imbolden the godly to be tampering with errors If a man will tread upon hot coals his feet may be burnt and scorched though withal his life may be preserved But this should make you the rather heedful to stick fast unto the truth that it may be evident you are such as they have no power over to lead aside into the error of the wicked It is the very particular consideration which the Apostle John presseth upon Believers why they should not hearken unto seducers when they teach for doctrines mens inventions and uncouth notions of their own Because they were sufficiently taught of Christ and his word was a plentiful directory unto them without the help of other additions and because they should abide in Christ therefore they were not to be followers of false teachers 1 Joh. 2.26 27. 5. Troubles and persecutions for the sake of Christ shall not be able to dissolve this union They may seem to be providences very likely to do it When Christians shall be dragged into prisons and abridged of their comforts and reduced into hardships and extremities when they shall have trial of cruel mockings and reproaches yea moreover of scourgings and torturings in the severest manner that the wicked heart of man can invent and when all these things might be avoided if they would but part with Christ Will not such sore persecutions from the world drive them back again for deliverance into the world out of which they were called Do but mark how confident the Apostle is of the contrary Rom. 8.35 36 37. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword As it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are acounted as sheep for the slaughter Nay in all these things we are more than conquerours through him that loved us How more than conquerours Why q. d. We are so far from being foiled that we are brought off with advantage our faith is thereby fourbished and our patience strengthened our other graces are quickned and our experiences increased When conquerours get a victory over their enemies it is seldom or never but with some loss to themselves but we are gainers by our troubles Our spiritual strength is augmented and our vigour heightened to a more intense degree and we come purified as gold out of the fire of tribulation So that we can glory in it For tribulation worketh patience and patience brings experience and experience begetteth hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts As you have it in that climax or gradation Rom. 5.3 4 5. In the winter of adversity the leaves drop off and the withered boughs are pared away but the living branches abide And the reason of it is this Because when Christ bringeth his people into distress and trouble for his Name he hath promised to stand by them and to afford them strength sufficient for their support under those distresseâ— Isa 42.2 When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee When Christ reduceth them into such straits as they never had experience of he will then minister to them such strength and assistance as they never had before experience of As sure as he is a God of faithfulness he will do it according to that precious word 1 Cor. 10.13 God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it But may some poor disconsolate soul say I may quickly be called into temptations and troubles and I find no strength nor ability O what is like to become of me at such a season I am afraid I shall sink under the burden Why mind the promise he will do it with the temptation It is not said he will give ability before the trial but when you are called to use it you shall not fail of it You shall have it time enough against you have occasion to exercise it My brethren it is an excellent word of promise an establishing word if we had hearts to believe And indeed it is according to what the Saints of God have experimentally found How faint-hearted was Mr. Sanders in the dayes of Qu. Mary and very doubtful of himself till he was actually brought into sufferings How dead-spirited was Mr. Glover till he was reduced to the pinch and then he could cry out He is come He is come Nay how cowardly and full of fear was Moses himself till he was ingaged in his work as appeareth from the excuses he made to evade the imployment Exod. 4.1 10 13. 6. Death it self which is the great separating providence that parts between a man all his worldly accommodations that parts between friends and kinsfolks between brethren sisters the nearest and dearest relations shall not separate believers from Jesus Christ But still they are entirely in him even when they are dead As it was in the death of Christ himself though it made a separation between his body and soul yet it did not separate the humane nature from the divine So it is in the death of the Saints Though it rend the spirit from the flesh yet it can part neither from the Son of God The very bodies of Believers are still united unto Jesus even when they are dead and shall be raised up again as I will shew you afterwards by vertue of that conjunction Therefore they are said to sleep in Jesus 1 Thess 4.14 and Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord Rev. 14.13 It is not said only They that die for the Lord but in the Lord. A man may suffer death in some cases for the true Religion that never was sincere therein But if a person die in Jesus then he is blessed indeed Upon the upshot of all I may well conclude this point with that of the Apostle Paul in answer as it were to this question we are upon Rom. 8.35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ q. d. Is a Believers union with Christ a dissolveable union or not Can it be broken asunder Or if you will rather understand it by way of assertion though delivered interrogatively For nothing is more ordinary than for affirmative interrogations to denote a vehement denial of the matter questioned As if he had said This union is altogether inseparable nothing can part betwixt a Believer and Christ So fast are they glewed and linked together that they shall never be divided or broken asunder again For saith he v. 38 39. I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature
salvation so far beyond all they looked for And they repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit shall say within themselves This is he whom we had sometimes in derision and a proverb of reproach We fools accounted his life madness and his end to be without honour How is he numbred amongst the children of God and his lot is amongst the Saints As for the oppositions you meet with the word of God is evidently fulfilled in them before your faces And they are none other than you were warned to expect Act. 14.22 2 Tim. 3.12 Besides It is but yet a little while * Nubecula est cito pertransibit and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 6. According to your several abilities set up the worship of God in your families And be conscientious and strict in sanctification of the Sabbath the Lords day It is a matter of easie observation That where these two are neglected or slightly managed the fairest profession of godliness is quickly shriveled and withereth away Never plead that you have no parts or ability for these things If you will set upon the discharge of your duty in the integrity of your hearts God will meet you therein and graciously assist you unto the performance Psal 27.14 And if there be indeed first a willing mind which willingness is manifested by vigorous and earnest indeavours it is accepted according to what a man hath and not according to what he hath not 2 Cor. 8.12 See Gen. 35.2 3. Josh 24.15 Psal 101. Jer. 10.25 Isa 56.2 4 5. Isa 58.13 14. 7. Be constant and diligent in the duty of prayer That is one of the special waies whereby a fellowship and correspondency is maintained between God and his people In taking counsel of the word we hear what the Lord is pleased to speak unto us And by the exercise of the grace of supplications we have the liberty given us to speak unto the Lord. And remember what hath often been inculcated upon you That as all sorts of blessings are stored up in the promises so Faith and Prayer are the special means which God hath appointed for the fulfilling and accomplishment of all his promises Jer. 29.11 12 13. Psal 10.14 As you cannot comfortably expect that God should preserve and keep you from the pollution of sin unless you be careful to avoid the occasions of sin So on the other hand You cannot rationally expect to receive mercies from the Lord unless you seek unto him by prayer for the obtaining of mercy Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you Mat. 7.7 Philip. 4.6 7. Eph. 6.18 19. 