Alas I doe it not it was the Lord that wrought this heart in mee I have seene the day when I could have beene as well content to heare the Minister preach plainly as to have a knife run to my heart but the Lord wrought my heart to it therefore the Spirit puts that magnet stone of the mercie and grace of Christ upon my heart hee puts this temper upon my heart and makes it able to close with it selfe in the promise in 2 Corin. 5.5 when Paul there had disputed of his desire to lay downe his life for the Gospell and to put his body upon suffering for the Gospels sake he was even weary of the world and would faine have beene gone how gat he this temper why the text saith Now he that hath wrought us for the same thing if God who also hath given us the earnest of his Spirit it is a great while before wee can bee brought to this temper when all the Ministers tongues are even worne to the stumps and the wicked will bee wicked still yet the Lord doth worke it so then you see that the Spirit of God by the promise works upon the soule and leaves a dint upon the heart and so brings the soule by the Spirit to close with it selfe in the promise and hence you may collect two things for your information in this kinde Colect 1 First that the beleever being moved by the stroke of the Spirit of the Father is made able to close with the Father and the Sonne because the Spirit of the Lord doth fasten fit and frame the heart hereunto in this manner and hence it is that the soule can close with the Father and the Sonne too why because the Spirit which proceeds and comes from the Father and the Sonne is able to frame the soule to close with both for the Spirit hath something of the Father and something of the Sonne and therefore is able to make the soule to close with both 1 Iohn 1.3 These things have I written unto you that you may have fellowship with us holy Iohn was a spirituall father unto them and hee writes to them that thereby they might have fellowship with the Saints and he saith Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Sonne Iesus Christ why doth he not say our fellowship is with the Father as well as to say our fellowship is with the Father and the Sonne because it is presumed before hand that a man must have fellowship with the Spirit before hee can have fellowship with the Father and the Sonne because it is the Spirit that hath fitted the heart and framed it to close with both Colect 2 Secondly hence it comes to passe that the person of the beleever may bee knit to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ the foot is knit to the head by the continuance of the order of the body and the members thereof as the foot is knit to the leg and the leg to the thigh and the thigh to the body and so to the head this is the meaning of that phrase Iohn 6.56 our Saviour presseth this hard upon the Disciples and saith My flesh is meat indeed and my bloud is drinke indeed hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and in him then they begun to wonder at it and to say How can this be and yet Christ saith what if you see the the Sonne of man carrying the body of his flesh into heaven you will thinke it more hard to eat my flesh then yet you must eat my flesh then too how it is the Spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak they are Spirit and life as if he had said my good Spirit is in the word and promise close you with my Spirit and then you draw my Spirit my flesh and my blood downe into your whole natures the words that I speake they are Spirit and Life that is my Spirit is in the Word of the promise though my body be gone up into heaven therefore close you with my Spirit in the promise and then you close with my flesh spiritually Thus much for the manner of the union Now for the order of this union how this is done and there the question will be this Whether the beleever is knit first to the humane nature of Christ or to the Divine nature Quest. 2 I am not greatly willing to meddle with this point in this popular congregation because there are many wise and orthodox Divines and godly too which are of contrary opinion they confesse both but they differ about the order but that I may bring no prejudice to the judgement of any I will shortly shew you the summe of those arguments Answ which either side hold and will shew to which I doe incline and so leave the point to the judgement of those that heare it to incline to which side they thinke best and thus I shall wrong none at all First some Divines wise holy and orthodox and many too doe goe that way all of them have it from that root they that hold that the soule is knit to the humane nature of Christ first have two reasons for it First say they as the Scripture reveales Christ to us so also our hearts embrace him and close with him but the Scripture reveales the Lord Christ more often and frequently in regard of his Manhood than in regard of his Godhead as in that place The seed of the Woman shall breake the Serpents head and such like therefore the understanding first closeth with this and the heart first receives it the second reason why they hold this is thus much If say they all the great works of our redemption both sanctification and justification and redemption were wrought in the humane nature of Christ and as by a channell conveyed to us by his humane nature then it is reason that the soule should first close with the humane nature but it is so that all the great workes of justification sanctification c. were all accomplished in the humane nature of Christ for as the text saith He died for our sins and triumphed over sin and hell and death therefore say they it is fit that the soule should first close with the humane nature of Christ and this is the life and pith of all their arguments Againe other Divines and they are wise and orthodox they hold this and though all hold the maine substantiall truths of eternall life yet they differ in this they say the beleever is first knit to the Deity and they have also two arguments and the first is this That which is the maine and the proper object of faith to that the soule first lookes and to that the soule is first united for all union comes by operation in this kinde but the Godhead is the first object of faith in beleeving the Godhead and the third person of Trinity they are the first objects of
