bring upon themselves eternal judgement Luk. 19.27 Those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me 2 Thess 1.6 7 8. It is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you c. In flamming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ Vse 2. For exhortation both to esteem highly of the Gospel and to live a life suitable thereunto esteem highly of it as men do of gold and it is compared to the finest gold tryed in the fire Psal 19.10 because the truth and solid comfort of Gospel-promises is tryed especially in the fire of affliction Psal 119.81.92 Vnless thy law had been my delights I had perished in mine affliction Psal 94.19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul Therefore David esteemed more of it than of thousands of gold and silver Psal 119.72 2. It is compared unto a pearl of price Matth. 19.45 46. and men esteem much of precious pearls 3. It is called the doctrine of glad tydings Luk. 2.10 It brings to us the glad tydings of reconciliation of pardon and of true liberty through Jesus Christ such tydings of peace should be very acceptable to rebels and the tydings of true liberty should be much esteemed by us who by nature are bond-slaves to sin and in bondage to the fear of death and damnation therefore we should acquaint our selves more and more with the knowledge of this Gospel and if we esteem highly of it we will delight much in it as men delight much in these studies that are in great estimation with them 4. It is the golden charter of our heavenly inheritance therefore is it called the Gospel of the kingdom and men are very careful to preserve and understand their charters 5. It is called the New Testament 1 Cor. 11.25 and heirs portioners are very careful to understand what is contained in the Testament of their Legator 6. It is called Christs letter to the Church his Spouse and how earnest yea impatient is the dutiful loving wife to read and understand the letter sent from her absent husband 7. The Gospel is the main Subject and Theme of Ministers their preaching for which cause they are called in a special respect Ministers of the New Testament 2 Cor. 3.6 They have most of inward peace and comfort in a time of firy trial who have been building the gold of sound doctrine upon such a foundation but there will be no solid comfort from building the chaff of humane inventions or the mud of their own earthly passions and perturbations by the preaching of the Gospel men are called and brought unto Christ and to this end did our Lord appoint a Ministry to endure in his Church unto the end of the World Matth. 28.19 20. Eph. 4.11 12. This was the great business and work of the holy Apostles and of Apostolick men 2 Cor. 11.2 Col. 1.28 Act. 20.20 21. I grant they may and should preach the Law but principally in order to this end that men being convinced by the Law of their own unrighteousness may seek in to Christ for righteousness and life which is brought to light through the Gospel 2 Tim. 1.10 Ye are also to be exhorted to walk as becomes the Gospel for this is the special practicâ—l duty of sincere Christians Phil. 1.27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the Gospel of Christ 1. It is the Gospel of peace and by it we are called to live in peace one with another 1 Cor. 7.15 God hath called us unto peace 2 Cor. 13.11 Be of one mind live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you 2. It is the Gospel of grace and thereby we are called to holiness inward in our hearts and affections and to holiness outward in our conversations Eph. 5.3 But fornication and all uncleaness or covetousness let it not be once named amongst you as becometh Saints 1 Thess 4.7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness For the Gospel taketh not away the mandatory power of the Law which is the fixed rule of our thankfulness and obedience also under the Gospel Rom. 3.31 Do we then make void the Law through faith God forbid yea we establish the Law Tit 2.11 12. The grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly-worldly-lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Although believers under the Gospel be freed from the condemnatory power of the Law yet are they not freed from the directive and mandatory power of the Law yea the Gospel ties us more strictly to sincere endeavours of new obedience upon a new obligation from our redemption to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the dayes of our life Luk. 1.74 75. and 2 Cor. 6.20 Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods 3. The Gospel is called light and therefore our conversation should be in some measure suitable to the opportunity of this heavenly light by walking for men walk in time of light in the wayes of Gods holy Commandments and by working out our own salvation in fear and trembling How unsuitable is it in the day-time for men to come abroad with their night-cloaths How unsuitable are the works of darkness and dishonesty whether secret or open unto the glorious profession of the light of the Gospel Rom. 13.12 13. Eph. 5.8 1 Thes 5.5 6 7 8. Vse 3. For trial if your knowledge of the Gospel be not only literal but also spiritual accompanied with a true and lively faith whose end is the salvation of your souls 1 Pet. 1.9 ye will discern it by these signs 1. Much of literal knowledge fluctuating only in the brain doth oftentimes puff up the mind with a Tympany and windy self-conceit but the spiritual and saving knowledge doth make the heart humble and the spirit sober Paul after he had embraced the Gospel esteemed himself the least of saints and chief of sinners 2. This saving knowledge will conform you to Christ 2 Cor. 3.18 The sincere Convert looks on Christ in the Gospel as his pattern for assimilation and conformity to him as he is set forth in the Gospel-promises and therefrom as your great copy ye would draw and delineat your conversation in holiness and righteousness 1 Pet. 2.21 3. This saving knowledge of Christ in the Gospel will obscure all things worldly and all secular knowledge in comparison of the precious Gospel and the truths revealed therein 1 Cor. 2.2 I determined saith Paul not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified Philip. 3.7 8. I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord c. 4. This saving knowledge in
