if through the Spirit ye mortifie the Deeds of the Body ye shall Live Ephes 4. 22. That ye put off concerning the former Conversation the Old Man which is Corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts Col. 3. 5. Mortifie therefore your Members which are upon the Earth Fornication Vncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry Tit. 2. 11 12. The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching them to deny Vngodliness and wordly Lusts to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World 1st Reason The Reason of the Point lieth here because this was one special Purpose of Christ in satisfying the Law for us and thereby in reconciling of his Father to us it was that Sin might be destroyed in us Rom. 5. 10. with Rom 6. 6. For when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son Knowing that our Old Man is Crucified with him that the Body of Sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve Sin 2d Reason It must be so because our Lord Jesus Christ designed and intended that every one of his Redeemed and Cleansed Lepers should hold a holy Communion with himself both in the Life that now is and in the Life which is to come John 14. 20 21. At that Day ye shall know that I am in the Father and you in me and I in you and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and I will manifest my self to him Tit. 2. 14. Who gave himself for us that he might Redeem us from all Iniquity and Purifie to himself a peculiar People zealous of good Works Christ is the Prince of Purity his Eyes are Eyes of Purity that cannot look upon Iniquity his Nature is a Nature of Purity he is called the Holy holy holy Lord God of Hosts whose Glory filleth the whole Earth Isa 6. 3. therefore he cannot live in an impure Heart nor have communion with impure Souls that are no way washed from their Iniquities Surely then this makes it highly the Duty of every Christian to be Cleansing of himself from all filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit and to be perfecting of Holinâ—ss in the fear of God 2 Cor. 7. 1. Thus having given you the Reasons of the Point we next come to the Application of what hath been said upon it Vse If this be so let it serve then for Matter of Examination to every Christian whether we are of the number of Christ's Cleansed and Healed Lepers Oh! what a blessed thing would it be if upon trial and search we might appear to be such not in shew but in substance not in appearance only but in reality also an Israelite in deed and in truth as Nathanael was in whom was no Guile There be not a few but would fain perswade themselves that they are the Men in whom the Leprosie is cured they hope that the Bloud of the Lamb Christ hath been applied to the Ear Thumb and Toe of their Souls but let me ask such Men whether the Priâ—st's Razor have yet been upon them Oh! bethink your selves and remember that those which were healed Lepers were shaved Lepers the Hair of their Heads Beards and Eye-brows is all shaved off which were the parts and places in which the Scurf and Filth of the Disease lay and hid it self before The same is spiritually true of thee if thou art a healed Leper indeed the Scurf of thy Corruption which hath lain hid in thy Heart as to the Dominion of it is shaved off and â—emoved out of thy Soul Rom. 6. 14. Sin shall not have Dominion over you Christ will have clean Work made in the Heart wherein he begins to Work Rev. 21. 5. Behold I make all things new saith Christ and so saith Paul 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any Man he in Christ he is a new Creature all old things are dâ—ne away and all things become new So that there is a univeâ—sal Change made in the whole Man of every one that are the cleansed Leâ—ers of Jesus Christ the Judgment Will and Affections are all new and renewed by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. â— 5. Now Soul what Shaving-work hath there been upon thy Heart and Life Reflect upon thy former Conversation Hast thou not been a loose Liver a Swearer a Blasphemer an unclean Person a Sabbath-breaker a Harer of Godliness a wicked Scoffer and cruel Persecutor of those which have truly feared God But is this shaved off from thee Is this filthy Scurf gone and removed from thy Heart within and thy Life without Thou knowest that thou hast been a common Drunkard an unjust Dealer a known Lyer a wretched Worldling a greedy covetous Oppressor thy whole Life hath been a prayerless Life an irreligious Life casting the Word Worship and Ordinances of God behind thy Back spending of thy precious Time which should have been spent in the Service of thy God Oh! this precious Time which thou canst never recal more hast thou laid out in the satisfying of thy Lusts and sensual Appetite Oh! but hath the Razor oâ— thy High-Priest shaved all this away and canst thou now say in the Words of Paul to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 6. 11. Such were some of you but ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God Be not deceived there was never a healed Leper came out of Christ's Hands but he was a shaved mortified and sanctified Leper the Bloud the Oil and the shaving Razor always went together the Bloud to justice the Oil to sanctifie and the Razor to mortifie the Affections and Lusts Redemption from the Guilt of Sin is only proved by our Mortification to the love and power of Sin in our Natures Rom. 8. 1. There is therefore no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Mark There is therefore no Condemnation there is Guilt removed who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit there is the Truth of it proved the shaving of the Head Beard and Eye-brows were evident Signs what the Man had been and with whom he had been they were Signs that the Man had been a Leper and secondly That he had been with the Priest for a Cure and is now come off healed and cleansed of his Distemper So likewise if thou hast been with Jesus Christ indeed he hath fixed these visible Signs upon thy Soul 2 Cor. 5. 17. Thou art come of a new Creature all old things are done away and all things are become new in thee but if the Signs of thy Cleansing be not upon thee thou hast still cause with the Leper Lev. 13. 45. to rent thy Clothes and to go with thy Head bare and to put a Covering upon thy Upper-lip crying out to every one which thou meetest Vnclean unclean PART VIII
