as rebels to him but he takes us for his own people and as his servants d Ier. 31. 33. according to his promise in the new Covenant and also as his children by adoption in Christ which makes the Meditations of our hearts sweet and comfortable to our souls It is a great honour to be servants to an earthly Prince but it is a far higher title of honour to be servants to the King of heaven The holy Patriarchs and Prophets all the Apostles and Saints of God did account it their highest honour to be the servants of God and they did much glory in this honourable title Thus saith that Kingly Prophet David e Psal 116. 16. O Lord truely I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid thou hast loosed my bonds David useth this as a strong motive to God to hear his prayers and to grant his requests f Psal 86. 2 4 16. O thou my God save thy servant that trusteth in thee Rejoyce the soul of thy servant fâ—r unto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul O turn unto me and have mercy upon me give thy strength unto thy servant and save the son of thine handmaid God gave this title of honour to his choisest servants as to Abraham to Jacob to Moses to David Job Zorâ—babâ—l and to CHRIST himself as he was man For thus he saith by his Prophet g Zech. 3. 8. Behold I will bring forth my servant the Branch This honour have all they that truly believe in Christ because he hath reconciled them to God his Father and hath made them his servants by grace Wherefore now if we have any clear evidence to our consciences that we are the servants of God by vertue of this atonement if we do serve and obey him with faithfull hearts in sincerity and in truth we may then cheerfully fix our Meditations upon God which will be acceptable in his sight and comfortable to our own souls For by this sweet relation that we have unto God through faith in Christ our duties and services to him will be accepted though they be imperfectly performed by us if we shew our best care to please him from an upright heart as his faithfull servants ought to do Also we may apply our selves by holy supplications to our heavenly Lord as being his servants to protect us from our enemies to provide for us in our necessities to succour us in our tribulations and to countenance us as his servants in all our temptations that our faith may not fail us and that our spirits may not sink under the burden of them Whatsoever we want we may have it of God and whatsoever we fear may come upon us he will prevent it or fit us for it or else he will sanctifie it for our good that we may find comfort in it Wherefore we need not be afraid to contemplate his greatnesse for his goodnesse will sweeten that fear we need not fear death in a servile way for it hath no sting to hurt us and we need not be terrified at the Majesty of the great Judge of quick and dead nor at the rigour and severity of his justice at the day of judgement for Christ Jesus shall be then our Judge who is now our Saviour and Redeemer We cannot then but shew our duty to God and our love to Christ by our willing and ready obedience to the commands of God and by our thankfull remembrance of our Redemption wrought by Christ by ruminating on his Word and by contemplating his wonderfull works our thoughts will be continually upon him our delight will be to Meditate on him and the affections of our hearts will be alwayes towards him Consider further what Christ hath done for us that we may the more comfortably Meditate on God he hath not onely redeemed us out of the servitude of sin and Satan and made us the servants of God by grace but also h Iohn 1. 12 he hath given power to as many as believe on his Name to become the sons of God which priviledge and honour we have onely by faith i Gal. 4. 5 6. who hath redeemed us that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons And because we are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his son into our hearts crying Abba Ftther How comfortable then will our Meditations be to our souls when we ruminate upon God as he is our Father what can deject our spirits or make us afraid if we have a sure confidence that God is our Father Can we be brought to a lower degree of misery than k Luk. 15. 18 19. the poor prodigall in the Gospel was and yet when he remembred his Father he was comforted and refreshed Can any poor soul be deeper plunged in sin or lead a more vicious life than this prodigall did and yet his Father did not cast him off but upon his true submission he received him again as his son Why then should we despair of mercy though our sins are many and very great Why should we fear the terrours of death if we be well perswaded of our adoption for l Gal. 4. 7. we are heirs of God through Christ and we go to possesse that inheritance which belongeth to us as sons and why should the thought of the day of judgement be terrible to us seeing Christ our Redeemer will make up our accounts for us and will perfect with his own righteousnesse whatsoever is wanting on our parts Do we think that Christ will redeem us out of the bondage of Satan and will free us from the strictnesse of the Law the dominion of sin from the sting of death and at last will leave us to our selves to answer the rigour of Gods justice for whatsoever we have done here in the flesh Surely no for then the Work of our Redemption had not been perfectly finished but Christ will be then our hiding place he will cover all our sins under the Robe of his own Righteousnesse and will shelter us from the fierceness of Gods wrath and from the severity of Gods justice We have now much matter for Divine and Heavenly Meditations to comfort and refresh our languishing souls when they are any way perplexed with sorrowes feares or doubtings if we ruminate upon our happy condition by being in grace and favour with God for we have the honour and dignity to be the servants of the great King of heaven and earth by the right of purchase and so are none but such onely whom Christ hath bought with his own blood Also if we Meditate upon our Adoption it wil be very comfortable to us and exceeding sweet to our spirituall taste for Christ hath given us hereby all the priviledges of sons both in what we are freed from and in what we have right unto for we are freed from all evill of sin and from all evill of punishment sin hath no power to condemn us though it
Adam and how rebelliously we have sinned against God in the whole course of our lives If this be our condition which is most true as we are in the Staâ—â— of nature what comfort can we then take in all worldly pomp and dignities what contentment is there in all earthly pleasures and delight they are all nothing else but vanity and vexation of spirit We may injoy more of this world than our hearts can desire and yet our soules may starve for want of spiritual food and comfort d Gen. 4. 12 Cain was heir apparent to the whole world and yet he was driven out from the presence of God and became a vagabond upon earth So we may injoy whatsoever the world can afford us and yet God will not look upon us with a gracious aspect and then our condition will be no better than that of Cain We may injoy health wealth peace liberty and all manner of prosperity and yet our souls may be sick they may languish with sadnesse of heart they may be much perplexed and shut up as it were in a dungeon because they are so restrained by the corruptions of our nature that they have no freedome to mount upwards towards heaven It is nothing so uncomfortable to live in perpetuall darknesse and never to see the light of the Sun as it is to have our understandings spiritually darkened and to live without the light of the e Mal. 4. 2 Sun of righteousnesse to have no appearance from him to open the eyes of our understandings to be a guide to our reason to season our hearts with grace and to shew us the way that will bring us to heavenly happinesse This is our condition by nature we are out of the favour of God our life is void of all true comfort and consolation we walk in darknesse f Isa 53. 6 we go astray like silly sheep and follow our own inventions and we have no ability in our selves to return again into the right way Wherefore let our hearts be throughly affected with this our sad condition let our Meditations hereupon draw us to a godly sorrow for our sins which may bring us to true repentance and newnesse of life let this be our chief care and the desire of our soules to regain the grace and favour of God and to be reconciled unto him Let our souls bewail our sins with hearty contrition and true compunction let our teares manifest the grief of our hearts and the truth of our repentance for our transgressions and let us cast our selves down at Gods footstool and humbly acknowledge our offences to him suing earnestly to God by prayer for the pardon and forgivenesse of them through Faith in Christ Also we ought to be humble petitioners to God for a supply of such graces as we want to strengthen â—s against the corruptions of our nature and against all the enemies of our salvation This should be our constant practise every night before we sleep to make our peace with God for the sins of the day past wherein we have failed of our duty and wherein we have dishonoured God that our souls may rest in peace as well as our bodies do rest in quiet So likewise every morning we should acknowledge our thankfulnesse to God for the comforts of the night past and to crave his blessing upon our labours the day following If we continually practise this duty it will keep us from grosse sins and great offences and it will make us take all occasions to renew our Repentance with God for our sins Every fit of pain or of sicknesse that we feel and every crosse or affliction that we suffer calls loud for repentance because it is a fruit of our sins also every blessing and every good thing that God is pleased to bestow upon us cryeth loud for our thankfulnesse because it is bestowed of his own free bounty and goodnesse and not for any merit or desert of ours Though we are miserable vile and wretched in our selves yet God is gracious and mercifull and doth dayly give us occasions to glorifie him and he doth use all means to bring us home again unto himself for he doth not delight in the death of a sinner but rather that he should repent and turn unto him neither doth he deal with us according to our sins nor reward us according to our deservings but hath paid a great prize for our redemption out of this miserable condition Concerning the Redemption of Man VVHen God saw man in this sad condition a lamentable spectacle of wofull misery then he took pity upon him a Ezek. 16. 8 and this time of his wretched estate was the time of Gods love to him for soon after his fall God made a gracious promise of Redemption to him b Gen. 3. 15 that the seed of the woman should break the serpents head This promise God did afterwards renew to the Patriarks which was concerning Christ the Lord that should come in his appointed time whom God did plainly reveal to some of the Prophets c Gal. 4 4 5 VVhen the fulnesse of the time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the Law to redeem them that are under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons d 1 John 4 9 10 In this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his onely begotten Son into the world that we might live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the Propitiation for our sins e John â— 18 The onely begotten son of God who is in the bosome of his Father came down from heaven and assumed our nature and took upon himself the guilt of our sins to Redeem us from the curse of the Law from the dominion of sin and Satan and from the power of death f 1 Cor. 7. 23 Christ hath also paid an infinite price for our Redemption even his own most precious blood and the full vialls of Gods wrath were poured out upon him because he did undertake to satisfie the justice of God for our sins for thus saith the Prophet g Isa 53. 6. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all h Acts 12. 7 8 Now let us gird up our loines with Peter and binde on our sandals i Eph. 6. 15 and let our feet be shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace to be fitted and prepared for our deliverance out of prison for the chains of our sins are taken off and the prison doores are opened to set us at liberty and to redeem our souls from destruction This Work of our Redemption is so great a mystery that the blessed Angels do adore it with much admiration but they cannot comprehend it it was decreed in heaven before the world was and all the three Persons in the holy Trinity had their severall operations
