Testament yet he is blessed whose Soul prospers For as it is said of every Man in his civil capacity In his best estate he is altogether vanity Psal 39.5 He is subject to changes none can tell what a day may bring forth Here we have no continuing City Heb. 13.14 So it may truly be said of a person whose Soul prospers whatever his outward condition be he is altogether blessed Psal 94.12 Blessed is the Man whom thou chastenest O Lord and teachest him out of thy Law When instruction hearkened to goes with correction the Soul prospers he is a blessed Man In Job 1. we have a description of Job's prosperous estate First it is said That he was a Man fearing God But we have farther as it were an Inventory given in of his outward condition He had so many Sheep so many Oxen so many Asses so many Camells c. These were a superadded blessing to Job This is set down to shew the praise of Job's patience who bare such a change so as he did 'T is very true a Man may easily over-rate and over-value his worldly estate Verily if Soul-prosperity do not go before outward prosperity outward prosperity is but like a Cypher and signifies nothing if a figure don't go before it A Man may write a sheet of Paper full of Cyphers but all do not make One When Soul-prosperity goes before God hath done much for such persons They have the Earth they shall have Heaven They have the Nether Springs they shall have the Upper Springs so that if it were asked them as Christ did his Disciples Luk. 22.35 Lacked ye any thing They must answer if they will speak as the matter is as the Disciples did They want nothing God hath not dealt so with all those that have shot the gulph and are past danger for Eternity Many of them are cut short yea they may say many times as Peter did Luk. 5.5 We have fished all night and caught nothing Laboured hard and caught not so much as a Sprat for their breakfast Many a Man that labours all the week hath very much ado to bring both ends together his Gettings and his Expences The wants of some are so many that they often know not what to do and the wants of others are so few that they want nothing but to know how to improve what they have To know how to abound is a far greater blessing then to abound Eccl. 3.14 whatsoever God doth is for ever If God give a Man an outward worldly estate it is for ever What to enjoy it for ever No things seen are but for Time But in respect of the use or abuse of them they are forever Now to speak to that which in particular John desires for his friend Gaius That he might be in health Gaius was not sick now that 's clear from vers 6. He did not keep his Bed nor his Chamber nor his House for John adviseth him to bring the Brethren on their way after a godly sort But he was a sickly Man Note Those that have much of the heart of God and live much in the love of God may feel much of the hand of God as in other troubles so in long continued bodily weaknesses That they may be sick is no marvel for they must dye but we speak of long continued weakness Timothy was such a Man 1 Tim. 5.23 It is observed of Calvin that in his latter days he was very sickly and weak contracted as 't was thought by eating too much Alöes Thuanus saith he was so seven years before his death We find Job observed this in his days Job 21.25 One dyes in the bitterness of his Soul never eats his bread with pleasure One dyes What one Even one good Man as well as one bad Man He speaks indifferently of either all things fall alike to all The good Man dyes in bitterness and pain seldom made a good meal Thus ye see it hath been And I note this only for this purpose that we may see that no new thing befalls them with whom God deals so at this day but that which hath been the lott of those whose Souls have prospered 1 Cor. 10.13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to Man 2. Gaius was very well with respect to his Spiritual state but he was weakly and sickly therefore John prays that he might be in health Hence note Note A healthy constitution of Body though a Man may be bless'd without it yet in it self is a very great and desirable blessing It is a comprehensive blessing It is the Epitome and Abridgment of all outward blessings It is like Salt that Seasons every Meat It is too true this is not so feelingly acknowledged as it ought to be by those that do enjoy it But when as it is in Job a Man's bones are chastened with a multitude of pains and a Man is worn away with pining sickness it is rare to find such a person that doth not set an higher price on health then he did before And verily it is a very great blessing whether it be by preservation from sickness or by recovery out of sickness 1. If it be by preservation from sickness prize it as a very great mercy It is left upon Record as a very signal Providence and gracious Priviledge vouchsafed to