as he is God but as he is God-Man as he is the Mediator and Head of the Church in which sense we are here to understand it And so he is variously exprest in Scripture as the Tree of Life as the Bread of Life as the Water of Life Christ he is every way and in all respects Life unto us both in reference to Grace and Glory I am come says he that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly Joh. 10.10 Christ he is both the Author of our life and the matter of our life too He is the root and spring of it in whom it is and from whom it slows unto us And he is the substance of it in whom it consisteth because he only is the propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 2.2 He is our life as that which we feed on and are sustained and nourished by as a man is by his natural food in the life of nature His flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed and conveys life indeed by it There 's a threefold life which Christ does convey to all those who are true Believers First the life of Justification Secondly the life of Sanctification And Thirdly the life of Glory And in the conveyance of each of these unto them he is said to be emphatically the life as also in another place The life was manifested and we have seen it in 1 Joh. 1.2 First Christ is the life of Justification as to the pardon and forgiveness of our sins Persons that are condemned they are so far forth said to be dead namely as they are appointed to death they are dead in Law And this is the state and condition of us all by nature by reason of our first transgression there was a sentence of death past upon us and we were adjudg'd thereunto In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye Gen. 3.17 Now Christ he hath reverst this sentence and removed this death from us by dying for us By his obedience and suffering he hath satisfied the Justice of his Father and thereby hath reconciled us and put us into a state of life again Thus Col. 2.13 You being dead in your sins and the circumcision of your flesh hath he quickned together with him having forgiven you all trespasses Mark He hath quickned you by forgiving you I orgiving it is a kind of quickning because it makes a man a child of life who was before a child of death And this is that which Christ hath done for us he hath quickned us thus so far forth as he hath absolved us and set us free from condemnation by taking our guilt upon himself and that 's called a Justification of life Rom. 13.18 Now this it hath another life which is pertinent and belonging hereunto and consequent from it which therefore we may look upon under the same head with it And this is a life of peace and spiritual comfort For as by reason of sin we are plainly and absolutely dead and have a sentence of condemnation past upon us So from hence where it is discovered to us and we are made sensible of it we come to be dejected and cast down in our selves We are not only all dead but we are all a mort likewise Therefore as answerable to one death of sentence we have need of a life of absolution So answerable to the death of despair which is apt to follow upon that death of sentence where it does not appear to be remitted we have need of a life of consolation to be bestow'd upon us And this is Christ also unto us He is our Peace as the Scipture stiles him not only in the thing it self but also in our own consciences not only as to our state but as to our spirit not only as to our state to make it justifiable but as to our spirit to make it comfortable And in that respect also our life Being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and rejoyce c. in Rom. 5.1 c. Secondly As Christ is the life of Justification so he is the life of Sanctification likewise When God pardoned our sins through the Blood of Christ he gives us Grace and Holiness from the Spirit of Christ as a fruit and consequent of that pardon and reconciliation And Christ himself does impart and communicate his Spirit unto us for this purpose He is of God made unto us wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 The law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death Rom. 8.2 Not only from the law of death as to matter of guilt and condemnation but also from the law of sin as to matter of filth and pollution and hath put a new and another law into me which is the law of Grace and holiness of the Spirit This is the method wherein we partake of this spiritual life that it is first of all subjected in Christ and from him derived unto us The Spirit of God first sanctifies the humane nature of Christ and from thence sanctifies us and conveys a new nature unto us Christ lives in us by his Spirit Gal. 2.20 And therefore call'd a quickning Spirit 1 Cor. 15.45 This Life is further considerable not only in the principle of it but in the activity of it not only as that whereby we are simply enabled and made capable of doing our duty but also are made vigorous in it Christ is our life so far forth as we have a livelihood in any thing which is good And thus also the life of Sanctification Thirdly The life of Glory Christ is that likewise so far forth as he makes all his Servants to be partakers of it For so he does he raises up their bodies from the grave and he possesses both body and soul with eternal happiness And so the Scripture informs us Thus Joh. 11.25 Jesus said unto Martha I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never dye c. Christ is the life of the resurrection forasmuch as his resurrection hath an insluence and effect upon ours and is the cause of it Whatsoever is done to us it is done first of all to him He lives and we live in him He is risen again and we shall rise again by him and from him According to that of the Apostle in 2 Cor. 6.14 God hath raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power And again 2 Cor. 4.14 Knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you And again Phil. 3.22 Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself Thus is Christ the life of the resurrection And then also after the resurrection He is that life of Glory which
