spiritual and eternal welfare of al the faithful requires this of necessity to appertain to him that must procure our good So our Savior reasons to quiet the hearts of his disciples because of his departure Joh. 16.7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient I should go away for if I go not away the comforter wil not come but if I depart I will send him unto you They could hardly beleeve it as that which carried the face and appearance of any propability with it that our Savior puts out of question know it of a truth which upon trial ye wil find to be certain Ye would conceive at the sudden push that there could be nothing more inconvenient and cross to the furtherance of their comfort But its expedient Hence those phrases The Spirit was not yet given because Christ was not yet ascended Al the gift of the Spirit was in vertue of that work and the further perfection of that in Christ the further communication of al from Christ Now our Savior is far above al principalities and powers beyond the power nay the opposing presence nay the least appearance of any hinderance that may be cast in the way by Satan to prejudice or stop the work of our Redemption by Christ for us or the work of Redemption from Christ in us Resurrection is the only proper cause and immediate spring of the Application of spiritual good and therefore had he not risen our Faith had been in vain for as his death purchased right unto al so did his resurrection make Application of it for by that he rescued himself and so us his members then in him from the power of darkness that though they pursued yea crucified Christ could not overcome him but he rose again But when he ascends he was then beyond the ascent of his enemies yea beyond the fight the shew the appearance of temptation Far above And so when we shal be made to ascend we shal be like to our Savior and he freed from the annoyance the shew or appearance of evil Hence observe the Apostle his Connexion He hath ascended on high he led Captivity captive Hell Sin and Death were like a miserable captived company that now were under the Spear durst not hush nor stir He then gives Gifts to men When Christ was crowned Emperor over al the Enemies then he sends his royal Gifts Coronation Mercies abroad 4. This is for the great Contentment and Advancement of our Savior John 14.28 If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I said I go to my Father for my Father is greater than I. Any Preferment puts us into Places which are above our own ordinary Now there is none greater than Christ but the Father therefore to go with him and be with him is the highest Advancement USE 1. Of Instruction Therefore they who have made choyce of a Christ have no cause to be ashamed If he were a base Christ ye might have some color to seek another to make a change but it 's not so But though he went from the Cross to the Grave yet he went from thence to Heaven and there is now in the highest Honor. His suffering was but his entring into Glory nay the addition to his Glory therefore that should not so much discourage as content and cause us to bless God for our Portion A dead Savior was better to Joseph of Arimathea than his life his reproaches better than the riches of the World to Moses But now when he is exalted in Heaven attended by Angels received into Glory advanced to the right hand of his Father what madness is it now to think we could once have done better The Crown of Thorns which our Savior wore was to be chosen before the Credit of the World what should we judg of the Crown of Glory The Poverty of Christ is better than the Wealth of the World the Shame of Christ better than the Honor of the World the Contempt and Humiliation of a Christ better than the greatest Pomp and Advancement that the Earth can attain How much more should our hearts be comforted and satisfied now with the Honor Life Happiness and Heaven where our Savior now is upon whom ye have trusted and depended How good is your Choyce How great should be your Content USE 2. Here is invincible Assurance of the final safety and glory of the Saints out of all those pressures with which they seem not only to be assaulted but overwhelmed almost beyond strength If the Head be above Water the Body cannot be drowned though it be under Water Christ is in Heaven and he wil never leave his Members in Hell nor Grave So that a man may boldly and comfortably conclude He wil make this sick and weak Body like to his glorious Body this sinful Soul like unto his in al Holiness and happiness As Christ of himself thou mayest in Christ bear up thy self against the Gates of Hel. Behold I was dead and live for evermore and have the Keys of Hell and Death Rev. 1.18 Behold I was dead in my sins sunk in my distresses overborn with distempers and temptations but I shal be for ever comforted quickened delivered for evermore Nay ye have the Promise and Engagement of our Savior Because I live ye shall live John 14.19 He is far above all Principalities and Powers and we shal be as he is He hath not only promised what he wil do but he is gone on purpose to make way for us to prepare a place for us and to bring us thereunto So he chears the hearts of his Disciples John 14.2 3. He deals truly and faithfully and tenderly with us If it were not so he would have told us He is gone on purpose to make room and to see that al things be ready And if we know not the way nor can help our selves in it he professeth he will come again When we are and stands he wil again support us when we are foiled and overborn with Temptations he wil again deliver us and receive us to himself though cast out of Earth and Societies of men he wil receive us to himself shelter us under his wings put us into his own bosom cast up the reckoning that the Apostle doth Rom. 6.9 10 11. He dieth no more death hath no more Dominion over him c. Reckon ye also shal I yield to my Corruptions No distempers shal have no more Dominion over me Yea grow in upon greater and more glorious confidence Rom. 5. If justified by his death how much more shal we be saved by his life He hath abidden the shock of Satans assaults the source and power of darkness and when the Justice of God delivered him into their hand and they brought him to the death of the Cross yet he thence delivered himself and he lives for evermore to save to the uttermost them that come to him USE 3. Therefore be willing to die and to go to Christ The Members long to
