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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30579	Gospel-conversation: wherein is shewed, I. How the conversation of believers must be above what could be by the light of nature. II. Beyond those that lived under the law. III. And suitable to what truths the Gospel holds forth. By Jeremiah Burroughs, preacher of the Gospel to Stepney and Criplegate, London. Being the third book published by Thomas Goodwyn, William Greenhil, Sydrach Simpson, Philip Nye, William Bridge, John Yates, William Adderly.	Burroughs, Jeremiah, 1599-1646.; Goodwin, Thomas, 1600-1680.	1650 (1650)	Wing B6076A; ESTC R213106	221,498	277

have neither the right of Justice to claim nor the right from your Creation nor the right from Promise What right then There is a Fourth right and that right I confess you have and that is 4. A right from Donation God is pleased to give to you but just thus You hold all your Honors and Estates that are ungodly men just thus Even as a man that is condemned to die and there being a little reprieving for two or three daies before his execution the Prince out of his indulgence gives order to have provision made for him according to his Quality that if he be a Gentleman he shal have such provision if a Knight a Nobleman a Peer of the Realm he shall have provision according to his Quality till his Execution now no man can say this man usurps though he hath forfeited all his right to his Land and Estate yet if the King will give him this refreshment he is no usurper but it is a poor right he hath it 's a right from Donation and thus God gives the ungodly men in this world they have a right to outward comforts you have your Portion but you see how you hold it That 's the Second thing I have but one or two things more to dispatch of this particular and two things further and I shall wind up all as briefly as I can I am told I may take some liberty at such a time as this is and seeing it is only the preaching oportunity we meddle withal give me leave a little the more to transgresse upon your patience in that I hope it will not be very much The next thing to be considered it is That this Portion here as it 's poor in regard of the mean things and the Tenure So Thirdly There is a great deal of Mixture here in this you have 1. There is a manifold Mixture of Cumber of Trouble and the truth is All the good things that wicked men enjoy in this world will scarce bear charges that is there is so much trouble they meet withal here in this world with their Portion that all they have will scarce bear charges And if a man goes a Voyage we use not to count any thing he spends by the way to be part of his Treasury Now all we have here in this world is but Spending-money to bear our Charges in regard God knows we shall be at a great deal of Charges and afflictions we shall meet with here But besides 2. There is a Mixture of Curse in every Portion of an Ungodly man If any of you think you get such a rich Match you get an Heir that is a very rich Match and you get her portion and there you go and fetch away the bags of God that are her portion but if it should prove that every bag of Gold you have of your Wives portion had the Plague in it it were but a poor portion Certainly it is thus with all ungodly ones in the world that all the while they live whatsoever they enjoy so long as continuing wicked they have a Curse of God that goes along with it and makes way unto Eternal misery for them As those that are godly have the blessing of God in outward things that makes way for their Eternal good So thou hast the Curse of the Lord mingled with all thy outward things that makes way for Eternal evil unto thee And then Consider 3. What portion thou losest thou hast gotten one but thou losest a great deal more If a man had been at the Exchange and made some bargain about some petty thing and afterwards when he comes home knows that by not buying such a thing he hath lost a bargain that would have made him and his posteritie he hath little cause of rejoycing in that bargain he hath made So though thou hast got a portion that may seem to satisfie thee somwhat know thou hast lost a portion of infinit worth and value and it 's impossible to shew you what this portion is for the Devil could shew Christ all the glory of the world in the twinkling of an eye but if I should come to shew you the glory of Heaven I had need have Eternity to shew you what the portion of the Saints is but though I cannot shew it you all I will only give you a hint or two that you may know somewhat what it is 1. It is such a portion as is fit for the Spouse of the Lamb as is fit for the Spouse of one that is to marry the Son of God the second Person in Trinity 2. It is such a portion which is fit and sutable to an Heir of Life and Glory an Heir of Heaven and Earth 3. It is such a portion as God doth give it unto them to this very end As to declare what the infinite Power of God is able to do to raise a poor creature to the height of happiness What think you this must be that I say it must therefore be done that it might declare to Angels and all creatures what the infinit power of God is able to do to raise a poor creature to happiness and glory This must be somewhat 4. It must be such a one as in which God must attain unto the great design that he had from all eternity in making the Heaven and Earth the special design that God had in making Heaven and Earth from all Eternity it was to magnifie the Riches of His Grace to a Company that He had set apart to glory it must be such