Prophet b Isa 59. 2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have made him hide his face from you that he will not hear For God will not regard us untill the pardon of our sins be sealed to us by faith in the bloud of Christ and we can have no comfort in God nor hope of his grace and favour untill we have some assurance of the remission of our sins by true repentance and turning unto God For thus saith the Prophet c Isa 56. 3 4 5 7 Thâ—ugh we have been strangers to the people of God and as fruitlesse as a dry tree yet if we now kâ—â—p his Sabbaths and choose the things that please him and take hold of his Covenant he will give us a place in his house and an everlasting name that shall not be cut off he will bring us to his holy mountain and make us joyfull in his house of Prayer and all our offerings shall be accepted Though Christ by his death and resurrection hath perfectly wrought our redemption from all our spirituall enemies yet we have not the full vertue and power of it in this life for we are often foiled with the temptations and suggestions of the devill our sins do prevail against us our sinfull lusts and unruly passions do often over-power us d Rom. 7. 19 20 23. and the corruptions of our unregenerate part do war against the Law of our minde and bringeth us captive to the Law of sin so that the good which we would we do not but the evill which we would not that we do it is then no more we that do it but sin that dwelleth in us Wherefore we can feel the power of our redemption but in part so long as we live in the flesh but it will be fully perfected when our corruptible shall put on incorruption and our mortall shall put on immortality and that cannot be untill the generall resurrection at the last day when all the enemies of our salvation shall be subdued For death will seize upon our bodies and will keep them in the prison of the grave untill Christ shall come with power and break open the prison doores by the power of his resurrection and raise them up to immortality and to eternall glory and then our Redemption will be made perfect to us and this e John 6. 54 Christ hath promised and he doth plainly manifest it to us for when he had shewed his disciples some signes and tokens of his second comming which were forerunners of the generall resurrection he said f Luke 21 â— 28. That when they see those things begin to come to passe then they should look up and lift up their heads for their Redemption draweth nigh whereof we are as fully perswaded by faith in this life as if we did already injoy it Wherefore let nothing weaken our faith in our Redemption for we may confidently rest upon it though we have it but in part in this life for Christ will perfect it to us at the last day when he will raise up our bodies out of the dust by his Almighty Power which is the last part of our Redemption Here is matter of great comfort if our hearts do piously ruminate upon the transcendent love of God to us in our Redemption g John 3. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Redemption is freely offered to all yet none can have the assurance of it but such as believe in Christ and belong unto him through the election of Grace these and none but these shall have the benefit of it for they are within the New Covenant h Heb. 9. 15 which Christ hath procured for them by his death these onely shall receive the promise of an eternall inheritance and shall be advanced to an higher degree of felicity and blessednesse than they had in Adam before his fall Adam had but a dimme light of his Redemption yet it was sufficient to ground his faith upon it and the promise of grace was very mystically delivered to him but the Patriarks and Prophets had a clearer evidence of it God hath given us a full demonstration of our Redemption because Christ is come in the flesh and hath finished the whole work of our Salvation by treading down all principalities and powers under his feet and by subduing to us all the enemies of our salvation and because death is our last enemy which will undoubtedly seize upon our bodies we do assuredly believe that by the power of Christs Resurrection who is our head our bodies shall be raised up out of the dust at the last day for Christ hath redeemed our bodies from death as well as our souls from the devill that both in soul and in body we may live and reign with Christ for evermore Wherefore if God hath been so rich in goodnesse to us and if his grace and love hath been so free as to redeem our souls from hell and our bodies from the grave even when we were his enemies and when he saw nothing in us but misery then let us with the Prophet David say thus with our selves i Psal 116 12 13 14 What shall we râ—nder unto the Lord for all his benefits towards us how shal we pay our vowes which we have made to him in our Baptism or at any other time we will take the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord we will be his servants and will offer to him the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving Thus let our thoughts and the Meditations of our hearts be alwayes upon the love of God to us and not upon the vanities of this world let them be set upon the joyes and happinesse of heaven and not upon earthly transitory pleasures and delights let us study how to live a sanctified life unto God and a blamelesse life to our neighbours and not how to fulfill our own sinfull desires and the evill concupiscence of our flesh otherwise we have received the grace of God in vain and we can have no good assurance of our Redemption by Christ for God bestoweth his grace upon us and hath given us the light of his Spirit that we should walk as in the light and not in darknesse that our conversation should be holy and pure and not corrupted and defiled with uncleannesse but that we should perform holy obedience unto God and serve him with pure affections Now let our hearts and souls devoutly Meditate upon the great Work of our Redemption for it was far greater than the Creation of the whole world God did but say the Word let such a thing be made and it was made he did not disrobe himself of any part of his glory in the creation of any creature but rather his glory wisdom and power was magnified in the making of the least of them
our lives will be much the harder Time is not gained but lost which we spend without some fruits of grace and godliness which indeed is the true gain of time and therefore we should seek unto God while he may be found c Isa 55. 6. we should call upon him while he is neer otherwise though we seek him he will not be found and though we call upon him he will not answer nor be intreated Thus saith the Apostle d 2 Cor. 6. 2 now is the time acceptable now is the day of salvation But we have just cause to bewail our condition for the corruption of our nature doth so weaken us and the power of our spiritual enemies doth so prevail against us that we cannot break through such strong opposition as they make to hinder this holy work of grace in us I he devil doth cunningly disswade us from it the world doth strongly allure us to follow still the vanities of it and our own flesh doth dayly intice us to carnal pleasures and delights so that we can finde no time to make our peace with God or to improve the means of grace to his glory and to our own comfort Though we do sometimes strive against our sins yet we cannot overcome them or if one sinne be subdued another is ready to rise up against us also though we cannot actually commit a sin yet we may commit it in our sinful desires to it in a sinful remembrance of it in consenting to it or in suffering it to be done when by our place and authority we might hinder it We have also just cause to bemoan our selves for though we do labour for grace and do use all means for it to the best of our power and yet we cannot attain unto it Though it be thus with us yet we must still continue our best endeavours to oppose all the enemies of our salvation and we must still use the means of grace and wait upon God until he shall please to work grace in us by his Spirit also we must pray unto him with a faithful heart that by the omnipotent power of his grace e and by the rod of his strength which is the Word and Sprit he would make us able to overcome our corruptions by seasoning our hearts with grace to subdue the power of our sins by repentance to improve our time to the glory of God and also to break through the snares of the devil the world and the flesh Then God will so bless us in our pious indeavours that we shall prevail against all opposition and adversary power not by our own strength but by the might and power of Jesus Christ our gracious Redeemer f 2 Cor. 12. 9. whose grace and favour is sufficient for us and whose strength is made perfect in our weaknesse under whose banner we fight these spiritual battels for the honour of his great name Of Christ our Redeemer IF it be so that Christ is our Redeemer and hath wrought our redemption with his own blood and hath purchased for us a new Covenant and an everlasting inheritance in heaven as formerly in part hath been shewed also if we have all our strength and power from him against our spiritual enemies without whom we cannot stand against them nor break through the bands of death to injoy that heavenly inheritance which he hath prepared for us we must then know who Christ is what is the nature of his Person what is his power and strength and how he was qualified for this great work that we may have a sure ground to confide in him and to rest upon him as our Redeemer and onely Saviour Also we must know how he hath satisfied the justice of God for our sinnes how he hath conquered death hell and the devil and what price he hath paid for our ransom for without this heavenly knowledge and faith to apply it to our selves vve can dravv no comfort to our souls from Christ neither can vve have any good assurance that vve are freed from the curse of the Lavv that the justice of God is satisfied for our sins that sin hath no condemning power over us that the sting of death is taken away and that we are reconciled again unto the favour of God God hath revealed these deep mysteries to us in his holy Word that the meditations of our hearts may be enlarged upon them for our instruction and edification and for the comfort of our souls as God shall give light to our understandings by his blessed Spirit But as the Prophet saith a Is 53. 8. Who can declare his generation which was from eternity for Christ our Redeemer is the onely begotten Son of God b Joh. 1. 18. who is in the bosom of the Father and was promised and expected since the beginning of the world And when the fulnesse of time was come that God had appointed for his incarnation c John 1. 14 the Word was made flesh for d Heb. 2. 16 he took on him the seed of Abraham and personally united to his Divine nature a true humane body e Luc. 1. 31 32. of the seed of the Virgin Mary f Mat. 26. 38 which was indued with a reasonable soul and the holy Ghost did so sanctifie her wombe that he was born without sin either original or actual And though the humane nature of Christ was taken into his Deity whereby this union was never to be dissolved yet either nature had their whole properties and operations remaining still unconfounded and therefore he was true God and true man g Heb. 2. 17 like unto us in all things h Heb. 4. 15. sin onely excepted and those two natures made but one person in Christ i Mat. 28. 18 to whom God the Father hath given all power in heaven and in earth so that he commandeth and over-ruleth al created power whatsoever God did also give him three honourable offices that he might be every way fit to be our eternal Mediatour between God and us for God ordained him to be a Prophet to teach and instruct us to be a Priest to make intercession for us and to offer such a sacrifice to God for our sins as he would accept and to be a King to rule and govern his Church and also to rule in our hearts by his Spirit Christ being thus qualified hath fulfilled for us and in our nature whatsoever the Law did require of us and his righteousness is imputed to us by faith for our justification that no guilt of sinne might cleave to us in the sight of God When Christ did execute that part of his priestly office which was the offering up of his body a sacrifice for us no heart can conceive and no tongue can express the bitter torments which he suffered both in his soul and in his body to satisfie the justice of God for our sinnes and to purchase our freedome and redemptition out of the captivity
