Man For God shall bring every Work into Iudgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil Especially it is an Engagement to Faithfulness in your Calling especially Ministers 2 Cor. 5.9 Wherefore we labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him Again it urgeth you to keep the Commandments Christ will bear you out Keep this Commandment without Spot unrebukable until the appearing of our Lord Iesus Christ 1 Tim. 6.14 And then it presseth to Diligence He comes with Crowns in his Hands to reward all that are faithful to him 1 Pet. 5.4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a Crown of Glory that fadeth not away 2 Tim. 4.1 I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Iesus Christ who shall judg the quick and the dead at his Appearance and his Kingdom 1 Thess. 2. â—9 For what is our Hope or Ioy or Crown of rejoicing Are not even ye in the Presence of our Lord Iesus Christ at his Coming The Day of Judgment respects our Callings especially as Ministers Christ's Officers must give an Account and in whatever Condition God hath set us in wherein he expects a Trial of our Faithfulness we are to consider what we must do SERMON XVIII TITUS II. 13 Of the Great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ. I Come to the Description of the Person who shall appear who is described by a Title of Power and a Title of Mercy and Love because in Christ's Person there is Greatness and Goodness mixt for he is called the great God there is his Attribute of Power and Majesty and then there is a comfortable Name and Title Our Saviour That both these Titles do belong to the same Person the Fathers have abundantly proved against the Arians In the Original there is but one Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that greaâ— God and our Saviour We have just such another Expression 1 Cor. 15.24 He shall deliver up the Kingdom to that God and Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to God even the Father So here the great God and Saviour that is the God that is the Saviour Besides there is another Argument that the Words must be referred to the same Person because it is never said any where the Father doth appear but only Jesus Christ and therefore the Appearance of the great God must needs be applied to Jesus Christ. I shall handle these Titles conjunctly and severally I. Look upon them conjunctly and together and there you may observe the mingling of Words of Power and Words of Goodness and Mercy in Christ's Stile and Title I observe it the rather because it is often found in Scripture But for what Reasons are these Titles of Mercy and Power thus mingled and coupled together 1. For the Comfort of the Saints to shew that Christ in all his Glory will not forget himself to be a Saviour At the Day of Judgment when he comes forth like the great God with all his Heavenly Train then he will own us and will be as tender of us as he was upon the Cross. The Butler in his Advancement when he was at Court and well at Ease forgot Ioseph in Prison but Christ in his Advancement doth not grow shy and stately We may have Boldness in the great Day for he will not only come as the great God but also as our Saviour We have the like Expression Heb. 8.1 2. We have such an high Priest who is set on the right Hand of the Throne of Majesty in the Heavens And what follows a Minister of the Sanctuary Jesus Christ certainly had a gracious Welcome into Heaven and was exalted by the Father but even now he is our faithful Agent in Heaven This is made to be the Excellency and Height of his Condescention that he came in the Form of a Servant in the Fashion of an ordinary Man poor and despicable then he came to do the Church Service and now he is gone to Heaven in all his Glory still he is there as a Servant as one that is to negotiate with God for holy things to tender our Prayers to the Lord and to pass out Blessings to us this is Christ's Imployment in Heaven 2. To shew the Mystery of Christ's Person in whom the two Natures meet there is not only the Majesty of the God-head but also the humane Nature by which he claims Kin of us I observe it because the Scripture takes notice of it Isa. 9.6 To us a Child is born to us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon his Shoulder and his Name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace What a Mixture of Titles is here He is called a Child yet the everlasting Father Wonderful yet the Counsellor one that is intimate with his People he gives sweet Counsel to them He is called the mighty God and then presently the Prince of Peace Christ's Person is the greatest Mystery and Riddle in the World he is God and yet Man He is as the Apostle saith Heb. 7.3 Without Father and without Mother as Melchisedec yet he had both Father and Mother a Father in Heaven and a Mother upon Earth He was without Mother as to his Divinity and without Father as to his Manhood Another Place where the same Method is observed Zech. 13.7 Awake O Sword against my Shepherd and against the Man that is my Fellow He is called the Man but yet God calls him his Fellow our Brother and God's Son There are so many Mysteries that meet in Christ's Person that under the Law he could not be figured and represented by one Sacrifice Levit. 16.15 21. There were two Sacrifices chosen to represent Christ there was the Goat to be slain for the Sin-Offering and then the Scape-Goat one was not enough because there are in Christ two Natures a God that could not die and a Man that could not overcome Death The Goat that was slain shewed he was crucified in the Flesh and the Goat that was let go shewed that he did yet live by the Power of God 2 Cor. 13.4 For though he was crucified through Weakness yet he liveth by the Power of God Or as another Apostle hath it 1 Pet. 3.18 Being put to Death in the Flesh but quickned by the Spirit There was his humane Nature as he was Man that he might die to answer the Goat that was slain then his Divine Nature that he might live and overcome Death 3. To compare his two Comings and to show that Christ doth not forget his old Work His first Coming was in Humility to save not to judg Iohn 12.47 I
cause them to see their Misery and Impotency by the Law To Evidence this I will shew 1. What is the Covenant of Works 2. I will prove that all Men by Nature are under this Covenant 3. This is that Covenant which Natural Conscience sticks to 4. This Covenant rightly understood is the most ready way to convince a Iusticiary or to prepare Men for Christ. First What is the Covenant of Works I Answer It is the Covenant made with Adam in Innocency in which life was promised under the Condition of perfect Obedience to be performed by a man by his own Natural strength The Parties contracting in this Covenant are God on the one side and Man Created in the Perfection of Nature on the other side God and Adam with all his Posterity And the terms of this Covenant are perfect and unsinning Obedience and this perfect Obedience to be performed by us by our own strength Gal. 3.12 The Law is not of Faith but the man that doth them shall live in them That is the Law Covenant only promiseth Life to him that observeth what the Law prescribes and so hath perfect inherent Righteousness of his own it offers Life upon no easier terms than constant universal perfect Obedience Now the Sanction and Confirmation of this Covenant is by a terrible Curse explained by the Apostle Gal. 3.10 As many as are of the works of the Law are under the Curse for it is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them The Law pronounceth a Curse upon every Man who fulfills it not in every Tittle and every jot of it and who continues not so to do from the first minute of his Life to the hour of his Death which fallen Man can never do And therefore as long as he is under this Covenant he remains under God's Curse and Wrath. If he omit any thing that is required or commit any thing that is forbidden so that thô he should but once Sin he is under the Curse Secondly I shall prove that all Men by Nature are under this Covenant till they be reconciled to God by Christ. This Covenant concerns all Adam's Children untill they have a new Claim in the Second Adam for God contracted with Adam as a publick Person representing all his Posterity and so it concerns not him only but all his Heirs Take them in their Infancy they are under this Covenant therefore they are said to be by Nature Children of wrath as well as others Eph 2.3 All Men are under the deserved Curse of the Law by reason of Sin Or take them in their grown Estate Iohn 3.18 He that believeth not is condemned already because he believeth not in the Name of the only begotten Son of God that is because he is not freed from the Covenant of Works and the Curse of the Law by the Son of God Every Unbeliever is condemned already by the Sentence of the Law which they lye still under before they lay hold upon Christ the only Remedy for their deliverance The Sentence of the Law stands in force till you get it repeal'd by Christ. And some men will find that this Covenant is in force against them at the Day of Judgment â—or then there will be proceedings against them according to it All the World are judged according to one of these two Covenants Iames 2.12 13. Some shall be judged according to the law of liberty others shall have Iudgment without mercy Impotency doth not free any of Adam's Sons from this Covenant because this Impotency was contracted by our own Sin and doth not make void God's right as a Creditor doth not lose his Right by the Debtors Inability to pay him If a Man bind himself and his 〈◊〉 to pay