at once the Law and Christ but he must be dead to or divorced from the one e're ho can be married to the other Observe ye are dead to the Law What is it to be dead to the Law or divorced from the Law To be dead to the Law is to have no hope no expectation of Life and Righteousness by the Law 't is to be sensible that the Law cannot save us yea there is more in it than so To be dead to the Law is to see our selves dead by the Law 't is to see our selves lost and condemned by the Law for sin as the transgression thereof and thus we must all be dead to the Law or divorced from the Law or we cannot be married to Christ Now this the Spirit of God effects by a work of the Law upon the Conscience He divorces the Soul from the Law by the Law i. e. by bringing home the Law to the Conscience This the Apostle felt in his own Soul I through the Law sayes he that is the Spirit of God bringing home the Law to my Conscience am dead to the Law Gal. 2.19 So again Rom. 7.9 I was alive without the Law once but when the Commandment came sin revived and I dyed I was alive without the Law once that is I thought my self to be alive I apprehended my state to be good and happy but this was without the Law i. e. before the Spirit of God by the ministry of the Law convinced me of my sin and misery therefore it follows when the Commandment came sin revived and I dyed i. e. when the Law came in its convincing power through the Spirit upon my Soul then I saw my sinful dead and miserable state thus was he himself divorced from the Law that he might be married to Christ the sum is this the Spirit of God comes and shews the Soul the strictness and holiness the purity and spirituality of the Law and makes him sensible how large the Duty is that it requires how impossible it is for him to keep it and how many wayes he has broken it he withal lets him see the dreadfulness of that curse and condemnation it has justly laid him under for the breach thereof and thus he is divorced from it and this is all one with the Spirits convincing us of sin and our lost and miserable condition by reason thereof which is you know his first work in order to Faith and so to our espousing to Christ John 16.8 Thus by the Spirit of God the Soul is divorced from the Law he is taken off from all expectations of life and happiness by that and is made to see his own sinfulness and so his infinite need of Christ whereby he is fitted for this other and better Husband II. The Soul being thus divorced from the Law and so fitted and prepared for Christ then the Spirit of God reveals and offers the Lord Jesus Christ in the promise of the Gospel as a better Husband to him Now the blessed Spirit comes and does as Abrahants Servant did who was sent to take a Wife for Isaac he told Rebecca of his Masters Greatness of his Flocks and his Herds his Silver and his Gold his men servants and his maid-servants and withal that he had given all to Isaac Gen. 24.35 36. So the Spirit of God now sets before the Soul the riches and the greatness the beauty and the excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ he tells him what a full what a sweet what a rich what an amiable one he is and withal tenders him to his embraces he reveals and offers him to him as one full of Grace and Truth as one that has all fulness dwelling in him all fulness of Life and Peace or Righteousness and Salvation as one every way able to save him to the very utmost which is that which Christ calls his convincing the World of Righteousness John 16.9 he reveals and offers him to him in the transcendent Beauty Excellency and Amiableness of his Person on the one hand as also in the glorious fulness largeness sufficiency of his Grace and Righteousness on the other hand Thus I say he reveals and offers Christ unto the Soul and withal opens his Glory and causes it to shine forth before him so that now the Soul sees that in Christ that fulness that beauty that love that amiableness that sweetness which he never saw before Christ is now another thing in the Souls eye than ever before he was Now the Soul as those John 1.14 Beholds his glory as the glory of the onely begotten Son full of grace and truth Yea not only does he thus reveal Christ unto the Soul but withal fixes the Souls eye upon him He makes him to pore and gaze upon Christ as the most excellent and amiable Object and as one infinitely needful for him and this is called a seeing of the Son and that in order to believing whosoever seeth the Son and believeth on him shall have everlasting life Joh. 6.40 The blessed Spirit deals by the Soul herein as God by the Angels did with Hagar Gen. 21.19 where 't is said He opened her eyes and she saw a Well of Water for her relief She was in a very distressed condition as you may see vers 15 16. full of bitterness she and her Child both in a perishing condition being in the Wilderness and her Water in the Bottle being spent Now God shews her a Well of Wate whence she fetches a full supply So here the poor Soul having been under the convincing power of the Law sees himself in a woful miserable distessed condition whereupon he is full of bitterness crying out with Hagar How shall I see the Child die How can I bear it to perish eternally But now the Spirit of God comes and opens his eyes and shews him Christ and Christ as infinitely sutable to him Look sayes the Spirit to the Soul being now desolate and undone look here is a Saviour for thee a Husband for thee another and a better Husband than the Law could ever have been even the Lord Jesus Christ who is infinitely able to pay all thy Debts to supply all thy Wants to heal all thy Wounds to relive all thy Distresses to pardon all thy Sins to satisfie all thy Desires to answer all thy Love and to give thee perfect happiness and satisfaction in and with himself for ever Look here he is here he is in the Promise here he is in the Covenant here he is in the Tender Invitation of the Gospel here he is at the very door of thy heart knocking and calling for admission thereunto Rev. 3.20 Here he is with his Arms wide open to receive and embrace thee and that notwithstanding all thy vileness finfulness and unworthiness Look therefore to him and be saved III. With this Tender and Revelation of Christ unto the Soul the Spirit of God comes and works a secret love and longing in the Soul after Christ he
with him those his Blood cleanses from all sin 1 Jo. 1.7 and in him have they redemption through his Blood even the for giveness of sin Eph. 1.7 As for others he tells them plainly they shall die in their sins Jo. 8.24 O how sad a condition is this Soul thou art guilty of multitudes of sins the least of which has evil enough in it to damn thee eternally Thou hast thousands 10 thousands of Scarlet Crimson sins sins cloathed with black and crying aggravations lying upon thee and to have all these in the full weight of the guilt and punishment of them charged upon thee by the great God for ever how miserable does this speak thy condition to be 6. Being estranged from Christ you are under a necessity of sinning and so of great'ning your own damnation daily A man out of Christ does do can do nothing but sin for he is not subject to the Law of God nor can he be Rom. 8.8 And as he is ever sinning so he is ever treasuring up wrath unto himself Ro. 2.5 O how sad a condition is this This is Dura necessitas as Austin calls it and speaks a mans condition to be very doleful To be always sinning against God and alwayes treasuring up wrath to a man 's own Soul this is next to Hell in some sort worse To give you thee Sum of all Being estranged from Christ you have nothing to satisfie Divine justice which is ready to seize upon you nothing to pacifie Divine wrath which is ready to break forth against you nothing to stand between Divin revenges and your sinful souls What shall I say you have many accusers and by them many heavy charges brought in against you and being without Christ you have no Advocate to plead your cause none to speak a good word in Heaven for you and is not that sad you are deeply in debt you owe your 10 thousand tallents to Divine justice and being without Christ you have nothing to pay but are in danger of being cast into the Prison of eternal darkness whence there is no redemption And is not that sad you are under an obligation to much Duty and being without Christ you are under an utter impossibility of performing any of it acceptably You are under a judgment of condemnation and being without Christ you have nothing that can secure you one day one hour one moment more on this side everlasting Burnings and O how sad and miserable is this Thus you see both your estrangment from Christ and also your misery in part by reason of that estrangment Now as ever you would get Union and Communion with him labour to be deeply sensible of both these 2. Would'st thou indeed be Espoused to Christ Then labour to be soundly convinced and deeply sensible of the greatness and Hainousness of the sin of refusing Christ and the offers of his Love poor Soul thou standest it out against Christ he wooes and calls and invites thee to himself but thou slightest and refusest all and this thou thinkest a small matter but let me tell thee this is a most hainous and crying sin To Swear to Murder to Steal to be Drunk to be Unclean and the like these thou look'st upon as black and horred things Indeed well thou mai'st for they are sins of a more then ordinary hainous and abominable nature But yet know that thy sin in rejecting Christ and the offers of his Love is greater and more provoking then all these This indeed is the great sin and the sin thou must in a especial manner be sensible of if ever thou art United to Christ so much Christ himself tells us in that known place Joh. 16.8 9. he sayes he speaking of the Spirit whom he promised to send shall convince the World of sin because they believe not in me unbelief then is the great sin that the Spirit convinces souls of And what 's unbelief but the neglect and refusal of Christ and the offers of his Love made to us in the Cospel He shall convince the World of sin because they believe not in me i.e. de illo magno grandi incredulitatis peccato He shall convince them of that grand sin of unbelief as a learned man expounds it as if Christ should say he shall make men see the black and hainous