Riolanus Anatomy 6 Veslinguâ— Anatomy of the Body of Man 7 A Translation of the New Dispensatory made by the Colledg of Physitians of London Wherein is added The Key to Galens Method of Physick 8 The English Physitian Enlarged 9 A Directory for Midwives or a Guide for Women 10 Galens Art of Physick 11 New Method both of studying and practising Physick 12 A Treatise of the Rickets 13 Medicaments for the Poor Or Physick for the Common People 14 Health for the Rich and Poor by Diet without Physick The London Dispensatory in Folio of a large Character in Latin The London Dispensatory in twelves a smal Pocket Book in Latin To the Physical Reader THe greatest Reason that I could ever observe why the Medicines prescribed in these Books above mentioned and in many other Physick Books do not perform the Cures promised is the unskilfulness of those that make up the Medicines I therefore advise all those that have occasion to use any Medicines to go or send to Mr. Ralph Clarke Apothecary at the sign of the three Crowns on Ludgate-Hill in London where they shall be sure to have such as are skilfully and honestly made The Printer to the Reader I Have in my hands divers other works of Mr. Stephen Marshals which for their excellency and variety of matter are highly esteemed by all that heard them preach'd Or have read them in writing I intend to print them in several smal Books that they may not be above the reach of a poor man's purse The Subjects on which they treat are Chiefly these that follow VIZ. 1. Of the Covenant of Grace And the great priviledges the Saints have therby 2. Formal Professors seldom become sincere 3. Reformation and turning to God the only means to prevent Ruine 4. Christ the Prince of Peace 5. The Excellency of Christ's Kingdom 6. How Freedom come by Christ. 7. The Vnion between Christ and Beleevers 8. The Riches of the Saints through the Poverty of Christ 9. How Christ is the Head of the Church 10. Christ and his Seed have sufficient strength to destroy their Enemies 11. Christ the Bridegroom Beleevers are his Bride 12. No Participation of Christ but by Faith 13. Faith so precious a Grace that Christ is glad of any thing that may further it 14. An Humble Spirit Infinitly acceptable to God 15. Great Joy to all that Mourn in Zion 16. The double Recompence the Godly shall have after their affliction 17. The Happiness of the Saints under the Cross 18. The untimely Death of good men a Ground of Great Lamentation 19. The Magistrates Dignity Duty and Vsefulness 20. The Churches Danger Deliverance and Duty 21. The Churches praise unto God for their Deliverance 22. A great Mercy in God to prevent his Peoples ingageing one against another in Blood 23. Gods Chosen Ones are the Preventors of destruction 24. Mens Misery is only from themselves Their Deliverance is only from the Lord. 25. The Pearl of the Gospel 26. How the Gospel is the Power of God to Salvation 27. It 's impossible for true Beleevers totally and finally to fall away 28. Parents Duty to their Children 29. Provision for the Poor 30. The Great Judgment of Famine 31. Of the Sacrament The CONTENTS of the first Book of Mr. Stephen Marshals Works VIZ. Of Christs Intercession or Sins of Infirmity SERMON I. On 1 John 2.1 And if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous THe scope of the Epistle Opened Page 1 2 3. The words of the Text explained Page 3 4. Doct. That the Lord Jesus Christs Intercession in Heaven is the great dayly Relief that all the Saints diligentest their watchfulest work in the world to keep their hearts in a good frame when once the Lord in mercy hath put them into a good frame Page 132 133 Reasons of the Point Reas. 1. Because the Heart is beyond all comparisons the best part of Man it is the Head Quarter Page 142 Reas. 2. Because the Heart is not only the best part of Man but it is the Treasury wherein better things are laid up than it self Quest. What are the Treasures laid up in the heart of a gracious Man Answer 1. The great God chooses the Heart of every Godly man for his Privy and Presence Chamber 2. Christ Jesus dwels there Emmanuel dwels there in whom are bid all the Treasures of God 3. The Holy Ghost dwels there too the Heart of every Godly man is his Temple 4. All the Graces of the Spirit of God are laid up there 5. The Word that is the the rule of our life is laid up there Reas. 3. Because the Lord whom we profess to serve looks only at the Heart in al the Sacrifices we perform to him Reas. 4. The Devil makes all his Assaults and Batteries against the Heart and counts all his labor lost if he get not into the Heart Reas. 5. Because the Heart is not to be trusted but is deceitfull false cosening even the Heart of the best man in the world 139 Reas. 6. Because out of it are the Issues of Life thy whol Conversation wil be as thy Heart is kept Use 1. Serves to reprove thousands with a bitter reproof who would fain go for Children of God and yet 1 They are exact in keeping their Houses c but neglect their Hearts Page 143 144 2. Others are curious about their Bodies to Feed Physick Adorn them but neglect their Hearts Others are careful also of their manners and Conversation to avoid scandal and yet neglect their Hearts 4 Others keep indeed their Hearts but sleightly they do not keep them above all keepings Page 146 Use 2. This is a Doctrine of wonderful consolation though it carry just rebuke with it to al whose Consciences witness that their greatest care is to purge and keep their Hearts Page 147 Use 3. To exhort all men for the time to come to make this their study to keep their Hearts Before this can be done I. The Lord must break the Heart to pieces and new mold it And then you must 1. Keep it pure from Sin 2. Keep it fit for Duty The Life of Christ or the great Mystery of Spiritual Life SERMON I. THe Text Opened Page 1 2 3 Doctrine 1. Every Soul that hath Interest in Christ while he is in this world it is in Christ that lives in him Doctrine 2. The manner of their living this Life in this world it is by Faith For Explication consider that There is a twofold life 1. A Natural life which we have from Adam 2. A Spiritual Life which flows from the second Adam Quest. What is this spiritual life Answ. It is a Participation of Christs Righteousness upon the Souls union with him Use 1. Shews how necessary it is that we should all try and examin our Souls whether we are partakers of this Life or No. Page 20 Considerations to stir up to this examination 1. That in Truth this alone is
they by virtue of their fellowship should walk in the light And then Secondly Explains this more particularly in the subsequent discourse and shews that by walking in the light he mainly intends walking in holiness that is to abominate and abandon the waies of sin and to live as becomes those that are born of God in holiness and righteousness and this is the plot of the whol Epistle And then he begins with the first branch of it and that is to depart from the waies of sin and sets down this conclusion That if any man do pretend Communion with Jesus Christ and walk in sin he is a meer Dissembler he hath not one dram of Communion with God and Jesus Christ That is a certain rule no man that hath Communion with Jesus Christ can walk in a sinful life but every branch of the great things that Christ bestows upon his people the purport and intent of them all is to make them leave sinning that they wholly overthrow the very tenour of the Gospel who talk of believing in Christ and walk in a Godless life Now this first Branch the Apostle prosecutes at large both in the first Chapter in this second Chapter and begins the second Chapter thus Now all these things do I write to you that you sin not and presently at the 3d verse takes it up again saith he If any man know him he must walk as he walketh and so proves it by many Arguments Now Brethren you shal see the intent of my Text The Apostle knowing what an uncomfortable Doctrine this would be if it were not explained how uncomfortable it would be even to the best of Gods Saints and people he prevents the sad objection that every gracious heart would be ready to make for when he hath set down this for his Conclusion He that is in Christ cannot sin he cannot sin he deceives himself if he talks of Christ and sins Why A poor Soul would presently come out and say Then am I utterly undone I have then no interest in Christ for I sin I sin dayly I cannot live without it I cannot perform one Duty but my corruption is intermingling it self with it wo be to me if that Doctrine go for currant that he hath nothing to do with Christ that sins Now by way of Prolepsis the Apostle anticipates this objection and cleers the mind of God about it and then proceeds further to prosecute his Doctrine and it is laid down in these words But if any man sin let him know that we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the Propitiation for all our sins and not only ours that are Jews but throughout all the world if they be Beleevers This he laies down to stay the hearts of Gods people in reference to that sadness that they would be ready to be overwhelmed with Now Brethren because there is but one main Doctrine that I intend to insist upon I wil but briefly explain the words to you and then I wil propound the Doctrine First When the Apostle saith If any man do sin he thereby plainly implies that there are certain sorts of sins that even Gods Children