pressing and inculcating it upon them This as he does in many other Scriptures besides so amongst the rest in this present Text which we have now before us THE Text is nothing else but a Discovery and Intimation to us of that special and singular Delight which God takes in his People which is here considerable of us two manner of wayes First Absolutely and Emphatically and by way of simple Proposition He delights in them Secondly Exclusively or Comparitively and by way of Relative Opposition He delights in none else or so much as he does in those c. Each of these are here exhibited to us We begin with the Former Namely the Truth as it is considerable in its simple Proposition and deliver'd Emphatically The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him in those that hope in his mercy Where those words of them that fear him are again considerable under a twofold Notion First As a General Description of the Saints and Servants of God and so they are taken by way of Specification Secondly As a Particular account of Gods Delight and taking pleasure in them and so they are taken by way of Reduplication For the first Take them Specificatively as they are a General Description of God's people which they usually are in Scripture And so the Lord takes pleasure in them God does very much delight in his People That 's the point which we have now before us Thus Psal 149.4 The Lord taketh pleasure in his People he will beautifie the Meek with salvation The Church is call'd Hephzibah which signifies My delight is in her Isa 62.4 And the Prophet there gives the reason of it Because the Lord delighteth in thee Prov. 11.20 They that are of a froward heart are an Abomination to the Lord but such as are upright in the way are his Delight For the better opening of this present Point unto us There are divers things which are here considerable in the People of God as to which the Lord himself may be said to delight and take pleasure in them First He takes pleasure in their Persons and delights in them That which was said more particularly of Daniel in Dan. 8.23 that he was Ish chamoudhim A man of Desires or as we Translate it greatly beloved it may be in a sort applyed to all the Saints and Servants of God they are Persons in special Favour and Acceptance with God and He is very much delighted in them Thus He is so far forth as they Members of his son Jesus Christ and by Faith incorporate into Him Christ he is the First Lovely The Son of Gods Love His Dear Son as he is call'd Col. 1.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And all true Believers they are accepted and beloved in Him He hath made us accepted in his Beloved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 1.6 This is my Beloved son in whom I am well pleased 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pleased not onely with him but in Him With Him for himself and with all his Members in and through Him and for His sake Whiles God looks upon a Believer as clothed with the Righteousness of Christ and made one with him He cannot but take pleasure in Him and so he does Thus Christ expresses it Himself in His Prayer to his Father Joh. 17.26 I have declared thy Name unto them and will declare it that the Love wherewith thou hast Loved me may be in them and I in them The same Love that God bears to Christ Himself he does proportionally bear also to all those that are Members of Christ This is the Difference now betwixt the children of God and other men As for the men of the world and such who are as yet remains in their Natural and Carnal Condition God hath no delight in them at all but their very Persons are odious to Him so considered As they take no pleasure in God so neither does he in them Heb. 10.38 They are said to be an Abomination to Him to be abhorr'd of Him to be such as his soul hates and such expressions as these My soul loathed them and their soul abhored me as he sayes of the evil Shepherds in Zech. 11.8 This is a sad and miserable Condition where ever it happens to be so but now on the other side for those who are his Servants they are very acceptable unto him and takes a great deal of delight in them and that as I said especially from that Relation which they bear to Christ who is his first beloved Behold my servant whom I uphold Mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth It is spoken particularly of Christ Isa 42.1 And the Comfort and Benefit of it does redound to all Believors by Reflection from him And that 's one Explication of God's taking pleasure or delight in his servants to wit first of all in their Persons Secondly As He takes pleasure in their Persons so also He takes pleasure in their Graces and those Heavenly Qualifications which are in them This He does especially as they are so many Reflexions of himself and expressions of his own Image in them The Graces of several Christians they are the work of the Spirit of God in them which are therefore so far forth delightful to God Himself as he is much pleased to observe them in them upon that consideration There are two special Denominations which the Scripture puts upon Christians as we shewed before His Sons and the work of his hands And in reference to either of them does God delight in them for their Graces First As they are his children who are regenerate and born again to himself and so are as it were the Image of Himself as the Son is of the Father Partakers of his Holiness and partakers of the Divine Nature as the Scripture expresses both unto us in Heb. 12.10 and in 2 Pet. 1.4 God delights in them so And then Secondly As they are his workmanship created by Him in Christ Jesus to good works as the Apostle also expresses it Eph. 2.10 He delights in them so far forth likewise Thirdly He takes pleasure in their Prayers and their Applications of themselves unto Him He takes very great Delight in these also Job 42.8 My servant Job shall pray for you for him will I accept Job had Acceptance with God in Prayer which his Friends had not So Cornelius Act. 10.3 Thy Prayers and thine Alms are come up for a Memorial before God Prov. 15.8 The Sacrifice of the wicked are an Abomination to Lord But the Prayer of the upright is his delight Let me see thy Countenance let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voyce and thy Countenance is comely sayes Chirst to His Spouse Cant. 2.14 Thy voyce that is the voyce of thy Prayers This is as sweet and pleasant Musick which sounds in the ears of God and Christ Fourthly and lastly In the Services of his People He takes pleasure also in them He Delights very much to improve them and to make use
admiration of it whiles we are unable to dive into it or to comprehend it And withall to be comforted from it as matter of great comfort unto us that we have indeed such a Glorious Redeemer as this is The great God and our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostle Paul stiles him in Tit. 2.13 And this for this expression of him in that he is singly called The begotten of the Father We may here also further take notice that he is called the Onely-begotten of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely Genitus but Vni-genitus And this will require briefly a little explication from us How Christ is said to be the Onely begotten of God when-as there are divers others begotten besides for thus are all true Christians and Believers Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth says St. James in Jam. 1.18 Who hath begotten us again to a lively hope says St. Peter in 1 Pet. 1.3 He that is begotten of God keepeth himself and that wicked one toucheth him not says St. Joh. 1. Joh. 4.18 All this is spoken of the Saints and Servants of God who are said to be begotten by him And yet here and in other places besides it is spoken of Christ that He is the Onely begotten For the solution of this we must consider in what sense this is spoken that Christ is the Onely-begotten namely in regard of his Divine Nature and as to Eternal Generation as begotten