nature of the sin of rejecting me and my Love He shall humble them for it and set them a bleeding over it This sin of rejecting Christ some of the Shcool-men have called Maximum peccatum the greatest sin of all And indeed next to the unpardonable sin what greater This is a sin most directly and immediately against Christ and the Gospel O for a vile wretched sinner to shut the door of his soul against Christ the King of Glory and deny him entertainment to refuse and reject the free and frequent offers of him and his Love how great a sin must this be And soul to convince thee the better of it and make thee the more afraid of it I shall suggest a few considerations to thee holding forth a little of its black and horred evil 1 Consider that the neglect and refusal of Christ his Love is a sin against a special eminent command and therefore a great crying sin The greater and more eminent the command is which we transgress and sin against the greater our sin and guilt is in transgressing that command Now God does not onely command us to receive and embrace Christ and his Love but this command of his is a great signal and eminent command So St John tells us 1 Joh. 3.23 This is his commandment that we believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ whom he hath sent What is it to believe on the name of Jesus Christ but to receive and embrace Christ offering himself in the Gospel to us and to live upon him having so received and embraced him Now sayes he this is his commandment his great his special commandment his commandment in a most signal eminent manner and Christ himself asserts the same thing Joh. 6.28 29. In the 28 v. They ask him what shall we do that we may works the Work of God His answer in the 29. v. is This is the Work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent i. e. That ye receive and embrace me and live upon me by believing This is the Work of God the great work which he commands you and expects from you Believing as Calvin observes upon this place is not called the Work of God Non quia efficit deus in nobissed quid requirit Christus docet Calv. in Loc. because 't is of Gods operation as you have it else where or that which God works in us but because 't is the great thing which he commands and requires of us To reject and refuse Christ then is a sin against a signal and emenient command indeed against the great command of the Gospel and therefore
must needs be a great and crying sin more particularly 1. The neglect and refusal of Christ and his love is a sin against a clear and express command of God a command wherein the authority of God does peculiarly and eminently shine forth So much is held forth in the place mentioned before 1 Joh. 3.28 this is his commandment says he speaking of the commandment of Faith his express Commandment a Commandment wherein his authority is evidently and peculiarly seen the authority of God shines forth in all his commands but especially in this above the rest Therefore this you see has an emphasie put upon it This is his commandment Now the more clearly and eminently the authority of God shines forth in any command the greater our sin and guilt is in transgressing that command 2. The neglect and refusal of Christ and his love is a sin against a command wherein the heart of God and Christ does much lye and is therefore a great sin This is a true Rule That the more the mind or heart of the Law-Giver is in any law or command the greater is our sin and guilt in the breach and transgression of that law or command Now God's command to us to receive Christ by believing is a command wherein his own heart as well as the heart of Christ does much lye indeed there is nothing in all the World that the heart of God and Christ is more set upon or desirous of then this that Souls should embrace Christ by believing and become one with him in a Marriage-Covenant Witness the freeness of their offers the frequency of their calls the importunateness of their pleas the patientness of their waitings the affectionateness of their entreaties the friendliness of their upbraidings the patheticalness of their lamentings the sweetness of their wooings the unweariedness of their drawings and the graciousness of their dealings in reference hereunto But you have already seen how much the heart of Christ and in him the heart of the Father is in this business now to transgress such a command a command wherein the heart of God and Christ does so much lye and to run counter to that which they so much desire O what a sin must this needs be The neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin against a command which has vertually all the commands of God in it and so in the breach and transgression thereof we break and transgress all and O how great a sin then must this be to believe on Christ is comprehensive of all that God commands and requires of us this is so his Commandment as that in obeying this we obey all And in violating this we violate all and so he esteems and accounts it This is evident from Joh. 6.28 29. What shall we do say they that we may work the works of God This is the work of God sayes Christ to believe on him whom he hath sent Pray mark they speak of works in the plural Number They would know what all those works were which God requir'd Loquuti erant de operibus Christus ad unum opus eos revocat hoc est ad sidem quo significat quicquid extra fidem homines moliuntur inutile ac vanum esse solam vero fidem sufficere Calv. in Loc. and what the extent of the command was And Christ in his Answer reduces all to one and that is Faith by which he shews that as all is vain without Faith so Faith is vertually all that God requires This is the Work of God says he as if he should say here 's all in one to believe on and receive me is comprehensive of all and accordingly my beloved to reject Christ and his love is to break all at once and to violate all at once 'T is to rebel against and poure contempt upon the whole mind and will of God at once Appellat Christus infidelitatem simpliciter peccatum quia peccatum infidelitatis omne peccatum complectitur Cher. and in effect to renounce all duty and allegiance to him Suitable whereunto is the observations of a learned Man upon that place Joh. 16.8 9. Christ here says he calls unbelief Sin Simply and absolutly because that sin comprehends all sin in it O how great a sin then must this be 4. The neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin against a command of much love All Gods commands have love in them They are design'd by him for our good as the Scripture tells us but especially this command of his that we should receive and embrace his Son For what is this command but a command to us to be saved a command to us to be happy What is this but a commanding of us to Live for ever more to be eternally blessed in and with himself And O how great a sin must the transgression of such a command be Did God command us any hard or severe thing something that tended to our prejudice and not our happiness that were somewhat but when he commands us nothing but to be happy and to be happy in the best way O how great a sin must it be to transgress such a command 2. Consider the neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin which in a peculiar manner derogates from him and poures great contempt upon him and therefore a great sin The more contempt any sin poures upon Christ and the more it derogates from him the greater that sin is Now what sin derogates more from Christ or poures greater contempt upon him then the neglect and refusal of him offering himself to us does This is a sin which takes the Crown off from Christ's head and throwes it in the Dust It every way and in all resects poures great contempt upon him First this sin vilifies and poures contempt upon the Person of Christ Christ's Person is infinitely excellent and infinitely amiable and accordingly to vilifie and contemn his Person must be a great sin and contract great guilt and this the refusal of him does Hence call'd a treading under foot of the Son of God which Argues the highest contempt imaginable Heb. 10.29 Every refusal of Christ carries that Language concerning him in it Isa 53.2 When we see him there is no Beauty in him for which we should desire him He has neither form nor comliness in him He is a person of no worth no desireableness O what contempt is this to be cast upon Christ and how much does it derogate from him 2. This sin vilifies and poures contempt upon the work office and undertaking of Christ as Mediator upon all that he has done and suffer'd withall the riches of his Grace and Love manifested therein Hence 't is call'd as a treading of the Son of God under foot so an accounting his Blood a common and an unholy thing a thing of no worth no use no value no excellency Heb. 10.29 Great my Beloved Valde indignum est sanguinem Christi qui sanctificationis nostrae materia est
