Vera Effigies TIMOTHEI CRUSO Aetat 40. 1697. T. Forster delin N. White scuÌ„lp TWENTY-FOUR SERMONS Preached at the MERCHANTS-LECTURE AT Pinners Hall By the late Reverend Mr. TIMOTHY CRVSO LONDON Printed by S. Bridge for Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside MDCXCIX TO THE READER THese Sermons are some of the Reliques of one who is gone to receive the Fruit of his Labours who hath left Sowing for the sake of the Harvest wherein he is now reaping Though this is a Posthumous Piece yet it speaks out the living Praise of the dead Author whose it was without any Alteration or Addition being Printed from his own Notes If I may use the Phrase in Fashion he lived too fast not as too many do who shorten their Days by their Debaucheries and sinful Excesses but as a Taper which wastes it self to give Light to others His Bodily Constitution was too weak to undergo the Service his Soul put it to in constant Studies and hard Labour that he might Answer the Restlesness of his Mind which was always aspiring to greater Knowledge and higher Attainments whereby he laid greater load upon his Flesh than its weakness could bear and so sinking under the burden he died in the midst of his Days There is no need of my Epistle to Midwife these Excellent Discourses into the World nor had I had any hand in it had it not been to answer the Desires of some Relations of his to whom my Obligations will not allow me to deny any thing And also to take this occasion to Vindicate what I spake and published in his Funeral Sermon about the Vnion of the Spirit of Christ with the Dead Body of a Saint which hath by some been greatly stumbled at and called in question as a new Doctrine I therefore thought it Charity to such to remove this stumbling Block not by any Arguments further than what I have therein already urged but by calling in the Judgment of others in this matter and I shall look no farther back than to the Learned Men of our own Times Mr. Rutherford speaking of the Covenant of Grace Treatise of the Covenant of Grace p. 216. says It is thus Eternal in that the dead Parties Abraham Isaac and Jacob are still in the Covenant of Grace and there remains a Covenant Union between Christ and their rotten Flesh sleeping in the Dust Mr. Calamy says Morning Exercise of Giles in Fields Ser. 24. p. 548. The Bodies of the Saints shall be raised by vertue of their Union with Christ for the Body of a Saint even while it is in the Grave is united to Christ and is asleep in Jesus and shall be raised by vertue of this Union And in p. 557. If thou gettest into Christ while thou livest thou shalt die in Christ and sleep in Christ and be raised by Christ into Eternal Happiness Mr. Case speaking of the Vnion between Christ and Believers Case his Mount Pisgah first Part p. 38. says Not only in Death but even after Death this Union holds the Saints are said to sleep in Jesus that part of the Saints which is capable of sleep is not capable of Separation from Christ While their more noble Part is united to Christ in Heaven among the Spirits of Just Men made perfect Christ is united to their inferiour and more ignoble Part in the Grave their very Dust they sleep in Jesus Mr. Stedman says Stedman's Mystical Vnion of Believers with Christ p. 191. Death it self 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 Separation between his Body and Soul yet it did not separate the Humane Body 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 united to Jesus when they are dead Dr. Collings on those words of our Lord Pool 's Annotations on John 11.26 He that believeth on me shall never die says Though his Body shall die because of sin yet his Spirit shall live because of Righteousness and God shall in the great Day quicken again his Mortal Body through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in him and is united to him Dr. Thomas Goodwin Dr. Goodwin 's first Fol. on Ephes 1.14 p. â—â—1 Doth the Spirit dwell in you now When you are laid in the Grave that Spirit dwelleth in you as he did in the Body of Christ I do not say in the same manner The Spirit of God did dwell in the Body of Christ in the Grave and raised it up he never left him Though his Body was a dead Carkass without a Soul yet that Body was Hypostatically united to the Godhead therefore it was called Holy One My Holy One shall not see Corruption Now the Comparison is If we have the Spirit of Christ and if he dwell in us the same Spirit shall never leave our Bodies till he hath raised us up also Nay while thy Body is dead and rotten in the Grave the Holy Ghost dwells in it And hear what a great Man of the Church of England in his Day saith Christ's Deity was united to his dead Body his Resurrection was perform'd by the Power and Spirit of the Father God reached out his hand to him and raised him up Here then is our Comfort the same Spirit of God is communicable to us the same Arm of Power may be reached out to us He will imploy the same power for us as he did for Christ Ephes 1.19 And again in p. 210. His Spirit dwells in you The Inhabitation of God's Spirit that is the Ground of our Resurrection because it is Vinculum unionis the Spirit is the Bond of our Union and Conjunction with Christ By it we are Incorporated into his Body and made Members of it Now then if our Head rise all the Members must rise with it if the Head be in Heaven the Members shall not for ever perish in the Grave This Union by the Spirit is like the touch of a Load-stone it will attract and draw us to him that where he is we shall be also It is spoken of his Hypostatical but it is true also of his Mystical Union Quod semel assumpsit nunquam deposuit Christ will part with none of his Members Bishop Brownrig 2d Vol. p. 204. And again in the same Page Our Bodies by this Inhabitation are Consecrated to be a Possession of the Holy Ghost and the Temple of God must not be destroy'd God's Spirit takes Pleasure not only in these living Temples but owns them when they are dead takes Pleasure in the dead Bones and Favours the Dust of them I could multiply Testimonies of elder Date to prove the Truth of this Doctrine and that it is no new Notion but there needs no Proof from Humane Testimony
done Can we think that our Services would be so well recompenc'd by a perpetual stay here 't is impossible to think so When the Master is come and calleth for us as John 11.28 we cannot but know it is in order to our unspeakable Promotion and Advancement The Arrows which Death shoots though they kill yet they are directed and design'd in greater Love than Jonathan's to David which were to prevent him from being killed Death may seem formidable at a distance as one says like Esau to Jacob but is very friendly when it comes nigher to us and does us the kindest Office which to have undone would be our greatest loss Though it did no more than case us of the grievous weight of indwelling Sin that 's a matchless Benefit for if we had not mortal Bodies we must have immortal Corruptions 6. This is the concluding and crowning Act of our Obedience to God in this World 'T is the compleat finishing of our whole Work here when we have done this we have no more to do on Earth Now how incongruous and unseemly how reproachful and dishonourable would it be for a Man to live many Years in a course of Duty and then spoil all by Disobedience in the last Act Undoubtedly the Man whose Heart is perfect and upright with God shall never be left to do so If we have been truly Faithful to the Death we shall not be Rebellious in it But however Exhortations and Arguments are of use to the best through the efficacious Concurrence of the Spirit with them He that lives to the Will of God cannot be said to persevere finally unless he dies according to that Will also We do not follow God fully if we start and fly back just at the end of our Race when we should lay hold upon the Prize I know thy works and the last to be more than the first was Thyatiras's Commendation Rev. 2.19 God expects that at the last we should outdo all which we have done before If we have run well 't is pity that the last step should be the slowest 7. This being the last Act of our Obedience here in this World will have the greatest Influence on those whom we leave behind us As the last words of dying Persons are apt to make the deepest Impression upon surviving Friends so their last Acts are most likely to encourage Imitation When we forget most of the Passages of their Lives we remember their Deaths and are ready to take our measures from thence And indeed the Holy Ghost calls upon us especially to mark the End of the perfect and upright Man Psalm 37.37 and to consider the End of their Conversation whose Faith we are to follow Hebr. 13.7 The End here signifies the close the issue of their Conversation Now where this is unimitable it will obstruct our following of all that went before how good soever it were This will still stick most upon their Minds that should take Pattern from our Faith and Obedience and tend to dishearten them from walking with God if after a Life of service we should flinch and faulter in the last Extremity it may tempt some to believe that God is an hard Master and that we too late begin to think him so Whereas an holy submissive Death will have all the contrary Effects 8. This is an Act of Obedience from which God 's chiefest Favourites on Earth are not exempted If this were a Cup which passed from every one else and were only filled out to us it might be more bitter to drink of it and sinful Flesh might have the more to say against it but God lays no other Burden upon us herein than what all his Saints excepting two have born from the beginning of the World yea even those two underwent a Change in their Translation in some respects we are sure equivolent to Death Are we so much better than our Fathers than the many Thousands which have gone to Heaven the same way that we should expect any peculiar Privilege Are we greater than Abraham who is dead and the Prophets who are dead whom do we make our selves as the Jews said to Christ John 8.53 Does God deal worse with us or require more from us than from all the Excellent of the Earth Why must not we give place to others when God thinks meet as others have made way for us that successive Generations may still go and come That Life which we are prone to complain of as too short 't is probable hath been longer than many and the shortest is certainly longer than we deserve that it should be 9. 