a portion and guess you what this must needs be 5. It is such a portion as must require the infinite power of God to support a Creature to be able to bear the weight of that glory it 's such a portion And do you but think what kind of portion that must needs be 6. All this must needs be now to all Eternity I remember when Esau did but hear Isaac his father tel what a blessing he had given unto Jacob the Text saith that Esau fell a weeping Oh! that God would strike upon the hearts of men that have so little minded any thing but the present things of the world thou hearest but a few words of what the Lord hath reserved to all eternity for his Saints and compare but that with what is thy portion and what is like to be thy portion and thou hast cause to weep I but more cause you will have to weep if so be you consider the last thing Fifthly What is like to be thy End thy Portion is in this world if indeed thou couldst ruffle it out in this world and enjoy thy hearts desire and there an end it were somewhat Oh but there is somewhat else remains afterwards As first 1. Oh the perplexity of Spirit that any worldly man will have when Death comes when he shall see an end of all the comforts of this world now farewell house and lands and friends and acquaintance and all

Christians in the time of the Gospel that are eminent should live as Angels Angelical lives and the weakest of all should be as David Indeed considering what we have revealed in the Gospel we should be ashamed that our hearts and lives should come short in spiritualness and heavenliness of any that lived in the times of the Law see in the 119. Psalm how you find Davids heart taken and ravished with the Word of God Oh how sweet was the Law of God to him sweeter than the honey and the honey comb He doth not mean there the Law in opposition to the Gospel but the whol Word of God Now you should consider this what part of Gods Word had David there he had not many of the Prophesies he had but the Books of Moses and some other Books the Book of Job was then and some of the Chronicles some part of the Kings and the Book of Judges but most part of the Kings he could not have for he was the second King therefore what little part of the Word of God was written at that time and yet how sweet was the Word to him as sweet as the honey and the honey comb and how he did delight in it above Gold and Silver And then for the Ordinances of God O how was he taken with them though in comparison of ours they were but carnal In the 84. Psalm he did envy the very birds that were in the Temple of God How aimable are thy Courts O Lord saith he now do but compare those Scriptures he had with these that we have The five Books of Moses and Joshua and Judges and Job which were the chief Scriptures then extant and do but compare them with the History of the Gospel in particular the Sermons of Christ from the fifth Chapter of Matthew to the eighth So those remarkable places from the fourteenth to the eighteenth of John and so on O what heavenly things are there let down amongst us What Heavenly truths we have study and reade over Pauls Epistles which are several holy Letters sent from Christ to His Saints here on earth Oh what spiritual transcendant truths What great mysteries and depths of God are opened and revealed there beyond what there is in Genesis or Exodus or Leviticus or Numbers c. And yet the Word of God was dearer to him than al the world and he profest he did meditate in it day and night Now we have that word in two Testaments that doth reveal abundance more of God in Christ than ever he had and therefore our Conversations should rise higher in holiness than the Converstions of those that were under the Law we should endeavor to be more exemplary in holy walking than they were And thus much for the second head Now for the third which is the chief of all If you would have your Conversations to be such as becomes the Gospel it must be suitable to what the Gospel holds fo●●h unto you Now this is a gre●t point and it will serve for two ends First To hold forth unto you the principal things in the Gospel Secondly To shew you how you should sute your Conversation to those things that are in the Gospel And we shall abide upon this head somewhat long The first and principal thing in the Gospel It is the holding forth unto us the infinite love of God to man-kind this is the very end of the Gospel that God might declare what an infinite love he hath unto the children of men yea unto men rather than unto Angels you know that Scripture in John 3. ●6 So God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life And indeed that one verse hath more of God in it than all Creatures in Heaven Earth the whol frame of Heaven and Earth hath not so much of God in them as that one verse hath So God loved the world that he sent forth his only begotten Son that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life It is as if God should say when he comes to reveal the Gospel I will have a way wherein it shall appear to men and Angels for ever what the greatness of my love is unto these poor creatures unto the children of men And to that end I send my Son the second Person in Trinity to take their natures upon him to come to be their Mediator there will I manifest what my love is that shall be the great fruit of love It is the similitude of a learned Divine saith he the love of God in all other things in comparision of the love of God in Christ reveal'd in the Gosspel it is a little spark of fire in comparison of the heat in a furnace when a furnace is heated