c. Thirdly There is also here considerable the relation of a Master and his Servants Servants they are to be with their Masters that so they may the better attend them and be serviceable to them And thus now are we also to Christ and for this purpose likewise to be with him As Christ himself also urged and carried it Joh. 12.26 If any man serve me let him follow me And where I am there shall also my Servant be If any man serve me him will my Father honour Thus in respect of all these relations Where Christ is there shall also be Christians The proper Use which we are to make of this Doctrine is that which the Scripture if self teaches us to make of it in the Apostle Paul's own advice 1 Thess 4.18 Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words Comfort your selves and comfort ye one another both are to be done by us And the one making way for t'other When we have first by prayer and meditation wrought these ruths into our own hears and suck'd out the comfort of them we shall from hence be so much the more inabled to comfort others with the comforts wherewith we our selves are comforted of God 2 Cor. 1.4 And there 's a great deal of comfort which may be drawn from such Points as these are Especially if we shall take this Passage in the full Tatitude and extent of it as it becomes us to take it Not only as to an identity of place but also as to an identity of condition which is likewise to be understood in it as belonging unto it That where I am there ye may be also And that as I am so ye shall be also Believers as they shall be in the same house as it were with Christ so they shall likewise be in the same estate which is a state of Glory and Bliss According to that of the Apostle 1 Joh. 3.2 We know that when he appears we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Christians they are predestinated to be conformable to the Image of Christ as in other things so also in this Therefore says the Apostle It is a righteous thing with God to give to you which are troubled rest when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven And when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe 1 Thess 2.7 Now what a comfort are such Points as these to a gracious and spiritual heart It is comfortable in all the roubles and pressures of this present life and the manifold sad conditions which God's children are in here in the World in Banishment in Imprisonment in Desolation in want of place of abode That there is a place prepared for them where they shall rest with Christ himself and fare even as he himself does It is comfortable as to present desertion and as to God's withdrawing of himself from his people and seeming as a stranger to them That there will a time one day come when they shall meet so together as never to be separated from each other They shal ever be with the Lord and he also ever with them So likewise As to the thoughts of death and dissolution it is comfortable here also That though body and soul be divided and severed from each other for a time yet they shall be both joyned together at last and both to Christ And we may reason from Christ to our selves By considering in what condition he is together with what we shall be in also in reference to him Therefore as he is risen from the Grave so likewise shall we As he is ascended up into Heaven so likewise shall we As he is in full glory and happiness both of Body and Soul so we in due time shall be likewise He shall change our vile bodies that they may be made like to his glorious body c. Those that are made like to Christ here in regard of Grace have his image of likeness upon them they shall be made like Christ also hereafter in regard of Glory being changed into the same image from glory to glory 2 Cor. 2.18 Last of all it is comfortable also in respect to Christian Friends in their departure here one from another that they shall at last be sure to meet together again and never part for their being always with Christ it does consequently infer their being also always one with another Besides they shall all be in the same place where Christ himself is And as the Members shall not be disjoyned from the Head so neither shall they be disjoyned from one another but be all of them together And so now I have done with this whole Verse in both the parts of it the intermediate Promise and Vltimate And if I go I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there c. SERMON XX. JOH 1.18 No man hath seen God at any time the onely begotten Son which is in the bosome of the Father he hath declared him Of the Equality of the Son of God with the Father we heard in part the last day out of that Scripture which was then at that time handled by us In this Scripture we have our Saviour instructing and informing us in the things of God who by how much the nearer he is to him the better is he accepted with him and so