A Sermon Preach'd at the Parish-Church OF St. Helen's LONDON MAY the 19th 1700. By GEORGE KEITH Being his Third Sermon after Ordination LONDON Printed for J. Gwillim against Crossby-Square in Bishopsgate-street 1700. Mr. KEITH's SERMON Preach'd at St. HELEN's LONDON May the 19th 1700. A SERMON Preached at the Parish-Church of St. Helen's LONDON 2 Cor. V. 14 15. For the Love of Christ constraineth us because we thus Judge that if one Died for all then were all Dead And that he Died for all that they which Live should not henceforth Live unto themselves but unto him who Died for them and Rose again I Shall not take up much time to Explaine the Words of the Text they being plain enough to ordinary intelligent Christians only I intend to take notice of the force of the Greek word that is here Translated Constraineth which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is variously Translated in the New Testament and tho' I find no fault with the Translation of it as it is in the Text yet there is more understood by it than what either the word Constraineth or any other one word of the English Language can express A Learned Author Translates it thus The Love of Christ nos totos possidet i. e. Possesseth us whole doth as it were fill our Hearts up to the top that there is no room left in them for the love of Sin The same Greek word I find in St. Luke 8.45 where it is said The multitude Throng thee and Press thee and sayest thou Who Touched me Again in St. Luke 22.63 I find the same Greek word where it is said The Men that held Jesus i. e. That kept him Prisoner Mocked him and Smote him And in St. Luke 19.43 there is the same Greek word where it is said by our Saviour who Prophesied concerning Jerusalem and was accordingly fulfill'd For the days shall come upon thee that thine Enemies shall cast a Trench about thee and compass thee round and keep thee in on every side And in St. Luke 4.38 where it is said Simon ' s Wives Mother was taken with a great Fever And Lastly to mention no more at present Phil. 1.23 where St. Paul said I am in a strait betwixt two c. In all these places there is the same word or theme in the Greek and in all the several Significations of it in the places mentioned it may be understood here as importing the great influence that the Love of Christ hath upon sincere Believers and then had upon St. Paul and his Brethren The love of Christ constraineth us i. e. It taketh the whole possession of our Souls and leaves no room empty to receive the love of Sin The love of Christ doth so throng and press upon us that there is not access for Satan or the World to prevail against us The Love of Christ doth hold us and make us Prisoners putteth us in her Chains that we cannot get out no more than a Man can get out of a strong Prison they are very Blessed who by Experience witness such a State that the Love of Christ hath such a powerful Influence and such mighty Effects upon them thus to fill them thus to throng and press in upon them thus to imprison them and captivate them such Captivity is the greatest and most perfect Freedom thus to Besiege and Compass them round and keep them in on every side that they cannot easily get to their old Lovers their formerly belov'd Lusts that the Love of Christ like a Coelestial Fire doth take hold of them as a Fiery Fever taketh hold of such as are afflicted with it and raiseth a vehement thirst in them after Holiness and those Divine Consolations which are to be found in Christ Such sort of a Heavenly Burning or Fever had the Spouse Cant. 2.5 That is the Church and every Faithful Soul that is very inwardly and deeply touched and affected with the Love of Christ when she said Stay me with Flaggons comfort me with Apples for I am sick of Love As when one is very Thirsty it is not a little Drink that will quench or satisfy his Thirst no less than Flaggons will do it These and the like things are the experiences of faithful well-grown and advanced Christians and they are Blessed who find it so to be with them and all should endeavour to attain to such a State and Growth There are Three things which I shall God willing and assisting me particularly take notice of unto you from the Words First The High and Excellent Priviledge and Dignity of a Christian that he is called unto and his High Calling as it is called Phil. 3.15 And Holy Calling 2 Tim. 1.9 And Heavenly Calling Heb. 3.1 The which is held forth in the words of the Text. 1. Negatively That we should not henceforth live unto our selves 2. Positively and Affirmatively But unto him who Dyed for us and Rose again Secondly The Author by whome we are called and made capable to attain unto this high Dignity viz. The Lord Jesus Christ who Dyed and Rose again who is both God and Man Thirdly The Means by which he calleth us and enableth us to attain unto it 1. By his Death and Resurrection 