Matth. 20.28 Oh! what an inestimable Ransom is that 3. The Nature of Christs Mediation His Work was not so easie and cheap as the Socicinians make it They make our Mediator to be a Messenger sent from God to make known his Will to the World Catech. Racov. de prophetico Christ munere or an Interpreter of his Mind But to what End doth the Apostle add this Who gave himself a Ransom for all if that was all But he who is that One and only Mediator between God and Man gave himself a Ransom for those who could never have redeemed their own Lives who lay under the Sentence of Death and Condemnation Let it not be tedious to you to read and ponder Heb. 9.14 15. How much more shall the Blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God The Offerer or Priest was Christ the Offering or Sacrifice was Himself Body and Soul even unto Death and Blood that which gave Efficiency and Power to the Offering was the eternal Spirit or Divine Nature he to whom it was offered was God who in Justice required and in Mercy accepted it for them who believe and repent to purge Conscience from Guilt and Pollution vers 15. And for this Cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament that by means of Death for the Redemption of the Transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called may receive the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance Here we have the Reason or Cause of Christ's Mediatory Office He is a middle Person dealing between both Parties God and Men and for both To God he gave himself a Ransom Nam ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 officium non minus pertinent hominum vice apud Deum fungi quam Dei vice apud homines Grot. de Satisfactione Christi p. 172. which is a Satisfaction for Sin and sinful Men For them that are called he procured the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance the means by which he obtained Pardon for the sins of the Hebrews under the First Testament whereof Moses was a Typical Mediator and the eternal Inheritance for them who are called and believe was his Blood the Blood of Attonement And this great Work of Christ was performed by him as a Priest and so he is a Mediator in his Priestly Office and procures Peace and Reconciliation as a Priest and therefore as a Priest he is Mediator As a Priest he offered up himself to God in our sted and for our Good so he stood between us Sinners and the offended God and made Attonement and as Priest he appears for all that believe in him for he is an Advocate and makes intercession which he could not do if he were not the Propitiation for our sins 1 John 2.2 And so he is a Mediator between both for both for he is the Mediator of the New Testament having satisfied by his Death and Obedience for the Violation of the first Covenant made with Adam in the Guilt of which all Mankind are involved and for the sins of the Hebrews under the first Testament made with their Fathers which no Sacrifice could expiate or satisfie for All the Mercy and Goodness of God is conferred upon them that are called and brought to believe and obey him by a Testament or Covenant and all that Man is obliged to as Duty and Obedience is required in that Testament whereof Christ is Mediator And therefore some judicious Divines put this into the Description of the Office of Christ Mediator that Christ is the Person God-Man who doth confederate God and Man in the same Covenant of Grace Christianus Schotanus Disput 19. De Mediatore Thess prima Le Blanc Thess 1. An Christus sit Mediator secund utramque naturam p. 109. Tileni Syntagma de Incarnatione Fil. Dei Disput 1. Thess 4. and make them one again The whole Work of Christ as Mediator may be reduced to two Heads 1. To satisfie for the Breach of the first Covenant and redeem sinful Men from the Curse of it 2. To bring God and Man into another Covenant the Covenant of Grace and to make them one To this end it was necessary 1. That he should be a Mediator of Redemption and Reconciliation 2. That as God is one there should be one Mediator and so there is one and but one 1 Tim. 2.5 3. This one Mediator is said to be Man in this Text but not meer Man nor Mediator as Man only excluding the Divine Nature but the Man Christ Jesus He addeth to the Nature Man the Names Christ Jesus which contain the Nature and Person of the Son of God and signifie that wonderful Person Pet. Martyr administros Regn. Polonici L. Com. p. 1113. our Lord Jesus Christ The Words do not shew according to which Nature Christ is Mediator but that the Mediator is Man and that Jesus Christ is Man who bringeth us to God It is usual in Scripture to speak of the Person of our Mediator Jesus Christ by one of his Natures Genevenses Thes Theol. de Christo Med. Thes 27. p. 49. Centur. 1. not excluding the other from the Unity of the Person So by the Man Christ may be understood that Person who hath that Nature which is truly called Man and that for divers Reasons 1. That the Apostle would encourage us to put our Trust and Confidence in him Reverend Mr. J. Ball of the Covenant p. 269. as being our Elder Brother 2. To encourage us in the Duty of Prayer through the Mediator to which we are exhorted as knowing the greatness of that Power and Authority which Christ hath with his Father residing in our Nature 3. That it might appear that our Mediator was the same Christ or Messiah which was promised from the Beginning as the only Restorer of miserable Sinners the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.14 4. That no man to whom the Gospel is preached Nequis igitur se torqueat ubinam ille quaerendus Mediator aut qua via ad ipsum perveniendum hominem nominans propinquum imo contiguum nobis esse admonet quandoquidem caro nostra est Calvin Instit l. 2. c. 12. S. 1. 2. of any Condition or Quality whether in Authority or under Authority high or low rich or poor should be discouraged or terrified from seeking and accepting that Salvation which by the Gospel is proposed and offered to all Conditions of men seeing there is one Mediator for all as there is one God over all and good to all and that one Mediator is the man Christ Jesus who is near to us and bound not only by the bond of Nature as Man but by Office and Undertaking as Mediator Redeemer and Reconciler to save all that come unto him Now if you have cause to fear everlasting Destruction for want of a Mediator and Redeemer nor for want of Tenderness of Compassion or