consequently the better able to acquaint us with him also in the midst of our own ignorance and incapacity And this is that which we have here offered unto us in this Verse which I have now read unto you No man hath seen God at any time c. IN the Text it self there are two General Parts considerable First a Defect premised Secondly a supply of this Defect propounded The Defect premised we have in these words No man hath seen God at any time The Supply of this Defect that we have in those The onely begotten Son who is in the bosome of the Father c. We begin with the first of those Parts viz. the Defect which is here premised No man hath seen c. This is agreeable to some other places of Scripture besides which have the same or like expressions in them In 1 Joh. 4.12 we have the same words expresly No man hath seen God at any time and in 1 Tim. 6.16 that which is equivalent where St. Paul speaking of God says He dwells in that light which no man can approach unto whom no man bath seen nor can see And in other places he is called the Invisible God This will require a little Explication from us because at the first hearing of it it seems to be repugnant and opposite to some others as declaring the contrary as if God indeed both might and had been seen Thus we read of Moses Exod. 33.11 that God spake with him face to face Panim elpanim and Num. 12.8 mouth to mouth Peh el peh a-mareeh apparently or visibly after
their eyes and may take away the rebuke of his people from off all the earth that there may be no more death nor sorrow nor crying nor any more pain which is the condition consequent to Christs appearing as we have it Rev. 21.4 Alas this present world it has a great deal of trouble annext unto it and commonly the Servants of God have the greatest share and part in it and therefore we cannot wonder that they should so desire the coming of Christ which makes for their release and discharge from these Calamities And therefore it has such Titles and Appellations fastned upon it as whereby it is exprest unto us it is call'd the Regeneration When the son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory Matth. 19.28 It is call'd the time of refreshing and restitution of all things Act. 3.19 21. It is call'd the time of the glorious liberty of the Children of God in Rom. 8.21 And last of all it is call'd Emphatically the day of redemption in Ephes 4.30 And God's Children are upon that account call'd upon to lift up their heads even by Christ himself When these things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh in Luk. 21.28 Can we wonder to see Prisoners desirous of being releaed from their Bonds or Captives to be redeemed from their captivity and in that regard longing for their coming which should do it for them No more can we wonder to see Christians upon that account desirous of Christs appearance which has this benefit ensuing upon it The world in which they are being a place of great Bondage and Captivity That 's the first Consideration He comes to put a period to this world both to sin and likewise to affliction Secondly This desire of the Church as to Christs coming it is founded upon a respect to her self and her own immediate advantage which hereby is much furthered and promoted and so is very much concerned in it First In the helping of her infirmities and the removal of her weaknesses from her As there is the wickedness of the world in regard whereof the coming of Christ is desirable to put an end unto it as we shewed in the former particular so there is the weakness of the Church which does make for it also as we may take notice in this even the best of God's Servants they have distempers hanging about them and cleaving unto them and the best things that are whiles they live here below in the flesh they are vitiated and corrupted unto them they cannot now serve God with that purity and fervency and liberty and freedom from distraction as they desire to do But Satan he is apt to disturb them and to interpose and mingle himself with the best things which are done by them This is that which is very grievous and troublesom to a gracious heart which by Christs coming shall be freed from these distempers Secondly As to the increase of their Graces and the perfecting of Holiness in them they desire it for this also Those Graces of the Spirit of God which the children of God in this world do partake of but in an imperfect degree they shall then be compleated to them when Christ shall come in his Glory When that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away 1 Cor. 13.10 There shall be Grace without the mixture of sin and Grace in the fullest latitude and extent of Grace Thirdly As to nearer and closer union to Christ and communion with him The Church as I hinted before in this present life is no more but contracted she is to be married in the world to come therefore she desires Christs coming for the perfecting of her Espousals and as the approach of the day of marriage which is to be consummate in Heaven that 's the time whereunto this is reserved Ye are dead says the Apostle Paul and your life is hid with Christ in God When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory Col. 3.34 And so the Apostle John 1 Joh. 3.2 Beloved we are now the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like to him for we shall see him as he is The state of this present world is a state of distance and remoteness from Christ as the Scripture expresses it While