'T is an Act wherein God's Saints on Earth out-do the Obedience of Angels in Heaven This is a mighty Honour to us that we are capable of honouring God by dying according to his will which is out of their Power for they die not 'T is their bright and glorious Character that they do his Commandments Psalm 103.20 but this is a command which they cannot do and which they were never tried with They have no such Bodies as we have to be separated from and by the Settlement which God hath made meer spiritual Beings cannot taste of Death Now this is a thing worthy of our Ambition to bring more Glory to God than the highest Angel can for a Saint of God would seek to excel all Creatures 'T is no Tryal to Angels to execute the orders which they receive in comparison of what Moses did here in the Text and yet 't is astonishing to read how familiarly he hears of his own Departure there was no noise no striving no trouble in the case God only says to him Go up and die and he does it as when the Prophet Elijah had Food set before him and was invited to arise and eat to which an hungry Man in a barren Wilderness would need very little perswasion To which of the Angels did God say thus at any time Our Mortality gives us an opportunity of obeying which they want 10. All the Obedience which we have to yield after this to God in Heaven will be like that of the Angels most easie and delightful Glorified Saints are doing endless Service but there is nothing of Labour or Difficulty in it nor can there be the least degree of aversion or unwillingness to perform it When we have once poured out our Souls into the Bosom of God we shall launch into the pleasant Enjoyment of Eternal Praise and so far as we understand the Worship of the Church above this will be the whole business that we shall be exercised in A business which will contribute greatly to our Blessedness There is a great deal of weight and force in this Argument if we think seriously upon it how hard and painful soever the work of dying be all our work afterwards will be entire and perfect like crowding through a strait Gate into a spacious Mansion where we are to walk at Liberty for ever How desirous soever the Flesh
them and those that are below them 1. Creatures that are above them do Service to them Angels disdain not to be their Guardians while they are here as they are to be their more intimate and perpetual Associates hereafter Are they not all without exception the highest Orders of them sent forth as ministring Spirits on the behalf of the Heirs of Salvation Heb. 1. ult Who but they can look to be thus attended Angels of Light do gladly minister to the Children of Light they are deputed by our Heavenly Father to keep us in all our ways and at last to convey us home 2. Creatures below them are directed and over-ruled to serve them also Every one in God's great House on Earth shall though perhaps without your knowledge and against your will promote the Interest of those that are design'd to dwell in Heaven As all things are put under the feet of Christ our elder Brother Ephes 1.22 so we by him recover as much of our lost Dominion as we have real occasion for The whole Creation is more subject to the Heirs of God than to the common Men. 2. To shew that this Sonship of Believers is a Gospel Privilege It is so in a two-fold sense by way of opposition to the Law of Works and by way of composition with the times of the Old Testament Consider it either way it is truely and strictly Evangelical 1. In Opposition to the Law of Works No Soul was ever invested thereby with this blessed Privilege of Adoption This is plain because 1. The Law worketh Wrath and nothing else Rom. 4.15 It speaks no Favour to any Son or Daughter of Adam it breaths out Threatnings but is utterly silent as to Promises The Language of the Law is Judgment without Mercy extremity of Vengeance without any mixture of Kindness Therefore 't is said that as many as are under the Works of the Law who are in the first Covenant and adhere to it and rest upon it are under the Curse who are in the first Covenant and adhere to it and rest upon it are under the Curse Gal. 3.10 Adoption through Grace is perfectly concluded by the Law it will never make Men Children of God but pronounces them Children of Wrath. 2. The Law convinces of Sin and Guilt but gives no Righteousness therefore Sonship cannot come by the Law For Adoption presupposes Justification and is consequent upon it The Children of God are all Righteous with a Righteousness that perfectly answers the Legal Demands viz. the Righteousness of Christ For in him shall all the Seed of Israel be justified Isa 45.25 But now all the natural Seed of Adam before they are adopted to God are Condemned for want of such a Righteousness The Law Sentence goes forth against them and takes hold of them as Guilty Sinners that have broken the Commandment can never keep it 2. in comparison with the Times of the Old Testament 'T is true the Believers in those times were the Sons and Daughters of God and they challeng'd their Privilege Isa 63.16 Doubtless thou art our Father but yet it was in so defective a degree that they seem'd more like to Servants than Sons and were trained up under suitable Discipline Hence the Apostle says ver 7. following the Text Wherefore thou art no more a Servant but a Son implying that thou hast been in a kind of servile but art now Translated in these New Testament Times into a more filial State Our Privilege of Sonship under the Gospel excels in Two Regards 1. As to clearness of Manifestation and Discovery The Children of Princes and great Persons many times know little of the Honour and Hopes which they are born to till they arrive at some competent maturity So the Ancient Believers understood a great deal less of Divine Benefits by Jesus Christ than we do now They like Moses had a Veil upon their Faces we behold with open Face if compared with them They were not strangers to the Covenant of Promise but their acquaintance with the things promised fell very short of ours All that is freely given us of God is now made more known and plac'd in a better Light 2. As to Fulness and Amplitude of Enjoyment The Merit and Influence of Christ's Death in all Points extended backwards as far as the First Ages of the World wherein any Believers lived but the Fruits of it then did not so abound as since his coming The Spirit was shed abroad and pour'd out then but not so richly and liberally as now He was given then more sparingly now in a larger measure And consequently their Fruition of this blessed Sonship was not equal to ours though they had such a Privilege they could not use it with so much advantage They were like Heirs in Childhood that have only some smaller allowance during that time we are like those upon the edge of Manhood who have more of their Estate in their own Hands III. How is this Gospel-Privilege discern'd by the help of the Spirit How do we come to know that we have it through the sending of him into ours Hearts Answ In six Propositions 1. The Spirit of God in his dealing with Souls does not ordinarily begin as a Spirit of Adoption but rather as a Spirit of Bondage This seems to be hinted Rom. 8.15 You have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear but you have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father This was written to actual Believers those that were called to be Saints and their not receiving of the Spirit of Bondage again after they had received the Spirit of Adoption supposes they had so received him before The Spirit of Bondage and Adoption are one and the same Spirit distinguish'd only by various Operations noting two different Effects of the same Cause Now usually the former of these does precede and introduce the latter while the Spirit is making use of the Law to bring us to Christ we see our selves in a miserable undone Condition when he hath fully brought us to Christ by the Ministry of the Gospel the Scene is alter'd and we perceive our selves to be the Seed which the Lord hath Blessed Strong Cordials are not so fit to be immediately pour'd into foul Stomachs There is a shaking which goes before the Establishment a making of Trouble before the speaking of Peace a Storm raised in the Soul before a comfortable Calm As Manasseh was taken first among the Thorns and bound in Fetters and carried to Babylon and then knew the Lord 2 Chron. 33.11 13. And as Joseph was sold for a Servant into Egypt and laid in Irons there which made way for his Enlargement and Preferment Psalm 105.17 18. c. so does our Exercise under a Spirit of Bondage tend to Liberty by the Spirit of Adoption if we are the Called according to God's purpose 2. The time of our continuance under a Spirit of Bondage before we receive the Spirit of Adoption with the