largeness of Heart towards you as well as Power to save you Your Destruction is of your selves your Ignorance of him your Unbelief and neglect of great Salvation None of you doubt of the All-sufficiency of Jesus Christ to save you because he is but one one Mediator and one Man And how can one save miriads of men so many as are past number from their sins which are numberless and infinite in respect of the Object against whom they are committed If that Antichristian Cavil of Socinus should come by the Suggestion of Satan Johan Maccovii Anti-Socinus c. 2. to be a doubt in the Heart of any To help you against that Temptation and to answer the Cavil of that Man that hath mudded and and disquieted the pure Water of Life flowing from Jesus Christ take these Considerations 1. It must be acknowledged that all the men in the World cannot satisfie for the Sins of any one man or redeem any one Soul much less can any one meer man give a Ransom for all But the man Christ Jesus our Lord is such a man as gave himself a Ransom and it was accepted for all therefore it was all-sufficient It deserved not to be called a Ransom if it were not sufficient nor accepted But it is called a Ransom for all in common all that shall be saved are saved by vertue of the same Mediator and the same Ransom therefore it was sufficient If the Ransom had not been sufficient Christ could not have been Mediator and Saviour but he is Mediator and Saviour therefore his Ransom was sufficient for all 2. The man Christ is not a particular Person an Individual as humane Persons are but the Son of God took the Humane Nature existing in that one Soul and Body unto Union with his own Divine Person and taking the entire humane Nature he is not a particular man subsisting himself but truly the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 and so an Head of all that shall be saved as Adam was the Head of all that died in him 3. The singular Humane Nature of Jesus Christ was never alone and separated from the Infinite Person of the Son of God but was assumed into Personal Union with him in the instant of his Conception and Creation and so he was always the Son of God and the Son of God paid the Ransom and it was of infinite Value equal to the Offence of man and the Justice that required it 4. Mark that the Apostle saith there is one God and one Mediator as certain as there is one God so certain there is one Mediator between God and man and this said long after the Mediator had paid the Ransom and offered himself without Spot to God and had obtained the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance If he had failed in his Undertaking and not performed all things required for our Redemption he had been no Mediator and by consequence there had been no Covenant of Grace between God and man nor had there been any Advocate with the Father nor any Promise of the eternal Inheritance and it must have been as the Apostle argues If Christ be not risen our preaching is vain and our Faith vain and we had been still in our sins But there is a Mediator a Covenant of Grace an Advocate with the Father even Jesus Christ the Righteous who is the Propitiation for our sins therefore the ransom which he paid was satisfactory for all that are saved and by consequence tho Christ be but one Mediator he is sufficient for all These things being thus explained I shall draw up the rest into a little room I. The Son of God whom you must have that you may live is by Nature God and man two distinct Natures infinitely distant one from another in themselves are united in one Person to perform the Office of a Mediator and Redeemer that by his Mediation and Redemption he may be a Saviour As the Son of God he is a middle Person in the Trinity being the Second As the Son of God in the Flesh he is a middle Person appointed by God and by his own voluntary Consent transacting between God and sinful man for the Glory of God and Salvation of them that believe Thus he is wonderfully sitted for that wonderful work In him the Godhead and Manhood are one by personal Union As God he is concerned to repair the Honour of God as Man he is concerned for men for all that are given him by the Father to be saved He is distant from both from man as he is God from God as he is man Reverend and judicious Ball of the Covenant and yet with both by the Personal Union of the Divine and Humane Nature He is Emmanuel God with us God-man There is no other Mediator but him for there is none fit for the Work but him What was inconsistent with the infinite Perfection of God he did and suffered for God's Glory and in man's stead and for his good in the Humane Nature what was above the ability of the Humane Nature to perform and obtain he was enabled to do as God The Son of God carried him as man and as Son of man through all the Difficulties of his Work 2. The Son of God performed his Office of Mediator or Redeemer in a threefold Capacity or he executed his great and general Office in a three-fold Office of Prophet Priest and King and in each of these he acted and acteth as Mediator between God and man and for both And from these particular Offices he is called Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is his Name is as a Saviour Mat. 1.21 Christ as the Messiah anoynted by the Holy Ghost fitting ting him for his Offices that he might save his People and Lord as he is our supream King Ruler and Defender as Prophet he reveals to us the Will of God by his Word and Spirit and so he saves us from our Ignorance and Folly As Priest he made Attonement satisfied the Justice of God and delivered all that believe from the Curse and makes continual Intercession and so we are saved from the guilt of Sin and Condemnation and obtain the remission of Sin by him As King we are subdued and converted to the Obedience of God governed and preserved to his everlasting Kingdom and so we are saved from the power of Sin and the hand of all Enemies In short we are taught and perswaded effectually to come to God we are reconciled justified and accepted we are converted and subdued preserved governed and kept by him through Faith to Salvation The necessity of knowing him the Excellency of this Knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord and the Honour due to his Name who hath a Name above every Name hath kept me thus long upon this Branch of this Excellent Subject and yet I leave out many things This is the Son Now followeth the next Particular What it is to have the Son This Word to have is often used to express