of excuse or apology for themselves Verily nothing but will be Speechless as he is said to be Mat. 22.12 They can't say they were not warned of the evil of sin They can't say that pardon and Salvation were not offer'd them They can't say that the offer was not full and free and clear They can't say they had to do with an hard Master nor can they say that sin is not worthy of death They will have nothing to say Secondly it leaves you without the least room or place of appeal for ever I may say here as 't is said in anorher case 1 Sam. 2.25 If one man sin against another the judge shall judge him but if a man sin against the Lord who shall intreat for him So if a man sin against the Law by transgressing of it he may appeal to the Gospel and the grace of Christ there But if a man sin against Christ and his Grace offer'd in the Gospel where then shall he appeal Verily there is no appeal to be made no relief to be found for him If a man be condemn'd at the seat of justice as having sinn'd against the Law he may appeal unto the mercy-seat the throne of Grace and sind sweet relief but if he sin against the mercy-seat and the throne of Grace then he has nothing to appaal to that may administer relief to him Now by refusing of Christ we sin against the Throne of Grace we pull down what in us lies the mercy-seat and where then shall we appeal O consider these things and learn by them to dread this sin of refusing Christ I might say much more to convince you of the hainous evil of it but let this suffice Sure I am 't is enough to and had we the due sense of it upon our Spirits it would make us tremble at it for ever 3. Wouldest thou indeed be Espoused to Christ Then give not way to the discouragements of sense but bear up thy Soul upon the encouragements of Faith upon such Gospel-principles considerations as do tend to draw sinners to Faith in Christ Possibly upon reading and considering the woeful misery of thy condition without Christ and the dreadful hainousness of thy sin and guilt in thy long and frequent refusing of him discouragements not a few may arise within and indeed no sooner usually does a poor Soul look towards Christ or think of closing with him in a Marriage-Covenant but presently multitudes of discouragements arise to deter him there from O says he what a monstrous sinner am I How have I despised Christ and his grace How long have I stood it out against him I have serv'd my lusts all my dayes and rejected his calls To what purpose do I now talk of closing with him These and multitudes such like discouragements do arise in the Soul which being given way to do effectually keep him from Christ But if ever Soul thou wouldest attain to Union and communion with him thou must shut thine eyes and heart too against all discouragements of this nature and though they press in upon thee again and again yet thrust them out fixing thine eye and heart upon the encouragements of Faith dwell much in the thoughts of them and bear up thy soul upon such Gospel principles and considerations as do tend to weaken unbelief beget Faith in the soul and for thy help herein I shal mention some of these encouragements of Faith or Gospel-principles which I would have thee to be serious and frequent in the contemplation of 1. The first Gospel-principle or encouragement of Faith which thou shouldst bear up thy Soul upon and be frequent in the contemplation of is this that there is a rich a glorious and an overflowing fulness of all good treasured up in Christ for poor Sinners and that his Grace does abundantly exceed both our wants and sins 'T is the work and nature of unbelief to little and limit the fulness of Christ in the eye of the soul It shews the soul the multitude of his sins and wants but it conceals and Locks up Christs treasures and fulness And whatever we pretend the ground of our not closing with Christ at least one principal one is this that we doubt of his fulness we do not see enough in Christ to supply our wants and relieve our distresses Unbelief perswading us that Christ is not the Christ the Scripture represents him to be But Soul away with all such apprehensions and dwell thou in the contemplation of Christ's infinite fulness Look to him as one infinitly able to supply thy wants to pardon thy sins to healthy maladies to subdue thy lusts to sanctifie thy heart and to save thy Soul eternally Look upon him as the Scripture represents him The Scripture tells thee That it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell Col. 1.19 All fulness of Grace and life all fulness of peace and pardon all fulness of Righteousness and Salvation There is in Christ not onely a fulness of abundance but of redundance an over-flowing fulness a fulness infinitly superabounding our sins and wants The Scripture tells us That he is able to save unto the very uttermost all that come unto God by him Heb. 7.25 Save able to save able to save to the uttermost and that not one or two but all that come unto God by him The Scripture speaks of Christs unsearchable riches Eph. 3.8 The Ocean of his Grace is not to be sounded by the longest line of the largest created understanding Paul experienced the superabounding fulness of his Grace and has left it upon record for our encouragement 1 Tim. 1.14 The Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant it was more then enough I found more Grace in Christ as one expresses it then I knew what to do withall and yet what was this Paul Himself tells you in the very v. before and after he was a Blasphemer a Persecutor and the chief of Sinners a man every way of as many sins and wants as thou art Accordingly view him and bear up thy Soul in the face of all discouragements Reason thus with thy self True my condition is sad my wants are exceeding many and my sins exceeding great But what then Is there no Balm in Gilead Is there no Physitian there Is not Christ able to save me and that to the utmost notwithstanding all Look O my soul yonder is sweet Jesus upon the Throne at the Fathers Right Hand full of Grace and truth look upon him and consider What are all thy wants to his Riches and fulness What are all thy miseries and distresses to his Bowels of Mercy What are all thy sins to the merit of his Blood thy provocations to his fatisfaction Were thy wants more and greater then they are his fulness could supply them all were thy sins greater and more hainous then they are his Blood could cleanse thee from all The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin 1 Jo. 1.7 There is infinitly
does not make a naked ender and revelation of Christ onely to the Soul for that were not enough but he withal gives him a secret touch whereby he is made to breath and long after Christ to move a little Christward He drops a little Myrrhe upon the handle of the Lock as it were whereby he is drawn out in holy Longings and Breathings after sweet Jesus as you know the case sometimes was with the Spouse Cant. 5. beg and this the Scripture calls an hungring and thirsting after Christ and has a blessedness annext to it Mat. 5.6 and frequently else-where Yea such is that secret touch which in and with those tenders and revelations of Christ the Spirit of God gives the Soul as that like that of the Loadstone to the Needle which sets it a trembling and will not suffer it to rest till it stands fully pointed Christward yea till it finds it self in the very bosom and imbraces of that Beloved 't is indeed such as by degrees makes the Soul sick of love and longings after Christ Cant. 5.8 and he cries out for Christ as Rachel sometimes did for Children Give me Children said she or else I die So give me Christ sayes the Soul or else I die I perish and that for ever In a word nothing but Christ will satisfie him send him to the Creatures send him to his own duties and services send him to his highest accomplishments and attainments and without Christ they will not do yea all these he accounts but as dung as dogs-meat that he may win Christ Phil. 3.8 Indeed Heaven and Earth with all the fulness of both are nothing to him without Christ and an union with Christ his language now is O Christ Christ above ten thousand Worlds O that Christ were mine O that I had union with him Oh that I were in his imbraces Oh how happy are they that are married to him and how happy should I be could I call him mine This I say is his language and when once it comes to this then things work well indeed then the Match is in a good forwardness there being but an hairs breadth as it were between Christ and the Soul Therefore IV. The Soul being thus inclined Christ-ward and drawn forth in holy Longings after Union and Communion with him Sicut Christus per Spiritus sui communieationem sesâ— nobis unit sic nos per fidem illi adglutinamur c. the Spirit of God comes and enables him to believe he carries the Soul to Christ in a way of believing whereby he actually closes with him and is espoused unto him For my Beloved 't is Faith which ties the Marriage-Knot and makes up the Marriage-Union between Christ and us Hence Christ is said to dwell in our hearts by Faith Ephes 3.17 Christ's dwelling in our hearts notes the nearest Union and Communion between him and us And how comes he thus to dwell in our hearts why by Faith by our believing on him Edis Christum non dente sed fide Aug. Hence also Christ tells us That he that eateth his flesh and drinketh his blood dwelleth in him and he in him Joh. 6.56 By eating Christs Flesh and drinking his Blood is meant our believing on him and so he himself expounds it for he makes eating and drinking of him and believing on him all one throughout that Chapter Now sayes he He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him that is he has the nearest Union and Communion with me 't is Faith then you see that unites and so espouses us to Christ Faith gives Christ an inlet into the Soul and it gives the Soul an inlet into Christ and so they are made one and married together By believing we consent to take Christ and actually do take him for our onely Head and Husband for ever and so the Match is made up between him and us Nos per fidem in nobis a Spiritu sancto excitatam in hoc cum Christo conjugium consentimus Zanch. in Thes de conjugio Spirituali We by Faith says a learned Man wrought in us by the holy Spirit do consent unto this marriage with Christ Christ as you heard before consents thereunto as God he consented hereunto from all eternity and as Man he consents hereunto in time For Filii voluntas duplex est una divinae altern humanae naturae â— utraque auâ— tem voluit viilt hoc conjugium cum electis una voluit ab aeterno altera in tempore quae nunqâ—am mutatur Id. Ib. as Divines observe Christ hath a double Will his Divine and Humane with the first he consented to this Espousal from eternity with the second he consents hereunto in Time and never changes therein Now as Christ gives his consent so we also must give ours which we do by believing in him by which therefore the Match is made up between him and us Now there is a three-fold Act of Faith which the Spirit of God works in the Soul whereby he more especially closes with Christ and is espoused unto him made one with him in a Marriage-Covenant I. An Act of Choice or Election II. An Act of Trust or Dependance III. An Act of Resignation or Subjection I. An Act of Choice or Election In the Act or Work of Believing the Soul is by the Spirit of God made solemnly and deliberately to chuse Christ as his only Head and Husband his Lord and Saviour being thus offered to him in the Gospel Choice or Election as the School-men tell us is an Act of the Will whereby it pitches upon some one thing and prefers that before all others in order to such or such an end Accordingly we may conceive of this Act of Faith we are speaking of It lies thus the Will is by the Spirit of God sweetly and powerfully determined upon Christ preferring him for an Head and Husband a Lord and Saviour before all others It singles him out as it were from all others whether persons or things in Heaven and Earth and imbraces him as the best Husband the best Saviour the best Lord There are others which make love to him and tender themselves to his embraces as Sin Self the Law the World with its inticements but he passes by all yea rejects all with loathing and indignation and pitches upon Christ as infinitely best saying to him I will have none in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth that I desire in comparison of thee This the Scripture calls sometimes a laying hold upon Christ Prov. 3.18 Sometimes a receiving or imbracing of Christ Joh. 1.12 'T is true in the Work of Faith Christ is and must be received into the understanding but he is most properly said to be received into our Will and Affections Christ in the Gospel is revealed and offered to the Soul with all his Riches Fulness and Perfections he is tendered to him as a full a mighty and uttermost Saviour