A COMMENT UPON Christ's last Prayer In the Seventeenth of JOHN Wherein is opened The Vnion Beleevers have with God and Christ and the glorious Priviledges thereof Besides many other Gospel Truths there is also shewed 1 That the end why the Saints receive all glorious Grace is That they may be one as the Father and Christ are one 2 That God the Father loveth the Faithful as he loveth Jesus Christ 3 That our Savior desireth to have the Faithful in Heaven with himself 4 That the happiness of our being in Heaven is to see Christs Glory 5 That there is much wanting in the knowledg of Gods Love in the most able Saints 6 That the Lord Christ lends dayly direction according to the dayly need of his Servants 7 That it is the desire and endeavor of our Savior that the dearest of Gods Love which was bestowed on himself should be given to his faithful Servants 8 That our Vnion and Communion with God in Christ is the top of our happiness in Heaven By that Faithful and known Servant of Christ Mr. THOMAS HOOKER late Pastor of the Church at Hartford in New-England somtimes Preacher of the Word at Chelmsford in Essex and Fellow of Emmanuel Colledg in Cambridg Printed from the Authors own Papers written with his own Hand And attested to be such in an Epistle By Thomas Goodwin And Philip Nye London Printed by Peter Cole at the sign of the Printing-Press in Cornhil neer the Royal Exchange 1656. M R Hooker On the Seventeenth of John Being his Seventeenth Book made in New-England THE EPISTLE TO THE READER THE more eminent Matter of these Sermons is our mystical Union with God and Christ a Subject but rarely handled by Divines and then but overly in comparison to what those other Benefits by Christ have been that yet but flow from this or do accompany it So as any smal advance of Light into this Mystery is highly to be valued specially from so good a Hand or Heart rather so deeply experienced and acutely insighted as was our Author This Head though it lay in the Road of another Course of Ministry the Author held namely the opening the whol Work of the Application of our Redemption in all the parts thereof shortly to follow this into publick view so far as he had proceeded in it whereof this of Vnion was designed one as by his Draught or Scheme of that Work to be Prefaced to the whol appears and accordingly should have been largely treated on Subject wise apart by it self in its due place and order Yet whether it was that himself fore-apprehending he might not live so long as he did not to arrive thereat in that Method and yet withall considering the more special necessity of this Subject to this Age he therefore did anticipate this miscellaneous Treatment of it is not for us to say only we may surely affirm that our all-wise God who disposeth of the Gifts Ministrations and Operations of and by his faithful Servants he foreseeing all secretly guided him to this Precursory handling of it in this way of Comment upon the seven last Verses of Christs last Prayer which we may well suppose to have been intended by himself but as a preliminary Essay of that more ample and set Tractate on this Argument he afterwards intended because he intermingleth therewith Observations about other high and glorious Gospel Truths whereof this Soyl of al other Scriptures must be supposed most fertile as the Text did give occasion And surely he was by the same Divine hand as specially directed both in his Choyce of this Scripture for his Ground unto this Subject which being the Conclusion of Christs most solemn last Prayer must be supposed to express the very bottom of his heart and what lay deepest therein and therfore came forth last As also in the Occasion on which he chose to preach these Sermons which was then when this Union is designed to be sealed up to Beleevers more conspicuously than in other Ordinances namely at the Administration of the Lords Supper and towards his latter end conjunct with the Solemnization whereof even among his Apostles it was that Christ did pour forth this Prayer unto his Father before his Death And indeed he that is spiritual and reads these Explanations will readily find and must acknowledg that he was proportionably raised and assisted by a Gospel Spirit as the Dignity of the Matter and Solemnity of the Dignity of the Matter and Solemnity of the Occasion meeting in such a Conjunction did require it being found in experience that according to the elevation of the Occasion and Sublimity of the Matter discoursed of the Holy Ghost raiseth and enlargeth the Spirits of an holy man of God that is experienced in what he speaks The true stating the Bounds for kind or degree of that Union with God which the Saints are admitted to by God is of great use and necessity to this Age the Fate whereof is erring either on the right hand or the left in the greatest Points of Religion and in this Point