reckon you your selves to be dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord John 15.4 Abide in me and I in you As the Branch cannot bear Fruit of it self except it abide in the Vine no more can ye except ye abide in me vers 5. I am the Vine ye are the Branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit For without me ye can do nothing Phil. 1.11 Being filled with the fruit of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ mark that unto the glory and praise of God All Sanctifying Grace comes from Jesus Christ and power to bring forth Fruit See Rom. 8.10 11 12 13. And if Christ be in you the Body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is Life because of righteousness But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you c. 3. He that hath the Son hath a Life of Joy and Gladness He was a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Griefs for our sakes his Griefs and Sorrows were a strong Composition of Sorrows prepared for a Man of Sorrows He was sorrowful unto Death Mark 14.33 As a man cast out from among men that hath none to comfort him nor as much as to speak kindly to him or to make his Complaint to But his Sorrows were turned into Joy He told his Disciples that they should have Sorrow but I will see you again and your Heart shall reioyce and the sight of Christ risen from the Dead should be as joyful to them as the Birth of a Son to a Woman after Travel and your Joy no man taketh from you John 16.21 22. He is the Author and Fountain of a Christian's Joy he is the matter and object of our Joy his Birth was a time of Joy in Heaven and Earth his first Preaching was with Joy Luke 4.18 out of Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me he hath anoynted me to preach the Gospel to the poor glad Tidings to the poor to the broken-hearted to the captive to the blind to the bruised and the acceptable year of the Lord the year of Jubilee or Release The foresight of his Resurrection was joyful to him going to his Death and to see him risen from the Dead made his Disciples glad John 20.20 He hath provided for them plentifully that their Joy might be full John 15.11 And all that believe have the matter and cause tho not always the sense joy and peace in believing Rom. 15.13 1 Pet. 1.8 And he is still a flowing Spring of Joy Rejoyce in the Lord Phil. 3.1 Verse 3. Rejoyce in the Lord and again I say rejoyce Phil. 4.4 Rejoyce ever more 1 Thess 5.12 4. He that hath the Son hath Life hath everlasting Life that endless Life of perfect Happiness in Heaven It is an everlasting Life pure Life next for excellency to the Life of God himself who liveth for ever and ever A Life of likeness to God We shall be like him 1 John 3.2 We shall be satisfied with his likeness Psal 17. ver ult A Life of the nearest Union with our glorified Head and therefore a Life of Gladness and fitting Communion and therefore most blessed This Life is the Gift of God Rom. 6.23 trusted in the hands of the only begotten Son the Son of God's Love to be kept for and to be given to all that sincerely believe and love him It is in a faithful powerful hand and he hath promised to give it over and over The Heavens and Earth shall pass away but his Promise shall be like the Waters of Noah as they shall never drown the World again so this Life shall certainly come Look for it it is better tho yet to come than that Life which you now live This Life is in his 1 John 5.11 O how rare and transcendent a Life is this And what a way is this of giving it of laying it up for us and deriving it unto us IV. And so I come to the Fourth Particular Why or how it comes to pass that he that hath the Son hath Life This follows necessarily upon the former Words last repeated And this is the Record that God hath given to us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath Life These Words have the Force of an Inference or Conclusion from the other This Life is 1. Given to us who are called of God who believe who turn to him love and obey him The Donor is God the Father who is the Fountain of Life It is the Fathers Gift of Free-grace and Love 2. He appointed his Son O raise up your Thoughts into an holy admiration of this effect of infinite Wisdom and Grace for the Salvation of undone Sinners to be Mediator to do what was for the Glory of God and then to be the Trustee and Conservator of this Life the greatest Trust that could be put into his Hands wherein the Glory of God is more concerned than in all his Works and all that is most precious the Treasure of eternal Life the All of the Chosen Ones of God Our happiness was once put into the hands of Adam he fail'd and broke and we were all ruin'd in him But now it is put into the keeping of Jesus Christ our Lord the Son of God and there it is safe 3. The Son of God undertook the Charge and Trust His Father shall not lose the Glory intended nor his chosen and called ones the Blessing and Benefit of this Grant intended by his Father for them 4. It was concluded and decreed in the Eternal Counsel of the Father the Word and Spirit those in Heaven which declare and testifie these things that all and every one that is to have this Life eternal must have the Son For this is the Decree or Order consented to and declared to us He that hath the Son hath Life The Son as Mediator received Life for all that have him they therefore who have him have Life But if you desire to be yet informed How we come to have Life then know 1. We have the Son by a Spiritual Union with him as a Bride hath a Bridegroom a Similitude often attended to Or as a Wife hath an Husband As all the Blessings and Benefits of a Matrimonial State do by agreement follow upon the Marriage-Union with the Person so by the Covenant of Grace that vast Blessing of Eternal Life which comprehends all in it doth become the Inheritance and Estate of every one that by Faith joyns himself to the Lord the Son of the most High God Union is the appointed means of Communication of Life 2. Vnitio communis est Patri Fil. Sp. Sacto unio propria est Filio Camer de Ecclesia p. 223. This Union is the wonderful Work of the holy Trinity observing the order of Operation every person is the cause of it All that come to Christ are taught of God they have