such a summ of Money and he will vainly spend his Patrimony and so render himself unable to pay it he and his Heirs are still liable to a Process as long as the Debt remaineth unpaid or unremitted We and all ours are bound to perfect Obedience for the future and to make satisfaction for Sin past which we that are poor Creatures sold under Sin are never able to do Therefore this Covenant doth absolutely put us into such a State as that there is no Remedy for us but by flying to Jesus Christ. Thirdly This Covenant is that which Natural Conscience worketh on and seemeth most so to do so that when we urge Men with this Covenant we do but beat them with their own Weapons When the Covenant of Works was made with Adam all Mankind were then in his Loyns it was made with him in their Name and therefore Men by Nature do still retain a deep Impression of this Covenant as appeareth in that as soon as Conscience is awakened it judgeth Men according to this Covenant As Rom. 1.32 The Apostle speaks of the Heathens Who knowing the Iudgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of Death The benummed Consciences of Heathens when they came to themselves they were afraid of Judgment according to the tenor of this Covenant And the same is seen in the endeavour of a Natural Conscience to do something that may make a shew of Good Works and a tolerable plea by this Covenant as in that Pharisees Plea Luke 18.11 12. I am not as other men are Extortioners Vnjust Adulterers or even as this Publican Christ speaks it of those that trusted in their own Righteousness the Pharisee brings a little Trash a few inconsiderable things I fast twice a week I give tithes of all that I possess and this is his Righteousness Again That Natural Conscience works towards this Covenant seems plain by the strange Affectation of the Righteousness of Works which is in all Mens Hearts and unwillingness to hear of any other Rom. 10.3 They being ignorant of God's Righteousness and going about to establish their own Righteousness have not submitted themselves to the Righteousness of God A Man would fain have a Personal inherent Righteousness in himself he is loth to be beholden to any other He would patch up any Righteousness of his own and is prone to trust in it a proud Creature will not submit Nay even the Regenerate God's own Children thô they are well instructed in the Righteousness of Faith and sufficiently see the Impossibility of a Righteousness of Works thô they have been under brokenness of Heart yet they are ever lingring after this Covenant with a Natural Desire of it and to rest in their own Duties And that was the Reason of that Expression of Luther Every one of us hath a Pope in his own Belly something that pleads there for the Merit of Works Fourthly This is the most ready way to convince a Iusticiary and to prepare Men for Christ by a sight and sence of their own Sin and Misery and Impotency by this Covenant and this for several Reasons 1 Reason Because every Man is apt to flatter
to worldly Comforts and Love of Ease and Flesh-pleasing and Ingratitude for all the Spiritual Good we have received Shall God lay in such great Comforts and after such great Receivings do you take it ill to be put to a little Expence Iob 15.11 Are the Consolations of God small with thee If you had a due sence of the World to come you would be glad to keep your Conscience thô you lose your Coat Hebr. 10.34 Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods knowing in your selves that ye have in Heaven a better and an enduring substance Rom. 8.18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us Do you look for a Glory to be revealed in you Then look upon all the Sufferings of this Life as a Feather put into the Scales against a Talent We are to have a sense of our Condition yet in regard of the Honour done to us to bear a part of Christ's Cross and in regard of the Comfort and Happiness provided for us we should be chearful that it may not be known to be an unwilling Patience and extorted by force There is one Expression more Luke 9.23 Let him take up his Cross daily How daily There are fair days as well as foul days and the Face of Heaven doth not always look sad and lowring How then are we to take up the Cross daily I Answer 1. It notes a daily expectation of it the first day that we begin to be Christians we must reckon on the Cross. Mat. 16.24 If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me These words are the Christians Indenture and every one must Seal to this before he can call Christ Master As Porters stand in a Street waiting for a Burden for them to carry so must a Christian be ready and prepared to meet with any hardship which God may lay out for him in his Christian Course Or as the Israelites eat the first Passeover with their loins girded their shooes on their feet and their staff in their hand Exod. 12.11 as ready for a Journey so should a Christian be ready to go forth at God's Call Acts 21.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am ready not to be bound only but also to dye at Ierusalem for the Name of the Lord Iesus Evils familiarized are less burdensome by renewing our daily Resolution the evil is the less when it cometh 2. The Frequency of our Conflicts as if every day there were some exercise for our Faith and Patience We are not to prescribe to God how long or how much Affliction he shall exercise us with No thô it were all the days of our Lives we must be content it is but a moment to Eternity We must take up our Cross as often as it lyeth in our way and we cannot baulk it without Sin Gen. 47.9 Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been Man is Born to Trouble The World is a Valley of Tears not the Mount of the Lord where is fulness of Joy If there were no Cross we should not be in Tune and Consort with the rest of the World for here all the Creatures are a groaning 3. The Word Daily sheweth That private and personal Calamities are a part of the Cross as well as the Afflictions of the Gospel and for the Profession of the Name of Christ. Afflictions are either for God or from God Sickness and Death of Friends and loss of Estate by an immediate Providence are a part of our Cross There is an enduring Persecution for the Name of Christ and an enduring Affliction at the Will of Christ. Ordinary Crosses do not exclude the Comforts of Christianity these occasion Experience of God and Tryal of Grace and are a part of God's Discipline for the mortifying of Sin and are happy opportunities to discover more of God and of Grace to us Yea there is more Reason for Submission in these because God taketh us into his own hands A Man that stormeth when a Bucket of water is cast upon him is patient when he is wet with the Rain that cometh from Heaven II. The Reasons why those that follow Christ should prepare their Shoulders for the Cross. 1. That we may be conformed to our Head He had a bitter Cup tempered for him by his Father's hand Iohn 18.11 The Cup that my Father hath given me shall I not drink it and we must pledge him Jesus Christ was a Man of Sorows and acquainted with grief Isa. 53.3 And there would be a strange disproportion between Head and Members if we should altogether live in Delicacy Ease and Pleasures The bitter Cup goeth by course and round first to Christ then to his Apostles and it goeth from hand to hand ever since The Apostle speaks of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 1.24 that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. There is Christ personal and Christ mystical Christ personal as he is compleat in himself so his Sufferings are compleat but the Sufferings of Christ mystical are not perfect until every Member have their own allotted share and portion Indeed our Sufferings are but the drops upon the brim of the Cup he drank up the Dreggs The great Wave of Affliction did first beat upon him and being thereby broken some small sprinklings of it do light upon us we bear the hinder part of the Cross of Christ. It is but Reason that those that will partake with Christ in his Kingdom should be partakers with him in his Sorrows and that the Souldiers should follow the Captain of their Salvation Heb. 2.10 and fare as he fared Iohn 15.20 Remember the word that I said unto you the Servant is not greater than the Lord if they have persecuted me they will also persecute you We cannot in Reason expect better entertainment than he found in the World If you had an high esteem of Christ and a low esteem of your selves you would easily consent to submit to the Will of God herein It is an unseemly daintiness to be nice and tender of carrying the Cross after Jesus Christ as if we were better than he Many Christians will seem to express much Devotion to a Crucifix or those Chips of Wood which Impostors cry up for pieces of the Cross of Christ but here is true respect to the Cross of Christ to be willing for Christ's sake to bear afflictions with patience and humble submission The Apostle counted all things but dross and dung Phil. 3.10 That I may know him and the power of his Resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death There is a great deal of sweetness and spiritual Comfort in suffering after for and with Christ we should count all things dung and dross to gain this Experience This should be comfort enough to a gracious heart that thereby he is made more like his