more grossly and wretchedly than in any other yea and in the other as may easily be observed upon occasion first of a misunderstanding of this one and particularly of some passages and Clauses in this Prayer of our Lord which here have passed the search and discovery of our Author as that they may be one as we are one c. which some have dared to interpret to be Unity that is Union to be oneness in Nature with God himself others to be at least a sameness of Union for kind with that which the man Jesus holds with the Natural Son of God whereof one is a contradiction to the Nature of Creature and Creator as Paul hath set it Rom. 1.25 the other to Christs being Mediator and Head between God and us Of whom we ARE in Christ Jesus who is that one Lord and we by him his Union therefore Primary and Original ours Secondary and Derivative Set but then and keep the true distance between God and his Elect as Creatures and between Christ and those Elect as whose all they are from God is in and through Christ so as that the Creature can never be one in Nature with God who alone is blessed for ever and that the Saints shal never be one Person with the Son of God who is God blessed for ever And whatever Unions or Communions with God are or can be supposed to be next to these two to be sure the Saints are and shall be partakers thereof for next to himself and his Son they are Gods Beloved and the only beloved of him Besides what Glory spiritual quickening our Author giving the very Life-meaning of our Lord concerning this Union an holy heart wil secretly and suddenly find breaking in upon it and it self inspired withal in the reading It wil together therewith confound without speaking a word of set Confutation all such lewd mistakes which it is better to let
great a work unto his care and trust and laid it upon him as his charge which by mutual consent and convenant he willingly undertook Joh. 6.39 This is my Fathers will that hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose none but should raise it up at the last day And therefore adds verse 40. He that beleeves in me Shall have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day Yea he gives up his account of his work John 17.12 Those that thou hast given me I have kept and lost none And therefore compares himself to the good Shepherd that layes down his self for his Sheep Joh. 10. 3. Gives him ful commission for the accomplishment of this work unto the ful even as he is the Son of man hath given right and liberty to the humane Nature of ours now received into personal union to use and improve any of the Attributes of the Deity for the further benefit of the Saints the good of his Church and the furtherance of those spiritual ends which may best â—et forwards the glory of God and the everlasting wellfare of his people This so wonderful a union doth advantage the Humane Nature to so high a priviledg to use al the excellencies of the Deity at al times answerable to al necessities to fetch supply suitable to the wants desires comforts of the Saints This is the meaning of those places Math. 28.18 All power is given to me in Heaven and in Earth To have al power it to be Omnipotent for more than all cannot be conceived noâ— possessed more than that God hath not and that because it is an in-communicable Attribute he cannot communicate but the meaning is though it be not omnipotent yet it hath liberty to set that on work for the benefit and best good of Gods servants Hence what the Father doth the son is said to do also Joh. 5.26 As the Father hath life in himself so hath he given to the son to have life in himself Verse 19. What ever things he doth those the son doth likewise for as the Father raiseth up the dead even so he Joh. 17.2 Thou hast given him power over all Flesh to give unto them eternal life He that must rescue them from Hel and sin and death and from divine Justice he must have power over al That the power in Heaven may not prejudice and frustrate the work in Hel hinder it on earth oppose it 4. The Father leaves the immediate dispensation of al the work unto him to act it according to his own pleasure For so our Savior As the Father raiseth and quickeneth so the son quickeneth whom he will Joh. 5.21 And adds verse 22. For the Father judgeth no man but hath committed al judgment to the son Not that the Father hath not power for the execution of the work For he that gives it hath it in a principal and soveraign manner But he hath committed the immediate execution thereof unto the Lord Jesus and so of the whol work of our Redemption Joh. 5.27 That as Pharaoh said concerning Joseph when he appointed him next unto himself in the kingdom of Egipt Gen. 41.40,44 I am Pharaoh and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot no man shal do any thing which way so ever he turn himself c. Only I am Pharaoh So the Father to Christ he delegates the execution of al in Heaven and Earth unto him only he is greater This is the meaning of that place 1 Cor. 11.3 I would have you know that the Head of every man is Christ the head of the Woman is the man and the head of Christ is God Whence know 1. That the Apostle speaks not only of faithful men and Women but of al men and Women according to their sex For the scope is to shew that Women should be subject not only gracious but al. And this he shews from the feebleness and underness of their Nature and sex 2. That these different degrees of excellency are only to be attended in regard of subordination in order one to another and immediate dispensation from one to another for that Head implies not only excellency and dignity in the general but power to move al in