be overthrown it may be shaken with his boistrous and violent temptation but it shall never be cast down because our faith is built upon a sure rock which is Christ Iesus our King and head If sorrows and crosses breaks in upon us which we could not prevent nor avoid we need not fear for we shall see the salvation of Christ either in our strength and patience to bear them meekly or in our deliverance out of them or else he will sanctifie them to our good We need not cark and care for the things of this life but when we have done our best indeavour in an honest and lawful calling we must leave the event and success to God which peculiarly belongeth unto him and then he will have a care of us Å¿ Deut. 8. 3. for man liveth not by bread onely but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. t Luc. 12. 24 God feedeth the young ravens when they cry unto him then much more will he feed us for it is part of his Kingly office to provide all things that are needful for those that belong unto him Shall not the head provide for the members of the same body and shall not Christ provide for us who have neerer relation to him by faith Now try and examine thy self search into thine own soul to see if Christ hath set up his scepter of righteousness in thy heart to bear rule in thine affections to regulate thy crooked and perverse will and to bring unto his subjection whatsoever resisteth or rebelleth against the Spirit of grace If thou dost find the fruits of sanctifying grace in thee then make a further scrutiny to see unto what measure of grace thou hast attained What corruption hath it mortified in thee what strong holds of sinful lusts hath it beaten down how is the body of sinne dismembred and weakned how strong is thy faith to rest and depend upon Christ in all difficulties and dangers canst thou joyfully bear the scandal of the Cross canst thou meekly bear the loss of thy friends of thy liberty or estate for his sake hast thou faith and patience to suffer afflictions persecution sword or famine for him and canst thou resist unto blood if Christ thy King shall call thee to it then it is an evident sign that his Kingdome of grace is well established in thy heart and hereafter thou shalt have a large inheritance in his Kingdome of glory Pet. 1. 10 Wherefore give all diligence to make thy calling and election sure that thou mayest be invested into his Kingdome of grace here which will bring thee hereafter to eternal blessedness in the Kingdome of heaven Now set thy mind and the meditations of thy heart upon Christ as he is thy King and resolve with an holy resolution to submit thy self to his rule and government to be directed by him in all thy wayes and to expres thy thankfulnes to him for his great care of thee who by his divine providence disposeth all things for thy good If troubles and calamities follow thee like the billowes of the Sea Christ will calm them if they are ready to overwhelm thee then even then will Christ take thee by the hand u Mat. 14. 31 as he did Peter upon the sea and will keep thee from sinking If God looks angerly upon thee for thy sinnes Christ will appease his wrath and make intercession for thee If death looks upon thee with a grim countenance and is ready to bereave thee of thy soul and to expose thy body to the worms yet know with holy Iob x Iob 19. 25 that thy Redeemer liveth also y Luc 6. 22. that he will give his Angels charge to carry thy soul up into Abrahams bosom and at length he will raise up thy body out of the dust and will make it a glorious and incorruptible body fit to live and raign with him for ever Thus and much more will Christ do for all those that have any relation to him by faith or that belong to his spiritual Kingdom for the honour of his great Name and for the eternal good of his Church Of the Passion of Christ. VVHen Christ had finished his Prophetical office in his Ministry and had wrought so many miracles as seemed good to his divine wisdome the time was then come that he must offer up a sacrifice to God for our redemption which was his whole humane nature soul and body for our sins then a Rom. 4. 25. God delivered him up to the power of the devil and into the hands of his enemies for our offences because the guilt of all our siâ—nes was charged upon him For before this very time neither the devil nor his deadly enemies had any power against him this was the time which God had decreed in his secret counsel that Christ should submit himself to their malice and power that the work which God had sent him to do might be finished and when that work was perfectly wrought then God delivered him out of their power by his resurrection and ascension Wherefore we ought to prepare our hearts for holy and devout meditations upon the Passion of Christ which was most bitter to his humane nature because the wrath of God was poured out upon him for our sins and the powers of darkness were let loose against him like so many wolves to worry this immaculate Lamb of God or like so many fierce mastifes against the Lion of the Tribe of Iuda but the innocency of Christ did carry him through his whole Passion and by his own power he overcame the sury of all his enemies though they were permitted to torment and torture him at their pleasure even to the death Christ suffered nothing for himself but it was for all those that were of the election of grace the guilt of whose sins he did take upon himself and to pay their debt to satisfie the penalty of the Law for them by his death and the justice of God by the merit of his blood also it was to cloth them with his own righteousness that they might be justified in the sight of God Therefore let no circumstance of his Passion pass without due consideration b Lam. 1. 12 Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto his sorrow which was done unto him wherewith the Lord hath afflicted him in the day of his fierce anger How was the perfection of beauty stained How was the Sun of righteousnesse clouded How was the bright morning starre darkned How was the Lord of glory contemned blasphemed scorned and spightfully used How was perfect holiness and innocency accused rejected condemned cruelly tormented and most shamefully killed And how was Truth it self despised and troden under foot Can we think upon his Passion without tears and mourning if we belong unto him Can we ruminate upon it and not accuse and condemn our selves who were the cause why he suffered these things and much
to mortifie and kill the power of sin in us and the vertue of his resurrection will quicken us up to newnesse of life and his righteousnesse will restore us to an higher degree of purity and holinesse than we had in our first creation f Gal. 3. 27. for by faith we are baptized into Christ and have put on Christ g Eph. 5. 30. and we are now members of his body of his flesh and of his bones and we are confirmed in this blessed condition by his free Spirit so that we shall never depart from him If Christ had not been crucified and his bloud poured out upon the crosse and if he had not been made a curse for us by that kinde of death then Gods decree had not been fulfilled the work of our redemption had not been finished we had been still under the curse of the Law the guilt of sin had still rested upon our souls and all the Prophesies of him had not been fulfilled also we could not have had all those great benefits by his death and by the merit of his blood h Phil. 2. 8. But Christ did humble himself to the cursed death of the crosse and there his heart blood was poured out which made his sacrifice compleat and perfect This made the faith of the penitent thief so famous because he did imbrace Christ for his Saviour when he was upon the crosse i 1 Cor. 2 2 4. This made Paul to prefer the knowledge of Jesus Christ and him crucified before all humane wisedome because thereby the Spirit of God did make his preaching powerfull and effectuall k Gal. 6. 14 and this made him glory so much in the Crosse of Christ Wherefore we need not be ashamed of Christ because he was crucified and we need not refuse to bear his Crosse after him because it is the greatest honour of a true Christian and that which bringeth the greatest comfort to our souls to be made conformable to Christ in his sufferings Now we come to consider what admirable gentlenesse what great mercy and goodnesse Christ did shew to his persecutors and tormenters he did practise the same Doctrine which he taught his Disciples in the Mount l Mat. 5. 44. Love your enemies blesse them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you For he gave them not a bitter word but did patiently and meekly suffer all their barbarous usage and cruelty against him and when their hearts were inflamed with malice and their hands laboured to crucifie him and when the pangs of death were upon him his tender heart was moved with compassion toward them and the fountain of his mercy was opened that the sweet streams of his blessing might flow upon them for even then he did pray his heavenly Father to remit and and forgive their great sin m Luk. 23. 34. Father saith he forgive them for they know not what they do For they were spiritually blinde and could not see who he was and their hearts were hardened that they could not understand nor believe from whence he came and wherefore he suffered them to put him to such a shameful and cruel death If our dear Saviour was so mercifull to those that brewed their hands in his blood what heart can then conceive the riches of his mercy and love to his own servants that love serve and obey him in truth and with upright hearts For mercy and tender love are essentially and naturally inherent in him and there is no end of his goodnesse to all those that be long unto him his mercy to them goeth along in all his works for if he doth correct them it is in mercy for their good he will not let the rod go out of his own hand to some he doth but shake the rod others feel but few stripes and though some have many stripes n Jer. 10. 2. yet it shall be with judgment not in his anger he wil not deal with them according to their sins nor reward them according to their iniquities but his mercy will prevail though his justice be provoked Wherefore let no poor afflicted soul that is under his rod forbear coming unto Christ for he can take off his visitation when he pleaseth and he will pity him as a Father pitieth his childe Also let no poor sinner that is truly humbled for his sins be afraid to have recourse unto his Redeemer for he prayed for such to procure their pardon and to bring salvation to their souls All the riches honours and pleasures that the world affords can give a sinfull soul no true consolation if he be troubled and perplexed for his sins they are all miserable comforters when the guilt of sin lieth upon the conscience true comfort and fulnesse of joy is to be found onely in Christ and in him crucified for he will take away the guilt of his sins that they shall not molest or trouble his conscience he will help him bear his sorrowes with a contented patience he will stand by him and intercede for him that in his temptations and trials his faith may not fail him Rev. 7. 17 Isa 25. 8. and at last he will wipe away all teares from his eyes All this and much more Christ will do for us for he will also stand for us against all the accusations of the devil be they true or false if they be true he will present his own merits to his Father in satisfaction for us if they be false he will give the devil a shameful repulse and will curb him that he shall not hurt us p 1 John 2. 12. for Christ Jesus the righteous is our Advocate with the Father and the propitiation for our sins and for the sins of the whole world Consider in the next place that Christ did now put an end to the Ceremonial Law for the types and shadows did cease when he was slain because he was the substance of all those ceremonies and sacrifices This was the last ceremonie which was to be fulfilled q Heb. 13. 11 12. that the bodies of those beasts whose blood was to be brought into the Sanctuary by the High Priest for sin were burnt without the Camp This Ceremony Christ fulfilled when he shed his bloud without the gate that he might sanctifie the people with his own blood For both Jews and Gentiles were now gathered together at Mount Calvary where Christ died that the people of all Nations might be sanctified with his bloud if they come unto him by faith to be cleansed from the guilt of their sinnes and purified from their pollutions with his sanctifying grace Wherefore now though we are aliens and strangers to the house of Israel yet nothing hindereth but that we may go forth boldly unto him who finished our redemption by his death without the gate that thereby he might sanctifie the Gentiles with his blood as he did the
Jewes and therefore he will not refuse us Lastly consider that Pilate did highly honour our Lord and Saviour Christ when he wrote this Title to be set over his head upon the Crosse r Jon 2â— 10. Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jewes which was a title of great honour and not of shame and disgrace unto him Their manner was to set up a superscription to shew the crimes why a malefactor was put to death but Pilate could find no crime and no fault in Christ and therefore he wrote this superscription to clear his innocencie and to brand the Jewes with perpetual ignominie and shame to all generations for their malice and cruelty against him For though Pilate did not believe that Christ was a King and though he was perswaded by the chief Priests and by the people to condemn him and to put him to death yet God would not suffer him to be perswaded by them to alter the Title but to have it written in Hebrew Greek and Latine that all Nations and Languages might know the honour of his Person and the horrible wickedness of the bloudy Jewes in killing their King whom God had appointed and sent to be their Saviour and Redeemer also to make their name odious to all people as a just judgement of God upon them because they refused the sweet tender of his grace and mercy and killed his dear and onely Son Christ was brought to the lowest degree of his humiliation and now God doth begin to glorifie him and to publish his honour and his great Name by the highest authority to all nations and people and to the perpetual infamy and reproach of all his enemies to all posterity This honour was his due and God would not suffer him to loose it and thus God will do for us also If we are made the scorn of men if we suffer persecution fire sword or famine in a good cause and if we die upon this crosse yet God will manifest the integrity of our hearts and will give us that honour which is due to us as his servants and his children for if we drink of Christs bitter cup of sorrows we shall also drink of his pleasant cup of joy and consolation Wherefore if thou wilt have the meditations of thy heart upon the passion of thy dear and gracious Redeemer to be comfortable and profitable to thy soul thou must not look upon him onely in that despicable condition as he is now upon the crosse to the outward eye but with the eye of faith thou must look upon him as he is the eternal Son of God God and man and as he is dignified with all his excellencies and titles of honour for he was a Prophet and such a Prophet as did endow all the former Prophets with the spirit of prophesie whose Prophesies did chiefly concern him Also he was a Priest after the highest order whose Priesthood was eternal according to this of the Psalmist Å¿ Psal 110. 