as one who has not onely an infinite fulness and sufficiency in him to redeem and save but also an infinite sutableness and amiableness in him to indear and delight the Soul and accordingly the Soul accepts and imbraces him he cleaves to him and fastens upon him resolving to have none but him alone his language of him now is There is none like Christ no head like this Head no husband like this Husband no saviour like this Saviour for my Soul This is the Head the Husband the Saviour that I need and that indeed my Soul defires No love like his Love no beauty like his Beauty no blood like his Blood no righteousness like his Righteousness no fulness like his Fulness He therefore and he alone shall be my Head my Husband my Saviour and my All for ever Sweet Jesus sayes he dost thou tender thy self for an Head and Husband to me and art thou willing to be imbraced by me Lo then I do with my whole Soul accept of thee and that for all times and in all conditions with all thine Holiness as well as thy Love with all thine Inconveniences as well as thy Priviledges to suffer for thee as well as to reign with thee and this the Soul does upon the deepest counsel and most mature deliberation and accordingly he abides by his choice for ever II. An Act of Trust or Dependance As in the Work of Faith the Soul is by the Spirit of God made to chuse Christ so also to trust and depend upon him for all Grace Righteousness and Salvation Now it bottoms upon Christ anchors upon Christ rests and relies upon Christ for all Life and Peace for all Grace on Earth and Glory in Heaven He layes the whole weight and stress of his Salvation upon him He commits all to him ventures all upon him expects all from him This the Scripture calls sometimes a trusting in Christ Ephes 1.13 sometimes a leaning upon Christ Cant. 8.5 sometimes a hoping in Christ 1 Cor. 15.19 And in this respect Christ is called our Hope 1 Tim. 1.1 our Hope that is the Object of our Hope and Trust as to Life and Salvation The Soul has no hope in himself no hope in the Creature no hope in the Law or first Covenant no hope in any thing in Heaven or Earth on this side Christ He looks here and there to this and that but he can find no solid ground of hope no bottom to build or rest upon for Life and Salvation but then he turns his eye upon Christ and there he sees abundant ground of hope he beholds him upon the Cross and there 's hope he beholds him upon the Throne and there 's hope he looks upon him dying and there 's hope he looks upon him rising ascending sitting at the Father's right Hand making intercession for us and there 's hope He looks upon the infinite vertue of his Blood the infinite efficacy of his Spirit the infinite fulness of his Grace the infinite dimensions of his Love the infinite freeness and faithfulness of his Promise and in these he sees infinite ground of hope and trust and accordingly he rolls and ventures all upon him Here I 'le build sayes he here I 'le bottom here I 'le rest here I 'le hang and depend here I 'le live yea and if die I must here I 'le die His language to Christ now is like that of the Psalmist to God in another case Psalm 39.7 Now Lord what wait I for my hope is in thee This is to cast anchor within the Vail Heb. 9.6 And indeed 't is with poor Souls many times as with persons at Sea the Storm arises the Waves lift up themselves which beating upon them they are ready to sink every moment and their very Soul is melted because of heaviness but anon they sound bottom cast anchor and are at rest So poor Souls are under storms of sin guilt and wrath perishing in their own apprehension every moment but anon they drop an anchor of hope upon Christ and do rest upon him or 't is with them in this case as 't was with the Dove when she was first sent out of the Ark she found no resting place abroad for the sole of her foot but at length returned to the Ark and there found rest Gen. 8.8 9. So the poor guilty Soul finds no rest any where else but in Christ His language in this Act of Faith is such as this I am a poor lost sinful distressed Creature and there is but one door I can expect relief from and that is Christ and at this door I 'le lie and wait I know he is able to help me for he can save to the uttermost and surely he hath bowels great bowels towards poor sinners he is a merciful High-Priest He sayes concerning him as they sometimes did concerning the King of Israel Behold we have heard that the King of Israel is a merciful King peradventure he will save us yea he has bid me look to him and be saved and he invites all that are weary and heavy-laden to come to him and promises them rest Why then should I not rest and rely upon him 'T is true I am a mighty sinner but he is a more mighty Saviour Have I sinned to the utmost He has satisfied to the utmost What shall I say True I am Death but Christ is Life I am Darkness but Christ is Light I am Sin but Christ is Holiness I am Guilt but Christ is Righteousness I am Emptiness and Nothingness but Christ is Fulness and Sufficiency I have broken the Law but Christ has fulfilled the Law and his Life is infinitely able to swallow up my Death his Light my Darkness his Holiness my Sin his Righteousness my Guilt his Fulness my Emptiness on him therefore I 'le lean and live and hope 'T is true I am utterly unworthy of any Life any Grace any Favour but Christ does all for sinners freely he loves freely he pardons freely he saves freely how vile therefore and unworthy soever I am yet I will rest and depend upon him Who knows but he may cast an eye of love upon me This is that Act of Faith which is held forth Isa 45.24 Surely shall one say in the Lord have I righteousness and strength I have neither strength nor righteousness of my own but I have all righteousness and strength in Christ all righteousness for Pardon and Justification and all strength for Holiness and Sanctification this is that the Apostle calls a rejoycing in Christ Jesus having no confidence in the flesh Phil. 3.3 To draw towards a conclusion of this Head Which way soever the Soul looks on this side Christ he meets with nothing but discouragement If he looks to himself there he sees nothing but sin and guilt blackness and deformity in his heart he sees a Fountain of sin an Abysse of sin a very Hell of sin and wickedness in his life he finds innumerable evils sins of a crimson-die
and scarlet-tincture staring him in the face yea his very Duties are not without sin even in these there is abundance of pride formality unbelief and the like his very righteousnesses are as filthy rags Isa 64.4 If he looks unto the Law there he reads his doom and condemnation in every line thereof there he finds himself under the Curse there he sees nothing but fear and blackness and darkness and tempests Heb. 12.18 If he looks to justice that he finds as a flaming Sword keeping him from the Tree of Life from all happiness That appears with an angry frowning countenance demanding satisfaction as being infinitely wronged But now in the midst of all these discouragements the poor Soul at length gets a sight of Christ in whom he sees encouragement after all He discovers land in a storm as it were and finds in him a bottom to rest his weary Spirit upon in him he sees that which can atone God satisfie Justice answer all the demands of the Law fully deliver him from sin and guilt and make him both holy and happy for ever and accordingly he rests and rolls himself upon him resolving that if he dies he will die thus leaning upon this Beloved III. An Act of Resignation or Subjection As in the Work of Faith the Soul thus chuses Christ and depends upon him so also he is by the Spirit of God made cordially and unreservedly to resign up himself unto him to be ruled governed and disposed of by him in his own way The Soul now puts himself out of his own power and possession he passes himself away from himself and he gives up himself into the power and possession of Jesus Christ to be ruled governed and saved by him as he sees good which is properly that Act of Faith which we call Resignation and this the Scripture often mentions One shall say I am the Lords Isa 44.5 that is he shall give or resign up himself to the Lord to be for ever his and at his dispose so 2 Cor. 8.5 They gave themselves unto the Lord and Ephes 5.24 the Church is said to be subject to Christ The Case seems to be this there having many Treaties past in order to a Match between Christ and the Soul the Soul at length through the help of the Divine Spirit is made freely to consent to take Christ for his onely Head and Husband and to be subject to him in all things to be perfectly and eternally at his dispose His language now to Christ is like that of Ahab to Benhadad 1 Kings 20.4 Behold I am thine and all that I have is thine Sweet Lord Jesus sayes the Soul I have been my own and have lived too much in mine own will and to mine own ends and interests but now I desire to be thine and to live in thy Will and to thine Ends take possession of me save me rule me lead me dispose of me as thou pleasest do all thy pleasure in me pull down and set up what thou wilt I 'le be and do and suffer what thou