8. Live in the daily contemplations of eternity and of the uncertainty of the time of your continuance here Study how you may subordinate all your affairs and concernments in this world unto the matters of another world Put an estimate upon all things as they have reference thereunto Often say within your selves What evidence have I to prove my interest in God What are the grounds whereupon I look for eternal life What thoughts am I likely to entertain of sin and the world on the one hand and of conformity to Christ on the other hand when I am to depart hence and shall be seen no more How precious will that time and space of repentance then be which now I am ready to squander away upon trifles What answer shall I be able to make when God visiteth for the filling up of my Relations for the management of the Talents wherewith I have been intrusted for the right improvement of the means of grace which I have enjoyed for all the particulars of my conversation in the world Did you frequently press these and such like considerations home upon your spirits and keep them closs and warm by meditation upon your hearts what manner of persons would you be in all sobriety holiness and righteousness My brethren You know not how soon how unexpectedly you may be summoned to the giving up your accounts And it infinitely concerns you to be in a readiness That you may be found of God in peace Boast not thy self of To morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth Prov. 27.1 9. Beware therefore of procrastinating in the business of providing for your immortal souls It is one of the principal snares of the devil whereby he holds sinners fast in their spiritual bondage and captivity unto their final destruction If therefore you would set effectually upon working out your salvation ingage speedily presently in the work without further delay Give not place to the devil Deliver thy self as a Roe from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the snare of the fowler Give not sleep to thine eyes nor slumber to thine eye lids Psal 119.6 Heb. 3.7 2 Cor. 6.1 2. And now I shall trouble you no further with this preliminary discourse But conclude with my unfeigned Prayers for you all That the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords the Infinite Eternal and Almighty God and the only Redeemer of lost sinners The love of God our Father in him who spared not his own Son but delivered him up unto death And the sweet and comfortable Presence Guidance and Communion of the holy Ghost the same Infinite Incomprehensible and Immortal God the Spirit of Grace and Truth The Sanctifying Assisting Quickning Comforting and preserving presence of that Spirit may be with you and amongst you To inable you unto your duties To keep you against Temptations To support you under Burdens To carry you through difficulties To strengthen your weaknesses and plentifully to supply all your wants That you may walk wisely in your Families spiritually in your Closets soberly in your companies and Christianly in all your conversations So as to write Holiness to the Lord upon every of your undertakings That upon all occasions you may be effectually instructed in the will of the Lord and bring forth his word into practise That you may thereby witness your Union with Christ and be rooted and built up in him and stablished in the faith And so the Blessing of God may be your constant portion here and you may be everlastingly blessed in the glorious presence of God hereafter Amen 23. July 1668. Written by one who truly and affectionately desireth your Edification and Salvation ROWLAND STEDMAN To the READER IT may be interpreted by some to whom I am best known not only as a defect in prudence but a doing violence and treading counter to my personal inclination who have alwayes affected the privacy of Retirement thus to appear in publike and consequently to expose my Sentiments in the matters of Religion to the censure of all sorts of persons who may light upon this Book To whom therefore I owe this account of my Studies and the publication thereof Having often in the course of my Ministery
that this is the method and order wherein the Lord is pleased to conduct sinners to happiness First he doth plant them into Christ and then doth bless them in him and through him Christus habet quod omnibus prosit sed si non bibitur non medetur Eph. 1.3 So that this is a point of a very momentous nature which I would press on my own heart and yours that we may perish everlastingly notwithstanding what christ hath done and suffered except we be ingraffed into Christ As life is in him so our selves must be in him that we may partake of that life This is the priviledge which Paul did thirst after and for which he willingly suffered the loss of all things accounting them but dung that he might win Christ and be united unto him or found in him as it is Phil. 3.8 9. In the prosecution and management of this practical note and for the opening of this Mystery and priviledge of union with the Lord Jesus I will cast the matter I have to speak under seven general heads 1. By way of Introduction premising some things that may be of use to lead us into the study of this Mystery 2. For Explication of the nature of this Union wherein it doth consist 3. For unfolding of the way and manner how how it is wrought and accomplished 4. By way of Enquiry into the signal and most remarkable properties of this union 5. For Demonstration of the indispensable necessity of it in order to the attainment of eternal Life 6. I shall briefly touch upon the special similitudes or resemblances which the holy Ghost maketh use of for illustration of this Union 7. Lastly we will close up all in a particular Application for the practical improvement of this Doctrine CHAP. II. Introductory Conclusions premised to direct us in the studying of this Doctrine 1. TO premise a little by way of Introduction There are three preliminary conclusions useful to be pondered and settled in our thoughts by way of entrance to the study of this great truth and getting an insight into this subject of a believers Union or Oneness with the Lord Jesus Concl. 1. That this grace of a Christians union with the Son is for the intimacy and closness of it one of the deep things of God one of the great mysteries held forth in the Gospel The Doctrines of the Bible are well compared by one to the holy waters in Ezek. cap. 47 3 4 5. In some places they were no higher than the ankles of a man but in other places up to the loyns nay a great River that could not be passed over In some places so shallow that a Lamb might wade but in others deep that an Elephant might swim So in the truths of God you have many things easie and obvious that he that runs may read them the meanest Christian may apprehend them But then other passages are so deep that they may exercise the strongest capacities You meet with this distinction of divine truths Heb. 5.12 There is milk for Babes and strong meat for such as are more experienced and have made some considerable progress in the School of Christ There are plain truths to feed the weakest constitution and higher mysteries to exercise the greatest parts and indowments And this point of Union with Christ is one of those mysteries Mark I say for the intimacy of it and a through insight thereinto As to the matter or quod sit it is one of the first principles but in respect of a full comprehension thereof it is an unsearchable depth It is called a mystery a great mystery Eph. 5.32 It is one of the things which God hath prepared for them that love him such as never entred into the heart of man to conceive 1 Cor. 2.9 where the Apostle primarily speaketh of these spiritual blessings though that passage is usually applyed to the kingdom of glory This Union is set forth for mysteriousness of it by that Oneness which is between the Father and the Son Joh. 17.21 sufficiently importing that it is an unfathomable depth This is needful to be premised on a fourfold account 1. That we may begin the study of this point and you may be careful to manage your attendance upon this doctrine with an holy and humble adoration and admiration of the wisdom of God in this glorious contrivance That God should not only redeem lost sinners by the death of his Son but make them one with his Son How should it fill us with astonishment in the contemplation hereof That is a posture of spirit very suitable to an enquiry into the nature of this transcendent priviledge Well may a person cry out as S. Paul on a like occasion O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God Rom. 11.33 2. That we may the rather be induced in our meditations on this Doctrine as to search diligently into the Scriptures so to confine our thoughts and speculations thereupon to the plain revelations and discoveries made in the Scriptures Not to launch forth by our inquisitiveness beyond what is contained therein and made known to us thereby For Fides in regulâ posita est Cedat curiositas fidei cedat gloria saluti Nihil ultra regulam scire omnia scire est Tert. should we set reason on work and give up our selves to the guidance thereof and labour to make this Doctrine compare with Philosophical notions or the like we should soon be lost or be wildred in the contemplation of this thing Or perhaps which is worse split our selves on the rock of some uncouth opinion bordering upon blasphemy instead of embracing the truth as some persons have done when they sought to be wise herein above what is written As far as we have the light of the Word to go before us we may proceed with safety in our enquities of this nature Quae abstrusiora sunt in arcanis divinorum judiciorum perrecondita illa neque investigare tutum est neque reperire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thes Sam. de Langle de â—aedobapt and we should be very careful to venture no further For it is a great mystery a matter of pure revelation the full manifestation whereof is reserved for heaven and it requireth a special illumination of the Spirit to give us any competent insight into it So much is evident from the words of our Saviour to his Disciples Joh. 14.20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you At that day that is when the Spirit is poured out from on high Qui enim ausu temerario mortalitatis parum memores per excelsae naturae Philosophiae fastigia tanquam arbore conscensà ad mysteria divina aspirant his poena proposita est perpetuae inconstantiae judicii vacillanâ—is perplexi Cum enim aliud sit lumen naturae aliud Divinum ita cum illis fit ac si duos