so Secondly some againe are maliciously massacred with dishonourable cruelties they are puld the flesh from the bones and burnt to ashes c. None of all these did fall to our Saviour these are personall things they belong not to the nature of man and therefore it was no way requisite that Christ should undergoe those kinds of death marke these two passages to open it a little Acts 2.27 quoted out of Psalme 16.10 Thou wilt not leave my soule in hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption Now the Saints of God doe see corruption but this was a dishonourable infirmitie for Christ though he suffered for us yet hee raised up himselfe from the vildnesse of the grave and saw no corruption and therefore it was no dishonour to him Iohn 19.33 36. When the souldiers found our Saviour dead they brake not his legs that the Scripture might be fulfilled which saith not a bone of him shall bee broken Whatsoever dishonour our Saviour Christ did submit himselfe unto he was willing to suffer but what was not by Law required and what was not fit for him to suffer that Christ would not suffer the Jewes to doe unto him for the Law did not require this in the curse that his legs should bee broken and therefore Christ would not undergoe it this is the third conclusion Vse 1 From the former truth that our Saviour Christ did die this naturall death I gather thus much it is a marvellous sweet cordiall to all the Saints of God upon their sicke beds it is a ground of strong consolation as the Apostle saith to beare up the hearts of Gods people in the day of death that they may lift up their heads with comfort and looke grizzeld death in the face with courage and boldnesse for the death of Christ hath taken away the evill of thy death therefore be not thou troubled with it nor dismaid by it there is no bitternesse in that pill nor no venome in that cup to thee for the poyson is gone therefore bee not you troubled with it whensoever God sends it upon you for the sharpest death of a Saint of God is like a humble Bee that hath no sting in it which a childe may play withall and not be hurt and thus Saint Paul plaid with death 1 Cor. 15.55 Oh death where is thy sting as if he should say the wicked feare death because the sting is in it to them but that sting is taken away from mee by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ when Christ went downe into the grave he sugered it and made it sweet and easie as a bed of Downe for beleevers to rest upon There are three privileges which every beleever may challenge upon his deathbed the first is this First every beleever may and should under the authoritie of mercy challenge mercy and in the vertue of the death of Christ he should boldly lay downe his life 1 Thes 4.16 The dead in Christ shall rise first that is the value of the phrase in the vertue of the death of Christ wee die also that as he died by his owne power rose againe so also wee die that wee may rise againe The Saints of God die that they may bee like to Christ and be raised againe and so bee for ever happy with Christ this is the particular good that the death of Christ communicates to the faithfull ones 1 Cor. 15.36 Thou foole that which thou somest it is not quickned unlesse it die it must first be corrupted that it may grow againe into an eare of corne the meaning is a man therefore dies that he may rise againe the body must lie downe in the dust 1 Cor. 15.53 This corruption must put on incorruption and this mortalitie must put on immortalitie Now corruption cannot put on incorruption nor mortalitie cannot put on immortalitie so long as wee are here the body of Adam could not be made immortall of it selfe the frame of it would not affoord so much for Adams body needed meat and had it but immortall bodies need no food but live by the power of Gods Spirit therefore Christ tooke downe the frame of this nature that hee might make it a more excellent frame It is therefore said that a Christian dies rather in the authoritie of mercy than justice that as Christ died and rose again so Christ will have all his servants die that hee may of a corrupt nature and a mortall body make an immortall body he will make it immortall which nature it selfe no not in its perfection could not doe this is the first privilege A second privilege which beleevers receive is this the death of the beleever puts an end to all his sinnes and miseries and sorrowes that when the soule and body shall part in sunder then sin shall depart from both and when they goe out of this life they shall goe from all the miseries of this life we shall never bee more pestered with lusts and corruptions we shall never bee drawne from the Lord more Satan is now busie but when the Saints of God die there is