unto a Living Stone disallowed indeed of Men but chosen of God as precious They disallowed the living stone chosen of God and precious upon whom as upon a Corner-stone the Church is built and that was their Unbelief they would not have him but laid him aside and threw him by He was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness but to them that believe Christ the wisdom and power of God The Believer approves what the Unbeliever disalloweth the one admireth what the other despiseth II. To have the Son is to have him highly in our Estimation it is to have him by a new spiritual convincing Evidence in our Minds and to think highly of him to esteem so highly of him as to honour the Son as we honour the Father John 5.23 Mark the place before quoted 1 Pet. 2.4 Certainly saith the Soul God cannot be mistaken in the choice of a Saviour a Rock of Salvation for one to build upon for eternal Life Christ is a Stone perfectly fitted for his Place he is a Living Stone that will put Life into all the Stones the Spiritual Building as the Church is called 1 Cor. 3.9 He is chosen of God and precious therefore the rightly informed and illuminated Soul esteems him highly as a living stone as chosen of God who perfectly knew his Excellency and precious But to you that believe he is precious 1 Pet. 2.7 Life is precious to him that hath been convicted and found himself condemned and lost and the Son that hath Life for him is most precious to him He can't prize him according to his Worth The greatest Honour he can do him is to believe what is testified of him O how base is every thing in comparison of his Saviour They that are called out of Darkness to Light do see the Wisdom and Power of God in him 1 Cor. 2.24 They admire him in all his Characters and Properties They glorifie him as the Son of the highest as the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth as the only Name under Heaven given among men whereby they shall be saved They fall down and worship him they cannot reach him with their highest Thoughts As his Name is wonderful so is he wonderful in his Person Emmanuel God-man the Holy one of God the fairest among ten thousand yea altogether lovely They esteem him for himself for his All-sufficiency for the greatest and hardest of all Works that of a Saviour They esteem him for his Singularity He is One and but one like the Sun in the Firmament one Sun for the whole World so he is one Sun of Righteousness with healing in his Wings for all that are wounded and fear the scorching burning Wrath of the just and holy God They esteem him as a Pearl of great Price all the goodly Pearls sought for by the Merchants will be given for him at any time by every wise understanding Heart They who have him count all things but Dung and Loss that they may win him There is nothing in him but unsearchable Riches They who have him have nothing but gains and winnings by him yea tho they should lose their Lives for him they can't lose them but shall have eternal Life Mat. 16.25 That I may win Christ said Paul O that the World could believe it Believers are made Partners with him in the Benefits of his Sufferings Victories Exaltation and Glory What things are these O think of him as he is that you may have him O labour to be acquainted with him that you may set up a Throne for him in your Hearts as for a Prince and Saviour that you may prize him 1. As he who is all and in all 2. That you may prize him according to your need of him and his fulness and freeness to supply Mean things are valued when we need them But Christ is one of incomprehensible Worth he hath in him the desirableness of all things necessary and of all things that are called incomparable 3. Esteem him as your Souls Alas who esteems them tho not to be exchanged for a World esteem him as your Life yea infinitely better than the longest and happiest Life upon Earth The highest and dearest thing you can reckon of is Life is eternal Life esteem Christ as that Life He gave his Life for it he hath it in his Gift and Power he brought Life to the Dead and Life from Death III. He that hath Christ for Life hath him in his Will and Heart He doth understandingly judiciously and heartily receive him He hath him so as to close with him with a voluntary intire gladsom Consent He hath him with the Approbation of his Mind and Judgment he hath overcome his Doubts and his Cavils if he had any he hath not a Word nor a Thought against him he is fully satisfied with him and therefore doth receive him into his Heart and with it No man hath the Son for Life except the Son hath his Heart that is the House in which Christ will dwell That Christ may dwell in your Hearts by Faith The Heart of Faith is wanting till Faith hath the possession of the Heart Holy Mr. Baxter in that Excellent Treatise Dir. and Perswasions to a sound Conversion p. 283. Ephes 3.17 That is the place of his Rest which he desires to dwell in who dwells not in Temples that are made with Hands Such was his Grace and Love that he came down from Heaven to cast out Devils fleshly and worldly Lusts out of thy Heart to make thee free to recover the possession of thy Heart for himself O give him thy Heart he best deserves it This is the Word of Faith which we Preach If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe with thy Heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved For with the Heart man believeth unto Righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto Salvation Rom. 10.8 9 10. He that believeth with his Heart that God raised Christ from the Dead for our Justification Rom. 5.24 is righteous and justified before God He and he alone who believeth with his Heart will have Courage and Boldness in dangerous Times to confess him before men and call upon him and he alone shall be saved and have Life through him Then Lidia had Christ and Salvation when the Lord opened her Heart Acts 16.14 Judas had Christ in his Head and upon his Tongue as a Preacher but he had not the Son for Life because he had him not in his Heart In the Gospel the Son is set forth in his Names and Properties which are admirable commending and inviting all that know him and believe the Testimonies concerning him And not only so but he is propounded and offered by his Embassadors yea he makes gracious Offers standing at the Door If any man hear my voice and open unto me I will come in to him c. The Covenant of Grace is a
