are no more forreiners and strangers that 's the state of alienation from the Lord but fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of faith this is that of friendship and communion with God That is the first thing to be noted as to this matter 2. These two estates as to matters of salvation and condemnation are comprehensive of all the posterity of mankind without exception of any They do take in the whole compass of the children of men My meaning is this that there is no middle condition there is not a man or woman upon the face of the earth but must of necessity fall under one of these two ranks Either he is a Saint and servant of God or a vassal and slave to the devil either he is an heir of heaven or a firebrand of hell And pray Sirs let us apply it diligently unto our selves and often say in our hearts One of these two is the condition of my soul if I am not a child of God and in covenant with him it will necessarily follow that I am a child of the devil for there is no third estate If I be not sanctified and called to be a Saint it cannot otherwise be but that I am in the gall of bitterness and if I die in this condition I drop immediately into hell As there are but two places into which all nations shall be sent at the end of the world that is heaven and hell the place of eternal life and that of everlasting punishment so there are but two states in which all are comprized during their abode in the world either they are Gods friends or his adversaries still in their sins or delivered from their sins 1 Joh. 5.19 And we know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness The whole world that is all other persons besides us of what rank and quality soever And that is a pregnant Text Eccl. 9.2 All things come alike unto all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath Mark it all people in the world are cast by the holy Ghost into two ranks or companies either they are righteous or wicked clean or unclean good or sinners There is no middle condition or state of neutrality upon a spiritual account And indeed there is strong evidence of it from the reason and nature of the thing because the distinction which is between these two estates is such as we call a difference of contradiction in some respect such as is between the negation and affirmation of the same thing which cannot possibly admit of any third or middle estate whatsoever * If you will rather say they are privative opposita yet the argument holds good for such admit not a middle in subjecto capaci Oppositorum duorum privativè cum unum non inest necesse est alterum inesse susceptibili Aquin. Privatio euim est circa certum genus contradictionis Alex. de Ales Joh. 3.36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Mark it here is a difference of contradiction betwixt believing and not believing You cannot possibly pitch upon a man but either he believeth on the Son and so is in the state of grace or he believeth not on the Son and remains in the state of wrath They who are regenerate and converted have the promise of salvation and such as are unregenerate and not converted shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven Here is a kind of difference of contradiction between converted and not converted And so I might instance in other qualifications That is the second thing to be noted as to the change of a mans spiritual state 3. Observe in the third place That these two estates upon a spiritual account are utterly incompatible and inconsistent one with the other and cannot upon any hand stand together Plainly thus they cannot both appertain to the same person at the same time It is altogether impossible that a man should be in the favour of God whilst he is in league of amity with his corruptions that he should be in the kingdom of Christ and under the prince of darkness together This is a truth so plain and obvious at the first view that one would think it should be needless to press it But I insist upon it the rather because there are secret workings in the hearts of the children of men to the contrary Their inward thoughts are that they may serve the Lord and be subjects of the devil together that they may be vain and earthly and sensual and follow the course of the world and yet be the people of God notwithstanding That they may drink and revel and be wanton and the like and be in the state of salvation too You shall find these are the secret thoughts and imaginations of mens spirits Mic. 3.10 11. They abhor judgment and pervert equity they build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity The heads thereof judge for reward and the Priests thereof teach for hire and the Prophets thereof divine for mony Yet they will lean upon the Lord and say is not the Lord amongst us They flatter and sooth up themselves that they were servants of Jehovah the God of heaven although they served divers lusts and pleasures and turned aside into crying wickednesses that the Lord was on their side and they belonged to him though they openly espouse the interest of sin But alas Sirs it can never be these imaginations are vain and sottish Mark how peremptorily our Saviour asserteth the contrary backing that assertion with forcible argument Mat. 6.24 No man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other ye cannot serve God and Mammon q.d. It is a sottish thing to entertain such a fond conceit as if you could join both interests together The Laws of Christ and the commands of sin are diametrally opposite one to the other if the affections run towards the one they must of necessity be withdrawn from the other nay set against the other for they are directly contrary And besides where God accepteth of the heart he will have the whole heart where he is served truly he must be obeyed entirely and universally with the whole soul So that never dream of such a thing as making a commixtion of these two It is as easie to joyn together light and darkness heaven and hell as to make a conjunction between righteousness and unrighteousness between Christ and Belial The words of Joshua are very pertinent to this purpose when the people seemed to promise so affectionately