of my fathers have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger I will arise and go to my father When he came to himself that is when he entered into debate with his own spirit * Ut nemo tenat in se descendere Per. sat when he communed with his own heart touching his deplorable condition then he quickly resolveth to abide amongst the swine no longer he will feed no more upon husks he will rather be as the meanest servant in his fathers house a door-keeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness Before that time he gave up himself in subjection to his lusts and did not consider what he was doing he did not bethink himself as the expression is 1 Kings 8.47 If they shall bethink themselves and repent This is the second act in order to a divorce from sin An act of Consideration 3. There is a work of Humiliation and Compunction whereby the spirit is made to mourn and â—ament in the sense of sin and withal to tremble in apprehension of the danger of it This is that pricking to the heart which is the usual forerunner of conversion Acts 2.37 Now when they heard this they were pricked to the heart and they said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles men and brethren what shall we do Now their consciences are wounded and they mourn in reflection upon their evil wayes They are as an heavy load and burden uptheir spirits What shall we do q.d. We are utterly ruined and undone except the grace of God step in for our recovery Can you shew us any way to escape we are ready to close with any directions prescribed When God doth bless mens souls in turning them from their iniquities he doth first cause them to grieve and be in bitterness for those iniquities and stirreth up in them a dread and fear of his judgments * Quos non expugnat ratio eos mansuefacit motui For mark it Sirs although it be love unto God and sense of the love of God which have a mighty influence to cause a converted person to cleave unto the Lord yet it is a dread and fear of wrath and judgment which bringeth a sinner in the first conversion unto God Thus you know the Jaylor came in trembing Acts 16.29 30. And when Christ doth shoot out his sharp arrows into mens hearts then the people fall down under him Psal 45.5 It may well be understood of these arrows of compunction and terror * Haec dicuntur typicè de evangelicâ administratione Christi Malv in Psal 45. Cordaque vulâ—ificis figens inimica sagittis Sponte sibi cogis valides precumbere gentes Buchan The Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rendred shall fall down may well be be meant of an act of adoration So it is used in Deut. 9.25 in Chald. Dan. 2.46 Dan. 3.7 whereby the perversness of mens hearts is overcome and subdued of enemies they are made friends and brought into to a ready subjection unto his government That 's the third work 4. The grace of Repentance is poured out upon the soul whereby the heart is crucified unto sin and the reigning power of sin is removed and a standing aversness and antipathy put into the spirit against it When this is done then the divorce is compleated and the sinner is set at liberty from his corruptions that he may be joyned unto Christ For it is not all the arguments and perswasions in the world that can effectually prevail upon a man to cast off his iniquities and bring him from under the power of sin until the Spirit of God doth set home those arguments and doth deaden sin in the heart * Alii partes formales regenerationis duas constituunt mortificationem veteris vivificationem novi hominis Et haec illam necessario praesupponit à qua non re sed ratione tantum distincta est Wend. Syst majus Restraints of providence may keep a man from the outward acts of sin but still the heart is glewed to it As Balaam durst not comply with Balaack actually to curse the Israelites but fain he would have done it his heart followed the wages of unrighteousness 2 Pet. 2.15 But now the spirit of Repentance taketh down the dominion of sin and breaketh * I distinguish between the grace of Repentance in the first workings of it upon the heart and the exercise of Repentance in the further mortifying and subduing of sin the bonds of the Covenant whereby the sinner was held fast in subjection to it and then he doth say What have I to do any more with my idols Therefore believers are said to be dead to sin Rom. 6.1 2. and to have their old man crucified with Christ that they may no longer serve sin Rom. 6.6 Thus they are set free from sin that they may be united to Christ and become the servants of God through Christ Rom. 6.22 This may serve for opening the fourth Proposition 5. Propos 5. To deaden a person unto the Law and to take him off from seeking justification by the Law that he may be united or married to the Lord Jesus God doth especially make use of two means 1. The Law it self 2. The body of Christ that is the sufferings which he underwent in his body For this you have the Scripture express Gal. 2.19 For I through the Law am dead to the Law q. d. by studying the Law it self I see it can never avail to give me acceptation with the most high Whatever expectations I have formerly had that way I now utterly renounce them and the Law it self hath sufficiently instructed me in this Lesson 2. For the sufferings of Christ that place is obvious Rom. 7.4 Wherefore my brethren ye are also become dead to the Law * Mori legi est illi renuntiare ab ejus imperio manumitti ita ut nihil habeamus in eâ fiduciae Ne offenderet Judaeos verbi asperitate si dixisset legem esse mortuam deflexione usus est dicens nos legi esse mortuos Non ergo bene vivendi regula quam lex praescribit abrogata est sed qualitas illa quae libertati per Christum parta opponitur Nempe dum summam perfectionem requirit quia non praestamus constringit nos sub aternae mortis reatu Calv. by the body of Christ that ye should be married to anther even to him that is raised from the dead q.d. This instruction God hath given us from Golgotha that by the works of the Law no flesh can be justified indeed our hearts have been hankering after that way of life and acceptance nay we have ben closely linked thereunto but the body of Christ hath made a separation between them The body of Christ i. e. the passion of Christ in his body The doctrine of Christ's death and crucifixion if rightly improved will shew a man the Law 's utter insufficiency to give a
murderer much more if he express that anger or hatred in any contemptuous and provokin words The like you have in the case of adultery Mat. 5.27 28. Now if this spiritualness of the Law were but throughly studied it would take off mens hearts from resting thereupon For it condemneth us for the first rising or ebullition of sin within us as well as for the gross outward acts of impiety It speaketh a man accursed for the defects and imperfections in his obedience as well as for the neglect and omission of his obedience It leaveth him under the wrath of God for the original corruption of his heart For as the Apostle speaketh Rom. 7.7 I had not known sin but by the Law for I had not known lust or concupiscence except the Law had said thou shalt not covet And therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in his God 's sight for by the Law is the knowledge of sin as the argument is pressed Rom. 3.20 3. A third ground of a mans trusting in his legal righteousness is ignorance of the rigour and severity of the Law It requireth exact conformity the precepts thereof but administers no strength or assistance to help us in the observation of those precepts * Lex jubet gratia juvat It calleth for exact performance of what is required and leaveth no room for repentance pardon upon any failings whatsoever nor doth it promise acceptance upon our repentance The Law Sirs or Covenant of works doth not know what a pardon meaneth Inceed upon supposal of sin it injoyneth repentance but doth not accept repentance in any case The Law is such a severe task-master that when it hath appointed our work there is no relaxation to be expected it will not make any abatement in the least Rom. 10.5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the Law that the man which doth those things shall live by them Mark it not he that repenteth for his neglect of what is not done but he that doth them not he that is humbled for his imperfections and failings but who so never faileth in the least particular And if this were well considered the Law it self would knock us off from dependance on the Law and would thereby prove as a Schoolmaster to drive us unto Christ You have many carnal people when conscience galleth them for sin and their hearts smite them for their abominations they will mourn and lament a little under the sense of it they are filled with trouble and perplexity and a great deal of legal sorrow upon that account and here they take up their rest Surely think they God will pardon and accept of us for we have grieved and repent of what we have done Why mind it Sirs As this doth proceed from ignorance of the nature of repentance the repentance of Judas carried him thus far True Evangelical repentance doth doth not only humble a man for sin but turneth him from it even unto God and is mingled with faith in the blood of Christ so it proceedeth from ignorance of the law If thou art not in Christ but standest on the old bottom of legal righteousness there is not one word in that Covenant for admission of repentance that is a priviledge brought to light by the Gospel a part of the purchase of the death of the Mediator of the Covenant of grace who can have compassion on the ignorant and such as are turned out of the way The Covenant of works knoweth nothing of forgiveness of sin upon our repentance it speaketh not a syllable of comfort unless we had kept undefiled in the way without the least aberration or wandring out of it Christ Jesus is the Author of repentance and of acceptance therein Acts 5.30 31. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and forgiveness of sins This is the first instrument that God maketh use of to take off mens hearts from seeking justification by the law that they may be united unto Christ viz. the Law it self And indeed it is delivered to that end not that persons might rest upon it but might see the utter impossibility of being saved by it that it may shew us the necessity of Christs righteousness and lead us unto him It was published as a Covenant of works upon this very design that it might lock men up under guilt and bind them over to the wrath of God and make them to see their miserable and remediless condition in themselves that so they might be necessitated to run for refuge unto Christ Rom. 3.19 What things soever the Law saith it saith to them that are under the Law To what end Why that every month may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God Rom. 10.4 Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth The end of the law that is say some of all the shadows and ceremonies of the law they had a reference to Christ and did typifie and prefigure the Lord Jesus I would not exclude this sense but I think it may be meant of the publication of the law as a Covenant it was to this end that sinners might see more clearly into the weakness of the law to justifie them and so might have recourse â—nto Christ and be justified by faith The law it self doth bear testimony of itself how unable it is being become weak through the flesh and therefore Christ is the end of it to bring in everlasting righteousness such a glorious righteousness as abideth for ever 2. The second special means to divorce men from the law or to deaden them unto the law that they may be married or united to the Son of God is the body of Christ the sufferings of Christ in his body the cursed death which he underwent for the sake of sinners The death of Christ doth not enervate or exauctorate the law of God as it is a commandment for guidance of our wayes or as it is a rule of life * Christus est legis finis perficiens non interficiens Aug. so the sufferings of Christ are the great Evangelical argument to quicken us unto the conscientious observance of it shall we not obey his voice that died for us shall we sin against him who shed his precious blood for our sakes shall we think any thing too hard to be done at his injunction who thought it not much to humble himself unto the death even the cursed death of the Cross that our souls might live * Rom. 6.10 11. In that he died he died unto sin once c. Likewise reckon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reason or argue your selves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God Why the love of Christ doth constrain us not to live unto our selves but to serve him to
the uttermost 2 Cor. 5.14 Do we make void the law through faith God forbid yea we establish the law Rom. 3.31 But now as it is a Covenant of life and doth promise justification unto the observers of it so the death of Christ doth deaden us unto the law it is of notable force and efficacy to take off a man from building and bottoming upon his own legal performances For this very topick the Apostle argueth with the Galatians cap. 3.1 O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you Mark it the great matter wherein the Galatians fell from the truth of the Gospel was by adhaering to the law and seeking righteousness therein Now saith the Apostle a man would have thought the doctrine of Christ's death and crucifixion might have been a strong fence against that error unless you had been under a kind of fascination and witchcraft upon your spirits Hath the great fundamental principle of the death of Christ been so plainly and faithfully preached unto you and set forth amongst you in such lively colours as if he had been crucified before your eyes and are you still so foolish as to rest upon the law Certainly this is an argument of abundant sottishness and madness or else you have quite forgotten the doctrine of Christ's death and neglect to make a due improvement thereof The death of Christ will be of notable use to deaden a man to the law by making a threefold discovery 1. By discovering the sinfulness and damnableness of the evil of sin or transgressionof the law of God in that it could be expiated at no lesser rate than by the crucifying of the Son of God It is not any corruptible thing as silver and gold could make satisfaction for sin but the precious blood of the Son of God and therefore certainly it is an evil of a very heinous nature Thus my brethren a real sight of the greatness of the evil of sin would sooner convince a man of the insufficiency of all his legal righteousness to satisfie for the wrong that is done unto God by it If men think to recompence the Lord by any obedience of their own for the sins whereof they are guilty it is because they have low and slight thoughts of the evil of their sins Now the death of Christ may serve to rectifie such thoughts and to set forth the damnableness of the nature of sin And indeed it was one of the ends which God aimed at in the death of Christ as to save the sinners so to damn the sin Rom. 8.3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh He condemned it that is he made it thereby to appear what a deadly destructive and damnable nature it is of how odious and abominable a thing it is in his sight * He condemned it of that capital crime that it was the meritorious cause of the death of Christ who was most innocent Engl. Annot. By what way was this made to appear Why because nothing could appease his wrath but the crucifying of the Lord Jesus Undoubtedly it must needs be a very accursed thing for which Christ himself was made a curse 2. The death of Christ is of use to deaden a sinner to the law by making discovery of the inexorableness of the justice of God of his severity and strictness in requiring the utmost farthing that is due for satisfaction He did not spare his own Son when he had iniquity laid upon him but he was put to a painful cursed ignominious and reproachful death so that let not the children of men ever expect to be spared if they lie under the guilt of the least ungodliness God the Father did not abate his own beloved Son any part of the punishment surely he will never make abatement unto his adversaries And this was another end of Christ's death to set forth the exactness and inexorableness of the justice of God that he will by no means clear the guilty Rom. 3.25 26. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus * Deus justitiam suam dicitur oftendisse quia non aliter remisit peccata hominum quam pretio iusto redemptionis accepto non ab ipsis hominibus sed a Christo pro nobis satisfaciente Justum ergo se Deus exhibuit in nostro justificatione liberalem seu gratiosum Justitia fuit relatione ad Christum gratia vero relatione ad nos Tolet in Rom. 3. Lastly the death of Christ will serve to take off a man from seeking justification by the law by making a full discovery that there is no other way imaginable to make reconciliation for sin and to deliver sinners from the wrath to come but the death of Christ only For Sirs if there had been any other way could have been found out undoubtedly God would have spared the dearly beloved of his soul he would never have striken and bruised his only begotten Son For as the Apostle argueth If there had been a law given which could have given life verily righteousness should have been by the law Gal. 3.21 q. d. Had that way been sufficient to save men and women from everlasting destruction God would have taken that way and prevented the sorrows and sufferings of his Son He would never have sent him into the world in such a low and despicable condition nor have brought him into such strairs and agonies as made him sweat drops of blood not would he have poured out upon him the vials of his wrath for the accomplishment of that which might have been otherwise accomplished So that to test for justification upon the law is in effect to frustrate and make void the grace of God in the death of the Mediator For if righteousness come by the law then Christ is dead in vain Gal. 2.21 Thus much for the fifth Proposition touching the way of a sinners union or conjunction with the Lord Jesus 6. Propos 6. The way of the actual conjunction between Christ and his people when they are thus divorced from sin and deadned to the Law may be conceived thus The Lord Christ by his Spirit taketh possession of them and dwelleth in them and Believers through faith of the operation of the Spirit take hold of Christ and get into him and so they are knit together and become one For this conjunction you must understand is a mutual conjunction * Abide in me and I in you And again He that abideth in me and I in him By which
