a principle of divinity among the rest that a Christian is not his owne man now but he is under Christ and this is a comfort both in life and death at all times as the Psalmist saith My times are in thy hands Lord hee saith not my time but my times are in thy hand so wee may say our times are in Christs hands our time of being borne our time of living and dying and when wee are dead our time of rising againe our time the whole current of our time is in thy hands not in the devills hands not in our enemies hands beloved for they would make short worke with us then but our times are in our Lords hands Christ is the Lord of our times the Lord of our life and death and when we are dead he is a Lord for ever for he lives for ever and therefore hee is for ever a Lord. Beloved wee doe not live and dye at the devotion and good pleasure of any man whatsoever they cannot stirre so much as a hayre from our head without the will of this Lord all the devills in hell cannot stirre a haire of our head I say nor all men that are acted by the Spirit of the devill they may threaten punishment but alas they can doe no more then this Lord of Lords will give them leave therefore it is a point of wondrous comfort Oh but will a poore soule say Christ indeed is Lord of the living and of the dead but I finde a great deale of corruption in me c. and I am a sinner Why he is Lord over thee hee hath a sweete Lordship over thee as well as a commanding Lordship he is not onely a King but a husband as it is Ephes. 5. He gave him selfe to purge his Church and to make his Church fit by little and little thou hast sinne and corruption but thou hast a mercifull husband that will beare with the weaker vessell doth he command others to doe that and will hee not practise that that hee enjoynes others undoubtedly he will and therefore it is a comfort it is a sweete government and subjection as of the husband over the wife Christ purgeth and clenseth his Church hee doth not cast it away For I beseech you consider he that dyed for his Church and children when they were enemies will he cast them away now they are poore friends and desire to please him as Saint Paul divinely reasoneth Rom. 5. Much more shall wee be saved by his life If he saved us by his death much more now by his life being in heaven consider he rose and lives for ever therefore will he cast us away for some imperfections that dyed for us when we were enemies hee that will not quench the smoaking flaxe nor break the brused reede will hee cast away his poore children that strive against their corruptions hee will not nay he hath promised where he hath begunne a good worke hee will finish it to the day of the Lord though it goe but slowly forward yet that beginning is a pledge of proceeding God will never remove his hand from his owne worke till he have brought it to perfection therefore let any soule comfort it selfe that will come under this Lord in a word what greater comfort can wee have than this that he is such a Lord over us as is Lord over all things in the world besides for hee could not be Lord of his Church except hee were Lord over hell and all power were subject to him now being so hee is such a Lord of the Church as can restraine the power of all other creatures whatsoever because else they might annoy the Church and affront him in his government by opposition if he were not Lord of all things else as well as of the church but this is the comfort of a Christian hee is under a Lord that is Lord of of all the enemies of the Church and he is so Lord over them till by little and little hee make them his footestoole that that is begun in this world shall bee consumate hereafter by that Lordship nay he will make all the enterprizes of the very enemies of his Church whatsoever serviceable to his poore Church for as the Apostle saith All things are yours because yee are Christs he is such a Lord as that besides himselfe being ours hee makes all the world ours yea the devill is ours for in spight of him whatsoever he doth it is ordained to the salvation of the Church the Churches enemies are the servants of the Church the unvoluntary servants for they waken the Church and scoure it God ray seth them up for the exercise of the Church and when he hath done you know what course he takes with them so then he is Lord not only over all but hee over-rules their actions for the good of the Church whatsoever they are and hee makes all the indeavours and plots of the enemy for the Churches good all is yours life and death though it bee death by tyrants all kinde of death whatsoever it is yours what a comfort is this that wee are under such a Lord as this Especially what a comfort is this at the houre of death when Christ that hath ruled us all our life time before will take then the government and possession of that Iewell that he hath bought with such a price our precious soule that when wee must part with friends and part with this sweete body that the soule so much loved and with the world and all things in the world then Christ wil owneus for his when the world wil owne us no longer Therefore mee thinkes Christians should be at a poynt for life or death hee never goes out of the dominion of Christ nay hee is nearer Christ hee is more Christs if there bee any comparison to bee made when hee is dead then when hee is alive Blessed are those that dye in the Lord. To apply