the people of Israel when they were in Egypt where there was so much Sickness Plague and Death Yet Psal 105. there was not one feeble person among them when they came forth for it is said Exod. 12.27 they were able to come for thon foot six hundred thousand Persons And ought it not to be esteemed at this day in this place as a great mercy by those Families which God is pleased to preserve from those sicknesses that some are under If ye do not labour to improve this so that God may not repent that he hath spared you ye do not well 2. It is a very great mercy to have health by recovery from sickness and weakness Hezekiah judged it so Isa 38.19 The living shall praise thee as I do this day David speaks to this Psal 103.5 My Soul praise thou the Lord. He renews thy strength as the Eagle The Eagle as it is said all Birds of prey do casts her feathers once a year new feathers grow up again and then she is fresh and lusty and mounts up as high as before Now that health is so great a blessing will appear in this because while the Lord gives it he puts a very great price into the Man's hands that hath it to further his Soul-prosperity A weakly sickly person is under many disadvantages as to that For observe 1. Weakness long continued infirmity often deprives a person of the publick Ordinances Possibly some may at this day by weakness be deprived of such Meetings as this which we are to reckon publick Ordinances not in respect of the Place but Administration Isa 38.22 What shall be the sign that
allusion to that tree Gen. 2. which was called the Tree of Life not for any Natural or Physical excellency in it to preserve life more then other Trees but only as it was a Seal of the Covenant of works a conditional Seal of that Eternity of Life which Adam might with all fullness of confidence have expected if he had persevered in faithfulness to what was required of him But it is upon another account that Jesus Christ is called The Tree of life because he hath life in himself and quickeneth whom he will Joh. 5.26 And with the Food that he affords nourisheth and preserveth that life where he hath quickened it unto Eternal life so that it never runs into death Revel 22. He is said to be a Tree of Life on both sides of the River of the Water of Life But one Tree yet reacheth to both sides of the River so that all from what quarter soever they come may receive Food and nourishment from him And though but one Tree yet it bare twelve kinds of Fruit which setteth forth the variety of Spiritual priviledges and graces which Jesus Christ hath to give forth for the prosperity of the Soul according to all its concernments Thus as he is the Tree of Life he is for the Food of our Souls 2. He is so as he is said to be The hidden Manna Rev. 2.17 Manna ye know was their Bread in the Wilderness fourty years together It is said Psal 78.25 to be Angels Food whether for the excellency of it that it was for them to have fed upon if they had stood in any need of it Or whether it was prepared for them by the ministry of Angels This need not be disputed This is certain it was a Type of Christ who saith of himself That he was the living Bread that came down from Heaven And he is said to be The hidden Manna possibly alluding to that Pot of Manna which was hidden in the Ark of the Testimony pointing at Christ as hidden Food altogether unknown to the unbelieving World who never had so much as a real taste of the unsearchable riches of his grace of the efficacy of his Death or the power of his Resurrection But as it was in reference to Manna All those that in the exercise of Faith did eat of it under that consideration as a Type of Christ it was spiritual meat to them So the water out of the Rock to all those that in the same manner under the same consideration did drink of it was spiritual drink 1 Cor. 10.3 4. Even so is Jesus Christ at this day and will be to the end of the World his flesh will be meat indeed and his blood will be drink indeed to all those that feed upon him by faith And this leads me to the second Particular 2. That Jesus Christ is this Food which is appointed for the nourishment of the Soul as he is a Crucified Saviour Even as we read of the Manna Numb 11.8 that it was prepared to be eaten by being first ground in the Mill or beaten in a Mortar and so baked in a Pan. And as the Rock was smitten with the Rod of Moses before the water gushed out so it was at first by God's appointment Exod. 17.6 And the Paschal Lamb was roasted at the fire before it was eaten Even so Jesus Christ was wounded for our transgressions smitten of God unto death that so he might be spiritual Food for Souls according to the Father's appointment This was the ground of Paul's resolution He determined to know nothing i. e. to make known unto them nothing comparatively but Jesus Christ and him