subord nation to it authority to rule all in subjection 〈…〉 So that it is not excellency but power and 〈…〉 and that not at large for so Angels are the 〈◊〉 of men but as they be in subordination and not 〈◊〉 â—â—ch as be far removed but such as have the next 〈◊〉 dispensation in way of providence â—eâ—ch â—ver other For otherwise Christ is head not ofâ—â—â— but of Woman and Angels also so God himself is But the Apostles meaning and intent was to shew the orderly and next dispensation in the several degrees the immediate influence and dispensation of power and authority for the ruling of the femal sex is in a way of providence and appointment from man the immediate dispensation of power to man is from Christ to Christ from God the Father who hath sent him And thus Christ is and doth to al only distinguishing the manner and end of his dispensation To the wicked in way of Justice for their ruine and destruction To the godly in way of mercy for their spiritual good That 's the meaning of that All is yours c. And hence the Apostle 1 Cor. 15.24 28. Christ is said when he hath conquered al enemies the last is death damned all the wicked and delivered up is Children into the hands of his Father he then is said To deliver up his Kingdom to the Father i.e. Only in regard of this outward dispensation For then God the Father shal in and through Christ communicate himself to all his Saints Use 1. We have here matter of wonderment at the Rich and unconceiveable compassion of the Father to miserable undone man who should be careful to provide for his good who is so negligent to provide for his own Spares nothing â—o purchase his Salvation who hath done what he can to destroy himself Had he sent the meanest of his creatures to succour us his servants to visit us his Angels to administer to us it had been more than we could have expected But to send his Son out of his own Bosom yea out of his own Bowels to work out our Redemption to make known the way of life and and to make it good unto our Souls Nature would not do this reason cannot reach this mercy the heart would not dare to beg this Sit we down in the everlasting admiration of his mercy As Elizabeth and Mary when he came to visit her Luk. 1.43 Whence comes it that the mother of my Lord should come to me So thou As David when he attended the dealing of the Lord towards lost man who had made himself the most vile and forlorn of al his creatures looks upon his own baseness and Gods kindness Lord what is man that thou
that may disturb our setled and established state of happiness They who share in the Truth of all kinds of Graces in the Perfections of al kinds in the Immutability of al those perfections They partake of the like glorious Grace with our Savior This last indeed is the end and perfection of Grace It was given to Adam and he should have used it that he might have been immutable in the use of it But missing it he lost his Grace and fel short of glory Now that which the first Adam should have done and failed the second Adam hath done and so hath obtained it 2. They receive this by Gift He it is in whom al Grace as a fountain is setled To whom the immediate dispensation and communication of it is committed by God and from his free gift they must receive it For look we at the Saints as they ly in the Loynes of Adam 1. They have forfeited this glory put away this Grace from them and by reason of their rebellion have justly deserved the Lord should depart away 〈◊〉 withdraw the presence of his Grace which he formerly furnished them withal Rom. 3.23 We have sinnâ—â— and are deprived of his Glory Yea they take shame and confusion as their due and portion Dan. 9.7 O Lord to us belongeth shame and confusion of face as it appeareth this day Yea they ly down in shame Jer. 3.25 2. They have nothing of worth that may purchase it they can do nothing that can deserve it For when they have done all they can they are not only unprofitable servants Luk. 17.10 Psal 143.2 But that is not al should the Lord reckon with them for what is done who could abide they are so far from having hope to receive glory from God as that they might justly expect a Curse at his hand and he could not but in Justice send it 3. And lastly such is the baseness of the hearts of men and the crosseness of their corrupt Natures to his glorious Grace that as they wil hot so in truth they cannot receive it No man can receive any thing unless it be given from above Joh. 3.27 Joh. 14.17 The world cannot receive the spirit because they have not seen him nor known him Object But our Savior hath entered into covenant with God the Father to become the Shepheard of his Sheep to undertake the charge and care of his Elect to bring them to Grace and so to glory Joh. 17.2 To as many as are given to Christ he should give eternal life to them Joh. 6.37 All that the Father giveth to me shall come and I wil lose none If therefore a debt and agreement unto which our Savior is bound how is it then a gift which is in his liberty to deny Answ True It s that which Justice and righteousness cal for that haveing tyed hmself by promise ingaged his faithfulness and truth To seek and to save to â—â—ing other of his sheep and to bless c. He cannot fail â—â—â—â—g his faithfulness and deny himself and not 〈◊〉 â—nd the honor of his own word But let it be demanded why the Lord did Engage himself to undertake the work of our Salvation It wil appear that there is nothing but free Grace breathing in al the work he freely undertook it out of his free good wil performed it and out of his free Grace applies it So that there is nothing but free Grace and the free gift of Grace in what Christ hath