4. The Lord sware and will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck So likewise he was a spiritual King to rule his Church and in the hearts of all his elect and he did subdue all his enemies under him and he will also subdue all the enemies of his spiritual Kingdom in us If thou canst thus see the excellencies of Christ through his mean and contemptible condition and if thou canst believe that he is thy Redeemer and all-sufficient to be thy Saviour it will inflame the affections of thy heart with intire love to him because he hath humbled himself so low for thy sake it will make thee bend thine ear to his instructions for he will teach thee heavenly wisdom and how to walk in the paths of godlinesse he will also present thy prayers and all thy holy services to God his Father and then they shall be accepted and this will also work a reverential fear in thee to yeild all obedience to his commands If thou doest thus look upon Christ though he be upon the crosse it will give thee abundant comfort in thy sufferings exceeding much joy in the benefits which thou shalt have by his passion and it will stirre thee up to a thankful acknowledgement of his goodness and mercie to thee Now look upon thine own unworthiness and thou wilt admire the moâ—â— that Christ should so much humble himself to exalt thee that he should suffer so much smart pain and torment to free thee from everlasting torments and burnings in hell and that he should loose the comfort of his Deitie and the sense of his Fathers love to reconcile thee unto God and to make an attonement for thy sins Who were the Agents in the Passion of CHRIST VVE come now to consider what Agents there were in this doleful tragedie of our Saviour Christ how every one acted for his own ends how God did make the designes of the devil and of all his wicked instruments to work for his own glorie and how he did afterwards bring their wickedness upon their own heads The whole Passion of Christ and every circumstance of it was decreed from eternitie and the three Persons in the sacred Trinity were the first and principal Agents in this great work of Christs Passion for they decreed that Jesus Christ the second Person in the holy Trinitie should be sacrificed and made a propitiation for the sins of the world which was done at Gods appointed time For God the Father sent him into the world for this end and purpose and God the Son gave himself to be a ransome for us and assumed our nature that he might fulfil all righteousness and suffer the whole penalty of the Law for us also God the holie Ghost did give him all fulness of grace and power to bear the bitterness of his passion and thereby to conquer sin death hell and the devil and to give us power also over all the enemies of our salvation Though God was the principal Agent in the crucifying of Christ yet herein he had no evil intent or purpose and therefore he was without sin for he had a gracious and merciful end in it that his justice might be satisfied for the sin of man and that the redemption and salvation of all his elect might be wrought by the precious bloud and all sufficient sacrifice of his dear Son But the devil was the chief actor in the wickedness and crueltie of this sad tragedie whose end and design was to hinder our salvation by destroying our Saviour and this he did seek to bring to passe by wicked means and of malice to mankind and therefore as soon as he had his permission from God he raised up his wicked instruments for his hellish design First a John 13. 27. he entred into Judas and took possession there b Mat. 26. 25 16. who out of covetousness sold his Lord and Master to the chief Priests and Elders for thirtie pieces of silver
do we hope for no greater felicity than what we now injoy We hâ—ve no abiding place here but we are subject to changes every moment and upon every small occasion o 1 Chro. 29 15. We are strangers and sojourners here our dayes on earth are as a shadow and there is none abiding our mansion house where we must dwell for ever is in heaven which Christ our Saviour hath prepared for us to draw our mindes from all earthly delights which are fading and transitory and alwayes mixed and imbittered with some sorrowes and vexations that our hearts and affections may be inflamed to injoy that celestial happinesse where we shall be stablished and confirmed in perfect holinesse for ever and where we shall injoy the perfection of all blessedness for evermore Wherefore p Heb. 12. 2. look unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the crosse despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God q 2 Tim. 2. i2 If we suffer with Christ we shall also reign with him if we dye with him we shall also live with him if we are buried with him we shall rise with him and if we partake with him in his humiliation we shall also partake with him in his exaltation for the members must be made conformable to the Head Of the Resurrection of CHRIST VVE come now to the Exaltation of our blessed Redeemer for though he suffered his enemies to tyrannize over him at their pleasure and to put him to a most cruell and shamefull death upon the crosse because it was his heavenly Fathers will it should be so yet he rose again the third day by the Almighty Power of his Deity and cloathed himself with the glorious robes of immortality triumphing over all his enemies both spirituall and temporall The truth of his Resurrection a Luk. 24. did first appear by the testimony of two Angels to the Woman that came the third day to his Sepulchre to imbalm his body b John 20. then he appeard to Mary and to his Disciples at several times also to five hundred brethren at once and he conversed with his Disciples fourty dayes upon earth before he ascended up into heaven Many Saints that slept were raised out of their graves with him who also appeared to many in the holy City and probably ascended up with him into heaven so that we may safely build our faith upon the truth of his Resurrection which is an Article of faith that we must believe for the well grounding of our hope that our bodies shal also rise again from the dead with songs of rejoicing and triumph Here is matter of exceeding great comfort to our souls for our hearts to Meditate upon if we do stedfastly believe that Jesus Christ our blessed Saviour is risen from the dead First we may be truly perswaded hereby that he hath fully satisfied the justice of God for all our sins and that the guilt of sin is taken away from our souls and nailed to his Crosse so that if God looks upon our sins there he will also see the precious blood of his dear Son that was spilt for them Secondly we may firmly believe that Christ by his Resurrection hath gotten the victory and conquest over sin death hell and the Devill c John 10. 18 for as he had power to lay down his life so he had power to take it up again Christ hath likewise taken away the strength of sin and hath pulled out the sting of death in that he hath fulfilled all righteousnesse and fully satisfied the penalty of the Law d 1 Cor. 15. 56. for the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law Wherefore we may now draw vertue and grace from Christ to overpower all the corruptions of our nature e Eph. 2. 1. and though we are dead in trespasses and sins yet by the power of his Resurrection he will quicken us and raise us up out of the grave of sin and will give us a spirituall life to live the life of grace to him here that we may live the life of glory with him hereafter for ever Why then should we fear death that hath no sting to wound us Why should we not smile upon it seing Christ hath sanctified it to us Why should we fear the Devill with a servile fear seing Christ hath redeemed us out of his bondage His malice may molest and trouble us if we be not well armed with faith but Christ hath weakened his power below our strength When our bodieslye in the dust our souls will be out of the devils reach for Christ will take them up to himself into the Paradise of God where the devil cannot come for he is cast down into utter darknesse he may be permitted to tempt or afflict us while we are in the flesh but Christ whom we serve will not suffer him to prevail against us Thirdly seeing Christ our head is risen from the dead we also that are his members must rise again at the last day for the Head will draw all the members of the body with it Christ hath redeemed our bodies from the grave as well as our souls from death if therefore we be not raised again out of the grave our redemption is not perfectly wrought Also if there shall be no resurrection of our bodies and if death hath power to keep them still in the grave then our union with Christ is not firm and our faith is not able to keep us close unto him and our hope is not stedfast but death hath not this power the graves will open and deliver up their dead and our bodies shall rise again to injoy that unconceivable happinesse with our souls of the beatificall vision of God and to be for ever with Christ our Redeemer because Christ our Head is risen Lastly our chief comfort dependeth upon our resurrection to glory for in this life we finde nothing but labour and travell sorrow and trouble vexation and anguish of spirit our hope of future rest and peace of joy and comfort happinesse and glory doth sweeten all our afflictions here and makes us bear them contentedly and chearfully for as David saith f Psal 58. 11. Verily there is a reward for the righteous and this reward is in heaven Now if there be no resurrection from the dead our hope is vain our comfort will deceive us and our life is most miserable of all men according to this of Paul g 1 Cor. 15. 15. If in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable for we shall never injoy this reward which God hath promised but our faith is grounded upon the sure promises of God which cannot deceive us concerning the resurrection of our bodies unto glory which will yield us unspeakable consolation when we seriously Meditate upon it Wherefore now raise
up thy spirit thou fainting soul for Christ hath redeemed thy body from the grave and thy soul from death by his Resurrection he hath conquered all the enemies of thy salvation sin hath no condemning power over thee death is advantage to thee hell is lockt up from thee and the Devill himself cannot go beyond his commission for thy hurt Though the world doth frown upon thee h Joh. 16. 33 and thou findest tribulation here yet be of good chear and lift up thy head for Christ hath overcome the world and he will sanctifie all thy tribulations to thee Thou livest here subject to shame and reproach to diseases of body and sorrow of spirit and to all miseries and calamities but death will put an end to all thy labour and travell the grave will refine thy body from all imperfections and diseases and thy resurrection will bring thee to thy reward which is laid up for thee in heaven If the powers of darknesse set themselves in array against thee if the terrours of death assault thee fear not but keep close to the Resurrection of thy Saviour by faith he hath overcome them all and will also subdue them unto thee i Eph â— 30. If thou art a member of his body of his flesh and of his bones thou must be made conformable to him as to thy head as well in his glory as in his shame as well in his resurrection as in his death and buriall If the crosse must try thy strength he will not tire thee with a greater burden than thou art well able to bear If pain or sicknesse brings thee near unto death the faithfull hope of a joyful resurrection will greatly refresh and comfort thy soul for though thy soul must be parted from thy body yet neither thy soul nor thy body shall be parted fuom Christ but thou shalt rise again out of the dust with a spirituall and immortal body to be joyned unto Christ thy head for ever Now think on these things with holy affections and they will minister heavenly comfort to thy soul when thou art in any perplexity of minde or body Consider now to whom Christ appeared after his Resurrection it was first to holy Women who in their pious devotion and love to him came to imbalm his body with spices and sweet odours then he appeared to his Disciples at sundry times and also to many Brethren that they all might be well confirmed in the truth of his Resurrection and of his Deity to comfort them in their sorrowes to uphold them in their sufferings to strenthen their faith against all persecutions and bloody tryals and to be able to strengthen others in the Doctrine of the Resurrection Thus did the holy Apostles testfiie that they had seen the Lord Jesus after he was risen to confirm their Doctrine of his Resurrection But Christ did not appear to any wicked or ungodly men for they could neither