Mediator the Life which they who have him have with him is that which he hath as Mediator which the Father hath given to all that believe and is put into the hands of the Son to give unto them To open this great Mystery the more you will find that the Son as God hath Life himself as in a Fountain yea he is Life And as he is Mediator and Redeemer the Father hath given to the Son to have Life in himself John 5.26 And gave him power to give eternal Life to as many as he hath given him John 17.2 And again John 6.57 As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me shall live by me Mark the place Christ was speaking of eating his Flesh and comparing himself to Bread more excellent than Manna and of the singular Benefit which they who made use of him by Faith as Men do eat Bread they should have Life by him But how could he give Life to them that believe He opens that in this vers 57. where note 1. The gracious Act of the Father in sending his Son in our Natures to be a Mediator and Saviour with Commission and Power 2. He who as God the Son had Life in himself receiv'd Life from the Father by whom he lived and this Life he did communicate to all that believed 3. So he that eateth me shall live by me The Benefit and Blessing derived to them that eat him that by Faith apply him is Life and as eating of Bread is the means of living by Bread so believing or spiritual eating is the means of living so he that eateth me shall live by me O! How marvellous is the manifold Wisdom of God in the way of Life as his Grace and Mercy is in bringing forth Life to the Dead in Sin and in bringing Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel Our miserable and helpless condition required no small help but a great and all-sufficient Saviour And so the Life of our Mediator shews the Death of every Sinner and our Deliverance from Death must in order go before though not in time the free Gift of Life It was by an easie passage which seemed wonderful delightful to the deluded minds of our first Parents that we fell under Condemnation and Death but the recovery was hard and two things were to be done for us to the praise of the Glory of Grace 1. The Evils under which we lay were to be removed 2. Our Life and Happiness procured and communicated and both these are done by our Mediator and Saviour I. The Evils under which we lay are contained under that bitter and terrible Word Death which is four-fold 1. We were dead in respect of the Guilt of Sin We were all Filii Mortis As in Adam all die That Threatning In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die hangs over our Heads Gen. 2.17 The Death contained in the Threatning and Curse of the Law Grot. de Satisfac p. 71. the eternal Death especially We are dead and our sed by the Law and we are all guilty before God Rom. 3.19 2. We are all spiritually dead dead in Trespasses and Sins under the power of our Corruptions and sinful Lusts Eph. 2.1 and 5. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins dead to God and all spiritual Good Even when we were dead in sins hath he quickned us together with Christ making us alive to God and Holiness 3. We were dead as to all real and spiritual Comforts born to misery as the Sparks fly upward Comfortless without Hope Eph. 2.12 As Adam was naked and ashamed thrust thorough with Fears and Perplexities driven to invent helpless Shifts for felt necessities Paul did sadly mistake his condition when he thought himself alive and was brisk and well Rom. 7.9 I was alive without the Law once I thought my self well and safe but it was my Ignorance and Senselesness for when the Commandment came by which I was convinced of Sin then sin revived then the Snake appear'd to be alive by that Fire and I died I was a lost man I died and had no hope nor comfort that way 4. We are dead as Death is opposed to Eternal Life in Heaven dead under God's everlasting Wrath which is an everlasting Separation from the Presence of God and the Punishment of the Eternal Fire This is the wages of sin Rom. 6. II. The good which we need and which is procured for us is Life and Happiness All Blessings are comprehended in and presented to us under the sweet and comfortable Word Life and this Life is in the Son Christ and they who have him have it and every Branch and Distinction of Life and that in Perfection 1. He hath in him the Life of Righteousness and through his Righteousness they who believe in him are justified and pardoned and have their precious Life given unto them who were under Condemnation Righteousness and Life are equivalent to have the one is to be secure of the other Rom. 5.17 18. Therefore as by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all to condemnation so by the Righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to the justification of Life How came this to pass See 2 Cor. 5.21 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 He paid the Ransom and endured the Curse of the Law and as a Sin-offering bare the punishment of our Sin that we migh be made the Righteousness the Abstract put for the Concrete that is that we might be made fully righteous in his sight with that righteousness which is of God compleat and acceptable He was made of God to be righteousness for us that we might be justified and not come into Condemnation 1. Cor. 1.30 2. He hath in him the Life of Grace Sanctification and Holiness He hath a quickning Power in effectual Calling raising out of the Death and Grave of sin and rolling away the stony Heart that the dead in sin may rise to a spiritual Life John 5.25 Verily verily I say unto you the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live They shall hear his Voice and they that hear shall live O then most mighty Lord put forth thy Voice and say Awake thou that sleepest and rise from the Dead and Christ shall give thee Life Ephes 5.14 And that our Lamps should never want Oyl our Hearts never want Supplies there is a fulness in Jesus Christ and that to be communicated to all that receive him And of this fulness have all we received Grace for Grace John 1.16 The Life of Holiness conceived and brought forth in Regeneration is encreased and continued by the Mortification and Death of Sin and living to God and both these Powers we receive from Christ Rom. 6.11 Likewise