from Father to Son a Disease which hath spread itself over the face of the Earth leaving neither Man Woman or Child untouch'd with the Venom of it saith 1 John 5. 19. The whole World lieth in Wickedness This spiritual Leprosie is a Disease that no Man in the World can possibly escape this taketh hold of the highest King upon the Throne as well as the Beggar upon the Dunghil I do not say That every Man is a Leper in a corporal Sense no but yet the Anti-type of that corporal Leprosie which the Jews were so subject unto which shadowed forth this spiritual Leprosie which I am speaking of which is a thousand times more distructive than the former This is a Leprosie which cleaves to every Man in the World and as it cleaves to every Man so it cleaves to every Part in Man it is a Corruption and Disorder so universal that the whole Soul is bound under it without any supply of its own to rescue itself because the whole Faculties of the Soul are corrupted with this unclean leprous Pollution therefore it is called The Dominion of Sin Rom. 6. 12. A Body of Death Rom. 7. 24. and a Law of Sin bringing the Soul into Captivity Rom. 7. 23. For first of all this Leprosie darkens the Understanding Ephes 4. 18. Having the Vnderstanding darkned being alienated from the Life of God through the Ignorance which is in them because of the Blindness of their Heart And from hence the Imaginations of the Heart become Vain Rom. 1. 21. and not only Vain but continually Evil Gen. 6. 5. pursuing unprofitable Curiosities Acts 19. 19. and impertinent Questions Titus 3. 9. vain Deceir Col. 2. 8. it wants a Capacity to discern things of the greatest Concernment 1 Cor. 2. 14. so that the best Habits of the Understanding are corrupted by this leprous Disease the Wisdom of the World is not only Foolishness 1 Cor. 3. 19. but Enmity against God yea earthly sensual and devilish James 3. 15. These and the like doth this spiritual Leprosie produce in the Understanding the Light being either quite out or dim the Actings of the Understanding become irregular and it is one of the great Works of Christ in our Regeneration to give us the Spirit of Power and a sound Mind 2 Tim. 1. 7. 1st So for the Will this Leprosie hath as much perverted that as it hath darkened the Understanding and that upon a double account First By reason of that Corruption which is in the Understanding for the Prosecution or Aversation of the Will is much qualified and ruled according to the Light that is in the Understanding and if that Light be Darkness then there must necessarily follow a great miscarriage in the Will 2dly By reason of that Captivity that the Will lieth under to the Law of Sin and the Flesh God gave to Man a righteous Law which was to be a Law and Rule to his Mind planted in him to direct and guide him in all things answerable to the revealed Will of God but by reason of this Leprosie's corrupting the Will it is now not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can it be Rom. 8. 7. nay the Will is so much mastered and pressed down by being possessed of this Leprosie through this powerfull Law of Sin which it wher 's into the Soul insomuch when it meets with the Law of God coming into the Heart it takes an occasion thereby to work in the Soul all manner of Concupiscence Rom. 7. 6. and all this meerly out of Malice and Policy to make the Law of God which should restrain the Soul from Sin and rescue the Soul more odious to the Soul and the Soul to it as Conquerers use to do who introduce Laws Customs and Languages of their own the more to estrange the Conquered from any Memory of their former Duty and Freedoms but now when Christ comes into the Soul he rescues the Soul from the Dominion though not from the being of Sin Rom. 6. 14. Sin shall not have Dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace 3dly This Leprosie hath not only darkned our Understandings and corrupted our Wills but it hath poisoned our Affections also The great and Master-piece of our Affections is Love and the prime Object of it is God and in our original Creation our Love was rightly placed upon God the only Discerner of our Love and when our Love was rightly qualified it was most intense Love according to the Law and Command of God Deut. 6. 5. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart with all thy Soul and withal thy Might But now this Leprosie though we have lost the proper Object of this Affection yet not the Affection itself but in as much as our Love hath lost its Guide hence it is that it wanders after something else like Noah's Dove seeking rest amongst the Creatures and Pleasures of the Flesh but findeth none and at last takes up in ourselves making them the sole Objects of our Love and Affection so that as our Love is misplaced with respect to its Object so it mistakes in the pursuit of that Object for no Man doth truly love himself who doth not truly love God because the true Effect of Love is to do all the good we can to the Thing we Love Now the chiefest Good to ourselves lieth in our Conformity unto the Will of God wherein indeed lieth the beauty happiness and blessedness of the Soul Thus when a Man hath lost the true Object of his Love no wonder he wanders up and down in a Wilderness of Mistakes and so at last makes himself the sole Object of his Affection Rom. 1. 