wilt have me to be and do and suffer And this is properly that Act of Faith whereby we close with Christ as a Lord and King and is indeed the evidence of the Truth of the two former for you must know that though Faith's first Aspect be to Christ as a Saviour yet it comes to eye him as a Lord and King also As Faith fully bottoms upon the satisfaction of Christ so it freely bows to the Scepter of Christ yea when Faith can't challenge Christ as a Saviour yet it will own Christ as a Lord You know how Laban spake to Abraham's Servant upon the sight of the Ear-rings and Bracelets which he had given his Sister Rebekah and upon his hearing a Relation from her of his Discourse with her Come in thou blessed of the Lord why standest thou without I have room for thee Gen. 24.31 In like manner does the Soul speak to Christ upon the sight of that worth that is in him and that need which he has of him Come in thou blessed of the Lord come in thou blessed Lord why standest thou without I have room for thee I have room for thee in my Understanding and I have room for thee in my Will and Affections and I would have thee possess all and command all In a word the Soul freely gives up himself to Christ's Holy and Spiritual Government Thou art an Holy Christ says he he who is to reign and I resign up my self to thee I 'le have no Lord but thee take the whole Throne to thy self within me I know thy Yoke is an easie Yoke and I desire to bear it thy Scepter is a Righteous Scepter and I desire to bow to it thy Kingdom is a Kingdom of Rightcousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost and I heartily desire to come under the power of it I would be Sanctified as well as Justified I desire thy Spirit to subdue my corruptions for me and to make me Holy as well as thy Blood to wash away my guilt for me and ingratiate me with thy self and this is what the Scripture calls an opening of the Gates and a lifting up of the everlasting Doors to let Christ the King of Glory in Psal 24.7 Thus by these three which indeed are the great uniting Acts of Faith the Spirit of God enables the Soul to close with Christ in a Marriage-Covenant and Relation 5. The Soul being thus enabled to believe and so close with Christ in a Marriage-Covenant then as the Crown and perfection of all the blessed Spirit of God takes up his abode and dwells for ever in that Soul as the Pledge and everlasting Bond of this Marriage-union and Relation between them The sweet Spirit does not onely come as a Friend to treat about the Match and also to tie the Marriage-Knot between Christ and us but moreover this being done he remains himself in the Soul as a Love-Token from Christ to him as the Pawn and Pledge of this Espousal and as the everlasting Bond and Confirmation of this Marriage-Union and Relation Hence that of the Apostle He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 one Spirit with the Lord he is joyned to that Spirit which did joyn him to Christ does remain in him and in Christ both Christ leaves his own Spirit in his Spouses as the Pledge and Bond of that Marriage-Union that is between him and them so that he and they have the same Spirit dwelling in them yet with this difference he dwells in Christ without measure in us by measure in Christ immediately by vertue of the personal Union in us by his Gifts and Graces in Christ as an Head in us as members and he with these are the Love-Tokens the Pawns and Pledges of this Marriage-Troth plighted between Christ and us and this indeed is that which makes this Union so strong and inviolable as that it can never be broken Yea not
ever This added to the rest is desirable and for this none like Christ Yea none but Christ he and he alone is a never-dying Husband the best Husband here below is mortal and may leave you in a moment but Christ is immortal he is the King immortal eternal 1 Tim. 1.17 and he only hath immortality 1 Tim. 6.16 He and he onely lives for evermore Behold I live for evermore sayes he Rev. 1.18 He will never leave you in the desolate state of Widdow-hood yea not onely does he live for ever himself but moreover he makes all his Spouses to live for ever too So you find John 11.25 26. I am the Resurrection and the Life sayes he he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die Oh what an Husband is this an Husband that lives for ever himself and that makes his Spouses live for ever too he gives all his Spouses such a life as never dies an immortal life In a word close with him and as he will live for ever as thy Husband so thou shalt live for ever as his Spouse Oh who would not accept of such a Person Soul if thou receivest him know he lives for ever to love thee to comfort thee to delight thee to make thee happy in and with himself but if thou rejectest him know that he lives for ever to punish thee to inflict wrath and vengance upon thee and to make thee compleatly miserable but oh reject him not Thus I have shewn you a little what an Husbund Christ is to his Spouses and upon the whole I would say to you as the Spouse did to the Daughters of Jerusalem Cant. 5.16 This is my Beloved and this is my Friend this is he that offers himself to your embraces surely he is no mean no despicable Person but one infinitely desireable Now what do you say will you have him or will you not possibly this is the last tender he will ever make of himself to you possibly the Match must be made now or never therefore now close with him accept him upon his own terms who surely is worthy of all acceptation CHAP. VIII Which shews what great things Christ does for all his Spouses TRue may some say Christ's Person is desirable but what will he do for his Spouses What may our Souls expect from him in case we should close up with him in a Marriage-Covenant What will he do What will he not do for you Surely he acts like himself and does great things for all his Spouses And oh happy happy they that are indeed espoused unto him I shall for the more effectual drawing of poor Souls to him shew you what he does for his Spouses in these following Particulars I. He payes all their Debts II. He supplies all their Wants III. He heals all their Maladies IV. He bears all their Burthens V. He sweetens all their Afflictions VI. He subdues all their Enemies VII He minds and manages all their Concerns VIII He enjoynters them in eternal Life and Glory I. He payes all their Debts fully discharging their Souls from all Sin and Guilt No sooner is a Woman married to an Husband but presently all her Debts become his he payes all at least is lyable so to do In like manner no sooner is a Soul espoused to Christ but all his Debts to Law and Justice become Christs and he pays all And O how great a thing is this Friends we are all in debt deeply in debt to the Law and Justice of God We owe each one of us more than our ten thousand Talents Matth. 18.24 We lie under whole Mountains of Sin and Guilt The truth is our first Father left us and all his Posterity in debt we brought Sin and Guilt into the World with us and the first day we were born Divine Justice might have arrested us and have cast us into the dismal Prison of utter darkness De Parentjbus illis venio qui me ante fecerunt damnatum quam natum peccatores peccatorem in peccato suo genâ—erunt Bern. de amore Dei I came of those Parents sayes one of the Ancients who made me damned before I was born they sinners begot me a sinner in their sin And to the same purpose another of them speaks Nemo mundus a peccato coram te Domine nec Infans cujus est unus dici vita super terram Aug. in Conf. No man is free from sin sayes he in the sight of God no not an Infant of a day old And to give you a greater authority than these the Holy Apostle asserts the same thing Rom. 5.12 By one man sin entered into the World and death by sin and death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Adam sinned and we all sinned in him we all being in him as in a common Head and the guilt of the act of his sin is as truly ours as if we had each one of us acted it in our own persons and we all stand justly condemned for it Hence also vers 18. he tells us That by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation Besides we have all contracted a vast Debt upon our selves and do lie under much actual guilt and that of a scarlet-dye and crimson-tincture Alas we have done little but sin'd ever since we came into the World and indeed as long as we are out of Christ either all we do is sin or at least we sin in all we do We are every day running upon new Scores adding sin to sin and guilt to guilt And O how great then must our Debts to Law and Justice needs be You look upon that man to be deeply in debt indeed whose Debts are so many and great as that he can neither know nor count them And thus it is with us so many and so great are our Sins and consequently our Debts to Law and Justice that we can neither know nor count them David though an holy Man cries out Who can understand his errors Psal 19.12 Alas who of us can count the sins of one day they pass our knowledge And which is worse still we are under a necessity whilst in our natural state of encreasing our sin and guilt every day and hour Now how shall all this Debt be paid this Sin and Guilt be expiated and done away Why only by Christ close with him in a Marriage-Covenant and your Souls are discharged from all Justice that stands upon Satisfaction it calls for full payment its language is Pay or perish pay or be damned and nothing have we of our own to pay the least of all our Debts nor can we possibly right God for the wrong we have done him by the least fin and which adds to our misery we are every day in danger of Arrests nor know we how soon Justice will by the hand of that grim Sergeant Death clap an Arrest upon us and cast us