2. By his Love which was the moving and impulsive Cause that moved and constrained him to Dye for us As his Love to us ought to constrain us to Live to him who Dyed for us so his Love to us did constrain him to that undertaking as he said Luke 12.50 I have ◠Baptism to be Baptized with and how am I straitned till it be accomplished Here again is the same Greek word as is mentioned both in the Text and in the other places above recited this was the Baptism of his Death and Sufferings whereby he was Baptized as with his own Blood that he might wash us with the same as it is said of him That he hath loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood Rev. 1.5 His being thus straitned until this his Baptism of Sufferings should be accomplished doth signifie his exceeding great desire out of his great love to us to suffer Death for us as also when he said Luke 22.15 With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I Suffer For then it was immediately after the Passover that he was to Institute the Holy Memorials of his Death and Passion to wit the Sacrament of the Lords Supper which was to continue until his last coming This Love of Christ we are to consider it as a two-fold Love the one of his Godhead the other of his Manhood for as Christ had and still hath a two-fold Nature distinct but not divided and a two-fold Will the one as God the other as Man so he had and still hath a two-fold Love towards Men called the Philanthropie Tit. 3.4 i. e. His Man-Love or his Love to Men not only as he was and is God but as he was and is Man yet one
Doctrine Outwardly Is not the Inward Teaching of the Spirit or Light within sufficient without any other thing So some do Argue To this I Answer It is one thing what God could or can do it 's far another thing what he is pleased to do He could Teach us all without the written Word as well as he Taught the Apostles before the Word was committed to Writing but he hath not seen meet so to do he hath a regard to our Weakness A School-master that is able can Teach his Schollars without Books but they cannot so well Learn without Books therefore he Teacheth them with and by Books to condescend to their weak Capacity When God Almighty spake from Heaven by an Audible Voice to the People of Israel they were so affraid that they prayed that God would not Speak to them viz. immediately they were not able to bear it but that God would speak to Moses and by Moses to them which was granted Many who pretend to the same Inspirations in Prophecy that the Apostles had should God Inspire them as he did them in that Extraordinary and Miraculous way and manner as he did the Prophets of old they should find they could not be able to bear it Such Miraculous Extraordinary Inspirations that God gave to the Prophets would be like new Wine in their old Bottles that would burst and break them asunder What God hath joyned together we ought not to put asunder he hath so ordered it most Wisely and Graciously that the Spirit of God as the principal Agent should Teach us and work all Saving Knowledge and Faith in us by the Written Word Preached or Read as his Instrument Thirdly The Death of Christ and his Love in Dying for us is made known to us by the Holy Spirit his Inspiring and Imprinting into our Hearts a sense of his Love He sheds abroad his Love into our Hearts by the Holy Spirit that he has given us according to Rom. 5.5 Christ in his Prayer to his Father St. John 17.26 Prayed in behalf of all that should Believe in him to the end of the World even for us as well as for them who were then with him That the Love wherewith thou hast Loved me may be in them and I in them It ought greatly to affect our Hearts to consider and think that he had us in his Heart and Thoughts at that very time when he prayed this Prayer to his Father and he still hath us in his thoughts who ever Lives to make Intercession for us that the Love wherewith the Father hath Loved us may be in us and he in us Not that the Love wherewith the Father Loved the Son could be strictly and properly speaking contained in us or comprehended by us for that being an infinite Love how could or can it be contained in us who are poor finite Creatures or comprehended by us How can a Finite thing contain that which is Infinite But the Holy Spirit which is called in Scripture The Spirit of Love worketh some Inward sense and impression of the Love of God and Christ in the Soul whereby the Soul that has this Inward sense and impression may know it Fourthly The Love of Christ is made known to us and hath its Influence upon us by his Infusing and Inspiring into our Hearts and Souls If we be true Believers a vigorous and active Principle of Love and Charity that becomes in us a Principle of a Holy and Vertuous Life mightily inclining us to Love both God and Christ and also to Love our Neighbours and all