we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord For we walk by faith and not by sight 2 Cor. 5.6 7. But the day of Judgment and the Resurrection that 's a time when we shall be brought nearer to him and come into the full enjoyment and fruition of him And this is that which makes the Church to cry come as longing and waiting for this We know how it is in the world Friends and especially Spouses they are not satisfied in one anothers Affections without the enjoyment of one anothers Persons and society and converse with one another and so it is also with the Spouse of Chrise and her Beloved He says come to her and she says to recompence and requite him come to him also as we may see at large declared unto us in the Book of the Canticles which was especially pen'd to this purpose First Christ says come to her in his wooings and invitations of her to communion with himself Cant. 2.11 Arise my love my fair one and come away and she says also come to him upon the same terms and conditions likewise Make hasts my beloved and be thou like a young roe or hart upon the mountains of spices Cant. 8.11 Fourthly In order to the Body for the perfection and consummation of that also she crys come also with regard to this The souls of Believers in Heaven they do cry come also as well as these on Earth and the Church Triumphant as well as the Church Militant And that upon this present consideration That there may be a speedy re-uniting of soul and body together Thuogh the spirits of just men have an union to Christ already in part even in the state of separation from the body yet this does not satisfie them and content them without the Glory of the Lody too And there is still a natural inclination of the soul to its own body for the perfection of the person which makes it accordingly desirous of the second coming of Christ and day of Resurrection Thus we see how the Church desires Christs second coming in reference to her self which is the second consideration Thirdly In reference also to others that they may partake of the same happiness with her self For the perfecting of the Saints and for the compleating of the Body of Christ She desires that Christ would hasten to bring in the number of his Elect. There are many persons and people that for the present remain unconverted who yet do belong to
present purpose that this favour is very desirable This was that which was the Great Blessing of Joseph Deut. 33.16 The Good-will of him that dwelt in the Bush That is the loving-kindness and favour of God who in the bush made appearance to Moses the Governor of Israel Now the Excellency of Gods loving-kindness for the Amplification and Illustration of the Point may be laid forth to us in these following Particulars First In regard of the subject of it by considering whose it is it is the loving-kindness of God Favour is so far forth valuable as the Person is from whom it proceeds as a man is so is his kindness Worthless and sorry persons which have no Goodness or Dignity in them their favour is not commonly lookt after but those which are Great and Eminent their goodness is for the most part much esteemed why thus now is the case here with the loving-kindness of the Lord. It is the loving-kindness of one of Excellency and therefore it is excellent loving-kindness The Psalmist therefore does very properly and fully joyn them both together in this present Text How excellent and O God Because there 's nothing in God but it is excellent and this of his Favour and good will amongst the rest It 's answerable and agreeable to every thing else which is in Him which is admireable and precious And that may be the first explication This loving-kindness and favour is excellent in regard of the subject of it Secondly It is excellent in regard of the fullness of it it is such as is very large and comprehensive It contains a great deal in a narrow room and it is in effect all other blessings besides no office like a Kings Favorite He that hath but Gods favour what can he be said to want He has all things belonging to him which he can possibly desire There 's nothing here in the world but when a man has as much of it as his heart can wish yet he will still want somewhat with it and that sometimes which he can least be without but he that hath an interest and share in Gods loving-kindness he hath all good things made over to him so far forth as he hath use and need of them God is a Sun and shield The Lord will give Grace and Glory and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly Psal 84.11 This should teach us by the way not to limit the Holy one of Israel desire God to give us his favour and it suffices Thirdly It is excellent in regard of the efficacy of it it is such as is of sweet influence wheresoever it is it makes comforts to be so much the more comfortable and it makes crosses to be so much the more tollerable yea also in some cases acceptable and beneficial to those on whom they are For comforts what is it but this which does indeed make them to be such Certainly it does do it so far as that there cannot be any true comfort or contentment where this is wanting If God heaps upon a man never such an abundance of the good things of this life yet if he does not do it in loving-kindness and favour alas what are they It is but onely as the feeding of a Prisoner or Traytor which is to be tryed for his life This is that which is the cream of all when God bestows good things upon us and bestowes them out of special respect and