is that which the Apostle calleth the Power of Death and the Terrors which follow upon it Heb. 2.14 15. That through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death that is the Devil and deliver them who through fear of Death were all their Life-time subject to Bondage The Devil hath no Power as a Judg to condemn Sinners He is not Dominus Mortis the Lord of Death but Minister Mortis the Minister of Death For being condemned of God the poor Sinner is put into his Hand that he may either terrify or stupify him and so more and more involve him in the Curse of God's broken Law and also he may hasten his Death and everlasting Destruction 2. Satan hath a Tyrannical Usurped Power So the Devils are called Rulers of the Darkness of this VVorld Ephes. 6.12 the blind idolatrous superstitious World And Satan is called the Prince of this VVorld John 14.30 And the God of this World 2 Cor. 4.4 God made him an Executioner but we make him a Prince a Ruler and a God Now Christ as a Priest disannulleth his legal Power by his Death and the Merit of his Sacrifice And Christ as the true King and Head both of Men and Angels pulls down Satan as an Usurper delivers the poor captive Souls out of his Power And as a Prophet he discovereth his Cheats and Delusions 2. His Works There is a twofold Work of Satan the Work of the Devil without us or the Work of the Devil within us 1. The Work of the Devil without us is a false Religion or those Idolatries and Superstitions by which Satan's Reign and Empire is upheld in the World This is destroyed by the Doctrine of the Gospel accompanied with the all-powerful Spirit of God And therefore when the Gospel was first preach'd by Christ's Messengers the Devil fell from that great and unlimited Power which he had before in the World Luke 10.18 I beheld Satan as Lightning fall from Heaven 'T is an Allusion to his first Fall as Lightning flasheth and vanisheth and never recollecteth it self again So Iohn 12.31 Now shall the Prince of this VVorld be cast out When Christ did first set upon the Redemption of Mankind the Apostles went abroad to beat the Devil and hunt him out of his Territories and they did it with great Effect Therefore this is made one Argument by which the Spirit doth convince us of the Truth of the Gospel John 16.11 He shall convince the VVorld of Iudgment because the Prince of this VVorld is judged The silencing of his Oracles the suppressing of his Superstitions the destroying of the Kingdom of Wickedness and Darkness was an apparent Evidence of the Truth of the Gospel The old Religion by which the Devil's Kingdom was supported every-where went to wrack no more the same Temples the same Rites the same Gods all was made to stoop and bow before God as worshipped in Christ. 2. There is the Work of the Devil within us This concerneth the recovering particular Persons out of the Snare of the Devil who were taken captive by him at his Will and Pleasure Here we must distinguish between the Purchase and Application The Purchase was made when Christ died Col. 2.15 Having spoiled Principalities and Powers he made a Shew of them openly triumphing over them in it that is on his Cross. Christ's Death was Satan's Overthrow then was the deadly Blow given to his Power and Kingdom This was the Price given for our Ransom and the great means of disannulling all that Power Satan had before The Application is begun in our Conversion for then we are said to be turned from Satan unto God Acts 26.18 To open their Eyes and to turn them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God Then we are rescued out of the Devil's Clutches and adopted into God's Family that being made Children we may have a Child's Portion III. That in this Conflict his Heel was wounded bitten or bruised by the Serpent 1. Certain it is that Christ was bruised in the Enterprize Which sheweth how much we should value our Salvation since it costs so dear as the precious Blood of the Son of God incarnate 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold c. but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot He thought not his whole Humiliation from first to last too much for the overthrowing of the Devil's Kingdom nor any Price too dear to redeem poor captive Souls 2. But how was he bruised by the Serpent Certainly on the one hand Christ's Sufferings were the Effects of Man's Sin and God's Hatred against Sin and his governing Justice for it is said Isa. 53.10 It pleased the Father to bruise him Unless it had pleased the Lord to bruise him Satan could never have bruised him On the other side they were also the Effects of the Malice and Rage of the Devil and his Instruments who was now with the Sword's-point and closing Stroke with Christ and doing the worst he could against him In his whole Life he indured many outward Troubles from Satan's Instruments for all his Life long he was a Man of Sorrows wounded and bruised by Satan and his Instruments Iohn 8.44 Ye are of your Father the Devil and the Lusts of your Father ye will do he was a Murderer from the beginning and abode not in the Truth because there is no Truth in him But the closing Stroke was at last then did the Serpent most eminently bruise his Heel When Iudas contrived the Plot it is said the Devil entred into him Luke 22.3 Then entred Satan into Judas Iscariot being one of the Twelve When the High Priest's Servants come to take him he telleth them Luke 22.53 This is your Hour and the Power of Darkness The Power of Darkness at length did prevail so far as to cause his shameful Death This was their Day 3. It was only his Heel that was bruised It could go no further for tho his bodily Life was taken away yet his Head and Mediatory Power was not touched Acts 2.36 This same Iesus whom ye have crucified God hath made both Lord and Christ. Again his bodily Life was taken away but for a while God would not leave his Soul in the Grave Psal. 16.10 Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy One to see Corruption The Counsel and Purpose of God concerning Man's Redemption had then been wholly frustrated For if Christ be not risen your Faith is vain ye are yet in your Sins 1 Cor. 15.17 Once more tho Christ was bruised yet he was not conquered When the Jews and Roman Souldiers were spoiling him and parting his Garments then was he spoiling Principalities and Powers And when Satan and his Instruments were triumphing over the Son of God then was he triumphing over all the Devils in Hell for by Death he
of our discharge but as he dyed for our offences so he rose again for our justification Rom. 4.25 As having perfectly done his work As the Eather delivered him to Death so he brought him back again from the Dead The Apostle layes a great weight upon this Rom. 8.34 Yea rather that is risen from the dead There is some special thing in Christ's Resurrection comparatively above his Death which hath influence on our Justification Was not Christs Death enough to free us from Sin Yes but the visible evidence was by his Resurrection It is as it were an acquittance from those Debts of ours which he undertook to pay As Simeon was dismissed when the Conditions were performed and Ioseph satisfied with the sight of his Brother Gen. 43.23 He brought Simeon out unto them 2. Christs Office is allowed so that he is the great shepherd of the sheep that is the Blessed Saviour into whose hands God hath put his Flock to be justified sanctified and saved and from whom we may expect all that comfort which a flock hath from a good and faithful Pastor We are put into his hands as he is Mediator not by way of alienation for they are in the Fathers hands still Iohn 10.29 My Father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand But oppignoration laid at pledge in his hands A Shepherd is not Lord of the Flock but as a Servant to take care of them They are not his as Mediator by way of Original Interest and Dominion but in point of trust and charge He hath an Office about them and giveth an account of them at the last day He is sometimes called simply without any addition The shepherd 1 Pet. 2.25 Ye are returned unto the shepherd and bishop of our souls Sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The good shepherd as Iohn 10.11 And here The great shepherd and the chief shepherd 1 Pet. 5.4 because of the Dignity of his Person and Office And surely if we put our selves into the hands of this Shepherd we can lack nothing Psalm 23.1 The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want We may look for all manner of supplies from Christ. 