while are not perceiv'd to be do not therefore cease to be we may be taken into the number of the Sons of God and yet want the Manifestation of our being such Rom. 8.19 I speak not this to discourage any in the least from looking after the clearing up of these Matters as much as can be to their own Souls but to prevent those from being too much discouraged who are yet kept in the dark by God that they may not conclude positively against themselves but rather take Courage with the Church under the hidings of God's Face But thou art our Father Isa 64.7 8. IV. How is this Priviledge of a Believer's Sonship improve'd by the Spirit 's help The Text seems to have a special Reference to Prayer and to our Challenging and Pleading of this filial Relation in that Duty I shall endeavour the opening of this Point in these eight Things 1. That the Spirit of Christ is particularly promis'd and given as a Spirit of Supplication Zech. 12.10 His Influence is eminently needful in this Service We should never sind in our Hearts to Pray one acceptable Prayer to God throughout our Lives if the Spirit did not put it into our Hearts first We cannot speak to God in any Language which he will hear upon any occasion whatsoever without the Spirits Direction They are all vain Words which are not of his Teaching the froth and scum of Man's Invention which however esteemed among Creatures here below bears no Price at all in Heaven Every Petition which the Father receives is dictated and drawn up by the Holy Ghost God never inclines his own Ear but when he thus prepares our Hearts Except this Advocate be at Work in us there is no finding of Audience with him And therefore they that prophanely renounce all Supplication in and by the Spirit as some have done may as well go a little further and lay aside all Supplication in general for whatever Prayer they pour out is as Water spilt on the Ground 2. Effectual Prayer such as the Spirit teaches and helps us in is put up to God as a Father Jesus Christ is a Pattern to us and if we examine the style of his Prayers we shall find that they are all grounded upon this Relation Mat. 11.25 I thank thee oh Father c. which Title is repeated ver 26. Even so Father c. John 12.27 Father save me from this Hour Father glorifie thy Name And no less than six Times over Chap 17. Again in the Garden Mat. 26.39 O my Father if it be possible c. Yea some of his last Words upon the Cross were in the same strain when he came to give up the Ghost Luke 23.46 Father into thy Hands c. And that we might not think this was proper and suitable to him only the Directory which he gave to his Disciples is so likewise After this manner Pray ye Our Father c. Mat. 6.9 When the Scripture speaks of making Supplication to our Judge Job 9.15 We must understand it of Praying that he would not deal with us as a Judge Psalm 143.2 Enter not into Judgment c. 3. The Praying Dispositions of Children are first infus'd into them by the Spirit Every Babe in Christ is furnish'd with them and as he increases in spiritual Strength and Stature they grow up with him Children naturally apply themselves to their Parents for what they want rather than to other Persons and this also is natural to all the Children of God 'T is a part of their new Nature which is the Work and Product of the Spirit He that hath not a Divine Principle in him which leads him to call on the Father deserves not to be call'd a Christian Assoon as the Soul is born again it crys and its cry is immediately to him whom it is born of This cry is renewed every Day several times in a Day for there is an Habit of this kind emplanted in the Soul which puts forth it self in frequent Acts. The Spirit 's quickening is always accompanied with inward groaning so that where no such groans are we may be sure that Death hath Dominion still and the Man hath not begun to Live 4. The Spirit fills the Mouth with Arguments in the very Act of Prayer such as are fit to be us'd and urg'd to a Father Holy and humble Argumentations with God are truly the very sinews of Prayer wherein its great Strength lies It does not so much consist in the bare proposing of our Requests to God as in the alledging of proper Pleas for God's answering and fulfilling of them Such as that of the Church Isa 63.15 Where is the sounding of thy Bowels and of thy Mercies towards me are they restrained This is Connected with their Claim of God as a Father in the next Words twice ver 16. A fatherly Relation speaks Tenderness and Compassion Psalm 103.13 Like as a Fasther pitieth his Children c. Whoever are void of Pity Fathers are wont to put on Bowels or if the Fathers of our Flesh should be unnatural the Father of our Spirits cannot be so and therefore this was a very apt and agreeable Plea which the Spirit of God hath Register'd for us Whatever you need to have done intreat of God to do as becomes a Father 5. The Spirit enables us to go to God as a Father with Confidence for whom can Children repair so freely to as to their own Parent Whom can they with so much certainty expect Relief from as from him that begat them Therefore as we have Access by one Spirit unto the Father Eph. 2.18 So we are said to have boldness and access or access with boldness Chap. 3.12 The Command of God is to ask in Faith to trust him and depend upon him for the seasonable Accomplishment of all our regular Desires and this dependance is as much our Duty as Subjection is and it is every whit as difficult yea as impossible to be perform'd without the help of the Spirit 'T is far easier to utter many thousands of Petitions before God than to lift up one to him believingly But when the Soul is strengthen'd with all might by the Spirit in this Duty all the workings of unbelief are instantly subdued Doubts and Fears of our Acceptance and Success are made to vanish like Shadows that fly away upon the Appearance of the Sun 6. The Spirit instructs us how to Address our selves to God as a Father with becoming Reverence There must be a mixture of this with our Considence or else we abuse our Priviledge instead of improving it The same Spirit is a Spirit of the fear of the Lord as well as of Faith Isa 11.2 We are not to make so bold with God as not to stand in awe of him The Freedom which God allows us in his Presence is not a rude Familiarity this is not Child-like for a Father ought to be respected by those that descend from him He must be consider'd as a
of the Comforts of it assign'd by God and when that Portion is exhausted we are truly full of Days whether we have lived long in the World or a little while No Man can die till then and after that 't is impossible to live It is certain that to this point we shall come and as certain that we shall not go beyond it 4. The place of our Death is limited by the purpose and pleasure of God as well as the of our Habitation while we live He prescribes not only when but where our Spirits shall reutrn to him He calls as it were to every Man out of Heaven though not so audibly as to Moses saying Die thou there upon that spot of Ground thy Carkass shall fall as God said concerning Ahab with reference to Naboth's Field which he had gotten by Murder I wil requite thee in this plat 2 Kings 9.26 One perhaps is struck in a Religious Assembly another in his Closet one in the City another in the Field one at Home another Abroad but all exactly in that place which was allotted by God's eternal Decree Our Lord could not be hurt in Herod's Jurisdiction because his last Stage was to be Jerusalem Luke 13.33 5. The means of our Death are disposed and managed by God whether natural or violent or casual means Whatsoever it be which brings us to the Grave 't is a Messenger of his sending When the Manslayer kills another undesignedly God is said to deliver the other into his hand Exod. 21.13 so when bloody Men seek after our Lives 't is as true that God delivers us into their hands also if we fall into them Him being deliver'd by the council and foreknowledge of God you have taken c. Acts 2.23 There is no Distemper which proves mortal to us amongst the many that we are incident to but what therein executes the Orders of God He who hath appointed such an Event does likewise appoint those things whereby it is brought about Diseases in the Body as well as Storms in the Air fulfil his Word 6. The manner of dying as to Slowness or Suddennes Ease or Pain is directed by the Will of God Some are snatch'd out of the World as Israel went out of Egypt in haste and cut off by a quick surprizing stroke like Sodom's overthrow in a moment Others have a lingring Departure and the Pins of their Tabernacle are loosned and pulled out by degrees God is the Supream Orderer of both for he takes away as he sees good Ezek. 16.50 Some slide out of the World