though they dare not commit sin nor walk in sin yet even Gods own Children for them he speaks to my little Children I write this to you I say there are sins that Gods own people are overtaken with even after they have fellowship and Communion with Jesus Christ that is the first thing that he takes for granted Then Secondly To that he adds But saith he if any man sin that is when we do thus sin when Gods people do thus sin What then We have an Advocate that you all know the meaning of one that pleadeth our cause that is the office of an Advocate to appear in behalf of another in his cause We have an Advocate with the Father above in Heaven at his right hand that is Jesus Christ our Lord who died for us and loved us and gave himself for us he appears in Heaven for us yea he is Jesus Christ the righteous that is though he be so righteous that he wil never plead an ill cause yet this is a part of his righteousness to intercede and appear in the behalf of his own people even when they sin against him Jesus Christ the righteous who is the Propitiation for our sins that is who once upon earth offered himself up a Sacrifice to satisfie for them and now in Heaven pleads the benefit and virtue of it for ever in the behalf of his people And not for ours only that is we that are Jews but for the sins of the whol world supposing stil he speaks of the same matter of those that believe in Christ that have Communion with him throughout the world Rich and Poor Yong and Old Jew and Gentile this is a truth to them all When Gods people sin Jesus Christ the righteous at Gods right hand maketh mediation for them So the words thus briefly paraphrased upon do afford us this Doctrine which is the only Lesson that I intend to handle this day namely Doct. That the Lord Jesus Christs intercession in Heaven is the great dayly relief that al the Saints have upon Earth against their dayly sins A Doctrine which at the very first propounding Promiseth not only comfort to Believers but carnal men they wil be ready to promise themselves liberty though I hope without cause by that time I have done with it but Jesus Christs mediation in Heaven is the great relief to all Gods Saints upon earth against the dayly sins that they are overtaken with Now Beloved that I may handle this Doctrine for your profit there are two questions which God willing I shal endeavor to cleer and that wil be the sum of all my work the discussing of them First Quest. 1. What sins the Lords Children and People are liable to while they are in this world what those sins are that the Children of God may be overtaken with while they live in this world Secondly Quest. 2. I wil shew you how the Intercession of Jesus Christ is the great relief to Gods Children against these sins For the first First What are those sins which the Lords people his own Children are liable to while they live in this world And to make you the more attentive to it be pleased to note that there are two Conclusions about sin laid down so cleerly in the Scripture yea in this very Epistle that they almost seem to contradict one another and therefore it is of great weight to have that cleared First 1. Nothing clearer then this That he that is born of God doth not sin nor cannot sin and if a man say he hath communion with Jesus Christ and walkes in sin he is a Liar and deceives his own Soul Nothing clearer then this in this Epistle So likewise in Romans 6. How can we that are dead to sin Live any longer therein Sin cannot
of Application is come the making himself over to them in the consideration or notion of an elder Brother and so they really by their conjunction with him partake of it There is the second work 3. There is the work of the Holy Ghost and til that likewise be past over the Soul never is any man made the Son of God The Holy Ghost and his work is so eminent and apparent that he is called the Spirit of Adoption that when the Lord gives his Spirit unto his Children he cals it by the Spirit of Adoption because it is the great Office of the Spirit to make that great work of Adoption Quest. Now what is the Holy Spirit 's work about it Answ. I Answer It stands in three things and you wil see them all cleer in Scripture and I hope I shal have some time for the Application for I go it over as fast as I can the Holy Ghosts work in making us the Sons of God stands in three things as it is cleer in the Scripture The one is 1. When the acceptable time is come that the Lord means to make a Soul that is by nature a Child of wrath to become the Child of God He sends the Spirit of Jesus Christ into that Soul to be a band of union betwixt Christ and that soul that whereas Christ is to be applied to them as a Brother and they to be mystically united unto him the holy Spirit takes this Office upon himself to come and dwel in the heart as a band of union betwixt Christ and them that Christ and they should never more be separated and this work of the pouring out of the Spirit into the Soul to take possession of him for Christ and to give the possession of Christ unto him the Spirit being the band of it this is the first work of the Spirit as he is the Spirit of Adoption There is one The second work of the Spirit is this 2. That when the holy Spirit comes to make Christ and us one he as the elder Brother and we as his Brethren inseparably united to him whereas he findeth us enemies hateful hating that would rather be united to Harlots to the Creature to any thing the Spirit of God works a Child-like heart in them framing and molding their Spirits that for the time to come they calling God Father as they have warrant to do they likewise shall be made Sons even in the frame and bent of their spirits which is very excellently expressed in the very next words to my Text wherein it is said He gave them this Prerogative that they should become the Sons of God which were born saith he mark not of Blood nor of the wil of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Now no longer shal flesh and blood sway them but being born of God the Spirit of God gives a new birth and a new life now they come to have the hearts of Children that as nature hath planted in the heart of a Child toward the Parent Honor and Love and Reverence and Obedience where sin hath not utterly perverted it this is the natural genius of a Child to his Father So the Spirit of God molds and frames the Soul and this the Scripture signifies when it saith Because you are Sons God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts whereby now we can cry Abba Father now the hearts of them shal stand to God and be carried to him in Faith and Prayer as the hearts of Children are naturally carried to their Parents That is the second thing And then the third and last work of the Spirit and so you have all this indeed as plain before you as I can set it out briefly the Third Work is this 3. This Holy Spirit even as it is the Spirit of Adoption doth not only unite them to Christ and frame a sutable disposition in them towards God and Christ But it abides in them upon all need to witness to their Spirits that this is their condition to give not only the Seal of it by changing their hearts but by giving them the comfort of it as they need it in their necessities which the Apostle expresseth in those words it is in Rom. 8. And the same Spirit witnesseth to our spirits that we are Gods Children it carries our hearts to God and testifies to the Soul that God is their Father There is the second Now I have been larger in that because in truth the world doth not ponder these things nay few of Gods own Children do ever consider what a strange work it is that none but the blessed Trinity can undertake and each of them have their distant work in it of bringing a poor Child of Wrath to become the Child of God That is the second You hear now what Adoption is and how it is wrought Now the third thing in the Doctrinal part and then I hasten to the Application is Wel What are the benefits of it Now what are the benefits of our Adoption That when the Lord hath took this strange course and brought about this strange work Wherein doth the worth of this Priviledg stand I answer You wil receive a great deal of light of it at least it wil help you to remember it and understand it the better if I do illustrate it by the practice that was amongst the Romans So their Adoption and the Roman Adoption had three things in it it carried three things as all learned men that have read their Stories and Laws do know The first is 1. When a man was Adopted into a Family the Family of a Caesar or the great men by his Adoption he was cut off from the Family from which he sprung by his natural birth cut off from it not simply but from whatsoever was base or unworthy in that Family that if his Father were a Slave and himself by his birth a Slave it was hereditary to him or if any blot or infamy stuck upon his family whatsoever it was the Adopting of this Person into another Family wholly cut him off from al the base ignominious slavish bondage and dangers which belonged to the Family from which he sprung by his natural birth That was the first The second was 2. That by his Adoption he was taken as belonging to the Family into which he was Adopted as much as if he had been begotten by him he was to have by the Laws of the Empire the same respect from his adopted Father the same provision the same protection the same immunities whatsoever that his own begotten Son might claim by nature from the Roman Laws the adopted Child was instituted in them all And Thirdly 3 By his Adoption he had the same right to the inheritance that the begotten Child had if there were no other begotten Children the whol Inheritance sel to the Adopted Child if there were another begotten Child though beloved the Adopted shared with him in it Look how
