which can never be overthrown Jo. 3.16 For God so loved the World that he gave his only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life In this was manifested the Love of God towards us because that God sent his only Begotten Son into the World that we might live through him 1 Jo. 4.9 Here 's also a clear Discovery what little Reason the poorest and weakest Believer hath to question or doubt of Christ's Love to him or her What! step in between thee and Hell and not love thee To take all thy Guilt and filth of sin upon himself And for the same to be made a Curse that thou poor undone sinner mightest be made the Righteousness of God in him and not love thee When the incensed Justice of God was up in Arms against thee and just ready to fall on thee for Christ his own Son to step in between thee and that fatal Stroak which had it fallen on thee would have compleated thy Misery and have put thee beyond the reach of all Possibility of ever being saved I say for Christ to step in between thee and that fatal Stroak and to suffer the Sword that would have killed thee to be lodg'd in his own Bowels was as strong and convincing an Argument that he lov'd thee as any can be made use of by God himself Never was there greater and more end aring Love in one Party towards another than the Love wherewith God the Father and Christ his Son lov'd the Elect Neither can God Angels or Men lay down stronger and more convincing Arguments to prove or confirm it so to be than God the Fathers Readiness and Willingness to Sacrifice his own and only Son whom he lov'd equally with himself and the Sons Willingness to lay down his Life and not only so but consenting to be made a Curse for the Elect. Oh! matchless and astonishing Love who ever knew or heard of the like except it self I am the good Shepherd the good Shepherd giveth his Life for the Sheep Jo. 10.11 Greater Love hath no Man than this that a Man lay down his Life for hiâ— Friend Jo. 15.13 But God commendeth his Love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Hereby perceive we the Love of God because he laid down his Life for us c. 1 Jo. 3.16 And as the Just and Righteous Law of God did not spare the sinless Son of God when Arraign'd at his Bar as a Surety for sinners So neither did the Son of God flinch or shrink in the Contest till he had vanquisht and overcome the Condemning Power of the Law leaving it and all the other Enemies of his Elect Nail'd to the Cross having by his Death on the Cross put to death the Damnatory Sentence of God's Righteous Law against God's Elect and spoil'd all Principalities and Infernal Powers of that accusing Power they had by sin obtain'd against God's chosen Yea having rifled Hell it self with Death and the Grave those destroying and devouring Enemies of Mankind so as that nothing was left in the way to obstruct or hinder the Elects safe Arrival in Heavenly Glory And all this by the Virtue and Merit of that Satisfaction he gave to the Justice of his Father by obeying the Law both Actively and Passively in the Assumed Nature On this Account it is that there remains now no Condemnation in force against that Man or Woman which believes in the Son of God The Moral Law is indeed a Law or Rule of Holy Living to all Believers and as a Looking-glass to discover to Believers the Spoâ—s and Defects which abounds in their Hearts and Lives while in a state of Imperfection and to shew them the continual need they stand in of the Blood and Righteousness of Christ the Mediator till they come to the end of their Race But to condemn or sentence any true Believer in Jesus to Damnation or Eternal Death the Moral Law hath no Power There is therefore now no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus c. Rom. 8.1 Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us Gal. 3.13 And can this be any other than sweet to true Believers especially to such as have lain so long in the Laws Prison till the Irons thereof have reached even to the very Soul Secondly The Death of Christ is most sweet and delightful to the true Believer in that in Christ's Death all the Sins and Iniquities of the Believer were Arraign'd and put to death so as the Believer shall never never be Arraign'd or Condemn'd for them either here or hereafter There were two things in sin by which the Elect of God were held captives First the Guilt of sin which lays them open to Condemnation and the Wrath to come From this the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ set them for ever free as hath been already observ'd Secondly The defiling Power of Indwelling sin this also is slain and put to death in the Death of Christ and by Virtue hereof it is that every Believer in Jesus is made to die to sin in Heart and Life through the powerful Efficiency of the Holy Ghost inwardly applying to the Soul of the Believer the Efficacy of the Mediator's Death For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh God sending his own Son in the Likeness of sinful Flesh and for sin condemned sin in the Flesh Rom. 8.3 For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5.21 Who his own self bare our sins in his own Body on the Tree 1 Pet. 2.24 Let this Caution be observ'd and improv'd by every true Believer viz. that not the Being of indwelling sin but its condemning and reigning Power are condem'd and put to death in the Death of Christ So as that that indwelling sin which yet remains in a justified Believer shall never either lay him open to Condemnation or to keep the Believer under its captivating Power as before Regeneration it did He will subdue our Iniquities and thou wilt cast all our sins into the depth of the Sea c. Mic. 7.18 For sin shall not have Dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace Rom. 6.14 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the Devil 1 Jo. 3.8 He that is born of God doth not commit sin ver 9. Thirdly The Death of Christ is most sweet to a true Believer in that the Curse which sin put into bodily Death it is by Christ's Death taken away to every Believer the Curse due to sin was the very Sting of Death so witnesseth the Holy Ghost The Sting of death is sin c. 1 Cor. 15.56 This Christ the Surety of the Believer bore that the Curse in Death might be turn'd into a