as thirst after them The remainders of the light of nature are enough to leave a sinner inexcusable in his condemnation when he doth not live up to that light but they can proceed no further they can make no discoveries of the path of salvation But now persons in the visible Church have these things revealed before their eyes they have Christ set forth that they may know him and his excellencies displayed that they may love him So that it is a merciful priviledge in this respect Nay if the fault be not in themselves it may bring them to Christ in a saving way Psal 147.19 20. He sheweth his word unto Jacob his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel He hath not dealt so with any Nation and as for his Judgments they have not known them Praise ye the Lord. q. d. Here is matter of praise and abundant thanksgiving See also Rom. 9.4 and Ezek. 20.11 12. 2. Hereby persons do enjoy communion with such as are real Saints and servants of Christ in sincerity which may be of excellent use to provoke them to emulation and so to save their souls They have the benefit of the society of the godly to be an incouragement unto them to serve the Lord indeed and the advantage of their example as a copy for imitation Multum resert quibuscum vixeris They are under their counsel for admonition and many times partakers of their provoking conferences to incite and stir them up to become such as they are They have a share in their inspection and watchfulness over them whereby oftentimes they are restrained and kept in due bounds And so it is a signal mercy in this respect As by fellowship with the wicked and contracting friendship with them men learn their wayes and get a snare unto their souls so by communion with the Saints persons are in a capacity of learning their ways and saving their souls Psal 141.4 5. Let the righteous smite me it shall be a kindness and let him reprove me it shall be an excellent oyl which shall not break my head Nihil tutius amico monitore that is by an usual Meiâ—sis it will abundantly tend to my spiritual good and to the promoting and carrying on my eternal welfare As coals are kindled by other burning coals so are the ungodly many times by hearty counsel and holy walking and the like made instrumental to quicken and inflame such as have fellowship with them Jam. 5.19 3. From hence it is that they do in a sort partake of that special care which God taketh of his Church and receive some drops of those blessings which Christ doth showr down upon his Church You know that although God by a general providence doth mind and govern the whole creation he feeds the ravens when they cry and gives meat to the beasts of the field yet he hath a special inspection into the affairs of his Church he maketh peculiar provision for them reserving his dainties in store for them Now by this external adhaesion unto Christ and being in the visible Church a person may have a share in those mercies and the out-skirts of those blessings may fall down upon their heads As one that is but a sojourner in a family and no stated fixed member of it may taste of many good things which the good man of the house prepared for his own children And therefore a people are said upon this kind of neerness to have God himself nigh unto them that is to be under his special care even the body of the people though multitudes of them went no further than profession Psal 148.14 The children of Israel a people neer unto him Deut. 4.7 For what Nation is there so great that hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all that we call upon him for And it seemeth to be mentioned as a priviledge of the whole visible Church Isa 4.5 That the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion and upon her assemblies upon the Church of Christ whereof Zion was a type and upon all the particular Congregations thereof a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night The meaning is this God will in a special manner be a guide unto them and undertake for their safeguard and protection He will lead them and preserve them as he did the children of Israel in their travels out of Egypt when he went before them in a cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night So Isa 31.5 As birds flying so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem defending also he will deliver it and passing over he will preserve it As birds flying that is swiftly and speedily at the cry of his people he will come as in an instant before the adversaries are aware Or as a bird doth hover over the nest to preserve her young ones so will the Lord watch over his people to secure and deliver them These and such promises are made to the Church in general and even carnal Professors by vertue of their station in the Church may have a share in this security these deliverances As when the godly joyn in confederacy with the wicked they may be made to smart under the judgments that are sent upon the wicked so Professors by their fellowship with the godly may taste of the blessings imparted unto them 4. It is a great