3. God is so far appeased that there is a new Covenant procured and constituted called here the everlasting covenant partly because it shall never be repealed and continueth unalterable and the called obtain by it the title and possession of an Eternal Inheritance Heb. 9.15 They which are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance And partly because Christs Blood is the foundation of this Covenant and the vertue of it never ceaseth therefore this Covenant is Everlasting also and made effectual and able to obtain its ends which is the Eternal Salvation of sinful Man once converted and reconciled to God This Covenant also is called the Covenant of Gods Peace because it is a publick Demonstration that God is pacified Isa. 54.10 But my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed Ezek. 37.26 I will make a covenant of peace with them Partly because in this Covenant this Peace and Reconciliation is published and offered to us that Man may not stand aloof from God as a condemning God So it is said Eph. 2.17 Christ came to preach peace to those that are near and to those that are afar off Acts 10.36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel preaching peace by Christ he is Lord of all Partly because in this Covenant the terms of this Peace between us and God are stated God bindeth himself to sinful Man to give him Remission of Sins and Eternal Life begun by the Spirit and perfected in Heaven upon the Conditions of Faith Rom. 5.1 Being justified by faith we have peace with God and Repentance Acts 3.19 Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out as our Entrance and new Obedience as to continuance Heb. 5.9 He became the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him IV. How we come to be Interested in this Peace and Reconciliation or the conveyance of it to us For this Peace may be considered as to the Impetration and Application of it 1. As to the Impetration and laying down of the price that was done by Christ on the cross Therefore it is said 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself Then was God propitiated and the Merit and Ransom interposed by vertue of which we are pardoned and reconciled 2. As to Application when God is actually reconciled with us and we enter into his Peace and are restored unto his Favour This may be considered either as to the first gift God is never actually reconciled to us nor we to him till he give us the regenerating Spirit that is our receiving the atonement Rom. 5.11 It was made on the Cross but received at our Conversion and Regeneration Or else it may be considered as to the further measure of his sanctifying Grace called here perfecting us for every good work and working in us that which is pleasing in his sight This is given with respect to our reconciled Estate as we are actually at Peace and in Covenant with God 2 Cor. 5.17 18. Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Iesus Christ. The summ is this At the Death of Christ there was such a foundation laid that we need no other ransom nor propitiation He hath so far satisfied Divine Justice that he hath obtained the New Covenant The first Grace is given us meerly with respect to the Merit of his Sacrifice for Christ purchased the Mercies promised and power to performe the conditions Farther Grace is given us because we are already reconciled unto God which is a ground of the greater Joy and Confidence For our actual Reconciliation giveth us a title to all consequent acts of Friendship which can be expected or received For in Gods way we shall have further Sanctification and after that Salvation V. The Reasons why all increase of Grace comes from God as the God of Peace 1. From the Giver God will not set us up with a new Stock of Grace till satisfaction be made for the breach of his Law We must not look upon him as pars offensa the Offended Party but as Rector Mundi the Governour of the World Private Persons may forgive offences as they please but the Governour and Judge of the World would not pass by the offence of Man till the ends of Government be secured or that the Law fall not to the ground which it doth not whilst God standeth upon the satisfaction of Christ and the submission of the Sinner The right of passing by a wrong and the right of releasing a punishment are different things Because punishment is a common Interest
do well and Sin it self forbid Sin that it may not disgrace them in the World and bring some hurt and inconvenience on them Conscience doth not guide them herein but Hypocrisie or Sin sets them a work 2. Evil as Lots incest with his Daughters Gen. 19.33 34. He perceived not when they lay down or when they arose Conscience was laid asleep it did not stir and chasten or rebuke him So when the people of Ephesus came together Acts 19.32 The most part knew not wherefore they were come together they were in a hurry tumult and sudden passion These consult not with Conscience in their Actions and the evil they do is not against Conscience yet evil it is and doth not exempt from Punishment for a Man is bound not to act rashly but according to the dictate of Conscience 2. A Man may act out of Conscience or according to Conscience and so he may act either good or evil 1. Good either lawful because it is permitted or necessary because it is commanded in the one Conscience is sensible that he may in the other that he ought to do so This he doth not out of Terrour but the sweet force of Love and willing Obedience unto God for Fear and Conscience are opposed Rom. 13.5 Wherefore ye must be faithful not only for wrath but also for conscience sake but he doth it in Obedience to God Psalm 27.8 When thou saidst seek ye my face my heart said unto thee thy face Lord will I seek I acknowledge thy power over me 2. Evil. So Paul out of Conscience persecuted Christ for his erring Conscience told him that the Precepts and Ceremonies of the Law of Moses were all of Eternal Obligation and necessary to a Mans Justification towards God and therefore that Christ abolishing the Ceremonies was an Enemy to Moses Acts 26.9 I verily thought with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Iesus of Nazareth Error of Conscience dictated it to him But did Paul do well or ill herein As to the manner of the Action it was well for he did it with a good Mind and according to his Conscience thus far Paul sinned not But as to the matter of the Action he did wickedly that he followed the dictates of a misguided Conscience and did not subject his Conscience to that higher Revelation of God which is in Scripture but to the Tradition of the Elders So many Persecutors do evil and do not think they do evil but do God good Service Iohn 16.2 They shall put you out of the Synagogues yea the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth God service and this through Ignorance and blind Zeal This Erring-Conscience is their bane it may urge them to do evil but it cannot oblige them to do evil for they are bound to know better and according to the means of their Conviction so is the greatness of their Sin 3. A Man may act against Conscience 1. So he may do good As a Papist communicating with the Reformed Churches in the Word and Prayer and Sacraments he doth that which is good but he doth it against his Conscience because he thinks it is not lawful to have Communion with Hereticks To this Head belongeth those things that we do with scruple of Conscience fearing the things which we do are not right So many times we do things which are lawful yet fearing they are unlawful we do them not without some scruple and terror of Conscience as for instance a self-condemning Sinner coming to the Lords Supper yet because he hath not a clear sense of the love of God his Conscience troubleth him and he is afraid he eateth and drinketh unworthily The Apostle saith Rom. 14.22 23. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth And he that doubteth is damned if he eat because he eateth not of faith for whatsoever is not of faith is sin that is to the Party that doth it though it be good in it self Therefore we must endeavour that whatever we do we may be assured out of the Word of God that it is lawful Rom. 14.5 Let every one be fully perswaded in his own mind 2. So he may do evil When a Man doth good against his Conscience it is evil but when he doth evil against his Conscience it is a double evil because he doth not only transgress the Rule that should guide him but affronts the Judge which God hath set over him in his own bosom and kicketh against the pricks the urgings of his own Conscience Iames 4.17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doth it not to him it is sin But especially it is a greater Sin when not only by Light Natural but by the checks and motions of the Spirit he understandeth the evil which he doth or the necessary good which he omitteth for this is to resist the Holy Ghost Acts 7.51 Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears ye do alwayes resist the holy Ghost Especially when he wilfully and blasphemously rejects that sufficient Evidence that is given him of the wayes of God and hath done despight unto the spirit of grace Heb. 10.29 For that is the sin unto death 1 Iohn 5.19 In short we should be careful we sin not against Conscience for it is our best Friend or our worst Enemy It is Gods Deputy and to resist the Officer is to resist the Prince or Magistrate Therefore do nothing without Conscience do nothing against Conscience but do all things with Conscience rightly informed by the Word of God Secondly Exercise your selves in this that Conscience may perform its Office and be a good Guide unto you There are two Offices of Conscience to direct and to censure to judge rightly de jure what you ought to do and to judge rightly de facto what you have done or what you are that you may neither have a blind and erring nor a sleepy Conscience 1. That you may not have an erring Conscience or a blind one you must consult with your Rule Rom. 12.2 That ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God Ephes. 5.17 Wherefore be not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is with a mind fully resolved to do his will Iohn 7.17 If any man do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self This Rule is the Word of God Psalm 119.105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path Beg the light of the Spirit verse 133. Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me And be not rebellious against this Light for our Sins and Lusts blind the Mind and a naughty Heart defileth the Conscience so that it groweth loose and indulgent and from a Judge it becometh an Advocate excusing the partialities of our Obedience to God and our injuries to Men. Therefore