like Rivers of Oil which run smooth and soft without any Bands in their Death and others die with Agony and Torture as if the Soul were rent and torn out of the Body like the casting of the dumb Spirit out of the Child Mark 9.26 And who knoweth not in all these that the Hand of the Lord hath wrought this II. What sort of Obedience we are to yield to the Will of God in this Case Here shew what is consistent with it and what are the proper and due Qualifications of it First What is Consistent with this Obedience which may seem opposite and repugnant to it Answ 1. The use of natural Remedies for the preservation of Life consists very well with our Obedience to God in dying it is the manifest Will of God that we should use them when his secret will is not to prosper them When we know not how he will do with us we know not what he hath requir'd us to do for our selves A diligent Application of Recovering means may be accompanied with our dutiful submitting of the issue to him 'T is no Rebellion against the Laws of God to follow the Rules of the Physician even in our last Sickness before we know whether it will be our last or not The Distemper'd Body ought not to be neglected though the departing Spirit is to be resign'd The Body is such an Hand-maid to the Soul that it must not like that Egyptian Servant be carelesly left when it falls sick 1 Sam. 30.31 2. Conditional Requests to God for sparing Mercy are not inconsistent with this Obedience Absolute Requests indeed are not allowable to ask Life in a peremptory Manner whether it be the Will of God to grant it to no is as sinful as 't is vain but to ask it with a becomeing Subjection to his unknown good Pleasure is what he approves though he denies to answer Our Lord himsself intreated the passing of the Cup from him if it were possible or if his Father were willing Luke 22.42 So long as there is hope there is Room for Prayer yea many Times against Hope Prayer hath prevailed While we are under God's Hand we cannot tell but that he may hear when we find that the unalterable Decree is gone forth we are to cease like those Disciples when Paul would not be persuaded saying The Will of the Lord be done Acts 21.14 3. A zealous pursuit of Holy Designs for the Service and Interest of Christ to the very last is consistent with our Obedience to the Will of God in dying It behoves us to be carrying on Religious Projects as long as we live though we should yield to dye before we have accomplisht them Though David was told that he should not have the Honour of building an House for God yet he continued his vast Preparations for it till the Time that he fell asleep While we have any being we should be aiming at further usefulnes continuing and drawing the Schemes of more good Works whether God will give us Opportunity for the performance or not It will be our Glory to dye with such Work upon our Hands for no Man ever yet but Jesus Christ was able to do all that was in his Heart to do for God Mr. N. Mather 4. The strugglings of Humane Flesh against the bitterness of Death though never altogether Innocent in us as in Christ will consist with our Obedience in dying Nature cannot receive such a Sentence in it self without some Aversion though Grace overcomes and subdues it Nature will look upon Death as an Enemy still though Grace looks upon it as Conquer'd The Mind so far as it is renewed is entirely given up to God but the Sanctification of the Spirit Soul and Body being still imperfect there will be some remaining Reluctancies These tho' not excusable from Sin are nevertheless reconcileable with Sincerity The dying Acts of Believers are not free from guilty weakness and yet are unquestionably done in greatest Uprightness There is something which pulls back but a stronger Principle which draws them forward 2. What are the due and proper Qualifications of this Obedience Ans 1. It includes a quiet expecting and waiting for God's Call Obedience to God in dying must not spring from an impatient Discontent of Living for then it is no Obedience but real unruliness of the Spirit seeking Deliverance before the Time from some burdensome Evils wherewith we are opprest
solemn Call and Dedication blessed Offices deep Abasement and Supereminent Advancement A Treatise of the Soul of Man wherein the Divine Original excellent and immortal Nature of the Soul are opened its Love and Inclination to the Body with the necessity of its Separation from it considered and improved The Existence Operations and States of separated Souls both in Heaven and Hell immediately after Death asserted discussed and variously applied Divers knotty and difficult Questions about departed Souls both Philosophical and Theological stated and determined The Method of Grace in bringing home the Eternal Redemption contrived by the Father and accomplished by the Son through the Effectual Application of the Spirit unto God's Elect being the second Part of Gospel Redemption The Divine Conduct or Mystery of Providence its Being and Efficacy asserted and vindicated all the Methods of Providence in our course of Life opened with Directions how to apply and improve them Navigation spiritualiz'd or a New Compass for Seamen consisting of Thirty Two Points of pleasant Observations profitable Applications serious Reflections all concluded with so many spiritual Poems c. A Saint indeed the great Work of a Christian A Touchstone of Sincerity or Signs of Grace and Symptoms of Hypocrifie being the second Part of the Saint indeed A Token for Mourners or Boundaries for Sorrow for the Death of Friends Husbandry spiritualiz'd or the Heavenly use of Earthly Things All these Ten by Mr. John Flavell A Funeral Sermon on the Death of that Pious Gentlewoman Mrs Judith Hammond late Wife of the Reverend Mr. George Hammond Minister of the Gospel in London Of Thoughtfulness for the Morrow With an Appendix concerning the immoderate Desire of foreknowing Things to come Of Charity in reference to others Mens sins The Redeemers Tears wept over lost Souls in a Treatise on Luke 19.41 42. With an Appendix wherein somewhat is occasionally Discoursed concerning the Sin against the Holy Ghost and how God is said to Will the Salvation of them that Perish A Sermon directing what we are to do after a strict Enquiry whether or no we truly Love God A Funeral Sermon for Mrs Esther Sampson late Wife of Mr. Henry Sampson Doctor of Physick who died Nov. 24. 1689. The Carnality of Religious Contention In two Sermons Preach'd at the Merchants Lecture in Broadstreet A calm and sober Enquiry concerning the Possibility of a Trinity in the Godhead A Letter to a Friend concerning a Postscript to the Defence of Dr. Sherlock's Notion of the Trinity in Unity relating to the calm and sober Enquiry upon the same Subject A View of that Part of the late Considerations Addrest to H. H. about the Trinity Which concerns the sober Enquiry on that Subject A Sermon preach'd on the late Day of Thanksgiving Decemb. 2. 1697. To which is prefix'd Dr. Bates's Congratulatory Speech to the King All these Eleven by Mr. John Howe The Good of Early Obedience or the Advantage of bearing the Yoke of Christ betimes Octavo The Almost Christian or the false Professor Tried and Cast Duodecimo Spiritual Wisdom improved against Temptation Duodecimo The Vision of the Wheels seen by the Prophet Ezechiel Quarto A Sermon of Unity or Two Sticks made one Quarto All Five by Matth. Mead Pastor of a Church of Christ at Stepney Discourses upon the Rich Man and Lazarus Octavo Three last Sermons of Mr. Cruso To which is added a Sermon on Novemb. 5. 1697. Octavo Both by Tim. Cruso M. A. His Funeral Sermon preach'd by Matth. Mead. Quarto The Life and Death of Mr Philip Henry Minister of the Gospel at Whitchurch in Shropshire who died June 24. 1696. Recommended by Dr. Bates David Jones's Sermon in Ember-Week preached before the University of Oxford The Qualifications requisite towards the Receiving a Divine Revelation A Sermon preached in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul January the 2d 1699. Being the First for this Year of the Lecture Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle Esq By Samuel Bradford M. A. Rector of St. Mary le Bow