wrought for us or wrought in us You have both the particulars opened we will give you the Reasons of both together REASONS 1. Taken from the proportion between the first and second Adam the Type and the Truth As the first Adam conveyed his sin and wrath by a covenant of works the second must convey holiness and life by a covenant of Grace and the free gift thereof The first Adam begat a Son in his own image wholly defiled and defaced with original corruption and so made him Heir apparent to the curse and condemnation thereby The second Adam must instamp the image of holiness upon his without which none shal see life Hebr. 12.14 Thus the Apostle disputes 1 Cor. 15.49 As we have born the image of the Earthy the first so we shal bear the image of the Heavenly 2. For this end the human Nature of our Savior hath received and is become the first subject of al Grace that from thence it might be derived unto the Nature of his Children For this end in our Nature he hath performed what ever divine Justice hath required purchased and provided a way and means for the communication of al Grace to his Therefore undoubtedly he wil give it and they receive it Otherwise he should miss his end and they their good 1. For this end he hath received al Grace For had not the second person by the power of the Deity brought our Nature to God and assumed it into personal union with himself so that the fulness of the God-Head might dwel Bodily in it and so the fulness of al Grace communicated thereunto It had not been possible that ever the Sons of Adam who are become enemies to God and the work of his Grace should have been made partakers thereof being wholly cross thereunto Col. 2.10 Ye are complete in Christ because in him dwelleth all the fulness of the God-Head Bodily Ye need no other King to rule nor Prophet to teach nor Priest to sanctifie Yea for this end in our Nature he hath purchased al provided a way to convey al Grace For had he not died and by death satisfied the Law ' the strength of sin had never been subdued nor could our corruptions be mortified Had he not by his resurrection triumphed over the power of Grave and Satan and al sinful weaknesses we had never had our hearts raised and quickned to Newness of life But when he died we by his death dy to sin and sin died when he rose we by his resurrection must rise to Newness of life For this end these were performed and this must also be attained Rom. 6.8 Therefore it is that this gift of Grace is committed to him and the dispensation and immediate communication belongs to him Therefore the Spirit is said to take of Christs Joh. 16.14 He shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you There is no killing vertue quickening vertue could be applied or received but only through his death first in him thereby then in us 3. He that gives the faithful the Spirit of Grace and glory must needs also give them all glorious Grace But our Savior doth so This is the reason the Apostle alledgeth 2 Cor. 3.18 As by the spirit of the Lord. Rom. 8.2 The Law of the Spirit of life hath freed us from the Law of sin As it is in the Scion knit unto the stock It is partaker of the same sap with the stock So here They are said to be implanted into the similitude
i.e. To grow up together in the similitude of his death Rom. 6.5 As his spirit by his death killed sin that was charged upon him So we by that Spirit grow up in the vertue of that death and die to sin USE 1. This gives in heavy evidence against a world of wicked wretches and casts out a crowd of ungodly persons our of the pale and fold of Christ as such as never yet had the work of faith here nor have any hope of glory hereafter If all beleevers share in the Grace of Christ what shal we think of such ignorant poor creatures that never knew this of those profane ones who profess themselves to be Scorners and Opposers of grace and the gospel of grace and the spirit of grace and Christ himself what shal we think of them think of them as they are They are unbeleeving creatures yet in the gal of bitterness and bond of iniquity and must and wil have their portion with unbeleevers in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone They loath the glorious grace of God now they shal be shut out and banished from his glorious presence for ever But I wil not trouble you nor my self with these whose conditions are so loathsome even unto their own consciences Only I shal settle it as a matter of sad reproof upon two sorts whose hopes and professions seem to promise better but in the issue couzen themselves and fal short of their own comforts 1. It crusheth the confidence and splits the vain pretences of al the most refined Hypocrites upon Earth It s not the gilt enameling of any ordinary duty nor the paint of any profession that wil evidence either their Title to Christ or the Grace of Christ which he gives indeed to his No it is the spiritualness of the work in their Souls If the outside be never so clean If there be rottenness within he loaths it Psal 45.13 The Kings Daughter is all glorious within c. The garments of the spouse are not gilt but wrought Gold It s not the shew and appearance in your lives if ye deny the power of Godliness in your hearts 2 Tim. 3.5 That is not Circumcision that is outward in the flesh that is not the glorious Grace of Christ that reformes a mans course before men But that is Circumcision which is of the spirit that is the Grace of Christ that makes a man close with God in Christ Thou mayst have strong inlightenings in thy mind strange raptures in thy spirit and rellâ—shes of joy tast of the good word and the heavenly gift and the power of the world