not hinder thy Comfort in feeding on this best and sweetest of Fruits For thy Faith though it be never so weak proves it self to be a Divine Faith by its Operation in thee First In that it empties thy Heart of all conceited Rigteousness of thine own whereby Satan and corrupt Nature would have thee to look for Life and Salvation Secondly In that it carries thee out to rest under the shadow of Christ's Mediatorial Satisfaction hoping and expecting Life and Salvation by his Merits alone Though all Mens Stomachs be not equally sharp at Table yet he that hath the least Stomach might eat to as great Satisfaction and Content as he that eats most Let thy Faith be never so weak thou wilt find by Experience that the oftener thou doest taste of this Fruit of Christ's Death and Resurrection with Application thereof to thy self crying out Believingly My dear Lord Jesus Christ who died to discharge the Debt of my sins and who rose again for my Justification the sweeter and the more delightful will it be and not only so but thy poor weak Faith will by this means gather strength day by day Thirdly And as touching those fearful Doubtings and Questionings whether thou in particular be one of those Elect for whom Christ dyed and rose again I need say no more than to assure thee that this hath been the Case of the most eminent Saints now Triumphing in Glory when in a Militant State as thou now art that Soul that was never troubled with Doubtings and Questionings about his State was never yet blest with a right saving Faith Not that these Doubtings are of the Essence of true Faith or as if thou wer 't not bound to be humbled for them before God and oblig'd to strive against them But an Argument they are that thou art acted by a twofold Principle and that the Devil is now discover'd to be thine Enemy Both which effectually proves thee to be one of those Elect for whom Christ both died and rose again Secondly The Resurrection of Christ is sweet to a a true Believer As the same is a sure and certain Pledge of his own and all other Believers being raised not only from a State of Mortality but also from a State of Imperfect Grace The Resurrection of Christ the Believers Surety is the Ground and Foundation of a Believers both rising more and more to Newness of Life And of his being raised again out of the Dust of Death to partake in the Glory of the last Resurrection Rom. 6.4 5 6. 1 Cor. 15.49.54 Phil. 3.21 Jo. 6.40 Thirdly The Resurrection of Christ is sweet to the Believer as it is an invincible Argument to prove that Christ his Surety having once dy'd and by his Glorious Resurrection overcome Death he is never more to dye so witnesseth the Holy Ghost Rom. 6.9 Knowing that Christ being raised up from the Dead dyeth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him Rev. 1.18 I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore c. The Ground hereof is the infinite Satisfaction given to his Fathers Justice for the sins of the Elect by that one Death which he underwent If it were possible for Christ to dye a thousand times over and over his dying so many Deaths could not be more Satisfactory to the Justice of God for the sins of the Elect than was that one most shameful bitter and cursed Death of the Cross which he suffer'd and underwent once for all Rom. 6.10 For in that he dyed he dyed unto sin once but in that he liveth he liveth unto God God the Father hath now no more sin to charge on him than what he stood charg'd with on the Cross when he said on his giving up the Ghost it is finished Jo. 19.30 Heb. 10.14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are Sanctified It is not in this Case as it hath been with but too many of Adam's Children and is in this very day who have been forced to pay over and over the self same Debt Such is the Baseness and Knavery of the Oppressours of the Age we live in God the Father of Christ is not such a Creditor he is a Just and a Righteous God And being so there is no Ground to fear that ever he will Twit in the Teeth either Christ his Son the Elects Surety or any poor Believer with those Sins which Christ once satisfied for This Fruit is passing sweet to that Soul who frequently feeds on it Fifthly The Glorious Ascension of Christ from Earth to Heaven is most sweet to the true Believer and it is so on a twofold Account First As it proves the compleat Conquest and Victory of Christ the Believers Head and Surety over all the Enemies of God's Elect of whom it was spoken by way of Prediction Thou hast ascended on high thou hast led Captivity captive c. Psal 68.18 These things are Prophetically spoken of Christ by way of Allusion or Comparison and which are by the Apostle Paul apply'd to Christ's Glorious Ascension Ephes 4.8 The Metaphor is taken from earthly Kings and mighty Potentates who when they had got the Victory over their Enemies us'd to bind to their Chariot Wheels the Chief of the Enemies dragging them along in Triumph Thus did the Lord Jesus the Surety of Gods Elect when he Ascended to Heaven he led Devil Sin Curse of the Law World Death Grave and Hell Captives so that they can never more slave or insult over any of God's Elect this is intended by Christ in Jo. 16.33 In me ye shall have Peace in the World ye shall have Tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the World And the same is intended by Paul in Colos 2.15 And having spoiled Principalities and Powers he made a shew of them openly Triumphing over them in it This also is intended in Rev. 1.18 I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I live for evermore and have the Keys of hell and of death The term Keys denotes the universal Power which Christ by dying Atchieved over all the Enemies of his Redeemed ones Christ's Ascension from Earth to Heaven is every true Believers Triumph over all the Powers of Darkness of this World so witnesseth the Spirit of God Nay in all these things we are more than Conquerours through him that loved us Rom. 8.37 Secondly Christ's Ascension to Heaven is sweet to the true Believer on the Account of the personal Appearance he makes there for all the Members of his Mystical Body That Christ is enter'd Heaven as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Fore-runner of his Members is expresly set down and affirm'd for the Comfort and Encouragement of all true Believers Whether the forerunner is for us entred even Jesus made an high Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedech Heb. 6.20 For Christ is not entred into the Holy Places made with hands which are the figures of the true