Men even our very Enemies after the example of our Saviours Love And we being acted by that Principle of Love we are thereby enabled with great freedom and readiness with great joy and chearfulness to perform our respective Duties both to God and Man This Principle of Charity Infused or Inspir'd into the Soul is all one with that which is called The Grace of God in the Soul the Grace of Sanctification that includes all the Vertues in it and tho' the Operations be various and manifold yet they all proceed from one Root Seed and Principle This Principle of God's Grace some do not distinguish it from the Holy Ghost but hold it to be one and the same therewith but this is a great Error and dangerous The Holy Ghost is one and the same God with the Father and with the Son the Grace of God and the God of Grace are distinct as the Effect and the Efficient the Gift and the Giver Grace is weaker or stronger greater or lesser hath its several measures therefore it cannot be God himself which is an Infinite Being and hath neither Parts nor Passions to whom nothing can be added and from whom nothing can be diminished This Principle of Love that is in Believers inclining them to Love God and Christ it is so to speak the reflection shadow or image of the Love of God and of Christ towards us As when we look into a Looking-Glass the Glass reflects the image or shadow of the Face back again upon the Beholder the which image hath a likeness to the Original but is as far short of it as a shadow is to the Body or Substance whose shadow it is Or like the Echo which is nothing but the reflection of the Voice or Word of the Speaker Therefore it is that St. John said We Love him because he hath Loved us our Love to him being the reflection of his Love to us and as it were the Daughter and his Love to us as the Mother But to the end that his Love may work this powerful constraint upon us it must not only be known by us but after it is known we must by the help of the Holy Spirit which is given to us frequently Meditate upon it and upon the Death of Christ which his Love constrained him to undergo for us that by frequent Meditation thereof we may have it fixed in our Hearts and become as a burning Fire in us according to that in Psal 39.4 My Heart was hot within me while I was Musing i. e. Meditating the Fire Burned This is also clear from the words in the Text The Love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge God Almighty is pleased to work upon our Hearts by his Gospel Outwardly and by his Spirit Inwardly as we are Reasonable Creatures enabling us to form a sound and firm Judgment of things both of Causes and Effects and to view and consider the excellent Order and Harmony of them that the Wisdom of God hath appointed Had God only infused a Spiritual and Supernatural Principle of Grace into our Hearts mightily inclining us to Love and Obey him without affording us certain Arguments and Reasons Convincing and Perswading our Reasonable Understandings why we should so do on that supposition our Love and Obedience had not been such a rational and free Love and Obedience suiting our rational Nature and Faculties as now it is he having given us
loved us that he gave his only Begotten for us the Word to be made Flesh and God manifest in the flesh and how Christ so loved us that he gave himself for us who as he was the Father's Gift was also his own Gift to us he gave himself for us to redeem us from all Iniquity Before this Love and the great effects of it upon our blessed Lord were made known to us we felt not that influence of it upon our Hearts to move us to live to him but while we were ignorant of those things we lived to our selves and to the World Life and Immortality was to be brought to the Light of our Knowledge the Kindness and Love of God our Saviour was first to appear to us and come to our knowledge before we could be gained upon to Love him and to Live to him who Died for us and Rose again But the next thing that is to be Enquired and Resolved is How this great Mystery of Christ's Death and his great Love that moved him to lay down his Life for us is made known to us This Question I shall Answer in the following Particulars First Christ's Death and Love wherewith he so Loved us that he died for us is made known to us by the Doctrine of the Gospel more especially as it is Preach'd to us and also as we Read or hear it Read to us out of the Holy Scriptures Life and Immortality is brought to light by the Gospel 2. Tim. 1.10 The Mystery which was hid in God before the World began came to be gradually reveal'd after Adam's fall first more obscurely and implicitly but afterwards more clearly and explicitly by the Scriptures of the Old Testament Rom. 16.26 And Lastly most clearly and explicitly by the whole Scriptures both of the Old and New Testaments all which are given by Divine