red hot it may be a few sparks of fire fly out but what is one of those sparks of fire that fly out in comparison of al the heat that there is in the furnace so saith he all the fruits of the love of God to man-kind in all the works that ever God did do are but as that one spark only excepting this of Christ and the love of God unto mankind in Christ is as it were the heat of the furnace there 's burning love indeed the love of God in Christ this is the great scope of the Gospel the great aim of God the great design that God had in the Gospel to make known the infinitness of His love unto the children of men Now then if so be that God in the Gospel doth reveal what there was in His heart from all eternity to man-kind for so it is that 's the scope of the Gospel there was in the heart of God infinite love burning toward man-kind God from eternity saw man-kind before him and there was that strong inclination of his heart towards them in love as did even burn in his heart Now in time God reveals this in the Gospel in the Doctrine thereof He doth open His heart to the children of men when ever the Gospel comes to be preached in any place God doth look upon that place and hath these kind of workings in Himself Well that love of Mine that I have had burning in my Bosom from all eternity towards these poor creatures now it shal be opened now it shal be revealed just as it was with Joseph that had his heart so warm in love unto his Brethren that though he kept it in a while he could not keep it in long but at length it breaks out as fire his bowels yerned towards his Brethren and he weeps tears of love over their necks So in the Gospel of Christ look upon God towards poor creatures as Joseph towards his Brethren and God as it were keeping in his heart towards them for a long time but now when the Gospel comes among them God opens his very heart to them now therefore there must be a Conversation that

scope of the Gospel a principal scope I say God would in the Gospel make known to all the world his infinite willingness to be reconcil'd to such as have offended him Indeed without the Gospel we might apprehend this that the Lord is a God that is full of goodness that He is good and doth good that all good is in him but to apprehend God to be such a God of peace so infinitely set upon it as I may so say to be reconciled to such as are enemies could never have been known but by this Gospel of Christ herein we find that though there was an infinite difference between God and man between Heaven and Earth through our sinning sin yet the Lord was willing to be reconciled yea though the offence of man was exceeding great so that it cried for vengance yet he was pleased wonderfully to condescend to make a peace with him Yea though the Lord had man under his power and could do what He pleased with him He had His enemy under His feet and might have broken him all to pieces with His iron-rod as a Potters vessel which when it is broken can never be made whol again yet He was willing to be reconciled Thirdly Though God had no need at all of us He was infinitly blessed in himself who is perfection and blessedness it self Sometimes we are willing to be reconcil'd to our enemies either because we have them not under our power or because we have some need of them but God that had us under his hand and might easily have destroyed us and had no need at all of us yet was desirous to spare us as a father spareth his only son whom he loveth Fourthly The Gospel holds this out to us That the Lord He begins the work of reconciliation He first loving us the infinit God seeketh to us his creatures to come in to be reconciled therefore he sends his Ambassadors of peace to beseech us in Christs stead to come in to be reconciled to him to accept of His Propositions of Peace which make so much for our everlasting salvation Fiftly Though reconciliation must cost God very dear that God must be at a great deal of costs and charges to reconcile His creatures to himself it cost no less than the blood of his only begotten Son and yet he is willing to be reconcil'd saith God my heart is set upon this work and let it cost what it will if it were ten thousand worlds yet my heart i● so upon it that I will bring them in that they may be reconciled to me and made one with me Sixthly and lastly The Gospel reveals this That God is so set upon reconciliation and is so reconcil'd to such as do imbrace the Gospel as he will never be at enmity with them again Being once reconcil'd he wil never suffer such a breach to be made between Man-kind and Himself any more He wil be their Father in Christ and ye shall be his Sons and Daughters through Him to all eternity in Christ Jesus our Lord. Who shall separate us from the love of God Thus the Gospel holds forth not only reconciliation but such reconciliation as this is which men and Angels can never sufficiently admire and bless God for This is a Second beam as I may so say of the Gospel Then what manner of persons ought we to be our conversations must be as becomes this Gospel of Christ in this great thing that the Gospel holds forth unto us Surely then this cals to us al aloud to love peace O love peace Is God so set upon peace as he is and is he willing to be at so great cost for peace Oh let us love peace let us follow peace le ts pursue peace let 's seek peace let us do what we can possibly for peace If it be possible as much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men Let us account peace never bought too dear with any thing but sin The Lord Christ would not sin to purchase peace if it could possibly have been conceived that any sin should have bin committed Christ would never have purchased peace that way but if it be by any way of suffering by his being willing to leave the Heavens for a while to take upon him the form of a servant yea to have the sence of the influences of the love of his Father ecclipsed for a time he was willing to endure yea to be made a curse whatsoever he suffered in his Name he was willing to endure any thing to make peace between God and man to reconcile the World to Heaven Oh! let us love peace that 's becoming the Gospel of Christ for our hearts to be set upon peace And the exhortation that you have in the Ephesians before mentioned it is likewise built upon the consideration of Christs working so for our peace Ephes 2. 