indeed this is that which gives all the rest an advantage against them but even this greatest Enemy Christ has conquered for them Hence he is said to have condemned sin in the flesh he for sin condemned sin in the flesh Rom. 8.3 i. e. He by being made a Sacrifice for Sin hath killed and subdued Sin past a sentence of Death and Condemnation upon Sin for ever Hence also our old Man is said to be crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed Rom. 6.6 Hence also he is said to destroy sin to take away sin and the like And how Why as to the Reign and Power as well as the Guilt and Curse of it And this Paul acted by the Spirit of Faith could triumph in even whilst he was in the sharpest conflicts with sin Rom. 7.23 24 25. I thank God through Christ sayes he For what why for victory over and deliverance from that Law of Sin he was now conflicting with 2. He has conquered Self for them Self as well as Sin is our deadly Enemy This indeed is a near close Enemy and most difficult to be slain This is an Enemy that we are too too loth many times to have destroyed and yet an Enemy which makes woful spoyl upon us and our happiness I often think of the Speech of an Holy and Learned Divine Oh sayes he if I could be Master of that House-Idol my Self my own my own Will Wit Credit and case how blessed were I O but we have need sayes he to be redeemed from our selves rather than from the Devil and the World And presently again he cries out O wretched Idol my Self When shall I see the wholly decourted and Christ wholly put in thy room And who that have any acquaintance with themselves do not find cause to cry out in like manner Oh this Self this wretched Self how great an Enemy is it Well but this Christ hath conquered and closing with him thou shalt by degrees find it to die and fall under thee Paul did so I am crucified with Christ sayes he nevertheless I live yet not I Gal. 2.20 He had an I a Self which ruled in him but by Christ 't was crucified and slain for him and he was a conquerer over it 3. He has conquered the World for them Take the World in what notion you will and 't is in one respect or other an Enemy to the Saints the Men of the World the Things of the World the Frowns of the World the Flatteries of the World they all one way or other fight against them and are Enemies to them The World as well as Sin and Self is a mortal Enemy to them But this Enemy also Christ has subdued and conquered for them and he has told them so much for their comfort under the oppositions they meet with from it Job 16.23 Be of good chear I have overcome the World sayes he q. d. the World is your Enemy but 't is a conquered Enemy 't will moless and oppose you but it shall not be able to hurt you for have conquered it for you And as he has conquered it for us so he will enable us closing with him by Faith to conquer it so 1 John 5.4 This is the victory which overcometh the World even our Faith The World shall not alwayes annoy and infest the Saints 4. He has conquered the Devil yea all the Devils in Hell for them The Devil is the Enemy of the Saints and indeed he is a formidable one an Adversary that goes about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. 5.8 He is a subtil a potent a malicious a cruel and an indefatigable Enemy But so formidable an Enemy as he is Christ hath conquered him for them hence he is said to have destroyed the Devil he partook of flesh and blood that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil Heb. 2.14 and to have spoiled Principalities and Powers and to have made a shew of them openly on his Cross tryumphing over them Col. 2.15 dragging them at his Charriot-Wheels as was the manner sometimes for Conquerers to deal by their vanquished Enemies The sum is that he hath made a compleat and glorious conquest over all the Devils in Hell for Believers He has conquered them even to triumph Christ has conquered the Devil for his Spouses as to his ruling reigning and commanding power and he will and does conquer him at last yea speedily as to his tempting vexing and seducing power The God of Peace shall tread Satan under your feet shortly Rom. 16.20 Shortly Soul the Devil shall vex thee no more molest thee no more infest and annoy thee by his temptations no more 5. He has conquered Death for them Death is an Enemy and 't is the last Enemy that is to be destroyed so the Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 15.26 and in it self considered a terrible Enemy 't is 't is the King of terrors Job 18.14 But this Enemy hath Christ conquered for all his He has taken away all its killing power its sting and curse in so much that they may holily triumph over it and rejoyce in its approach the Apostle did so 1 Cor. 15.55 56 57. Death sayes he is swallowed up in victory O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory The sting of Death is Sin the strength of Sin is the Law but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ O what a triumph does he here act over Death through the conquest Christ has gotten over it for him Truly this Enemy is so far conquered by him for them that 't is become indeed a friend to them and they can when in a right spirit embrace it as such and long for it as such Christ by Death has unstung Death and in a sort undeatht it Thus Christ has conquered all his Peoples Enemies and they being made one with him in a Marriage-Covenant all his Victories are theirs and his Conquests theirs and they are conquerers over all in him and oh how sweet how incouraging is this and how should it win Souls to a close with him poor Soul thou seest thy self environed with Enemies thou art hard beset on all hands legions of Lusts and Devils attended with Self Death and the World oppose themselves against thee and thou art often crying out as David in another case 2 Sam. 3.19 I am weak and these men the Sons of Zerviah are too strong for me yea thou art ready to say of them as he sometimes in his unbelief did of Saul 1 Sam. 27.1 I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul Alas I am a weak nothing-Creature and am unable to grapple with the least of all mine Enemies and how then shall I stand up against them all surely I shall perish by them at last Well Soul but know for thy encouragement that all thine Enemies are conquered by Christ and though
Matth. 25.34 A Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 A Crown of Righteousness 2 Tim. 4.8 A Crown of Glory which never fades never withers 1 Pet. 5.4 The truth is he endows them with all his Riches with all his Treasures with all his Dignities with all the Priviledges of â—â—s House with all the Purchases of his Blood with all the Blessings of his Love with all the Treasures of Heaven with all the Glories of Eternity Look whatever is in the Promise whatever is in the Covenant whatever is in the glorious Counsel of Election Look whatever the Presence of God the Face of God the Bosom of God can afford Look whatever the heart of God could give the Wisdom of God contrive the Power of God produce or the Blood of God purchase that all that does Christ injoynter his People in O Sirs how should this draw and allure us to Christ Is Heaven and eternal Life worth nothing Are all the Glories of Eternity of no value O who are you that Christ should be willing to instate you into all this In your selves you are lying in the lap and bosom of Hell Heirs of Wrath and Condemnation in danger every moment of sinking into the infernal Pit But loe Christ comes and makes love to you and if you will accept of him he will entitle you unto Life and Blessedness to such things as eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive of 1 Cor. 2.9 Take him therefore I beseech you into your most intimate embraces Thus you see in part what great things Christ does for his Spouses Now will you accept of him or will you not May I not say to you as Saul sometimes did to his Servants Hear now will the Son of Jesse give to every one of you Fields and Vineyards and make you Captains of thousands 1 Sam. 22.7 So will Sin or the World or the Law to which you are naturally wedded do such great things for you as Christ will Will these pay your Debts for you supply your Wants for you heal your Wounds for you and the like Will these secure your eternal Interest for you and make you happy in the other World as Christ would Alas they can do none of all this O close close there for â— with Christ who can and will do all CHAP. IX Which opens a little the heart of Christ and shews how much he is Jet upon an Espousal with Sinners SUrely Christ is the best Husband and none can do such great things as he for his Spouses which renders an Espousal to him very desirable but will he take such as we are into so near a Relation with him has he any mind any heart to the business any mind any heart his heart is set upon nothing more then an Espousal with Sinners he is not only content to admit Sinners coming to him but his Soul longs after them never did the most passionate Lover more long for an Espousal between him and his Beloved than Christ does for an Espousal between himself and Sinners and because Love is the Loadstone of Love and the most powerful attractive in order to the more effectual drawing and alluring of your Souls to Christ I shall a little in a few particulars open my sweet Lords heart to you in this business And O that the reports of his Love to you and his willingness to Espouse you to himself might draw your hearts out a little in Love to him and work you into a willingness to be Espoused 1. Such is the heart of Christ and so set upon an Espousal with Sinners that he willingly became incarnate bled and dyed in order hereunto and oh how should this draw us to him Should you see a Man do some great Act of self-denyal and abasement and withal freely venture his Life in order to his obtaining such or such an one to his Wife you would easily conclude that his heart was much set upon an Espousal with her Lo then Christ has greatly denyed and abated himself he became incarnate and not only freely ventured but laid down his Life in order to an Espousal between himself and Sinners and how much then must his heart be in the business 1. He became incarnate in order hereunto had not Christ been incarnate we could never possibly have been Espoused unto him nor have enjoyed conjugal Communion with him but that we might be capable of and arrive unto such an happiness he who in himself was the Eternal Son freely became incarnate assumed humane Nature into Union with his Divine Person hence 't is said that the Word was made flesh Verhum caro factum non Divinae Naturae conversione sed humanae assumptione Beza Joh. 1.14 not that there was a transmutation of God into Flesh but the Word that is God the Son the Second Person in Trinity Voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non conversio divinitatis quae est invariabilis non