No sooner am I set down under that refreshing Shadow and become sensible of my Safety but I presently fall upon solacing my spiritual Senses with beholding and feeding upon its Fruit applying unto my self by Faith the saving Benefits of Christs personal Graces and the Improvement he hath made of the same for me a poor Worm together with the saving Benefits of his Word and Works as above discovered appropriating each Particular unto my self Thus the Improvement which my dear Lord Jesus made of the Anointing poured out upon him by the Father to fit him for the Work of Mediation it is mine The Promises of the Everlasting Covenant of Grace which are suited to every Condition I either am or can be in they are mine That wonderful and amazing Work of his Incarnation or becoming Man it is mine It was to Unite me to God in a nearer and firmer Bond of Union than was between God and me in the first Creation The Work of his unparallell'd and matchless Humiliation in my Nature it is mine It was for me to prevent my Perishing by the Damning Pride of my corrupted Nature and to merit and purchase for me Gospel Humility That Work of his perfectly obey'd the Moral Law in Heart and Life it is mine he obeyed the Law for me as my Surety The Death which he suffer'd and underwent it is mine It was for me that he might unsting Death for me and to give full Satisfaction to Justice for my breaking the Law that my Sins might be Arraign'd and put to death in his Death The Guilt of Sin can now no more condemn or cast me at God's Bar neither can its reigning Power from henceforth detain me as its Captive or Slave that I should obey it in the Lusts thereof The Resurrection of Christ from the Dead it is mine He Rose for my Justification hereby I am fully Assured from under the Hand of the Spirit of God that the Whole of my Debt for which Christ my Surety Actually Dy'd and lay confin'd in the Grave is new fully Discharg'd I am from henceforth no more liable to the Arrest of the Law for Sin for that the Justice of God hath by raising my Surety from the Dead Releas'd and Discharg'd me The Ascension of Christ from Earth to Heaven it is mine be Ascended for me as my Surety and Representative to present before his Father the Success of his Negotiation which he undertook for me when on Earth The compleat and perfect Righteousness he fulfilled for me to answer the Laws Demand and the Universal Conquest and Victory which he by that Rigâ—â—eousness hath Atchiev'd over all his and my Enemies he makes open shew of them in Heaven Besides this he Ascended to enter upon the Possession of that Crown and Mansion in Heaven which he himself purchased for me the which he hath as my Forerunner taken into his own keeping for me until I have accomplisht the Service to which he hath appointed me on Earth The Intercession of Christ in Heaven is mine He sits at the Fathers right Hand to lay my Case in all its various Circumstances open before Gods Throne of Grace pleading in my Behalf the Price which he himself hath paid to Justice for the Procurement of all the Good I stand in need of till I come to the end of my Race And to Encourage my coming to God's Throne of Grace in Prayer with a Humble and Holy Boldness to obtain in the Virtue and Merit of the Price he hath paid and the Intercession he makes in Heaven the Mercy and Deliverance which at any time or in any case I stand in need of The Providence of Christ whereby he governs the World it is mine He Orders and Rules all Creatures or secondary Causes wherein I am concern'd for my Advantage and spiritual Good Devil World Indwelling Sin Poverty Reproach Friends Enemies Adversity Prosperity Health Sickness Life and Death No further will the All and Over-ruling Providence of Christ suffer any of these to move or stir then he will order for my Good and Eternal Advantage Matters being brought to so Excellent an Issue through the powerful Operation of the Holy Ghost my Soul finds it self under a Holy Constraint of crying out Admiringly Here 's Fruit indeed none could ever compare with it of these Celestial Fruits that Feast of Fat things promised in Esa 25.6 is made up and they are by Christ himself intended in those Words For my Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed Jo. 6.55 What the Prime and Fatness of Beasts and the most delicious and purest of Wines are to feast and satiate the Body The Flesh and Blood of Christ the Son of God as held forth in the Gospel and by Faith apply'd and fed upon is unspeakably more to the Soul of a true Believer to feed his spiritual Hunger and to quench his spiritual Thirst The Believer while he finds himself thus overcast with the Shadow of the Appletree and his spiritual Senses so unspeakably cheer'd and ravish'd with its Fruit he cries out with Peter on the Mount at the Transfiguration of Christ it is good to be here Mat. 17.3 There 's no Shelter like this of the Apple-tree which secures from all manner of Storms be they inward or outward from Devil from the envious wicked World from Heart Corruption or from God hiding his Face Neither is any Fruit to be compared to its Fruit. A Fruit which never fails a Hungry Soul which feeds on it to feed to fatten to corroborate the Soul against all spiritual Qualms and Faintings of Soul A Fruit which as soon as tasted brings the perplexed melancholly distracted despairing Heart and Mind to Rights again A Fruit which is so far from cloying or surfeiting the Believer that the more and the oftener he makes use of it the more doth he long to be at it again This Fruit produceth in the Soul of a Believer such a Holy Dropsie or unquenchable Thirst as nothing short of the Beatifical Vision in Heaven will perfectly cure Rev. 7.16 Come then Oh! come all ye Poor distressed melancholly despairing Souls who dread the Terrible Sentence of the Law who are frightened by thâ—â— Devils Temptations who are readâ—â— to die away in Despair of the Agonies and Wounds which Sin hath occasion'd in your Consciences ye who are afraid ye shall perish for want And are afraid that God's Wrath will be your Portion for ever hasten under the Shadow of the Spouses Appletree lest the Avenger of Blood overtake thee And for thy Encouragement know it that this Appletree affords Shelter to all comers to all sorts of Sinners The oldest Sinners the vilest and most notorious Sinners who breath this sicâ— Hell and Destruction all will find Welcome none will be rejected who have a mind to come All that the Father gieth me shall come unto me and he that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out Jo. 6.37 Ho! Every one that Thirsteth come ye to the Waters and he that hath no Money conâ— and Eat yea come buy Wine and Milk without Money and without Price Esa 55.1 2. And the Spirit and the Briâ—â— say come and let him that heareâ—â— say come and let him that is athirâ—â— come and whosoever will let him taâ—â— of the Water of Life freely Rev. 22.1 All other spiritual Physitians and Means of Cure will be found Insignificant and of no value Here 's the Physitian who must cure thee if ever thou be saved Jo. 8.36 Acts 4.12 And I dare boldly to assure thee that the whole World cannot afford thee a safer Physitian with whom to trust thy Sin-sick dying Soul than this dear Lord Jesus under whose Hands never any Soul yet miscarry'd and for cheapness never was the like The Scriptures last quoted make this plain to which I will only add that of the Apostle Paul Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them Heb. 7.25 And in a better and more Encouraging Place of Scripture I cannot end FINIS