25. Who hath changed the Truth of God into a Lie and worshipped and served the Creature more than the Creator who is blessed for ever Amen So that that Man who terminates his Love upon himself Serves and Worships himself Thus the Order and Beauty which God at first planted in Man it being corrupted and turned into so much Disorder in the Soul by this Leprosie this makes that Confusion in all the other Affections and Passions of the Mind But this is not all But 4thly As Paul speaks to Titus Tit. 1. 15. This Leprosie hath defiled the Consciences of Men it hath first darkned the divine Light of God in the Soul in a great measure which hath much weakned the Evidence that Conscience should give in for God and made it so much the more uncertain in its Testimony so also hath it weakned it in its Power that it stirs not as otherwise it would do like a Man over-powered and benumbed with much heaviness to Sleep Hence in some Men 't is said to be feared as with a hot Iron as seared Flesh is dead Flesh so are the Consciences of some Men in their Breasts dead powerless unable to act or speak Therefore this spiritual Leprosie is very lively shadowed out by the Jewish corporal Leprosie
for the over-spreading Nature of it a corporal Leprosie runs over all the parts of the Body so doth this sinful Leprosie as you have seen it spreads itself over all the parts and powers of the Soul leaving no part of it untainted The same which the Prophet spake of the State of Israel as a Body Politick with respect to its Pollution by Sin Isa 1. 6. From the sole of the Foot unto the Head there is no soundness in it but Wounds and Bruises and putrifying Sores they have not been closed neither bound up neither mollified with Ointment Thus having discovered the spiritual Leprosie which cleaves to every Man by Nature I shall next give you the Grounds and Reasons of it Reason 1 FIrst of all the Reason and Ground of this spiritual Leprosie took its rise from the Sin of Adam upon a double account First Naturally Secondly Morally First Naturally as we are the Off-spring of Adam our first Father in the Flesh for we were vertually included in him as a multiplicity of Seeds in the first Seed and so reasonably must partake of the same natural Quality which were in him For if it be granted that his Posterity descending from him by ordinary Generation had partook of the Qualities of Righteousness Wisdom and Holiness from him had he not fallen then is it not as reasonable to conclude that we must necessarily partake of his Sin and Pollution the Effects of his Fall which fastened upon him by his Transgression And that you may see the Attestation which the Spirit of God gives to this as a Truth read Gen. 5. 3. And Adam lived a hundred and thirty Years and begat a Son in his own Likeness after his Image Now for Adam to beget a Son after his own Image if we respect his external Form and parts of his Body this carried no such note of Observation in it for who would expect that it would be otherwise Because ordinary it is not unless the Birth be monstrous but the thing to be noted in the Text is this That as Adam by his Transgression became a poor depraved sinful leprous Creature himself so his Child which naturally sprang from him derived from him the same leprous Pollution which Adam by his Fall procured to himself and unavoidably to every one else which should succeed him But then Secondly It is so upon a moral account because Adam and all his Posterity were in Covenant with God together and in that Covenant both himself and all his Seed made up as it were one entire Man in the Account of God Adam's Person representing under that Covenant every Man Woman and Child that ever did or should spring from him to the end of the World so that when he fell we all fell in him and when he broke Covenant with his Creator we then broke Covenant with him and in him and consequently when the Penalty of Covenant-breach which was the Curse and Death fell upon him it fell upon us in him at the same time So reasons the Apostle Rom. 5. 17. For if by one Man's Offence Death reigned by one So. ver 18. Therefore as by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation So ver 19. For as by one Man's Disobedience many were made Sinners See ver 12. also So that upon this moral Account as by Adam's Sin we were made Guilty so by the same Transgression are we become leprously Filthy Ezek. 16. 6. I saw thee polluted in thy Blood Hence saith our Saviour Matt. 15. 19. Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murders Adulteries Fornications Thefts false Witness Blasphemies Reason 2. Why this spiritual Leprosie is so unavoidable it 's because it is an Evil propagated from Father to Child by a natural Generation it runs in a Line from one to another it is such an entailed Evil as cannot be cut off by any thing that Man can do it is as impossible for Man not to beget a leprous sinful Substance as it is for him not to beget a natural fleshly Substance if his Loins be fruitful to beget any thing at all It is the Order which God hath planted in Nature that every Kind should bring forth his like Therefore if a Man be an Instrument to produce any thing by Generation it must be in his own Likeness for though Man originally was not unclean but as Solomon speaks he was made Just and Upright yet as the case now stands with Man he being corrupted with this sinful Leprosie he cannot beget his own Likeness unless he do naturally and instrumentally produce an ugly Leper like himself From hence we infer these two Uses 1st Vse This informs us then of the Ground and Reason of that great Distance that there is betwixt God and Men as the Apostle speaks Ephes 2. 