this a little to the present occasion here in this Sacrament we are to have Communion with this Lord of his death and resurrection For what is the Sacrament but are presentation of his body broken and of his blood powred out for us that hee might be Lord over us The more communion and fellowship you have with Christ the more assurance you shall have that you are his which is indeed the grand comfort of all that wee are Christs that Christ is ours for then heaven and earth is ours all is ours Now God hath ordained these Sacraments for this end the word is the Scepter of his Kingdome whereby hee rules the Sacrament is the seale of the word therefore all good subjects that submit themselves to the Kingdome of Christ must submit themselves to this sweet ordinance of Christ that he hath ordained for our good the word and Sacraments thereby we shall finde the effectuall working of his Spirit in us subjecting the whole inward man to his graciovs governement but having spoken
glory of Christ thinke of us in him when we see him borne thinke he was borne for me when wee see him dye thinke wee dye with him when wee see him buried thinke our selves buried with him so in the state of exaltation when wee see him rise and sit at the right hand of God thinke he is there to prepare a place for me whatsoever hee hath or whatsoever he did he regards us in all therefore it somewhat obscures the glory and the love of Christ to us to conceive that he had a selfe-respect in these things when he saith in the text For this end Christ dyed and rose and revived that he might be Lord of quicke and dead I beseech you consider whose good he respects in this Lordship is it not a profitable Lordship for us is it not for our good that he is our Lord in life and in death not only our Lord but the Lord of Sathan of death and of all our enemies he is Lord over all saith the Apostle God over all blessed for ever therfore he is Lord over sinne over death over hell over all that we neede to feare it is for us therefore our good is intended though there be a redundance of glory in Christ in all these things yet thinke hee respects our good the best meditation of Christ is to thinke all is for us Beloved is it not a great mercy that hee should stop the issue and the beames of glory that should otherwise have come upon his humane nature that he should be content to be in the shape of a servant and bee eclipsed in regard of manifestation and abase himselfe to the death of the crosse and all for our redemption when he might have gone to glory another way but as one of the ancients saith well if he had gone to heaven another way hee might have come thither himselfe but hee could not have helped us that way therefore he would goe to heaven by way of abasement and concealement and stopping that of his glory that he might helpe us and pay the price to God for us and reconcile us I beseech you let us see his love to us in all this enough for that question which I would not have mentioned but that it hath a speciall use and comfort and may be an incentive to kindle love to Christ regarding us in his birth and life and death in his resurrection in his ascention in his glory in all To draw to a conclusion therefore Christ is our Lord both in life and death it is for ever oh beloved therefore I beseech you let us project for his glory for ever as much as we can he is our Lord when we are dead he is the Lord of our soules of our happines we are nearer him then than we are now hee that is my Lord both living and dying and for ever shall not I labour that when I am dead there may be a Church here that when I am dead posterity may serve him and be subject to him shall he for ever be Lord for my good and shall not I as much as lyeth in me lay a foundation for ever in his service that when I can serve him no longer my selfe then posterity may serve him It was a cursed wish of a Pagan Emperour when I am dead let heaven and earth be mingled if they will but a Christian thinkes Christ is mine and for my good both living and dying nay I have more good by him when I am dead than alive therefore I will labour that he may have glory in his Church by me and mine and all my counsels and projects shall be that it may be for ever and ever world without end therefore they desire that God may be served and glorified in the Church for ever as he is their Lord living and dying And let it be our comfort in the houre of death that may bee nearer us then we are aware off that he is not onely Lord of the living but of those that are dead he hath the keyes both of hell and death that is he hath the government of death and therefore shall I be afraid to commit my soule to Christ what a ground is this comfortably to yeeld our soules to Christ Lord take the soule thatthou dyedst to purchase that thou didst rise againe-to justifie that thou dost live now in heaven to make intercession for that thou hast given thy holy Spirit in some measure to sanctifie take this soule to thee it is thy soule as much and more than mine I am not mine owne nor my soule is not my owne Into thy hands I commend even thy Spirit for thou hast redeemed me oh Lord of truth thou hast redeemed this soule of mine therefore now take this soule that thou by thy Spirit hast wrought in some poore measure to desire to please thee that soule that thou hast sprinkled with thy owne blood take that soule