1.8 And no Prohibitions or Threatenings must stop their Mouths or tempt them to neglect their Duty But this is not all that which follows in the last Clause of the Verse is yet more considerable And so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him q.d. Though you quarrel with us and oppose our Testimony there is a witness above all Exception who may not only silence but Cure your lnfidelity we are not alone in this Work we have one to back us who is greater than all even the Spirit of God himself This agrees with what Christ had said John 15.26 27. When the Comforter is come he shall testifie of me and ye also shall bear witness The Words are the Conclusion of Peter's Reply to the Jewish Sanhedrim in which we have a brief Abridgement of his Sermon or larger Discourse upon the Day of Pentecost though that and this had very different Effects they who heard that were pricked to the Heart and it issued in their saving Conversion Chap. 2.37 They who heard this were cut to the Heart and consulted about slaving the Apostles ver 33. of this Chapter The same Expression is us'd concerning Stephen's Murderers Chap. 7.54 And signifies the galling of their Consciences Which provoke them to a more furious Resistance of the Truth when they have been persuaded to embrace it Thus that very Word in substance the same which is the savour of Life unto one becomes the savour of Death unto another Obs The Holy Spirit whom God hath given to them that obey him is a Witness to Jesus Christ The Text is not a direct Assertion of the Doctrine of the Trinity but we have here all the Three Divine Persons brought in and mentioned together Our Lord Christ is the Person witness'd to the Holy Ghost is the Person witnesssin and God the Father is the Person whom this Witness proceeds from and is sent by These are the Three that are siad to bear Record or witness in Heaven 1 John 5.7 And indeed they all Testifie to each other The Father bore Witness of Christ John 5.37 Christ also was given to be a Witness to him Isa 55.4 And in this Place the Holy Ghost is named as a Witness to Christ In handling this I. Shew in what Sense the Holy Spirit is given II. Whom he is given to III. How he performs the Work and Office of a Witness to our Lord Jesus IV. Use I. In what Sense is the Holy Spirit given by God In many Places which 't is needless to repeat the same Phrase occurs to us especially in the New Testament To prevent misunderstanding in so fuudamental a Point I shall endeavour with an humble regard to the greatness of the Mystery to open it Negatively and Positiverly 1. Negatively The giving of the Spirit by God the Father does not import the Spirits being Inferiour to the Father nor does it exclude the Purchase and Gift of Christ 1. This does not import the Spirit 's being Inferiour to the Father How difficult soever it be to conceive the Order which is among the Persons in the Godhead we are sure 't is impossible that there should be any inequality The Blessed Spirit is one with the Father and to him belong all the glorious Perfections of the Supream Being he is the most High God as the Father is All the Three Persons have the same Infinite Essence and Nature the same Understanding Will and boundless Power If any one Person be put beneath another his Deity is thereby destroy'd and therefore we must take heed of any such unscriptural Imagination concerning the Spirit of God The Holy Ghost is given indeed but not as by a Superiour who hath a command over another whether he will or not for he is given with his own Consent and one equal may give another if they agreee to do so as in like manner Jesus Christ whom the Scripture calls God's Fellow is also said to be given of God 2. This does not exclude either the Purchase or the Gift of Christ The Holy Spirit is given by the Father and yet Purchased and given by the Son too 1. Purchased by Christ the Son of God He hath obtained the Spirit for us or else we should never have partaken of him Hence it is that he is said to be shed on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour Tit. 3.5 6. His Bloud was the Price of this Priviledge his Intercession procures our actual Enjoyment of it John 14.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforther c. After the finishing of his Work on Earth and Exaltation to Glory the Apostle tells us That he receiv'd of the Father the Promise of the Holy Ghost Acts 2.33 The Promise of the Holy Ghost here is put for the Holy Ghost promised to speak strictly Christ receiv'd the Promise of the Holy Ghost in the Everlasting Covenant of Redemption upon such and such Conditions which he was to perform in the fulness of Time but now those Conditions being perform'd he receiv'd an abundant Accomplishment of this Promise not for himself but for those that belong to him 2. The Spirit is given by Christ He is said to shed him forth in the last cited Place So he engag'd to send him John 15.26 Chap. 16.7 The same Act may very well be attributed both to the Father and Son as concurring in external Operations My Father worketh hitherto and I work Chap. 5.17 The Father is represented as the Maker of all Things very frequently and so is the Son In the Beginning God Created the Heaven and the Earth and in that beginning Jesus Christ was with God not as an unactive Spectator but as a Co-worker Believers are sanctified by God the Father Jude 1. And they are also sanctified in or by Christ Jessu 1 Cor. 1.2 The Greek Particle is the same in both Places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore 't is manifest that the giving of the Holy Ghost by God the Father is not at all inconsistent with the dispensing of the same Gife by our Lord Christ 2. Positively There are Four Things which seem to be signified to us by the Father's giving of the Holy Ghost 1. That the Grace and Love of the Father is the spring of all Divine Communications Here is the first Rise and Original of all the good that we receive 't is all resolv'd into the Father's good Pleasure as the Primary moving Cause John 3.16 God so laved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. 'T is from the same Fountain of Eternal Love in the Bosom of God the Father that this Gift of the Holy Ghost does issue also 'T is very remarkable therefore that our Lord directs the Faith of his Disciples to fasten chiefly hereupon Chap. 15.26 27. I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you for the Father himself loveth you The meaning is not that Christ
pleased by his Almighty Vertue to Work the Cure and with an irresistible Hand to turn it to himself 2 Tim. 2.25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves if peradventure God will give them Repentance c. No Instruction will do if he against whom they Sin do not give them to repent III. How is this Grace the Gift of Christ as the Text affirms it to be Ans In six Things 1. All Things are deliver'd unto him by the Father to him as Mediator Mat. 11.27 All things are given into his Hand John 3.35 And he hath the disposal of them according to his own Pleasure he may with-hold or dispense every Thing as he sees good The Son quickeneth whom he will Chap. 5.21 He is empower'd to give Eternal Life Chap. 10.28 Chap. 17.2 And this Eternal Life is founded in spiritual Now the ground-work is his as well as the Head-stone the first-fruits of Grace as well as the Harvest of Glory the Gift of Righteousness it self as well as the Crown of Righteousness Chap. 4.14 The Water which I shall give him shall be in him a Well springing up into Everlasting Life Christ hath so large a Trust and Commission from the Father that nothing is excepted out of it 2. The giving of Grace is one of his essential Royalties as a King To give only corruptible Things is to give as the World giveth the Men of high Degree scatter their Favours of that kind among those that are below them but it agrees with the Majesty of Jesus Christ to bestow that which is of an incorruptible Nature a Principle of Grace and Holiness in the Hearts of his People Acts 5.31 Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and Saviour to give Repentance c. He would be a Prince without Subjects a meer Titular Prince if he did not by his own Grace bring them into Subjection and keep them in it He never ruled in any Heart which he did not first Conquer rebellious Sinners would never submit and yield themselves to his Authority if he did not make them willing in the day of his Power Psalm 110.3 3. Christ is given to be an Head of Influence as well as of Government to his Church Therefore said to be the Head of the Body Col. 1.18 Now as every Part of the natural Body derives Spirits from the Head so every Part of the mystical Body gracious Influences from Christ There is an effectual working from him throughout the whole Eph. 4.16 And how is this effectual working but by the Communication of his Grace to the various Members This 〈◊〉 what Paul experienc'd and gives an account of with Reference to his own first Conversion 1 Tim. 1.14 The Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Paul's Heart was full of unbelief and hatred before but the prevailing Grace of Christ in whom he was chosen before the World planted Faith and Love in the room of them 4. 