as he is pure 1 John 3.3 3. By the grace of Regeneration the Lord Christ is said to take up his abode in us because the Holy Ghost in that work doth act in his name as purchased by Christ and receiving commission from him and being sent by vertue of his Prayer and Intercession John 16.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive In the transactions of the everlasting Covenant our Lord Jesus undertook to sanctifie and comfort and to quicken and stablish his people and by the Spirit of truth he doth accomplish that undertaking By his death the Spirit was purchased and in his name he is sent 4. The grace of Regeneration may be stiled Christ dwelling in us from the tendency of it which is to bring sinners in subjection to the Government of Christ and to make them ready to obey the Laws of Christ Hereby we become his Servants and possession is taken of us to his use and behoof that we may cleave unto him and be followers of him Col. 3.24 For ye serve the Lord Christ Mat. 19.28 Ye that have followed me in the Regeneration c. that is in your regenerate condition in the exercise of that grace which was bestowed upon you in your New-birth for so it may be well understood The grace of Regeneration plucketh sinners out of the Kingdom of Satan and seizeth on them for the service of Christ carryeth us out to him and maketh us obedient to his Laws and Dominion This may suffice to be spoken to the first branch of that Vnion which is between Christ and Believers or the first sort of Conjunction betwixt them 2. There is a legal Conjunction and oneness thereupon arising from a Believers reception of Christ closing with him and getting into him Such an Union as there is between the principal Debtor and the Surety who hath paid the debt for him and made over that payment unto him The Law reckoneth them as one what payment the Surety hath made for the Debtor in his name and firmly made over unto him the Law accounts it as if the Debtor himself had paid it and dischargeth him thereupon as if it had been his own personal Act and Deed because of that intimate relation or oneness that is betwixt them in the estimation of the Law Such an union there is between Christ and his people and therefore we call it a legal union because it hath a special reference unto the Law of God which acquitteth the person thus united to Christ by vertue of the sufferings and satisfaction of Jesus Christ as fully and firmly as if the party himself had suffered and satisfied And likewise we call it a legal union because of the analogy it beareth unto the proceedings of Law in Courts of Judicature amongst men The bond of this union is a saving faith whereby Believers receive Christ and take hold on him As by the Spirit of Regeneration Christ doth take hold of their souls so by a living faith of the operation of the Spirit they are inabled to take hold of the Lord Jesus and so they are compacted and knit together You know faith is set forth by such expressions a receiving of Christ and taking hold of him John 1.12 But to as many as received him to them he gave power to be the sons of God even to them that believe on his name Mark it we receive Jesus Christ and take him home to our selves by believing on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ As under the Law when a man q. d. ran for refuge and protection to the Altar he was wont to lay hold upon the horns of the Altar so by faith a sinner betaketh himself for shelter and security unto Christ and layeth hold upon Christ Heb. 6.18 That we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us * We who to flee from deserved wrath have taken our course towards Jesus in hope to get the Salvation offered to us in him Dicks in loc that is upon Jesus Christ the object of our hope and confidence who is set before us in the Gospel as the person in whom we are to trust and upon whom to rely and place our hope By faith we lay hold upon him and by this laying hold on Christ a Believer is joyned unto Christ and made one with him By faith we are in him and put on his righteousness Phil. 3.9 That I may be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith It is of God he provided it for us and it is made over to us and becometh ours by faith in the Mediator This is the Second Branch of the mutual conjunction between Christ and a Believer and the union thereupon the bond whereof is faith in Christ Concerning which I will propose onely these four things to your serious perusal and meditations 1. That the Holy Ghost in the writings of the Scriptures doth distinctly speak of a fourfold faith There is 1. An Historical Faith 2. A Temporal Faith 3. A Faith of Miracles 4. A saving and justifying faith in Christ which is the bond of our union with the Lord Jesus As this is an ordinary School-distinction so it is a Scripture-distinction which hath its warrant from the word and its foundation in the word of God 1. There is an Historical Faith whereby we believe the Scriptures and the matters therein contained to be Divine Truths and to have proceeded from God * This is by some called a dogmatical faith such a faith the Apostle supposed to have been in Agrippa in respect to the writings of the Old Testament Acts 26.27 King Agrippa believest thou the Prophets I know that thou believest q.d. I am confident thou art perswaded of the truth of those things Agrippa being a Jew and always conversant in Judea could not be ignorant of the Scriptures and Paul takes it for granted that he who owned their Original to be of God and that in them was discovered nothing but the truths of God I know that thou believest I am well assured thou darest not deny their Divine Authority This we call an Historical Faith because it assenteth to the truth of the History of the Bible as it is a Narrative of things done and containeth Predictions of things to be done as it comprehends matters of fact mentioned to be performed Doctrines asserted Prophesies and Promises to be fulfilled and the like And pray mark it Sirs this faith is diversifyed according to the different testimony on which it is bottomed * Quia testes quibus fidem adhibemus ex lege ordine communi sunt homines vel Deus idcirco sicut testimonium sic etiam fides distinguitur in
I opened to my beloved but he had withdrawn himself and was gone my soul failed when he spake that is when he gave forth his parting words The Spouse at first was not ready to open to Christ and to give him entertainment v. 3. Why then farewel saith Jesus I will wait no longer seeing you so little regard me I will be gone immediately O then the soul raileth this striketh the spirit dead and there is no quietness to be had till Christ be found again and intreated to return It is love to Christ that maketh it so pleasant a thing to a Believer to recount his perfections and to reckon up the glorious things that he hath done See what delight the Spouse taketh in the enumeration of them Cant. 5.10 11 12 13 14 15. So much for the seventh Proposition 8. Propos 8. The eighth and last Proposition is this The mystical union of Believers with Christ and all the priviledges and blessings which are the consequents thereof do originally flow from the merit of the death of the Lord Jesus which in pursuance of the eternal Covenant between the Father and himself he suffered in their stead and whereby he gave satisfaction to the justice of God in their behalf To this end he undertook to be a Mediator and to die an accursed death in their room and in the fulness of time he actually performed it that they in whose stead he stood might be gathered unto him and by the Spirit and faith might be made one with him Upon the account of this his standing in their stead and transacting matters with the Father for their good and benefit some speak of an eternal Vnion betwixt them Say they In the eternal counsel of God for reconciling sinners unto himself Christ ingaged to suffer as representing their persons and so they are considered as one This we may call a judicial Union as some or a transcendental Vnion But I will not stand upon an enquiry into the fitness of these expressions This I take to be clear from the Scriptures of truth That the mystical Union of Believers with Christ wrought by the Spirit and faith which is the matter we are treating of and until which they are dead in sins and trespasses and under the wrath of God as well as others is a fruit of Christ's undertaking to die for them and actual performance of that undertaking * Haec transactio inter Deum Christum fuit praevia quaedam applicatio redemptionis liberationis nostrae ad sponsorem nostrum ad nos in ipso Quae ad secundariam istam in nobis peragendam rationem habet cfficacis cajusdam exemplaris ita ut illa fit hujus repraesentatio haec illius virtute producatur Ames med That which I drive at is this That the Lord Jesus did not enter himself into an obligation to undergo the cursed death of the Cross and in due time actually undergo it only that the elect of God might be saved if they should get into him but that they might be brought unto Christ and ingraffed into him and so made partakers of salvation You shall find that their gathering unto Christ and being implanted into him is mentioned as an effect of his undertaking and suffering for them This is notably set forth in that Anti-Socinian Chapter as I may call it which hath broken the teeth of such as have been nibling at it and out of which it is impossible for them with all their subtle devices to extricate themselves I mean Isa 53. v. 10 11 12. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his dayes and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand He shall see of the travel of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death and he was numbred with the transgressors and he bare the sins of many and made intercession for transgressors Mark but how abundantly this point is confirmed Therefore shall Christ have a people gathered unto him and a seed to serve him because he made his soul an offering for their sins Upon that very account many shall be united to him so as to be justified by him because he bare their iniquities Therefore he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death How doth Christ divide the spoil with the strong Why when in the day of conversion he knittetn sinners unto himself As Satan the strong man armed hath his company that continue finally impenitent in their wickedness So Christ by his Spirit doth gather a company unto himself And whence doth this proceed Why it is the product of the satisfaction which he made for them Thus it shall be because he bare the sins of many These are the trophies of the victory that Christ got by dying the death of the cross They are ingraffed into him because he suffered for them Hence the grace of faith which is the uniting grace is said to be attained through the righteousness of Christ As it is acted upon Christ's righteousness so it was purchased thereby and is given forth upon the account thereof 2 Pet. 1.1 To them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ This is the last Proposition For the clearing whereof and the point asserted I will take it asunder into five heads of observation 1. Observe That the eternal transactions of matters between God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ in order to the redemption and deliverance of the elect are set forth in the Scriptures under the notion of a Covenant that passed betwixt them for the accomplishment of that redemption As there is a Covenant made with the souls of Believers in Christ so there was a Covenant from everlasting made with Christ a kind of compact and agreement between the Father and the Son for the restauration of fallen sinners This is acknowledged by most as to the matter and substance of the thing and I think we have it plainly enoâ—gh under that notion and expression of a Covenaut Zech. 6.12 13. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying Behold the man whose name is the Branch and he shall grow up out of his place and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Even he shall build the temple of the Lord and he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon his throne and he shall be a Priest upon his throne and the counsel of peace shall be between them both The counsel of peace that is the transactions in order to making peace betwixt an incensed God and sinful men and
knit and united unto him and so partake of the salvation which he purchased for them So that the mystical Vnion of Believers with Christ is a fruit of the fatisfaction and merit of his death for them 2 Cor. 5.21 He was made to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him Therefore he died for us that we might be implanted into him and so made righteous on his account And therefore mark it Sirs Though the elect of God have no right or title to any laving mercy till they are one with Christ yet he hath a right to this Union for them and to all other blessings which are the concomitants or consequents thereof He prayeth for it on their behalf and upon his account it is given forth unto them Joh. 17.20 21. This is the fourth particular to â—â—e observed and it leadeth me to the last 5. This satisfaction and merit of the death of Christ although it was laid down for the benefit of such as the Father had given him and he suffered in their stead yet doth make no change upon them till they are drawn unto Christ and by the Spirit and faith made one with him Until this grace be wrought in them or conferred upon them they are still children of the wrath of God as well as others Eph. 2.3 The wrath of God abideth on them Joh. 3.36 They are amongst the unrighteous which remaining in that condition shall not inherit the kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10 11. And if we could suppose them to die before conversion although indeed it is not to be supposed they would perish unavoidably even as others And the reason is this Although Christ died in their stead and laid down a price for purchase of their pardon and salvation and God the Father accepted thereof yet it was agreed between them in that everlasting Covenant that an order should be observed in conveying those mercies and making them actually partakers of the benefit thereof Which order is this First they must be sanctified by the Spirit of Christ and brought by faith unto him and made one with him and so receive salvation through his blood For till they have the Son they can have no life by the Son Thus I close my answer to the third general question propounded concerning the manner how this conjunction is made up or the way wherein this Union is wrought tual and their hearts are carnal * Ad claram rei intellectionem requiritur proportio inter potentiam apprehendentem rem apprehensam Intellectus assequitur scientiam secundum modum sui non secundum modum objecti Quia receptum est in recipiente per modum recipientis And as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 2.14 The natural maureceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned And of this sort is the grace of Union with Christ and all the transactions hereabouts are spiritual transactions And therefore when Christ preached this doctrine unto the people that if they would be blessed by him they must feed upon him and become one with him * Qualis est fames quâ cibum appetimus qualis cibus quem appetimus qualis vita ad quam pascimur talis quoque est manducatio cibi in nobis mansie Atqui fames ista est spiritualis c. his carnal Disciples knew not what to make of it This is an hard saying who can hear it and from that time many of his Disciples went away back and walked no more with him Joh. 6.60 66. That 's the second property It is a spiritual Union 3. And principally It is an inseparable and indissoluble Union such as shall never be broken asunder When Christ and a Believer are once knit together they shall never be parted any more When the Lord Jesus cometh by his Spirit and taketh up his abode in a mans soul he maketh that soul his eternal mansion and doth not at any time withdraw himself from it And when the sinner is by a living faith gotten into Christ he shall in no case be broken off from him A dead branch may fall off from the tree but the living branches will abide there for ever 1 Joh. 2.27 28. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth and is no lye and even as it hath taught you ye shall abide in him And now little children abide in him c. As here is an exhortation pressing Believers to abide in Christ so here is a word of promise that they shall abide in him and that as to both the branches of this conjunction 1. The anointing which ye have received abideth in you that is The principle of grace infused into you which was typified by the unctions or anointings in the ceremonial Law which was signified by the precious ointment poured upon the head of Aaron that ran down to the skirts of his garments this principle will prove indefectible 2. On the other hand ye shall abide in him Your faith is a grace that shall not fail nor decay This is clear from the reason that is given of the apostacy of some That therefore they are separated from Christ because they were never spiritually ingraffed into Christ * Triticum non vapit vontus nec arborem solida radice fundatam procella subvertit Inant's paleae tempestate jactantur invalide arbores turbinis inoursione evertuntur Cypr. 1 John 2.19 They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us Had they been quickned by Christ's Spirit they would never have departed from him It is a matter q. d. without controversie no doubt of it This is usually called The Saints perseverance All natural unions must be dissolved the husband must be separated from the wife and children from the patents and one dear friend from another but here is a relation that will be everlasting This is a point of great concernment to the comfort of a child of God without which he could in no wise be assured of his safe arrival at the kingdom of heaven And therefore I will a little longer dwell upon this doctrine 1. By shewing you the principal fouâ—dations on which this inseparableness of union with Christ is bottomed 2. By propounding a consideration further to strengthen and confirm the truth of this point 3. By vindication of this doctrine of perseverance from the two grand exceptions that are made against it 1. For the foundations upon which this perseverance is built Whence doth it come to pass that a Believers union with Christ is of such duration and continuance that when a man is gotten into Christ he shall abide in him and persevere in that