of the Substance of his Father so there is none begotten of him but alone He is the Son of God from all Eternity we in Time and he is the Son of God by Nature we by Grace He by Natural Generation we by Voluntary Adoption as Divines use to express it he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He is the Onely-begotten Son because he is the same that is onely-begotten after an extraordinary manner As Isaac is said to be the onely-begotten of Abraham Heb. 11.17 although he had Ishmael begotten of him also because he was begotten of him after a strange and miraculous dispensation And so much may suffice to be spoken of the First description here of Christs Person namely which is taken from his Relation The onely-begotten Son of the Father The second is which is taken from his Residence as I may so express it Who is in the bosome of the Father This was a phrase which fitted very well the mouth of the Apostle John and who himself lay in the bosome and was the bosome-Disciple of Christ what he himself was to Christ he signifies Christ to be to his Father yea indeed a great deal more It is a Metaphorical expression and so we are to look upon it not as if God had properly any bosome in him but such as speak after the manner of men for our better capacity and apprehension of so great a Mystery as is indeed couched and comprehended in it Thus as God has his Bowels so also his Bosome There are divers things which seem to be implied and contained in this expression as applied to Christ of his being in the Bosome of God we may reduce them to these following particulars First a Conjunction of Nature or Identity of Essence He is in his Bosome that is he is of the same Substance with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Chrysostom expresses it is that which is here pointed out unto us the parity and propinquity of Being This agrees with that which was said before of his Generation where it was said that he was begotten of the Father and it contains the same Truth inlarged and amplified unto us concerning the Consubstantiality of the Second Person in Trinity with the First as being Both of them One one in Essence though distinct in Personality Secondly The Intimacy of Affection that 's also in being in the Bosome and it is usually so exprest unto us in other places where things which are any thing dearer than other are there disposed of Ruth 4.16 Naomi of Boaz's child it is said that she took it and laid it in her bosom as a testimony namely of her great love and tenderness towards it Moses carried the Israelites in his bosome Numb 11.12 and Christ himself his Lambs Isa 40.11 We read of the Husband of the bosome and the Wife of the bosome that is the dear Husband or Wife The Bosome it is an expression of dearness And this is another thing observable in Christ towards God he is very near and dear unto him The Father loveth the Son Joh. 5.20 and he is therefore called the Son of his love in Col. 1.13 and so he testisied of him both at his Baptism and his Transfiguration This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased God has a great deal of affection for Christ as a Father for the Son of his Bowels and for the Son of his Bosome And that 's a second thing here implied to wit Intimacy of Affection Thirdly The nearness of Presence Things which are in the bosome are at hand and presently come to Whiles Christ therefore is said to be in the bosome of his Father there is thereby signified his great Proximity or nearness unto him He is always in the presence of God and ready for converse with him Thus Prov. 8.30 I was by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight rejoycing always before him And so he is said to the like purpose to sit at the right hand of God which are expressions of his continual fellowship and society with him Lastly The participation of Secrets that 's also in his being in the Bosome The Bosome it has that notion and emphasis with it amongst the rest A Friend in the bosome knows more of mens counsels than strangers and so it is here Christ being in the bosome of the Father he knows all that the Father himself knows which he reveals unto him Thus Joh. 5.20 The Father loveth the Son and sheweth him all things that he himself doth and will shew him greater things than these that ye may marvel Thus we see how in all these respects this expression does well agree to Christ of being in the bosome of his Father from the Conjunction of Nature as of the same Substance with him from the Intimacy of Affection as being dear and precious to him from the Nearness of Presence as being always and continually before him and from the Participation of Secrets as being throughly acquainted with him Now the consideration of this Point is very useful by way of Application namely as matter of great comfort and consolation to the Servants of God in all particulars Seing Christ is in the bosome of the Father this reflects very satisfactorily upon all those that are the Members of Christ and that according to the several explications of this phrase unto us First as to the Conjunction of Nature it is very pleasing and satisfactory here to consider that
and Governour of all things by his Divine Power But secondly That 's not all He is further so in regard of his Office as he is Mediator God-man Thus he hath all Power in Heaven and Earth committed unto him Matth. 28.18 He is Lord of all in Act. 10.36 And God has given him a name above every name that to him every knee should bow as it is in Phil. 2.9 10. Now here he is said not only to be a Prince absolutely but relatively the Prince of the Kings of the Earth as shewing both his influence upon them and likewise their dependance upon him His influence upon them as giving Laws and Rules unto them and their dependance upon him who do receive their Power and Government and Protection and all from his hands By me says Christ do Kings reign and Princes decree justice Prov. 8.15 The Consideration of this Point is useful both to Princes and People First It is useful to Princes to teach them to look up to this great and mighty Prince of all whom they thus stand in subjection unto and who hath the Lordship over them And secondly It is useful to People in sundry regards likewise First To infer their Obedience And secondly To regulate it To infer it first of all Because Christ he has an influence upon Governours and Magistrates and they belong to him therefore to yield Obedience to them Tit. 3.1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers to obey magistrates c. And then further to regulate their Obedience and to put a qualification upon it that it be in and for Christ and still with respect had to his Government and Principality over them which must be the guide and measure of it We should make use of this Kingly Office of Christ also in reference to our lusts for the conquering and subduing of them And so I have done also with the third General Part of the Text which is the Description of Christ from his Regal Office And the Prince of the Kings of the Earth And so much of the whole Text it self SERMON XLVII Revel 1.5 6. Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood And hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father c. It is matter of great concernment in the Description and Commendation of Christ to consider him not only in the Excellency of his Person but in the Execution of his Office nor only what he is in himself but what he is to us Therefore the Apostle John having premised and laid down the former in the words which were handled by us the last day he proceeds to the latter in these words which I have now read unto you There he had set forth Christ to us in the Consideration of his offices themselves as King and Priest and Prophet the faithful witness the first-begotten of the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth And here he represents him in the performance of them in our behalf as one that was not content only to take such an imployment upon him unless he did also discharge it and fulfil it and wholly accomplish it IN the Text it self we have a further Description of Christ in relation to his Church and that from three Heads especially First From his affection in General He that loved us Secondly From the discovery of this affection in particular And hath washed us from our sins in his own blood Thirdly from the consequent effect or result of it And hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father c. We begin with the first of these parts viz. Christ's affection propounded in General Vnto him that loved us Where there 's a double Emphasis considerable the one as fasten'd upon the action and the other as fasten'd upon the person if we lay it in the action so the point will be this That Christ bears a special love and affection to his People if we lay it upon the person so the point will be this That none do so truly and properly love the Church as Christ himself First Take it as laid upon the action and so I say there is this in it That Christ does bear a special love and affection to his Church and People He is one that loves them This the Scripture is full and pregnant of in sundry places we meet with it in every page This love of Christ it is considerable under a twofold notion the one as a love of pity and the other as a love of complacency there is a love of benevolence and a love of beneficence First A love of pity and benevolence This is Christ's love of us whiles we were in a state of perdition and misery He loved us when we were in our blood and said to us Live as it is in Ezek. 16.6 and Eph. 2.4 5. God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ by grace ye are saved So Rom. 5.8 God commendeth his love towards us in that whiles we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us And again in vers 10. of the same Chapter When we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son This love of Christ is so much the greater and does receive an amplification of it from a twofold Consideration First From the order of it in that it was preventing love And secondly From the freeness of it in that it was meerly resolved into himself as the spring and Original of it it was not founded in the object of it but in the subject First I say from the order of it In that it was preventing love for so indeed it was Herein is love says the Apostle not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins 1 Joh. 4.10 not that we loved him that is not that we first loved him he began in his love of us and if we do any thing love him it is but only by way of grateful return and as the effect of his love towards us as it is also in the 19th verse of the same Chapter We love him because he first loved us The love of Believers to Christ it is but the product and result and reflexion of his love first to them And this is a great matter in it Preventing love it is the chiefest love of all others Thus our Saviour to his Disciples You have not chosen me but I have chosen you Joh. 15.16 Who hath given unto him first and it shall be recompenced unto him Rom. 11.35 That first for the order of it But secondly Take it in the freeness of it it is very considerable also in that There was nothing in us that might draw him or invite him to the loving of us and yet he loved us notwithstanding In the love of men one towards another there is somewhat
commonly in the object which is attractive of it in one kind or other In the love of Christ towards us there was nothing at all he loved us whiles we loved not him I knew says Christ that ye have not the love of God in you Joh. 5.42 Nay he loved us whiles we hated him Joh. 15.25 They hated me without a cause As we hated him without a cause so he without a cause loved us and thereby after a most happy exchange was avenged upon us You which were sometimes aliens and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled c. says the Apostle in Gol. 1.21 Here is the excellency of the love of Christ that it is bottom'd and founded in his own good-will and pleasure and nothing else besides as Moses tells the Israelites in Deut. 7.7 The Lord did not chuse you nor set his love upon you because you were thus and thus c. But because the Lord loved you c. He loved you because he loved you that 's the best account which can be given of the love of God That manner of reasoning which in other cases seems to carry an absurdity and incougruity with it here is the most rational of all other That 's the first kind of love the love of pity or benevolence The second is the love of Complacency or Beneficence as Christ loves us so far forth as to bestow his Grace upon us so he loves his own Graces in us Therefore where he has taken any persons into fellowship and communion with himself he does there bear a tender love and affection to them First Christ loves us so far forth as to make us his people and then he loves us upon this account because we are his people This we may see in the whole Book of the Canticles which is nothing else but an expression of the mutual love which is betwixt Christ and his Church and the contentment which they have in each other The consideration of this Point is thus far useful to us as it is an argument to us for our loving of Christ again Love it engages to love it has a special force and vertue with it in a mutual reciprocation And so it should likewise be with us in this particular we have cause to love Christ for himself and that variety of excellency which is in him considered abstractly but when we shall consider him in reference to our selves how he begins and prevents us with his love this does over and above challenge it from us If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha 1 Cor. 16. And further it teaches us also to love our Brethren This love of Christ is exemplary and is propounded for a pattern unto us and so we should make it thus Ephes 5.1 2. Be ye followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also loved us c. And 1 Joh. 4.11 Beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another Such persons carry themselves unsuitably and unequally to the love of Christ who have not some proportionable affection for others who are the members of Christ And so much of the first Emphasis as it may be laid upon the action of love and so having this Point in it that Christ does bear a special love and affection to his people Now the second is as it may be laid upon the Person of Christ himself To him that loved us It is spoken in a manner exclusively as if none did so much love us as Christ as indeed there does not This expression in the Text it is made a kind Of Periphrasis and description of Christ unto us whereby he is known and distinguished from all other persons Thus also in some other places as Rom. 8.37 We are more than conquerours through him that loved us Through him that loved us â— who is that namely through Christ so in 2 Thes 2.16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ and God even our Father who hath loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace Still this love of us it is fastened upon Christ The Use of this Point is to believe it and to be perswaded of it and to teach us to labour more and more to assure our hearts of it We should endeavour to have the sense and feeling of this love of Christ more upon our souls and to be well setled and established in it Which was that which the Apostle Paul did so much pray for in reference to the Ephesians That they being rooted and grounded in love might be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and might know the love of Christ that passeth knowledg Ephes 3.16 17 c. To know the love of Christ that is sensibly and experimentally in themselves by the power and vertue of the Holy Ghost shedding it abroad in their hearts as it is in Rom. 5.5 This is known and discerned by such notes aâ— are most proper and peculiar to it we may know that Christ hath loved us according to that which he has done for us and especially