believe it nor understand it nor receive any comfort or benefit by it because they have no spirituall eye to discern his glorified body but chiefly because they have no relation to him as their Saviour Christ doth appear to us at this day by his Spirit when he doth manifest to us the truth of his Resurrection by his Word and doth give us grace to apply it to our selves for the confirmation of our faith in the Resurrection of our bodies at the last day But chiefly Christ doth appear to us when by faith we draw vertue and power from his Resurrection to rise from the death of sin to the life of grace when we can raise up the affections of our hearts from earthly and worldly cares to heavenly contemplations and when we can with the wings of faith mount up above the sinfull delights and pleasures of this life and above all the calamities and tribulations that we shall meet with here upon earth to have our conversation in heaven and can draw comfort to our selves in all our sorrowes and miseries from the hope of our resurrection There will also be a day of resurrection to the wicked which will be most sad wofull and miserable to them for they shall not rise with purified and glorified bodies but with filthy ugly and unclean bodies all besmeared with the guilt of sin which will make them odious to look upon and they have no covering to hide their sins but onely the Divels liverey which is a guilty conscience that they may be known to whom they belong For there is no place and no inheritance in heaven for such unclean monsters but they shall be thrust down into the lowest hell to partake with the devil and his angels in their everlasting torments which is the reward of all wicked men for their evill works Of CHRISTS Ascension up into Heaven VVHen Christ had fully instructed his Apostles after his Resurrection in those things which concerned the Kingdom of Heaven and had taught them how to plant his Church here upon earth he was taken up in the sight and view of them all and ascended up into heaven where he sitteth at the right hand of God in fulnesse of Majesty and glory until he shall come again to judge both the quick and the dead whereby Christ is now become our eternall Advocate with the Father to make intercession for us and he is also our eternall high Priest to present our Prayers and oblations to God At his Ascension he carried up our humane nature with him into heaven and hath advanced it above the Angels and above all Principalities and powers also Christ hath taken possession of that heavenly Inheritance which we shall hereafter injoy for he keeps it for us Wherefore now let the thoughts of our hearts be raised up in our holy Meditations to contemplate the transcendent glory of Christ now he is at the right hand of the Father that we may firmly confide in him and have a longing desire to be with him to injoy that place of true blessednesse a John 14. 2 which he hath prepared for us in his Fathers house Also let all our Prayers and sacrifices proceed from an upright and a believing heart that they may be such as Christ will present to his Father for us and then we may confidently believe that God will graciously receive them Here is also great comfort for us that though we sin dayly through humane frailty or through the corruption of our nature b 1 John 2. 1 2. that we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins who will intercede for us and will present the merit of his blood unto him in full satisfaction for all our sins whereof we may have an holy assurance by faith and true repentance If we do faithfully believe that we have such an high Priest and such an Advocate in heaven why do we give our selves liberty in sin to displease him Why do we cherish any darling sin
will still reign in us though we cannot actually commit sin So likewise if we do spiritually feed upon the body and blood of Christ at the Lords Table we do then seal this Covenant of grace to our souls and we shall finde the comfort of all those promises that are contained in it This spiritual food was the fruit that the Spouse did feed upon h Cant. 2. 3. which was so sweet to her taste and we shall also finde the same sweetnesse in that blessed fruit But if we come to that holy Supper with mindes full of worldly cares or sinfull lusts and with hearts full of hypocrisie and unbelief we do eat and drink damnation to our selves We need not now envy at the prosperity of ungodly men their wealth is their snare to bring them into the paths of perdition their gain is their losse their pleasure will be their pain and their sweetnesse will be bitterness to them in the end so that what gain soever they make of this world if they do not also gain Christ with it they will finde no Advantage nor true comfort by it It is a shame for rich men and a dishonour for such as are in eminent places of authority if they are not truly vertuous and religious This heavenly gain is peculiar onely to the Children of God which they have onely by Christ and they seek it no where but of him Our Advantage and Gain by CHRIST in Death AS Christ is our spirituall gain in this life so he is no lesse our advantage and Gain in our death for he hath so conquered death that it shall neither sting us nor hurt us though we must at Gods appointed time yield and submit unto it Death of it self is a terrible enemy and destructive to our whole nature and it is the greatest part of the curse for the breach of the Law but Christ hath made it our friend and hath taken the curse from it so that if we live an holy and pious life in Christ we shall also dye a comfortable and a Christian death in him a Rom. 5. 12 By the fall of Adam sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned b Heb. 9. 2â— Therefore it is appointed unto all men once to dye and after this is the judgement Thus saith the Psalmist c Psal 89. 48 What man is be that liveth and shall not see death Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave Paul saith d 2 Cor. 4. 7 that our bodies are but earthen vessels which are soon broken or e 2 Cor. 5. 1. earthly houses which are soon dissolved The wise man hath no priviledge from death more than the fool one event happeneth to them both f Eccl. 2. 14 16 How dyeth the wise man As the fool saith the Preacher g Eccl. 3. 20 All go unto one place both high and low rich and poor all are of the dust and all turn to dust again For we must be conformed to Christ in his death if we desire to be conformed to him in his resurrection This is the way that every man must go before he can h Rom. 3. 23. come to eternall life for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God i Rom 6. 23 and the wages of sin is death If it be so that none can escape the stroke of death but that it will seize upon all flesh with an unresistible power we ought then to be alwayes well prepared that death may not come suddenly upon us to take us away in our sins before we have made our peace with God by faith in Christ and before we have got a modest and sober assurance of the pardon of our sins by true repentance that we may willingly part with this world and comfortably resign up our souls to God in full hope that we shall injoy a better life hereafters for evermore and this preparation for Death is onely by Christ Consider now that Christ will fit and prepare us for Death and will also fit a Death for us which shall make most for the glory of God and be most advantagious to us and he will so sanctifie it to us that our gain thereby shall be far greater than our loss If we dye in the Lord or for the Lord death may part our souls from our bodies but it cannot part our souls from Christ the soul may be parted for a time from a crazy diseased and corruptible body which is but an earthly Tabernacle but we shall receive the same bodies again in full strength in perfect beauty and incorruptible free from aches or diseases from decay or corruption Death may take our souls out of a world of miseries and calamities of sorrowes troubles and vexations but it will presently convey them into an haven of rest and into an heaven of happinesse where there is no labour nor toil no troubles nor sorrow but perfect peace and fulnesse of joy for ever and our bodies shall be raised up to injoy the same blessednesse with our souls k 2 Cor. 5. 1. Death may dissolve the earthly house of our tabernacle but we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternall in the heavens What if we lose our lands and possessions wherunto we are but tenants at will l â— Pet. 1. 3 4 We have a lively hope by Christ to injoy an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us Death may take us from our earthly friends but it will bring us into the society of the glorious Angels and blessed Saints in heaven and to be wedded to Christ our Beloved for ever to whom in this life we are but espoused Consider in the next place for our further comfort that we have this Advantage by Christ above other men when we are to dye m 1 Cor. 15. 55 56. that death hath nothing to hurt us sin hath no power to condemn us and therefore death cannot binde us over unto judgement Thus saith the Lord by his Prophet n Isa 42 â—5 I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins How can death then be any way hurtful to us As Christ hath taken away the guilt of our sins so he will also fasten all our good works and pious duties to our souls which will go with us to the grave o Rev. 14. 13 and will follow us to the day of judgement to be had in remembrance then before God This is a blessed Advantage that we have by Christ in death above other men that have no interest in Christ For their evil works cleave so close to their souls that they will follow them unto judgement to increase their torments in their condemnation Thus saith Paul p 1 Tim. 5. 24. Some mens sins are open before hand
it might run down to every member of his mystical body which was typified by r Psal 133. 2. that pâ—ecious ointment which was poured upon Aarons head and ran down to the skirts of his garments so that we have a spiritual light to discern the things that belong to our peace then Christ hath wrought this life in us by his holy Spirit for in the state of nature we were dead to any thing that is heavenly f 1 Cor. 2. 14 and we could not receive the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned Secondly if our soules can feed upon heavenly food and if we can expresse all other actions of a spiritual life as to walk in the paths of holinesse to speak the pure Language of Canaan and to have our conversation in heaven while we live here upon earth we may then be fully perswaded that there is a spirituall life in us for so long as sin reigneth in our mortall bodies and untill there be a new creation wrought in us we are spiritually dead to every good work and we can expresse no actions of a sanctified life Thirdly if our souls are cleansed from the guilt of sin in the blood of Christ and if the filth and stains of our sins are washed away in the Laver of Regeneration by his sanctifying grace and covered under his righteousnesse that they appear not to the dishonour of God or to the hurt of our neighbour and that we delight not in any sin but do study and endeavour to serve and please God with a sincere heart and pure affections it is a sure evidence that Christ hath quickned and raised us up from the death of sin to the life of grace Lastly if our duties and services to God proceed from a clean and a purified heart which is sanctified and perfumed with the graces and merits of Christ then God will smell the perfume of them to accept of our persons and of our holy offerings because the Spirit of Christ is in us Thus we may know to our great comfort if we narrowly look into our condition what spirituall life we have and that we have it onely from Christ and by him Wherefore now if thou desirest to live spiritually by Christ thou must faithfully believe that he hath taken away that spiritual death which by nature was upon thee for thy sins and that he onely can give thee this spirituall life for as he hath vanquished and overcome the power of death both spiritual and temporal so he can give a spiritual life as well as a temporal to whom and when he pleaseth This spiritual life thou must have from him if thou canst make a particular application of him to thy self by faith that he is thy Saviour and thy Redeemer for he hath then breathed into thee the Spirit of grace which hath wrought this spiritual life in thee though at the first thou canst feel no power of it without this application of Christ to thy self thou canst draw no comfort from him and he will profit thee nothing It did much comfort Job in his greatest misery when he did thus apply Christ to himself t Job 19. 25 27. I know saith he that my Redeemer liveth whom I shall see for my self If thou canst bring thy heart to close thus with Christ he will give light to thine eyes food to thy soul balm for thy diseases and comfortable refreshing for thy languishing spirits But if thou art still dead in thy sins and hast no spiritual life in Christ thou canst then feel no comfort by him for what good can light do to a dead man What benefit can he have by the daintiest food What can the best medicine profite him And what sense hath he of the best perfume But if thou doest live in Christ and he in thee thou shalt partake with him in his fulnesse of all spiritual graces u Col. 1. 