priviledge because hereby men are often restrained from venting many corruptions that otherwise would have prevailed from turning aside into such sins and abominations wherein others wallow And so they are prevented and kept from contracting much guilt which otherwise would be contracted by them And this is no small advantage Restraining grace is a mercy though sanctifying grace is an higher And God doth make use of this neerness to Christ as a restraint or bridle to stop sinners in their carier hereby they are purged from their old sins 2 Pet. 1.9 That 's the second Position 3. Position 3. When men and women are only thus united unto Christ by way of visible profession or external adhaesion though they may abide with him for a time and seemingly cleave unto him yet at last there will be made a separation betwixt them and this union will be dissolved and broken asunder As it is a dissoluble Union for the nature of it Quomodo ergo Zizania sunt in regno Dei Putres pisces in reti Evangelico carena veste nuptiali in nuptiis Christi ita in Chricto est qui non sert fructum nomine tenus stilicer secundam externam 〈◊〉 tantum non antem verâ— fiâ—e Quare telluntur isti tandem velut resecti arefactique pelunites gebennae addiciottur Bucer so in the event it will actually be dissolved sooner or later by one means or another When a soul is in Christ by a spiritual implantation he shall never be parted from Christ but this common union will be
filthy rag and as a menstrous cloth The very imperfections and sinfull mixtures of our most spiritual duties were enough to condemn us It is by Christ alone that they who believe are justified from all things from which they cannot be justified by the Law of Moses Act. 13.39 I will add two considerations further to strengthen this particular besides what hath been delivered when we were speaking of the divorce of a sinner from the Law and to take us off from resting upon a legal righteousness 1. The most eminent and choicest servants of God that ever lived upon earth have utterly disclaimed and disowned their own personal obedience in the point of justification They durst not at any hand put their trust in it but knew it would be too short and that they should miscarry for ever if they relyed thereupon Thus my brethren If any persons under heaven could be justified by the Law and pronounced righteous upon legal terms that is upon the account of their own holiness and good works it would be such as have been most active for God and most useful and upright in their generations and that lived in the neerest conformity unto the Law But even they durst not place their confidence therein but have utterly renounced it Take the instance of Job a man who had not his fellow upon earth as we have assurance of it by the letters testimonial of the God of the spirits of all flesh Job 1.8 Durst he depend on his own righteousness See how he disclaimeth it Job 9.20 If I justifie my self my own mouth shall condemn me if I say I am perfect it shall also prove me perverse And cap. 42.6 I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes Take the example of David a man after God's own heart who fulfilled all his wills Act. 13.22 What saith he in this case See Psal 130.3 4. If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquities who O Lord could stand But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared * Meum meritum est miseratio Domini Bern. Justitia nostra est indulgentia tua Domine Let us descend to Daniel a man greatly beloved and of singular integrity insomuch that when the Lord doth reckon up the most noted examples of piety he is singled out as one Ezek. 14.14 And mark how he renounceth all confidence in the flesh and resteth only upon Christ Dan. 9.17 18. Cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary which is desolate for the Lords sake And v. 18. We do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses but for thy great mercies For he had before acknowledged that unto them belonged confusion of face It is true that believers have sometimes pleaded their holiness as an evidence of the sincerity and uprightness of their hearts with God and of their interest in the promises of mercy But they durst not appear in it before the justice of God That is a notable passage of Nehemiah Cap. 13.22 Remember me O my God concerning this and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy q.d. Through grace I have been serviceable to the Lord and expect a blessing thereupon but withal I stand in need of great mercies to cover the defects of those services 2. Such persons as have gone about to establish their own righteousness and attempted to be justified thereby have everlastingly miscarried in that attempt and fell short of heaven and found it to be but a broken reed that could never bear them up before the justice of God You read of some persons that seek to come to heaven and are not able Luk. 13.24 And these are one sort of those persons As such who seek it slothfully and negligently without striving to enter in at the strait gate so they that seek it by their own personal righteousness and expect to be justified thereupon And therefore observe what the Apostle saith to the Galatians whose hearts bankered after that way of justification Gal. 3.4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain if yet it be in vain q. d. If you go on to lean upon your own righteousness and rely not upon Christ all your Religion is in vain Whatever you have done or suffered will never save you from the wrath to come This is the third thing to be observed That it is only