that he came in such mean Estate as if he were a Worme and no Man Psalm 22.6 I am a worme and no man a reproach of men and despised of the people So also Isa. 53.3 He was despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we esteemed him not As a vile and abominable Creature both despised and rejected scarce deemed worthy the Name of a Man or to have any Converse or Communion with them It is the leavings off of Men as we would say the very list and fag-end of Mankind so low and mean that the Nature of Man can hardly descend lower Mark 9.12 The son of man must suffer many things and be set at nought it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made nought worth or nothing Once more the Serpent of all the Beasts of the Field was the Creature which was cursed by God Gen. 3.14 Because thou hast done this thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life Yet by this form would he represent Christ to the Antient Church God chose this to be a Type of Christ which we would have thought a dishonour and disparagement to him Yea this Serpent that was now set up was made of Brass not of Gold to shew that Christ would not appear in Glorious Estate and Majesty but in the meanest and most abject form of any Creature All together will help us to meditate upon the great abasement of the Son of God Quanto vilior tanto clarior nobis esse debet The more he humbled himself the higher estimation should we have of our crucified Lord. Never was any Child of God before Christ under so much misery as Christ himself was his own Heaven his own Father his own God-head hid their Face and Consolation from him Gods Wrath pressed the weight of punishment with the full power of Justice both upon his Soul and Body those for whom he dyed despised him he himself being emptied of all things that make Men respected in the World and depressed lower than ever any Man was as a Worme to be trod upon He was made the matter of common talk and reproach in all Mens Mouths condemned by the ruling part of the World and set at nought by the basest of the People derided and scorned in his most Holy behaviour his bitter Sufferings made a matter of sport and laughter Malice feeding its self with Pleasure upon his Pain and Misery and expressing its self with the basest signs of mockage which disdain could devise flouting at his saving Doctrine and insulting over him as if he had been neither the Son of God nor an honest Man And all this was counted little enough for satisfaction of Justice exacting of him the due punishment of our Sins We tenderly resent contempt and cannot endure to be despised and thrust down when the Sun of Righteousness went back so many degrees in the Dyal of Honour 3. The Brasen Serpent had the Shape and Figure of the Serpent but not the Sting and the Poison Figuram habuit non naturam it had the Figure not the Nature of a Serpent Let us pause upon this a little God would cure the Bite of a Serpent by a Serpent a Serpent stung and a Serpent healed God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh Rom. 8.3 That is by Jesus Christ in our Nature who was made a Sin-Offering and therefore called Sin there The Parties to be cured were Men therefore the son of man must be lifted up that Title is given him here in the Text Christ was debased by this Title by being called the son of man but yet the Sons of Men are dignified by it he came in the likeness of sinful flesh As the Brazen Serpent was in all things like the True Serpent but without any hurtful quality so Christ in all points was like us but without sin Heb. 4.15 He came in the likeness of sinful flesh yet was holy harmless and separate from Sinners 4. The precise place where the Brazen Serpent was lifted up Moses doth not tell us in the Story where this Matter is recorded but it may be collected from other places Moses telleth us that the Israelites going from thence pitched their Tents in Oboth Numb 21.10 from whence it follows that the place was Punon for from Punon they came to Oboth Numb 33.42 43. Now this Punon was a place belonging to Idumaea very famous for Mines of Brass or Copper as is commonly known in Ancient Writings the Brass being called from thence the metal of Punon Eusebius in the Eighth Book of his Ecclesiastical History tells us That Sylvanus and thirty nine more were beheaded for the Faiths sake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 near the Mines of Brass in Punon and Eutychius speaketh of divers Christians condemned to work in these Mines So also doth Epiphanius and Theodores So that the Brass out of which the Serpent was made was taken out of the very place in which they were bitten it was the Brass of Punon not without a Mistery That Body which Christ assumed was not brought from elsewhere but born there and formed there where he was manifested in the Flesh for the Salvation of the World and where the Mischief was there was the Remedy at hand 5. The similitude chiefly holdeth in this that as the Brazen Serpent was lifted up upon the Perch or Pole so was Christ lifted up on the Cross 1 Pet. 2.24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body upon the tree The Serpent first stung us by the Fruit of a Tree and Christ saved us by suffering upon a Tree David had foretold that his hands and his feet should be pierced Psalm 22.16 They pierced my hands and my feet And the Curse of the Law was to be born Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us for it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree Gal. 3.13 The Apostle obviates an Objection if the Law do curse all Men how are any freed from the Curse of the Law Even by Jesus Christ who took upon him the Curse due to us while he was obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross for that kind of Death was pronounced to be accursed Deut. 21.23 He that is hanged is accursed of God He came as a Surety in the Sinners Name and would take our burden upon himself and therefore chose a Death of all others most cruel and painful and contemptible ordained for the wickedest and vilest Wretches thereby to assure us of a full ransom and satisfaction to Divine Justice for our wrongs and to imprint upon our Minds the horrors of our Sins Well then here is the Spectacle offered to our Faith Jesus Christ
Person and Sacrifice was approved of God is evident not only as he appointed it and surely he will Accept what he hath Appointed not only also by the Miracles which he wrought when alive which evidenced his Commission Acts 2.22 Iesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by miracles wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you but chiefly by the Resurrection of Christ which was not only a Testimony of the Truth and Dignity of his Person Rom. 1.4 And declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead but it was a clear Argument of the perfectness of his Satisfaction For unless he had abundantly satisfied God how could God who as a just Judge had appointed him to die for our Sins raise him up from the Dead Would an upright Judge deliver a Debtor or his Surety from Prison unless first full Payment had been made Would God shew himself willing to be Reconciled to us if yet there remained any Wrath to be appeased any farther Ransom necessary to be paid for us Now in the Scripture Christ is sometimes said to rise from the Dead to shew his Divine Power sometimes to be raised by God to shew the Fulness of his Satisfaction Acts 2.24 Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of them When Christ was raised our Surety was let out of Prison And the Scripture hath delivered it to us under that Notion Isa. 53.8 He was taken from Prison and from judgment and who shall declare his Generation For he was cut off from the land of the Living for the transgression of my people was he stricken The Lord sent an Angel to remove his Grave-stone not to supply any lack of Power in Christ but to shew he was fully Appeased and Satisfied Therefore it is said Heb. 13.20 Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Iesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant Mark through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant he is become the God of Peace through the Blood of the everlasting Covenant he brought Christ from the Dead He doth not only do us good but le ts go our Surety through the Virtue of that Blood The Phrase of Bringing again from the Dead is Emphatical Christ did not break Prison but was brought forth as the Apostles Acts 16.39 The Magistrates came to the Prison and brought them out Christ rose not only by his own Power but by the Father's Authority If our Surety had perished in Prison we could have no Assurance or if he had continued still under Death the World could have no Discharge But Christ rose again and is not only taken out of Prison but carried up to God in Glory and Honour 1 Tim. 3.16 Received up into glory It is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Actively he Ascended but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Passively he was Raised up God hath Rewarded him And therefore he hath perfectly done his Work God hath not only taken him out of the Grave but taken him up to Glory Certainly God is well pleased since he hath given him not only a Discharge but a Reward Christ undertaking for us is somewhat like that of Reuben for Benjamin Gen. 43.9 I will be surety for him of my hand shalt thou require him if I bring him not unto thee and set him before thee then let me bear the blame for ever Let me see thy Face no more Christ undertook to carry it through and failed not in the Enterprize III. What Comfort is this to poor Sinners since though there be a full Satisfaction Conditions are required which we are not able to perform e're we can have Benefit and we find Sin remaining in us so that it is finished and unfinished as to us I answer There is great Comfort in God's general Grace before it be particularly applied and exhibited to us in the Effects and Sense thereof A sufficient Sacrifice and Ransom given for you is the Foundation of all solid Peace for it is the Foundation of the Gospel or of the Covenant of Grace I shall prove it by these Reasons 1. Because this answereth the grand Scruple which haunteth the Creature and is at the bottom of all our Fears namely how God's Justice shall be appeased Micah 6.6 7. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the high God Shall I come before him with burnt offerings with calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oyl Shall I give my first-born for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul The way of appeasing God's Anger hath been an old Controversie that hath troubled all Nations and till it be answered and fully determined Man is not perfect as appertaining to the Conscience Heb. 9.9 Though God be infinitely Merciful yet he is infinitely Just and we can expect no more from his Mercy than we may fear from his Justice Guilty Nature still presageth Evil to us till there be something Penal endured and something of Price and Value given to appease Justice 2. That God now looketh for no Satisfaction at your hand it is all done perfectly by Christ all is finished he satisfied for us that we might not be obliged to satisfie in our own Persons Heb. 1.3 When he had by himself purged our sins sate down on the right hand of the Majesty on high Isa. 53.5 By his stripes we are healed It was at his Cost that our Recovery was brought about 3. In this Provision we see the Will of God putting forth it self for our help in the most astonishing way that could be imagined 1 Tim. 3.16 Without controversie great is the mystery of godliness God manifested in the flesh 1 John 4.10 Herein was love not that we loved God but God loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins This is such an unusual expression of Love such an engaging Instance so much surpassing our Thoughts that we cannot sufficiently admire it When God laid such a broad Foundation surely he intended some notable Grace to us 4. Here is a full Answer to those usual Objections which are raised by broken Hearts as the number and greatness and heinousness of our Sins for as such they shall not be your Ruine As great as they are God can with honour pardon them for barely to plead the number of Sins or greatness of Sins is to lessen the Price The Messiah came Dan. 9.24 To finish transgression and to make an end of sin and to bring in everlasting Righteousness There is no Sin so great but the Redeemer's Merit can countervail it And no Man shall perish for the want of the Payment of his Ransom or an Expiatory Sacrifice for his Sins He may
plentiful Life of Worldliâ—gs with the forfeiting of the Soul the Pleasures of Sin for a Season with the Pains of Hell 4. The fourth sort of Comparison which the Scripture directs us unto is Temporal bad things with Eternal good things and that is the Case we have now in hand Thus Rom. 8.18 For I reckon that the Sufferings of this present Time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us Sufferings for the present may be very great but the Glory that is revealed to us and shall one day be revealed in us is much greater as there is no Comparison between a little Flea-biting or the prick of a Pin with eternal Ease and Rest or the trouble of entring by a strait Gate or Entry into a glorious Palace 2 Cor. 4.17 For our light Affliction which is but for a Moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory The Sufferings of the present World are leves breves light and short not in themselves but in comparison with eternal Life In themselves they may be some of them very sharp and grievous and some also very long and tedious but look what a Point is to the Circumference that is Time to Eternity and what a Feather is to a Talent of Lead that are present Evils to future Glory and Blessedness All this is spoken to shew that it is better to be miserable with the People of God than happy with his Enemies and that we should not be drawn away from Christ neither by the comfortable nor troublesom things we meet with in the World 6. This Happiness which Christ hath proposed is at the general Resurrection or Christ's coming to Judgment for that is the Point which the Apostle is now discoursing of There is a distinction between the Good and the Bad at Death when the Spirits of just Men are made perfect Heb. 12.23 and the Spirits of the Wicked are sent to Prison 1 Pet. 3.19 The Soul dieth not with the Body but some go one way some another the Souls of just Men to God's Palace of Glory where they are with Christ and the Souls of the Wicked to the Prison of Hell But this Retribution is not sufficient for two Reasons because it is private and doth not openly vindicate the Justice and Holiness of God and it is but on a part the Soul and not the Body 1. Because it is private and dispensed apart to every single Person Man by Man as they die Certainly it is more for the Honour of God to bring his Judgment to Light as the Prophet speaketh Zeph. 3.5 Every Morning doth he bring his Iudgment to Light Here the Love of God towards the Good and the Justice of God towards the Wicked is not brought into the clear Light nor at Death neither the Mouth of the Pit is not visibly opened nor the Glory of Heaven exposed to view But then this different Respect is more conspicuous when the Justice of God hath a publick and solemn Triumph and his Enemies are branded with Shame and Ignominy and the Faith of his Elect found to Praise and Honour and the one are publickly condemned and the other justified by the Judg sitting upon the Throne Acts 3.19 That your Sins may be blotted out when the Times of Refreshing shall come from the Presence of the Lord. 2. As it is upon a part the Soul only The Bodies of the Holy and the Wicked are both now sensless and moulder into Dust in the Grave and till they be raised up and joined to their Souls can neither partake of Wo or Weal Pleasure or Pain The Soul though it be a principal Part is but a Part the Body essentially concurreth to the Constitution of the Man and it is the Body that is most gratified by Sin and the Body that is most pained by Obedience and therefore the Body which is the Soul's Sister and Coheir is to share with it in its eternal Estate whatever it be Therefore that we may not be in part punished nor in part rewarded there is a time coming when God will deal with the whole Man and that is in the Day of Christ's solemn Court and Audience when all the World shall be summoned before his Tribunal 7. The Apostle proveth this because the Righteousness of God's Government will not permit that his People should be accounted of all Men most miserable To clear this I shall shew First In what sense the Apostle saith If there were no Life to come Christians were of all Men most miserable Secondly How this will not consist with the Righteousness of God's Government First In what sense the Apostle saith If there were no Life to come Christians were of all Men most miserable I put this first Question that we may not mistake the Apostle's meaning when he pronounceth Christians to be of all Men most miserable if our Hopes in Christ were terminated with this Life Take him right and therefore 1 st Negatively 1. It is not to deny all present Providence or watchful Care over his oppressed People No. Eccles. 3.16 17. And moreover I saw under the Sun the Place of Iudgment that Wickedness was there and the Place of Righteousness that Iniquity was there He meaneth not in the Mountains of Prey only but in the Tribunals of Justice there was Iniquity and Wickedness I said in my Heart God shall judg the Righteous and the Wicked for there is a Time there for every Purpose and for every Work So again Eccles. 5.8 If thou seest the Oppression of the Poor and the violent perverting of Iudgment and Iustice in a Province marvel not at the matter for he that is higher than the highest regardeth and there be higher than they Both these Places shew that there is a Providence though God for a while permit his meek and obedient Servants to be oppressed and in the Eye of the World they seem to be forgotten and forsaken and utterly left to perish yet in due time God will exercise a righteous Judgment on them and their Enemies The like you have Psal. 58.11 So that a Man shall say Verily there is a Reward for the Righteous verily he is a God that judgeth in the Earth It is not meant of hereafter but now It is many times found that Godliness and Holiness are Matters of Benefit and Advantage in this World abstracted from all Reward in another Life The World is not governed by Chance but by a wise and a most just Providence It may be God doth not relieve the Oppressed so soon as Men would yet in due time he will not fail to shew himself the Ruler of the Affairs of Mankind So that this is not his meaning to exclude all present Providence 2. Not to deny that we have such Benefits by Christ here in this World as not to make our Condition more valuable than that of the Wicked We have Hopes by Christ of the Pardon of Sins and that is