a separation from all sinnes from all sorrowes from all temptations never to be assaulted more this is the meaning of that place 2 Cor. 4.10 Everywhere we beare about in our bodies the dying of the Lord Iesus that the life also of Iesus may be made manifest in our mortall bodies the meaning is this Christ by his death did subdue sinne and now by the sorrowes and troubles he suffered and by the power of his death there is a totall separation made from sin in soule and body therefore when as in the power of Christs death we can lay downe these bodies then are we separated from sinne this is to beare about in our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus this is quite contrarie in every unbeleever for death naturall in an unbeleever is but the very beginning of all their other plagues they sip of Gods vengeance now but they shall have the full cup then sinne in them now is restrained but then their sinnes shall take full possession of them Satan now doth but tempt them but then â—e shall take possession of them as it is said of the rich foole in the Gospell This night shall they fetch away thy soule and then as they shall bee for ever plagued so they shall be for ever sinfull nothing but sinne shall be in them they shall be altogether proud and for ever proud they shall be altogether malicious and for ever malicious and the devils shall drag the soule of the wicked out of the body downe to hell for evermore and there shall tyranize over it for ever but on the contrary it is not so with the Saints the end of their life is but the beginning of another they goe from a vale of teares to a haven of happinesse Thirdly the death of the beleever is a mean to bring and estate them into the full possession of all
his body then doe can it bee possible that men should harbour sinne in them if they did but know what it hath done to them can you see it and not haâ—e it Oh behold that sinne which hath caused God the Father to be angry with thy Saviour and doe thou hate it and let thy soule for ever loath thy sinne which hath caused Christ thus to doe to come downe from heaven and to bee tortured by wicked miscreants and to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and as sin hath caused God the Father to punish thy Saviour so goe thou and be revenged upon thy sin and say Oh my pride and my stubbornnesse and my loosenesse and uncleannesse and base drunkennesse these were the nailes that pierced his hands aâ—â— his feet they pierced his sacred body and 〈◊〉 the wrath of God the Father upon his soule therefore let mee bee for ever revenged of this proud stubborne and rebellious heart of mine and let mee for ever loath my sinne because it brought all this sorrow upon my Saviour To presse this use a little more I charge you brethren as ever you had any tender love unto Jesus Christ or any regard of your owne comfort goe your wayes and bee for ever cast downe and humbled for those evill waies of yours which have brought our Saviour to such a gulfe of misery and to be angry with those sinnes that have made God the Father angry with the Lord Jesus Christ and take thou revenge upon that proud stubborne heart that brought all this misery upon thy Saviour This is the course of humanitie amongst men if a man knew of any one which had murthered his father or his friend whom he highly regarded and honoured nature shewes us thus much that our hearts would rise against the man and you would not bee able to brooke the sight of him and you cannot endure to see him in your companies and if law and conscience did not forbid it you could be contented to give him his deaths wound and to bee his bane and you would cry out against him Oh he hath murthered my father or my deere friend and though you would not run upon him and kil him yet this every one would doe he would follow the Law to the uttermost and if all the law in the land will do it he will have him hanged and if he might have it put to his choyce what death hee should die hee would chuse him a death as bad as hee could devise and if he might be his Executioner how would he mangle him and say thou wast the death of my father and then hee would give him one blow for this and another blow for that and say thou wretch thou hast taken away the life of my father and I will have thy life Now is a man thus inraged and is the heart of a man carried with such violence unto him that hath murthered his father or his friend and that for the losse of the naturall life Oh then how should your hearts bee transported with infinite indignation not against the man but even against the sinne which is the cause of all this and which is wholly opposite against God and not onely because it hath taken away the life of the body of our Saviour but also made him undergoe the wrath of an everlasting father your sinnes are they that have thus slaine the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of life Therefore follow thou the law against these sins and raise hue and crie after them and bring them to the Sessions and set them before the tribunall of God and crie justice Lord justice against these sins of mine these slew my Saviour Lord slay them they have crucified my Saviour Lord crucifie them let me have life for life body for body and soule for soule these are the sins that have taken away the life from the body of our Saviour and tooke away all comfort from his soule Lord take away their life thus pursue thy sins and never leave them untill thou seest them bleed their last never thinke that thou hast power enough