to come have a Peep-hole into Heaven and see a glimpse of glory passing by and all this be nothing but the Grace of Apostates and Hypocrites not the Grace of Christ No saies the Apostle We hope better things of you Deeper impressions of the power of the Lord Christ and the work of the spirit must soak through thy soul and that not only tasted but digested and thy heart delivered up into the authority thereof 2. Those who please themselves with the apprehension that they have some Grace but are content to want some other and so indeed want al. When either education hath reformed them or their conscience awed them or their occasions or conditions free them from such assaults and because they want the temptation to sin they suppose they have the grace of Christ One man blesseth himself he is not worldly and sensual yet contents himself to be proud another is not passionate and loose yet worldly whereas if Christ be formed in a man nothing of the saving work of Christ wil be wanting if a new creature al things are new otherwise he is a Monster in Christianity not in truth a Christian of Christs make Either al or none at al. If ye have heard and learnt as the truth is in Jesus put off the old man not an old Hand or Eye but the frame of heart and life put on the â—â—w man USE 2. Of Instruction Sanctification is a never-failing argument of a beleeving and happy condition If God give glorious Grace here he will give possession of glory hereafter It s Christs work he will approve of it It s the image of himself he will own it It s the tenure of the promise Jer. 31.33 It s the sentence which is now passed upon such Judged they may be condemned they shall never be Math. 5.8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Eph. 4.20 21 22. USE 3 Its Matter of Thankfulness If Christ think nothing too good for us we should be ashamed to stand for a little cost and labour for him He parts with the choicest of his favour his Glory to us we should part with the best of our Duties to him the best of our hearts to love him of our love to honor him of our indeavours to serve him They are not common courtesies which he vouchlafes to us not creatures to comfort us profits to enrich but the most precious favor that the Father bestowed He hath no greater nor better and that glory he gives to them Let us be ashamed to give the Lean the Lame the leavings to the Lord. Give him the glory of al that glory we do receive As the Elders Rev. 4.10 Cast down our Crowns before him And let him be advanced in al that he advanceth us USE 4. Of Exhortation Whither we must go if we Hope to speed and to receive this gift to what dore to go to receive this dole come to Christ the giver if we Hope to receive this gift The Spirit takes of Christ before he gives it to us therefore much more we must go to him before we can receive it The way lies in these four things 1. See all in him And Joyn none with him as the Author and worker of this There be instruments to convey Grace but there is no Author of this or giver of this but Christ Of his fulness we receive All other things are empty without him and can work nothing further than he will work by them Christ is al in al. Col. 3.11 Not ordinances not Duties not Sacraments Paul is nothing Apollo is nothing but Christ is all Christ by all Christ through all these works 2. Look at that in Christ which we need and would have and keep the heart under the stroke of the Spirit in Christ that working Grace in the Nature of our Savior from thence he may work Grace in us If we would have patience Eye the patience of Christ and the Spirit working patience in him and from his patience patience in me As it is in a Glass that hath many colors Red Green Blew Yellow If the Sun shine upon it it wil convey the like colors upon that which is opposite to it The Human Nature of our Savior is as the Glafs all the Graces in their variety are like so many colors The Spirit shining upon the Nature of
hath purchased and bestowed the same glorious Grace upon them which he hath received from his Father Nor yet doth he count it enough that he hath pressed the Father with such uncessant importunity to intreate that they might be kept in that Oneness of relation to the Father and the Son as they are one with another and one in another which notwithstanding in reason might have been conceived to have been a large provision a goodly portion and inheritance even for the choicest of Gods servants to be so left by God the Father and the Lord Jesus with so faire an estate that in reason they might have been able to maintain themselves wel and not only made a shift to live Christianly but honorably and with much content since the Lord had left them wherewithal and aforehand in the world so fully stocked and stored But alas this is little in the Eye of the Lord Christ do we but consider the endless compassions which he extends towards such He laies in with God the Father for their welfare in another world stores up for eternity in their behalf Father I will they be where I am He wil not forsake them before he see them wel arrived and in safety therefore doth not ascend to Heaven and leave them to the wide world to sink or swim and shift for themselves No he hath laid in provision of prayer answerable to al their occasions their changes and necessities in life in death after Death In life Lead them keep them in their Graves raise them out of their Graves bring them to glory and preserve them in glory for ever He wil not have his glory but they must see it nay his glory wil not satisfie unless he may see them If our Savior pray for this their being with him then prayes he for and provids