from him in all that have him Life is first in God So often the great Evangelical Dr. Sibs Expos on the 4 c. 2 Ep. to the Corinth So in the Excellency of the Gospel above the Law p. 418. c. then in Christ Mediator and then in us who believe All our Mercies Blessings Comforts of all kinds and degrees from Election to Glorification are first in Christ and from him to us Therefore in having him you have all as in a Fountain as large as an Ocean running in a full stream to Eternity O what a thing is this life It is everlasting life begun in Faith in Christ and Regeneration running up hill a marvellous cross and hard passage against mighty and unwearied opposition of Satan and the VVorld and our indwelling Corruption labouring to choak it at the very mouth of it in our Sanctification till it run into the vastness of immeasurable Eternity Mark what it is called It is Life it is a life of Sentence as the Reverend Dr. Sibs often calls it or Absolution from the Sentence of the Law and Death It is a life of Grace from Christ by his Spirit kindled in a dead Nature and this is the Spring of Heavenly Glory The least Beam of the light and life of Grace has more Glory in it than all the VVorld on this side Heaven can shew It is for the Excellency of it called The life of God Ephes 4.18 And the life of Jesus 2 Cor. 4.10 11. For we which live are alway delivered unto unto Death for Jesus sake that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal Flesh Nature teacheth Men to prize life above all things therefore life whether of Sense or Reason is the best thing in Nature's Orb But for the life of Grace and Glory Grace teacheth Faith which is called a wise Grace by that named Divine teacheth a gracious Man who is the best of Men to lose his life for Grace and eternal life For we which live are always delevered unto Death for Jesus sake c. And will not this move you to have Christ the Son and life with him VVhat do you stick at Do you know that if you have the Son he must have you and that you must forsake your Sins and all the World at his Call And will you stick at these things O what an Act of Grace Mercy Pity and love is it in Christ to receive and have you If Christ have you not the Devil will and your Enemies shall and will have you What should I speak of Sin and the pleasures of Sin and all the Vanities under the Sun Will you stick at these And not part with them at the first word that you may have Christ and Life I will only say to you if every Hair of your Head were a life of Pleasure Wit Mirth Diversion Riches and Honour you should part with them all for this life of Grace and Glory Christ paid more for your Redemption for life than all the lives in the whole World are worth If you will not forsake Sin your loathsom Disease for life and spiritual Health If you will not deny your selves in your Vanities for Christ and the hopes of Glory how many drops of Blood would you have shed for your own Redemption if such a price had been set upon your own Souls Now Christ and Life are offered you for having how cruel and merciless are you to your precious Souls that will not have them And O! how happy for ever shall you be if you have life and that more abundant more abundant in duration and confluence of all things to make you fully and for ever happy Hearken again That which is to be had is life eternal it is the life of life who can describe it This life is but a Vapour which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away James 4.14 It fleeth as it were a shadow Job 14.2 The natural life is sustained by corruptible earthly matter The spiritual life is a noble Heaven-born life but encumbred with a mixture of much evil while upon Earth A life rooted in Christ or it could not continue a life of continual Contention and Warfare much clouded and distracted with vain Thoughts Doubts Fears Unbelief Cares for the body for the Morrow and things of this life It hath its good days and times foresights and foretastes of Heaven in Communion with God and Christ by the Spirit in Ordinances it hath its Victories Peace Increase Comforts and Supports by the way But when Time is run out into Eternity and the new Man grown into a perfect Man then life will appear to be life indeed That life is a life all of Grace and Holiness without one dark or vain thought or indwelling Sin A life like God's in conformity to him a life of Vision perfect Union and Communion A life free from any thing that shall cause Trouble and Repentance A life without Care for what we shall eat or wherewith we shall be clothed Immortality and Glory shall be our Clothing and the living God that is a full infinite Fountain shall be our life A life full of God Goodness Holiness Light Peace Joy and satisfaction for ever It is happy now to walk with God and to be under Grace O what will it be to be for ever with the Lord When Adam took his Death by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil he would have made his way to the Tree of Life but that he was kept off by a Flaming Sword But all that have Christ shall live upon him as upon a Tree of life which will yield all manner of Fruit and satisfie every blessed one with blessedness Have Christ and you shall have eternal life immediately upon your believing in Christ your Head Your Soul shall enter into eternal life upon your Dissolution and Body as well as Soul shall have eternal life at the Resurrection Q. But some may desire to know How they may come at this Eternal Life A. The Text is your Direction for that Have the Son and you have Life Q. But how shall I come to have the Son 1. A. The original and first Cause of our having the Son and so the first way by which we have him is by God's gracious Act of giving us his Son As he gave him for us to be a Saviour so he gives him to every Soul prepared by Grace and that is the Work of the Holy Ghost and so we have him The Spirit of Grace gives to every one that hath Christ understanding to know him and a heart to receive him and when we receive him Whatsoever is wrought in Man it is by the Spirit all comes from the Father as the Fountain and through the Son as Mediator but whatsoever is wrought it is by the Holy Ghost in us Excel Dr. Sibs as before p. 579. Grace is in the Father as a Fountain in Christ as Treasurer in the Spirit as