is all my salvation and all my desire although he make it not to grow Heb. 3.17 18 Although the Fig-tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the Vins c. yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation 5 The sick man in the way to recovery gets â—â—me ability to walk our blessed Lord said Jâ—h 5.8 to the man that was healed Take up thy bed and walk So whereas formerly thou was wallowing in the mâ—re of vile sins or lying in the bed of sluggishness and carnal security Now if thou be in the right way to perfect Soul-health thou wilt endeavour to walk in the wayes of God as Manasseh did 2 Chron. 33.16 and as Zacheus did Luke 19.8 Quest Ye will ask what direction give ye us after we are in the way of soul-recovery that we may not relapse into our former fits and soul-distempers Answ 1. Be thankful to the great Physician who hath begun in thee the course of Sanctification to heal thy soul Hezekiah was thankful to God after his recovery from his bodily disease and went up into the house of the Lord to worship and praise him If thou be unthankful to thy Physician thou cannot with any confidence in new troubles and distempers go to him for help and relief 2. Keep a good dyet be thou of a sober and humble spirit both under the sense of former mercy recovering thee and also under the sense of the dregs and reliques of corruption dwelling in thee which will not be perfectly cured till the hour of our death a man in the way of recovery abstains from such meat as would provoke his old disease and distemper him again so abstain thou from evil company and all occasions that would cast thee into a new fever of trouble in thy Conscience as the holy Patriarch Judah did abstain from going to Thamar any more Gen. 38.26 And as the holy Apostle Peter went out of the high Priests hall where he had been tempted to deny his Lord Luk. 22.62 3. Be thou watchful and circumspect after thy begun recovery as Hezekiah was Isa 38.15 What shall I say he hath both spoken unto me and himself hath done it I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul As a man who is recovering of a broken leg walks at leasure and circumspectly especially in rough wayes wherein are many stumbling-blocks Remember often what our Lord said to the sick man that was healed Joh. 5.14 Behold thou art made whole sin no more least a worse thing befal thee Be not secure but follow the advice given by the Prophet to the King of Israel after his victory against his enemies 1 Kings 20.22 Go strengthen thy self and mark and see what thou doest for at the return of the year the King of Syria will come up against thee Much more shouldest thou watch against thy spiritual enemy for thou knowest not how soon he may return with a violent temptation and assault upon thee 4. Be careful to keep acquaintance and daily correspondence with God in thy devotion and spiritual duties as a man healed of bodily sickness is careful to keep good correspondence with the Physician that healed him and when at any time he is afraid of a new fit of his old disease he doth acquaint him so do thou by prayer make daily application to God who hath begun to heal thy soul Mat. 26.42 and at thy first apprehension of the rising of any lust or noisom humour in thy soul cry to him as Paul did 2 Cor. 12.8 9. and thou shalt get a gracious answer as he did My grace is sufficient for thee To God Father Son and Holy Ghost be immortal praise c. Amen Soul-healing Vertue from Christ by believing in him SERMON IV. JOHN 3.14 15. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life IT is said Joh. 1.17 The Law was given by Moseâ— but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ The Moral and Ceremonial Law was by Gods appointment proclaimed by Moses but the grace of Justification and absolution from the curse of the Moral Law as also Truth in fulfilling the Ceremonial Law and answering to all the types under the Old Testament came by Jesus Christ who is the Truth the body and substance of all the legal Sacrifices and Offerings Joh. 1.29 Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the World He is the truth of all the legal washings and purifications 1 Joh. 1.7 The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin He is the truth of all the lights and lamps in the Levitical service Joh. 8.12 I am the light of the world he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life He is the truth of all the Levitical Altars as he was of their sacrifices Heb. 13.10 We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle He is the alone Altar that sanctifieth all our spiritual offerings 1 Pet. 2.5 His death was the true antitype of the lifting up of the brazen Serpent in the wilderness as is clear from the words in the text in which we have a vive resemblance between Christ crucified and the brazen Serpent as is clearly insinuat in the particle of similitude as and in the particle of reddition and application even so The resemblance is 1. In that which was lifted up to wit the brazen Serpent and the Son of man 2. In the place to wit in the wilderness 3. In the lifting up of the Serpent upon a pole and the lifting up of Christ upon the tree of the Cross 4. In the necessity of the lifting up of both there was a necessity of lifting up the brazen Serpent to heal those who were stung so there was a necessity of the death of Christ for healing and saving sinners even so must the Son of man c. 5. There is a resemblance in the consequent and benefit following their looking all those who being stung did look on the brazen Serpent were healed So all sinners wounded with sorrow for their sins and looking by faith receiving him in all his offices and resting on Christ crucified as he is offered in the Gospel shall not perish but have eternal liâ—e 2. There was some resemblance between that brazen Serpent and Jesus Christ who by way of excellency is called The Son of man 1. That Serpent was in outward form like unto Serpents that have stings but really it had no sting So our blessed Lord though he was in form like unto sinful men yet was he without all sin Rom. 8.3 He was in the similitude of sinful flesh it is not said In the similitude of flesh for he was truly and really partaker of flesh and blood but without sin for he behoved to be