and also succeeds al means to attain this As wise Merchants victual their shipps for the longest time our Savior victuals even for a Voyage of eternity for life for death for Grace for Glory for a Momentany passage of time in this world and for eternity in another he laies out for their present needs but Oh how great is that goodness thou hast laid up for them that feare thee like Joseph provide for the seven years Famin laies in provision of prayer for their everlasting supply The Saints may find even refreshing baits by this prayer of our Savior in their most famishing distresses feast their hearts with it Hence it is the Lord Christ is said Hebr. 7.25 To be able to save them to the uâ—most that come to God by him that is by the vertue of his eternal intercession of which this prayer is one part This was signified by those two types The Pillar of fire and the Pillar of cloud which went before the Israelites in their travailes It s said The Lord went before them in a Pillar Exord 13.21 22. He took not away the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night from before his people until he brought them into the promised Land Thus the Lord Jesus leads his people into the way everlasting and withdraws not the power of his prayer and presence and provision of al mercies until he bring them to himself So again Moses left the people in the desert and died before he came into the good Land but Joshua brought them to the place of rest of which it was said they shal remove no more 2. Sam. The Law leaves a man in sin and misery even to perish while he is in his passage but our Joshua brings his to rest that yet remains for there is yet a rest remaining for Gods people When he went away and withdrew his Bodily presence yet his Bowels yerned towards his I wil not leave you as Orphans Joh. 14.18 He sends the comforter his blessed spirit to lead them into al truth To guid them in the way while they are wildering here towards the end of their Hopes And his care is even in Heaven to prepare mansions of rest for their welcome and refreshing after their weary-some travailes Joh. 14.2 In my Fathers House are many mansions I go to prepare a place for you and I wil come again and receive you And before he comes he sends post to meet his poor servants and to inquire of their welfare Joh. 16.22 I will see you again and your heart shal rejoyce This was the meaning of the vision Gen. 18.14 16. Jacob saw a Ladder Angels ascending and descending and the Lord standing at the top and he said I wil bless thee and be with thee where ever thou goest and I wil not leave thee until I have performed that which I have spoken to thee of REAS. I. 1. It s the charge which he hath undertaken and unto which he stands bound by free agreement with God the Father that he wil see to the everlasting welfare of his servants and therefore in faithfulness he cannot but with al care perform it That by no means in no case they do miscarry It was the main scope of his sending by the Father and of his coming into the world Joh. 6.38 39. I came not to do mine own wil but the wil of my Father that sent me that of those which he hath given me I should loose none but raise it up at the last day Nay for this purpose he received Power and Commission From God the Father Joh. 17.2 Thou hast given him power over al flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him He hath given Jesus Christ power over al enemies of the salvation of his people that they should never be able to hinder them over al means which might procure their good that they should never be wanting to help and further them in the good waies of Gods Grace power over al wants weaknessess infirmities that they should never be able to discourage their hearts in a Christian course He wil not fail of his end they cannot fail of their comforts 1 Cor. 15.25 26. He must reign until he hath put al his enemies under his feet the last enemy that is to be destroyed is death The Lord wil see the last enemy destroyed and see them beyond death and danger So that our Savior wil come last out of the field as Conqueror and wil not leave his people their Souls under distresses or their bodies in their Graves and make them Conquerors and triumph over al their Adversaries O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory thanks be given to God who hath given us the Victory through Jesus Christ 2. The love of our Savior constraines him to lay out himself and the improvement of his power and prayers and al he hath for their good in al conditions until they come to be with him Joh. 13.1 Having loved his own he loved them to the end In love there is no lack if he love them to the end he wil care
for them and their comforts unto the end He loves and tenders in al their necessities and occasions therefore wil undoubtedly relieve and succour them in al Therefore the Apostle concludes so confidently nor life nor death nor Principalities noâ— Powers shal ever be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ If death cannot put an end to his love It skils not though it put an end to our lives his love wil quicken and raise If he love us in prison he wil devise means to free us Love us in temptation he wil provide Grace and Comfort to strengthen sustain us in al our trials It was an argument which they pleaded and by which they supported their hearts for help in the death of Lazarus Joh. 11.3 He whom thou lovest is Sick and then he recovered him He whom thou lovest is overwhelmed with temptations and distempers therefore he shal be comforted and delivered 3. The necessities of the Saints prevail with our Savior to pity to help and to pray for