'T is the Work of Christ to furnish those whom be unites and espouses to himself with Beauty and Ornaments fit for his Embraces and wherein does this Beauty consist and what are these Ornaments but a Participation of his Grace Some are ready to cry is a deformed filthy Sinner meet to lye in Christ's Bosom But I would Reply who makes the Sinner meet besides Christ himself He can have no complacency or delight in such an one continuing as he is but his Manner is to impart a commending loveliness where he loves As Rebeckah was adorned with Jewel's of Isaac's giving Gen. 24.53 So it was granted to the Lambs Wife that she should be arrayed in fine Linne c. of his preparing Rev. 19.8 For as the imputed Righteousness of Christ so the inherent Righteousness of Saints is his Gift whom they are married to 5. Christ hath the right of distributing Grace as the Effect of his Purchase He hath bought it with his Blood and therefore may confer it on whom he pleases as we know that every one may do what he Will with his own and what we buy at a valuable Price is undoubedtly our own Upon this score all Grace is the Grace of Christ 't is his just Propriety and he hath â—â—â—ain'd it at the dearest Rate which could be demanded He gave himself for the Church that he might sanctifie and cleanse it c. Eph. 5.25 26. Our Sanctification was one end of his Sufferings and as it was he that suffer'd so 't is he that sanctifies Christ merited Grace for us by his Death and therefore the dispensing of it is his due 6. The Spirit of Grace is sent by Christ and supplies his Place John 16.7 If I depart I will send him to you So that he Acts as in Christ's Name and on his behalf and consequently what the Spirit does may be attributed unto Christ and what he divides to every Man may be very well look't upon as allotted by Christ whose Spirit he is for so he is called the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.17 18. There is the very Heart of Christ in all the Spirits saving Operations they are directed by his Infinite Wisdom and Care to all those whom he laid down his Life for As he shed forth the Holy Ghost at Pentecost Acts 2.33 So the pouring of him out at all Times is his continual Providence still IV. After what manner is this Grace given to every one that belongs to Christ Answ Negatively and Positively I. Negatively I. This Grace is not given to all by the same Instruments and Means 'T is most usually by the Word of Grace but sometimes by the Rod of sanctified Affliction 't is oftnest by the Sword in Christ's Mouth but it may be by the Fan in his Hand Ordinarily 't is by the Preaching of Christ's Embassadors but sometimes the edifying Discourses of Private Christians may Minister Grace to the Hearers Eph. 4.29 Again though it be by the same Gospel yet God makes use of several Publishers They whom he sanctifies through the Truth are Converted by several Persons There are many spiritual Fathers some are begotten in Christ by the Ministry of one and some by another 2. It is not given to all at the same Age or Period of Life As in that Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard some were called at the third Hour some at the sixth some at the ninth some at the eleventh Some are sanctified from the Womb filled with the Spirit like John from their very Birth Luke 1.15 Others it may be wear out almost all their Lives and are even dropping into the Grave before they are brought home to God Some are planted into Christ in their tender Years like Paul when a Young Man others not born again till they are Old when the evil Days come And therefore it is not so material or requisite for us to know when we felt the first workings of Grace as to be sure that we feel it 's real workings
be given Glory cannot be denied for though Glory is not merited by Grace yet always entailed upon it because the same Mercy is the constant never failing Spring of both The Lord will give Grace and Glory Psalm 84.11 These Things are continually coupled like the Creatures which enter'd into Noah's Ark two by two of every Kind Gen. 7.15 as God never gives Glory where he with-holds his Grace so on the other side where Grace is dispensed Glory is never kept back Indeed Glory is but the perfecting of the Gift of Grace the Difference betwixt them is only gradual Grace is Glory in the Bud and Glory is Grace full blown Therefore the Names of Grace and Glory are promiscuously given to one another sometimes Grace is stiled Glory 2 Cor. 3. ult And sometimes Glory called Grace 1 Pet. 1.13 3. If Grace be given to every one that is in Christ then every such one is worthy of our Affection and Esteem Wheresoever the Truth of Grace is it calls for more of our Love and inward Respect than all the Wealth and Power and Greatness in the World The smallest grain of saving Faith is more precious than thousands of Gold and Silver and 't is so precious in all that have it that one should not be set up in Competition with another Every gracious Person is really amiable and valuable and therefore a partial Regard to such or such only is sinful and groundless No one is to be preferr'd so as that another should be undervalued one is not to be had in Admiration and another in Contempt but all are to be lookt upon as Heirs together of the Grace of Life He that sincerely Loves any one for the sake of Holiness without little by Respects will love all Saints on the same account 4. If Grace be given to every one according to a particular measure it must needs be dangerous to attempt more than this measure will extend to 'T is unwarrantable Presumption to undertake what is above our Reach and beyond our Strength Therefore David says That he did not exercise himself in great Matters nor in Things too high for him Psalm 131.1 He that desires the Office of a Gospel-Bishop desires a good work and yet Novices are forbidden it 1 Tim. 3.1 with 6. Our sanctified Abilities are only in Part and design'd of God to fit us for that Place and Calling in which we are Over-bold adventuring where we are uncall'd may expose us to Temptations unassisted Peter's rash Zeal in the Garden was a means of betraying him to sinful Cowardise in the Palace of the High-Priest The Evangelist therefore takes notice of his being question'd by a Kinsman of Malchus whose Ear he had cut off John 18.26 5. If Grace be given from Christ to every one 't is the great concern of every one to know him and the main Work of those whom be sends to make him known If he be all and in all Col. 3.11 If he be the common Publick Treasury out of which every Soul is spiritually enricht and we have nothing but what comes through his Hands first we have nothing if we are ignorant of him And they do little Service to the Churches who only bow at his Name and make no mention of his Righteousness or Grace they that pretend to come from him and are silent concerning him seem like to Messengers that have forgot their Errand and tell a formal Story which hath no Relation to it and signifies nothing to them that hear it Such as expect any share of his saving Benefits should seek to be led into Acquaintance with his Person 6. If there be such a Likeness and Affinity between the Grace which was in Christ and which is in those that belong to him they are no Christians that do not Resemble Christ and that are not Imitators of him This is that which makes all real Christians truly glorious and the Glory of Christ as the Woman is said to be the Glory of the Man 1 Cor. 11.7 She reflects the excellencies of the Man so do they the Excellencies of Jesus Christ As Face answers to Face in the Glass so do they to him They are planted in the similitude of his Death and Resurrection i. e. made conformable to both Rom. 6.5 Phil. 3.10 As they are Created in Christ so they are Created after his Model They are his Brethren and he the first-born among them and as the first in every Kind uses to be a standard and president to the rest so is he Consequently they do not abide in Christ nor are they related to him that do not imitate his walk and follow his steps We shall never have Bodies like unto his glorious Body except we have Souls like his if we do not bear his heavenly Image now we shall not at the last We deceive our selves with vain Hopes and others with a vain Profession 2. For Practise To those that are yet graceless and to them that are truly gracious 1. What should they do that are yet gracless For some of that sort may without breach of Charity be suppos'd in every Assembly we never read but of one so pure as to be without such a mixture and that was when Christ Preacht his Farewel Sermon to his Disciples John 14.15 16. Chapters after Judas was gone out Chap. 13.30 31 c. 1. Labour to be sensible of your wretchedness while entirely under the Power of Sin and the Servants of Coruption If so great and good a Man as Paul cried out of himself as wretched because deliver'd only in part from the Body of Death Rom. 7.24 How much more miserable must you be that are not at all deliver'd from it When the second Temple was building which was greatly Inferiour to the former God puts it to the People Who is left among you that saw this House in her first Glory And how do you see it now Is it not in your Eyes in Comparison thereof as nothing Hag. 2.3 So if any of us had ever seen the Humane Nature cloathed with Original Righteousness before the entrance of Sin which was our House in its Primitive Glory what a woful ruinous heap should we discern it now to be 2. Improve this Conviction to the deepest Humiliation The most prostrate Frame of Soul is always the Foundation which God laies and builds upon He giveth Grace to the lowly and humble Prov. 3.34 James 4.6 1 Pet. 5.5 The Spirit of God which descends like a Dove does usually light upon the Ground not upon high and lofty Trees The first step of Paul's Conversion who had been an haughty Supercilious Pharisce before lifting up himself as the rest of that Sect did was his falling to the Earth Acts 9.4 Fountains are not wont to break out in the Tops of Hills but it is the Method of God in Nature to send the Springs into the Valleys Psalm 104.10 And all Waters run into the lowest Places so do the Influences of Grace fall upon