the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ by which a sinner can be justified in the sight of God 4. We can receive no benefit by the righteousness of Christ for justification in the sight of God nor can we be pardoned and accepted thereupon until that righteousness become ours and be made over unto us This is evident at the first view How can we plead it with God except we have an interest therein What advantage can it be to us unless it be ours Here is the mistake of many carnal people they hope to have their sins forgiven upon the account of Christ's righteousness and never enquire if that righteousness be theirs Mark it Sirs It must be yours and made over to you or else it will never stand you in stead They shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ who receive the gift of righteousness by him Rom. 5.17 Except they receive it it is nothing unto them It is in it self white raiment and beautiful and glorious apparel but it will never cover our nakedness except it be put on and we are cloathed there with Rev. 3. v. 18. It must be made over to us that we may be justified thereby 5. Observe in the next place That the way wherein or whereby this righteousness of Gods providing is conveyed and made over to us that we may receive the benefit thereof and be justified thereby it is by way of imputation That is the usual expression made use of in this business and the meaning is this God doth reckon the righteousness of Christ unto his people as if it were their own He doth count unto them Christ's sufferings and satisfaction and make them partakers of the vertue thereof as if themselves had suffered and satisfied This is the genuine and proper import of the word imputation when that which is personally done by one is accounted and reckoned unto another and laid upon his score as if he had done it * Imputari dicitur illud alicui quod in aliquo non inhaeret seu existit realiter sed tamen ei adscribitur ac si in ipso realiter inhaereret existeret atque adeo quod in ipsum transfertur Pet. Ravan Thus it is in this very case We sinned and fell short of the glory of God and became obnoxious to the vindictive justice of God and the Lord Jesus Christ by his obedience and death hath given content and satisfaction unto divine justice in our behalf Now when God doth pardon and accept us hereupon he doth put it upon our account he doth reckon it or impute it unto us as fully in respect of the benefit thereof as
faith Col. 2.7 So much for the third signal mercy or blessing which floweth from ingrafture into Christ and hath dependance thereupon namely The communication of the supplies of the Spirit 4. A fourth mercy that depends upon having the Son or union with the Son is The gracious acceptation of all our service and duties Take an unconverted sinner and he may do many things in Religion he may suffer much upon a religious account and be at much cost and expence in his profession and practise And the God of heaven hath no regard unto it Herein lieth the misery of a man out of Christ that whatsoever he doth for God is not accepted of the Lord. He may make many prayers and lose all his labour therein For the cars of the God of heaven are shut against them Isa 1.15 When you spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when you make many prayers I will not hear When you spread forth your hands that is Although you call upon me with never so much seeming earnestness although you seek after me in a solemn seemingly affectionate maner with your hands stretched out towards heaven I will hide mine eyes from you i. e. I will 〈…〉 in a way cannot endure the sight of them And when you multiply to pray I will be so far from granting your requests that I will turn away my self in disdain from you I will not so much as give you the hearing O what a sad word is this to the ungodly They trust in their duties when the Lord abhorreth them See another Text setting forth their deplorable condition in this respect Jer. 7.21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices and eat flesh It is unto the wicked he is speaking and it amounts to this As if he had said Keep your duties to your selves I will have nothing to do with them make your best of your offerings and never bring them unto me as long as you live in your iniquities Their burnt offerings or Holocausts were wholly to be burnt but as for their sacrifices the offerers themselves might eat some part of them Now saith God to those impenitent sinners Take them and and eat them both put them together and use them your selves make your best advantage of them for I regard them not Mark it These were costly duties and in respect to their signification they were Evangelical duties but whilst they were still in their sins God hath no delight in them What course then shall a man take that his sacrifices may be accepted Why he must get into Christ and be knit to him for this is a mercy which floweth from union with him Then if he offer up his duties in the Name of Christ the work is owned and the concomitant infirmities will be passed over Particularly then his supplications and prayers shall be graciously answered which is 〈…〉 given The Lord will with-hold no good thing from him Joh. 15.7 If ye abide in me and my words abide in you ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you O what a mercy is this to have the King 's eat the ear of the King of kings Your heavenly Father will deny you nothing And for the general acceptance of all their duties of God's appointment consult the Text 1 Pet. 2.5 Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ q. d. Then your performances will