done in us by changing of our natures and by infusing of his Graces into us There are many who think that Christ loves them because he casts outward blessings upon them in a way of common Providence but alas these will not serve the turn to assure us of his love he may do as much as this for such persons as to whom he will one day say I know you not No but we must make good his love from matters of an higher nature which is from that care which he has wrought in us to serve him and to keep his commandments this is the best discovery and trial of his love Then may we probably conclude that Christ does love us when he has perswaded us to love him which we cannot do in good earnest without his love first fastened upon our souls We love him because he first loved us not only as the motive of our love but also as the efficient Thus again in Joh. 14.23 If any man love me he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come in unto him and will make our abode with him And so I have done with the first General Part of the Text which is the description of Christ from his affection propounded in General in those words Vnto him that loved us The second is from the discovery or manifestation of this affection in particular in these words And hath washed us from our sins in his own blood This passage is considerable of us two manner of ways First Absolutely as it is an expression of our Priviledg and secondly Relatively as it is an expression of the love of Christ First Take it absolutely and in it self as it is an expression of the Priviledg of Believers and that is to be washed from their sins by Christs Blood The
so lost her first strength that she should do her first works that she should return to the acting of those things which she had now remitted and fallen from as that which was the best way to recover her to her former Condition and here especially to the use of the Ordinances Prayer and hearing of the word and receiving of the Sacrament which are the proper means appointed to this purpose Lastly In the renewing of their Faith and in the Exercise of it A Christian gathers new strength and supply of Spiritual Grace by reparing to the true spring and Fountain and Original of it which is the Grace of God in Christ Our strength it lies in Him and therefore by a spirit of Faith must be daily and Continually fetch 't from Him and that upon all occasions And it is our great Comfort and Incouragement that we may have it but for the fetching for so we may in a due and serious Appli of our selves to him we may draw strength from him Nay we shall do as is here signified to us They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength Here 's the priviledg and the Condition of being made partakers of it The Priviledg that 's renewing of our strength The Condition that is waiting upon the Lord. Be followers of them says the Apostle who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises Heb. 6.12 And again Heb. 10.36 Ye have need of Patience that after ye have done the will of God ye may receive the Promise Even so it is here This promise of strength renewed unto us is not onely to the persons of Beleivers but to them especiall under this Notion and in the erercise of this act of Beleiving We must therefore still remember this that we be such as wait upon the Lord for that 's the Condition by which Expression the spirit of God comes home to the heart of many a weak Christian and satisfies the objections which they may make for some might be ready to say Alas we find no such matter as this is which you now speak off we have little or no strength at all if we have had some it may be heretofore yet we have lost it and know not how to recover it and to get it up again now for such they must be perswaded to wait and to consider whether they have done so or no for this strengthning it belongs to waiting and is promised to those that are careful so to do we must use the means and waite upon God for shewing us the use of them Go to the Ordinances and by Faith fetch power from Christ who alone can make them to be Effectual unto us Psal 27. vers 14. Wait on the Lord be of good Courage and he shall strengthen thine Heart wait I say on the Lord. To satisfie us the more in this particular consider but how it is with us in regard of our Natural Sustenance and the food of our Bodies The strength which comes by it it is not conveyed presently but by leasure when the meat is digested Indeed there is delight and sweetness and pleasantness even in the very first going down of it but the strength of it that comes after it Even so is it likewise here as to these Spiritual things The sweetness of the Ordinances that 's in the very partaking of them and in the time of the useing of them In Praying and Hearing and Communicating and Meditateing c. A Gracious heart it does taste and rellish them even then when 't is about them But the strength which is conveyed by them that 's a Business of leasure and time and therefore we must wait for it and stay Gods time for the giving of it Thou therefore that complainest of Weakness consider whether thou hast waited for strength and waited for it in his own way and in the use of those means which he has ordained and appointed to thee Especially Consider how far Christ Himself has been taken into this Business which is the means of all There are many think to renew their strength and how do they think to to do it Namely by strength of their own their own Vowes and Duties and performances which yet by the way must not be neglected but we must be strong in the Grace of Christ and in the power of his might and Spirit or else all our strength it will be but weakness it self This is that which the Apostle Paul was sensible of as we may see by his practise and the courses which he took to this purpose by his practise for the Ephesians Eph. 3.14.16.17 For this cause I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ That he would grant you according to the Riches of his Glory to be strengthen'd with might by his spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your Hearts by Faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may c. So in like manner by his practise for the Colosians Col. 1.11 Strengthened with all might according to his Glorious Power c. And so now I have done done with the First General part of the Text which is the Proposition in General They that wait c. The Second is the Demonstration or Confirmation of this in the Particular that we have in the words following They shall mount up with Eagles wings They shall run c. Wherein we have the strength of a Christian laid forth and amplified to us by a resemblance from a threefold motion First Of Flying Secondly Of Running Thirdly Of Walking Of Flying They shall mount up with Eagles wings Of Running They shall run and not be weary Of Walking They shall walk and not be faint Wee 'l begin first of all with the former and that is the motion of Flight They shall mount up with Eagles wings Here 's mention made of the Wings of the Eagle as we may conceive for two reasons especially First As the Eagle is an Emblem of strength renewed for so it is as we find it in Psal 103.5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles Certain it is that the Eagle is longer-liv'd then many other Birds The Naturalists as Aristotle and Pliny c. Which write the story of living Creatures affirms this of it that it never Dies of old Age but onely of Famine for the upper-Bill being at length over-grown it is thereby hindred from putting meat into it's mouth and so at last comes to Die So the Prophet by this Similitude here signifies that those which wait upon the Lord they shall grow more and more urgent and lively enven to their old Age it self according to that also of the Psalmist Psal 92.12.13.14 The Righteous shall flourish c. They shall bring forth Fruit in their old Age they shall be fat and flourishing So then the Eagle is here pertinently mentioned in reference to this But Secondly The Eagle it soares aloft and flies on