14. For He is our peace who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us having abolished in Hi● flesh the enmity And then in the 16. verse That He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the Cross having slain the enmity thereby So that this Scripture holds forth not only that Christ is our peace in respect of God and he died for that end to make peace between God and us but likewise that Jesus Christ did die to make peace between man and man it was one fruit of His death to break down the middle wall of partition between us and to slay the enmity he doth not say to kill our enemies but to kill the enmity it 's self the meaning is this that Christ died to take down the partition wall between Jew and Gentile there was an enmity between the Jew and Gentile that they might not one converse with the other now it was a fruit of the death of Christ to take down the partition wall and to slay the enmity between them that so there might be but one sheep fold that He might reconcile both unto God in one body Now was this the end of the death of Christ not only to reconcile us to God but one unto another in one body Jew and Gentile Certainly there cannot be such a distance between one Christian and another as there was between Jew and Gentile and Christ did so love unity and peace in the world especially among those that made any profession of his Name that he would die to that end He would lose His life that He might procure peace between Jews and Gentiles and bring them into one body And truly so it should be with us we should be willing and those whose hearts are right I say cannot but be so sensible of the breaches that are among us and the unpeaceableness of mens spirits as if they could by the laying down of their lives procure peace they should be willing to do it every Christian should make it appear that he is so set upon peace that if

to any sin that I should think to cover it by another sin by adding one sin to another to think to shift for my credit or esteem by adding more sin to that already committed Oh no the Lord in his mercie hath made known unto me in the Gospel of Christ what sin means the evil of sin and therefore I have learned rather to endure any thing than to multiply iniquity Indeed before I came to understand Jesus Christ I thought sin was an evil thing and I abstain'd from gross sins by that dim light of Nature that is within me but since I came to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ the great mystery of godliness in his Son the dealings of the Father with his Son the Lord knows now I abhor a sin in secret though I were sure no body in the world should ever know it more than I do abhor Hell its self I such a Conversation as would manifest such a work of God upon the heart as this is would become the Gospel of Christ indeed Whereas otherwise brethren if any of you that do profess the Gospel of Christ shall make sin but as a slight thing and shall be ready to entertain sin in thy bosom know that by this means you do no other but trample under foot the Blood of Jesus Christ as a cōmon thing as a thing that had no worth at all in it This doth despight to the Gospel of Christ you do dishonor Jesus Christ and you do put him to open shame whose Name you have taken upon you by your profession I 'le give you a Scripture now for this in Heb. 6. 4. c. He speaks of some that were once enlightned and had tasted of the Heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy Ghost and tasted of the good word of God that 's the Gospel and the powers of the world to come if they should fall away it were impossible to renew them to repentance Mark the reason Seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame Such as fall off after the profession of the Gospel into sinful waies they are said here to crucifie the Son of God afresh and to put him to open shame This is far from walking as becomes the Gospel And so you have another text in Heb. 10. 