your damnation and eternal ruine And all the honour that you lose him here he will fetch it out again and have his penny-worths upon you in the world to come There you must lie and burn and there is no deliverance thence till you have paid the utmost farthing Is it so that whosoever will be glorified c. you then my Brethren Vse 2 that have thoughts aspiring to the glory of the world to come and that desire to be partakers of it there you see the course you are to take you must make this your work and business how you may glorifie the Lord here how you may set him up and shew him in his beauty and his lustre to the world And though you can make no addition to him in himself yet let this be your endeavour all your days to bring in some accruments to his honour among men that they may honour him the more by your means that so when you come to die you may bespeak him as our Saviour doth when he was ready to be offered up We have glorified thee on earth and now O Father glorifie us with thy self Now there are two ways especially in which you may bring glory to the Lord either in a way of vocal declaration or in a way of real representation And both these ways you must endeavour to bring glory to him here if you desire to have glory from him hereafter First Glorifie him in a way of vocal declaration let your tongues be the Trumpeters of his glory while you are speaking upon all occasions of things that tend to the advancement of the honour and the praise of God Any thing that you conceive will set him up and raise him in the thoughts of those whom you discourse withal be sure that you insist upon it and enlarge it to the utmost let the name and let the attributes and let the works of God lose nothing by your means Glorifie him as Christ did by manifesting and by making known his name to men by telling what he is and what he doth by setting forth his power and mercy and the like that such as hear may magnifie him and admire him Study God-exalting speeches and expressions and discourses and enure your tongues to them that you may have them ready upon all occasions when there is any opportunity for Gods honour Secondly Glorifie him also in a way of real representation and here let him be glorified in what you are and what you do 1. Let God be glorified in what you are let his glory shine upon you by reflexion according to the Prophets Exhortation Isa 60.1 Arise and shine for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee Be you the monuments of his praise the emblems of his love and of his mercy the standing pillars on which his goodness is engraven to be read and seen of men Do you shew forth the praises or as we find it rendred in the margent the vertues of him that hath called you 1 Pet. 2.9 That every one that looks upon you observes you may see the goodness and the grace and holiness of God in you That they may say if there be so much in the stream what is there in the spring and in the fountain If there be so much in the beam what is there in the Sun of righteousness himself If there be so much vertue in them that are called what is there then in him that hath called them This makes much for Gods praise and so indeed in shewing forth the vertue we shew forth the praise and the glory of him that hath called us He hath made me saith the Church a polished shaft a choice a special and a polished piece of work and said unto me thou art my servant in whom I will be glorified When God makes such curious pieces and hangs them forth in the view of all the world he is glorified in them 2. Let God be glorified as in what you are so in the second place in what you do yea in every thing you do Let this be the utmost aim of all your actions Your acts of nature as eating or drinking or the like let these be done with reference to Gods glory as the Apostle Paul exhorts to eat and drink to the glory of God 1 Cor. 10.31 Your civil actions your trading dealing and commercing in the world your buying selling giving lending your care and labour in your calling let these have the same end You see the rule is universal in the fore-alledged Text whatsoever else you do Your holy and religious duties let those have this aspect and aim that you may glorifie the Lord and not your selves in them That when men see your good works your frequent hearing praying fasting bounty to the poor Saints they may glorifie not you the doers of them but your Father which is in heaven And in a word my Brethren no action is exempt from this direction And hence saith the Apostle 1 Pet. 4.11 If any speak let him speak as the Oracles of God if any man minister let him do it as of the ability which God giveth that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ What then it may be you will interpose and ask Object may a man aim at nothing else but Gods glory may he propound no other end in any thing he undertakes may he have no respect to others to himself this is a hard saying who can hear it The rule as you have heard is universal Answ but that you may the better understand the meaning of it that your conscience may not be entangled you must know that other ends may be propounded in our actions in a way either of subordination or else of opposition to the glory of God A man may aim at nothing else no other end in opposition to his glory all such must of necessity be laid aside But other ends may be intended in subordination to it they may be looked upon as far as they may be subservient to this which ought to be the ultimate the utmost end of all our actions A man in his endeavours and painful labours in his calling may aim at the increase of his Estate Not that he may be lifted up above his brethren not that he may consume it on his Lusts or make it fuell to maintain his pride or his intemperance or the like These may not be his ends because they stand in opposition to the great and utmost end but that God may be honoured while he is not burthensom by his remissness and his negligence but rather hath to give to him that needeth And while he makes provision for his family and those that have dependance on him which he that provideth not for is worse then an Infidel Thus we must make the very duties of our callings pay tribute to the honour of our God who keeps his servants not as poor men do for need but as rich and
utterance which the Psalmist calls a Grace is said there to be poured into the Lips of Jesus Christ There was a stream of holy eloquence continually flowing there which sometimes even drowned them that heard him He spake with power and authority his words had the command of mens affections so that he carried them where he pleased Indeed he carried them beyond themselves in wonder and astonishment to hear him speak sometimes as he did Mar. 1.22 They were astonished at his doctrine not only at the matter of it though that were admirable too but at the manner of delivery For he taught them as one that had authority and not as the Scribes And Luke informs us that all men bare him witness and gave testimony to him he was so famous and renowned for this gift of his and wondred at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth Luke 4.22 You heard but now that grace was poured into his lips and here you see that grace was poured out of his lips God poured it in and he as freely poured it out so as the people wondred at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth Such were the words that Jesus spake and such words you will say are very fit for choicest observation and attention The gift of eloquence