Luke 2.24 compared with Lev. 12.8 I marvel which of all the wise Men or the Professors of this Age would freely make such a Choice for themselves or theirs Christ had regard to the Promise not to Riches or Honours Fourthly His taking on him the form of a Servant Psal 40.6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire mine Ears thou diggedst thorow David personating Christ speaks with Allusion to to Exod 21.6 where the Law for Servants is set down that Ceremony of Boring the Servants Ear thorow with an Aull did prefigure Christs perpetual Servitude to his Father until he should finish the Work he had undertaken to go thorow with Jo. 17.4 I have glorified thee on the earth I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do Phil. 2.7 And made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant c. Fifthly The Objects of his Choice whom he loves and delights in viz. the poor and despised ones of the World The design of the Scriptures now quoted is not to assure us that all poor ones in this World are to be Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven or that all who are richly or nobly born after the Flesh shall die damned But the design is to shew that very few comparatively of the rich and noble of this World are saved Worldly greatness and saving Grace very rarely meet together in the same Person when they do none on Earth prove more lowly minded and abundant in Love to and Zeal for God than such Ja. 1.9 10. Let the Brother of low degree rejoyce in that he is made high But the rich in that he is made low c. A second thing in the Appletree which Allegorically sets forth the Excellency and Usefulness of Christ to the Elect is its spreading and shadowy Nature As the Appletree is of singular Use and Advantage to Human Bodies to shelter them from Storms and Showers so the Lord Jesus spiritually fled or run to by Faith is useful and advantagious to the Souls of Gods Elect in time of spiritual Storms Christ is set forth in Scripture as the only Shadow of Security to the Children of God in time of all their Distress and Tribulations Esa 4.6 And there shall be a Tabernacle for a Shadow in the day time from the heat and for a place of refuge and for a Covert from storms and from rain Esa 25.4 Thou hast been a strength to the poor a strength to the needy in his distress a refuge from the storm a shadow from the heat when the blast of the terrible ones is as a blast against the wall The Prophesies now mentioned are to be understood of and apply'd to Christ and the Elect and none else Christ is a Shadow to them and to none else and none in Earth or Heaven can secure them from the dreadful Storms they meet with but he and none besides him The doctrinal Observation which Naturally Results from the former part of the Text is That Christ the Son of God Allegorically set forth by the Apple-Tree is a shadow of Protection to the weakest Believer let what storms will come on him in this World Or thus in the most distressed and deplorable Case and Condition a Believer can Possibly be in in respect of Sin and Misery He is for ever secur'd from perishing being found under the shadow of Christ's Protection Besides the words of the Text that in Esa 25.4 is a full and convincing Proof of the Observation now laid down To which many other Scriptures may be added out of both the Old Testament and the New But omitting many Quotations I shall proceed to a more clear and convincing Demonstration of the truth of Doctrine now Asserted And that by an Enumeration of the several particular Storms wherewith the weak Believer must look and expect to meet before he Arrives at Heaven And out of all which Christ will most certainly deliver him There are six sharp and dreadful Storms wherewith Gods Elect meet be ween the Cradle and the Crown in Glory from all which the shadow of Christ's Mediatorship covers and secures them for ever First The storm of the Laws damnatory Sentence which thunders out Curses and eternal Death on all Adams Children none excepted Rom. 3.19 Now we know that what things the Law saith it saith to them that are under the Law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God Gal. 4.10 For as many as are of the works of the Law they are under the Curse for it is written cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Law to do them Here 's a Storm which is like the Avenger of Blood under the Law it will never be laid till the awakened convinced Sinner be either in Hell or shelter'd under the shadow of Christ's mediatorial Satisfaction given to off nded Justice for the sinners of God's Elect From this Storm none can secure but the Lord Jesus Jo. 8.36 If the Son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed Rom. 10 4. For Christ is the end of the Law for Righteousness to every one that believeth When the elect sinner flies for Refuge to the shadow of Christ's mediatorial Satisfaction from the terrifying sentence of the Laws Malediction and Curse the Law sounds a Retreat It ceaseth to pursue the sinner or to threaten him any more with Damnation As the Avenger of Blood was not to follow the Man-slayer into the City of Refuge so neither will the Law pursue with Curse and Vengeance the believing sinner who hath gotten under Christs shadow Secondly The bitter Agonies of a wounded Conscience when the Laws Terror reaches the Soul and like fire drinks up the very Spirit of a poor sinner so that he knows not which to go or what to do for Ease and Healing Oh! who but Christ's mediatorial shadow can shelter such a wounded Soul It is marvellous to think what various and pitiful shifts the bewildered sinner makes to shelter himself from this storm and to lick the Wound whole which the killing Terrour of the Law hath given the Soul and Conscience within The distressed sinner lying bound in the Laws Prison and ready every moment to sink into final Desperation under the insupportable burden of its own Guilt according to that in Pro. 18.14 But a wounded Spirit who can bear of this Job seems to complain most bitterly Job 6.4 The Arrows of the Almighty are within me the Poyson whereof drinketh up my Spirit the Terrors of God do set themselves in array against me He is filled with perplexing Thoughts what he had best to do in this sad and deplorable Condition Do and live being the Principal derived from the first Adam to the Trade of working he goes thinking and hoping with his Father Adam to hide and cover from the Eye of God's All-seeing Knowledge his spiritual Nakedness and Deformity with the Fig-leaves of his