commixtio naturarum divinae humanae sed unio designatur Cartw in loc assumed Flesh humane Nature into Union with himself and so near is that Union into which the humane Nature is assumed with the Person of the Son of God usus est verba 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut significet arceissimam indissolubilem unionem verbi cum carne ut non alia scilicet sed una eadem jam sit persona Verbi carnis assumptae Chemni as that that Nature hath no subsistence but what it has in his Divine Person and for that end umong others as a Learned Divine hath observed it s so exprest the Word was made Flesh namely to note the infinite nearness of that Union which our Nature is taken into with the Divine Person it being so near as that it hath no subsistence of its own but is as it were wholly melted into the Personality of the Son of God hence also he is said to partake of Flesh and Blood to be manifested in the Flesh and the like and oh what an Act of self-denyal and abasement was this and how great was Christ's condescention herein in Phil. 2.6 7. the Apostle speaks of it as the greatest abasement he could-stoop unto who sayes he speaking of Christ being in the form of God thought it no Robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of Men pray mark he was in the form of God that is he was truly and really God as the Father was and he thought it no Robbery to be equal with God i. e. he had all those Divine Excellencies and perfections in him which the Father had in him and yet sayes he he took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of Men that is he became incarnate he became Man Well and what does this argue Even infiniâ—e condescention therefore he tells us that herein he
perfectly what manner of one thou wouldst be and how thou wouldst carry it towards him and yet all could not hinder him from shewing this favour to thee Why then shouldst thou think it will cause him to break with thee now The Soul may be apt to say Did Christ think I would be such a Wretch that I would so grieve him so offend him that I would carry it so unworthily towards him under all his love as I do Yea Soul Christ thought it yea he knew it perfectly before-hand in Deut. 31.21 't is said That God knew what Israel would do before-hand So Christ knew before-hand how thou wouldst fleight his Love grieve his Spirit violate his Laws he knew how thou wouldst offend and affront him by a proud vain wanton behaviour before him He knew how thou wouldst backflide and go a whoring from him and had he not seen and known that he had love enough and bowels enough to cover and pass by all he would never have made love to thee Hence when he betroths he is said to do it in judgment Hos 2.19 Christ knew what he did and what an one he married when he married thee to himself And as all could not hinder his love at first so neither shall it take off his love from thee now 3. Consider that thou mayest have many failings and miscarriages be guilty of many breakings with Christ and departures from him and yet the Marriage-Covenant between him and thee not be broken A Woman may be guilty of many failings and miscarriages many defects and misdemeanors and yet all not break the Marriage-Covenant between her Husband and her And so here O how sweet is that Scripture Psal 89.30 31 32 33 34. If his Children forsake my Law and walk not in my Judgments if they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their iniqui-quities with a rod and their transgressions with stripes And what sollows Nevertheless sayes he my loving kindness will I not utterly take from them nor suffer my faithfulness to fail my Covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips Pray mark Christ's People may sin and sin greatly and he may sharply chastise them for their sins yea he may seem to take away his loving kindness from them and may really for a time suspend the influences and manifestations thereof but his Covenant-love and faithfulness to them that remains firm and stedfast to them for ever notwithstanding all So again Jer. 3.1 14. Though thou hast played the Harlot with many lovers yet return again to me saith the Lord. Turn O back-sliding Children for I am married unto you Mark though they had backsliden though they had played the Harlot though they had played the Harlot with many lovers yet Christ owns his Covenant-Relation to them and with them yea and he sends as it were his Covenant after them and by that fetches them home to himself O! whatever thy miscarriages are whatever thy breakings with Christ and departures from him have been yet being once married to him the Marriage-Union and Relation between him and thee remains firm and stedfast for ever notwithstanding all O but sayes the Soul my heart is still bent to backsliding from Christ and I am afraid I shall at last totally and finally depart from him and then farewel all I answer That Christ stands engaged to keep thee from true notwithstanding any thing in and of thy self if left by Christ thou wouldst be apt totally and finally to depart from him but Christ himself stands engaged to keep thee to him 'T is the very tenure of his Covenant with thee Jer. 32.40 I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good and I will put my fear into their hearts that they shall never depart from me O Sirs not only is Christ's heart towards his People but he is engaged by Covenant to keep their hearts close to him and faithful with him at least so far as that they shall not totally depart from him and so their faithfulness to him does depend upon his faithfulness to them I 'le close this consideration with that known and great Scripture Rom. 8. latter end Who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword Nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us for I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth and lest all these things should not reach the case of every Soul he adds nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. III. Consider that 't is not long e're the Lord Jesus thy dear Husband will come and consummate the Marriage between him and thy Soul And O how sweet will this be The Match here is but as it were begun between Christ and thee but Christ will shortly come and consummate it Behold the Bridegroom cometh Mat. 25.6 And again they that were ready went into the Marriage ver 10. and the Marriage of the Lamb is come Rev. 19.7 There is a time then when Christ will come to consummate the Marriage between him and Souls When he comes as to the World he comes as a Judge to condemn them to avenge the quarrel of his Gospel the quarrel of his Covenant the quarrel of his Blood all which they have rejected he comes to pass Sentence upon them for resisting his Spirit for contemning his Grace for breaking his Laws for neglecting his Salvation And O how dark will the day of his coming be to them But now to his own Spouses when he comes he comes as a Bridegroom And O how sweet will this coming of his be to them 1. Then he will turn all your Water into Wine Joh. 2. beg we read That Christ being at a Marriage he there turned Water into Wine And truly Soul when he shall come to consummate the Marriage between him and thee he will turn all thy Waters of Affliction into the Wine of sweet Consolation to thee He will turn thy Night into Day thy Darkness into Light thy Sorrows into Joys thy Mourning into Dancing thy Troubles into Rest thy Conflicts into Triumphs thy Labours into Reward thy mournful Lamentations into joyful Halelujahs Then will he fulfil that Scripture to thee Rev. 21.4 God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more Death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain Poor Soul now thine eyes are full of tears with holy David Thou goest weeping and mourning it may be all the day long but then all tears shall be wiped off thine eyes Now thou art in deaths often as the holy Apostle was but then there shall be no more death Now
Deum sacere mendacem horribilis est execranda impietas quia tanc quod illi maxime proprium eripitur Calv. in Lec thereby we take that from him which is most dear and proper to him O tremble Soul tremble at the Blackness and hellishness of this sin 2. This sin of refusing Christ is what is directly opposite to the highest design of God for his own Glory and Robs him of that Glory which is most dear to him what my Beloved was the highest design that ever God laid and carried on for his own Glory Verily 't was Christ and the Salvation of sinners by Christ He design'd himself a revenue of Glory in making the World and he does design himself a revenue of Glory in all he does in governing the World But that wherein he has design'd the highest revenue of Glory to himself is the mistery of Christ and Salvation by Christ So much is evident from Epe 1.11 12 14. In whom sayes he speaking of Christ We have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will that we should be to the praise of his Glory And again v. 14. unto the praise of his Glory The sum is this that God's Glory was his great end in the dispensation of Christ and our Salvation by him and also that in and by that dispensation he did design the highest revenue of Glory to himself For pray observe first he calls it the praise of his Glory the splendor and highest emanation of his Glory Secondly he repeats this design of God to the praise of his Glory and again to the praise of his Glory which notes this to be his grand design for his Glory Again what is that Glory that is most dear to God Verily 't is the Glory of his Grace Grace is his darling attribute and the Glory of his Grace is most dear to him Hence this has been peculiarly his design in the whole of the mistery of Christ So the same Apostle tells us Eph. 1.6 Who having before spoken of the great misteries of predestination and redemption by Christ here in the 6. v. tells you what was God's great design in all viz The praise of the Glory of his Grace 'T is the crowning of Grace and the enthroning of Grace which God in a peculiar manner delights in Now if the highest design of God for his own Glory be by the mistery of Christ and our Salvation by Christ and the Glory of his Grace be most dear to him then 't is clear that our refusing of Christ is most opposite to the highest design that God ever carried on for his own Glory and