be accepted through him when ye your selves are built upon him and cemented unto him Here is another proof of the indispensable necessity of this Union No having the Son and no acceptation of any duties whatsoever 5. Another blessing which floweth from union with Christ and is attainable only thereby is A title to the promises of the Gospel which concern this life or that which is to come And this is a matter of unspeakable concernment for if you would enjoy the mercies conveyed by the promises you must have an interest in the promises You must secure a title to them as your heritage and portion and then they will prove a rich treasury or magazine to furnish you with every thing needful for life comfort and happiness There can be nothing desired for the advancement of a mans welfare which is not contained therein The promises are the foundation on which our hope is bottomed Indeed herein it differs from presumption which expects mercy from God without a word of promise to warrant the expectation thereof But good hope through grace is built upon the word Psal 119.49 Remember the word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope If a person entertain strong hopes of mercy and salvation without a word for it or against the word that is hope of the devils causing or such as proceedeth from the delusion and cozenage of his own Spirit it will prove such an hope as will make him ashamed at length and will be like the giving up the Ghost When God causeth a man to hope it is built upon the word that is the word of promise whereby mercy is entailed upon the servants of the Lord. And pray mark it Sirs you can have no title to the promises so as to rest upon them and to be able to plead them with God and to lay hold upon them as your heritage till you have the Son and are knit unto Jesus For in him they are established They are part of the inheritance prepared for the Saints and unless a person be married to the heir he can lay no just claim to the inheritance 2 Cor. 1.20 For in him all the promises of God are yea and in him Amen unto the glory of God by us And therefore the promise is said to be given through faith in Christ Gal. 3.22 that is A title to the promise or the enjoyment of the mercy promised is made over to a sinner by faith in Christ by that uniting grace which joyneth us unto Christ This is the fifth special mercy depending upon union with the Son Except you have the Son the Mediator of the Covenant you can have no right to the promises contained in the Covenant Your title to them doth result and flow from your oneness with him 6. There is Union with God the Father and an intimate acquaintance with him Whilst out of Christ we are at a distance from the Father yea at an enmity with him He is a consuming fire and we are as so much bryars and thornes and it were a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God But by having the Son that distance is removed and the enmity taken away and we are knit unto God so as to have fellowship and communion with him As Christ is in the Father and the Father in him so Believers by being in Christ are in the Father also Joh. 17.21 That
mention upon this account is taken from the union between the foundation and the building erected thereupon They are coupled together and knit into one so as to make up one house So the servants of Christ are knit unto him being built upon him 1 Cor. 3.9 11. Ye are God's building Upon what foundation are they built See v. 11. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Believers then are as a fabrique erected upon Christ and cemented unto him A little to unfold this resemblance I will only mind you of three things 1. The holy Ghost doth make mention in the records of the Scripture of a twofold foundation with reference to the Church 1. A doctrinal foundation 2. A personal foundation 1. A doctrinal foundation whereupon our faith is to be bottomed as upon an infallible and unmoveable ground This foundation is the Scriptures the doctrines contained in the Bible the Word of God therein revealed and in that way made known unto the children of men Eph. 2.20 Ye are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets that is Upon the doctrines contained in the Old and New Testament whereof the Prophets and Apostles were the publishers and the penmen by whom as instruments the mind of God was transmitted to succeeding generations * Gubernabit te verbum Dei ad portum coelorum te adducet spiritus sanctus Our faith Sirs is not to be bottomed on the dictates of men or the traditions of our fathers for then it would be a fickle unstable uncertain faith But it is to be built on the sure word of Prophecy The doctrines of the Bible are to be the foundation of it In this respect our Lord Jesus Christ is compared to the chief corner stone He is the principal subject whereof the Scripture treats and whereunto the doctrines tend they are appointed to discover Christ unto us and to bring us unto him and to build us up in him He is the person in whom the strength of the building lieth and through whom the two walls of the building are joyned together Jews and Gentiles are made up into one house and Church as the sides of a building are coupled together by the corner stone 2. There is a personal or essential foundation upon whom a Believer depends for life and salvation by whom the Church subsisteth and through whom it is constituted as a temple for God Thus Christ is the foundation and every Saint is a stone in the building founded upon him Isa 28.16 Behold I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone a tryed stone a precious corner