for thou art Lord both living and dying and what a comfort is it when death shall close up our eyes that we can looke forward and see then our selves nearer Christ for then we goe to Christ our husband as Paul saith I desire to be dissolved and to bee with Christ which is best of all when a Christian thinkes at death now I am changing for the better Christ will not leave me at the houre of death neither dying nor living butwill watch over my dust my dead body is a member of Christ death may separate body and soule but it cannot separate soule or body from him therefore take no thought for body or soule for my soule I know hee will receive it and my body as a good depositum is layd up in the dust hee watches over all the dust and ashes and every thing and will make the earth faithfull in giving up that depositum he is Lord of me dying as well as living shall I be afrayd to dye when in death I commend my soule to such a sweete Lord and goe to my husband and to my King And that is the end of the Sacrament for the Word and Sacrament are parts of the regiment of Christ whereby he rules his Church hee rules his Church outwardly by the Word and Sacraments and inwardly by his Spirit his holy Spirit makes good his owne good meanes and therefore as the subjects of Christ I beseech you let us come to the ordinance of Christ he is such a Lord as doth great things by despised meanes bread and wine poore meanes but consider what a mighty Lord useth them for our soules good and it is his glory to magnifie himselfe by base and weake meanes hee goes contrary to the course of the world that stands all upon outward excellency therefore let no man stumble at the meannesse of the meanes but consider what great things he workes by the foolishnesse of Preaching and the meannesse of his Ordinances the Sacraments he beates downe strong holds he builds us up in Christ to Salvation hee communicates himselfe and all his benefits to us therefore I beseech you come with faith come with this perswasion Christ will blesse his own Ordinance and come with comfort Christ communicates himselfe to us the nearer we come to the fountaine the more wee draw And come with preparation know with whom wee have to deale with him that is Lord of quicke and dead come with reverence but these things I have oft upon this occasion stood upon so much for this Text. FJNJS Quest. Ans. 2. Independantly 3. Lord in the whole man 4. An Eternall Lord. 5. An Excellent Lord. Why the dead are put before the living Vse 2. Answ. Simil. Object Answ. Object Answ.
rising therefore a new Sabbath Saint Iohn saith I was in the Spirit upon the Lords day If a man be ever in the Spirit it is upon the Lords day when the Lord of the day doth honour his people giving them to enjoy his Ordinances and joyning effectually with them maketh them full of the Spirit and raiseth up our dead hearts after him And revived Why is this added to rising againe Hee revived To shew that hee rose never to dye againe and that indeede hee never meant to lay aside that body againe as once he had to dye for us Consonant hereunto is that Revel 1. 18. Behold I was dead and am alive and I live for evermore I have the keyes of death and of hell Hee lives for evermore as Heb. 7. Hee sits for evermore at the right hand of God there making intercession for us He dies no more Againe this revived is added to shew the kind of his life differing from that life hee lived before that life he lived before he dyed was supported with meate and drinke and refreshings even as our poore lives are It was a life subject to death that he dyed in but after his Resurrection except it were for a particular dispensation to confirme the faith of his Disciples he needed no more to eate or drinke or sleepe or any naturall supports and helpes for he was enlivened immediately by the Spirit of God which flowed into him he was full of the Spirit and that did supply all other things whatsoever Even as in heaven God shall be all in all that is hee shall be so immediately to us to supply all as we shall neither eate nor drinke nor sleepe nor have magistrates nor ministers but the Spirit of God will be all in all so it was with this life of our blessed Saviour when he revived the Spirit supplyed the absence of all other supports whatsoever that he used before he dyed And indeed our Saviour Christ came to bestow that life upon us that he lived after his Resurrection not this naturall life of ours that needes meate and drinke and refreshing this is not that life that Christ specially aimed at when he came to dye but that spirituall and eternall life that he lived after the Resurrection a life not subject to death a spirituall life not needing any created support whatsoever You see the grounds the inference from these grounds follow in these words That he might bee Lord both of the dead and of the living The ground hath three branches death resurrection and reviving how all these doe flow and give strength to this inference I will touch in the particulars First then Christ dyed that hee might be Lord of the dead and of the living Christ dyed 1 Pet. 3. to offer himselfe a sacrifice to redeeme us by his precious blood wee are not redeemed with Gold or Silver but with the blood of Christ hee could not be our Lord till hee had bought us now his death was the price of our redemption I say redemption not emption a thing may be