Inspiration and are able to make us Wise unto Salvation through Faith in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 3.15 16. Both consisting in excellent Harmony and the New Testament being both a Fulfilling and Exposition of the Old Testament The great design of the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament is to set forth the great Love of God to Men in giving his Son for their Salvation and also the great Love of Christ who gave himself for the same The way and manner how it is accomplished how this Love is the Love of the whole Trinity and how each Person is concerned in the work of our Salvation jointly and severally and of the Duty that Men owe to God for that great Love and to Christ considered not as God only but as God Incarnate i. e. as both God and Man having two Natures as above mentioned but one Person one intire Jesus Christ our Saviour This commends to us the Holy Scriptures Incomparably above all Writings of Men above all Writings and Books of the greatest Natural and Moral Philosophers whether Greeks or Romans or of whatever other Nations whatever true things they Taught or Writ either from true Reason or common Illumination assisting and strengthening their Reason that might be and were useful to Mankind yet they fell short of the discovery of this great Mystery That Christ so loved us that he Died for us and that he Died for us that we might not Live to our selves but to him who died for us Nothing but special Revelation such as he gave to his holy Prophets from time to time from the of the World in the gradual discoveries of it and which are Recorded in the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament could have given us this knowledge and for this cause it is that we ought highly to value the Holy Scriptures as a special Treasure of greater worth incomparably than all the Gold and Silver and Wealth and Riches of the whole World Secondly The same is made known to us by the Holy Spirit 's internal Illumination and Inspiration perswading us of the truth of the Holy Scriptures and of thhis great Mystery That Christ so Loved us that he Died for us that is so fully Recorded in the Scriptures and also opening our Understandings to understand it and give us to see the great Riches Glory and Beauty of the wonderful Love Wisdom Power and Holiness and other the Glorious Attributes of God in the way of our Salvation in all the various steps of it God hath so appointed it that by his Words as Outwardly delivered by the Holy Prophets by Christ when he came in the Flesh and by his Holy Evangelists and Apostles which are now on Record in the writings of the holy Scriptures and by his Holy Spirit Inwardly Enlightening and Inspiring us we should be both Taught and Helped to Believe and Understand Savingly the great Mystery of our Salvation according to Isaiah 59.21 The words which God gave unto Christ Christ hath given them to the Apostles and Evangelists and they have faithfully Recorded them and by these Records of the Holy Scripture they are given to us while we daily hear them in Preaching and Reading John 17.8 20. And for this cause it is that St. Paul calls the Gospel The Power of God to Salvation to every one that Believes For that the Power of the Spirit of God accompanies the Doctrine of the Gospel to whomsoever it is Preached to enable such who hear it both to Believe and Understand it Faith is thereby offered unto them and the Holy Spirit accompanying the Doctrine offers his help to All who hear it tho All do not receive it yet many do and shall Christ stands at the door of your Hearts and knocks as he said to them of Laodicea If any Man will hear my Voice and open unto me I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me This calling and knocking of Christ at the door of your Hearts is both Outwardly by the Gospel as outwardly Preach'd or Read and Inwardly by his Spirit The Word Outwardly delivered is as the Hammer but the Spirit Inwardly accompanying is the Hand that moves it If any should bring the strongest Arguments to prove the Scriptures to be True and of Divine Authority suppose they should be as Demonstrative as any Theorem in a natural Science yet all this could produce no more than an Humane Assent or Faith without the Spirit work together with the Word and Doctrine Inwardly to seal to the Truth of the Scripture and work a Divine Faith in us of the Truth of them For true Saving Faith is the gift and work of Gods Spirit and Power It is by the Spirit 's working together with the written Word Preach'd or Read that we know the things that are freely given us of God If any Object What need of both If we are Taught by the Word and Doctrine Outwardly as delivered in the Holy Scriptures what need we to be Taught by the Spirit Inwardly Or if we be Taught by the Spirit Inwardly what need we be Taught by the Word and