stone a sure foundation Which the holy Ghost expoundeth once and again as meant of Jesus Christ And it is an excellent passage containing abundant matter of incouragement for humbled sinners to come unto Christ and to rest upon him 1. He is a Saviour of Gods appointment sufficiently authorized to be the Mediator so that if you come to God by him he will not reject you for it is the Lord 's doing to constitute him to be our Redeemer it is the way which God himself hath set open to bring sinners to salvation He is the foundation which the Lord hath laid I lay in Sion for a foundation 2. For the qualification of his person he is mighty to save able to deliver to the uttermost He is not as sand or gravel by which the building cannot be supported but a stone or rock which noteth the stability and strength of Jesus Christ he is able to bear whatever weight is laid upon him No winds or storms from earth or hell can prevail to overturn what is built upon him And this ariseth from the constitution of his person being very God as well as man 3. He is a tryed stone Do you yet question his sufficiency to save you Are you still in doubt whether you may trust in him Why do but mind the experience which he hath given of his ability he is a tryed stone Eve hath tryed him and Enoch tryed him and Noah and Abraham and David and Solomon and all the people of God in former ages have made the experiment and their expectations were not frustrated they found him such a one as he is discovered to be He is a stone of trial a foundation of proof a sure foundation 4. This is that which God would have sinners to take notice of Behold I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone c. q. d. Hear O people and give ear all ye inhabitants of the earth mind what I have done to carry on the salvation of sinners And to what end is this publication made but that we might come unto Christ and unto God by him with full assurance of faith This is the first particular I would observe under this similitude 2. This resemblance doth import That all such persons whatsoever who are knit unto Christ and built up to salvation upon his righteousness must of necessity be made conformable unto him There must be an answerableness betwixt them As the foundation is the supporter of the building so it is a rule and measure unto the building The stones which are set upon it must be proportioned thereunto the superstructure must be of length and breadth according to the foundation So it is in the spiritual building The souls of Believers who are joyned to Christ must bear a proportion to him with whom they are joyned This is the Statute-Law of the God of heaven and it is more unalterable and irrevocable than the Laws of the Medes and Persians That there is no saving interest in Christ without conformity to him Rom. 8.29 Whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son Mark It is the unchangable decree of the Lord of Hosts If you are saved in any other way or at a cheaper rate it must be by the alteration of God's decrees which are unchangeable as his nature and essence without any variableness or shadow of turning As Christ could never have been our Redeemer but he must be made like unto us so we shall never taste of the Redemption purchased by him unless â—e be made like unto him This conformity of a Believer to the Lord Jesus Christ doth mainly lie in five things viz. 1. The qualifications of his â—erson 2. The sufferings of his death 3. His resurrection and ascension into heaven 4. The holiness of his conversation 5. The troubles and persecutions which he underwent upon the earth 1. Believers must be made like unto Chist in the qualifications of his person Their judgments must concenter with Christ's judgment in the approbation of such things as he approveth and disapproving those things which he disliketh Their affections must run in the same chanel wherein Christ's affections run loving what he loveth and hating what he hateth and delighting in that wherein he taketh delight Their minds must be placed on the same objects on which
Christ's mind is placed and act in the like manner as his acteth Their hearts must be moulded into the same frame with his heart and so I might instance throughout the whole man Christ must be formed in them Gal. 4.19 And Phil. 2.5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus They must be so clothed with his divine qualities that it may be said they have put on the Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 13.14 2. There must be conformity to the sufferings of his death in a spiritual sense As Christ died for sin so Believers must die unto sin As our Lord Jesus was put to a painful lingring and ignominious death in like sort must their corruptions be mortified and killed For Mark it Sirs The death and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus is not only the meritorious cause through which sin is mortified and a strong evangelical reason why it should be mortified but it is also the pattern and exemplar according to which it is done In the very same way and manner as Christ was put to death for us so are our lusts and corruptions to be crucified within us Hereby we are rendred conformable unto his death Phil. 3.9 and planted together into the â—â—keness of his death Rom. 6.5 3. There must be conformâ—y to the Lord Jesus in his resurrection and ascension into heaven As he rose again from the dead and went up into heaven never to return to corruption any more so must the hearts of believers be raised unto spiritual objects and their affections set upon things that are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Col. 