are two Phrases and Expressions which are used both together in the Text A Wilderness and a Land of Darkness and the Lord does deny himself to be guilty of either of these to his people He has neither been one nor t'other to them Not a Wilderness which is an expression of unprofitableness Not a Land of Darkness which is an expression of uncomfortableness In a word he does here plainly profess that he hath been no way wanting in any supply which might be requisite or necessary for them neither have they served him for nought or to no purpose in all their attendances upon him This is the Point here before us That God's people they do not serve him in vain and for no profit neither are they any loosers at all by their servings of him He is not one that is defective in the rewarding or recompensing of them for whatsoever they do upon his account Thus we have it in Mal. 1.10 Who is there among you that would shut the doors for nought neither do ye kindle a fire upon mine Altar for nought He speaks it to his own people and it is that which is evident and manifest from daily experience and observation so to be And it is founded upon God's Nobleness and Royalty and Magnificence Generous and magnanimous persons they do not love to be in any mans debt that they should do them service and not to pay them for it no but will recompence and requite them to the full They think their own honour is much ingaged and concerned in it and therefore they will not here be defective or wanting to themselves And so it is here with God Therefore accordingly it concerns us to be right opinionated of God and to be well perswaded of him to this purpose It is that which a great many are not as even the Scripture it self informs us which say What is the Almighty that we should serve him And what profit should we have if we prayed unto him Job 21.15 And so again Ye have said It is in vain to serve God and what profit is it that we have kept his Ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts Mal. 3.14 Such people as these they make as if God were a Wilderness and a Land of Darkness to his servants but indeed it is no such matter and they are convinced of the contrary from God's own Declaration and Protestation here in this Text which we have now before us That which makes them to be so perswaded is First Because God is pleased sometimes to suspend and delay the expressions of his goodness to them Because he does not reward them presently therefore they think he will not reward them at all Because they do not see the fruit of their labours out of hand therefore they imagine as if God would be altogether barren to them But this is a very great Errour and mistake in them For the Lord he does every thing in the best and fittest season and the longer that he stayes before he rewards them the more does he reward them at last so that they shall have no cause in conclusion to complain of him Secondly Because God does not alwaies reward them in that way and kind as they desire and expect from him It may be he may heap upon them Spiritual blessings but he does not so follow them with Temporals or it may be with Temporals in such a kind but not with Temporals in another And this through their perverseness they judge to be as good as nothing at all But those who are Experienced Christians they should learn to be of another mind as it is here propounded to them And from hence to take heed of being disheartened and discouraged in God's service which Satan their Spiritual Enemy does endeavour all he can to do with them being as the Accuser of the Brethren to God so the Accuser also of God to the Brethren we should not be in this case ignorant of his devices nor unwary of his suggestions but rather arm and strengthen ourselves against them all we can and beg of God himself to strengthen us There is no unprofitableness in the service of God but there is unprofitableness in the service of Satan and in the service of Sin This will be sure to be a Wilderness to us yielding us nothing but bryers and thorns And this will be a Land of Darkness to us Will the Son of Jesse give them Vineyards c carrying us even into utter Darkness if we take not heed of it What fruit had ye saies the Apostle in those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end of those things is death that 's the wages and reward of sin Rom. 6.21 23. But being made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life c. And that 's the first Emphasis which is considerable of us in this expression namely as it hath the force of a self-acquittance or Justification wherein God does clear himself of all suspicion of unfruitfulness or unkindness towards his people Have I been a Wilderness or a Land of Darkness to Israel That is indeed I have not been I disclaim it The Second is as it hath the force of a Remembrance or seasonable Intimation Have I been a Wilderness c Nay rather indeed I have been the quite contrary I have in reality been a Paradise It is a kind of an Ironical Speech wherein the contrary is intended to whatâ—s exprest and that for the greater conviction of the persons to whom it is spoken It serves to declare unto us the great goodness and overflowing bounty of God towards his people who is so far from being wanting to them in any thing which is necessary as that he does oftentimes abound to them in all things which can be desired of them There are some of his servants more especially amongst the rest who have large experiences of his provision for them in all particulars in blessings of Heaven above and in blessings of the Earth beneath whom he does daily load with his Benefits as the Psalmist expresseth it Psal 68.29 And they are to him as a watred Garden This it proceeds in him from his own free love and grace Bounty and liberality it needs no other motive than it self for the expressing and manifesting of it He has mercy upon whom he will have mercy and he has bounty for whom he will have bounty and he takes delight in making some persons more than others to be the ubjects and objects of it And to make known the riches of his Bounty upon the vessels of mercy Rom. 9.23 As we see it is sometimes in the world with great and wealthy persons they now and then take some content in it to make others partakers of their Beneficence Even so does this great and mighty God in his
Lord and Saviour towards us And so now I have done with the First General Part of the Text which is the Antecedent or Intermediate promise which Christ here makes to his Disciples upon his departure from them And that is that he will come again unto them The Second is the Subsequent or Ultimate promise in these words And will receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also Where again there are two Branches considerable of us First the simple Intimation and Secondly the additional Amplification The Intimation that we have in these words I will receive you unto my self The Amplification that we have in these That where I am there ye may be also First To speak of the simple and absolute Intimation I will receive you to my self And this again he may be looked upon by us two manner of ways First in its connexion with that which went immediately before Secondly in its distinction as consider'd alone by it self First take it connexively and in conjunction with the preceding words I will come again and receive you to my self Here 's not only the descension but the condescension also of Christ that he was pleased thus graciously to express himself to his Beloved Disciples He does not say I 'll appoint you to come to me at such a time of your selves Nor he does not say I 'll send somebody else to bring you and convey you to me No but I 'll come and fetch you my self and bring you along with me What an high piece of favour was this if it be rightly and duly consider'd and laid to heart But it came from the same root of love which fetcht him and brought him down frm Heaven at first That love which made