lost cursed state of Guilt Uncleanness Bondage and utter Inability to come to Life of your self 2. Have you seen the necessity of a Mediator to make your Peace and to bring you to a reconciled God 3. Have you been and are you still satisfied with Christ And Christ alone His Death Merits Resurrection and Intercession alone not joyning Antichrist as a Head bringing him to Christ and sodering him to you with soft Wax or binding him to you with a Rope of Sand nor adding Saints Merits and Intercessions to his Nor any other devised Supplements and Means of your Peace and Salvation 4. Have you with hearty self-abasement been and are you still a great Admirer of the way of your recovery by Jesus Christ And stand amazed at the Grace Wisdom Righteousness and Love of God in Christ 5. Have you come naked wounded poor and humbled to Jesus Christ upon his Offer and Invitation and taken him understandingly advisedly deliberately heartily and resolvedly through his Grace and Assistance without whom you can do nothing casting away whatever offends him out of his place and House namely your Heart And do you still know that you are dead without him And do you love him and observe him and the longer you are acquainted with him the more and better 2. What Use do you make of the Son Do you reckon him your Life Do you draw your Spiritual Life from him And do you alledg him Rom. 8.34 and plead him for your Discharge against all Accusations and trust him for your Salvation in his own way and your way of Adherence and Obedience 2. Positively All that have him are united to him that 's the immediate Work of the principal efficient Cause the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost or the Spirit who makes Application of Redemption and brings Christ and his Members to be one and the immediate Work and Office of Faith given of God and excited by the Spirit like the opening of a blind Eye to behold an admirable lovely Object or quickning a dead Palsie Hand to receive a Pardon 2. Every one who is united to him and made one is regenerate and born of God 1 John 5.1 2 Cor. 5.17 If any man be in Christ he is a new Creature 3. He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit And this having of the Spirit is made a Sign of the mutual Union between Christ and the true Believer 1 Joh. 3.24 And he that keepeth his Commandments of Believing on the Name of his Son Christ and mutual Love to the Brethren vers 23. dwelleth in him and he in him and hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us But how may the true Spirit be known By his Light Life Operations and Fruits As the Soul of Man is known to be a rational Soul by its Operations so is the Spirit of Christ known to be in Believers by his Operation and Effects Take your Aim and Direction in this from one effect of the Spirits uniting us to Christ and dwelling in us and that is Life He that hath the Son and the Spirit of the Son hath Life in him whereby he lives a New Life to God through Jesus Christ Where this Life is it is known by a spiritual sense and motion from Christ and back again unto him 2. By Hunger and Thirst by an Appetite to Spiritual Food As a new born Babe desires the sincere milk of the word 1 Pet. 2.2 3. By Growth and Strength As new born Babes grow and gather strength till they come to be Men by using proper means of nourishment as Milk and stronger meat by abiding in Christ and living by Faith drawing Supplies of Grace by holy Desires and Prayers with all perseverance 4. By Nauseating and loathing refusing resisting and casting out Contraries to it and using Preservatives These things being drawn up for your Service in this little room I return to my Exhortation to persuade you to have Christ to have him for Life for your Necessity is so great that you do not need him for less than your Life and that you would make haste and have him while he is near Isa 55.1 2. Or else you may seek him when you shall not find him John 8.21 And when you have him adhere to him have him and cleave to him for still the same reason continueth it is for your Life What will stir you if the Words of the Text will not Consider the unconceivableness of the loss and what is the consequent of it The greatness of the loss and deprivation and the nearness of it are implied in these Words Hath not Life Oh! Wo Wo to that Soul His state is infinitely worse than his who hath not the Light of the Day to look on nor Eyes to see it Worse than his who hath not a Friend in the whole World not a Rag to his Back not a Farthing in his Purse not a Morsel to eat not as much as a fading Gourd to hide his Head under not the use of a Limb not Skin upon his Back no not a Grave to rest in If every Unbelievers loss were as great as Job's was it were nothing to this Hath not Life It amounts to as much as the loss of God of Heaven and all that is therein The loss of Earth and the present Life is the least part of it This loss cannot be reckoned in the Ages of of the World it is a loss under which there is no support or relief to bear it Miserable Sinners can contribute nothing but Miseries and Sorrows to one another Nor will God himself ever repair it to any of them They who will not have the Son for their Saviour and Redeemer would refuse yea despise all other means and ways of their recovery and readmission to happiness They who do not assent to this wonderful way of God nor consent to the Terms of the Covenant of Grace now revealed would dissent from any other ways if there were any other reserved in the Will of God They who cannot forsake nor give up their Sins which a Disgrace a Shame a Burden a Perversion a Confusion of Nature which every Sinner hath cause to be sick of and in continual pain till he be delivered of it would never accept of Grace and Mercy upon condition of being Holy and pleasing God They who will not have the Son for their Saviour would not have God for their God and Father There being no way left to recover their forfeited Life they are lost for ever who lose it Q. But may not a man who hath not the Son at present have him and Life by him hereafter A. Yes if he have him while it is to day when God waiteth that he may be gracious But if he die before he comes to and receiveth Christ he dies in his Sin and is out of all hopes of Life Oh! who would for any business or any Pretence whatsoever delay the having of the