the spring of life from whence the issues of life do flow Keep thy heart for out of it are the issues of life now as I shal shew you by and by the issues of life are nothing but our whol conversation so that what 's within is the Fountain of our conversation without that is meant by the Heart here and so consequently it must be meant chiefly of the Wil and Affections not excluding the understanding by the Heart then is meant the understanding faculty especially the Wil and the Affections Then 2. Keep thy heart Keep it What is that The word that is here translated Keep I find it in other Texts of Scripture variously applied somtimes it is applied unto those that are the Keepers of a Prison where dangerous Fellons or Malefactors are to be looked to that they do not break away Joseph was made the Keeper of the Prison The same word that is here somtimes it is applied to keeping the Sanctuary of God and all the holy things that belonged to Gods Temple so it is several times used in Ezekiel Somtimes it is used to signifie the keeping of Treasures Jewels c. so that it is such a keeping as doth argue a great deal of care and watchfulness and diligence c. All this is meant by Keep thy heart keep it as thou wouldst keep a dangerous Fellon a Traytor keep it as thou wouldst keep a holy Sanctuary and Temple of the Holy Ghost keep it as you would keep the richest Treasures keep thy heart And then 3 Keep it above al keepings with al diligence or above all keepings that plainly needs the least interpretation of all because that it is clear that there are abundance of things that God gives men in charge to keep that if God commit to any man a Flock he must take heed to his Flock if he bestow any Talent upon him of outward goods he must keep it and occupy it for Gods Glory every thing that is received from God must be kept according to the rules he hath given but above all thy keepings when you have put them all together all the keepings that must be kept for Wife Children Estate Name or whatsoever is dear let thy heart be kept above all keepings beyond them al above al keepings keep thy heart And then 4. Here is added thy Heart keep thy heart that signifies these two things The one is 1. That Solomon who was a Son of wisdom for it is judged by many that these were not Solomons own words but they were a part of the Catechism that his Father taught him for so in the beginning of the Chapter he tels you that he was his Fathers dearly beloved Son and he taught him instructed him said so and so to him and so they think that all these were Davids words to Solomon but if it be not if you take them for Solomons words it is all one for a little before he saith My Son that is when he saith my Son he means one that is a Son of wisdom a Child of God Keep thy heart that is a good heart that is a reformed heart that hath Grace planted in it yet he that hath it so must be careful to keep it so And then it signifies further 2. Thy heart that is above al other mens hearts look to the hearts of thy Children if thou beest a Pastor look to the frame of thy People so far as thy relation and duty reacheth look to them all and get what good may be but let thy heart be looked to above them all That is the meaning of the first branch Keep thy heart above all keepings 2. Now a word of the other For out of it are the Issues of life Here are two things to be interpreted First 1. The Issues of life What is that The word that is translated Issue it sometimes signifies a Bud that grows out from a Tree somtimes a Child that is born of a Father sometimes and very often the waters that spring or issue out of a Fountain and so by the issues of life he plainly means all that comes out in our Conversation that is the fruit of the heart Words Actions Relations Duties Sufferings whatsoever you wil they are all the issues of life Al these are issues of life And then 2. All these are out of it What is that out of it may signifie two things and both come to the same purpose Out of it that is 1. Out of the heart it is out of our heart that cometh all the issues of life or I think life must be added out of it that is 2. Out of keeping of thy heart though it be a good one though it be reformed yet when I exhort thee to keep it diligently I would have thee to know that according as thou keepest thy heart so wil the issues of thy life be Now out of these words thus opened I observe this Instruction Doct. 1. That the greatest Duty that lies upon all the Sons of God the Sons of wisdom in this world is to keep their hearts To explain it a little more before I come to a further proof of it be pleased to know that there are two great works about our hearts in this spiritual sense The one is 1. To get it into a good spiritual Frame which no mans heart in the world is til the Lord break it in pieces and make it new The other work is 2. When God hath put this Instrument into tune that we keep it so that when God hath put it into a good frame our work must be to keep it in a good frame The second of these is the Duty of this Text for this is here applied unto the Sons of wisdom in whom Grace is planted and so my Doctrine then is this Doct. 2. That all the Servants of God must make it their busiest their diligentest their watchfullest work in the world to keep their hearts in a good frame when once the Lord in mercy hath put them into a good frame Now to make this good to you I wil not because an hour wil quickly be gone and I have many things that I would fain give you turn you to many Texts that should particularly prove it I think any of you that do but read the Scriptures where the Lord Christ enjoyneth us to look to our hearts because out of the heart and out of the treasury of the heart comes every thing out but to convince you of it I would open six grounds to you and all of them out of the Scripture which may satisfie you that the greatest work that all the servants of God have to do in this world as to themselves is To keep their hearts in a good frame and I hope I shal shew it you cleerly that the things are so and then I wil make some Application of it as the Lord shall enable me within the compass of the time I say there are six Conclusions that I would
inward man where Christ dwels and the things you look at in buying selling and purchasing and sporting and in al the things you may do that are Lawful to you observing Gods Rules you take Gods Word to be your Rule then I tel you for your comfort these two things First The Lord hath communicated to thy soul the excellentest life that ever he gave to any creature Three things I wil speak briefly that you account of First To be thus minded to be thus molded thus framed it is absolutely the highest the noblest the excellentest life that any creature ever partaked of I might shew it you in a world of Particulars out of the Word that there is no life like it We use to say in Phylosophy That the life of a Pismire it is a more noble life than the life of a Cedar though one Cedar be worth many thousand Pismires yet the life of the Pismire is better because it cometh from a nobler spirit Now the Life God hath given thee comes from the spirit of Jesus Christ. It is the noblest the operations of this Life are above what poor creatures can do as we say the Life of Reason it is such a brave flying thing to be a top above the poor sensual things of bruit Beasts and to deal with God And It is the sweetest too that is another for in al other lives men tast but the sweetness of the Creature but here the sweetness of thy Life is God and Jesus Christ himself there is no life so excellent as this is Secondly I say for thy comfort The Life God hath given thee is the greatest pledg of his love he ever giveth to any he hath given thee life it was the end of Christs undertaking to give life to his beloved ones he never giveth this to any man he means hurt to He can give a Kingdom to a man he means to destroy he gave it to Saul and cast him away in his wrath he can give an Apostleship to one that shall be damned he gave Judas an Apostleship and yet he perished but to have this Life to close with Christ to live to him according to his Word had you this Church ful of Diamonds given you to do what you would with and to raise your posterity to be the greatest men in this part of the world it were not such an expression of his love as to give Christ to you And thirdly I tel you This Life that the Lord hath given thee of which Jesus Christ is the Fountain thou mayest be bold to rely upon him for the preservation of it because it flows from him he is the Well-head of it he is the Well spring of it and therefore when thou thinkest how many evils thy Life may be incident unto what temptations thou mayest meet withal how weak thou art to resist them remember man or woman whose Life this is it is not thy life but Christs Life and he ever lives to make us live and therefore thou in an humble walking and dependance upon him in the use of Gospel Ordinances mayest comfortably expect that God wil nourish