him to leave he bosome of his Father to take our nature upon him to be incarnae and become flesh and therein to suffer death for us with all the preparatories thereunto the same love caused him now likewise to be thus willing to come to us again as he promised here to do and for fureness sake himself to come for us This should accordingly work in us all suitableness and corespondency of affection First It should teach us the like meekness and humility one towards another upon all occasions We see how ill it becomes Christians oftentimes to stand too much upon terms to take state upon them or to decline the offices of love and respect to those which are their brethren When as our Blessed Lord and Saviour himself does thus tenderly cndescend to his poor Servants and Disciples as is here exprest This is the Use which we are to make of this Passage as the Scripture it self teaches us to make it Phil. 2.5 6. Let the same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God yet made himself of no reputation but took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of man c. As the humility of his Incarnation does commend humility unto us the humility of his first coming So the humility of his Assumption it does commend the same likewise to us even the humility of his second coming as it is here signified in the circumstances of it Secondly It teaches us also to decline no service for him nor to think any work too mean to undertake in his behalf We should not put off Christ wih others to do that which he requires of us but be willing rather to do it our selves as he is here for us Whiles the nature of things does so require it so long indeed he supplies us by his Spirit whom he sends to comfort us in his stead But as soon as ever he can with any convenience he takes care to come to us himself and thereby to bring us to Heaven Thou shalt guide me by thy counsel and afterwards shalt bring me to glory Psal 73.25 And so much may suffice to have been spoken of this Intimation consider'd in its connexion and in its conjunction with the words immediately preceding I will come again c. Now Secondly We may view it also in its distinction and as consider'd alone by it self I will receive you to my self Where again two things more First we shall look upon in the Negative and consider what is not said in it Secondly we shall look upon it in the Positive or Affirmative and consider what is Both of these are very proper to this Discourse First To look upon them Negatively by considering what is not here declared And that thus First our Saviour does not here say I will come again and stay with you He does not lay the point of their comfort in that particular There are some that would make it so In stead of carrying up the Saints to Christ would rather bring him down to them And therefore do very much urge his personal Reign here upon Earth as a mixt condition to him neither wholly in a state of Humiliation nor yet wholly in a state of Glory but paricipan of either which was the opinion of the ancient Chiliasts or Millenaries and is likewise the opinion of some others still in these days But the Scripture seems to hold forth no other coming to us than that which is joyned with the present Assumption of Believers into Heaven and their abiding with Christ in that place as is exprest here in the Text. The place that Christ prepared for his Disciples it was not Earth but Heaven And assoon as ever he comes again he will be sure to take them up into that place which he hath thus prepared And therefore is there no other place or abode remaining for them which is hereafter to be expected by them He will not come to live with them but he will take them to live with him Therefore he does not say neither That where you are I may be also but where I am you may be also Acts 3.21 It is said that the Heavens must receive him till the time of the restitution of all things Receive him that is retain him as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 does also signify and is so to be understood there in that place And 2 Cor. 15.23 24. The coming of Christ and the end of all things are joyn'd together Therefore we should have our thoughts carried up higher than so It savours somewhat too much of a terrestrial and earthly spirit when we would rather so order it that Christ might stay here with us than that we might remove to him But this is not that which he does intend nor should we neither If we be risen with Christ we should seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Set our affections on things above and not on things on the earth Col. 3.12 And that 's one thing in this Negative Christ does not say I will come again and stay with you Nor yet
violence and misusage But his house it is free from all these And so those also that are admitted into it and are entertained in it And so much may suffice to have been spoken of the First Branch of this ultimate promise And that is the simple Intimation in these words I will receive you to my self The Second is the Additional Amplification in these That where I am there ye may be also Wherein we have exprest both the end and effect of this Assumption The end on Christ's part as that which he aims at And the effect on our part as that which we enjoy First Here 's the end on Christ's part as that which he aims at and propounds to himself in taking us to him It is that where he is there we may be also Christ desires that he and his Members should be inseparably joyned together and continually one with another This is one thing here imply'd and it is agreeable to other places of Scripture where he expresses as much As Joh. 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am This proceeds from that extremity of affection and holy fondness which he has to them This is the nature of fondness and of love in the exuberances of it that it cannot endure to have the person that is so beloved to be out of sight but must have him always neer unto it And so is it also in a spiritual sense betwixt Christ and his Disciples Because he does so intensively love them therefore he desires to have them always with him Because he does so passionately affect them therefore he cannot endure to think of them to be out of his sight Where he is he would have them to be also out of his bowels and yearnings towards them And there are two things further which are involv'd in this The one is that so he may have the greater contentment in them And the other is that so they may have the greater benefit from him Both of which are obtained from this their mutual presence one with each other As we have it in that place before cited Rev. 3.20 I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me I will sup with him that is I will take contentment in him and he shall sup with me i.e. He shall have benefit from me likewise First That he may have more contentment in them Christ delights in the presence of his Servants as a reflexion of his own Graces which he bestows upon them And reflexions are very delightful because they are representations and as it were ingeminations of ones self Thus are the Graces of Christ in Believers which whiles he looks upon in them he beholds his own image in them And it is very pleasing to him so to do Secondly That they also may have more benefit from him The nearer that any are to Christ the more good do they receive from him And so it is here in their being taken up to him It is true that even here in the World they are not without their influences from him which they do partake of even at this distance through the impartments and communications of his Spirit But when they shall come to him and be with him and behold him and see him face to face it will then be otherwise and better with them And he desires that it should be so for this reason He desires that they may be where he is that so they may see that which he sees and partake of it with him as it is exprest in the place before alledged Joh. 17.24 That they may behold the