Marriage-Covenant between Christ and his Church Rev. 3.20 The only Son of the highest the Lord of Glory that one Mediator is tendred to you Will you have the Son of God If you will you shall live A Blessing which comprehends all manner of Blessings in it even the everlasting Inheritance You hear what is said your Answer is will or will not if you will not then that 's entred as in a Book of Remembrance And you will not come to me that you may have Life John 5.40 But if you will and consent and say you will have him for your Husband your Head and your Lord then there is a Covenant between you and you have Life setled upon you and you enter upon the First Fruits of it and have Communion with the Father and the Son which is Life indeed O what a Life is this beginning of Life Till the Soul say I will there is no full Answer given and while you suspend Consent your Life is in Suspense IV. He who hath the Son hath him in his Affection And except you have him by Faith in your Heart how can you affect him But if you have him in your Hearts the whole Houshold of the Affections entertain and come about him Love the first-born and strength of the Heart receives and hath him Desires run and go clogged as they are now with Infirmities towards him their Delights and Joys when they are themselves and free from the clutter of Strangers and worldly Lusts which quarter upon them are in him above all Persons and Things they ever saw or knew My Beloved is unto me a Bundle of Camphire of a refreshing vertue He is a Bundle and breaths out Grace and Life he shall lie all Night between my Breasts he shall be next my Heart most intimate with me I will make him a Bed in my very Heart I will not disturb him nor offend him nor make him weary of his Lodging and so offend him as to make him go away O happy I when I have him with me Cant. 1.13 He is altogether lovely or all desirous And this is my Beloved and this is my Friend O ye Daughters of Jerusalem Cant. 5. from ver 10. to 16. They who have him in their Hearts trust him with the dearest thing they have with the best of all yea their All that is their Life in whom ye trusted Ephes 1.13 And rejoyce in the hope of the Glory of God and Christ in them is that hope of Glory Col. 1.27 You cannot have Christ without spiritual strong affections towards him no more than a faithful chaste Wife can have an Husband God works upon these Powers of the Soul when you come first unto Christ to have him and by lively Affections you hold him and keep to him 5. To have the Son is by Faith to have him in our Aims We have him to live by him to live in Communion with him not as with an equal or ordinary Companion but to live to him and to make him the scope of our Lives as well as the lively Rule and Example That we should not live unto our selves but to him who died and rose again 2 Cor. 5.15 And so the Holy Apostle profess'd that to him to live is Christ Phil. 1.21 That Christ may be enjoy'd obey'd pleas'd and glorified in me and by me 6. They who have him thus have him as in their Eye to love him and to aim at him so they have him in their remembrance Can a Maid forget her Ornaments or a Bride her Attire Jer. 2.32 Can that Soul who hath the Son of God who hath taken him and given her self to him forget her Ornaments the Garments of Salvation wherewith he hath clothed her the Wedding Garment and best Robe Can a Bride forget her Attire If not her Attire can she forget her Bridegroom There is a particular great Ordinance appointed to this End that he should be remembred and the Church his Spouse must do as he hath commanded in remembrance of him 1 Cor. 11.25 7. They who have him in their Minds Hearts and Affections will have him in their Mouths with Honour Whom do Men say that I the Son of Man am Some say thou art John the Baptist But whom do ye say that I am And Simon Peter answered Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Mat. 16.16 They that have the Son know what to call him and who he is Faith must know him distinctly and separately from all other Names and Persons and eminently above all I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Acts 8.37 If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved Rom. 10.9 What! A Wife and not speak of her absent Husband While we are present in the Body we are absent from the Lord. But not have him in our Mouths to remember and honour him How many Wonders have you to speak of concerning Christ How many great Actions wise Sayings Heavenly Doctrins holy Precepts and precious Promises and rich Tokens have you to speak of Have him have him more in your Hearts and more in your Mouths with pure Affection and great Praise as the Church had him Cant. 5. from the 10th verse Have him in your daily Prayers and Praises have him in your Closets in your Houses have him in your Communication as the Disciples had him as they walked by the way Luke 24. 8. They who have him have him in their Lives They cannot live but by having him I live yet not I but the Life that I live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2.20 You must have the Son or you cannot have Life He is our Life Col. 3.3 4. Have him in your Lives as the perfect Copy Exemplar and Pattern of Holy and Heavenly Living have him in your Lives as the Manna as the Meat you eat as the Garments you wear as the Air you breath in yea as the Life you live III. What is that Life which they have who have the Son By Life all manner of good things all manner of Blessings are understood and by Death all manner of Evil. Life and Good are set out together in opposition to Death and Evil Deut. 30.15 See I have set before thee this day Life and Good Death and Evil There is some shadow of Death in all manner of Afflictions Miseries and Sufferings and all the lesser Streams of Evil run at last into the endless Gulf of Death whose Spring-head is the Curse and Threatning of Death In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Gen. 3.36 That is the Wrath which abideth upon them who believe not And when we believe and are justified and pardoned we are said to pass from Death to Life John 3.36 John 5.24 I have shewed you before that the Son is here considered as