against corruption nor never thinke that thou dost enough against them but give thy corruptions one hacke more and confesse thy sinnes once more and say Lord his pride and this stubbornnesse Lord and this loosenesse of heart Lord these are they that kild my Saviour and I will be revenged of them and herein consider this when your hearts are inclining to any corruption or to any temptation of Satan and when thou findest thy soule drawne aside to any sin and when thou findest some temptings unto corruptions and stirrings of cursed lusts it is good then to have an actuall consideration of what sin hath done to the Lord Jesus Christ and reason thus with thy selfe and say these sins were the death of my Saviour and shall they be my delight these sins did pierce his hands and wounded his soule and shall they give contentment to my soule the Lord forbid did these sinnes plucke teares from his eyes and blood from his heart and shall I make them the delight of my heart the good Lord in mercy forbid it were it so that our hearts were fully and throughly perswaded that all the vanities of our mindes and all the lusts of our hearts and all the distempers of our affections were those that stabd the Lord Jesus Christ and wounded him to the heart it could not be that we should so delight in them and lavish out our soules and affections thereupon nay not onely Christianitie will doe it but nature and reason will even compell a man to doe the contrary could hee but reason thus with himselfe when corruptions tempt him and occasions call him and say thus with himselfe was it not enough and more than enough that the Son of God came downe from Heaven and suffered such grievous pains but shall I againe crucifie the Lord of life and shall I againe pierce those blessed hands of his and pierce that blessed side of his and all goare his sacred body with my uncleane sins and force him to crie out againe by reason of my sinnes which I have committed this is more than brutish and more than savage I beseech you in the bowels of the Lord to consider well of it you know what Christ said when Saul persecuted the poore Saints at Damascus Saul Saul why persecurest thou mee It pierced the Lord Christ when any of his members were pierced Acts 9.4 but now for such as beleeve in Christ and looke for mercy from Christ consider how neerly it will touch him and trouble him not onely to have his members pierced and persecuted but also to have his good Spirit grieved and himselfe to be wounded Imagine you heard the Lord speaking as the Church did in Lamentations 1.12 Is it nothing to you all oh yee that passe by is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow have you no compassion at all upon a Saviour
to one of these yee did it not to mee Now Divines reason thus that all the doome that shall passe upon the wicked at the day of judgement shall goe in this tenure because ye have not done this and that and if those shall bee condemned that did not visit the Saints when they were in prison if those shall be damned that did not cover the naked what shall become of those that 〈…〉 hearts and rend the 〈◊〉 of 〈…〉 the Lord hath not onely torments for them here but he hath devils in hel to torment them for evermore Therefore let me speake a word of advice to those that are guilty of this great sinne of persecuting the Lord of life goe aside and reason with your soules and parley with your hearts and think with your selves Oh poore foole that I was it was not any poore Christian any poore Saint that I hated but it was the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of life and of glory that I persecuted that I would have pluckt out of his Throne I would have tore his flesh off his body and rent his members asunder and alas I never knew it it was not the Saints I opposed but the Lord Jesus Christ I speake not this to countenance faction my aime is at those that persecute religion and sanctity of life Vse 3 For examination and triall we may hence see who are those that cleave unto Christ as also those that are false and dissemble with Christ which pretend great love and professe great kindnesse unto our Saviour and how much they respect him and how neere Christ is to them From the former Doctrine you may discover whether this be true or false hee that is a true beleever and knit so to Christ as never more to bee separated and parted he takes up the whole strength of his soule and bottoms it upon a Saviour hee is sanctified with the freenesse of his grace and is resolved for ever to cleave unto him and bestow himselfe upon him he that truly beleeves is thus knit thus joyned to the Lord Iesus Christ looke as it is sometimes with a mightie branch of a tree â—r with the arme of a mans body however the bough of the tree may be rent sometimes and haled aside by the violence of the tempest or by the pulling of a mans hand yet it will hold by the body and when the hand is gone it will goe up againe so it is with a faithfull soule he so cleaves to Christ that he will never be parted from him he will never be separated what ever provocation or opposition comes to the contrarie the beleeving soule is sometimes rent and strained by the weight of persecution and temptation and with the violence of corruptions but as soone as the temptation and the weight is gone it clings to Christ againe and as the bough take away the hand and it will rise up againe so whatsoever temptations come or corruptions come or oppositions betide yet it will not be pluckt off from the Lord and though it may be