3.1 Their hearts must be withdrawn from sin and the world never to be ingaged upon them any more but they must live as persons that are revived and made partakers of a new life Rom. 6.4 As he was raised from the dead by the glory of the father even so must we also walk in newness of life 4. Believers must be made conformable unto Christ in the holiness of his conversation They must tread in his steps doing the same work as he did and acting upon the same principles and motives as he acted upon and carrying on the same designs as Christ carried on and serving the Lord in the like manner with cheerfulness delight and alacrity as he served him Eph. 5.2 Walk in love as Christ also loved us And Rom. 15.1 2 3. We ought not to please our selves but every one his neighbour for his good to edification for Christ also pleased not himself c. 5. They must expect to be made conformable to Christ in the troubles and persecutions that befel him upon the earth Therefore it is called a suffering with him that is the same things and in like manner as he suffered Rom. 8.17 If we will be faithful unto Christ we must look to meet with the like usage as he met with and to go through many tribulations into the Kingdom of God This is the second thing to be noted under this comparison 3. According to the purport and tenour of this similitude taken from the foundation and the building Our faith which is the uniting grace is a resting upon Christ and his righteousness The stones are joyned to the foundation by being laid upon it and there resting So when we lay the stress of our salvation upon Christ and cast our burden upon him and there stay our selves as upon a rock thereby we are united unto Jesus and made one with him By nature we are as rough unpolished stones in a quarry without any relation to Christ Now the work of conviction may be compared to the unsettling of these stones and humiliation and legal terrors upon the heart are the hewing of these stones By the first they are removed out of the Quarry and by the other their ruggedness is pared away The grace of conversion is as the fitting and polishing the stones for the building and faith is a putting them upon the foundation and their resting upon it As by the cement of love the stones are coupled one to another so by faith they are knit unto the foundation By the Spirit they are brought unto Christ and so stay upon him Isa 50.10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servant and walketh in darkness and hath no light Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God Rom. 9.33 Behold I lay in Sion stumbling stone and rock of offence and whosoever believeth on him shall not be confounded Mark it As Christ is a foundation to his people so he is a rock of offence to them that are disobedient they split themselves against this rock they stumble and fall and are broken in pieces If you would be saved by him you must by faith rest upon this foundation For whosoever believeth in him shall not be confounded 1 Pet. 2.4 5. To whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house c. See likewise Eph. 2.21 22. This is all that I shall speak under the sixth general Head for the illustration of this Mystery of Union with Christ by those similitudes which the holy Ghost hath made choice of to this purpose That which remains further is the Application of the Point CHAP. X. Inferences drawn from the Doctrine of Union with Christ The excellency and dignity of Believers The peculiarity of the providence of God towards them The miserable estate of Christless sinners FOr Application or practical improvement of this Doctrine I will manage it under these three Heads By way of 1. Information 2. Examination 3. Exhortation 1. By way of Information What are the practical Inferences which may be deduced from this Point of a Believers union with the Son of God and the necessity thereof I will not aim at the ingrossing of all that might be taken in upon this fruitful and spiritual subject Only I shall select these three Inferences which naturally arise from what hath been delivered 1. If believers are united unto Christ and made one with him in order to their salvation then hence I gather That they are the most honourable and most excellent persons upon the face of the earth Why Because they are united unto the Son of God and accordingly they should have the greatest esteem of us and be most precious and lovely in our eyes It is the character of a man that shall see the Lord in Sion that he contemneth a vile person but he honoureth them that fear the Lord Psal 15.1 4. Now here is that which maketh them right honourable above all their fellow-creatures they are intimately joyned unto Christ So that the Saints which are in the earth are the excellent of the earht Psal 16.3 more excellent than their neighbours than all that dwell round about them Prov. 12.26 You know the excellency or worthlessness of any