of the Spirit in us is the foundation of all our spiritual and supernatural actings without this life men are dead in sin and cannot grow in grace without it men are dead and cannot walk in the wayes of Gods commandments without it men are dead and cannot understand nor perceive the things of God in a saving way for the salvation of their souls 1 Cor. 2.14 2. The necessity of the life of grace wrought in us by the Spirit appeareth in this because without it there is no coming to the life of glory Joh 3.5 This life of grace is the infancy of the life of glory and as one cannot grow up to the perfect stature of a man unless he hath been first an infant so a man cannot be a perfect man in glory except first he be an infant in the state of grace as one cannot be put into actual possession of an inheritance till he first be born into the world so no man can be put into the possession of the heavenly inheritance until first he be born over-again by the holy Spirit the author of the life of grace and the preparer and preserver of us for the life of glory This life in or through the Spirit is absolute necessar even for all men who would come to the life of glory for it is said indefinitly Joh. 3.5 Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God Though he were never so nobly descended of earthly progenitors yet if he live not in the Spirit it may be said of him as of Judas It had been good for him he had never been born 3. It is necessar for our comfort to assure us we are united to Christ and that neither life nor death shall separat us from him as life in the branch is an evidence of its ingrafture and union with the Tree So our partaking of the life of the Spirit is a comfortable evidence that Christ is in us by the indwelling of his Spirit and we are in him by faith and love 1 Joh. 4.13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit 3. This life in the Spirit is an excellent life if simply considered in it self 1. In respect of that true and pure pleasure that attends it the deceitful pleasures of a sinful life are like the sting of an asp casting a man into a deep sleep but when the conscience is awaked the heart through fear is as Pashur Magor-missabib fear round about the conscience of a sinful liver is like a chiding wife in the bosome casting up to the man all the former evil wayes he has walked in in the dayes of his former life But the godly and spiritual liver has much inward pleasure and soul-satisfaction Pro. 14.14 The back-slider in heart shall be filled with his own wayes and a good man shall be satisfied from himself His good conscience from the sense of the life of the Spirit within him is like Abishag to David in his old age it doth cherish the inner-man and warm it with a sense of Gods love shed abroad in the heart by the holy Spirit it sweetens common mercies to the man who lives in the Spirit The primitive believers from the sense and comfort of the life in the Spirit did eat their meat with gladeness and singlness of heart Acts 2.46 Oh that profane and worldly-minded men who speak of a holy and spiritual life as a condition sad and comfortless would become spiritual livers in the Spirit and take a proof of that estate of life I say to these men as Philip said to Nathanael Come and see and after sight and proof ye will say as the Queen of Sheba did it was true that was told me but not the half of that contentment and joy I find by experience to be in a godly and spiritual life was told me The life in the Spirit has great and certain gain accompanying it together with much unspeakabl contentment 1 Tim. 6.6 Godliness with contentment that is which has contentment alwayes attending it is great gain 1 Tim. 4.8 Godliness is profitable unto all things having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come It has the promise of temporal blessings Psal 34.6 7. Rom. 8.28 and of eternal blessings 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him These who live in the Spirit do live in great honour and reputation with God and the greater and wiser the person is who doth bestow the honour it is the greater but so it is that the great and wise God doth esteem much of men of an holy and spiritual life he calleth them his Treasure Psal 135.4 his inheritance and portion Psal 35.12 his jewels Mal. 3.17 The friends of God 2 Chron. 20.7 The sons of God 1 Joh. 3.1 This life in the Spirit is excellent if compared with the natural life the life of the sense is common to us with the brute beasts whereof some do excel men in some outward senses the life of reason is common to us with Pagans and Infidels and many of them in their philosophy hath excelled us yea our living under the outward means of Word and Sacraments is common to us with many hypocrits and castawayes but this life in the Spirit is far more excellent than that of sense and reason as a man by reason doth far excel the most sagacious beast so doth a man living in the spirit excel the greatest Moralists who were or are void of the life of grace by the Spirit natural men partake of the divine gifts but spiritual and godly men are made partakers of the divine nature by way of assimilation 2· Pet. 1 4. And as for men living or rather dieing and stinking above the earth in their vile lusts a godly and spiritual life doth excel that vile and miserable life as far as light doth darkness and Heaven doth Hell Seing we live the life of grace by the Spirit we should be very watchful that we grieve not the Spirit 1. It is the worst sort of unthankfulness to render evil for good and it is also unnatural for children to grieve their parents that under God are the author of their natural life How great a sin then is it to grieve the holy Spirit the author of thy spiritual life 2. Thou art sealed by the Spirit who sealeth thy eternal redemption to thy faith by the promises of the Gospel and more clearly by the administration of the holy Sacraments as the outward common seal and effectually by the graces of the holy Spirit of sanctification as the inward and privy seal of thine heavenly inheritance Ephes 1.13 In whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise And how loath are men and