this Life and cherish it till thou come to be a perfect man till thou come to be transplanted into another Life where Faith and al these things shal cease and God be All in All this the comfort of it Then I thought to have spoken a little to the third Use. That because all the people of Christ live this Life to perswade you all to study it and to seek after it and often compare it with that other life that we so often weary our selves about with a vain shadow hazarding every thing for it to have our accommodation with as much refreshing as can be SERMON II. Gal. 2. part of verse 20. I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me now follows that which I shal more insist upon and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me THe Second Lesson which is the manner how all the Saints of God live this Life of Christ while they are in this world The Life which I now live in the flesh By Flesh there he means not his fleshly part as they are said to live to the flesh who live sensually and wickedly but by the Flesh there is meant our mortal condition while we are here upon Earth while we live our natural life the Life of Christ in us it is lived by the faith of the Son of God that is the faith wrought in us by the Son of God which we place upon the Son of God but that grace of faith it is the manner or the instrument or the means of our holy Life while we are in this world And this Doctrine which beloved is the mystery of Christianity is the very life and soul and kernel of true Christianity I shal endeavor according as the Lord shal enable me this day to open to you This is the Doctrine That that Life of Christ which all Gods people live in this world they live it by faith Understand but the scope aright and I hope the discourse may prove useful to those that have this Life My meaning therefore is That the grace of faith it is not only the instrument or condition required to make us partakers of Christ and his Life it is not only one chief grace or one branch of this Life but while the Saints are in this world the mannagement of their whol Spiritual Life is the work of faith Christ indeed is the fountain of it and the Spirit of God is the great administration of it but that which we do while we live in this world our whol spiritual Life is through the assistance of God acted by the grace of faith and I intend the Lord willing to handle it in this Method First I will cleerly demonstrate to you from the Scripture that it is so that the whol Life of a Christian it is led by faith Secondly which I more aim at I shall endeavor to clear to you what the holy Ghost means by this and what it is for a soul to live the Life of Christ by faith that shall be my chiefest work in the Doctrinal part and then I wil come to the application of it For the proof of it that it is so First Mark how cleerly the Scripture holds it out that while we are in this world the life of the Saints it is led by faith There is one place in Habbakkuk 2.4 I wil mention that you shall see the reason by and by the Spirit of God there speaks of the several waies that men had to live in troublesom times for Habakkuk lived in very difficult times of the Church and there in his discourse he shews how proud men lived by maintaining a good opinion of themselves and lifting up their hearts and how worldly men
damnation but for our selves of al the evils we lie under in this world there is none to be lamented so much as our unbelief Take my meaning thus Suppose a poor child under the care of loving and careful Parents that would neglect nothing that may do the child good but the child cannot eat his meat it hath no appetite or the meat is cast up alass if he have no stomach the child wil languish and for this and other distempers let the Parents weep over it never so much or dandle it never so much the child hath an inward root that wil destroy it I tel you what is true from the Lord there is nothing can undo you but unbelief there is no cross under Heaven can betide you but faith will carry you through it no duty can be preached but faith will carry you through it no Promise so hard in the Word of God but faith wil fetch out the sweetness of it Oh! this unbelief of ours undoeth us But you wil say Do you think the people of God are so much guilty of it I wil give you a little tast and by that you shall judg First All our not studying the Word that we are no more acquainted with the Word for were a servant of God assured that his livelihood in comfort in duty and every thing were to be fetched from the word there is no Merchant that would endeavor to be skilful in the mystery of his Calling more than every Christian would be in the understanding of the word And When the word is held out to us that we do no more value it and that we no more rely and venture our souls upon it it is nothing but our unbelief As if so be a man that I dare put my trust in if he make me a promise to furnish me with so much money at such a time I dare rely upon it But that I do not thus rely upon God in all my temptations and fully perswade my self that the Lord will deliver me it is nothing but my unbelief If a mortal man tel me if I walk thus and thus I will fall into many a danger and thus it wil fall upon me by Law this makes me careful That we deal not so with our gracious God is through our unbelief Nay in a word All our unevenness in our whol course that we somtimes rely so much upon the Creature that when things flow in according to our minds then my Line is cast in a fair ground then God hath made my Mountain stand strong while the things of the world are with me at another time if I see a visibility of ruine then I cannot say that the great God wil stand by me in these difficulties this is nothing in the world but unbelief Nay All your deviations If you find David using unlawful means going over to the King of Gath to gain relief it is nothing but unbelief If you find a man venturing out to take any unlawful comfort in the Creatures it is nothing but unbelief it is a thrid runs through the whol course of Gods people to make them live low lives and hinders them from the obtaining of that that would be consolation to their own souls therefore I beseech you you that have made Christ your portion and make account that faith must be your livelihood lay it to heart mourn under it pray the Lord to root out this bitter weed and make you masters over it for certainly it is a great evil we stand by faith we fal by unbelief it is that that occasions all the disquiets of our lives The Lord set it to our hearts and deliver us from it SERMON III. Gal. 2. part of verse 20. I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me now follows that which I shal more insist upon and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me NOW I proceed and there is but one great Use that I intend though I would a little mention another and speak a little of it in the first place Good Christian Friends weigh what I have said and regard it not because I say it but because of the evidence I hope goes along with it But the thing I collect is That you may all hence learn what kind of Christians they must needs be who can live in the flesh above the Word and Ordinances having no use of them and as they think nothing to do with them but live in an immediate Communion with God and enjoyment of him This is one of the wildnesses and infatuations that the Lord hath let out amongst us in this sinful Nation that many that have gone for sober humble gracious men and women they look upon al those that have to do with Ordinances that study Scriptures and tend upon Sermons they look upon them but in the A B C Form they are of a low pitch and rank themselves are above these things they have attained to a higher Form But this Doctrine that I have opened will cleerly direct al Gods people what to judg of them for if they live the Life of Christ for that they pretend to it is either the life of spiritual sence immediate enjoyment or the life of Faith if they pretend to an immediate enjoyment of God without the intervention of faith beleeve it they are beyond the Apostle Paul that professed in his own name and in the name of al the Saints that then lived That the life that they lived in this life it was by faith and not by sence yet these have learned that they are beyond his Form I will not say much good may do their hearts with it but poor Creatures their delusion will one day afflict them But if they say No we grant you it is the life of faith we live in this world Then say I Unquestionably and without all dispute it will appear faith hath its subordinate work it is the declaration of the Lords mind in his Word that faith meddles with and all the Ordinances and all tending upon the Word and Sacraments c. are the administrations of Christs will that is carried on in Ordinances and no other way I know sure I am the Scripture is silent in it Therfore Friends for such as are concerned in it they wil not be here to hear it nor any where else they count it a folly but to your sober Christians that desire to go to Heaven and to walk with the Lord in his own way give me leave to say this Therefore I confess our divisions and subdivisions in other matters of Religion are very sad the cutting of the people of God a pieces in the several molds and forms of Government and therby alienating their spirits one from another it is very sad and the Lord in his mercy remove those things But
