be in mercy to them let it come never so soon and they are so fit for Heaven as that to be sure they shall not miss of it Col 1. 12 13 14. And so now you see what excellent Uses may be made of this Freedom and thereupon what an excellent Freedom this must needs be Now you that are in it I beseech you put your Freedom to these good Uses which I have set before you let it teach you to pitty poor sinners to get more understanding in the Gospel let it endear Christ to you let it comfort your hearts let it make the ways of God sweet to you and you useful Prize the Saints let it strengthen your faith be enriched by it in all goodness let it make you very humble and engage you to Christ in the strictest obedience and to be ready against your Lord shall come CHAP. XI Concerning the many wonders that may be observed in this Freedom THE Seventh and Last thing to set out the excellency of this Freedom is to speak something of the many Wonders that may be observed in it Beloved if ever there were any thing to be wondered at since the beginning of the World this Freedom is to be wondered at there 's enough in it to amaze and astonish every beholder You know people are mightily taken with seeing of rare sights and the hearing of strange news but never did any thing present you with such rare sights nor bring such strange news to your ears as this Freedom doth The whole story of it is wonderful from first to last it begins in Wonders and goes on in Wonders and is finished in Wonders The Freedom that God gave his people from other Bondages for their worldly condition were attended and accompanied with great Wonders so 't was when he brought them out of Egypt God was a Wonder-working God at that time I will smite Egypt saith he with all my wonders When he came to deliver Israel every one of the ten Plagues were Wonders the drying up of the Red-Sea the causing of his people to pass through the midst of it the drowning of all their Enemies by the returning of the Waters upon them they were great and marvellous works and so 't was when he brought them out of the captivity in Babylon he did such strange and great things then that his people were like to them that dreamed Psal 126. 1. they were great things in the eyes of their very Enemies as well as in their own eyes vers 2 3. But now this same spiritual Freedom is the Wonder of Wonders I might observe to you how that in many places of the Scripture where this Freedom is spoken of 't is brought in with this word behold that 's put before it as who should say do you mind what a Wonder here is Can you pass it by without admiration see it in Isa 7. 14. chap. 28. 16. chap. 42. 1. Jer. 23. 5 6. Zech. 9. 9. Luk. 2. 10. Joh. 1. 29. 1 Joh. 3. 1. and in Isa 9. 6. When Christ is prophecied of that he should come into the World for the giving of this Freedom amongst all his other names this is one and the first that is mentioned that he should be wonderful But now to come to Particulars If I should insist upon all the Wonders belonging to this Freedom I should be too large and indeed the Subject that I am upon doth not require any more than that I should speak so far of the Wonders in it as may serve to set out the excellency of this Freedom And therfore I do willingly omit the Wonders that may be observed in the Incarnation Conception Birth Life Death Resurection and Assention of Christ and shall only lay before you such Wonders as by which you may see as I said that this is an excellent Freedom I will mention ten of them 1. What a Wonder is this That the greatest loss should be turned into the greatest gain 't is so by this Freedom it brings Saints the best estate that ever they were in out of the worst estate that ever they were in 'T was never so low with them as it 't was by the Fall of man 't was never so high with them as it is by this Freedom by Christ by which they are recovered from that Paul saith Phil. 3. 7. That the things that were gain to him became loss for Christ and they who are the Children of God may also say that the things that were loss to them are become gain by Christ Oh how have they gained by the fall And yet beloved we must not rejoyce in the fall while we look barely upon that No 't is matter of heart-breaking sorrow to think that ever Adam and the World in him sinned away their innocency as they did and 't will be matter of everlasting mourning to many millions in Hell that Adam did not abide in that honour which God gave him at the first but we may and we must rejoyce in Christ who turns even this great evil to the great good of all that believe in him to them it is according to Sampsons riddle Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness If ever there were a blessed loss this was it considering how God took occasion from it to magnifie the riches of his Grace in his Son This Wonder you have set forth in Rom. 5. 17 18 19. where he speaks how we were ruined in the first Adam and raised in the second 2. That every sin that a man hath committed should be damnable and yet that all the sins that he hath committed shall not damn him Certainly there must be some wonderful way found out to bring this to pass why now this Freedom by Christ doth it 'T is the nature of every sin to deserve Hell not only the evils and miseries of this present life but also everlasting wrath in the World to come and who ever is not made free by Christ shall find that every sin is a deadly sin and that 't is not a Purgatory shall serve their turn to cleanse them from the least transgression Oh what a cursed practise is this of the Papists to harden sinners hearts thus as if some sins were of such a small guilt and of such a venial nature as if Hell were a place of too great torment for them but we say as Paul in another case Nay O man who art thou that repliest against God Doth not this word say that death is the wages of sin Rom. 6. ult of sin as 't is sin and by death there is meant that which is in opposition to eternal life But now this Freedom makes innumerable damnable sins not to damn would you not count it a wonderful thing if there should be such a thing as were able to quench unquenchable fire Why this Freedom does it for those that have it it puts cut the Fire of Hell to them Beloved if you would imagine