some Stricture and Shadow of the Perfection of God's Wisdom And therefore though for a time while both Good and Bad are upon their Trial the Good are not regarded nor the Bad punished yet the Wisdom of God will not permit it to be always so that the Godly should be in an afflicted and distressed Condition and the Wicked prosperous 2. Come we to the Holiness of God which inclineth him to hate Evil and love that which is good Surely God is not indifferent to Good and Evil or more partial to the Evil than to the Good That were a Blasphemy and such a Diminution of God's Holiness as should be abhorred by every good Christian. No He hateth all the Workers of Iniquity Psal. 5.5 And again Psal. 11.7 The righteous Lord loveth Righteousness his Countenance doth behold the Vpright Well then wherein is this Love and Hatred demonstrated God doth not openly declare it in his present Dealings with the Rebellious and the Righteous therefore it shall be seen in his final Dealing with the wicked Oppressors of his People and those that walk uprightly Therefore there is a Life to come for in this Life this Love and Hatred is not sufficiently expressed Not his Hatred against the Wicked even in the Judgment of them who have no great Knowledg of the Nature of Sin and the Punishment which is competent thereunto nor his Love to the Godly who are often exposed to bitter Sufferings and seem to be less favoured in the Course of his external Providence than their Enemies Therefore there is a time to come when he will shew his Love to the Good in making them everlastingly happy and his Detestation of the Wicked in eternal Torments 3. Come we now to the Justice of God It is agreeable to the Justice of his Government that it should be well with them that do well and ill with them that do evil and that he should make a difference by Rewards and Punishments between the Disobedient and the Righteous Conscience hath a Sense of this and therefore checketh and cheareth as we have done Good or Evil. Heathens had accusing or excusing Thoughts which the Apostle urgeth as an Evidence to the Gentiles of Judgment to come Rom. 2.15 16. Which shew the Works of the Law written upon their Hearts their Consciences also bearing Witness and their Thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another In the Day when God shall judg the Secrets of Men by Iesus Christ according to my Gospel If every Man's Thoughts do accuse or excuse him respectively according to the Nature of his Actions then there is in Nature a Sense of this different Retribution Notions of Good and Evil are as naturally implanted in our Hearts as Notions of Truth and Falshood and a Man is as sensible of a difference between comely and base as between the right Hand and the left only the Notions of Good and Evil are sooner corrupted than the Notions of Truth and Falshood However the Workings of Conscience cannot utterly be choaked and deaded in any though most Men seek to stifle it and the Voice of it be often-times unheard The very Profane have hidden Fears frequently revived in them because of these Retributions of God's Justice The Apostle telleth us Rom. 1.32 Who knowing the Iudgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of Death They were none of the tenderest Men that are here spoken of but such as were extreamly debauched and corrupted and did delight in the Company of those who were as corrupt as themselves Well then Conscience is sensible of a Reward and Punishment but this is not fully nor universally dispensed in this World yea rather the Worst are permitted to injoy most here when the Good are kept in a low and bare Condition And that is not the whole Case the Worst do not only differ from the Best but are permitted to triumph over them Now no righteous Governour will suffer his disobedient Subjects to persecute those who most carefully obey him if he hath Power to remedy it And therefore though he may permit it for a time yet he will call them to an Account and then amends and Satisfaction shall be made to them that have suffered wrongfully Therefore the Wicked are reserved to future Punishment and the Godly to future Reward 4. Come we now to the Goodness of God The Lord is inclined to do Good to his Creatures and if there were no Sin to stop the Course of his Bounty there would be nothing but Happiness in the World But certainly if any recover out of a State of Sin and are willing to devote themselves to God and to contemn all their natural Interests for his sake certainly the Lord will be good and kind to them A certain Truth it is That no Man serveth God for nought And 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one of the first Maxims of Religion That God is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11.6 Next to his Being we believe his Bounty that God's Service first or last will turn to a good Account And it is the rather to be believed by us because carnal and corrupted Nature begrudgeth every thing and in the Eye of Sense all is lost that is laid out upon God We say with Iudas What needeth this Waste The same Opinion that Seneca had of the Jewish Sabbath the same Thoughts have carnal Men of the Service of God He said the Jews were a foolish People quia septimam aetatis partem perdunt vacando because a full seventh part of their Lives was lost in Idleness and Rest. While Men are under the Influence of such Thoughts they will never do any thing for God that is great and worthy And therefore to confute this false Conceit during the time of his Patience the superficial Service he getteth from us hath its Reward He giveth many temporal Blessings to those that worship him in the slightest Fashion as he suspended his Judgments upon Ahab's Mock-Humiliation 1 Kings 21.29 And his present Providence plainly declareth that none shall be a Loser by God nor do any thing for nought He pleaded by the Prophet against this People for their sorry Services and contemptuous Usage of him Mal. 1.10 Who is there even among you that would shut the Doors for nought Neither do ye kindle Fire on mine Altar for nought I have no Pleasure in you saith the Lord of Hosts neither will I accept an Offering at your Hand That is the Porters of the Temple did not open and shut the Doors for nought nor the Levites that kindled the Fire nor the Priests attend upon the Burnt offering for nought they were all well rewarded with Tithes Portions and Oblations and this by the Lord 's own Appointment and Allowance And again if any thing be done sincerely though never so mean and inconsiderable it hath its Reward Mat. 10.42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of
what would poor deluded Souls that are in their everlasting Estate give if they might be trusted with a little time again if God would but try them once more that they might mend their past Folly They have lost their Souls for poor Temporal Trifles But alas now though we are daily drawing near to our long home yet we little think of it we are almost come to our Journey 's end and we never consider whither we are going 3. They do not improve these things nor live answerably which is a further degree of Fruitlesness Psal. 49.12 Man being in Honour abideth not he is like the Beasts that perish Jude 10. What they know naturally as brute Beasts in those things they corrupt themselves They are Strangers to the heavenly Mind and wholly governed by carnal Sense they live as if the Soul did serve for no other use but to keep the Body from stinking their Principles have no influence upon their Practice they talk of the Immortality of the Soul yet spend all their Care upon the Body Vse 2. Is Caution 1. Do not hazard your Souls for things that perish Let nothing entice us to forfeit or hinder our endless Happiness Heb. 10.39 We are not of them who draw back unto Perdition but of them that believe to the saving of the Soul Matth. 16.26 What is a Man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul 2. Do not betray the Souls of others for a little Pelf as ignorant and careless Ministers do so they have the Maintenance Love to Souls is the great thing we learn of our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself a Ransom for them Mat. 20.28 Ministers should have the Bowels of Christ Phil. 1.8 For God is my Record how greatly I long after you all in the Bowels of Christ. Pity those that are going to Hell and ready to perish everlastingly Vse 3. Is Exhortation to perswade you to make it your Mark and Scope to look after this immortal State of Blessedness Let us leave things that perish to Men that perish Iohn 6.27 Labour not for the Meat that perisheth but for that Meat which endureth to everlasting Life Surely this Argument should perswade us to Heavenly-mindedness earthly things are of short duration and shall quickly leave us and when they are gone they are to us as if they had never been a Shadow a Dream or something that is next to nothing but the fruit of Godliness abideth for ever 1 Iohn 2.17 The World passeth away and the Lust thereof but he that doeth the Will of God abideth for ever MOTIVES 1. You know more of the Dignity of Man who is created after the most perfect Pattern the Image of God himself Gen. 1.26 So God created Man in his own Image in the Image of God created he him Redeemed at the dearest rate the Blood of the Son of God 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Forasmuch as ye are redeemed not with corruptible things as Silver and Gold c. but with the precious Blood of Christ. And designed and ordained to the highest End the glorifying and enjoying of God Rom. 11.36 For of him and through him and to him are all things Surely they should be more sensible of their Immortality and serve God more than the rest of his Creatures 2. You profess that Religion which hath brought Life and Immortality to light and the End of which is the saving of the Soul Now though you have the Profession of Christians you have not the Spirit of Christians if this be not your daily Business and Scope What have you done for the saving of your Souls If all your Business Cares and Fears are about the Body and the Interests of the bodily Life you have the Spirit of the World not of God Are not your Souls worth the looking after That which is the Scope of your Religion should be the Business of your Lives and Actions that a Christian may correspond and answer to his Christianity as the Impress doth to the Seal 3. You are God's Witnesses Isa. 43.10 Ye are my Witnesses saith the Lord. What proof do we give of a reasonable immortal Soul Heb. 11.7 By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with Fear prepared an Ark to the saving of his House by which he condemned the World and became Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith Do we propagate Carelesness and Atheism or a Mindfulness of the World to come 4. If we are satisfied with present things we have no more to look for Psal. 17.14 From Men of the World which have their Portion in this Life Matth. 