hominem quem non tellat atque perimat Dominus ut suos conservet Calv. in loc Rather than lose but one of those who are in Christ he will destroy and pluck up whole nations before him He will strike through kings in the day of his wrath and wound the heads over many Countreys Psal 110.5 6. 4. The peculiarity of providence doth appear in this That many outward enjoyments are given to the ungodly and they are set on high for Believers sakes Not that God hath delight in the wicked or is a countenancer of their evil wayes but therefore he doth prosper and advance them because he intends to use them for the good of his Servants Either to exercise their faith and patience and to purge away their dross or sometimes to shelter them from the rage of others It was for Jacob's sake that corn was laid up in Egypt Gen. 45.7 It was for Israel's sake that Cyrus was advanced to the Empire and the treasures of darkness given to him Isa 45.3 4. Your great Statesmen little think of this Their design is by the advancement of persons to make their party strong or to please a friend or to carry on their secular interest one way or other But God over-ruleth all for his peoples sake Unto whom he hath a peculiar regard in all things that are brought to pass under the Sun And no marvel for they are in Christ married unto him and acaccordingly God hath a respect unto them This is the second Inference 3. The last Inference which I mainly intended to inlarge upon is this If there be an indispensable necessity of Union with the Son in order to the partaking of life through him Then the state of all unconverted sinners whatsoever before they are knit unto Christ by the spirit of regeneration taking hold on their persons and working faith in them to take hold on the Lord Jesus is a dead estate For till they are ingraffed into the Son they can have no life from him He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life i. e. he is stark dead utterly dead This is one of the expressions which the holy Ghost hath singled out to set forth the wretchedness and misery of a person in the state of unregeneracy before he is brought unto Christ He is not only defiled with sin but dead in sin Not only in a condition like that of the man that fell amongst thieves in his journey from Jerusalem to Jericho Luk. 10.30 as some would bear us in hand who wounded him and left him half dead But he is quite dead without any spark of spiritual life remaining in him By our Apostacy we brought our selves into a dead condition * Propheta dicit Anima quae peccat ipsa morietur Quamvis mortem ejus non ad interitum substantiae sentiamus Sed hoc ipsum quia aliena extorris sit à Deo qui vera vita est mors ei esse credenda est Orig. and till we are united to Christ we are unavoidably shut up in that condition The Son is the fountain of life unto lost sinners and there is no reception of life from the Son without having the Son And therefore the conversion of a sinner is not as the recovery of a sick man out of his distemper but as the raising of a dead man out of the grave Joh. 5.24 25. It is a passing from death to life For as it is v. 25. The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live It is meant of a spiritual resurrection of the first resurrection and the raising of the body is afterwards produced as an evidence of the mighty power of God whereby he is able to work this wonderful change upon the soul v. 28 29. My brethren When a godly man dieth he shall live that is when his body is dead his soul shall live in the presence of Christ and see the face of God in glory but an unregenerate person whilst he liveth is dead that is whilst he liveth the life of nature and the life of sense and the life of reason he is dead spiritually And it must needs be so because he is separated from Christ who is the fountain of life What is said of the widow that liveth in pleasures is true of every impenitent sinner He is dead whilst he liveth 1 Tim. 5.6 How or in what respect you will say are unconverted sinners dead I answer In a fivefold respect viz. In respect of 1. Abomination in the sight of God 2. The putrefaction and rottenness of that condition 3. Utter impotency and inability to what is spiritually good 4. Damnation or liableness to eternal death 5. The abundant evils incident to or the perfect wretchedness of that condition 1. The state of all Christless unconverted sinners is a state of death in point of loathsomness and abomination in the sight of God You know that dead carkasses are loathsom unto the living though a person hath been never so neer and dear to us yet when they are dead we cannot endure their presence Let me bury my dead saith Abraham out of my sight Thus the unregenerate are dead God loaths and abhorreth them and all that is done by them They are as smoak in his nostrils as dead stinking carrion in his sight Prov. 3.32 For the froward is an abomination to the Lord but his secret is with the righteous By the froward understand the wicked of all sorts for they are opposed to the righteous And indeed every ungodly man is perverse and froward in his wayes He riseth up against the light of his own conscience and resisteth the workings of the Spirit and is ready to rebel against the plain counsels of the word He is a prating fool as he is elswhere called his heart is finding fault with this command and cavilling at the other duty in all things he walketh cross to God and holiness and delighteth in crooked paths Let the Lord say what he will he hath some objections against it and is resolved to hold on his own course and therefore is justly called froward And what is the condition of such why they are an abomination to the Lord. I pray think of this you that live in any way of sin you that harbour any secret lust in your bosoms and hide it as a sweet morsel under your tongues and thereby evidence that you are not in Christ Remember I say though you may be rich and great and men may flatter you yet God abhorreth and detesteth you You may have high conceits of your selves but you are a burden to the Spirit of the living God and if you go on in those wayes he will quickly ease himself of you For he hateth all the workers of iniquity Psal 5.5 O Sirs How should men hasten their escape out of this sad estate and adore the patience