good will towards us This is that which he does to his children not onely the things of a better life but also even of this life present it self He does bestow them out of the same Affection as he does bestow Heaven it self so that though they be but common Mercies for the matter of them and considered in their own Nature yet they are special Mercies for the principle and the Affection from whence they proceed and they carry a special Tincture of his love in them which makes them to be such as they are to those that injoy them Ye may take an instance of it in any thing which we may think of to this purpose Health what 's the Comfort of that What is it onely the thing it self to have such a good Temper and Constitution of Body and Liveliness with it No but to have it to such a purpose as this is to use it to the Glory of God to the doing of good to others in a mans place to the working out of a mans own Salvation and the like this is the benefit of Health and so for Riches What 's the advantage of them what onely to have so much lying by us and to behold it with a mans Eyes as Solomon speaks to be talked of or admired for it c. No but to have these things with an heart to do good with them and weaned and Estranged from them and incouraged in Gods service by them An Heart to use an Estate is far more excellent then an Estate it self and when ever God gives a man great Possessions in Loving-kindness and favour he gives them him still with this appurtenance and qualification to the Bargain as to the frame and temper of his Spirit not to trust in them not to be lifted up by them not to be over-pleased with them but to have an Heart in a very great manner withdrawn from them So again further for friends and the Contentment which is in them this is also dependant hereupon Their favour and Loving-kindness there was so much sweetness and excellency in it as it is a breathing of the Loving-kindness of the Lord who makes Enemies Friends fashions mens Hearts alike and makes them to be of one mind in an House as the Psalmist speaks Thus ye see how the favour of God has an Efficatious influence to us upon those things which are comfortable And so likewise for those things which are Grievous and in their own nature distasteful this is one part of the excellency of this Loving-kindness that it is very operative and Effectual here by taking away the sting and bitterness which is in any Affliction and by making it wholesom and medicinall to those that indure it this is that which Gods face does And so the Prophet David elsewhere professes as in Psal 119.75 I know O Lord that thy Judgments are right and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me It is a part of Gods Faithfulness to his Covenant and favour which he bears to his people to lay such seasonable Corrections upon them as from whence they might be so much the more bettered in their inward man And then as there is Gods favour in the infflicting of Crosses so also in sustaining under them vouchsafes his Gracious presence and Comforts in them and at last most powerfully working them and ordering them to their Exerlasting Advantage This is a point which many of Gods Children can bear witness to from their own Experience as who have never found more Expressions of Gods good will
advantage of them so that where they will be troubled they shall be And where he at any time discerns any proneness or inclination in them to it he is ready as much as may be to promote it and set it on further that they may be troubled more He loves to fish in troubled waters and to add sorrow to sorrow for the greater perplexity of Gods People Hence he raises a great many fears and jealousies and suspitions in them whereby the more to afflict them Thirdly From the weakness of Grace Therefore it is that Gods Children are apt and subject now and then to be inordinately troubled in themselves because Grace is but weak in them We see how it is in the Body that those who are but of weak constitutions as Children and such as they a little matter troubles them and proves offensive unto them And so it is likewise in the Soul and Spirit and inward man Where Christians are but weak they will be disquieted and easily upon every turn put out of frame Thus it was now at this present with the Disciples of Christ They were as yet but weak Christians in regard whereof he tells them elsewhere that he forbore to speak of some things unto them This is the case also with many others They are but Children and Babes in Christ and therefore apt to be troubled Nay even those who have Grace in the greatest measure if we take it comparatively yet their Grace is but weak and slender in them here in this life as a ground of this perplexity in them Their Faith and their Love and their Heavenly-mindedness and their Zeal and their Patience all in a manner but weak and therefore are their Hearts full of fears and perplexities and disquietings in themselves as a consequent of it The use which we are to make of it is accordingly to take notice of it both in our selves and others that so we may be both humbled for it and prepared against it For it is that which the best that are they are prone to if they do not the better look to themselves It is that which we have dayly and continual experience of every moment How soon we are dejected and cast down and out of heart in our selves upon any occasion such a tenderness and moleities and softness and delicateness there is upon us as that the least thing