Sense what is Adoption I describe it thus It is a gracious Sentence of God the Father who cals sinners if Beleevers his Sons for Christ's sake I give you this short description That it is a gracious Sentence of God the Father whereby he doth call Beleevers though sinners yet he cals them his Sons for Christs sake the very Scripture language We are called Sons but yet I think a little plainer take this It is a gracious work of God whereby he doth take poor sinners who beleeve in Christ into that Glorious Condition of being his own Children All this will by and by be more plain when I come to shew you what it comprehends in it but the Lord of his free Grace when he hath brought home a Soul to make it accept of Christ to be its Savior then doth he how unworthy soever that Wretch be he takes him into the condition of his own Children That is the first and I am the shorter in it because the next wil explain it more The second Question is this 2. What is this work of Adopting or how is it done and therein I humbly crave your best attention because I know to you that are the Lords I am opening the most glorious Priviledg that Christ Jesus hath bought with his blood for you and it wil be wel worth your understanding how we that are Children of Wrath come to be made the Children of God I Answer you then First 1. In general The Adopting of a Soul to be a Child of God is so high a work that the whol Trinity the Father the Son the Holy Ghost every one of the three Persons have their distinct work in Adopting a poor Sinner to be the Child of God nor is any man upon Earth ever made the Child of God til al those three works of the Trinity have passed upon him so great a matter is it to be made Gods Child And this wil I open to you in the second place 2. What the several works of the blessed Trinity are in making a poor unworthy sinner to become the Child of God First 1. The work of the Father God the Father what is his work in our Adoption It stands in two things you will find them cleerly if you do but study the Scriptures The first is 1. From all Eternity the Lord did choose them to be his Children that when he did first pitch upon them if I may speak of any thing that is first which is eternal but when the Lord pitched upon poor Creatures and chose them to life he chose them to be his Children as you have it in Ephes. 1. verse 5. He hath predestinated us to the Adoption of Children that although he himself had a naturally and only begotten Son every way pleasing and delightful to him yet besides this only begotten Son would he have other Children who with that Son should enjoy him and serve him and under that notion he chose to make them his Children Not only so but 2. When he gave them to Christ which was likewise a work from all Eternity When the Lord gave these to Jesus Christ whom he chose to be Sons he gave them to him under the notion of Brethren These are to be thy Brethren I give them to thee to compleat the work which I have chosen them to which is to be my Sons and therefore it is said in that place of the Hebrews That because the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood that is those that the Lord had chosen and looked upon as Children he that was their Surety must partake of Flesh and Blood So there is the Fathers work that from all Eternity he taketh a poor Creature and saith This shal be my Son and he gives him to his Son Christ These I give as thy Brethren to thee to bring them to the enjoyment of me There is the work of the Father this I hope is plain Then Secondly 2. There is a work of Jesus Christ What is that The work and Office of Jesus Christ in the point of Adoption that likewise stands in two things The First is 1. He was to purchase their Sonship for them for though the Father would give it them freely it should cost them nothing yet Christ being made their Surety he must purchase it for them so that the Lord although he was the Heir of all things yet he condescends by his own Blood by his own Sufferings by himself being made a Curse He condescends to purchase adoption for those that were given him to bring to life This is plain in Gal. 4. where iâ— is said When the fulness of time was come God sent his own Son born of a Woman made under the Law that we might receive the adoption of Sons that our Adoption as it flows from Christ is the price of his Blood that is one of the works that Christ doth The second is this 2. That when the acceptable hour is come that the Lord is pleased to bring a Sinner home to Christ Christ is applied to him as a Brother that when they are brought to Christ by Faith Christ cometh to be applied to them as their elder Brother not only as a Redeemer that hath satisfied God and purchased for them but when he is made over to them he is made over to them in his Sonship as wel as in the rest of his works so that as our justification ariseth from Christs righteousness being applied to us so our Sonship arising from Christ as the Son being the only begotten Son of God and our elder Brother is applied to us Yea I tel you this application of Christ in his Sonship to the Saints is so neer and so close that although he be the only begotten Son of God the first born the Heir of all things yet by vertue of his application unto Beleevers they likewise come to be called by God himself his first born These are high things but the Scripture is cleer in them for so you read it in the latter end of Heb. 12.23 where it is said that we are come to the new Jerusalem to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and to the Congregation of the first born whose names are written in Heaven that all they that are called home to Christ by reason of their conjunction to their elder Brother they are the first born of God and the Lord speaks thus of all his Saints in that place of Exod. in that sense I am speaking Go saith he to Pharoah tel him Israel is my Son What Son My first born he is my first born because Israel was comprehended in Christ and Christ looked upon as his Brother Israel is Gods first born So here are two of the works of the Trinity in our Adoption the work of the Father in chusing us to it and giving us to Jesus Christ as his Brethren the work of the Son is in purchasing this great priviledg by his Blood and when the time
had a little Oyl in the bottom of a Cruse and a handful of meal in the bottom of a Barrel and she and her Son did live upon it for as many years as the Famine lasted I warrant you that poor Woman would not have taken a hundred pound for it So that poor soul that can say I bless God he hath raised me up from my low condition and I have abundance of the world about me but I know Christ is more dear to me than all the world I know my prayers are to him for life and I hang upon him as wel as I can for life and look for it no where else and I dayly apply my heart to him in that poor measure his Spirit enables me I tel thee poor soul he hath given thee Jehoiakims portion and the richest food for manna was Angels meat this the Angels nay pardon me God never created any creature in the world to tast of this but every poor soul how wretched soever that lives upon Christ feeds upon â—t I pray meditate upon this at home and the Lord help you to ruminate upon this in secret Is it so Lord that the poor soul that casts himself upon Christ is thus made one with him Surely I wil never take care how it is in the world with me God hath provided wel for me my Lot is fallen in a very good place And Lastly USE 3. For Exhortation I shal make but one Use and that shal be in the very words of our blessed Savior when he begins this Doctrine in this John 6. ver 27. when they came and flocked after him for the Loaves saith Christ to them Labor not for the meat that perisheth but for the meat that endures to eternal life This Counsel of Christ I would a little press to you though I borrow half a quarter of an hour forgive me for it is for your good First saith Christ 1. You seek me for the loaves labor not for that Friends we are all cumbred as our Saviour said to Martha in Luke 10. the latter end Martha Martha thou art carefull and cumbred about many things So we are cumbred all of us about many things some of us are cumbred how to get more wealth some of us cumbred how to dispose of the wealth we have got we are cumbred about our places offices and these worldly things hurry us up and down we can hardly come into any place but all the peoples talk is no body is at leisure but full of business and what is it for the meat that perisheth all that thou laborest for is perishing perishing money pershing wealth perishing honor perishing profit alas Freind in a very few daies all that thou laborest for wil not be worth one penny at least to thee and but over a little time to no body else perishing things not worth your seeking the Lord knows they are not they that the world comes in most upon and all that their hearts can wish comes in with ease it is not one hours content it is but meat that perisheth but now labour saith he for the meat that endures to eternall life here is meat worth your labouring for I appeal to all your consciences that have heard the Sermon whether this meat be not worth the labouring for whether to get an interest in Christ to hunger after him to long for him to rely upon him Is not this worth the seeking Oh! seek it and to encourage you 2. I