13. We are afar off from God and as we are at a great distance from God so is he at as great a distance from us all which ariseth from the Impurity and Defilement of our Natures upon the account of this Leprosie God is a holy God and â— we are sinful and unholy Creatures the Nature of God will not permit of any Fellowship with sinful Men He is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity Hab. 1. 13. neither can Evil dwell with him Isai 50 2. Your Iniquities have separated betwixt you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you So 2 Cor. 6. 14. What fellowship hath Righteousness with Vnrighteousness and what communion hath Light with Darkness 2d Vse Let it serve to teach us Humility Alas What little cause have Lepers to be proud or to harbour a high-minded frame of Spirit in the least degree What if they wear better Clothes than other Folk and walk with their sweet perfuming Smells about them yet according to the Law about Leprosie Levit. 13. 45. they were to cry out to every one they met Vnclean unclean Vzziah though a King and in his Royal Robes yet when a Leprosie brake out upon him he was driven out from his Throne to live in a separated House alone from the Society of all other Men 2 Chron. 26. 20 21. So that the best that can be said of Lepers let them be never so Rich Noble or gorgiously Attired richly Perfumed yea though they are mounted upon the Throne yet still there is a Leprosie cleaving to them yea when they mount up their Heads at the highest they are but Lepers It may be that thy Gifts and Parts do exceed many of thy Equals in going beyond them for Learning and Knowledge and Utterance yet for all this remember that a Leprosie is upon thee thou art but a knowing learned eloquent Leper at the best and thou hast always cause to rent thy Clothes and to make thy Head bare and to put a Covering upon thy Upper-lip and to cry out Vnclean unclean according to Levit. 13. 45. Isaiah had as large a Portion of Gifts and Parts as the Proudest of you all had
which this Truth is bottomed The Reason is this That as one scabbed Sheep may spoil a whole Flock so may one spiritual Leper spoil a whole Church The Apostle told the Corinthians that one incestuous Person amongst them might leaven all the rest of the Society if not with the same spiritual Pollution yet with so much Guilt for their allowing of him amongst them which might procure some heavy Judgment upon them 1 Cor. 5. 6. It 's true while we are in the World we cannot avoid a common Commerce with them upon a civil account but we ought to avoid a spiritual Communion with them in the highest Christian Ordinance upon any account because they are Lepers Vse This then may serve for Instruction to the Churches of Christ First Who they should keep out Secondly Who they should keep out Secondly Who they should thrust out of their Fellowships and Communion First of all this Truth may reach them who should keep out of their Fellowships and Communion namely The leprous Person None can deny but that the House of Isael were the visible Church of God and few but will grant That a spiritual Leprosie is far more dangerous therefore more to be avoided than that which is corporal so then if the Church of God under the Law were to drive out from their Communion those which had the less dangerous Leprosie then surely the Churches of Christ in Gospel-times ought to keep out those from their Communion which have the more dangerous Leprosie upon them therefore the same which the Apostle saith of him that is a Brother may very well be applied to one that with respect to particular Church-communion would be a Brother If he be a Fornicator or Covetous or a Drunkard or a Railer or an Idolater or an Extortioner with such a one no not to Eat 1 Cor. 5. 11. 2dly This serves to instruct the People of God who they are which they should thrust out of their Fellowships and Communion viz Every spiritual unclean Leper that will not be cleansed you have seen that as soon as the Leprosie was broken out upon the Body of the Jewish Leper he was immediately put out of the Camp of Israel which Camp was the Church of God Lev. 13. 46. As long as his Disease shall be upon him he shall be defiled he is unclean he shall dwell alone without the Camp shall be his Habitation So also you may read how agreeable to this Levitical Rule is the Order which Christ hath established in his Gospel-churches Matt. 18. 15 16 17. with 1 Cor. 5. 1 2 3 4 5 Verses This special Care which ought to be taken by the Churches in keeping close to this Rule is not only enjoyned upon the Ministers of the Gospel but it was the great Duty of the Priests and Prophets under the Levitical Administration Jer. 15. 19. If thou take forth the Precious from the Vile thou shalt be as my Mouth let them return to thee but return not thou unto them Ezek. 44. 6 7. with Ver. 9. And thou shalt say to the Rebellious even to the House of Israel thus saith the Lord O ye House of Israel let it suffice you for all your Abominations in that you have brought into my Sanctuary Strangers uncircumcised in Heart and uncircumcised in Flesh to be in my Sanctuary to pollute it even my House when ye offer my Bread the Fat and the Blood and they have broken my Covenant because of all your Abominations Only this Rule is to be observed before the Leper is to be separated Matt. 18. 