bought that was never sold away before now we were sold to Sathan and under a contrary government now Christ satisfying divine justice redeemes us he buyes us againe wee had subjected our selves to the devill and put our selves under his regiment till we were ransomed by Christ now Christ shall have no right to us till the price be paid to divine justice for mercy must have justice satisfied the attributes of God must not fight one against another Christ therefore is Lord of us because by death he gave full content to divine justice so that now notwithstanding justice yet we are Christs and are saved nay now the justice of God helpes us the most terrible attribute justice is a ground of comfort for it stands not with justice to have the same debt paid twice For God is just and faithfull saith the Apostle so then you see there is a ground from death why wee are the Lords we are Christs because we cost him deare hee hath paid a price for us that is worth more then the whole world Now God shewed his love in nothing more then in this that he parted with that that is next himselfe the greatest his Sonne who being God yet dyed in that nature that could dye to redeeme us and hereupon becommeth Lord. Secondly Hee rose againe therefore he is Lord of the quicke and dead First because his rising againe was a manifestation that his death was a ful satisfaction to divine justice or else our sinnes should have kept him in the grave still hee being our surety but our surety being out of prison it is a signe hee hath fully discharged all our debt and the price is paid If the surety and the creditor be agreed we know the debt is paid Secondly in that hee rose againe he is Lord because in rising againe he entred into the possession and exercise of that Lordship that he had purchased The right is one thing and the use and possession of the right is another Christ was Lord of us before he dyed he was Lord of us when he dyed but hee did not enter into possession of this Lordship till he rose againe Therefore he saith All power is given to me both in heaven and earth when hee was ready to goe up to heaven to shew that by his resurrection the right hee had by death was manifest Lastly because his rising againe shewed that the father was fully pacified he obtained the gift of the Spirit which next Christ himselfe is the greatest gift God gave his Sonne first and then the Spirit that comes from the Father and the Sonne The Spirit was not given till his resurrection and ascension as it is Iohn 7. Why because till all enemies were fully subdued by his death and witnessed to be subdued by his resurrection the Spirit could not be so fully given the Spirit being a declaration of the good will of God that sent it Now when the enemies of Christ were tryumphed over and God had shewed by the raising of his Sonne againe that he was fully satisfied Then the Spirit comes as the Son of Gods favour which Spirit doth enable us to be subject to Christ and makes us come under Christs Kingdome which is a spirituall government Wherefore because he obtained the Spirit for his members upon his resurrection thereupon is the inference good he rose againe therefore he is Lord of the quicke and of the dead Thirdly Hee revived therefore he is Lord of the quicke and of the dead reviving and taking such a life as is not subject to death any more hee is now in heaven to make good that he purchased on earth He revived I say to be a King Priest and Prophet at the right hand of God for ever there to rule his Church and to overrule all the enemies of it till he hath subdued all till hee hath gathered all the Elect and brought his Church out of the
Spirit this is alway a signe of a man lead by the Spirit that it directs him to Christ the Spirit as it comes from Christ and the father so it directs to Christ to the pleasing of the Father and of Christ in all things Here I might take just occasion to reproove a company of men that live under the Gospell that will bee saved by Christ forsooth but will not have Christ a Lord to rule over them they will be ruled by rules of state or rules of flesh and blood and their owne lusts by the rules of hell sometimes so that they may have their owne aimes their owne ambition satisfied and raisethemselves to their owne pitch a disposition cursed and opposite to that religion which they professe for our life should be a living to Christ and under Christ a living to the Church and state But say they Let us breake their bonds and cast their coards from us what doe they thinke wee will be awed with a company of poore preachers away with them we will have our wills let us breake their bonds in sunder Christ sits in heaven and laughes them all to scorne Psal. 2. they shall know at length hee will be no Saviour where he is no Lord if he may not rule them by his Spirit and holy directions while they live he will not owne them when they dye for you see the text joynes both here he dyed and he is Lord when hee dyed there came water and blood out of his side to shew that hee came not onely to shed his blood to dye and to satisfie divine justice but by water to clense us and to fit us to be subject to his government therefore those that take him as a Priest to dye and will not have him as a Lord they rent his offices I doe but touch these now We see what it is to live to Christ let us see what is it to dye to the Lord To dye