29. c. he speaks of those that had fallen off from their profession into sinful waies Of how much s●rer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy of who hath troden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despight unto the Spirit of Grace See how the holy Ghost speaks of such as fall from their profession into sinful waies again And there 's a great deal of reason for it for 't is not so much for those that never made profession of the Gospel to fall to sin not such a horrid thing for them but for those that have made profession of the Gospel that they hold forth thus much this is the language of their actions though they dare not say so Lord I acknowledge that I have seen the fruit of thy hatred of sin in the death of thy Son that thou didst so hate sin that thou madest thy Son to be a curse for sin but yet for all this such is the strength of my lusts I must have my lusts though it be so vile in thine eyes as the blood of thy Son went for it yet I must have it rather than deny my lusts Oh what a dreadful thing is this how provoking must it needs be to the holy God Oh happy had it been for such men and women that they had never heard of the Gospel of Jesus Christ But of the evil of walking unbeseeming the Gospel of Jesus Christ we shall speak to after when we come to the application That 's then the sixt particular of what the Gospel holds forth The infinite hatred of God against sin Now the seventh thing that is held forth in the Gospel that cals for a Conversation beseeming is this The great price of souls There 's nothing in the world that ever God did that doth discover the worth of mans immortal soul so as the Gospel of Jesus Christ doth there God manifests to all the world what a price he puts upon mans soul the Lord saw that men by sin had undone themselves and that those souls that he made were like to perish to all eternity yea were under the sentence of eternal death and must certainly perish eternally if so be that some way were not found out by an infinit wisdom for to ransome them now saith the Lord rather than I will have all souls perish it 's true the love that I have unto my Justice is such as for many souls I 'le let them go and they shall perish but yet that I might shew that I have an high esteem of the souls of the children of men for the ransoming of that number that I have appointed from all eternity to save I 'le send my Son and he shall die for the saving of souls that souls may not perish If the Lord should have said concerning any one soul I do so highly prize this soul and account the worth of it to be such as rather than it shall perish I 'le disolve heaven and earth heaven and earth shall perish rather than this soul shall perish you will say this had been a great testimony of Gods esteem of a soul But know that the Gospel holds forth a higher esteem of a soul than this comes to when God shal say Rather than this and the other soul shall perish I 'le send my Son to be made a Curse This the Gospel holds forth this is infinitly a higher price that God puts upon a soul You know therfore what the Apostle saith in 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed saith he with corruptible things as silver and gold Then in the 19. verse But with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish or without spot 'T is not silver and gold or any corruptible thing that can redeem you but the precious blood of Jesus Christ Oh that blood that 's more precious than the world even all the world must let the redemption of a soul alone for ever all the Angels in Heaven if they would have joyned together to have redeem'd a soul and would have ventured themselves to have been destroyed for ever that they might have redeem'd a soul it would not have been they must all let the redemption of a soul alone for ever the matter then of the redemption of a soul is more than we are aware of and we could never have come to have known this but by the Gospel of Jesus Christ The full price of a soul is writ down by the finger of Gods Spirit in the Gospel of Christ

Seneca though a Heathen I am greater saith he and I am born to greater things than to be a slave to my body A Heathen could say so Oh but when we hear of humane nature so advanced and enthroned in Christ we should think with our selves that any one that hath humanity in them is born to higher things than to make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof What wilt thou be a slave to the Devil now Thou hearest how God hath dignified the nature of man into so neer a union with himself Oh doth not this mysterie of the Gospel call to all the children of men Oh all you children of men Behold what God hath done for man kind surely the thoughts of God for man-kind are great and glorious there be higher things you may attain unto and will you yet perish and chuse your portion here in this world and be groveling on the ground as if there were no higher thoughts that God had for your good than meerly to live as brute beasts to eat and drink and then rise up to play Oh if God hath advanced mans nature so do not despise it in the meanest of the children of men the lowest servant or poorest boy that lies begging at your door for a piece of bread for it is of the same kind that is united in a personal union with the second Person in Trinity of the same nature which this poor boy that lies begging at your door for broken bread and meat therefore honor humane nature in every one and do not vilifie it in thy self those men that live under the Gospel and vilifie humane nature they put a dishonour upon Jesus Christ And even reverence thy self in private when thou art alone I say reverence thy self do not abuse thy body it is the Temple of the holy Ghost Oh remember this all you that are professors of Religion that these bodies of yours this flesh of yours if you be godly and walk answerable to your profession I say this flesh of yours it is the very Temple of the holy Ghost do not abuse it it 's the Apostles argument Therefore fly fornication and be not joyned to whores for your bodies are the temples of the holy Ghost Oh it makes the sin of uncleanness to one that professes the Gospel of Christ a cursed sin the sin of uncleaness in a professor of the Gospel it 's a thousand thousand times more abominable than the sin of uncleanness in another why Because they know how God hath advanced humane