19 for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullnesse dwell u John 1. 16 And of his fulnesse have all we received and grace for grace Now consider further that Christ is the meritorious cause of this spiritual life x Tit. 2. 14 for he gave himself freely and voluntarily to be an oblation and a sacrifice for us to redeem us from all iniquity and from whatsoever we are lyable unto by reason of sin to wit from the guilt of sin from the dominion of sin from the curse of the Law from the bondage of Satan from the terrours of death and from eternall condemnation Also by the power of his resurrection he hath subdued and overcome death hell and the grave that we might be raised out of the grave of sin to live a spiritual life to God in Christ Christ hath wrought our redemption by his active and passive obedience to the will of God whereby we are justified in his sight for he hath taken our life out of the hand of Gods justice where we had no hope to injoy it and hath put it into the hand of his mercy where we are sure through Christ to have the comfort of it here and the happinesse of it hereafter Though we must passe by the gates of hell before we can injoy the sweet consolation of this spiritual life and though we must bring our selves so low in our humiliation and in mortifying of our sins and corruptions as if we were ready to be thrust down into hell yet God will then give us a spiritual life in Christ to support us he will then raise us up to newnesse of life by the sanctifying grace of his Spirit that our spiritual life may appear and that we may be made fit to injoy Christ for ever in the Kingdom of heaven This is the first main end of the passion of Christ that we may be redeemed by the merit of his blood Secondly Christ is the efficient cause of our spiritual life for as we have our justification by the merit of his blood so we have our sanctification by the same blood and these two cannot be separated but must go together for we have no sure evidence that we are justified in the sight of God but by the sanctification of our lives The Act of our justification is wrought at once as soon as we are ingrafted into Christ by Faith but our sanctification must be a continued Act so long as we live in the flesh for the best of Gods servants have so many spots and stains of sin in them that they have dayly need to pray to be every day purified and cleansed with the blood of Christ and to be dayly renewed with the graces of his Spirit This is the second main end why Christ gave himself to be an oblation for us that he might purifie us to be a peculiar people to himself according to this of Paul y Tit. 2. 14 Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself
duty or fall through frailty and infirmity u Hos 14. 4. God in mercy will heal our backslidings and will accept of our imperfect performances because we have relation un to Christ by Faith Now then if we will strictly examine the actions of our lives by those former directions we shall easily find whether our works and services to God have been such as he requireth and performed according to his will that we may have peace of conscience in them here and eternal comfort by them hereafter If we can find by this inquiry that our works have been the fruits of Faith and that we have done our duty to the best of our power with a faithful heart to the honour of God and not out of pride or vain-glory to get the praise of men as the hypocrites do or to any other by-end then our Faith will shine forth in our works and God will graciously accept them But if the actions of our life have been evill they will follow us for evill when we lye down and when we rise up and whithersoever we go If we sleep or wake they will molest and trouble us they will aggravate our sorrowes in our afflictions and our pains in sicknesse they will imbitter all the comforts of our life and increase the fear and terrour of death for they will come into our remembrance when we ly upon our death-beds to vex and terrifie our very souls and to make us uncapable of any heavenly consolation untill the guilt of sin that cleaveth to them be taken away by Faith in the blood of Christ Also u Rev. 14. 13 our evill works will follow us unto judgement to accuse us before the great and dreadful Judge x Rev. 20. 13 and then God will judge us according to them if they be found wicked and sinful we cannot but expect the dreadful sentence of condemnation to be pronounced against us Also after judgement they will increase our torments in hell if we do not prevent it in time by our true repentance while we live here in this life Lastly Faith will fit and prepare us for a blessed and a comfortable death for by it we shall steer the whole course of our lives to the honour of y Col. 1. 10. God it will make us fruitfull in every good work that they may be rightly done both for the matter and for the manner and also to the right end as God hath appointed them we cannot then but live vertuously and piously in the true fear of God and he will reward us of his free bounty and goodnesse though not of merit God will remember our works if they are done in sincerity and in truth to comfort us in the sadnesse of our hearts to ease us in the extremity of pain and sicknesse and to give us a peaceable and a quiet conscience in the assurance of the pardon of our sins and of his grace and favour before the hour of our dissolution shall come upon us Such good works will adorn our profession and make our lives comfortable to us and our conversation sutable to our profession and they will follow us for our good whithersoever we go for there is no guilt of sin that cleaves to them because Christ hath taken it a way whereof we are fully perswaded by Faith z Neh. 13. 14. If we can with good Nehemiah put God in remembrance of our good deeds how will it strengthen our hope and trust in God for his protection in all dangers for his help and succour in all our distresses and for his assistance when we undertake any speciall businesse what sweet consolation will it be to us when we are upon our death-beds if with a clear conscience we can put God in minde a Isa 38. 3. as King Hezekiah did that we have walked before him in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which was good in his sight If we thus live and thus dye we may then say with Paul b Rom. 14 8. Whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we dye we dye unto the Lord whether we live therefore or dye we are the Lords c Rev. 14. 13. John heard a voice from heaven saying unto him Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them We may confidently believe that their condition is most blessed because it is the voice of the spirit of truth that doth affirm it We have also great encouragement to be fruitfull in good works because they will go with us even to the Tribunall seat of God for Christ hath fastned them to our souls that God may then look upon them and remember them for the increase of our joy and happinesse hereafter If we do now ruminate well upon all these several excellent benefits and comforts that come by a true and lively faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we may draw sweet and heavenly Meditations from thence for the comfort of our souls against the power of the devill the rigour of the Law the dominion of sin the fear of death and against eternal condemnation For we shall finde that hereby we are ingrafted into Christ who hath redeemed us from all iniquity and from whatsoever our sins have made us lyable unto and hath cleansed us from all the pollutions and defilements of sin he hath made us the adopted sons of God and hath given us all the priviledges that do belong unto Sons Also we shall finde that by Christ we are invested into the Covenant of grace and have right to all the gracious promises of God which will sweetly refresh our souls in all fears and doubtings in all difficulties and dangers in all extremities and distresses if we can apply them to our souls by Faith and rest upon them with stedfast hope Wherefore let this be the Meditation of our hearts and the desire of our souls to have a near communion with Christ that we may say with the Spouse d Cant. 2. 16 My beloved is mine and I am his or to say thus with Paul e Gal. 2. 20. I am crucified with Christ Neverthelesse I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me This particular application of Christ to our selves will draw from him the richest Jewels that are in his Treasury the richest robe and the best garments that are in his Wardrope and his very heart-blood for our redemption If we look a little lower and fix our Meditations upon the holy Ordinances of God we shall finde that which will sweetly comfort and delight our hearts if we have Faith to understand and believe what the holy Ghost saith to us in them for our instruction and consolation It was
if we have a true sight of our own basenesse that we are but as clay in the hand of the Potter or as an earthen pitcher which is easily broken in pieces we cannot but be afraid to draw near so great and glorious a Majesty to contemplate his greatnesse and power the breath of whose Nostrils is able to consume us But if we consider that our sins have laid us open to the rigour of his justice and have justly moved him to pour down upon us the full vialls of his wrath and indignation to our eternall destruction it must needs then strike terrour into our hearts when we come before him in our heavenly Meditations for he is a sin-revenging God l Heb. 12. 29. and a consuming fire he will suffer no sin to go unpunished This doth make our sins the more hainous and the punishment of them the more grievous because they are committed against an Omnipotent and most glorious God from whom we had our first being and from whose goodnesse we do dayly receive all blessings both spirituall and temporall that are needfull for us Wherefore we cannot Meditate with comfort upon God when the guilt of our sins cleaveth to our souls We cannot chearfully lift up our hearts unto him when our consciences do accuse us of sin that we have offended God our Creator and that we lye under the curse of his Law and are in continuall expectation to have the penalty of it inflicted upon us which we know we have justly deserved Thus it is with us until we can apprehend God to be reconciled unto us by the merit of the death of Christ which we must apply to our own hearts by faith When God doth visite us with afflictions and troubles as he hath done to many of his dear servants that we feel the smart of his rod and his hand heavy upon us it will take away the comfort of our Meditations and make us afraid of his judgements as it was with holy Job David and others because sometimes they are very terrible to us Thus saith Job unto God in his afflictions m Iob. 13. 21. Withdraw thine hand far from me and let not thy dread make me afraid Again he saith thus n Iob 6. 4. The terrours of God do set themselves in array against me If God be so dreadfull to his own servants how then can the wicked and sinners appear before him how can they withstand his judgements or bear the fiercenesse of his wrath and fury he cast the disobedient Angels out of heaven without any hope of redemption he cast Adam out of Paradise and laid a severe curse upon the earth for his sake and upon all his posterity for his sin he drowned the whole world and consumed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire he gave his own people into the hands of their enemies for their transgressions and brought grievous judgements upon many particular offenders Wherefore we cannot deny but that the Meditation of these and the like works of Gods justice must needs be dreadful and uncomfortable to us if we look onely upon the justice of God and not also upon his mercy But above all it is most dreadfull to Meditate upon the day of judgement when we must appear before this great and terrible God to give a strict account unto him of whatsoever we have done here in the flesh whether it be good or evill o Ioel. 2. 11. That day is great and terrible who can abide it Then shall all our secret sins be brought to light and laid open to the view of heaven and earth then it wil appear how we have served God what good we have done and what evill we have shunned and then we must answer for every idle word that we have spoken Then shall be great confusion both in heaven and in earth to the astonishment of all Nations for p Luk. 21. 27. they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and glory and with great authority and majesty q 2 Cor. 5. 10. All must then be presented before the judgement seat of Christ r 1 Cor. 4. 5. who will bring to light those things that were hidden in darknesse and will manifest all the thoughts of every mans heart Å¿ Luk. 23. 30. Rev. 6. 16 Then the wicked shall say to the hills fall upon us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb because the great day of wrath is come This terrour will be so unspeakable that it will make every mans heart to tremble for the just men and the Angels themselves are said to fear surely then it must needs be dreadfull to think upon it What a fearfull day will it be to carelesse and loose livers who carry the guilt of sin upon their souls with them unto judgement how will it terrifie them when they see such dreadfull feares and miseries to rush in upon them t Math. 24. 29. Then they shall see the Sun to be darkened and the moon not to give her light then the Stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken Thus saith the Prophet u Isa 13. 13 14. The earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of his fierce anger and it shall be as the chased Roe and as the sheep that no man taketh up Then shall they see all sepulchers open and to yield forth their dead bodies of all men high and low rich and poor to stand there naked before the Judge and before his Angels and in the face of all creatures their sins shall be revealed their secret offences shall be laid open and they shall be constrained to give an account of those things whereof they would disdain to have been told in this life Consider now who can Meditate upon the eternall God this great and terrible Judge without much fear and dread if he cannot appear before him with a good conscience and who can think upon that fearfull day of account without much terrour and trouble of spirit if he hath not some good assurance of the pardon of his sins by his true repentance and that he is reconciled to God by faith in Christ Wealth and honours cannot help the Judge will not be partiall neither will he be corrupted an evill conscience will not be silent no intercession of worldly friends can prevail at that day all things wil cry for vengeance upon the wicked and reprobate to yield them cause of fear and terrour but nothing will yield them any hope of comfort Above them shall be their dreadfull Judge who is offended with them for their wickednesse beneath them they shall see hell open and the cruell furnace ready boyling to receive then on their right hand their sins accusing them on the left hand the divels are ready to execute Gods eternall