that is it troubles us and fils us with disquietness And that 's the first thing here observable from these words viz. A Christians Disposition He is apt and subject to be troubled as appears from this Caution or Prohibition of Christ to his Disciples The Second is his Duty and that is not to be troubled or afraid Christians they should by all means shun and take heed of this trouble in themselves Let not your Heart be troubled neither let it be afraid Not troubled for the evil which is present and already upon you not afraid for the evil which is expected or looked for for time to come Here 's a Caveat both against Grief and against Fear Each of which are such Passions as in the miscarriage and exorbitancy of them have much evil and sinfulness in them We 'l joyn them both together in the handling of them as coming both to one and the same effect Where that we may rightly understand the Point we may not conceive as if our Saviour did here plead for a Stoical apathy or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a senselessness and stupidity of Disposition from whence men are altogether mindless and regardless of the condition in which they are This is so far from the mind of Christ as that he does rather exceedingly abhor it and abominate it in those it is in We see how even He himself sometimes was troubled as he consesses and acknowledges it of Himself And he did so far forth express his participation of our Humane Nature in Him Therefore it is not Trouble simply which he here prohibits but the inordinacy of it which therefore we should avoid For the better opening and prosecuting of this Point which we have now before us there are two things which we shall do with Gods assistance First shew how far we may or ought to be troubled Secondly shew how far we may not or ought not to be troubled for there is somewhat considerable as to both First then how far we may and ought There are two things which are the proper objects of Trouble which it is exercised and conversant about Sin and Misery And accordingly it is not unlawful but very requisite and warrantable for a Christian in a due manner and measure to be troubled for either of these as he hath occasion for it First A Christian may be very well troubled in point of sin yea and ought so to be That which troubles all the World as to the ground and matter of trouble as sins does it ought not to be slighted by a Christian but he is much to be affected with it Whether in himself or in other men as he does discern and observe it to be in them For himself first That which He is guilty of for his own particular it ought to go very near unto him It is that which the Servants of God in Scripture have been very much troubled for when they have considered it and reflected upon it as we may see in divers instances and examples David Psal 38.3 4 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine Anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin for mine iniquities are gone over my head as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me Peter Math. 27.75 When he had deny'd his Master and remembred the words of Jesus unto him He went out and wept bitterly Paul Rom. 7.24 Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death Thus have the Servants of God been much troubled when they have thought of their sin First As a dishonour in reference to God and a grief unto him whose Glory is or should be very dear unto them Through breaking of the Law thou dishonourest God Rom. 2.23 And by this deed thou hast made the Enemies of the Lord to blaspheme 2 Sam. 12.14 This it should go very near to a Christian Heart If I be a father where is mine honour Can we call our selves the Children of God and have no sense of the honour of God surely this is very unsuitable No it becomes us to be much troubled for sin so far forth as it is a dishonour to God as his Name is occasionally reproach'd and blasphemed by it And then not only as a dishonour to him but likewise as a grieving of him for so it is Isa 63.10 They rebelled and vexed his holy spirit therefore he was turned to be their enemy and fought against them Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed c. Eph. 4.30 Shall sin grieve God and shall it not grieve us
besides If Heaven were a meer Fancy if Glory were no more but an Imagination it the state and condition of Believers hereafter were but an empty dream if there were not such glorious Mansions provided for us as are sometimes hinted to us certainly we should have been acquainted with it from Christ himself If it were not so I would have told you That 's the second General viz. The Rational Illustration The third and last is the Additional Encouragement in those words I go to prepare a place for you This is a very comfortable passage and such as deserves very much to be regarded and taken notie of by us as giving us an account of Christs departure and removal to Heaven now at this time it was for the god and benefit of his Church that he might promote their intererest and do that which was most expedient for them We see here where Christs chiefest thoughts were when he was now leaving the world they were not so much upon Himself as upon his poor Disciples how to comfort and encourage them and how to cast and provide for them that it might be well with them however it went with him They were loth now to part with him and were much troubled at the thoughts of it and now he satisfies them and pacifies them with this That he