wil tel you what our Savior adds in verse 27. Labor for that meat that endures to everlasting life saith he the Son of man he gives it you that is you have no promise if you labor for the things of this world How many are those that toyl and moyl and cark and care most for the world and it wil not come upon them many a man sits up late and riseth early and manages his business discreetly and yet it wil not come but God hath engaged himself by a Promise that he that seeks the bread of life shal have it that if thou canst but pour out thy soul Lord leave me not destitute of Christ he wil not deny the Son of man to thee But lest some-body should further add Give it me Why should he give it me What is there in me that the Son of man should be given me Why should I think the Lord Christ would give me this food If I ask that he ads For him hath God the Father Sealed that is I came into the world under a sealed Office to do the wil of my Father and the work that my Father hath sealed to me made my work to do is To give eternal life to those that seek it He can as wel deny himself and deny that he is sent from God and his Office as to deny the bread of life to a soul that unfainedly labors for it Wil not this do it The Lord bless it and give you to consider what I have said and win all our hearts to study that Jesus Christ may be more in our thoughts FINIS SELF-DENIAL Opened in a SERMON At St. Mary Spittal March 26. 1649. Matth. 16 14 and so forward Then said Jesus unto his Disciples if any Man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow me For whosoever will save his Life shal lose it And whosever will lose his Life for my sake shall find it For what is a Man profited if he shall gain the whole World and lose his own Soul Or what shall a Man give in Exchange for his Soul THe occasion of this speech of our Savior was this he had a little before told his Disciples what great things he was shortly to suffer at Jerusalem whereupon Simon Peter begins to rebuke his Master for admitting of such a Melancholly thought Far be it from thee to imagine that God will ever suffer thee to undergo such sad things as these are Master pitty thy self if there be any danger take a course to avoid it Our Savior therefore replies to Peter get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence to me this is nothing but the savor of the things of the world that makes thee give me this wicked counsel having rebuked Peter he turns to al his Disciples and utters this speech that I have read wherein our Lord strikes at the Root of that which made Peter give him that carnal counsel for the Lord knew it was nothing but unmortified self in Peter and he wel saw that it would bring the like bitter fruits in all in whom it was not Crucified and therupon gives them that counsel that is contained in those three verses that I have read to you wherein there are these two things First 1. Here is a Lesson necessarily to be practised by all Christs Disciples in these words If any man wil be my Disciple Let him deny himself Take up his Cross And follow me that is the Lesson Secondly 2. Here is
subdued thy heart to that I tel thee for thy comfort and so I pass from this first use if the Lord have subdued thy heart to that he hath taught thee that lesson which though it be the first in order to Christianity yet it is the hardest Nut thou hast to crack it is a lesson that nothing but Gods Spirit dwelling in thee ever subdued thy heart too and it is assure a token that the Lord is thine as any thing that ever can be found in thee when thou hast renounced all that Christ may be all to thee but if this be a stranger to thee and thou to it do not flatter thy self with thy carnal confidence thou maiest be very religious and honest in outward shew but thou servest thy Self and not the Lord and that self of thine wil ruine thee and never save thee and therfore in the next place which is the use which I most of all intend and which when I have done with I have done my Sermon USE 2. I would labor to teach this Lesson this great Lesson of self-denial I would be a help to those that are willing to learn this hard Lesson how it may be attained that we may follow the Lord and truly Honorable and Beloved if I should look upon my self only in this work my weakness to think that I should perswade you to deny your selves I profess I would as soon expect that I might perswade you to go out of this Assembly and lay violent hands upon your selves and cut your own Throats as soon as by any Rhetorick or Arguments of mine I should ever look to perswade you to this great lesson of self-denial but when I consider that in this work I am the Minister of Christ and that his Spirit goes along with his word I may hope through his Grace that I may teach that and leave that upon many of your souls that may make you contented to forsake all and follow Christ all the rest of your daies I say again looking upon humane perswasions it is nothing I remember the Story that is told of Luther When Luther first came out to preach against the Popes indulgences and to reform the corruptions of the Church of Rome went about that vast Task there was one Albertus that liked Luthers projects very wel but despaired that ever he would make any thing of it he wrote to him Frater abi in cellam die miserere mei Deus Fryar saith he go to thy bed go into thy Cel thou wilt never do any good at this work So to come to perswade men to forsake themselves to renounce themselves to come and deal with Lord Majors and Aldermen and Sheriffs and Ladies and great Citizens and learned men to come and turn them out of al that ever they have that they should renounce al and deny al and not be worth one Groat but the favor of God in Christ Abi in Cellam Go to thy Bed there is no hope of it but if God strike in there wil be hopes of it and therfore to perswade you to it be pleased to take these three motives· 1. Three Considerations I would give you to make you willing to learn this lesson of self-denial and then 2. I will shew you the means that you must use to attain it 1. To provoke you to it Consider in the first place 1. That this self this cursed self that I am preaching against it is absolutely the greatest Idol in the world the greatest Idol and false God that is to be found in al the world Since man left the true God from being his portion there have been found out a hundred thousand other Gods but all those hundred thousand and hundred thousand demy-gods they are all of them but underlings to this same God that is called Self Self invented them Self set them up Self changeth them Self produced them and they all bow before it as Dagon did before the Ark so all the other Idols in the world bow before Self I know I speak Gods truth my meaning is All false religions all policies all injustice all oppressions all underminings all villanies that are acted in the world and from one end of the world to the other they all are but the fruit of self-love self-preservation self-interest self-content self-respect somewhat about Self hath set them up and were they all banished out of the world while we have a Self in us an unmortified Self that self in mankind would invent all those again that ever were or as bad as they This is the Abaddon the Apollion the abomination that was all desolation and certainly this ruines Kingdoms ruines Common-wealths overthrows Churches it is the great waster that destroies all and you set against all other things without any purpose til you go against this I hope I speak to wise men but I am sure if you wil search you wil find this to be true that it is only self is the ruine of al men and til you turn that off you do but crop the bud and as if a man should say that I have almost undone my self by a Whore but I wil give her over I wil follow her no more and another say I have undone my self by a pack of Cards but I will use them no more but if self remains Covetousness wil undo thee with Religion and with Honesty it wil carry thee to Hell by thy Prayers by thy Tears by thy reformations til the Lord turn self out you do nothing That is one Secondly Consider this 2. There is an absolute impossibility the Lord help you to weigh what I am now saying to you I say there is an absolute impossibility that ever the soul should cordially close with Christ until it do totally renounce it self never can Christ be cordially closed with til then There are a thousand things may make a man make an external profession of Christ or keep a fair quarter with him but cordially to close with him it is impossible til the Lord teach us to renounce our selves I wil give you the reason because Christs interest and self-interest are diametrically opposite one to the other directly opposite one to another and therefore it is not possible that ever we should close with Christ until we renounce that other that is that our Savior means in Math. 6. No man can serve two Masters he doth not mean that a poor man cannot serve two or three or ten Masters he may serve twenty Masters so as all those Masters have but one interest if they have all one common and joynt stock he may serve them al but if their interests be opposite one to another the man can never serve them both Now Christs interest what is that it is only to lay the Creature low to make man and all that is of man vile and nothing and to exalt free Grace only that is Christs interest but now self-interst is nothing in the world but to exalt it self whosoever