nature into a personal union with himself and how their bodies are the Temples of the holy Ghost What shal I make the Temple of God a ●●y for the unclean spirit a cage of unclean birds God forbid There hath been a great deal of do about stony Churches and Temples and you should have a great many base whoremasters plead for the Whore of Rome the Mistris of all fornications in bowing and cringing with Cap and knee as soon as they set their foot in some of our meeting places and in the mean time abuse the Saints which are the Temples of the holy Ghost and abuse their own bodies and yet they profess themselves Christians Oh now either deny thy Christianity or do not abuse thy body to any filthy lust for it is the Temple of the holy Ghost This the Gospel holds forth And let thy Conversation be now as becomes the Gospel of Jesus Christ not abusing thy body so For we see that the Gospel cals for bodily cleanness as well as spiritual cleanness and truly I do not know stronger arguments to godliness than these that we have mentioned here in the Gospel We have gone through three Gods infinit hatred of sin The price of souls And the honor that the Gospel shews that God hath put upon humane nature Conversations but becoming these three would be other manner of Conversations than you have I shall only speak of a fourth and that 's this 4. The Gospel holds forth the greatest example of self-denial that ever was in the world by all waies that ever God hath made known his mind he never hath revealed his will in an example of self-denial so as he hath done in the Gospel and that is in the example of the Lord Jesus Christ God evidenceth there such a work of self-denial as never was and 't is impossible to apprehend a greater example of self-denial than that is though Christ thought it no robbery to be equal with God reade but the second of the Philippians vers 7 8. and there you may see what Christ was and yet how he emptied himself how he denied himself in his honor how vile he was made in the world though he was the brightness of his fathers glory yet he was made of no reputation how he denied himself in riches Christ that was the Heir of all things though he were rich yet he was made poor for us how he denied himself in his pleasures he was the delight of the Father from all eternity and yet he was made a man of sorrows he denied himself in his life for he was the Lord of life and yet he subjected himself to death to a cursed death for us Oh the example of Christ in self-denial is the greatest that ever was and this seems to be one great end of the humiliation of Jesus Christ to hold forth a preaching pattern of self-denial to the world And there 's a great deal more power in the pattern and example of self-denial then in the commands of self-denial I only present this to shew you that it is the most unbeseeming the Gospel for any one that professes the Gospel to be selvish altogether scraping for themselves and whatsoever service they are put upon except self may have an oare in it they have no mind to it Oh 't is becoming the Gospel of Jesus Christ for men and women to be emprtied of themselves no matter what becomes of our selves but be willing to give up our selves for publick good to venture your estates and lives and all your comforts yea to be swallowed up in the glory of God to be nothing that Christ may be all In the Gospel of Christ we find that Christ he was swallowed up with the glory of his Father and he came not to do his own will but the will of his father that sent him and though he was one that had infinitely more excellency than all men and Angels in Heaven and Earth yet he was content for the honor of his Father to be made as a worm and no man to be trampled under foot to endure the greatest extremities of all sorts this holds out an example to us that while we live in this world we should be taken off from our selves Oh this self-love sticks much in the hearts of men and women now upon the example of Christs self-denial we are required to deny our selves and it is the proper lesson of the Gospel

God did make all things by Christ so He doth govern all things by Him if God had not deputed the second Person in Trinity God man the Mediator to have been the Governor of all things the holiness and justice of God according to the Covenant of works by which he had to deal with man would have destroyed the world upon mans sin had not the ordering and governing of the world been put into the hand of the second Person in Trinity God-man the Mediator for though he was not manifested in the flesh He had not actually taken our humane Nature upon Him yet He was look'd upon as God-man with the Father even before the foundation of the world was laid and so all things were committed to Him And hence the world notwithstanding the sin that hath been in it hath been preserved so as it hath been to this day Christ therefore hath a Providential Kingdom together with the Father and so he is King not over the Churches only the King of the Saints but He is over all the Heathen over all the world from the rising of the Sun to the setting thereof And the Civil Magistrate as I may so say is the Deputy of Christ in this his Providential Kingdom Gods Vicegerent upon Earth all Magistrates whatsoever are Officers subordinate under Him But now there 's another Kingdom of Christ that this Scripture speaks of My Kingdom is not of this world That is the Kingdom of the Mediator as Divines calls it that more properly concerns His Church in the execution of His Mediatory Office Now this Kingdom of Christ it