swayed aside yet it growes to the Lord therefore the first of Samuel 10.26 it is said The hearts that God touched did cleave unto Saul so it is with a beleever those that are famous in the eyes of the world and have professed great kindnesse to him in the time of persecution they will flye off but those whose hearts God hath fully touched they will follow Christ notwithstanding all opposition as it is with the needle of a diall it may be stirred and moved but it will never râ—â— till it come to the right place againe so it is with the soule that is â—uit to Christ by faith though he may be 〈◊〉 â—ering and doubting yet he will never bee 〈…〉 till he come to be fastned the right way to Christ but others there are that cleave fainedly to Christ and herein it will appeare either they will off when occasion serves or else wither in the very worke of the profession of the Gospell though they continue therein some there be that fall away wholly from their profession of this sort are thousands of your common protestants that are only knit unto Christ by peace and prosperity there are millions if the day of trouble should come and fire and sword should come and make them make profession of their faith they would flie off from their profession and they would leave the Lord and the Gospell and all in the lurch because they are not knit unto Christ by saving faith In the second place there are others who though they doe not fall away totally yet notwithstanding they wither and die and come to nothing and these are your cunning and close hearted hypocrites those that are knit to Christ and grow to him by some helpe and succour and assistance which they have from him by which they flourish grow greene in the profession of the Lord there is a generation of cunning dissemblers and close false dealers with the Gospell that grow to Christ by some helpe they receive from him and that makes them make a glorious shew in the profession of the Gospel but yet if God take away his assistance they wither and die and fade and vanish looke as it is with the haires of a mans head or with the leaves of a tree the leaves grow to the tree and the haires to the head but they grow not so much upon the substance of the body nor the leaves upon the substance of the tree as the arme and the branch doth but they grow onely by the moisture that comes from the body and the moisture that comes from the root or looke as it is with a wen in a mans body it is no part of the body but it growes out of the superabundant humors of the body and that feeds the wen and increaseth it but if the body grow weake and feeble and that humour be taken away it withers and comes to a drie skin just so it is with these cursed close hearted hypocrites as the haires and leaves grow so they grow to the Lord Jesus namely the Lord vouchsafeth some sap and moisture and some assistance to the performance of some services but they never grow to the substance of a Saviour they never grew to the holinesse of Christ they never had the Spirit of Christ powerfully prevailing with them as it is with the wen so it is with these glorious hypocrites that can vent themselves very gloriously they are wens in the profession of the Gospell they looke full bigly and stare every man in the face and to the appearance of the world are men of great account but if once the Lord take away his assistance from heaven they are like leaves upon the tree if they fall not yet they wither away I have oserved sometimes you shall have drie leaves stay upon an oake tree till new ones come againe so these haughtie hearted hypocrites they will take up a kinde of a dying
how also it should bee implanted into him being called by the Spirit of God in vocation wee have heretofore fully and largely discussed and concluded that point then wee came to the second thing which is the second part of this implanting or ingrafting a sinner into the Lord Jesus Christ and it is the growing to of a sinner with our Saviour and that is accomplished and fully brought about by two workes there are two parts of it for it is not enough for the graft to be put into the stock but it must grow together with it if ever there be any conveyance of any sap or any helpe and strength which it may receive from the same so it is with the beleeving soule faith doth not onely bring us unto Christ but it makes us grow together with Christ and this growing is discovered in two particulars The first is a spirituall union of the soule with our Saviour when the soule comes to be united to and made one with the Lord of life that wee have also handled and concluded in the two last lectures Againe the second part that accomplisheth and makes up this growing together with Christ it is that heavenly communion that the soule doth get with our Saviour when the stock of the merits of our Saviour and the vertue of his grace is communicated to the soule for this we must remember that these two things make up the growing of the stock and the graft together First there must be an union of the graft with the stock Secondly there must be an intercourse or a communication of the sap in the stock to the graft so it is with Christ what ever he hath he hath for his Church and people and what ever he doth he doth for his Church and servants so that there is a kinde of conveyance of the vertue of his merits and power of his grace unto the soules of those that beleeve in him and are knit unto him by a true and a lively faith wee have done with the 〈◊〉 that the soule hath with Christ we are now to speake