15 16. Go and tell him his Fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy Brother but if he hear thee not then tell it to the Church It is not simply the Offence committed which proves a Ground of casting out the spiritual Leper but it 's his persifting in his Offence his refusing to return and his unwillingness to be cleansed Thus far touching the Action of the Leper in order to his Cleansing First He was to be brought to the Priest Secondly If his Disease were found to be a Leprosie then was he to be separated from all Communion and Fellowship with his Brethren 2dly We next come to the Action of the Priest by whom the Cure was to be wrought and here we shall handle the Action of the Priest together with the Means he was to use in order to the Cleansing of the Leper Lev. 14. 4 5 6 7. Then shall the Priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two Birds alive and clean and Cedar-wood and Scarlet and Hyssop And the Priest shall command that one of the Birds be killed in an earthen Vessel over running Water As for the living Bird he shall take and the Cedar-wood and the Scarlet and the Hyssop and shall dip them and the living Bird in the Blood of the Bird that was killed over the running Water And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the Leprosie seven times and shall pronounce him Clean and shall let the living Bird loose into the open Field Now for the opening of this Mystery we shall begin with the two Birds which some think were two Sparrows and they are called Clean with respect to that Statute Lev. 11. which made the difference betwixt Things allowed and disallowed to be Eaten those Creatures which were allowed to be Eaten were called Clean of which kind were these Birds that are here used in the cleansing of the Leper Now these two Birds are very significant of the twofold Work of Christ in our spiritual Cleansing from our leprous and polluted Natures For first of all you read that the first Bird was killed which shadowed out the Death of Christ for as the Leper could not be healed of his corporal Leprosie without the shedding of the Blood of the innocent Sparrow no more could we be healed of our spiritual Leprosie of Sin without the shedding of the Blood of an innocent Saviour 1 John 1. 7. And the Bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all Sin Rev. 5. 9. For thou wast Slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood Heb. 9. 22. And without shedding of Blood is no Remission 2dly The living Bird was to be let loose or to be let to fly away into the open Field which signified the Action of Christ in order to his Work of Intercession who was likewise to be let go from the Grave thaâ— from thence he might take his flight for Heaven there to fit at the right-hand of God to make Intercession for us according to Heb. 7. 25. For as by his Death upon the Cross he made a full and compleat Satisfaction for all our Sins so by his Ascention to Heaven he there is making continual Intercession for Sinners and as by his Death upon the Cross he made Peace with God for us so by his Intercession he maintains that Peace with God for us And again as
he by his blessed Sacrifice in offering up of himself did thereby purchase our Right to all the Promises relating to Life and God liness so by his Intercession he powerfully prevails with his Father that the Good of them might come down upon us 3dly And whereas you read That the living Bird with the Scarlet the Cedar-wood and the Hyssop all which was to be dipt into the Blood of the slain Bird this being done it made the Scarlet the Cedar-wood and the Hyssop so effectual in the Cleansing of the Leper This great Mystery signifies thus much to us when applied to its Anti-type That what Benefit upon a saving account there is in Christ or of Christ which any do receive in order to their effectual Redemption and Soul-cleansing it doth all originate in or originally proceed from the Vertue Worth and Merit of the Sufferings and Blood of Christ as the procuring cause of all Have we any Benefit by any Office of Christ or Righteousness in Christ Grace from Christ or relation to Christ All this flows from the Spring and Fountain of a Christ crucified and flain for Sin for you plainly see that all the Means which was used in the Cleansing of the corporal Leper took its Efficacy from the Bloud of the slain Bird the Scarlet the Cedar-wood and the Hyssop were all dipt in the Bloud of the slain Bird. From whence we may note this Observation Doct. That the Bloud of Christ shed for Sin is the only Procuring-cause of all the Grace Mercy and Favour which the Elect of God are capable to receive both in the Life that now is and that which is to come This is a Truth which doth abundantly evidence itself from the Scriptures Have we Grace and Sanctification in this Life This the Scripture attributes to the Bloud of Christ as the Procuring-cause of it Heb. 9. 14. The Bloud of Christ purgeth our Consciences from dead Works to serve the Living God Have we Peace with God This he hath procured by the Bloud of his Cross Col. 1. 20. Have we Power and Strength to overcome our spiritual Enemies Satan and the Lusts of the Flesh This is done by the Bloud of the Lamb Rev. 12. 11. In a word There is not a good Action done or performed by us but the Grace which enables us thereunto is the Fruit of Christ's Bloud Heb. 13. 