to the Lord is to know and acknowledge that Christ hath power over us when wee dye thereupon to submit our selves to him and not to murmure and fret when he comes to call for our life and soule as if we were unwilling to part with them Then againe to dye to Christ is when upon any good occasion he calls for our lives in standing for a good cause for the Church or state to be ready to lay it downe there is not the least tittle of truth but it is better than a mans life a man may not onely dye in case of martyrdome but in case of justice and truth and so he must be willing to doe if he will dye to Christ. Againe wee dye to the Lord when we carry our selves so when death comes as wee may expresse some graces to glorifie God even in our very death when wee studdy to doe all the good we can that wee may dye fruitefully out of this consideration my time is short I will labour to bee sowing to the Spirit as much as I can not to dye like fooles but wisely knowing that there is no further opportunity here is the time of seede hereafter will bee the time of reaping therefore there is no Christian that is master of himselfe at the houre of death if some disease disable him not but he studdies how to shew himselfe as fruitfull as he can at that time as you see our Saviour when he was to dye what long chapters there are three together of his demeanour how hee strengthned his Disciples what an excellent prayer he made to God see Moses how hee carryed himselfe at his death what excellent admonitions hee gives and good Iacob what an excellent Will he made and S. Peter knowing he must put of his earthly tabernacle he labours to put them in minde to glorifie God as Saint Paul saith A Christian ought to end his dayes in faith and obedience in faith that God will take his soule when he commits it to him and he shall reigne for ever in heaven In obedience thereupon because he beleeves he dyes in faith he will dye in obedience I even offer my selfe to thee because I beleeve thou wilt care for mee when I am gone hence for thou art the Lord of life and death and thou art the Lord of mee when I live and when I am dead Well as it implies duty so it implies a gracious effect that wee shall be inabled to this duty he indeed in himselfe is a Lord wee ought to acknowledge him so nay we shall have the Spirit if wee be his to cause us to acknowledge him you have a notable place 2 Cor. 5. 15. to this purpose The love of Christ constraines us because wee thus judge If one dyed for all then we are all dead if hee dyed to redeeme us from death to what end did he dye he dyed for all that they that live might not live to themselves but to him that dyed and rose againe It is nothing but this in the Text we should live to him Now this that wee should live to him it is not an aime of ours onely but an effect that hee workes in us he dyed that we might live to him for he dyed and rose that he might obtaine the Spirit by this Spirit hee inableth us to live and dye to God as you have it Rom. 8. at large proved those that are Christs have the Spirit of Christ and are led with it Beloved it is a part of the new Covenant that whatsoever ourduty is we shall have ability to performe it by the Spirit of Christ for all the gracious promises of the Gospell are not onely promises upon condition and so a covenant but likewise the covenant of grace is a te stament and a will a will is made without conditions a covenant with conditions that as hee hath made a covenant what he would have us to doe so his testament is that wee shall have grace to doe so he will put his Spirit into us and circumcise our hearts or else beloved there would bee no more strength of the covenant of grace then there was of that of nature in Adam why did Adam fall he had not the Spirit to uphold him nor had he the promise of it to keepe him that hee should not fall therefore the covenant of workes was frustrate but now the covenant of grace is this that whatsoever God requires he will give his Spirit to inable us to doe it that the covenant may not bee frustrate if God shold not make good our part as well as his we shold not be saved Therefore now in the covenant of grace wee may boldly goe to God and Christ and alleadge unto him when any duty is pressed upon us and when wee are about to performe any duty and finde want of strength Lord thou knowest I have no strength of my selfe I am a barren wildernesse but thou hast entred into a covenant of grace with me which covenant now is a testament a free will
so before but he was not manifest before therefore he is sayd to be manifest to be God by the resurrection Rom. 1. 