of the heavenly and spirituall communion the intercourse betweene the Lord and the soule when the soule is married unto him and this is that wee aime at this is that wee looke at at this time and this I must tell you by the way that our purpose is not to meddle with the particulars at this time but onely with the generall nature of the communion of the soule with Christ now for the discovery of this worke wee have chosen the words of the text now read unto you and the scope of the words it is mainly this to discover unto us the dowrie and feofment of all that spirituall grace that is conveyed and made sure to the beleeving soule being made one with the Lord Jesus that looke as it is with a man that hath a faire estate to himselfe it is only his owne but when the wife is wooed and brought home married he gives over the right of himselfe unto her and if hee make over his estate unto her shee hath title thereunto this now is the dowry of a Christian the Lord Jesus Christ is no bad match you must not thinke you could have done better it is a wonder that ever our Saviour would take us to himselfe or shew favour to us but the case is cleare if a beleever be called and brought home to Christ Christ is made to us wisdome and righteousnesse and sanctification and redemption Christ hath all and whatsoever Christ hath it is all yours you have title thereunto and shall receive sap and benefit therefrom if you have hearts to take that good God offers and you may receive wee will not now meddle with the severals in the verse but these two things must be specially attended to in the words that we may make way for our selves in the point we have to trade withall First take notice of the compasse of that happinesse and spirituall grace which God vouchsafeth unto his and it is ranged into foure heads the text saith Christ is made unto us wisdome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption all that Christ hath or can communicate all that the beleeving soule can desire or want may be referred to these foure First Wisdome that is the declaration of the way of God and eternall happinesse in and through the Lord Jesus Christ which all the policie of all cunning men and all subtill pates in the world could never pry into that wisdome which revealed the secret things and the deepe things of God the Lord Jesus is made that wisdome to the beleeving soule Secondly Christ is made unto us righteousnesse that is whatsoever guilt lieth upon us whatsoever sinne hath beene committed by us what ever punishment wee have deserved Christ is made unto us righteousnesse to acquit us of all Thirdly Christ is made unto us sanctification the soule of a poore sinner is defiled with many corruptions and polluted with many distempers now Christ is made unto him sanctification to purge and purifie him from all those sinnes and distempers Lastly because while we wander up and downe this vale of teares and in this pilgrimage of ours wee shall bee oppressed with many evils that will lye upon us and death it selfe which is the last enemy will seize upon us and captivate our bodies in the grave therefore Christ is made unto us redemption he will take away all trouble and wipe all teares from our eyes nay hee will breake open the grave and deliver his Saints from thence The Heathen to make the Saints of God sure in time of persecution they first slew them and then they burnt their bodies to ashes and then threw them into the water and then they said Let us now see how they will rise againe alas poore creatures why the Lord loves the very dust the very ashes of his Saints in the grave and the Lord will redeeme our bodies from the grave and our names from dishonour and our lives from trouble and our soules from sinne and will set us free from all miseries and inconveniences at the great day of account these are the foure things wherein the dowry and feofment of a beleeving soule consists I will not now trade in the particulars but only in the generall and shew how that every beleeving soule that rests upon Christ by faith hath an interest in these The second thing considerable is this to whom all these things belong and the text tels us Christ is made all this to us and the truth is it is made over to all beleevers there is not one man exempted not one man excluded every beleeving creature hath a part and portion herein however the holy Apostle crowds in for a share and if wee looke into the 26 27 28. verses wee shall see to whom this belongs Ye know your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mightie not many noble are called but God
the Lord humbled him mightily so when the Lord comes to meet with an old loose adulterer and an old base drunkard and a sturdy persecutor as Paul was an ordinary stroke will not doe the worke therefore as he had a great deale of mercy for Paul so hee had a great deale to doe before hee could humble Paul hee flung him off his horse as he was posting to Damascus and might have broken his neck againe men sometimes are driven to great trials and straights as when God cals men to great trials and sufferings now God doth apply to every man according to his estate and condition he that God hath set as a commander in his Church as a Minister to teach and a Magistrate to rule and a master of a family Gods fits graces unto them according to their estates the Lord takes measure of a mans estate as it were and suits him proportionably with all graces necessary for his condition againe they that are meaner and poorer they shall have wisdome and