20 21. The God that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Bishop of our Souls through the Bloud of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. Is it Assurance Joy Peace in believing the Bloud of Jesus Christ have procured this also Col. 1. 11 12 13 14 Verses And so for Heaven and Glory to come this is the Fruit of Christ's Purchasing-bloud which hath accomplished all this Ephes 1. 14. And so we come the Reason of the Point Reason This must be so because what Good the Elect of God partake from him either in this World or in the World to come let it be to their Sanctification here or their Glorification hereafter all this must flow forth to them from the Love of God as the grand Cause of it Ephes 2. 4 5 6 Verses But God who is rich in Mercy for his great Love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in Sins hath quickned us together with Christ by Grace are ye saved and hath raised us up together and made us sit together with Christ Jesus in heavenly Places So that you plainly see to be quickned from a Death in Sin and to be graciously Saved that is from the Curse and Condemnation of the Law Gal. 3. 13. with Rom. 8. 1. and from the Dominion of Sin Rom. 6. 14. and from the Captivating-power of the Devil 1 John 3. 8. and from the Wrath of God Thess 1. 10. And after all this to be dignified and exalted to that hight of Honour so as to be made to sit with Christ yea together with him in heavenly Places The Apostle tells you in the fourth Verse That the great Love of God is the Foundation of all this to the Elect Now it cannot be that God should deal with his Elect in such a way of Love until he be-first reconciled to them and becomes their Friend now he cannot become their Friend until a Reconciliation be made for them which was done wrought out and brought about by the Blood of Christ Rom. 5. 8. In that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us So Verse 10. When we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son So Col. 1. 20. And having made Peace by the Bloud of his Cross by him to reconcile all things to himself Thus you see how through the Bloud of Christ the innocent Bird and Lamb of God the way is abundantly opened to God the Father's letting forth of his Grace and Love to the Elect whom he had ordained thereunto before the World began Ephes 1. 4. And so we come to make some Application of the whole 1st Vse Is to teach us Thankfulness to the ever-blessed God for this special Benefit which he hath so graciously afforded us in order to our spiritual Cleansing Oh! Brethren this was the highest Act of God's Love and Good-will to the lost Children of Adam that could be manifested from Heaven itself Rom. 5. 8. but God commended his Love towards us in that while we were Sinners Christ died for us The meaning is That there was nothing beyond this that could afford a higher Evidence of the Grace and Good-will of God to the lost World For God to create us Creatures was a wonderful Expression of his Power and Wisdom it being a bringing of something out of nothing a most adorable Act but to save them when lost the Fruit of which is their being made new Creatures 2 Cor. 5. 17. Created in Christ Jesus unto good Works which God before ordained that we should walk in them Ephes 2. 10. This was the highest Expression of God's Wisdom Power Love and Grace that possibly could be manifested in the Face of Men and Angels What could Abraham give to God of all he did possess beyond the Life of his Son Isaac And What could God give more to Sinners than the Life of his Son John 3. 16. God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not Perish buâ— have everlasting Life This was the most costliest Means for a Cure that Heaven and Earth could procure Oh Christians and shall we not be Thankful for this and rejoyce in the Lord for this How unsuitable to a David-like Spirit would this be in us Psal 103. 2 3. O bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits who forgiveth all thine Iniquities and healeth all thy Diseases Oh Brethren this special Bloud calls for special Thankfulness
the old Man into a new Creature 2 Cor. 5. 17. Grace purifieth the Heart Acts 15. 9. And purgeth the Heart from dead Works Heb. 9. 14. Grace works Desires after Christ Psal 42. 1 2. Grace imbitters Sin to the Soul Jen 2. 91. Grace crucifies the World with the Affections and Lusts thereof Gal. 5. 24. Gal. 6. 24. Grace puts the highest Value upon Jesus Christ Phil. 3. 8. Grace makes the Word sweeter than the Honey-comb Psal 19. In a word The gracious Soul can better live without its appointed Food than it can without Prayer Psal 55. 17. Psal 109. 4. Grace is a living Principle which never will lie still but will be working stirring acting and moving in the Soul Grace cannot be idle it will still be bringing forth things new and old here you have a Looking-glass before you present your Hearts before this Glass and see what you can espy of these Signs of Grace within your Souls in order to the finding out of your Justification by the Bloud of Christ the Lamb slain for the Cleansing of your spiritual Leprosie 2. Thus after the Priest had poured out the Oil into the Palm of his Hand we next come to take notice of the Parts of the Leper's Body which the Priest was to apply the Oil unto and that was to the Tip or Lap of the right Ear the Thumb of the right Hand and the great Toe of the right Foot which Parts viz. The Ear Thumb or Hand and Foot are the three principal Members of Service to the whole Body and you find that the Bloud of Christ which was typed out by the Bloud of the Lamb and the Bird the Apostle calls it the Price which Bought us Now the Purchase which Christ made for us is twofold 1st From the Curse and Condemnation of the Law Rom. 8. 