live without light they are dark men and women in their Souls Another thing that Christ preaches to them is in ver 24. the Lord open your hearts in the reading of it I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins Dying in ones sins is the saddest death that a man can die that person dies to die As the children of God die to live so these they die to die again When they die the natural death they die the Eternal death they die to be damned to be separated for ever from the Lord as those that he will never have any thing to do with more but in a way of tormenting them for their living and dying in their sins And these of all that die out of the World are the persons whose death is to be most lamented If God takes away any of your Relations or Friends or Neighbours if you have but good hopes that they died in Christ 't is comfortable but this same dying in sin Oh! that 's the terrible that 's the lamentable death as you say of some persons sometimes that died in some horrible way Oh! such an one he came to a sad end so do all that die in their sins A sad end the Lord knows One were better never to have been born than to die such a death But I pray mark here what is it that will bring people to such a death Why says Christ If ye believe not that I am he ye shall die in your sins If ye abide Unbelievers if you don't come to me own me give up your selves to me as sure as can be saith he this will be your case ye shall dye in your sins There be some that die to their sins that 's a good death and all Gods Children dye so There be some that die in their sins that 's a sad death as you have heard and all Reprobate Sinners die so There be some that die for their sins eternally and such are all they that die in them and the way to die in them and for them is to live in them These and such kind of things Christ is here preaching I have but named that which I conceive to be most needful for you Well now what 's the success of Christs preaching to his Hearers Why you may observe it was this That of those that heard him some were complying and some were cavilling The Lord grant that all of you may be of the first sort and none of the second Some were complying Hearers This kind of Doctrine took upon their Souls v. 30. As he spake these words many believed on him Oh that there might be such a presence and power of God in our Assembly here that as we are speaking you might be believing applying taking home the Truths of the Gospel so as to be converted to Christ Now these kind of Hearers Christ encourages and bids them go on as they had begun and they should have a Threefold Priviledg The first of them is in v. 31. They should be Disciples indeed not in name and in shew only but in reality q. d. I 'le own you for sincere ones such as Nathanael was concerning whom Christ said John 1 48. Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile You have some that do offer towards Christ begin as if they would follow his Rules and Doctrine but they don't continue in his Word and so shew that they are not Disciples indeed none of the right kind of Professors The other Two Priviledges which Christ saith these shall have are in v. 32. 1. Ye shall know the Truth i. e. have experimental knowledg of the Truths of God God and Christ would reveal themselves further and further to them in the matters and mysteries of salvation He promises inward and sound illumination to them that they should have another manner of knowledg of spiritual things than they have who have nothing but what swims in the brain 2. That the Truth which they should have an understanding of should make them free not like those that abide in slavery and bondage but they should have a state of Freedom Now amongst these Hearers some as I said were cavilling Hearers And this is the sad success that the Word hath upon some that it sets them but a cavilling at what is delivered And thus the Gospel is the favour of life to some and the savour of death to others Now the carnal and unbelieving Hearers take occasion unjustly to cavil at Christ from those last words which he spake to his complying Hearers in the Text shall make you free As if they should say Why then pray what do you make of us We perceive that you count us Slaves or Bond people Your Disciples and Followers shall be taken out of the company of such as are in thraldom why then be-like we are no Freemen Here they thought they had a great advantage against Christ see v. 33. They answered him We be Abrahams seed and were never in bondage to any man How sayest thou Ye shall be made free This that they said was not true in the letter and as to the outward bondage that they had never been in bondage to any man for had they not been in bondage in Egypt and in bondage in Babylon And they were at this present under Tribute and subjection to the Romans Note that a cavilling Spirit is a lying Spirit too They that are given to the one sin are given also to the other But Christ did not mean this in the letter or of any outward bondage but of bondage by sin that they were in And so v. 34. he doth explain himself Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin i. e. is in bondage to it and so will find himself to be at last v. 35. when he shall see that he must not abide any longer among the Children and Sons of God but shall be sent away as the Servant or he that is bound to his Master is afterwards sent out of the house while those that are the sons and Free ones are kept in as those that have a Right and a Priviledg to stay as I that am Gods natural Son do and shall abide for ever in my Father's house together with all his adopted Children who believe on me This 36th Verse to which I am now come is Christ's drawing a conclusion from all this applying this that he had been speaking about Bondage and Freedom to their case that they if they had had Grace might have made a saving use of it for their own everlasting good If the Son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed i. e. If I who am the Son of God and therefore am free and can give freedom to others if I make you free ye shall be free indeed Wherein you have 1. The name by which Jesus Christ calls himself the Son of God or as 't is in the Greek that Son that is such a Son as none is