sanctification and redemption but answerable to their conditions that is observable Ephes 4.16 Paul there calling our Saviour Christ the head of the Church and his faithfull servants the members of this head hee saith By whom all the members being knit together according to their effectuall working in their measure they receive increase as for example in the body so much life and spirit as belongs to the finger is in the finger but there is more in the arme than in the finger and more in the bulk of the body than in the arme that which suits with such a part it hath it and that which suits with such a part nature bestowes it there is not so much in the finger as in the hand nor so much in the hand as in the arme nor so much in the arme as in the body because it is not sutable and proportionable nature will not doe it God will not suffer it so some Christians are armes in the body of the Church some fingers some legs some are strong Christians that beare up a great weight in profession stout and strong and resolute and the like now the Lord communicates all grace and mercy sutable for every mans place and condition thou that art a finger shalt have so much grace as befits a finger and thou that art an hand thou shalt have so much grace as shall save thee and is fit for thy place but another is an arme and hee shall have more but all shall have that which is fitting therefore the text saith Christ is made unto us wisdome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption that looke as a man that makes a garment hee takes measure of the man for whom he makes it and fits every part according to the part of the body the arme of the doublet is sutable to the arme of the body and so Christ is made righteousnesse and sanctification to all poore beleeving creatures thou art an arme in the body of Christ hee is made so much wisdome and sanctification to thee as will serve thy turne thou hast had a great many sinnes and hast beene a rioter and a roister before God opened thine eyes and brought thee home to himselfe why there is great mercy in Christ sutable to thy sinnes there is mercy in Christ to justifie thee if thou hast never so few sinnes and there is mercy enough in Christ to justifie the greatest sinner if hee can but beleeve in the Lord Jesus Christ and this is the second passage in this article of agreement in the tenure of the conveyance of grace from Christ to the soule the Lord hath enough for all and he doth communicate what is fit and proportionable to every mans estate and condition The third thing is this as the Lord doth communicate what is fit so he doth preserve what hee doth bestow and communicate and give to the beleeving soule hee doth not give grace to the beleeving soule and there leave him and let him manage his estate but when hee hath wrought grace in the soule he preserves it and nourisheth his owne worke Psal 16.5 there the Prophet David saith The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and he maintaineth my lot he doth not only give him his lot but he maintaines his lot it is a comparison taken from the children of Israel when they came into the land of Canaan it was divided to every tribe by lot now God did not onely bring them into the land and give them their lot but he maintained that lot he defended them and releeved them from the fury and rage of their adversaries that went about to take away that which God had bestowed upon them now the Psalmist saith The Lord is my portion and hee maintaineth my lot every beleeving soule hath a lot and portion in Christ so much grace and holinesse and so much assurance now the Lord doth not onely give this but when you are weake and feeble the Lord keeps your grace and preserves your grace which hee hath bestowed upon you therefore Christ is said to be the preserver of his Church Iude 1. To you that are called and sanctified preserved by Iesus Christ Christ is not only the giver of grace but he is the preserver of his Church and that is the meaning of that phrase when our Saviour had implanted grace in the heart of Peter he did not only plant it by his Spirit but he watered it by his prayers that it might not wither away I have prayed that thy faith faile not hee did not only give him faith that was not enough but he watered his faith by his prayers that it might not wither and dye and decay 1 Pet. 1.4 hence it is said that hee preserves us by the power of God through faith unto salvation and faith keeps the soule and Christ keeps faith faith is the hand that layes hold upon Christ and Christ layes hold upon faith and wee have a kingdome preserved for us and he preserveth us for it and this is the pith of that phrase Psal 1. the text saith The righteous man is like the tree planted by the rivers side that brings forth fruit in due season whose leafe shall not fade he doth not say his sap shall not wither but his leafe shall not wither not onely that gracious disposition of heart which is wrought shall never decay in the Saints of God but a zealous profession shall never decay in conclusion how ever a tree be nipt with the cold and frost yet in conclusion it will bud forth againe so the sap of grace that Christ workes in us and conveyeth to us being planted by the fountaine of the Lord Jesus in the midst of persecution and fiery triall they shall grow humble and meeke and holy in despight of what can befall them for a Christian is not conquered when hee loseth his life but when he loseth his grace as take a man that is led into captivitie into Turkie into Algeir