Providence of God is to be seen and acknowledg'd in preserving the Bodies of Men from perishing by the former So his special Care and saving Providence is to be seen and thankfully acknowledg'd in preserving the Souls of the Elect from perishing by the latter And as the storms at Sea are occasion'd by the four Winds East West North and South Winds so the spiritual Storms which threaten and endanger the Soul they proceed from and are occasioned by a fourfold Party First The Devil who ever since his Apostacy is become an implacable and an irreconcileable Enemy as to the Majesty of God so also to the Souls of Men who hath on this very Account the names given him both in Hebrew and in Greek which signifie and import the same thing with his Nature viz. Destroyer So the Names of Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek signifie as the Learned know Rev. 9.11 Secondly the World I mean the wicked of the World which is not only at Enmity with God but a real Hater and Persecutor of all that love God and bear his Blessed Image These the Devil makes use of in his service The Devil makes use of these in his Service as they are his Children and Servants Jo. 8.44 Ye are of your Father the Devil and the Lusts of your Father ye will do Gal. 4.29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now Thirdly Corrupt Nature which i◠the worst Enemy a Man hath and which is that which gives the Devil the greatest Advantage against a Man's self of any thing in the World This Corruption of Nature lies in two things First The sad and wretched Aversion of the Heart to God and all things spiritually good Secondly The Devil◠like Propensity of the Heart and Soul to what is hateful to God and really Destructive to the Man 's own self Were it not for this Corruption o◠Nature the Devil and his other Auxiliary Forces could do nothing which would prove of any Avail to Ruin or undo a Soul but herein lies his great Advantage that he hath within a Man's self a Party or a Principle which i◠the Spirit and Grace of God prevent not he can by his serpentine Craft and Lyon-like Fury stir up and draw forth to such a degree as will cause the Man to cry out and say that his worst and most destructive Enemy is within himself and that were it not for that he need not value or fear all the Storms and overwhelming Hurricanes which all the Legions of Apostate Angels in Hell and all the Pollitick and Mallicious Persecutors in the World could possibly devise or raise against him Were it not for the Tinder of Heart Corruption the Devil would soon grow weary of throwing into the Soul the poysonous Sparks of his Infernal Temptations The Prince of this world cometh saith Christ and hath nothing in me Jo. 14.30 No Immorality in Practise whereof to accuse him neither any Pollution or Corruption in the assumed Nature on which his Temptations could possibly catch hold and herein lay Christ's and the Elects Advantage For had the Tempter found the least matter in Christ on which his Temptations could fasten the Elect for whom Christ undertook as Vademony and Surety would have been over and over miserable and wretched to endless Eternity The fourth Party who hath a Hand in those Storms wherewith Elect sinners do meet in this Life is God himself who by the Methods his wise Providence takes with the Elect seems t◠outward appearance to design thei◠utter Ruin this the Devil frequently 〈◊〉 suggests to the Soul and this the poo◠bewildred sinner is easily perswade◠to credit And when matters come t◠this pass that when the Poor sinner i◠surrounded with perplexing Trials o◠all hands the Billows and Waves o◠all kind of Temptations being read◠even to cover his Head and swallow him up He concludes that God himself is his Enemy it must needs be very dismal with the poor sinner in such 〈◊〉 Condition There are four things especially i◠respect whereof the poor sinner may be said to be in a Storm in each of which the four Parties above mention'd may have a hand First Extream Poverty and outward Streights which is a very sore Trial◠and a Burden so heavy especially to those who have sometimes enjoy'd Plenty and Fulness that many have sunk under its Weight some hanging themselves some drowning themselves and others cutting their own Throats not able to bear the Reproach of outward Poverty Secondly Black Reproach upon the Name and Reputation this is a Storm harder to go through than most Men think till they come to be try'd thereby Oh! how doth the Spirit that is in Adam's Children lust to Envy and Revenge when they meet with Affronts in their good Name and Reputation To be miscall'd and misrepresented among Men to be accounted not fit or worthy to live among Men Proud Nature cries out Flesh and Blood cannot bear it What! to be so and so abused to have my good Name taken away I 'll die before I 'll pocket or put up such an Affront such an Abuse Either Arrest the Person in an Action of Slander or Peg him to the Wall And in case any peaceable Friend disswade from such revengeful Practices What 's the Reply What! unman my self be accounted a Coward to be laugh'd at by every body this is the Language of the first Adams Nature Ja. 4.1.5 But where the work of Renovation hath past on a sinner his Note is changed His unman my self is turned into undog my self undevil my self Let but the Experience of the most mortified Believer be call'd in to speak to the Point and it will be readily acknowledged that Reproach and Slanders on the Name and Reputation are not easily gone through it is a sharp and a trying Storm Reproach and Contempt from Men especially from Inferiours was a part of Jobs Trials Job 30.1 And had he not been Blest with such an extraordinary stock of Patience he could never have born it as he did Reproach hath broken mine heart said Holy David Psal 69.20 And others had Trials of cruel Mockings c. Heb. 11.36 Thirdly To be smitten in the Body with Sickness and wasting Distempers when the sad Symptoms of Death and Mortality invade languishing Nature This goes close to the very Root it being a stroke at the very Being of Nature threatning its Dissolution this is a storm which will cause the Face of the strongest and stoutest of Adam's Children to gather Paleness and will put the Sons of Men into sorer Frights than any of the former Storms which were so uneasie when Death that all-conquering King of Terrours looks the dying Man full in the Face it is a difficult thing to go through the Pangs and Agonies of a dying Hour Fourthly Soul Desertion When the Clouds from above interpose between the sensible Manifestations of God's