Crucified And indeed the first comfortable sight that a humbled sinner hath of Christ when his heart works after him for the life and Food of his Soul is as he was clothed with his Garments of Blood made a Curse for sinners as obedient unto death This was always the scope of Paul's preaching first to set forth Christ as Crucified Gal. 3.1 So he preached him and so he desired that those who were his hearers might receive him So the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper wherein spiritual Food is administered to a believing Soul the scope thereof is to shew forth the Lord's death till he come 1 Cor. 11.26 And this upon the highest ground of reason for as Jesus Christ by his blood redeemed our Souls from a state of spiritual death to a state of spiritual life breaking down the partition-wall not only between Jews and Gentiles but also between God and Sinners Eph. 2.13 So he purchased thereby not only a full discharge from the guilt of sin by the imputation of his own righteousness but power to communicate from his own fullness continual supplies of spiritual life for the daily progress of Soul-prosperity For whatever we receive for our All is to be received from Christ as rising again from the dead as ascending into Heaven as making intercession for those that come to God by him and whatever influence Christ in his Offices as King Priest and Prophet hath into the life and nourishment of our Souls the foundation of all was laid in this that Christ was a Crucified Saviour His intercession is effectual because his blood speaketh Heb. 12.23 As the great Prophet of his Church he reveals the counsel of his Father in all that is necessary to be known to make us wise unto salvation for that he merited this by his blood Rev. 5.5 6. Because the Lion of the Tribe of Judah was the Lamb slain therefore he prevailed to open the book of God's secret Council which no man else was found worthy to open or to read or so much as to look upon so Rom. 4.24 His resurrection is for the declaring of our justification but that is because he first dyed for our sins Thus you have the second particular under the first head proved unto you That as Jesus Christ himself is appointed for the food of our Souls so Jesus Christ specially as crucified Even as at this day those living creatures which by God's allowance we feed upon must first lose their own lives before they can be for support to ours Even so it is here No life from Christ but by the death of Christ Therefore saith Christ Joh. 6.53 Verily verily I say unto you that except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood ye have no life in you I now proceed to what in the second place was proposed which was to shew 2. What are the ways and means by which Jesus Christ conveys this spiritual life unto the soul that it may live and prosper Ans It is by the powerful working of his Holy Spirit sprinkling all Ordinances all Providences and the Soul it self that receives nourishment from Christ with the merits and efficacy of the blood of Christ 1. All Ordinances in the use of them he is said to set meat before us Hos 11.4 Meat which is compared to those
power with any of his Rods especially when we our selves without any call from God have called for them and desired them would be well considered of 2. As the Evil of Affliction is not to be desired for this end but only to be made use of for this end when God brings it upon us So it is with the Evil of Sin God is pleased often to make use of his peoples miscarriages to work much this way bringing Soul-health out of Soul-sickness Thus God wrought with Peter Compare Matth. 26.33 with John 21.15 And with Hezekiah 2 Chron. 32.26 Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart And thus he wrought with David That great sin of his through the mighty working of the Spirit of God upon his heart occasioned as great exercise of his Repentance and of his Faith as ever he gave any evidence of in the whole time of his life from the first day of his Conversion to the time of his Death So that incestuous Corinthian his sorrow was so deep that he was in danger to have been swallowed up by it Thus the Lord is pleased to work as we have heard that skilful Physicians according to the rules of Art can temper poisonful ingredients into wholesome Medicines But this is proper for them only to medle withal that are skilful in their Art So this is a divine skill proper only to the great Physician of Souls But this we may not apply our selves unto I mean not to give way to sin in hope that Faith and Repentance may thereby be set on work and our Souls prosper the better after it No No Man ought to give way to the least sin though he had the greatest ground of hope that might be that he might be preserved thereby from a greater sin It 's true in respect of the evil