were ready to fall upon your Souls another should come and let all fall upon himself what notable Service would this Person do you Now such a Servant to men was Christ if they believe in him he excuses them from their eternal pains and eternal Death and from Gods eternal Wrath by suffering it for them And what a Servant to men did he shew himself in reference to their very Bodies that he laboured like any Servant in doing good to them that way in healing the Sick in opening the Eyes of the Blind in casting out Devils He went about every where doing good and healing all manner of diseases among the people yea he stooped to the meanest Offices Joh. 13. 4 c. he washed the Disciples feet which was such a humility in him that Peter told him flat and plain he should never do it for him and no doubt but he wondered that any of the other Disciples would offer to let him do it to them Christ was fain to bring him off from his peremptoriness with a rowzing word If I wash thee not thou hast no part with me vers 8. Tho Christ had a spiritual meaning in it or else he would never have yielded to it he looked upon it as a thing so far below Christ but rather than have no part with him at last he did not only suffer it but desire it 3. He shewed his humility in his submitting himself to the Ordinances Christ had no need of them we must wait upon them because we have such need of them as much need of them as our Bodies have of Physick when they are Sick and of Food when they are Hungry but Christ he had no sin in him nor no grace imperfect and yet he would come to the Ordinances he was Circumcised at eight days and then when the New-Testament Ordinance of Baptism was set on foot by his forerunner John the Baptist he came and would be Baptized himself tho John wondered at his humility in it See Matth. 3. 13 14 15. and so he went into Synagognes as his manner was on the Sabbath-day Luk. 4. 16. 4. In having no possessions in the World I may say concerning Christ in this case as 't is said God dealt with Abraham about the Land of Canaan Acts 7. 5. God gave him no inheritance in it no not so much as to set his foot on yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession So you shall see God hath promised to Christ Psal 2. 8. that he should have all the World and yet when he was in it he had not so much of his own as to set his foot on after the way of mens having possessions he would not to shew his humility Hence you find him telling the Scribe that said he would follow him whither soever he went that the Foxes have holes and the Birds of the Air have nests but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head Matth. 8. 20. The Lord Jesus Christ did that which many are afraid of they are afraid of becoming poor what to have nothing to be brought to nothing but he became poor 2 Cor. 8. 9. 5. In his associating himself with the meanest sort of persons He did not seek the acquaintance of the great ones of the World one of his great acquaintance was John the Baptist a man whose Raiment was of Camels hair and a Leathern Girdle about his Loins and others that he was most intimate with they were a company of Fishermen and he would eat with Publicans and Sinners and be very familiar with the poor 6. In his refusing the preferments of the World when they were offered to him Sometimes he had a very fair occasion in his way to make himself great upon Earth but he would not close with it he could as willingly lay a Crown at his foot as others could desire to have it upon their heads Joh. 6. 15. The truth is he was made a greater King by his Father already than any upon Earth could make him he had set him as King upon his holy hill of Zion Psal 2. 6. he had made him King in his Church and King of Saints but this was an Invisible and Spiritual Government the most neither knew or believed that he had a Kingdom which was not of this World 7. In his Subjection to his Parents of which you read Luke 2. 51. He behaved himself in all dutifulness towards them going and coming at their lawful commands with cheerfulness and obedience he never gave them any just cause to find fault with him for any unbecoming carriage towards them he was a Child that carried himself better towards his Parents than his Parents did towards him they were sinful Parents but he was an holy Child filling up his Relation to them in the fear of God And therefore you young ones that have Parents and carry your selves crosly and stubbornly and disobediently towards them tho God hath commanded you to honour your Father and Mother Where did you learn to be so rebellious are you too good to be ruled and ordered by your Parents when Christ thought not himself too good to be subject to his and yet one of them was but his Father-in-Law his supposed Father as the Scripture calls Joseph Luk. 3. 23. Now you are ready to think here that you may take more liberty If it were your own natural Father or Mother those that you had been begotten and born of then you 'l say perhaps you would not be so stout but Christ carried himself as dutiful to him that was but his Father-in-Law as he did to his own Mother that bare him in her Womb such was his Humility 8. In his tender condescending to the weakest in Grace Matth. 12. 20. He had a company of Disciples about him that were but like little Children in respect of spiritual stature and so he often calls them and yet oh how sweetly did he condescend to them by instructing them in their ignorance and compassionating of them in their weakness and bearing with them in their Infirmities 9. In his not seeking his own commendation for any of the great things which he did or suffered Joh. 5. 41. I receive not honour from men he could speak with the greatest Wisdom and act with the greatest Power and live with the greatest Holiness and suffer with the greatest Patience and yet nothing puffed him up I cannot enlarge upon these things Now that which we are to do with this famous Example of Christ is to learn from it to be humble Matth. 11. 29. Whatever Mercies whatever Gifts whatever Graces the Lord bestows upon us whatever use the Lord makes of us in one kind or other still to lye low give all the Glory to God and take none to our selves It is the great sin of many that they cannot know a little more than others know or do a little more than others do or have a little more than others have but