by thy Name thou art mine when thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the Rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon thee Esa 43.2 3. Branch 4th Learn hence the Reason why the most potent and subtil Adversaries of true Believers are not able to prevail against them to ruin them Every sound Believer who sits under the shadow of Christ they are built upon that Rock which can neither be mov'd by the blast of the most raging Persecutors Threats and Accusations nor yet pierced by the most poysoned Arrows their Envy and Malice can shoot at the Believer The storms may blow and the Waters of all kind of Afflictions may flow at such a boisterous rate as may cause all Beholders yea the Believer himself to think and conclude that God is become his Enemy and that his utter Overthrow is design'd by God and yet the Believer shall be safe and come off Victor and Conquerour at last A right sound hearted Believer when surrounded with the Billows and Waves of the most amazing Tribulations he may be likened to Noahs Ark tho' he may be hedg'd in with Afflictions as the Ark was with Water both from below and from above at the same time yet shall he be kept from sinking as the Ark was Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Psal 37.37 Of the true Believers it is said He that toucheth you toucheth the Apple of his namely Gods Eye Zach. 2.8 And upon this Rock will I build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Mat. 16.18 Vse 2d of Exhortation Oh! that all who hear or read this would be perswaded to acquaint themselves with this Appletrees shadow so as to hasten under it before those impending storms which threaten all unregenerate sinners with Curse and eternal Death And those depopulating Judgments of God which threaten to lay Englands Pride and Wickedness in the dust of Contempt break out and sweep all the Contemners of Christ and his Gospel before them For Motives hereto consider with greatest Seriousness these six Motives following Motive the first All who are not found sitting under the shadow of this Appletree they are open to all those amazing and destroying Storms which hang over the heads of God provoking and Christ despising sinners Oh! Sinner Sinner thou who goest to Church and who comest to the Meetings of God's People and sayest thy Prayers making a great shew in the Profession of the Protestant Religion what will come of thee if thou be found sitting under the shadow of thy own Righteousness when the storm comes Take this warning from a despised Dispenser of God's Holy Word who through special Grace can say he would not take the Glory and the Riches of Hypocritical England to tell thee a Lie in this greatest of Concerns Neither thy running to the Church nor thy hastening to thy solemn Fases in the Meetings thy gilded Prayer Book or thy graceless Prayers composed and made by strength of thy natural Parts and utter'd with never so much Zeal and melting Affections will keep thee from the dreadful Storms of God's Judgments when they come nothing short of Christs shadow will secure thee to hide and shelter thee from the overflowing Scourge when it comes Esa 28.18 Motive 2d Consider how blessed and happy the true Believer is above all other let what storm God pleaseth come and come it as soon as God pleases by day or by night when the Believer is either asleep or awake He is secure the shadow of this Appletree overspreads and covers him so as the storms which ruins others can do him no harm He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty Psal 91.1 And as the true Believer hath a shadow to protect him from the most violent storms which can possibly come on a sinful Nation so he hath an Anchor hold in Heaven which will keep him steady and faithful to Christ and his Gospel when temporary notional Professors who are strangers to Regeneration Work fall away from their Profession like Leaves in Autumn or like untimely Fruit which come to no Perfection These will prove themselves to be of their number who built their House on the Sand which House may stand for a while and promise very fair in the time of outward Peace and Tranquillity while they may enjoy their religious Liberty by Human Law and whilst their Profession and their outward secular Interest can go hand in hand together No Man can discern between such and real Converts It is in this case as when two Men walk or travel together having a Dog following them no Man who knows neither the Men nor yet the Dog can tell whether of the two Men is Master of the Dog But when these two Men come to part then the Dogs Master is presently known from the other the Dog will most certainly follow his own Master When Religion and worldly Advantage Credit Honour and Freedom from the Cross come to turn the back on each other then the Temporary Professor who company'd with Christ in the visible Communion of his Saints all the time of outward Peace will openly discover which of the two he serv'd all the time of his hypocritical Profession Christ in Religion or the World If ever the Penal Laws come in Fashion again in England or the Dragooning Allamode of France find Entrance into these Kingdoms then will it appear what kind of insides Englands Professors have Read with a holy Trembling the Scriptures following Mat. 7.26 27. Mat. 13.21 Jo. 6.26 1 Tim. 5.6 * The Violence of the storm which comes by Temptation may for a time stagger a real Believer but it can never overset him so as he should suffer shipwrack of his Soul or of that Noble Grace of Faith whereby he keeps hold of that Rock of Ages whereon he is built Mat. 7.25 Mat. 16.18 1 Cor. 10.13 2 Pet. 2.9 Motive 3d. Consider how ineffectual all other Shadows and Covering will prove to poor Christless Mortalâ— in the time of Storm and Tempest If Safety and Preservation from Eternal Ruin be to be had under the shadow of Christ's Mediatorial Righteousness alone then it will necessarily follow that all Papists Arminians Socinians Quakers and Freewillers are iâ— a most desperate and damnable Condition while they continue at a distrance from the Covering of Christ's Righteousness And not only those Hereticks now mention'd but also those foolish Virgins as above hinted who remain unconverted in the outward visible Communion of the Churches of Christ The Apostatical Church of Rome that Mother of all spiritual Harlots Rev. 17.5 tells the World that out of her Communion there is no Salvation to be expected The Spirit of God on the contrary assures us that all those who forsake her not shall be