Glory which thou hast given me for thou lovedst me before the foundations of the World The Consideration of this Point makes much for our love again to Christ and it should enlarge our affections towards him While he has so great a defire that we may be there where he is how much more should we defire it our selves and breath and long after it Especially considering that it is not so much his interest as ours It is his in regard of his affection who is pleased so to make it But it is ours in regard of the real benefit and advantage that comes by it which should so much the more and the rather inflame our desires after it and make us in a manner restless till we attain unto it That 's the first thing here considerable The end of this Assumption on Christ's part It is that which he himself desires That there where he is there we may be also The Second is the Effect of it on our part It is that which we hereupon enjoy and partake of our selves as consequent hereupon Christ's assuming of us makes for our perpetual abode and continuance with him Those that are true Saints and Believers they shall continually be with Christ in another World Where he is they shall be likewise This is the Doctrine of this present Text and of the whole Scripture besides in sundry places Thus in the place before cited Col. 3.4 When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in Glory And that we might not think it to be only an appearance for such a time and particular dispensation and then to cease we have it further in that other place That we shall ever be with the Lord 1 Thess 4.17 This must needs be so from the consideration of those several relations wherein God's people sland unto him First of Husband and Wife of Spouse and Beloved There 's nothing more natural or suitable than that these should live and dwell together Where the Husband is there is also to be the Wife Now this is one relation which is drawn betwixt Christ and Believers He is their Husband and they are his Spouse He has espoused them and betroathed them to himself and they are contracted and married to him Now therefore it follows from hence that they should remove and abide with him Of those it is said in Rev. 14.4 That they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth And upon what account do they thus follow him It is because they are the Lamb's Wife Rev. 21.9 The Lamb's Wife must be at the Lamb's disposing and be there where the Lamb himself is And thus are Believers to Christ The Second relation here considerable and as making for this purpose is of a Father and his Children Parents and children they do still best together And it is very requisite that sooner or later they should be one with another It was that which Job counted as a great priviledg to himself so long as he was partaker of it not only that the Almighty was with him but that his children also were about him Where the Father is there would also be the children Now thus are we also to Christ for the enforcing of this upon us He is our Father and we are his children Begotten by him to a lively hope and born again
our Nature is so highly advanced as to be taken into union with the Nature of God himself for so it is whiles it is taken into conjunction with the Son of God Our Nature is hereby ennobled and raised to a very high pitch even in this respect above the Nature of the blessed and glorious Angels themselves which has no such conjunction Secondly as to the intimacy of affection it is a most sweet and comfortable point as any else is besides and none like it that Christ is thus dear to his Father for by this means we are so likewise from our union and relation to him Christ being in the bosom of the Father and we being in the bosom of Christ therefore that affection which the Father bears to Christ he does proportionably bear to us also for Christs sake and in respect to him And thus we have it expresly in Joh. 17.26 That the love wherewith thou lovest me may be in them and I in them What a wonderful sweet point I say is this especially if it be throughly digested and we should improve it and make use of it upon all occasions and set it in opposition against all doubtings and suspitions to the contrary When Satan would go about to perswade us to question the love of God towards us and our own misgiving hearts are ready also to joyn with him in this particular let us have recourse to this present Argument and Consideration which we have here now before us of the love of God to Christ and think that whiles he loves him he cannot hate us who by Faith are united to him and who have Him also given to us Because he looks upon us so far forth as one indeed with Him And we should be content with that love likewise which God afforded to Christ and not think he does not love us if he deals but with us as he did with Him afore us by suffering us to fall into sad and afflicted conditions as he sometimes did with Him God did not put Christ out of his bosom when he suffered him to be tempted to be persecuted to be reproached and shamefully used no nor then when he seem'd himself in a manner to desert him no more does he do so with any others that are Members of him he does not forbear to love them notwithstanding these his dealings with them If the Adopted Sons of God be no worse dealt with than was once His Natural they will have no cause to complain of the want of Gods love unto them at all but to satisfie themselves with it because when he dealt worst of all with him he bare an intimate affection to him And so as for the Certainty and Constancy and Perpetuity of the love of God towards us it holds likewise here that as Gods love to his Son is eternal as lying in his bosome so it is eternal likewise towards those who are his Members as in whom he loves them and as neither can separate or remove Gods love from the one so neither can it do it from the other who has respect unto it the Superstructure being answerable to the Foundation Thirdly From the nearness of Christs presence we may raise matter of comfort from hence also as that therefore we have one still at hand to stand by us upon all occasions we need not be afraid of any evil which may surprize us unawares or Adversary which may take advantage against us for He is near that justifies us as it is Isa 50.7 What ever accusations may be brought to God against us he is in his bosom to take them off Lastly From the Communication of Secrets we have great comfort here likewise that therefore there can be no secret kept or concealed from us which is fitting for us our selves to know The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him Psal 25.14 and his secret is with the righteous Prov. 3.31 To you it is given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven c. Matth. 13.11 and Eye hath not seen nor ear hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for them that love him But God hath revealed these things to us by his Spirit for the Spirit searcheth all things 1 Cor. 2.9 10. And again Matth. 