went away for their sakes He did not go away first to take away the place from them and to prevent them by going before no but to take up the place for them and to make room for them against they came themselves There were three special acts of Christ whereby he might be said to prepare a place in Heaven for Believers by his Death by his Ascension and by his Intercession First by his Death he prepared for them by that so far forth as the merit of that did reach and extend hereunto Christ by suffering of death and therein satisfying the Justice of God did obtain unto all his Members a right unto everlisting Life and Glory Thus 1 Pet. 3.18 it is said that Christ hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quickned by the spirit Bring us to God how is that namely by reconciling us and re-joyning us to him again and so giving us an entrance into his glory according to that in Heb. 2.20 It became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings And so likewise in Heb. 9.11 12 15. Christ being become an high Priest of good things to come not by the bloud of goats and calves but by his own blood he entred in once into the holy place having obtain'd eternal redemption for us And for this cause is he the Mediator of the new testament that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the first testament they that are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance that is the eternal inheritance which was promised From these and the like places it is clear that Christ by his death did prepare Heaven for his people But if this be so it may be demanded What one may think of the Fathers that lived under the Old Testament and before he coming of Christ into the World If Christ by dying did prepare Heaven for Believers in what place were they who left the World before the death of Christ The Papists in answer hereunto tell us that they were in Limbo a place distinct from Heaven and in the confines of Hell which they have intended and devis'd for them But there 's no need at all for such a Device or Imagination as this is We say that they were even then in Heaven and that also by vertue of the Merit and Efficacy of the death of Christ which is of an infinite and eternal extent and reaching both forward and backward Forward to the salvation of all Believers that came after it backward to the salvation of all Believers that went before it Hence is Christ sometimes said in Scripture to be a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world not as to actual accomplishment which was perform'd in the fulness of time but as to virtual efficacy and extent as reflecting upon all Ages and Generations indefinitely and redounding to the special good and benefit of them as many as believed in them This is that which hath prepared a place in Heaven for all Believers under Both Testaments even the Death and Bloud of Christ According to that again of the Apostle Heb. 10.19 20. Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a true and living way which he hath consecrated for us that is to say through the veil of his flesh and having an high Priest over the house of God let us draw near c. This serves so much the more to magnifie and advance the great love and kindness of Christ unto us that was pleased to take such a course as this was for us that he might procure and promote our happiness that was willing himself to die that we might live and to be crowned with a Crown of Thorns that we might be crowned with a Crown of Glory He went to prepare a place for us Went that is went unto the Cross And went that is went into the Grave he prepared it by his death and sufferings and the Virtue and Merit thereof That was the first way of his Preparation Scondly By his Resurrection and Ascension He prepared Heaven for us by going into Heaven before us After going to his Cross so also by going to his Grave When he had overcome the sharpness of death when he had by himself purged our sins he sate down on the right hand of the Majesty on high Heb. 1.3 he did open the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers Opened it by himself entring into it There was the opening of Heaven Christs Personal taking possession of it And it was the opening of it for us also who are said upon that account to be our selves already entred into it namely in Him who is our Head and hath entred into it afore us and in our behalf according to that of the Apostle in Ephes 2.6 He bath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ This was that whereby our Saviour desired at this time to satisfie the minds of his Disciples as concerning his departure and present going away from them that it was in order to their greater good He left Earth that so he might go to Heaven and he went to Heaven that so they might come to Heaven after him and come to Heaven by him as he signifies in the verse immediately following And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also