goes down to tread upon the Devils shoulders to exalt it self to tread upon the world to exalt it self to tread upon Gods shoulders to exalt it self any thing that may exalt it self they are so opposite that it is impossible they should both close Thus far indeed a man that hath made Self and self-interest his portion that man may keep a marveilous fair quarter with Religion as a learned man handling this very Doctrine I am preaching of useth this comparison saith he Those men whose interest is to maintain their own greatness they will entertain those that are cal'd the wits of the time the pleasant Companions the Drols they wil entertain them bid them welcom be glad of them though it be some cost to them it is a part of their grandour it maintains their greatness to have such and they are as welcome to them as any body in the world but if any of these wits or pleasant Companions shal come to engage this man and say pray Sir be you bound with me for ten thousand pound Sir you are welcome to my house and your Horse is welcom but Sir you must pardon me he wil throw him off rather than do so So a man may entertain Christ while hearing of Sermons and discoursing of Religion is only an Ornament to a man a man that is of a selvish spirit may cordially entertain him so far but so as to hazzard their own undoing for Religions sake for Christ's sake to bring me to beggary it may be to hang me upon a Gallows to throw me out of my Office to overthrow my Trade wholly to throw these away no man living can entertain Christ so far It was a notable speech of the King of Navarre that afterwards was Henry the fourth of France The King of Navarre was a Protestant and owned the Protestant cause but his eye was upon the Crown of France to which he knew he was Heir and hoped to come to it and when Beza and the other Protestants did press the King of Navarre to appear cordially in the cause of God saith he I am yours I wil go with you but I promise you I will go no further to Sea than I may come to Land if a storm rises his meaning was he would never hazzard the loss of the Crown of France for the Protestant Religion and so he fared accordingly and truly so may it be now Thou maiest tel Christ after a complemental manner Lord thou art mine it is my honor to be thy servant I delight to hear thy word preached and worship thee in my Family I rejoyce in it all this fair quarter maiest thou keep but beleeve it if the Lord have not taught thee to renounce thy self when Christ shal come to try thee throughly thou wilt honor him just as you shal find in the Story and it is worth your observation in 1 Kings 20. you have such a Story as this is Benhadad the King of Syria sendeth to Ahab King of Israel such a Letter as this saith he Thus saith Benhadad All that thou hast is mine thy Wives and thy Children are mine thy Gold and thy Silver is mine and al is mine Ahab very loth to quarrel with him returns him a very fine complement My Lord saith he all that I have is at your service all is thine Well Benhadad sendeth next day Wel saith he whereas I sent to thee that all is mine that thou hast I wil send my Servant for to seize upon it while he only talked of it Ahab would own it my Lord all is thine But when to morrow I wil send my servants and they shal seize upon it then he cals his Counsellors See you how this man picks a quarrel with me what a fair answer I sent to him and now he would seize upon all So if Christ come to thee til thou hast learned self-denial and say here I wil lay thee down here thou shalt lose thy credit or thy Conscience peace with me or peace with men thou canst never close with Christ cordially till thou hast learned this lesson And then Thirdly and Lastly for my Motives 3. Know for certain If the Lord have but once taught thee this Lesson there is nothing in all Christianity wil be difficult to thee all the waies of Christ will be as plain as a Bowling-Alley whatsoever thou art called too I know I speak a great word but I bless God I speak not unpreparedly in it all the waies of Christ wil be as plain as a Bowling-Alley to thee if the Lord have but once taught thee to turn Self out of doors thy work wil be brought only to these two Heads 1. One part of it to learn to know what Gods wil is concerning thee what he would have thee do or what he would have thee suffer And 2. The other wil be but to seek strength of him that thou maiest not in thy own power go about it but be supported by him but otherwise all objections and difficulties are removed if Self be but once turned out of doors Why Because all the difficulties in the waies of Christ ariseth from Arguments taken from Self only either this will be against my honor or here I must part with such a pleasure or here my estate may hap to be crack't or here this may hazzard my life or this may deprive me of my Children or this may cut me off from my Friends or this may expose me to scorn some such thing or other comes in but otherwise when a man hath no such thing to take care for I have no honor nor credit nor wife nor Children nor friends I regard the Lord is my portion I live upon him I drink water out of that Cisterne and I care for no other when the soul hath but once learned that it is but with him as it was with Paul saith he I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem and I profess I know not what I shal meet withal saith one then I will tel you what you shal meet withal the Holy Ghost saith the Jews shall bind you and Scourge you and Whip you and send you to Rome and what then they all fal a Weeping for and about him saith he why break you my Heart What care I to die at Jerusalem when it is the work of the Lord he had no self to regard he had turned self out of doors and all the waies of Christ were easie to him and God knows this passage was one of the motives that made me choose this Theam before this grave Auditory Truly our times are extream Ticklish and dangerous and the wisest man under Heaven knows not what wil betide him whether it fals back or edge no man can tel what will become of him nor what to meet withal and a great many wise men are perplexed to know what to do now I tel you if the Lord do but teach you to deny your selves to lay aside all that may be called self
and then when the Lord hath broke it and new shot it that he hath given you an interest in Christ and the Spirit of Christ is become a new life to you then you are fitted to this Duty but til the Lord hath wrought that in you all other talk is to no purpose therefore your first work must be to get such a heart as is capable of this for every one is not Then Secondly 2. When the Lord hath done so then for the keeping of it in a good frame all the directions though there be very many of them yet I think they may be all brought to these two heads The one is 1. Keep the heart pure keep it pure from sin from the defilement that wil daily grow upon it if it be not wel kept from the stirrings of corruption either to keep them down that they do not stir or when they do stir to get them dayly washed off by the blood of Christ. And then the other is 2. As to keep it pure from sin so to keep it fit for Duty tuned and prepared for the several Duties the word is large and through Gods mercy your instructions are many and whosoever is willing may have constant directions to guide him in all these FINIS THE LIFE OF CHRIST OR THE Great Mystery OF SPIRITUAL LIFE Opened and applied in several Sermons at Olaves Silverstreet Octob. 27. 1653. Gal. 2. part of verse 20. I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me now follows that which I shal more insist upon and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me THE Dependance of these words with the former briefly stands thus The Holy Ghost having decried the Law as that which is utterly unable to give life and set up the justification of a sinner only from Gods Free Grace in making over unto him the Righteousness of Christ having I say asserted this great fundamental Doctrine of our Christian Religion wherein the Galatians were begun to be tainted he then comes to answer the common Cavil which not only the Papists but too many among our selves do charge this Doctrine withal namely That it is but a door to al licenciousness and doth take off the rains from any man and give him an occasion to be bold in wickedness for if our righteousness cannot justifie us nor our unrighteousness condemn us but the righteousness of Christ is accepted for us and in him we are compleat without any thing of our own who would not take liberty to indulge himself in such fleshly courses as are agreeable to his nature Now against this the Apostle opposeth several things as arguments to prove that this cannot be a consequence of this Doctrine to a man that rightly understands it Justification by free Grace wil never be a temptation to a man to a sinful life and one Argument is All Pauls Ministry tended to beat down a wicked life and do they think he would come to build up that which he had pulled down that were an absurd thing Secondly The very end of our Justification by Christ is quite contrary to it for saith he through the Law I am dead indeed to the Law but it is that I might live to God as if he should have said It is true that the right understanding of the impossibility of a sinners keeping the Law wil beat down