state unto the end I answer It is built especially on a sixfold foundation 1. Upon the unchangeableness of the purpose of God concerning believers and the never failingness of his love towards them whereby he did elect and fore-ordain them to everlasting life and set them apart for the eternal enjoyment of himself This purpose of God cannot be frustrated or disappointed His counsel shall stand and he will perform all his pleasure and the love of God towards his chosen is not a transient fleeting but an everlasting love And therefore when he hath gathered a people unto Christ he will never suffer them to be divided from him again For that love which moved him to shew compassion upon them and to draw them unto his Son is unalterable as his own nature and essence * Dona dei sunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 11.29 i. e. Dona illa quae proficiscuntur ex electione ut indicant verba proximè praecedentia Secundum electionem Charissimi Suar. de Praedest without any variableness or shadow of turning Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with an everlasting love As for its original it is from everlasting so it reacheth unto everlasting whom he loveth indeed he loveth unto the end This is noted as the very ground of their perseverance 2 Tim. 2.18 19. Who concerning the truth have erred saying The resurrection is already past and overthrow the faith of some Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal The Lord knoweth who are his The foundation of God that is the eternal purpose and electing love of God upon which the salvation of the faithful is built as upon a sure ground-work This cannot be shaken that any of them should fall away to perdition whom God hath chosen to eternal life And the Lord knoweth who are his q. d. It is true the faith of some may be overthrown who were never sound in the faith but not a person who is the Lord 's indeed shall ever miscarry for their perseverance is built upon a sure foundation namely upon the electing love of God that will never fail 2. The indissolubleness of this union is built Vpon the nature of the Covenant made with believers and the truth and faithfulness of God in keeping Covenant with them It is such a lasting Covenant as is confirmed with an oath whereby the Lord hath manifested the unchangeableness of his counsel And wherein he hath made provision for the discharge and performance of the articles which are on their part to be discharged as well as for conveyance of the mercies which he is ingaged to convey thereupon This you have often spoken of as the ground of their establishment Isa 54.8 9 10. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with ever lasting kindness I will have mercy upon thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer For this is as the waters of Noah unto me for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth so have I sworn that I would not be wrath with thee nor rebuke thee For the mountains shall depart and the hills shall be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee As if he had said As sure as the day and night shall not fail according as I sware unto Noah after the flood so sure my mercy shall not fail towards you not shall ye at any hand fall short of it for I have made it over unto you by a covenant confirmed with an oath It is one remarkable difference between the word of God and his oath That sometimes a word of promise is made under certain exceptions and conditions implyed upon the failure whereof God may repent of the good which he promised to do Jer. 18.7 9 10. But when the Lord sweareth he will not repent That is a certain token of the immutability of his counsel Psal 110.4 Heb. 6.17 Now the perseverance of the Saints is a mercy which God hath sworn to give unto them Luke 1.73 74 75. The oath which he sware to our father Abraham that he would grant us That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our lives Not only that we should be admitted into his service but likewise abide therein unto the death And for the freeness of the Covenant wherein God hath graciously obliged himself not only to perform the mercy promised but also to assist believers with his Spirit for performance of the duty required at their hands so as not to fall short of that mercy Take that noted place Jer. 32.39 40. And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and of their children after them And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me 3. The indissolveableness of the union between Believers and the Lord Jesus is built upon the charge that is given unto Christ concerning them and his faithfulness in accomplishing what he hath undertaken for them Thus Sirs when God the Father did put all his elect into Christ's hands and constituted and ordained him to be a Mediator for them it was with this express charge That he should conduct them to glory Not only that he should gather them unto himself and give them spiritual life but that he should guide them with safety to the kingdom of heaven And this charge he undertook John 17.2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him Heb. 2.10 In bringing many sons to glory Now in pursuance of this undertaking Christ doth kni◠them to himself inseparably that he may be a faithful steward of the grace of God It is the very reason which our Saviour giveth why no man shall pluck Believers out of his hands because he is to give them eternal life John 10.28 And the Apostle Peter put much stress upon it when he prayeth for the settlement of Believers in the faith 1 Pet. 5.10 But the God of all grace who hath called us into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after that ye have suffered a while make you perfect stablish strengthen settle you Here is a bundle of arguments to incourage our dependance upon God for our abiding in Christ There is scarcely a word but hath an emphasis upon it to that purpose 1. It is God that strengthens you he that is able to do it and is on your side so that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world All your adversaries are but creatures who labour to draw you away but he that establisheth you
under this use of Trial viz. to shew you what this self-examination is and wherein consisteth your work in the performance of it 2. By way of motive and proveâ—ative to quicken and stir you up to the discharge of it It is a duty whereunto the heart of a man is hardly brought as indeed all spiritual work is untastful and unpleasing to flesh and bloud So that as we need line upon line and precept upon pracept to dispel the mists of ignorance whereby our minds are blinded and to prevent the mistakes whereupon we are apt to proceed in this work so we need motive upon motive and one spiritual argument upon the neck of another to cure the backwardness of our hearts whereby we are commonly averse to the performance of this work I will not be large under this head but only press upon you these four moving considerations or incentives Mot. 1. If you be loath to enter throughly into the disquisition of this matter and to debate the case with your selves whether you are one with Christ or not That very thing will be a shrewd argument against you that you are utter strangers unto Christ and in no wise partakers of salvation through him It will be a sign that your profession is unsound and your hearts rotten when you are unwilling to search into your spiritual condition As when a Tradesman will not suffer his wares to be throughly viewed it ministers ground of suspition that they are not right and good So it is in these spiritual affairs If you are hardly brought to make enquiry into your selves it will yield matter of suspition that you are conscious of some wickedness allowed in your selves and that your hearts are not right in the sight of the Lord. For my brethren It is not truth but falshood that hateth the light and will not come to the light lest it should be discovered A person that is indeed in Covenant with God and dealeth faithfully with him in living up to the terms of that Covenant is willing to be searched to the uttermost Psal 26.2 3. Examine me O Lord and prove me trie me and know my heart For thy loving kindness is before mine eyes and I have walked in thy truth I have not sate with vain persons c. Mot. 2. It concerns you to examine diligently whether you be united unto Christ Because it is an ordinary thing for men and women to be mistaken in this respect to think that they have the Son and are in a state of salvation when as in truth they lie still in the gall of bitterness And this mistake is the cause of their eternal ruine From hence it is that they neglect to seek after a remedy because in their own apprehensions they are safe already For as our Saviour saith They that be whole need not a Physician but they that are sick Mat. 9.12 Whilst men have good conceits of their own condition they rest secure therein and are not sensible of the need of having it changed * Immittit Diabolus securitatem ut inferat perditionem Neque dinumerari possunt quantos hac inanis spei umbra deceperit Aug. And there are multitudes of this sort who say they are Jews when they are the Synagogue of Satan as it is expressed Rev. 3.9 That is they imagine themselves to be and would have others esteem them as living members of the body of Christ when as in reality they are nothing else but the children of the devil You find it was the house of Jacob that is the generality of the people who were thus deceived Isa 48.1 2 3 4. They were obstinate and obdurate sinners their neck was an iron sinew and their brow as brass and yet they called