1. with Gal. 3. 13. 2dly He by the same Price bought us for his Use and Service 1 Cor. 6. 20. For ye are Bought with a Price therefore glorifie God in your Bodies and Souls which are the Lord 's So that the Priest's putting of the Bloud and Oil upon the right Ear Hand and Foot of the Leper that was to be Cleansed shadowed out these Mysteries to us First of all as to Priest's applying of the Bloud of the slain Lamb to the right Ear Hand and Foot which are the three principal Members of Service to the whole Body it notes to us this Truth for our Observation That the same Bloud of Christ which redeemed us from Wrath to come did also purchase us for that Work and Service which he commands us to do for him for so much as this I gather from the Priest's tipping of the right Ear Thumb and Toe of the right Foot of the Leper with the Bloud of the slain Lamb which Lamb was a Type of Christ which Action held a Congruity to the levitical Manner of making Men perpetual Servants to the Jewish Masters Exod. 21. 5 6. If the Servant shall plainly say I love my Master my Wife and my Children I will not go out free then his Master shall bring him unto the. Judges he shall also bring him unto the Door or to the Door-post and his Master shall bore his Ear through with an Awl and he shall serve him for ever So in like manner the Leper that was to be Cleansed was to have the Bloud of the Lamb tipt upon his Ear to be a professed Servant of the levitical Administration by which he was Cleansed for ever Now inasmuch as the Bloud of the Lamb by which the corporal Leper was Cleansed was a Type of the Bloud of Christ and the corporal Leper a Figure of a spiritual Leper and his corporal Cleansing binding him to perpetual Service typocal of that perpetual Obligation which every spiritual-cleansed Leper lies under to Christ altogether affords us this Note Doct. That he which intends to be redeemed from Sin the Curse and Condemnation of the Law and Wrath to come must become willing to give up himself to the Service of Christ for ever For the proof of this Truth read 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. You are not your own you are bought with a Price therefore glorifie God in your Bodies and Spirits which are God's As if the Apostle had said O ye Corinthians remember that the Bloud of your Redemption hath been put upon the tip of your right Ears your Hands and Feet in token of your perpetual Service to Christ as the Levitical-servant had his Ear bored through with an Awl to be his Master's Servant for ever Oh so hath the Bloud of Christ been upon your Ears also to make you his perpetual Servants for ever you are bought with a Price you are not your own therefore glorifie him in your Bodies and Spirits which are his Have a care that you rob him not of his Right in you in giving that Service to the Devil World and the Flesh which is only due to him And so we come to the Reason of the Point Reason Why that Soul who would have Redemption by Christ must be willing to become a perpetual Servant to Christ is because Christ redeems none but upon that Condition Isa 1. 19. If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good things of the Land Heb. 5. 9. He is the Author of eternal Salvation to as many as obey him Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the Flesh ye shall die but if through the Spirit ye mortifie the Deeds of the Body ye shall live So Ver. 6. For to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace Thus you see how Conditional the Promises are which speak out a Soul's Benefit by the Redeeming-bloud of Christ which do all call upon us for a willing chearful and sincerc Obedience to Christ though we grant That it is not an old but a New Covenant-condition even such a Condition that the Grace and gracious Aid which only can enable us to perform the Condition is graciously given into the Soul by Jesus Christ and who will as graciously accept our Endeavours though clothed with many Weaknesses and Infirmities so that our Obedience to him be but sincere 2 Cor. 8. 12. If there be first a willing Mind it is accepted according to what a Man hath and not according to that he hath not And so we come to make some Application of this Matter 1st Vse This informs us then why the Number is so small which comes under the Yoke of Jesus Christ the Reason is because there are so few that are willing to come up to the Terms he propounds which is a willing Subjection to the Government of his Word and Spirit which is the Condition he propounds to all that would have an Interest in his Salvation They would willingly accept of his Bloud to wash away the Guilt of Sin from their Souls but they like not to have it tipt or applied to their Ears to engage them to his Work and Service