of suffering when there is no remedy but one of them must be chosen the less may be chosen to avoid the greater But in respect of the evil of sin we ought not to swallow a Gnat in hope thereby to avoid a Camel Not to take up a Moat in hope thereby to shift off the Beam but stand out against all and leave the success to God Rom. 3.8 I once met with a godly Man who being in great heaviness under the sense of the hardness of his heart was tempted to adventure upon some great sin and then his heart would melt and break presently But the Lord graciously preserved him and wrought in him that tenderness in a great measure which he desired whereas yielding to that temptation had been the way to have been hardened by the deceit of sin as that young Man Dr. Preston speaks of who being in much anguish of spirit for his wicked course of life and often resolving upon a course of Reformation was tempted to do but once more as he had done and then he should never be troubled more He yielded to the temptation and he was never troubled any more as he had been but was given up to work all iniquity with greediness We see then it is God's sole Prerogative to bring Good out of Evil and as I said Soul-health out of Soul-sickness But this way we ought to abhor Only when this comes to be our sad condition we ought to do as Manasses did 2 Chron. 33.12 13 When he was in Affliction he besought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly And prayed unto him He besought the Lord and he prayed that is he prayed and he prayed and humbled himself greatly So did Peter Matth. 26. ult Thus ye see there are some means we ought not to adventure upon in hope to make use of them for the prospering of our Souls 2. There are some other means which ought immediately and daily though at some times more solemnly then others to be made use of according as we find that we have contracted any guilt or defilement upon our Souls either great or small more or less and that is in the renewed exercise of Repentance and Faith to apply our selves to the Lord Jesus Christ that he would wash us and purge us both from the one and the other 1. In the renewed exercise of Repentance and godly sorrow reallizing the sad consequences that may possibly follow and are very likely to follow the least sin that is slighted and indulged Thus Job 42.6 Wherefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes He was no vile person he had not committed any gross sins but guilty he was of many unadvised speeches of some mixture of that corruption which is contrary to that grace wherein he was so eminent I mean of impatience and of distrustfulness as to God's delivering him These were his failings and for these he renewed the exercise of his Repentance even to abhorring himself so as he was vile in his own eyes whilst he was pretious in the eyes of God This is a great Purger 2 Cor. 7.11 For behold this self-same thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort what carefulness it wrought in you yea what clearing of your selves c. Jam. 4.8 Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double-minded 2. In the exercise of Faith that draws and purges Hereby virtue is drawn from Christ As that Diseased Woman said and found it by experience when she touched him It was the touch of Faith by which her fountain of blood was stopped Mark 5.28 29. Thus faith also purifies Act. 15.9 That which we have Mal. 4.2 is very considerable to this purpose Christ is said to be the Sun of Righteousness And when he ariseth and shineth upon the Soul he ariseth with healing in his wings What are these wings The wings of the natural Sun are the beams of the Sun whereby light and heat are conveyed from the Sun And the wings of the mystical Sun the Sun of Righteousness are the Gospel of Christ and the Spirit of Christ These are the healers Ezek. 47.8 There were the waters of the Sanctuary which healed the waters of the Sea When these waters have free course according to what the Apostle prayed for 2 Thes 3.1 so as they meet with no stop in the mouths of the Ministers nor in the hearts of the people their healing efficacy will evidently appear It is said indeed in the fore-mentioned chapter of Ezekiel v. 11. that the miry places were not healed In such places where the water hath not its free course but stops it mingles with the softer parts of the Earth and makes Mire So the truths of the Gospel though they meet with no stop in the mouths of the Ministers yet if they meet with obstructions in the hearts of the hearers so as the motions of the Spirit are not observed and the operations of the Spirit resisted Then corruption mingles even with the word it self turning the freeness of the grace of Christ into wantonness and the efficacy of his grace into laziness This makes a miry polluted dirty Soul Therefore