and Points of Religion especially such as do more concern Christ himself And not only to be acquainted with them but also changed into them which is a further thing here considerable of us to make up to us this forming of Christ so as all the several Doctrines of Christianity they may have a work upon our Hearts and Affections answerable and suitable to the nature of the Doctrines themselves Thus Rom. 6.17 Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered unto you In the Greek it is into which ye were delivered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This was the commendation of the Romans that as the Evangelical Doctrine was delivered to them so they also were delivered to it that is changed and transformed into the nature and condition of it and closing and complying with it This is the duty of all others besides We should not only hear the word to hear it and notionally to discourse of it but we should hear it that we may obey it and practically conform our selves unto it That 's the first Explication of this forming of Christ in us as it does relate to the Doctrine of Christ The second is as it does relate to the Spirit of Christ Till Christ be formed in you that is till ye are made conformable to Christ having the same mind and spirit in you which was first in him This is another thing which the Scripture urges upon us and makes mention of to us as Rom. 8.29 For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son Christians they must be conformed to Christ and made like unto him this is to have him formed in them Now this conformity it is of two sorts as the Scripture exhibits it First A conformity of disposition and secondly Of conversation First Of Disposition That we be like affected as he was Let the same mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus Phil. 2.5 So 1 Cor. 2. ult We have the word of Christ Christ he is to have an influence upon the framing and fashioning of our spirits And that again in two Particulars First In a conformity to his Death and secondly in a conformity to his Resurrection In a conformity to his Death so we have it in Phil. 3.10 That I may know him and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable to his death How are we made conformable to his Death when as namely his Death proves effectual to the killing of sin in us and the mortifying of corrupt affections in our hearts Thus also Rom. 6.6 Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is freed from sin Then for the conformity to his Resurrection that is when we do partake of a quickening power from Christ to enliven us in all holy performances Thus Rom. 6.4 5. Therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall be also in the likeness of his Resurrection So much of the first conformity to Christ viz. the conformity of Disposition The 2d is the conformity of conversation to others when as we walk as Christ also walked 1 Joh. 2.6 And Christ is formed in our course that is made conspicuous to others from our carriage and behaviour What the carriage and behaviour of Christ was we have at large laid down to us in the Gospel which is the History of his whole Life declaring how he still went about doing good where ever he came how full he was of meekness and sweetness and gentleness and compassion and yet with it an holy zeal also against sin and sinful persons Now what 's the result of all to us as we should improve it but that accordingly in our several opportunities we should conform unto it that as he became like to us so we also should be made like unto him If we would know how this may be done by us I know no better way for it than by looking upon Christ as he is there represented unto us We know what a force there is in sight to work upon the imagination as in cattel when they conceived upon the beholding of the party coloured rods and had lambs suitable thereunto But there 's a stronger power in the eye of faith beholding Christ as he is propounded in the Gospel to change us and to make us like unto him Therefore says the Apostle elsewhere We all beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 The sight of Christ in the Gospel is transforming and has a power to change and assimilate those that exercise it suitably unto it This is the forming of Christ in us in reference to his Spirit which is that that is chiefly here intended in this Text. Now the Use and Improvement which we are to make of all this to our selves is to labour to find that this be so indeed with us that is that Christ be truly formed in us that we partake of his blessed Image upon us and his living Spirit in us are one with him and incorporated into him as considering that nothing less will serve our turn this is absolutely necessary for us as to all purposes and conditions whatsoever without this we can do nothing which is spiritual or in a spiritual manner we cannot please God or be accepted of him at another day He will no further own us than as he sees Christ instampt upon us Therefore let us look to this above any thing else let us not rest our selves in a bare outward profession and form of Religion which has no life nor power at all in it but let us endeavour that the life of Jesus may be manifested in us and his Spirit wrought into us or else there 's nothing in Religion will do us any good We may talk and discourse of Christs Birth and Death and Resurrection and such great Mysteries as these but alas they will be all nothing to us unless we for our particulars have a share and interest in his Person What is it for Christ to be born into the world except he be born in us to be conceived and formed and fashioned in the womb of his mother except he be also formed and fashioned in our hearts and we our selves made conformable to him as we have hitherto shewn This is that which we should principally look to Not as if there were no other forming of him but only this as some would go about to perswade us but this is chiefly to be minded by us ut quod in Christo factum est per naturam in nobis