was ever since there was a Church but it was very dark under clouds and curtains the glory of it was little till the second Person came to be manifested in the flesh then indeed this Mediatory Kingdom of Christ came to be revealed abundantly more cleerly than before and Christ exercised it more fully this is that which the Scripture so often in the Gospel cals the Kingdom of Heaven Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand 't is not of this world but it 's cal'd the Kingdom of Heaven the Mediatory Kingdom of Christ is not of this world there 's a great deal of difference between a worldly kingdom and this Kingdom of Christ And that 's the subject that I am now to open to you How Christs Kingdom is not of this world the vast difference between worldly kingdoms and Christs Kingdom which you will find to be a point of very great use First Christs Kingdom hath not that pomp and glory that bravery and galantry that the Kingdoms of the world have you know in the Kingdoms of the world there 's a great deal of outward pomp and glory Bernice and Agrippa they came in great pomp the text saith the Kings of the earth have glorious attendance Christ hath no such thing His attendance was a few poor Fisher-men Kings have great Courts and crouded with Courtiers His Court was but small only a few of such kind of men mean and contemptible taken from the hedges and out of the high waies They have sumptuous Pallaces Christ had not a place to hide His head here in this world He saith himself that the Foxes have holes and the Birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man hath not wherewithal to hide His head and yet a great King for all that Surely it was not of this world The Kings of the earth have all kind of delicates that this world can afford they carry things in great state It was not so with Christ Zech. 9. 9. Rejoyce greatly Oh Daughter of Zion shout Oh Daughter of Jerusalem behold thy King cometh unto thee He is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an Ass and upon a Colt the foal of an Ass He comes lowly and mean the way of Christ in this His kindom is a way of humility and outward meanness and lowliness it is a way of outward contempt scorn and dirision this is the way of the kingdom of Christ by poverty and lowliness He would overcome the world not by bravery and magnificence nor by great pomp and glory He doth not dazle the eyes of men by such means but His glory consists in self-denial in emptying of Himself in becoming poor therfore His Kingdom is not of this world Luke 17. 20. The Kingdom of God saith the text there comes not with observation that 's the word the meaning of it is this It is not a thing that by any outward pompous Ceremonies can be observed Now Kings when they go from one place to another by their attendance and by a great many ceremonies that are used for the setting out of their pomp and glory they are taken notice of and observed you may know the King comes here say the people when they see such things But saith the text there The Kingdom of God comes not by observation there 's no such outward pomp and glory there 's nothing but outward meaness and baseness to the eye of the flesh in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ He that is in Himself the most glorious King and from whom all other Kings have their power yet He hath a Kingdom that is not of this world that hath nothing but meaness poverty and lowliness that doth appear in it to the eyes of men Secondly The Kingdom of Christ is not of this world in regard of His Subjects Look what subjects Christ hath they are such as are not of this world So Christ tels His Disciples as you may find in the 17. of John I am not of the world and you are not of the world Kings they have for their subjects Nobles Peers and great Personages especially those that are near about them but now the subjects that Christ hath for His Kingdom for the generality of them they are of the poor mean base contemptible men of the world such as are look'd upon as the off-scouring of all things these are His subjects as in the second of James 5. verse Hearken my beloved brethren Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom The poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom they are the great hears even the poor of this world You know what an offence it was unto the Jews say they Do any of the Rulers beleeve in him but this multitude which is accursed A company of poor women illiterat people they flock after Jesus Christ The subjects of Christ are men chosen out of this world he himself appeared not with the glory of the world And secondly His subjects are men chosen out of the world Thirdly The Kingdom of Christ is not of this world that is the rule that Christ hath in His subjects and over these His subjects in this His Kingdom it is not of this world the rule it is spiritual It is principally upon the hearts the wills the consciences of those that are