saies again vers 18. I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven As if he should say I foresaw this when I sent you out that it would be so I knew that he would come down as swift as the lightning Beloved this Freedom makes sinners vomit up Devils where it comes what a wonderful thing is this 7. That the dead should be raised would you not Wonder to see a man raised from the dead If so be that any of you should stand in a Church-yard and while you are looking upon a grave and think of the person that lies dead and buried there and how many years ago it is since he died and that now he were rotten and consumed to see him come forth and stand up and live Why now such a marvellous work is done by this Freedom it hath spiritually opened the graves of many thousand Souls and blessed be God we are not without some such that live and walk amongst us at this day and that are with us in this Congregation Beloved do but turn your eyes now and look upon such a man and such a woman that fears God and you have this wonderful sight before you concerning whom it may be said as in Eph. 2. 1. And you hath he quickned who were dead in trespasses and sins By this Freedom God shews Wonders to the dead the dead arise and praise him Psal 88. 10 11 12. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead shall the dead arise and praise thee Selah Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave or thy faithfulness in destruction Shall thy wonders be known in the dark and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness Why yes God doth so in this case that I am upon And therefore if you that have any Relations any Children any Friends that are for the condition of their Souls stark dead you cannot perceive the least motion or breathing in them towards God or any thing that is good Why 't is true indeed if you be spiritually alive your selves you can't but do that which persons use to do for their Friends that are dead you cannot but mourn for them and in this sense you may and you must do that which would be a great sin in another sense you may pray for the dead and you may be stirred up to it by the consideration of the wonderful nature of this Freedom that it is a thing that will put life into the dead You may look upon a wicked Child or Relation it may be so far gone in sin that they are even past hope as we use to do upon people when they are dead oh as long as they were alive tho very sick yet while there 's life there is hope as we use to say but when we see they are dead then hope is gone Yea but as to this I am speaking of how know you but Christ may come to the grave of that dead Soul and raise it as he did to Lazarus So beloved we that are Ministers of Christ we preach of this Freedom to you and as to divers of you we are afraid we preach to the dead and one would think Why then what hope is there were it not as good to give over Oh no! Preach we must for all this in hope that you may live we are sure that if God please to give you this Freedom tho you have it not yet when it comes it shall do Wonders in you 't will fetch you out of your graves Our Preaching to sinners 't is like Ezekiels prophecying to the dry bones cap. 37. God brought him and set him down in the midst of a Valley full of them vers 1 2. and when he had been viewing them well and seen what a sad Spectacle there was now Son of man can these bones live saith he dost think 't is possible that ever they should live And he answered O Lord God thou knowest As if he should say O Lord that 's with thee who can resolve that but thy self verse 3. Well in vers 4. Come do thou prophecy upon them saith God and keep on prophecying and see what I will do by it Now vers 7. the Prophet prophesied as he was commanded As if he should say That I did and that was all that I could do but mark what wonderful success here was see vers 7 8 9 10. and you read in vers 10. that they lived c. The Lord bless our preaching as he blessed Ezekiels prophecying here 8. That Death it self should be killed Is not this a strange thing You know what a killing thing Death is you have heard of many and seen many that have been slain by it it is a killing all over the World Whether you consider Death naturally or spiritually what a great destroyer ' t is But now that there should be something that should cause Death it self to dye would not this be a wonder why this Freedom doth it it kills the bodily death by the Resurrection of the body it kills the spiritual Death by their being risen with Christ it kills the eternal Death by giving them eternal Life You have two Verses in Joh. 11. 25 26. that speak to this says our Saviour there I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me tho he were dead yet shall he live And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never dye See also 1 Cor. 15. 54 55 56 57. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 9. That a man should be made able to do all things Would you not Wonder to see a man that is so able It may be you will not believe that there is any such man in the World Nay that if he could do all things he would not be a man and 't is true if you take all things in the largest sense he cannot do all things that God can do but he can do all things through God that he hath to do Phil. 4. 11. A true Christian is in some sense weak and yet strong as Paul saith When I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12. 10. And says our Saviour to the man that brought to him his Son possessed with a Devil beseeching him to help him Mark 9. 23 If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth As if he should say Art thou got into Freedom if so there 's nothing that thou hast to do but thou maist go through with it by faith in me A man that hath this Freedom and improves it as he should do he can be poor he can be rich he can do and he can suffer he can live