4. he was God from ēternity but he was borne then This day have I begotten thee it is spoken of the resurrection so you see here Christs offices the state and condition of his humiliation and of his exaltation and the use and end of all That he might be Lord of the dead and of the living And if we be any thing offended with that abasement that God should dye looke to his rising and reviving and Lordship over all both quicke and dead and if we bee dazelled with his glory looke backe againe to God in our flesh and God in our flesh abased even to the death of the crosse oh it is a sweete meditation beloved to thinke that our flesh is now in heaven at the right hand of God and that flesh that was borne of the Virgin that was layd in the manger that went up and downe doing good that was made a curse for us and humbled to death and lay under the bondage of death three dayes that this flesh is now glorious in heaven that this person is Lord over the living and the dead it is an excellent booke to studdy this beloved studdy Christ in the state of humiliation and exaltation That he might be Lord of the dead c. How is Christ Lord He is Lord of the dead those that dyed before he was borne and of the living those that are since he is yesterday that is to those that were before he was and to day that is when he was and to morrow and for ever the same therefore he saith of the dead and of the living of the dead that is in reference to former times Christ is the Lambe of God slaine from the beginning of the world By what title is hee Lord By a title beloved not as God but by a title of conquest as a redeemer for he dyed that he might be Lord we are a bloody spouse to Christ we are the price of his blood he dyed that he might bee Lord he must winne us before he could have us thereupon dying and purchasing us now hee is Lord of his Church and Children by marriage before he could marry us he must bee borne in our nature for the husband and wife must be of one nature and being in bondage to a contrary King to Sathan hee must redeeme and purchase us out of Sathans hands so he is a Lord by conquest and then he is a Lord in a nearer relation hee is a Lord as a husband He is Lord both of the dead and of the living But the point is sweetest in the use of it onely know for a ground that Christ is Lord of the dead and of the living as mediator God-man not as God but as God man God in our nature and hereupon wee have diverse sweete comforts as for example First of all it shewes what we may expect from Christ what Christ will doe to us and what wee ought to returne to him againe for relations are bonds especially when they are so founded as this of Christs is to bee Lord over us both in life and death it is founded upon redemption and upon our Spirituall marriage relations are bonds and therefore they tye on his part to shew what wee may expect from him he is Lord of the living and of the dead wee may expect on his part all that a gracious Lord should doe to provide for his Church and children we may expect that from him that wee can from none else that hee should not onely be Lord over us but that he should make us subject that hee should flow in to us by his holy Spirit for here is the prerogative of Christ that he is such a head as quickeneth dead members he is such a husband as makes his spouse beautifull he puts glory upon her no other husband can doe it Moses married a blacke woman but hee could not alter her hue much lesse her disposition it is not in the power of any man a King cannot alter his subjects but he is such a King as alters the nature of his subjects he makes them subject he takes them out of a contrary kingdome as being not borne his subjects but borne anew by the Spirit he doth all provision protection the changing of our natures the beginning of a good worke and where this Lord begins a good work hee finisheth it to his owne day for beloved know this for a ground that now in the second covenant we are not left as Adam was in the hands of our owne free will to stand or fall but now in the second covenant that is founded upon Christs death and satisfaction for us Christ gives grace he gives his holy Spirit to bring us within the compasse and performes both our part and his too he makes good his owne to be a gracious Saviour to us and he performes our part too or else the second covenant the covenant of grace should be frustrate as the first was if it were left to our freedome therefore that is that that we may expect from this Lordship of Christ the performance of the covenant of grace in writing his law in our hearts other Kings give lawes and write them in tables but they cannot write them in the hearts of their subjects but hee is such a Law giver as writes his owne will in the heart he teacheth the very heart obedience we are taught of God to love one another I will write my law in their bowels and in their inward parts that is they shall not onely know what they should doe but they shall know the doing the affecting and performing of the things they shall be able to doe the things so Christ is a Lord over us not onely teaching us what we should do and injoyning us in a kinde of superiority this is your duty and not this but inabling us to doe that that he commands he gives us the very doing the affections and loving he teacheth our hearts to love I say this we may expect from him in the use of meanes and subjecting to his ordinances which is a wondrous prerogative to those that will submit to his law We may expect againe from this Lord advancement he is such a Lord as makes all his subjects kings the meanest man that is a subject to Christ that hath the Spirit of Christ is a King Now he is a King over that that all others are slaves to that are not Christians they rule over others but they are in thraldome to their owne lusts but he is a spirituall King a King over hell and death and those things that the very greatest of men are afrayd off as who feares death most and hell most those that deserve it most by reason of their great place sinke most in sin and rebellion against God and contract more guilt than other men that that they are afraid