them who are not able to help themselves in the shock and stress of the violence of their assaults He comforts the Abjects 2 Cor. 7.6 Beares the Lambs and little ones in his Armes Isa 40.11 Their enemies be many and mighty which do pursue them with deadly hatred Their strength and ability but weak to oppose and their Grace but smal and unable to maintain them if they should live meerly upon the stock and therefore the Lord lends them daily supply For in a mans own strength no man shal be strong 1 Sam. 2.9 He speaks to them as unto Paul His Grace is sufficient when there is nothing but Insufficiency in themselves Renewed necessities renewed mercies his power pitcheth his Tent in weakness USE 1. CONSOLATION To sustain and shore up the fainting hearts of the Saints under their heaviest trials and in the midst of the many alterations and temptations which may attend them in their daily course to the discomfort and discouragement of their Hearts It s the care of our Savior to provide for their comfort when happily they cannot either care or provide for themselves and their own relief and succour ignorant and unskilful to foresee weâ—k to oppose unable to bear the miseries and hopeless to deliver themselves from under them behold the Lord Jesus hath said in help before-Hand for you in Heaven Object Oh but thou saiest Though the assaults be fierce and distempers strong and discouragements sad yet if I had a heart to seek a spirit to send to Heaven for some relief I could conceive there mere some ground of Hope But when I have no help in my self and yet no heart to seek for help elswhere what can I expect but utter confusion Answ Christ hath laid in provision of prayers for thee when thou canst not pray for thy self he wil provide help and a heart to pray also When Peter was Marvailously foiled by the sodain surprisal of that over-bearing assault that carried him Head-long to the commission of so many notorious evils Our Savior leaves a receipt with him to which he might resort for some relief after his fal Simon Simon Satan hath desired to winnow thee but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not Luk. 22.31 32. It may be thy condition as it was Peter's case Thy assaults may be Fierce and thy overthrow and Failings so Foul that thou mayst sit down confounded in thy self thy Hope thy Heart and thy Prayer may fail also Yet remember whither to repair for thy support It was spoken to Peter but it was performed for al may be applied to al the Saints The Lord Jesus hath prayed that thy faith sail not His Prayer is laid in before-hand to stay thy heart at a dead lift In some dangerous and infectious places men take Antidâ—tes and Presâ—â—â—atives that though they should by occasion take some poison unseen or unsuspected which â—â—ghâ— annoy their Natures and drive them into some â—â—â—â—ous and troublesome sickness yet this would stil and maintain the heart in the heaviest time I Hope it s not deadly my Antidote wil out-bid the force of it free me from the deadly danger thereof Such is the Preservative oâ— our Saviors Prayer which works out any Poyson otherwise it had cost Peter his life So our Savior directs In the world ye shall have perâ—ecution But be of good comfort I have overcome the world In temptations be comforted though they have over-bidden thy feebleness Christ hath overcome the violence of them Joh. 16. and last In thy distempers be humbled and yet comforted Christ hath overcome the power of them they may plague thee they shal not prevail against thee The snares may delude but Christ wil deliver Oh but they indure stil live and are mighty Answ His mercy endures for ever his Prayers live and wil out-bid al their might T is true they are through mercy somtimes abated but they return again with more violence and take again But know Christ wil provide again Joh. 16. I will see you again And the vertue of his prayers hath eternal and everlasting Efficacy and therefore wil for ever help thee As thy corruption may for ever plague while thou livest but the power of Christs Prayer wil out-live thy life and the life of thy sins and set Heaven Gates open before thee USE 2. Instruction The worst condition of a beleever is better than the best Estate of the wicked The poverty of the Saints better than their wealth The discouragement of the Saints better than al their contentments and comfort Because in al the Lord Jesus hath provided for their good and out of al wil work their welfare and happiness A little that the righteous hath is better than a great deal of the wicked for God blesseth his store Though the Diet be but mean yet the dressing is much and the sweetness of the sauce makes it more pleasant and cordial than better provision that wants both Ps 37.16 17. Gods love that sweetens al and the vertue of our Saviors Prayer that perfumes and gives a pleasing rellish to al. It turnes the Water of the Saints into wine nay make their Water better than Wine For thy Love is better than Wine But there is a Canker that Breeds in the best comforts of the wicked their table is their snare their proâ—perity their ruin and a curse accompanies the choicest of their most comfortable blessings From hence it is that holy Asaph beares up his heart in that heavy temptation when he was so much taken aside by the prosperity of the wicked that his Foot had wel-nigh slipt he thus recovers himself Thou wil lead me by thy counsel and after bring me to Glory Ps 73.24 Thou leavest them in their Errors they have an easie way but a wrong way that wil lead them to confusion Ps 17.14 15. USE 3. Of Direction Let the practise of our Savior be our DIRECTION How to steer our Course to