11.27 No man knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him And He has hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes But so much may suffice to have spoken of the first Branch in this second General to wit the Person mentioned and that according to his two-fold description First from his Relation the onely begotten Son And secondly from his Residence In the bosom of the Father The second is the Action attributed to this Person and that is in these words He hath declared him Which words may again be taken two manner of ways and so at this time looked upon by us First by way of simple Proposition And secondly by way of emphatical Appropriation The Son hath declared the Father and it is he upon the point alone that hath declared him First To look upon this clause in its simple and absolute Proposition where we have signified to us That Christ the onely begotten Son and that is in the bosom of the Father hath indeed declared him According to the common form and regularity of Speech the words should have been set thus No man hath seen God at any time but the Son he hath seen him But the Evangelist chooses rather to say declared him as being a word of greater comprehension and expressing both the perfection and Sufficiency of Christ himself as also the extent of it to us for our benefit and advantage There are three things at once which are included in this expression He hath dclared him First it is a word of Knowledge Secondly it is a word of Communication And thirdly a word of Perspicuity First He hath declared him it is a word of Knowledge which is implied and involved in it If Christ had not known the Father himself he could not have revealed him to others but whiles he declares him he does first of all discern him Christ being in the bosom of the Father and so intimate with him and to him he does fully and perfectly know him and understand him yea so indeed as none in a manner does know him but he as we have it in the place before cited In Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Col. 2.3 Those Mysteries which are said by the Apostle to be hid in God they are not hid from Christ but he has a distinct knowledge of them yea he has the knowledge of God himself in the full extent and infiniteness of his Essence Secondly He hath declared him it is a word of Communication As he hath known him so he hath made him
from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive Now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it When men shall consider that that which they have they have by free gift here is that which may pull down their pride and prevent them from that haughtiness of spirit whereunto they are otherwise too much addicted and inclined So likewise further it holds well for the improvement and exercise of these gifts which God hath given us that we be no niggards or restrainers of them but good stewards of the manifold Grace of God as the Apostle Peter admonishes and as our Saviour exhorts his Disciples and in them all others Freely ye have received freely give And thus much briefly of the phrase or expression which is here used by the Apostle and that is Gifts Now in the next place for the thing it self this is that which is here commended to these Corinthians to look after these free endowments and to endeavour to partake of them themselves for their own particular and so are we from them desired to do the same also to covet earnestly these best gifts not only the saving and sanctifying Gifts of the Spirit which we shall have occasion to speak of more hereafter but also the common and ordinary common and ordinary in one sense though in another sense more peculiar and restrained Such Gifts as we mentioned before Knowledg and Language and Eloquence and such as these these are better gifts and have especial dignity and excellency in them The Dignity and excellency of them may be briefly laid forth unto us in three Particulars First From their original and conveyance when we shall consider how we come by them and how they are indeed derived and transmitted unto us there is somewhat in that and that is not only from God and his Spirit from whom all good things come to our hands but likewise as a special fruit and consequent of Christs Ascension These gifts they are as it were the legacy of Christ and the relict which he dropt and left behind him when he went up into heaven According to that of the Psalmist Psal 68.18 repeated again by the Apostle Ephes 4.8 When he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men See how these gifts did follow upon Christs Ascension and did take their first rise from that as the occasion of them Now if there were no more but this in it there were very good reason certainly why we should a little look after them The gifts of dying friends they are for the most part in very great account and valuation with us let them be but what they will for the substance of them yet we esteem them in regard of the circumstances and the relation which is upon them And so it should be with us here in regard of these several gifts we should prize them in reference hereunto Forasmuch as Christ when he took his leave of the world and was now gloriously ascended to his Father did pour forth these his gifts upon his Church as a special testimony of his love unto it He received them of his Father that he might bestow them upon us And therefore that which in one place of Scripture is accepit in another place of Scripture is dedit id est accepit ut daret So that we have cause to regard these gifts first of all in the notion of their original and conveyance But secondly That 's not all there 's a further ground for our embracing them besides and that is by considering them substantially what they are in their own nature and that impression which they leave upon the subject in which they are these gifts if we do but consider them in themslves they are very amiable and lovely and so make those persons further to be who are endowed with them They are special ornaments and beautifyings to them and do much raise them above other men not only those extraordinary perfections which were conferred upon the Apostles themselves in the Primitive times of the Church but even likewise those more ordinary and common gifts which men receive even now in these days They are such as do much adorn and advance and set a luster upon those which have them and are partakers of them Thirdly And especially for their use and improvement and those gracious ends which they lead unto And that is as the Apostle himself does express it to us in so many words for the work of the Ministry for the perfecting of the Saints for the edifying of the body of Christ These gifts they reach to these ends Ephes 4.11 12. Every thing is so far forth desirable as it serves to better purposes and designs Now this is the advantage of spiritual gifts especially there where they are drawn out into their full extent that they do at least for a very great part of them serve to build up the Church of Christ The manifestation of the spirit is given to every one to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 But of this we shall speak more anon So much therefore now for that viz. the first particular considerable in this first General and that is the object propounded Gifts The second is the qualification of this object by way of comparison or distinction and that is the best or better gifts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where we may observe two things more First that which is implied And secondly that which is exprest That which is implied is this That there are some Gifts better than others That which is exprest is this that if there be any Gifts better than others those are they which we for our particulars of all others are to apply our selves to First For that which is implied there are some gifts which are better than others this is here supposed and taken for granted whiles the Apostle propounds the better gifts to be coveted after he does thereby imply that there is a distinction of gifts and that there are some of them which are better than the rest and so there are though all in their kind very good as proceeding each of them from one and the self-same spirit yet there is a difference and a distinction amongst them according to that which we have in the fourth verse of this present Chapter Distinctiones sunt donorum sed idem spiritus There are diversities or distinctions of gifts so some render the words but the same spirit For the better opening of this present point it will not be amiss for us to consider wherein this distinction does consist namely in what respect some gifts are said to be better than others and do partake of this better denomination First Gifts sometimes are counted better as they are any thing more rare and unusual Those which can do somewhat which few else can do besides they do from hence for the most part esteem themselves to be better qualified and think that therefore