themselves of the holy City and stayed themselves upon the God of Israel And Rev. 3.1 it is mentioned of the Church of Sardis that is the body of the people for unto them Christ speaketh by his Spirit Although the Epistle was directed to the Angel yet it was to be communicated to the Church v. 6. That they had a name to live whereas indeed they were dead Mot. 3. If upon the examination of your selves you shall find that through grace you are indeed united to Christ and make it sure to your selves that you have the Son the sweetness of that knowledge or assurance will abundantly recompense you for all the pains you were at in the search of it and the travel you took in pursuance after it O what an excellent priviledge will this be to be able to say that Christ is yours that his death is a satisfaction for your sins and the salvation he purchased is your inheritance and that he is now at the right hand of the Father interceding on your behalf With what inexpressible joy will this fill your spirits How will it sweeten your enjoyments and ease your burdens and bring a vein of consolation and gladness into every condition that you are in and under every providence that befalleth you Yoâ— will then be able to read the Scriptures with delight when you can say This promise conveyeth mercy to my soul and this is a blessing wherein I am a sharter And as for the threatnings of judgment they speak not a word of terror to my soul for I am not under the Law but under grace being united unto Jesus the head of the Covenant oâ— grace This will inable you to walk cheerfully throughout your pilgrimage and to meditate up on the excellencies of God with an holy exultation when you can say This God is my God upon the account of Christ unto whom I am knit in separably This infinite power is ingaged for mâ— protection and safeguard this incomprehensibâ— wisdom is at work for my direction and guidancâ— this alsufficiency is for my satisfaction and blessedness and the like Then you may say with thâ— Prophet Hab. 3.19 The Lord God is my strengâ— and he will make my feet like Hinds feet and he will make me to walk upon my high places Then you may appropriate the Lord and his attributes unto your selâ—es and be assured he will make haste for your preservation and deliverance as speedily and swiftly as the Hind runneth into her covert and that he will set you on high in the munitions of rocks I might thus expatiate abundantly in setting forth the sweetness of this knowledge of your union with Christ Then you would taste real comfort in the accomodations of this life and be no way terrified or dismayed at the apprehensions of death for it will but translate you hence into a paradise of bliss and glory Mot. 4. Consider seriously in the last place That although upon the examination of your selves it should appear that you are still in the state of wrath â—nd condemnation without a saving interest in â—he Son of God yet the finding it to be so would â—e one good step towards your restauration and reâ—overy out of that estate and make
God that it may prove a certain evidence of conversion and consequently of our union with Christ Jesus It must of necessity have these six properties and each of them must be enquired after in the business of self-examination It must be 1. Spiritual 2. Vniversal 3. Evangelical 4. Sincere 5. Thriving 6. Stedfast obedience 1. It must be spiritual obedience answerable to the nature of that God whom we wait upon and whose servants we are His essence is spiritual and such must our obedience to him be if we will serve the Lord acceptably and make it appear that we are of the number of his peculiar people Bodily exercise and a meer external devotion will strike a great stroke in making up the form of godliness but the power of it consisteth in that which is spiritual Joh. 4.23 The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him These are the true worshippers that is such as are so in Gods account whom he will graciously receive and own in their performances When people serve him in a bare external bodily manner he reckoneth them as his greatest enemies their service is but a piece of dissimulation which hath only the shadow of worship For the substance lieth in what is spiritual And such the Father seeketh to worship him i.e. such worship he commandeth and his soul is well pleased with Although it seemeth to be spoken here with a peculiar reference to instituted worship yet it holds strongly as to natural worship also even of all the parts and particulars of his service For the reason which is rendred v. 24. is comprehensive of all Because God is a Spirit So that our obedience if it prove us a chosen generation whom God hath set apart for himself must be spiritual And that in a threefold respect In respect of the 1. Principle from whence it floweth 2. Extent how far it reacheth 3. Subject whereon it is terminated 1. In respect of the principle from whence it proceedeth It must be such obedience as cometh from the heart and wherein the soul and spirit is ingaged Not an honouring him with the lips and drawing neer to him with the mouth when the heart is removed far from him Not a serving him only by a kind of compulsion under some terrible apprehensions of the judgments of God not in a slothful careless and lukewarm manner as if Religion were a weariness to us and we had no mind to our work But when we serve him aright our hearts must be ingaged to approach unto him Jer. 30.21 22. we must be fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 And our inward parts must be employed in the works of holiness When a mans tongue doth speak forth the praises of God and his heart joyneth with him in the business when his hands do act in the works of piety and his spirit concurreth in the action and carry him on thereunto this is to serve the Lord with the Spirit Although he calleth for the body also to be imployed in his service as indeed he deserveth the whole man yet not as a picture or image without life and soul but as animated by the heart Prov. 23.26 My son give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my wayes q.d. A slave will give me his hands and feet and the strength of his body an hypocrite will offer up the outward man but if thou be a son I must have the heart and spirit 2. It must be spiritual obedience in respect of the extent of it how far it reacheth Such as sets us in opposition against spiritual sins as well as fleshly such as causeth us to fight against secret pride and envy and earthliness and unbelief and malice and double-mindedness and the like as well as to obstain from rotten communication and gross outward pollutions It must be such obedience as is exercised in spiritual duties as meditation on the word of the Lord and frequent contemplation of the excellencies of God adoring his Majesty and admiring his works and setting the affections on things above as well as in pleading the cause of holiness and openly walking in the profession of it It must carry us to such works as are performed in the secret recesses of the Spirit and sets us a striving against such corruptions as are forged and fabricated in the spirit which no eye can observe but God and our own consciences 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all the filthiness both of the flesh and spirit Rom. 8.5 They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit Psal 73.1 Truly God is good to Israel even to such as are clean of heart See further Psal 24.3 4. Mat. 6.21 3. In respect of the subject whereon it is terminated It endeth in the further renewing and purifying the spirit and getting more degrees of habitual grace into the heart When we are not only contented to be kept free from the acts of sin but do mourn and lament under the principle of sin and labour to deaden that principle When we do not think it enough to do much for God but fain would have our spirits transformed every day more and more into the image of God Thus it will be if you are converted If a carnal person resist the temptation he thinks his work is done and is apt to glory in himself as if the whole business were dispatched But a convert layeth the ax to the root of the tree he followeth the corrupt stream to the poysonous fountain whence it is derived and nothing will satisfie him but cleansing the fountain and taking revenge upon his lusts that lodge within him Rom. 7.23 24. Paul's actual sins cause him to have an eye upon his heart by which he was turned aside I see saith he another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity unto the law of sin which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death This is the first qualification It must be spiritual obedience 2. If you would prove your conversion and consequentially your union with Christ by your obedience It must be universal obedience Not a partial and restrictive serving of God but a following him fully as far as the whole circuit of holiness reacheth As it is said of Caleh Num. 14.24 He followed the Lord fully and that proved him to be a man of another spirit and of a gracious temper indeed sanctified by the holy Ghost because his obedience was universal There is a threefold universality must go to the right qualifying our obedience that it may be evidential of a converted estate It must be universal in relation to the 1. Agent or person obeying 2. Rule of obedience 3. Times and seasons of the performance 1. In relation to the agent or person