Robs him of that Glory which is most dear to him For alas This is in effect to say that God has laid out no Grace upon sinners in the dispensation of Christ and that he deserves no Glory upon the account of that dispensation This is in effect to tell him that neither his Christ nor his Grace in him is worth minding worth receiving and that we are no wayes beholding to him for the one or the other And O what Dishonour must this reflect upon God and how darkening to his Glory And accordingly Soul let thee and I tremble at it and at the Blackness and horridness of that sin that has such a dreadful effect 4. Consider that the neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin which directly and immediatly murders the soul and damns it eternally and therefore must needs be a great sin That sin that does most directly and immediatly murder the Soul and destroy it eternally that must needs be a great sin and should be greatly dreaded by us And what sin is it that does this but our neglect and refusal of Christ And Soul that thou may'st be the more deeply convinced of this seriously weigh these following propositions First that the neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin which rejects the onely remedy of sinful souls Poor Sinners are in themselves dead lost undone and perishing for ever They are sick and sick to death they are sinful and sinful to damnation and there is one and but one remedy for them and that 's Christ Christ and his Blood Christ and his Grace Christ and his fulness Besides this there is no Balm in Gilead no Physitian there for them neither is there Salvation in any other Acts. 4.14 Therefore by refusing and rejecting him they refuse and reject the onely remedy He indeed is a Compleat as well as an onely remedy He is able and as willing as he is able to save to the very uttermost as the Scripture tells us But they by rejecting of him exclude themselves from his saving efficacy and so thereby do directly murder their own souls 2. That the neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin which bindes all a mans other sins fast to him 'T is a great and weighty saying which a worthy Divine has Unbelief sayes he which is properly the neglect and refusal of Christ bindes all a mans sins fast to his Soul and Damnation fast to his sins 'T is indeed the Bond of all our guilt and all our misery that which makes the curse cleave close to us for ever And while a man remains in this sin 't is impossible that he should be acquitted and discharged from the guilt of any one of all his sins 'T is I remember Austin's observation upon that place Joh. 16.8 9. Ponit hoc peccatum infidelitatis specialiter quia hos manente caetera manent hoc decedente caetera remittuntur Aug. Where Christ tells us That his Spirit shall convince the World of Sin because they believe not in him Christ sayes he instances in the sin of infidelity in a special manner because that sin remaining all our other sins remain But that being taken away all others are forgiven Faith as one of the Ancients expresses it delet omnia peccata blots out all sins but unbelief that bindes all fast upon us Hence that word of Christ If ye betieve not ye shall dye in your sins i. e. your sins shall cleave close to you to the very death Jo. 8.24 This will be further evident in the next proposition Therefore 3. That though all sin be killing and damning yet no sin shall ever damn or destroy us unless we add thereunto the sin of the neglect and refusal of Christ 'T is true every sin is damning sin within sin without The wages of sin is death Rom. 6. last And the Apostle tells us there is a just recompence of reward due to every transgression and disobedience Heb. 1.2 But though every sin be damning yet what ever a mans sins are though never so many never so great they shall they can never damn him in case he receives and embraces Christ Nor indeed can any of all a mans sins be said to be the immediate cause of his damnation but his refusing of Christ Indeed
under the Law the immediate cause of mens perishing was sin in general But under the Gospel the onely immediate cause of mens perishing is the rejection of Christ and his Grace through unbelief So much Christ himself tells us in that known place Joh. 3.18 He that believeth on the Son is not condemned Meritum damnationis juxta Evangelium non est peccatum sed preseverantia finalis in peccato infidelitatis Twis vind gra but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed on the name of the onely begotten Son of God He that believeth on Christ is not condemned And why so Is it because he has no sins to condemn him No but because believing on Christ all his sins are done away But he that believeth not on him is condemn'd already And why Is it because he is a sinner in general or because his sins are many and great sins No but because he hath not believed on the name of the onely begotten Son of God The sum of all is this The immediate cause of mens condemnation is not this sin or that sin but their refusing of Christ by unbelief Hence you have it so frequently up and down the Gospel He that believeth shall be saved He that believeth not shall be damned and the like Well then if our vefusing of Christ be the rejecting of the onely remedy of sinful Souls if it be what bindes all a mans sins fast upon him and if none of all a mans other sins though many and great should or could ever damn him were not this sin of refusing Christ added to them then certainly this is that sin which does most directly and immediatly murder the Soul O how great a sin then does this speak it to be Murder is a great sin an iniquity to be punished by the judge nor do we look upon a murderee fit to live But no murder like to Soul-murder nor should we suffer this Soul-murderer to live one moment 4. Consider that the neglect and refusal of Christ is a sin which argues you to be really in Love with your sins which truly and indeed chooses Death rather then Life loves Darkness more then Light and which leaves you without the least colour of excuse or room of appeal for ever And O what a black and horrid sin must this then be A little of each 1. This sin of neglecting and refusing Christ is what really argues you to be in Love with your sins and to have slight thoughts of them For men to act sin is bad but to have slight thoughts of sin and to be in Love with it is much worse sin being against an infinite good even infinitly contrary to the blessed God has in a sort an infinite evil in it and to be in love with that which has an infinite evil in it O how dreadful a thing is this Yet this your refusal of Christ carries in it For pray mark had you not slight thoughts of sin you would not refuse the pardon of sin when offer'd you but would account it worthy of all acceptation and were you not in Love with your sins yea greatly in Love with them you would not choose and desire to continue in your sins much less would you refuse and reject so great a good as Christ is for the sake of your sins Should a condemn'd Malefactor refuse the Kings free pardon would not this argue him to have slight thoughts of Death yea to be in Love with it and to prefer it before life As clearly does your refusing of Christ argue you to have slight thoughts of sin and to be in Love with it O were you not in Love with your sins you would be glad of a discharge and deliverance from them and would withall readiness and joyfulness embrace it when freely offer'd to you as in Christ it is 2. This sin of refusing Christ is what truly and indeed speaks you to love darkness more then light and to chose death rather then life 'T is what prefers sin and death before Christ and life and Grace O what a black sin then must it be This Christ himself asserts concerning it and that as an high aggravation of it and what makes it doubly damning Joh. 3.19 This is the condemnation that light is come into the World and men love darkness rather then light Christ and the good things of Christ are here call'd light on the other hand sin and death sin and the miseries that attend it are call'd darkness Now sayes Christ men by unbelief and refusing of me do declare that they love this darkness before this Light Men by refusing of me do in effect love choose prefer sin and death and darkness before me and my Grace me and that eternal life which I would give them O what a sin is this Christ may truly say to Sinners as Moses to them of old Deut. 30.19 I call Heaven and Earth to record this day that I have set before you Life and Death blessing and cursing therefore choose life that ye may live Now for them to choose death and reject life to choose the curse and reject the blessing This is a dreadful sin indeed and the more dreadful On the one hand because the light is so lovely and amiable and on the other hand the darkness is so odious terrible as also because the obligations which lie upon us to love choose and prefer the light before darkness are so weighty and forcible For Christ earnestly desires it he graciously counsells it he strictly commands it and no less then a whole eternity of Glorious and unspeakable happiness depends upon it O think of these things 3. This sin of refusing Christ is a sin which leaves you without the least colour of excuse or room of appeal for ever which must argue it to be a great sin indeed First it leaves you without the least colour of excuse without the least coulour of excuse for sin and without the least colour of excuse why you should not die for sin This Christ himself is express in Joh. 15.22 If I had not come and spoken to them they had not had sin but now they have no Cloak for their sin If I had not come and spoken to them viz. in the Gospel revealing my Father's will and offering my self and my Grace to them They had not had sin i. e. Not so great sin But now they have no Cloak no excuse for their sin Now they have no pretence to make nothing wherewith to colour or extenuate their sin The neglect and refusal of Christ leaves men altogether inexcusable and it will do so to be sure in the last day O when God in the day of his righteous judgment shall demand of men that have liv'd under the Gospel why they sin'd and having sin'd why they are found in their sins and being found in their sins why they should not die for ever what will they have to say by way