of sinne and Satan k Isa 53. He was a man of sorrowes he was despised he hath born our griefs he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastizement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed All we like sheep are gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all Hereby it appeareth that the justice of God cannot dispense with any sinne for he did severely punish it in his own dear Son because he found the guilt of sinne upon him though it were none of his own for he was in his own nature free from any spot or stain of sinne whatsoever Now learn this instruction that when thy heart doth meditate on Christ thy gracious and blessed Redeemer thy thoughts must not rest upon his humane nature but with the piercing eye and power of faith thou must raise them up to contemplate with all due reverence his Deity admire with great admiration that the eternal Son of God was pleased for thy sake thou poor silly worm to leave his glorious mansions in heaven and to lay down that heavenly glory which was ever his due and to condescend so low as to be clothed with thy nature which thou hast stained with the guilt of all manner of sinne that he might cloth thee with his own righteousness and restore thee again to the first purity and integrity in Gods account wherein thou wert created Now then canst thou ever put an end to thy meditations on his abundant love to thee canst thou be unthankful to him that he hath been so rich in goodness to thee so free in his mercies and so liberal in his benefits to such a worthless creature as thou art let him therefore be the chief joy of thy heart and put thy whole confidence in him by faith for thy salvation do not forget so great love but close with him imbrace him with the armes of thy faith be guided and directed by him in all thy wayes and yield all submission to Christ thy King and Governour to obey his Laws and to observe his commands Feed thy heart then and refresh thy soul by ruminating upon the excellencies and al-sufficiency of Christ thy Saviour with thoughts beseeming the honour and dignity of his sacred Person For if thou thinkest upon him onely as he is man thou doest too much undervalue his Highness and if thou conceivest of him as only God thou canst not draw then neer unto him without dread and terror by reason of his glory and majesty and also by reason of thy pollutions and defilements If Christ were onely man he could not have satisfied the justice of an infinite God neither had his blood been a sufficient price for mans redemption and if onely God he could not have suffered the penalty of the Law by his death But if thou doest meditate on him and apply thy self to him by a true and a lively faith as he is thy onely Saviour both God and man l Heb. 4. 16. then thou maist come boldly to the throne of grace where thou shalt receive and find grace to help in time of need and thy meditations of him will be exceeding comfortable to thy soul Thou maist safely fix thy faith upon him and ground thy hope in him for thy salvation m Act. 4. 12 for there is no other name under heaven whereby thou must be saved but by the name of Iesus and according to the esteem thou hast in thy heart of that Name such is thy faith and such is thy hope and confidence in him For if thy thoughts concerning him are low it is a manifest sign that thy faith in him is weak but if they are truly raised up to contemplate and acknowledge his Deity through his humanity it s a good evidence that thy faith is strong in him Wherefore renounce all that is in nature or in humane learning and trust not to thine own abilities or to common grace for thy redemption for they profit thee nothing for thy justification though they may conduce much toward a well ordered and civil life but strive to get faith and all sanctifying grace that the righteousness of Christ may be imputed to thee and that thy life may be truly sanctified and reformed to the will of God We must consider further for our better understanding of Christ our blessed Redeemer that he is set forth in the holy Scriptures by some resemblances which are very comfortable for us to meditate upon because they shew our union with him his special care of us and the great benefits that we shall have by him if we can make an holy application of him to our selves by faith First he is resembled to a vine and then we are the branches n Joh. 15. 5. I am the vine saith Christ ye are the branches He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing If we are ingrafted by faith into this true vine we are then so firmly knit and united unto Christ that no power nor policy can separate us from him for o 1 Pet. 1. 5. we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation we shall be purged and pruned from the guilt and from the pollutions of all our sins and we shall be dressed and adorned with grace and vertue that we may bring forth much fruit in a pious life and holy conversation Secondly Christ is resembled to an head p Col. 1. 18. for he is the head of the Church and we are the members of that body to be guided and directed by him to be taught and instructed of him and as the head preserveth the natural body q Eph. 5. 23 so is Christ the Saviour of every member of his mystical body and as all the members of the natural body draw their sense and motion from the head and are serviceable and obedient to the command of the head as the hands to work the feet to run the back to bear any heavy burden and the like so do we draw all our sense and motion in heavenly things from Christ by reason of the operation of the holy Ghost and we ought to yield all duty and obedience to him to do what he commandeth with all cheerfulness of spirit and willingly to bear his Cross though the burden be very heavy to our weak nature This will give us great assurance that we have a neer relation unto Christ if we find this readiness of will in our selves to submit to his most blessed and holy will Thirdly Christ is called r Heb. 13. 20 that great shepheard of the sheep and thus he saith of himself Å¿ Ioh. 10. 11 14. I am the good shepheard and I know my sheep and am known of mine the good shepheard giveth his life for the sheep The Prophet telleth us
God that doth purge our consciences from dead works to serve the living God Also Iohn saith g Rev. 1. 7 that the blood of Christ the Son of God clenseth us from all sinne so that no spots no staines no guilt of sinne shall cleave to our souls to our condemnation and as he in himself according to his divine nature was infinite so the price which he paid at his Passion for our redemption was of infinite worth and the benefits that we receive by him are likewise infinite If we are clensed from the guilt of all our sins by the blood of Christ then the sting which sin hath put into all things that we possesse is taken away and we may comfortably use them to the glory of God and Christ by his resurrection and ascension hath sanctified them to us for our good riches shall not make us proud or ambitious nor steal away our hearts from God want and penury shall not make us repine or murmur against the providence of God to make us forsake him but all things shall work together for our good death shall not be terrible but advantage to us and we shall sleep quietly in our graves until the general resurrection because no guilt of sinne will lie down with us in the dust to follow us unto Judgement Though sinne hath wounded our souls i Mal. 4. 2. yet if we fear his Name the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings to cure it for k Luc. 10. 34. Christ like the good Samaritan will pour in wine and oyl to clense and heal it Though sinne doth sometimes over-power us yet Christ by vertue of his death will subdue and kill it in us and by the power of his resurrection he will quicken us up to newness of life and he will make our unruly passions and sinful desires to be tributary and servants to us by the power of his Spirit and of his sanctifying grace l Iosh 9. 23. as Ioshua made the Gibeonites hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God Lastly m 1 Thes 1. 10. Christ hath delivered us by his Passion from the wrath to come and from all the punishments that are due to us for our sins Christ did not begin his Passion until he had fulfilled all righteousness in his life and doctrine that the Law required though his whole life was a life of suffering and of sorrow But when he knew that the time was at hand when he must offer up his body a sacrifice to God for the sinnes of the world n Mat. 26. 21 he told his disciples that one of them should betray him into the hands of his enemies o Joh. 16. 32 that they all should be scattered from him and also what he should suffer in his Passion notwithstanding he did not shrink from it but did willingly undertake it because it was his Fathers will to have it so Wherefore he did arm himself with divine patience and meekness to suffer whatsoever was appointed in Gods decree should be put upon him and he prepared himself by prayer for that great work This is to teach us to submit with all meekness of spirit to the will of God in all our sufferings how to prepare our selves for them and how to demean our selves in them God hath appointed every man some work to do and when one work is finished he hath another ready for him for God requires that we should be diligent and painful in our callings frequent in holy duties and industrious in his vineyard p Mat. 20. 6 The good Housholder in the Gospel rebuked those that did stand all the day idle q Eze. 16. 49 Idlenesse was one of the sins of Sodom which brought down fire and brimstone from heaven upon it This is one of the properties of a good wife r Pro. 31. 27 that she looketh well to the wayes of her houshold and eateth not the bread of idleness God doth not appoint to every one their work alike for Paul had more work appointed him than any of the Apostles Å¿ 2 Cor. 11. 28. for the care of all the Churches came dayly upon him Abraham had harder work to do when he was to offer up his onely Son to God than any of the Patriarchs If God appointeth much work he will give time to doe it if his work be hard strength and ability to go thorough with it Wherefore if God shall call us to any hard service which is not pleasing to our nature or may seem impossible to humane strength we ought not to consult with flesh and blood what to do but to be obedient to the will and pleasure of God though we can expect no outward help nor support in it for if we rest upon God he knoweth how when to make us able to perform what he commandeth and to bear what he layeth upon us If we believe that God will assist us in his own work we shall set upon it with good courage and Christian fortitude That we may the better do any work that God commandeth we must prepare our selves for it by faithful prayer and then rest upon the assisting grace of God with stedfast hope that he will both help us in it and will bless and prosper our indeavours to his glory and to our comfort Thus we should do every day in the works of our calling but chiefly on the Lords day when we should spend our whole time in his worship and service Now let our hearts faithfully meditate upon the Passion of Christ and upon every particular that he suffered for our sakes and then we shall find the bitterness of it for the wrath of God was in every part of his sufferings and followed him from place to place even to mount Calvary until divine justice was fully satisfied for all our sins then we shall imbrace him with hearty affections and our souls will rest comforted in the assurance of our redemption thereby of Christ's Agony in the garden THe hour is now come when Christ must pay the whole debt to God his Father which he did undertake for us now is the time when the justice of God must be satisfied for our sinnes now doth God deliver up his dear Son to the powers of darkness now doth he cloud the bright beams of his glorious countenance from him and leaves him to himself to encounter with the devil because be saw the guilt of all our sins upon him and now doth the devil take a double advantage against our dear Saviour and with all his power and malice he doth fiercely set upon him in a single combate thinking now to prevail because God did seem to discountenance him and also because there was sin and that very great which was laid to his charge for the guilt of all the detestable and abominable sinnes of all the elect of God was imputed to him and the devil knew how odious and