we have no other Evidence of invisible future Things but only our Faith thomas who would not believe what he saw John 20.25 tells Christ We know not whither thou goest John 14.5 'T is indeed an unknown Land and the way through which we pass to it is dark and gloomy without the enlightning Discoveries of Faith This alone will clear up all and so it is with every Believer as with Abraham Hebr. 11.8 By Faith when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an Inheritance obeyed not knowing whether he went SERMON XXII August 24. 1697. DEUT XXXIV v. So Moses the Servant of the Lord died there in the Land of Moab according to the Word of the Lord. III. WHY we should thus die in Obedience to the Will of God There are many Reasons for it 1. God is Supream and Absolute Lord. He hath the highest Proprietyin us and the most unlimited Dominion over us Behold as the clay is in the Potters hand so are you in my hand O house of Israel Ezek. 18.6 He forms every Vessel as he pleases and is at liberty to break his own Workmanship without controul so the same God whose power produces hath a right to dissolve our Substance He is the Father of our Spirits and they are his peculiar Off-spring and therefore ought to be entirely at his Command He created and infused them and on that account may justly call for them whenever he will 'T is but like the Stream's going back to its Fountain like the Rivers returning turning to the Sea whence they came and the Sun 's hasting to the place where he arose Eccles 1.5 7. We know nothing of God as we ought to know if we know not this that God hath a far greater Interest in us than we have in our selves And that it belongs to him and not to us to govern and appoint all those things which do concern us It was almost in the same breath that David said Thou art my God and my times are in thy hand Psalm 31.14 15. We destroy his Deity if we deny his Sovereignty we renounce him as our God unless we submit to him as Lord of our Lives If he may not determine the Period of Life why should he manage any of the Affairs of it And if we exclude his Providence why should we admit his Being 2. We have the Character of God's Servants and profess Subjection to him but we contradict this Character and Profession except we die in Obedience to the Will of God 'T is observ'd that Moses is never call'd the Servant of the Lord in all his life time till now that he came to die because hereby he did most remarkably approve himself such though he had performed many great and excellent Services to God before He that is another Man's Servant must be content to be called off from his present Work and Station at his Master's pleasure they that are under the Yoke are not to be the Disposers of their own Time or rather we may say they have no Time which is their own but what is allowed them We are under a stricter Law to God and he that calls Himself a Christian does thereby acknowledge it we are not our own but the Lords both living and dying and therefore there is as much reason for our dying as for our living to the Lord and as little reason for our dying as for our living to our selves Rom. 14.7 8. It was Paul's earnest desire and hope that Christ should be magnified in his Body whether by life or by death Phil. 1.20 And this became him as a Servant of Christ ver 1. For we are falsly so called and assume a Name which our Pactice does not agree to if his Will be not a Rule to ours in every thing and particularly in this grand and important Point of Life and Death 3. OUr Lord Christ when he took upon him the Form and Quality of a Servant was our Example in this Case He became Obedient unto death even the death of the cross Phil. 2.8 A Death so circumstanced wih the most tremendous Aggravations as we can never be call'd to be obedient to yet he did not refuse or decline it as he might have done when his Hour came His Life was not taken from him but he laid it down of himself because he had received such a Commandment of the Father John 10.18 It was a free and voluntary Act he gave up the Ghost in the strictest sense as is plain from all the Passages going before his Death It was in the prospect of its near approach that he said to his Disciples Arise let us go hence John 14.31 The words were spoken where Christ had celebrated his last Supper but the place which he speaks of removing to was the Garden where he knew that he should be betray'd and apprehended Chap. 18.4 Jesus knowing all things that should come upon him went forth c. He boldly and chearfully met the Enemy whom he could easily either have shun'd or defeated He was able to escape this Death but would not and therein is a pattern to us who have no such power 4. God never give a Commission to Death nor lays his command upon us to die but when 't is really the fittest Season for us to obey him in it To speak strictly an untimely Death is never permitted by God we are never suffer'd to die when it would be better for us to live Infinite Wisdom and Grace will not permit it and he that resigns himself to their Conduct is sure to die when it is best that he should The Scripture is express Psalm 116.15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints This may be most clearly expounded and understood by comparing with Psalm 72.14 which is a Psalm for Solomon as Type of Christ He shall redeem their Soul c. and precious shall their Blood be in his sight so precious that when it is fitter to be spar'd than spilt he will certainly preserve it Though God can kill or keep alive as he will he does not act after an Arbitrary manner he never turns a Saint to destruction when it would be good for him that his Soul should be held in Life We do not indeed see the Grounds and Reasons of God's acting and therefore our Thoughts are not as his Thoughts but it would be very strange if we must not trust God further than we yet see because we shall see hereafter though not now 5. In our Obedience to this command of God there is the greatest reward There is a great Reward in the doing of every one but above all in this There 's no Act of Obedience so profitable to our selves as this if we consider the Glory Honour and Peace which immediately follows If a Servant desireth the Shadow Job 7.2 Why should we be unwilling to enter into our Rest and receive our full Reward when our Work is
saved our first Parents from their first Sin which being a leading Act of Rebellion was a very great one He sav'd several of his Murderers and they that shed his Blood were wash'd in it He saves from the Sin of Unbelief which is the worst of Sins and in those that are guilty of it now is really greater than the Sin of the Jews in putting him to death 2. He saves from all that is in Sin from the guilt and filth of it He takes out every spot from the Soul and wipes out every Line from the Score He pays the uttermost Farthing and therefore saves to the uttermost he discharges all and leaves nothing to stand in God's Book against us His whole Church shall be presented Holy and without blemish Ephess 5.27 No Corruption is suffer'd to domineer where he comes to save as Job enters his solemn Protestation That no blot cleaves to his hands chap. 31.7 Blots may be and unavoidably will be contracted while we are in such a polluting World but they with whom Christ hath any thing to do soon shake them off again as Paul did the Viper which fastned on his hand and felt no barm Acts 28.5 Yea at length Christ will save from the in being of Sin too when we quit our earthly Houses Sin shall be quite turn'd out of Doors 3. He saves from all that 's due to Sin and from all the effects of it from Wrath present and to come not meerly from Hell but from all purely Judicial Strokes upon Earth too He does not save from God's loving Rebukes for that would be to our prejudice and therefore it would be no proper desirable Salvation but from God's furious Rebukes he does He hath Redeemed us from the Curse of the Law c. Gal. 3.13 from the whole Curse and every part of it There is not the least Grain of the Legal Curse in all the afflictions which Christ's saved ones do at any time undergo There are chastened as Children not persecuted as common Malefactors They are sav'd from every thing that would make them truly miserable they are exercis'd with nothing but what shall do them good those very Calamities of which Sin is the occasion shall be the means to advance their Blessedness 2. His being able to save to the uttermost notes duration As 1. The saving Power of Christ stretches it self to the final Accomplishment of his own Work Whatever He puts his hand unto he will give it his last hand the Author and Finisher of our Faith Heb. 12.2 Wheresoever he Designs to build it shall not be said that he is not able to finish he will give no occasion for any such Reproach to be cast upon his Eternal Power He is as able to bring forth the Head-Stone as to lay the first Foundation He carries on his Designs of Grace through all Hindrances and Oppositions till he hath conquer'd and surmounted all he never leaves off what he undertakes and is engag'd in before the thoughts of his heart are finally perform'd and all fulfilled which he had contriv'd and purposed to do He is the Omega as well as the Alpha he shuts up as well as opens the great work of a Sinners Salvation and Recovery 2. Christ's saving Power will not be exhausted or diminished to the end of the World He will be as able to save then as he was at the beginning for if he was invested with such a Power before he had actually paid the Price of our Redemption we have no reason to doubt the continuation of that Power afterwards If he had sav'd so many for about Four Thousand Years before he came and offer'd up himself 't