His dear Son as the Scripture speaks and therefore very glorious And all the glory of the kingdom of Solomon it was but to typifie out the glory of the Kingdom of Christ now that is not of this world therefore there is some glory beyond that of this world and it is a good sign of a spiritual eye and a spiritual heart to be able to see an excellency and glory that is beyond this world to be able to look higher and further than this world can We think that all the good things that God hath to communicate to the children of men should be here on earth but I beseech you consider of it Can we think in our consciences that all the good things that God hath to cōmunicate to such as He loves should be here in this world Certainly no. Consider therefore that all the good things that God intends for his people are not of this world First It 's called An evil world Truly it 's no great matter and we should not account much that the Kingdom of Christ is not of this world if we consider these things First That this world it is an evil world Gal. 4. We are delivered from this evil world Secondly It 's a world that the Devil in Scripture is called the god of and the prince of this world 2 Cor. 4. 4. Whose eyes the god of this world hath blinded Surely all the good things that God hath to communicate to His Saints are not of this world that is an evil world that is a world that the very Devil is god of it in scripture phrase Thirdly A world all whose bravery and pomp and glory it is not of the Father 1 John 2. 16. you have an epitomy there of what the excellency of the world is for saith he All that is in the world the lusts of the flesh lusts of the eyes and the pride of life Under these three heads are all things that the men of the world look upon as desirable either they are the lusts of the flesh the lusts of the eyes or the pride of life But saith he All that is in the world is not of the Father but is of the world Surely the chief things that God hath to communicate to His Saints are not of the things of this world for all that is in the world is not of the Father And wouldest not thou have the riches of the Father 'T is true God is the Creator of all things and hath the dispose of all things but that that the men of the world look upon as the excellent things that are here they are not of the Father they are none of the good things that God the Father hath to bestow upon His children and therefore surely there is a happiness beyond the things of this world Oh my Brethren that I could but so take off the hearts of people by this point from the things of this world as to make them look after the Kingdom of Christ that is not of this world for you see that all that is here in the world the Scripture saith it is not of the Father Fourthly As all the excellent things are not of the Father so the truth is all the glory that is in the world it is but darkness it is a dungeon of darkness to a spiritual eye As the Bats can see in the night so the men of the world they think they see some glittering here in the world but in the language of Scripture and to spiritual hearts it is but darkness Hence the Apostle Eph. 6. 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world Rulers of the darkness of this world are the unclean spirits spiritual wickednesses the Devils are the Rulers of the darkness of this world this world it hath a darkness in it and therefore surely the chief good things that God hath to bestow upon the Saints they are things that are beyond this world Fifthly The world knows not God John 17 25. The world is that that Christ saith doth not know the Father Oh righteous Father the world hath not known thee Take men that are the wisest of the world and have all the wisdom that this world can afford it will not help them to the knowledge of the Father the world knows not those excellent and glorious things that are of the Father Sixthly The world it lies in wickedness 1 John 5. 19. as sometimes I have opened that Scripture to you Just as you see in a common shore a carion a dead dog that lies over head and ears in the mire or mud in a common shore and in its own filthiness so the whole world lies in wickedness the wickedness of the world is like the common shore in w ch there is nothing but filth and dirt and the world as a dead carion lies in its own pollutions surely then there are other things that God hath to communicate to his Saints than the things of this world and we should not be offended though the Kingdom of Christ be not of this world Seventhly The world it passeth away with the lusts of it 1 John 2. 17. it is a notable Scripture for that And the world passeth away and the lusts thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever speaking before of what was the glory of the world and it passeth away with the lusts thereof Mark Not only the things of the world passeaway but the very lusts to those things passeth away As now men and women who have their healths and live bravely for a while Oh! how greedy are they for the contents of this world how do they long and desire that they might have such a merry meeting with such friends and such cheer and such commings in They make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof But now mark within a little while not only these comforts shall be taken from them but the very lusts of them shall passe away that is they shal have no mind in the world to them Take a poor man that was wont to long for these things when he lieth upon his sick bed at the point of death now he looks upon these things as those things that are dry leaves he hath no mind to them not so much as a phansie after these things all the varnish of the things of the world are gone in his eyes he tasts them no more than the white of an eg yea the desire of his heart is dead to them as now a man that lusted after drink when his desire is satisfied the very desire after it is gon and one that liv'd in gluttony when his body is a little distempered the very lusts therof passeth away surely there are other things that God hath for his people than the things of this world Eightly There must be somwhat else besides the things of this world for Christ Himself is not