and honour wherewith God hath crowned him then our souls will feel a comfortable influence of grace from his glorious Exaltation to give us an holy assurance that he hath led captive all our spirituall enemies and hath so weakened their power that they have no ability to hurt our souls also that in his due Time he will take revenge upon all the Enemies of his Church And as he is crowned with the highest titles of honour so likewise he will crown the meanest of his Saints with honour and dignity far above the greatest Potentate upon earth This doth also give us assurance that we may receive from the fulnesse of Christ sufficient grace for the mortifying of our sins for the sanctifying of our lives and for our comfort in all tribulations he will support us in all our spirituall weaknesses he will cure all the wounds that sin hath made in our souls and he will keep us from despair because he doth binde us with the bonde of faith so close to himself that we shall not totally and finally fall away from him and he will so protect and defend us that no adversary power shall be able to take us out of his hands But if we conceive of these high honours and dignities of Christ according to our humane capacity and not according to the reach of faith as it is grounded upon the Word of God we shall too much undervalue his highnesse and disrespect his sacred Majestie we cannot confide in his power to defend us against all our spiritual adversaries neither can we rest and depend upon his goodnesse to supply all our wants to minister relief in all our necessities to heal all our infirmities and to be all in all unto us upon all occasions our frail nature will be full of doubtings and fears to weaken our faith and confidence in him for according to our esteem of him in our hearts such is our faith such is our hope and trust in him if we have no spiritual eye to discern these essential honours and excellencies of Christ we cannot then reach them with that reverence and fear with that duty and obedience as we ought and our best worship and service will come far short of that which his great and dreadful Name requireth Now then examine thine own heart and see what good evidence thou hast that Christ is dear and precious unto thee and that thou dost honour him with thy heart and soul what experience hast thou had of his goodnesse and power How hast thou performed thy duty and service to him What awful reverence and filial fear hast thou had of his sacred Majesty when thou hast been in his presence and about his businesse If thy conscience can tell thee that Christ is the joy of thy heart that he is thy Lord God thy King and Governour then he hath set up his Scepter of righteousnesse in thee and ruleth in thy heart and that hereafter he will bring thee to his eternall kingdom of glory If the holy Ghost hath thus wrought in thy heart thou wilt finde a conformity of will to the will of Christ thine affections will be squared to the glory of God to love that which he loveth and to hate that which he hateth thy sinful desires will be restrained for the fear and dread of his great Name will be alwayes before thine eyes and the love of him will constrain thee to obedience Also the hardnesse of the heart will be taken away Ezek. 36. 26 27. and it will be made tender and flexible fit to receive any heavenly impression of grace Our Advantage and gain by CHRIST in this life EVery true believer hath a peculiar Advantage and Gain by Christ more than unregenerate men in whatsoever they possesse though these have more of earthly blessings and of common graces than many of Gods servants yet it is with a great deal of difference for by Christ they are sanctified to the one not the other But there is a spirituall Gain by Christ which is onely proper and peculiar to the children of God whereof unregenerate men are not capable until faith be wrought in them by the holy Ghost to unite them unto Christ First we have this Advantage by Christ above unregenerate men a Gen. 3. 17. that the curse which God laid upon the creatures for the sin of man is taken away and he hath given to every true believer in Christ the free use of them all for his comfort and to glorifie God in their right use and by their thankfulnesse for them for Christ hath sanctified them and made them blessings to them But unregenerate men have no right to what they injoy because they have no interest in Christ and the curse still cleaveth to whatsoever they possesse for Christ hath not taken it away nor sanctified their estate unto them for their good Secondly this is our peculiar Gain by Christ that he hath taken away the guilt of sin that by nature was upon our souls and hath fastned it to his own crosse whereas naturall men have the guilt of their sins still cleaving to their souls so long as they are in that condition This is a great advantage to us that are in Christ if we do well consider it for now we may appear with boldnesse in the presence of God we need not fear the accusations of the Divell our conscience can witnesse nothing against us because we have no guilt of sin and the Law cannot condemn us b Rom. 8. 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit c Isa 53. 5 6 For Christ was wounded for our transgressions as saith the Prophet he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all Thus are our sins imputed unto Christ because be hath taken them upon himself and his righteousnesse is imputed unto us that we might appear without sin in the sight of God Thirdly This is a speciall Gain that we have by Christ above all other men that he hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law d Gal. 3. 13. being made a curse for us for it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree Christ in our nature and for us hath fulfilled the whole righteousnesse of the Law by his active obedience to it and he hath suffered the penalty of it by his passive obedience even to the death of the Crosse that the justice of God might be satisfied for all our sins so that now we are not under the curse of the Law nor under the condemning power of sin but we are under grace because he hath reconciled us to God and brought us again into his grace and favour that
going before to judgement and some mens follow after Zophar also saith thus of the wicked q Job 20. 11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth which shall lye down with him in the dust Consider also that Christ through his own death hath destroyed the Divell r Heb. 2. 14 that had the power of death so that now the Divel is most weak against the servants of God at the time of their death whereas to the wicked he is a strong enemy and will not be beaten from their beds-feet until he hath gotten their souls which are given him for a prey Å¿ Luk. 10. 22 But God hath appointed his holy Angels to attend upon his children when they depart out of this life and to receive their souls from the hand of death to carry them up into Abraham's bosome This is a great comfort and benefit to them when they are to leave this world and it is such a Gain as no naturall and unregenerate man can expect Wherefore t 2 Pet. 1. 10 we ought to use all care and diligence to make our calling and election sure and to make sure our union with Christ by faith that so we may live a sanctified life to the Lord and then let Death come how or when it will we shall undoubtedly dye in the Lord for death may come in an hour or in a moment when we look not for it it may break in upon us like a theefe in the night and take away our souls at unawares but this need not trouble us for if our life hath been holy and upright towards God our death cannot be but sanctified to us in Christ who wil keep our souls out of the power of the divel For if we have no other power to preserve them from destruction but what nature or common grace can afford us we are not able to encounter with death to make any advantage by it for the strength of nature will decay in us and common grace can give us no antidote against the sting of death it is onely faith in Christ which is the true Antidote against the terrours of death and against the power of the Divell nature can give us no balm to heal the wounds and putrid sores that sin hath made in our souls which must be cured before we go hence or else death will deliver them up in such a loathsome condition as that God will not accept them u Jer. 46. 11 But if we go up to Mount Gilead we shall finde balme there which will cure us of all our spiritual diseases For in vain we shall use many medicines if we neglect this balm which is the blood of Christ Jer. â— 22. There is balm in Gilead there is a Physician even Jesus Christ our blessed Redeemer that can recover the health of our souls and can rescue them out of the jawes of death and from the power of the Divel Now let the Meditations of thy heart be continually how to injoy Christ in thy life that thy soul may injoy him at thy death and how to make the true gain of thy time here that when death shall bereave thee of all time Christ may be then thy gain for ever If thou wilt have any hope of a comfortable death thou must labour to live an holy life unto God for a vicious and sinfull life can give thee no assurance of a blessed death and if Christ be not thy Redeemer in thy life he will not be thy Saviour at thy death to save thy soul from destruction and to bring it to eternall blisse Also if thou desirest to injoy heavenly felicity with the Saints of God thou must so live in the true fear of God that thou mayest dye in his favour and then death will open the door and give thy soul free passage to injoy it All the good that Christ hath procured for us by his death cannot be fully injoyed in this life but is reserved for us in heaven which we must come to possesse by death and therefore Christ will so prepare us for it with his sanctifying grace and will also prepare death for us that it shall not hinder us of these great benefits but be a speciall means to bring us to the full possession of them If we do well consider and faithfully believe that we shall have this gain by Christ in our death how will it strengthen us against the fears and terrours of death How will it confirm us in a stedfast hope of a joyful resurrection How will it stir up our hearts and affections to live as becometh the children of God that death may deliver up our souls unto him and how willingly shall we part with this world if we have an holy assurance to injoy a far better Inheritance in the world to come But Christ is no gain to unregenerate men in their death for as they would not know him in their life so he will not know them when they dye but will leave them to the power of death to binde them over unto judgement Death will bereave them of all their wealth and possessions it will strip them of all their rich jewels and precious ornaments it will lay their honours in the dust it will take away all their beauty strength and comelinesse which was their pride and it will leave them nothing but their winding-sheet neither will it give them any recompence for all their losses but shame and confusion pain and torment which never shall have end x Luk. 16. Thus it was with the rich man in the Gospel for death took him away from all that he had and left him not so much as a little water to cool his tongue when he was in the tormenting flames and thus it is with all rich men if they are not rich in faith and in grace But some are not willing to dye through humane frailty and weaknesse though they be in the state of grace y Mat. 26. 41. for the spirit may be ready though the flesh be weak Others have no assurance of a better life and therefore they would willingly keep this which they now injoy Some again have their hearts and affections so glewed to earthly things that the very thoughts of death is bitter to them Others also are loath to dye because they cannot provide for wife and children and they have none to take care of them Though God requires this Christian care of them yet we must not distrust the goodnesse of God whose eye of providence is upon all his creatures then much more upon those that belong unto him But when we have done our best endeavor in an honest calling to provide for them yet must leave them scant of means for their subsistance then God will have a special care of such Widows fatherles children therefore he hath given many strict commands concerning them and he hath made many promises of protection help and comfort to