is impossible that since this Sacrifice any should be born into the World too late for him to save Every successive Generation yet to come may have the same benefit as all that are past have had So long as the World stands the Elect of God that are in it shall receive as freely from Christ's Fulness as ever any did His Power is the same without any Change or Variation in all Ages Yesterday to day and to Morrow Is my band shortned at all that it cannot redeem Isa 50.2 3. His Power is sufficient for us in our greatest Extremities while we live in this World In our sorest Temptations and longest Desertions when like Peter we are ready to sink he is mighty to save still We cannot be brought so low by Hellish Rage and spiritual Darkness by the Buffetings of Satan and the Hidings of God but that he can lift us up As the Apostle speaks of the Jews who have been broken off by unbelief and abode in that unbelief so many Hundred Years God is able to graft them in again Rom. 11.23 When we are apt to think that there is no way to escape that we must and shall without remedy perish at the last he hath his Almighty Succors at hand and can in a moment rescue and deliver us from all our fears When the Waters are come into the Soul he hath power to save from Drowning or else that Prayer was vain Psalm 69.1 4. His saving Power is our present help when we come to die and stand in Judgment When we have past through the Changes Hazards and Tryals of this Life the chiefest of all is that which puts a period to Life and then Jesus Christ is able to save us in Death tho he do not save us from it able not only to carry us to our hoary hairs but to go with us farther when these hoary hairs are brought down to the grave able to support us when flesh and heart when strength and spirits fail able to receive and defend our Spirits at their Departure out of the Body and give them immediate possession of the place prepared for them able to answer for us before the Bar of God and shield us under the covering of his perfect Righteousness from all the Accusations that can be brought against us in short he is so well able to justifie us that even in that day we may boldly say Who is he that condemneth 5. The Salvation which Christ works and displays his power in endures in its full force and vertue to Eternity it self Isa 45.17 Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation You shall not be ashamed nor confounded World without end Again chap. 57.6 The Heavens shall vanish away like smoak and the Farth wax old like a garment and they that dwell therein die in like manner but my salvation shall be for ever c. As our Confidence is not in a God who cannot save or who can save only in part so not in a God who can save only for a limited time or restrained season Our God's Salvation lasts as long as himself it runs parallel with his very Being Titus 2.13 The great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Those Two Glorious Titles are chained together in Christ and you may as well suppose the
threatned with the burning Furnace Dan. 3.17 Our God is able to deliver us and he will deliver us Be satisfied that he who is able to save will actually save those that cast themselves upon him SERMON XXIV October 15. 1697. HEBREWS VII xxv Therefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them II. AS to the Evidence which the Apostle brings to prove his Assertion by The Eternal Life and Intercession of Jesus Christ in Heaven Here we are to consider three Things viz. The Life of Christ in Heaven His Intercession there And the Objects of it or Persons on whose behalf he lives and intercedes First The eternal Life of Christ in Heaven In opening of this we should shew That he lives and that he lives for ever and how the Conclusion of his being able to save is built and founded hereupon 1. That Christ lives not only as he is the living God Hebr. 3.12 and so eternal Life is essential to his Deity 1 John 1.2 15 20. but he lives as Mediator and that very Life which he laid down as Man he hath taken up again and possesses it now more advantagiously than before This was the grand Controversie in the Apostolical Times between the Jews and Christians so Festus represents it to Agrippa as a Quarrel about one Jesus who was dead whom Paul affirmed to be alive Acts 25.19 The Jews would have him to be really in the State of the Dead still and that his Disciples stole him out of the Grave to give Reputation to their new Doctrine but the Apostles were Witnesses of his Resurrection and preached this where-ever they preach'd the Gospel for indeed the whole Gospel would be but an empty Fable without it If Christ were not alive what 's become of the Type of the Living Bird in the cleansing of the Leper that was let loose into the open Field Lev. 14.7 What 's become of the Type of the Scape Goat that was sent away into the Wilderness Chap. 16.21 How have these things received their Accomplishment but in the Life of Jesus It was as necessary for our Consolation and Salvation that Christ should live as that he should die The meer Death of Christ would profit us nothing could be no support to us if he had continued under the Power of Death Therefore as old Jacob was transported with Joy when he heard that Joseph was alive Gen. 45.26 28. So Job in the midst of his Afflictions triumph'd and glorifie in this I know that my Redeemer liveth Job 19.25 2. That he ever lives When our Lord speaks of his Death it was matter of stumbling to the Jews because say they we have heard out of the Law that Christ abideth for ever John 12.34 but they erred not knowing the Scripture This was not be understood in opposition to his dying but as consequent upon it for after his Death and notwithstanding his Death this was to be made good that he should abide for ever So we find our Lord himself from Heaven expounding it to John Rev. 1.18 I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore The Life which Christ lived upon Earth was a mortal temporary perishing Life as ours is for he took part of our Flesh and Blood in the same poor and miserable Circumstances as we do but the Life which he now lives in Heaven is of another sort of a more permanent and durable Nature So Rom. 6.9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him He cannot die a second time as Lazarus did who after his first Death was raised again and died again as the Body of his Humiliation even when dead saw no Corruption so his glorified Body with which he sits at the Right Hand of God can never see Death His present Life is such an one as swallows up mortality 3. How is the Inference of Christ's being able to save grounded here upon his Living for ever Answer Very strongly for the saving Power of Jesus Christ shines forth most illustriously in him as living Rom. 5.10 Being reconciled by his Death we shall be much more saved by his Life So Chap. 8. 34. Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is raised again c. If Christ had been held by the Bands of Death or if it had been possible for him so to be held it had been impossible for him to be the Author of Salvation to any our Faith in him had been vain and our hope as a Spiders Web whereas now 't is firm and establish'd stedfast and unmoveable considering that Jesus Christ since his ignominious accursed Death is raised up to such a Blessed and Glorious Life This gives us mighty encouragement in several respects For 1. If Christ had not been able to save he could not have conquer'd Death as he hath done This one Victory which he hath obtained over that Enemy is a signal demonstration of his Power The Grave would have detained him and must kept him as the legal Executioner of Justice if he had not finish'd the Work of our Salvation as to the purchasing part and done all in dying once He could not be discharged till he had answer'd all Demands and when they were answer'd he could be under Arrest no longer but the Prosecution must cease When the Debt was paid it would have been false Imprisonment for Jesus Christ to remain in the Custody of Death on the other hand his reviving and breaking loose from those Restraints shews that all the Obstacles of our Salvation are taken out of the way Therefore if we suspect his Ability to save we must with the Jews disbelieve his rising again and look upon him no otherwise than as a dead Man to this very day 2. Our eternal Life is inseperably connected with the Life of Christ 'T is as certain that he is our Life as that he himself lives Col. 3.4 he will not Live and Reign without us but we shall Reign in Life by him He does not live meerly for himself but for us as he did not die for himself but only for us He lives as a publick Person a second Adam in whom all that belong to him shall be made alive as a quickning Head to his whole Body and to every Member in particular John 14.19 Because I live you shall live also He asserts our Life in conjunction with his own for his Life and the Life of those that are united with him cannot be divided 2 Cor. 13.4 He though Crucified through weakness lives by the Power of God so we likewise though weak shall live with him by vertue of the same Power Hence it is that the Apostle makes the great Doctrine of Christ's Resurrection to stand or fall with the Resurrection of Believers 1 Cor. 15.15 16. Whom God raised not up if so be that the