in him al thoughts of ever obtaining any life by the Law he wil be dead as to look for justification or acceptance that way but it is that he might live to God that is the very end of it that he might live to God that is another argument and that being the very end that God aims at it is impossible that the quite contrary of it should flow from the Lords own appointment Then Thirdly Every man that doth but partake of Jesus Christ he is crucified with him and he instances in himself I am crucified with Christ when Jesus Christ hung upon the Cross and there by vertue of his death did kil sin and by vertue of his resurrection hath opened a way to a new life when I partake of Christ I have an interest in this I die with him and am buried with him therefore it is impossible that looking for life by Christ should make a man live a wicked life And Fourthly Which he brings in by way of Answer to a tacite Objection Are you crucified do we not see you are alive Yes I live indeed but in truth more properly I may say it is not I that live but it is Christ Jesus that lives in me by vertue of my interest in him my whol life flows from him and that life that I live in this life that is in this fleshly Tabernacle it is the life of Christ and the way how I live it is by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me And so I have brought you to my Text and in the words without any further interpretation save what you shal have in handling the Doctrine there are these Two Doctrines cleerly laid down The first is That every soul that hath an Interest in Christ while he is in this world it is Christ that lives in him While we live in this flesh in this world the life that we live it is Christs life Christ lives it we do not only when we accept of Christ beleeve in him to be saved by him when we go out of this world and trust al the daies of our life that when this life endeth he hath a better life for us in store that is not al but when we accept of Jesus Christ we so accept him that his life is communicated to us and while we are in this world we live that life That is the first Doctrine That all the Lords people while they live in this world they live Christs life The Second is That the modus vivendi the manner of their living this life in this world it is by faith We shal live the life of Christ to Eternity but when that moment of Eternity cometh faith shal have no hand in it but the life we now live while we are in the flesh it is the grace of faith by which we live it Just as I may express my meaning for I shal not handle that Doctrine as take it of an Infant As soon as ever the body and soul are but joyned together that it is made a living soul it is the life of a man that it lives but while it is in the mothers womb the manner of living is by the navel the navel-string conveyeth al to it when it comes into the world that is cut there is no more use of it and then it lives another way So while we are in this world though we live the life of Christ yet Faith is as it were our navel-string
of men when therefore the Lord saith that al are dead til Christ cometh certainly there is another Life besides that life that natural men enjoy Fourthly and lastly Abundantly in the Scripture wil you find this proved that upon the souls accepting of Christ they are said to be quickned They who were dead in sins and trespasses he hath quickned Read but the ten first verses of the 2d of the Ephesians and I know not how many other places there are Ye were dead ye were such but he hath quickned you and he that beleeveth in me saith Christ to Martha in John 11.25 though he were dead he shall live and living once he shal never die Doest thou beleeve this Then Christ being the Root of a Life it being the end of his undertaking that his people might have life and all men being dead before they come to him and quickned to life upon the receiving of him certainly then there is a life that they who have any interest in Christ do live which others are strangers from And let this suffice for the first And beloved though I shal not apply this alone yet I would count it a great fruit of this daies meeting if the very notion of it might but stick upon your hearts it would be of admirable consequence that if al of you would go home and say Certainly whatsoever I may think of my self if I be in Christ there is another life than that which I live yet and as you will hear if it please God a better life another manner of life than this is But that for the first The Second which it may be you wil more long for for I suspect not that you wil doubt the truth of the first is What is this Life what is it Now remember I taught you in one of my Preparatory Conclusions That it is not to be understood of this world and therefore pray expect not any cleer opening of it what it is but only so far as the Lord hath taught me out of his Word I shal communicate to you I wil give you this Description of it and then I will open it more expresly as I go along The Life that al Beleevers have from Christ it is a participation of Christs righteousness upon their union with him Pray mark it I shall make this plainer by and by I say That the Life of Christ that al the Saints partake of it is a participation of Christs righteousness upon the souls union with him Where there are these two things a little to be cleered First That all who do receive Christ are united to him and that is the foundation of their Life The Second is That upon their union they partake of his Righteousness and the participation of this righteousness is their life That is that I mainly intend to cleer That they are al united to him the Scripture is abundant in the proof of it It is Christ in us that is the hope of glory and we are one with him and he with us and he dwells in us by his spirit c. therefore it is cleer that we are united to him made one and this union it is nothing but the Lord Jesus sending his spirit into the soul as a band to knit him and them together that he be made their Root and Stock Now that I will not treat of because the very handling of it it is not only a great Mystery but it would take up more time than is to be allowed for the Sermon But Secondly Upon their Union with Christ they partake of his Righteousness and the participation of his Righteousness is our Life Mark I pray this because I hope it will give you some Light into this great Work for if you be Gods People I am only making you to see what your spirits are what your blood is what your pulse is and I shal speak of nothing but the things that are in you if you be the Lords I say The participation of Christs Righteousness that is our Life To this purpose be pleased to observe this one rule and mark it in your reading of the Scriptures of the new Testament especially How that Righteousness and Death are the two things that are opposed one to another Death and Righteousness That look as soon as ever man was a sinner he was a dead man presently he was dead under the sentence of Death In the day thou eatest thou shalt die and not dead only under the Sentence but dead as his sin deprived him of Gods Image Now as it is sin that is our Death so it is Righteousness that is our Life not our own which the Scripture disclaims but the Righteousness of Christ and you shal find several times in Rom. 5. where the Apostle compares the Death by Adam and the Life by Christ ordinarily he useth this expression That As sin reigned unto Death so righteousness by Christ unto Life stil opposing them our Death is sin our Life is righteousness I know the time will prevent me if I should stay upon that But therefore I wil proceed to that that I aim at the Righteousness of Christ the participation of Christs Righteousness You wil say What mean you by that I mean plainly this That our spiritual Death it hath two Branches that Tree of Death that deadly Stock hath two Branches and we are said to be spiritually dead in a two-fold respect The one is We are dead as we are under the sentence of Condemnation and that is our death of guilt being bound over by the righteous Judgment of God to make him amends for the injury we have done him and that sentence of condemnation is our death that is one branch in regard of our guilt The other branch of our spiritual death is Our state of death we are in as being deprived of the image of God wherein we were made and not only deprived of it but have contrary principles in al the faculties of the soul carrying us constantly to the things that are opposite to him In these two respects are all men and women in the world dead til Christ finds them Now Jesus Christ answerable to this hath a two-fold righteousness the participation whereof is our life First He hath a Righteousness of his Obedience which is inherent only in himself but is bestowed upon us imputed to us reckoned to us and by that righteousness performed by Christ and inherent in him and reckoned to us by the righteous sentence of God he delivereth us from the death that we are under the death of our condemnation under the sentence of death and so the Apostle expresseth it cleerly in Col. 2.12 13. Ye saith he who were dead in sins and trespasses hath he quickened How forgiving you your trespasses In that place the pardoning and removing of our trespasses is the chief thing that is the quickning there intended So there is one a righteousness of Christ performed in our name accepted by God