6.2 They have their Reward Luke 6.24 Wo unto you that are rich for ye have received your Consolation Luke 16.25 Son remember that thou in thy Life-time receivedst thy good things It is sad to be put off with these things with Riches Honours Favour of Men and a little temporal Greatness SERMONS UPON REVELATION I. 5 6. SERMON 1. REVEL I. 5 6. And from Iesus Christ who is the faithful Witness and the First-begotten of the Dead and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth Unto him that loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood And hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father unto him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen THE Sacrament is an Abridgment of the Gospel and we shall best sute the end of it when we lay before you the Sum of the Gospel in one entire View This Scripture presenteth us with the principal Parts of it It carrieth the Form of a Doxology or a Thanksgiving Wherein observe 1. The Person to whom this Doxology is directed To him that is to Jesus Christ the faithful Witness the First-begotten from the Dead and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth 2. The Reasons or Matter of it Wherein 1. The moving Cause of all that Christ hath done for us He loved us 2. The Benefit obtained for us He hath washed us from our Sins in his own Blood 3. The fruit of it And made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father 3. The Doxology it self To him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Doct. That the Lord Iesus deserveth everlastingly to be honoured lauded and praised by all the Saints that make mention of his Name Iohn having occasionally mentioned Christ falleth into this Doxology Reasons I. From what he is II. For what he hath done for us III. For the fruits and Benefits we have thereby I. From what he is He is described 1. To be the faithful Witness who hath made known the Will of the Father with all Fidelity and Certainty 2. As one who being crucified rose from the dead as our first Fruits ascertaining our Resurrection The First-bâ—gotten from the dead The Apostle saith Coloss. 1.18 The First-born from the dead The Resurrection is a kind of Birth and
Christ is the First-born or First-begotten because he was the first that rose from the dead in his own Strength and vanquished Death others were raised before him but to die again they were raised in their own single Persons he as a publick Person But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-Fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. 15.20 And he will by the same Power raise again all his Members to Immortality and Life 3. He is the Prince of the Kings of the Earth one that hath all Power given him in Heaven and in Earth and is superiour to all Princes of the World not only in regard of Eminency as a far greater Prince than they but Authority and Power over them he is their Lord and Soveraign as well as ours as it is said Dan. 4.17 The most High ruleth in the Kingdoms of Men and giveth them to whomsoever he will 1. Observe these Titles are given to Christ with respect to his three Offices of King Priest and Prophet 1. His Prophetical Office is implied in that Term the faithful Witness one that hath brought the Gospel out of the Bosom of God and plainly and clearly revealed it to the World and hath confirmed the Certainty of it by divers Miracles especially by his Death from which he rose again and ascended and poured out the Spirit upon the Disciples for a Testimony and still continueth that Dispensation in part of giving the Spirit so far as to assure the Hearts of his People that this is the Truth 2. His Priesthood is implied in that Expression The first begotten from the dead He died and so offered himself as a Sacrifice of Atonement to God he rose again and is entred within the Vail to continue the Exercise of that Office by his constant Intercession 3. His Kingly Office is implied in that other Expression The Prince of the Kings of the Earth They are all his Vicegerents absolutely at his dispose and can do neither more nor less than he will have them Mat. 28.18 All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth He hath supream and absolute Authority given him over all things both in Heaven and Earth for the Good of the Church and in the Church he is the only Head and King to appoint and maintain the Way and Means of gathering preserving ruling the Church and ordering all the Affairs thereof to the World's End 2. Observe that all these Titles are suted to the present occasion of this Prophecy which is to encourage his People to suffer Persecution for the Gospel's sake 1. As he was the faithful Witness it assured their Cause to be right The Gospel is called the Testimony of Iesus Christ ver 2. He declared nothing to us but the Will of God The Flesh hath such a value for and tenderness of its Interests that Men will soon distinguish themselves out of their Duty if there be the least doubtfulness in the Cause for which they suffer or any suspicion of it Therefore now when dreadful Troubles attended the Profession of the Gospel he setteth forth Christ as the faithful Witness to heighten their Zeal As also Rev. 3.14 These things saith the Amen the faithful and true Witness 2. As he was the first-begotten from the dead it still encourageth them more by assuring them of a joyful Resurrection if their Lives should fall in this Quarrel and Conflict This should allay all the Fears of Death Christ is not called the first-born of the Living but the first-born from the dead to own a Relation to us in every Condition dead as well as living He as the first-born rose as a Pledg and Pattern of what should be done to us 3. As Prince of the Kings of the Earth of whose Power and Persecutions they were so much afraid but needed not for they are not only accountable to Christ at last which those adverse Powers little valued having not imbraced the Profession of the Gospel but were held in by the Reins of his Government for the present so as they could not so much as touch an Hair of their Heads without his leave So that here was much Encouragement for suffering Christians who at that time were to conflict with great Difficulties and exposed to the Slaughters and Butcheries of cruel Enemies 3. Observe all these Titles serve to beget a Reverence and great Respect in our Hearts to the Person that owneth them he is the faithful Witness The great Prophet of the Church should be regarded by us This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him Mat. 17.5 We are to hearken to him believe him obey him as knowing that we must stand or fall at the Sentence of his Word He is the greatest and most excellent of all the Prophets and far above them all who knew more of God and of his Mind than all they joined in one and hath declared his Will more fully clearly and powerfully and shall we set at naught his Counsel Some that despised the Counsel of an ordinary Prophet smarted for it Heb. 10.28 29. He that despised Moses 's Law died without Mercy under two or three Witnesses Of how much sorer Punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath troddeâ— under foot the Son of God who came out of his Bosom on purpose to teach us the Way of Salvation If he require Repentance and Faith with a Promise of Righteousness and Eternal Life and a Commination of Eternal Death unavoidable if we believe not nor repent we are to believe it with all Certainty to set about this Work with all Care and Diligence and continue therein with all Constancy and Perseverance Heb. 12.25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on Earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven Christ came from Heaven at first returned to Heaven again from Heaven sent down the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles and by that Spirit enabled them to preach the Gospel with Success O surely we should attend to his Doctrine and receive it with firm Assent and obey it with humble Submission Again he is the first-begotten from the Dead That he died should render him dear to us for it was for our sakes as I shall shew by and by That he rose again was for our sakes for our Justification Who was delivered for our Offences and rosâ— again for our Iustification Rom. 4.25 For it sheweth that his Sacrifice was accepted as sufficient for our Atonement Yea for our blessed Resurrection 1 Cor. 15.20 But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-Fruits of them that slept As the whole Harvest was blessed and sanctified in a little handful of the first-Fruits offered to God But I urge it now as an Argument why we should give him Glory as deserving it by the Greatness of his Person This made it evident that he was the