his Justification yet he deeply complains of his readiness and proneness Rom. 7. 21. I find a Law in my Members that when I would do Good Evil is present with me There is this difference bewixt a Justified and an Unjustified Man's Inclination to Sin a Justified Man always Sins with Reluctancy but the other with Allowance the Justified Man is ever renewing his State by Repentance Psal 51. 1 2 3 4. And the other is adding of Sin to Sin without Repentance Jer. 8. 6. I hearkened and heard but they spake not aright no Man repented him of his Wickedness saying What have I done Every one turned to his Course as the Horse rusheth into the Battle Sin is squeezed forth from a Justified Man but it comes freely without let or hindrance from the other Now look into thy Heart though thy sinful Nature works in thee yet is it with Regret Is it with due Repentance Doth it not come freely from thee Is it the Evil thou wouldst not do as Paul speaks and doth it oftentimes make thee to cry out as he did in Rom. 7. 24. O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death Then doubt not because thou hast no more reason to question thy Justification than David Heman Paul or Peter had The third Ground of a Christian's doubting about his Justified Condition ariseth from his want of Skill to distinguish betwixt the old Reckoning as it stands upon the Book of God's Accounts and as it stands upon the Book of God's Accounts and as it stands upon the Book of his own Conscience It is just with such Christians as it is with some ignorant Servant who is sent to a Shop-keeper to buy such and such Commodities the Shop-keeper sets it all down in his Shop-book the next Week the Servant comes and dischargeth the Debt the Week following the same Servant comes again for new Commodities the Shop-keeper books down all again as before but as the Shop-keeper is writing down of the new Debt the Servant looking over his shoulder espies the Items of the old Reckoning upon the Book which was discharged before this sends the Servant away with a Heart loaded with Grief and Trouble fearing that the Debt which he had discharged will be demanded again It 's true he saw some strokes crost over the Particulars upon the Book but being wholly ignorant that the crossing of the Book was a full Discharge of the Debt in Law this keeps the poor Servant under his Fear and Trouble still Thus stands the Matter with many a doubting Christian about their Justification though the Book of Accounts in Heaven be discharged and crost above with the red strokes of the Bloud of Christ the Vertue of which dischargeth the whole in Law 1 John 1. 7. The Bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all Sin Yet the Soul being unaquainted with this Mystery he beholding the Items standing yet upon his own Conscience thinks that the whole Debt is still to be exacted from him as if there had never been any Satisfaction made for his Debt at all But O doubting Soul if thou wouldst have Peace in thy Soul thy Work must be to acquaint thy self with the nature of a Believer's Discharge as to his Debt in the Court of Heaven above Labour by an Eye of Faith to see the red Strokes of Christ's Bloud with which the grand Book above is crost for thee for ever and then whatever the Items are which stands upon the Book of thy Conscience yet they can do thee no hurt because now they signifie nothing against thee in Law Rom. 8. 33 34. Who shall condemn It is God that Justifies Who shall lay any thing to the Charge of God's Elect It is Christ that Died. So that you plainly see that God justifieth a Believer upon the account of Christ's Death the Bloud of whose Death dischargeth his Debt and gives such a Satisfaction to the Law of God that nothing can condemn the Soul for ever thus you see what these Doubts are which do darken a Christian's Interest in his Justification and also the Grounds and Reasons from whence these Doubts and Fears do arise But here lieth thy Comfort Christ thy High-Priest hath compleated this Work for thee though thou canst not apprehend thy Interest in it by a clear sight of Faith yet he by one Offering hath perfected this Work for thee and that for ever if thou be truly Sanctified Heb. 10. 14. 2dly This affords â—â—mfort to Believers against their Doubts arising from the littleness of their Sanctification Oh saith a doubting Soul who is sensible of the weakness and littleness of his Grace Oh! if I have any Grace at all yet it is so little I fear it will never last long and so I shall never be able to hold out Oh! my Faith in God my Love to God my Zeal for God my Sincerity before God my Patience under Trials my Self-denial and Holiness is so little that I fear all my Religion will end in meer Formality and my Profession conclude in Hypocrisie when all is done Ans Oh! Soul against all these Fears thy Duty is to look up to Jesus Christ who is thy mystical Head and in him thou shalt see thy Soul compleatly Sanctified as well as compleatly Justified I do not say that Christ hath compleated the Work of Sanctification in a Believer's own Person while in this Life No no while a Believer is in the Body the Flesh will be lusting against the Spirit Gal. 5. 17. and Believers again through the Spirit do mortifie the Deeds of the Body Rom. 8. 13. which is one special part of Sanctification And further I do not say that the Spirit in his working of Mortification doth so kill and subdue Sin in Believers as that it shall never trouble grieve or defile them more No that Freedom belongs to the perfect State in Heaven but though Christ hath not perfected this Work in a Believer yet Christ hath perfected Sanctification in himself for the Believer Doth not the Apostle say 1 Cor. 1. 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption First It must be acknowledged that by Nature thou art in thy self a Fool Luke 24. 25. O Fools and slow of heart to believe Secondly It is as true that thou hast no Righteousness of thy own Isa 64. 6. We are all as an unclean Thing our Righteousness is as filthy Rags Thirdly Thou art by Nature a perfect Slave and Vassel to Sin and the Devil therefore is Christ said to proclaim Liberty to the Captives even to such as thou art Isa 61. 1. Fourthly And it is as true that thou art as void of Sanctification Ezek. 16. 6. When I passed by thee I saw thee polluted in thy own Bloud But now thou seest that Christ is made over to thee by God the Father to be Wisdom for thy Foolishness Righteousness for thy