First The gracious Condescension of Christ to lodge in the Believers Nature Thus to do was a Favour and Priviledge deny'd the Angelick Nature which fell by Apostacy it being design'd and intended only for the Seed of Abraham Heb. 2.16 For verily he took not upon him the Nature of Angels but he took the Seed of Abraham This is one Principal Reason why the Devils are so Implacably set against the Lord Jesus Christ and all who bear his Image Because Christ became a Mediator between God and Abraham's Seed but not between God and themselves Mark 1.24 Let us alone cry'd those Apostate Spirits in the Possessed What have we to do with thee c. These Devils knew they had no Interest or Propriety in Christ as a Saviour He took not their Nature on him he was never design'd by God who sent him into the World as a Saviour for any but Abraham's Seed and this inrages them so will all the wicked Reprobates of the World swell with Spight and Madness against the Son of God and all the Elect whom he came to Redeem They are herein acted by the Spirit of their Father John 8 44. Ye are of your Father the Devil and the Lusts of your Father ye will do c. Secondly That Firm and lasting Union which by Christs Incarnation is effected between the ever Blessed God and true Believers As by Adam's Apostacy both himself and all his Posterity in him were Ejected or cast out of God's Favour and Communion which was evidently seen in Adam's Ejection or his being cast out of the Earthly Paradice the Type of Heaven Gen 3. last So by Christ's uniting the assumed Nature of Abraham's Seed to God an unshaken and an immovable Foundation is laid for an Everlasting Union between the Elect Abraham's Seed and God As the Union between Christ's Godhead and his Humanity is for ever Inseparable so the Union and Bond of Friendship between God and Believers shall never be Null'd or made void let Devil World corrupt Nature Death and Hell do what they can The Names of the two Pillars in Solomon's Temple intimated and Typically shadowed forth to the Faith of the Believers under the Old Testament Dispensation that the spiritual Temple which is the Church of God's Elect being built and resting upon the Pillar of God's Omnipotency it shall never be prevail'd against by the powers of Darkness 1 Kings 7.21 To these two Pillars Jachin and Booz the Spirit of God in John alludes Rev. 3.12 Him that overcometh I will make a Pillar in the Temple of my God c. Thirdly The Fruit and Effect of that Union viz. sweet Communion and Everlasting fellowing Fellowship with Father Son and Holy Ghost As is the Union such will be the Communion 1 Jo. 1.3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also might have Fellowship with us and truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. Ver. 7. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have Fellowship one with another c. Secondly The Work of his Humiliation and self Abasement Christ's Incarnation and his humbling himself in the assumed Nature are two distinct things The Incarnation in order of Nature must precede or go before his Humiliation the former was in order to the latter To make make it obvious and plain Consider the two Natures of Christ which constitutes him fit for the great Work of Mediation between God and and sinfull Men. First His Godhead As Christ is God he is no way capable of being humbled Secondly His Humanity the Nature in which he was humbled Reason teaches that before he could humble himself in the assumed Nature that Nature must first be Actually in Being As touching God's assuming the Human Nature it cannot properly be call'd or thought an Act of Humiliation And that because as is already hinted the Godhead is not capable of being humbled To which I add that the Godheads assuming the Human Nature is no way a humbling but rather an Advancement and that the highest and greatest that ever was or ever will be granted and vouchsafed to any created Being to the Human Nature This Act of God in uniting to himself the Human Nature was a high Act of matchless and unparallell'd Condescention to Abraham's Seed his Elect and chosen in Christ It will then be demanded wherein Christs Humiliation consisted To which I answer in two Particulars First In his laying aside and not pleading the Perfection of his sinless Nature and the perfect Conformity of his Life to the Law of God If the Lord Jesus had not stood as a Surety for the Elect the Curse of the Law could no way Reach or take hold of him and the Reason is because he was never guilty of transgressing the Law Christ was Made not Born under the Law So saith the Spirit of Truth Gal. 4.4 It is one thing to be Born under the Law and it is another thing to be Made under the Law To be Born under the Law presupposes that Party Partaker of a sinful polluted Nature which lays him open to the Sentence and Curse of the Law To be Made under the Law presupposes Christ's voluntary Act of subjecting himself to the Law of God Not only to the preceptive commanding Part of it that he might keep the Law for the Elect of God for whom he became a Surety But to the minatory and cursing part of it too to the end he might be made a Curse for them and that by bearing in his own Body and Soul the Laws-curse which was due to Gods Elect for their breach of the Law Phil. 2.7 But made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of Men. And being found in Fashion as a Man he humbled himself and became obedient unto Death yea even the Death of the Cross 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sed exâ—â—anivit semet ipsum he emptied himself The word properly signifies he â—ob'd or he utterly emptied himself he debased or made himself vile And this he did himself it was neither his Fathers nor any of his Enemies Act. This is to be taken in no other sense than as was said already his laying aside and not pleading his own spotless Innocency whereon if he had stood no Accusation brought in against him would have held water to cast him at the Law Bar. Secondly His voluntary subjecting himself to a Liableness to stand charg'd with all the sins of God's Elect as truly as if they had been Personally committed by himself together with the Shame and Curse due for them Christ standing bound for the Elect could object nothing against Gods just Proceedings against him seeing iâ— was his own voluntary Act to become their Surety neither God Angels oâ— Men could force him to it On this Account it was that he stood speechless at the Laws Bâ—r. Esa 53.6 Aâ— we like sheep have gone
astray wâ— have turned every one to his own waâ— and the Lord hath laid on him the Iniquity of us all Ver. 7 He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet 〈◊〉 opened not his Mouth he is brought as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a Sheep before her Sheater is dumb so he opened not his Mouth What was the reason of this profund Silence when not only his Reputation but his Liberty and his dear Life too lay at stake No other Reason can be given by Men or Angels for it but this viz. His voluntary Act in striking hands with his Father as a Sponsor or Surety in the behalf of the Elect in whose room as their Representative he promised to see all their Debts fully discharged And that by a most exact keeping the Law for them and by bearing to the uttermost the Shame Curse and Death to which the Law sentenced the Elect for sin The Blessed Redeemer having thus laid himself under a legal Tie or Obligation to God his Father when Justice call'd him to hold up the Hand at the Bâ—r in order to his coming to a full and legal Trial He had not one word to object against the severity of the Laws proceeding against him though he had not the least spot of sin of his own to be charged with yet having undertaken as a Surety for the Elect their sins tho' never so many horrid and vile he must take them as his own And 〈◊〉 he did witness his own Acknowledgment at the Laws Bar. Psal 4â— 12 For innumerable Evils have compassed me about mine Iniquities have taken hold on me so that I am not abâ— to look up c. The numberless Numbers of the Elects Iniquities were by God imputed and charg'd to his Account and he the Immaculate spotless Lamb of God takes them as hiâ— own according to Esa 53.8 and 1 Peâ— 2.24 who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the Tree c. They who deny a change of Persons between Christ and God's Elect do buâ— bewray their own Unskilfulness in thiâ— greatest of Mysteries And in pretence of opposing Antinomianism sufficiently demonstrate themselves to bâ— the worst and most pernicious Antinomians now in London For most certain it is and Goâ— will make such Men know it sooneâ— or later that in the same sense where in Christ was made a sinner at thâ— Bar of Gods Law the Elect of Goâ— stand justified at the Throne of Grace As the Lord Jesus Christ could be nâ— other way made or prov'd a sinner but by Gods imputing to him the Iniquities of the Elect to which he himself agreed and consented so Elect sinners can no other way be Partakers of a spotless justifying Righteousness but by Gods imputing that of his Sons to them As all the Guilt and Defilements which by sin came on Gods Elect were imputed to and charg'd on the Son of God so all that Mediatorial Righteousness both Active and Passive which Christ perform'd and fulfill'd to answer the Laws demand was and is imputed to and charg'd on the Elect in effectual calling for their free and full Justification from all charge of sin and he or they that have the face to deny this do sufficiently prevent any others studying Arguments to prove them Heterodox and unsound in this Foundation Doctrin of Justification wherein they who are made Partakers of the Anointing of the Spirit of Christ cannot but see and stand convinced that the whole current of Sacred Scriptures and of Orthodox Protestant Divines both Non and Conformists are full â—tive against them Thirdly The Death of Christ is sweet â—nd delightful to the true Believer Three things there be which bespeaks it so to be First In that Christs dying the cursed Death to which the Elect were liable was the consummating Act oâ— the Execution of God's Law upon him and in him upon all the Elect oâ— God It was Luthers Observation and Saying upon the Son of Gods being put to Death that the two greatesâ— Potentates on Earth were on thâ— Cross striving for Victory viz The Law of God and the sinless Soâ— of God The Law falls on Christ as the greatest of Transgressors as he stood charg'd with all the most horrid Abominations that the Eye of Gods Omâ—nisciency foresaw the Elect should eveâ— fall into The Laws knows or shews nâ— Mercy though Christ be the Son oâ— God and the Law-maker too yet Satisfaction must be given which give occasion here to mind the Readeâ— of the Old Maxim Law-makers muâ—â— be no Law-breakers I am certain that Maxim was never yet morâ— truly verified and made good in nâ—â— case than it was in this of Chrisâ— bearing and undergoing the Penalty 〈◊〉 his own Righteous and Just Law The Law cries out against Christ in whose Person all the sins of God's Elect did meet here 's a Transgressor a Sinner the greatest that ever appeared at God's Bar And that on the account of the innumerable Rebellions and Transgressions of all the many Millions of God's Elect which lay upon him though he was never toucht with the least stain of Corruption in his assumed Nature Neither was the least Deviation from the Rectiâ—ude of the Law ever found in his Practise and Life yet he is the Party who is like to satisfie Justice for all those Debts he hath taken on him to discharge and seeing that the principal part of the Debt which he took on him to pay viz. Actual Conformity to the Righteous Demands of the Law is undeniably found in him And that there remains now nothing to discharge and clear off of what he hath undertaken as a Surety but to under go a bodily Death to answer the Accessory Debt whereto the Elect became obnoxious by Adam's first Rebellion let him die that shameful ignominious and cursed Death of the Cross Thus the Law Sentenc'd and Condemn'd him as a Malefactor and the blackest Criminal that ever held up Hand at the Bar of any Court of Judicature either Human or Divine The Law having passed on him he was deliver'd up to Justice to the end the Curse of the Law might be inflicted on him his Executioner in this doleful Tragedy must be his own Dear and Tender Father who Lov'd him from Everlasting and will to endless Eternity love him as he loves himself Yet notwithstanding Die he must and that by having the Sword of his Fathers vindicative Justice sheath'd in his very Bowels till his very Soul was powered forth like Water Awake O Swordâ—â— against my Shepherd and against the Man that is my Fellow Zach. 13.7 c. Because he hath powered out his Soul unto death c. Isa 53.12 I am poured out like water and all my Bones are out of joint my Heart 〈◊〉 melted l ke Wax in the midst of my Bowels Psal 22.14 He that spareâ— not his own Son but delivered him up for us all c. Rom. 8.32 Here 's an Argument of the Fathers Love to Elect sinners