my brethren calls for audience especially such heavenly and Holy eloquence as Christs is And thus much shall suffice for Confirmation c. Now is it so my Brethren that the words that Jesus spake are very fit to be commended c. Vse Then let them be received with choicest observation by his Church and People Let them not undervalue any of the words that Jesus spake but let them entertain them with a very high esteem There have been some of late who have slighted those words who have been bold to call them inckie divinity a dead letter and the like And yet our Saviour Christ himself tells us The words that I speak are Spirit and Life Iohn 6.63 Oh my beloved I beseech you let every one of us be far from giving way to any mean account or slight thoughts of any words that Christ spake Let us keep up our observation our estimation our admiration of them to the very highest It 's true my Brethren we should carefully attend and duly mark all Scripture words For all the Scripture is given by inspiration of God 1 Tim. 3.16 And all the Scripture is profitable for our selves for Doctrine for Correction for Instruction to make the man of God perfect as it is added there in that place But the words that Jesus spake are the choicest part of Scripture and therefore must have choicest observation Never man and what if I should say never inspired man spake like to him they came not fully home to his measure They had the spirit indeed and so had he but he received not the Spirit by measure as they did He was annointed with that oyl above his fellows though not without them yet above them as the chief Prophet and they the under-Prophets of the Church And therefore when we read or hear or meet with any words that Christ spake let us take special notice of them let us fix and dwell upon them and let them rest and dwell in us Let the words of Christ dwell in us Richly let us have an eye to mark them an ear to hear them and a heart to keep them as Mary had of whom it is observed that she kept all his sayings in her heart How carefully did the Apostle keep that which our Saviour spake though it be no where mentioned in the Gospel and wishes other men to do so too Acts 20.35 Remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said It is more blessed to give then to receive and so he mindeth the Corinthians in a special manner of that which Christ himself spake with his own voice not by the Ministry of others 1 Cor. 7.10 To the married I command and yet not I but the Lord not I as an Inspired Apostle but the Lord with his own mouth when he was conversant upon the earth as if the words that dropped immediately from his lips did challenge singular regard And such regard my brethren let them have from us when we meet with his prayers his sermons his sayings let us set Asterisks in the Margent and the finger of a hand to point them out to special observation Let us write under them as the Evangelist doth in my Text These words spake Jesus Its true my brethren we have not the happiness as some have had in former times to wait upon the Lips of Jesus Christ nor to hear the graciâ— words that dropt thence yet we may hear him in a sense at this Dayâ—â—e may hear him in his word and in his Gospel and there may be Partaâ— of these streams of holy Eloquence which flowed from his mouth and 〈◊〉 may hear him in his faithful Ministers concerning whom the Lord himâ—â—â—f hath said He that heareth them hears me And out of question that Injunction of the father yet takes hold upon us This is my besâ—ed Son hear him Hear him in his writing and hear him in his Messenâ—ers although you cannot hear him in his own person And therefore I beseech you let us hear him and let us hear him so as to be obedient to him Let us remember what a dreadfull curse there is gone forth against the men that will not hear this Prophet which will assuredly take hold upon them Acts 3.23 Every Soul that will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people It was a dangerous thing you hear to refuse to hear Moses He that despised Moses Law was to die without mercy But it is much more dangerous to refuse to hear Christ there is a sorer punishment for such as it is added there Heb. 10.28 It went very hard with those who reâ—used the word that was spoken by Angels that is the Law that was delivered by the Ministry of Angels But if we refuse the word that was spoken by Christ that is the Gospel and do it finally there is but one way with us we are gone without recovery For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast for the execution of it and every transgression and disobedience c. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which was spoken by the Lord And therefore I beseech you let us hear this great Prophet if we hear him not we die and that without mercy too But if we hear him and obey him we shall live and that for ever The words that he speaks are spirit and life and if we keep his sayings we shall never see Death John 17.1 And lift up his eyes to heaven and said AND thus of the transition to our Saviours Supplication These words spake Iesus The manner of presenting it to God the Father or if you will the carriage of our Saviour in it comes now in
entrance into glory that hour was not far off and that perhaps our Saviour Christ might aim at in my Text. However this is evident that that which he desireth here he prays may be effected and accomplished in his Fathers time And this he makes the ground of his Petition Father the hour is come the time which thou hast fore-appointed to glorifie me in And therefore I beseech thee do it now thou hast a time for this great work of thine and this is the very time the very hour the hour is come Were it not so I would not seek it or desire it of thee but seeing this is thy season now Father glorifie thy son So that the Point suggested here is this DOCTRINE God hath his time to do his Actions in and he should not be desired to do them any other time First He hath his times to do his actions in that is the first thing in the Point He hath his hour a certain set and fixed season for any business that he hath to do he hath a time for works of Justice and you see that place for instance Jer. 51.33 It is time to thresh her saith the Lord of Babylon And so their feet shall slide in due time speaking of ungodly men Deut. 32.35 He hath his time for works of Mercy as it is observed of Joseph Psal 105.18 19. his feet they hurt with fetters he was laid in irons until the time which God had fore-appointed came And as soon as that was come the Lord so ordered things that the King sent and loosed him the Rulers of the people let him go free as it is added there in that place And hence the Lord is said to wait in Scripture that he may be gracious as in that known place Isa 30.18 Now he that waits to do a thing looks for a fit time Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Sion saith the Psalmist Psal 102.13 For the time to favour her yea the set time is come so that you see God hath his time to do his actions in Now for the second Member of the point He should not be desired to do them any other time This is apparently suggested in this Petition of our Saviours in my Text. Father the hour is come now glorifie thy Son q. d. If thy appointed season were not come I would not seek to have thee glorifie me at this time I would not have thee do it for me now unless this were thy hour But since the constituted hour is come Lord bring thy purpose into act and execution Our Saviour is in this our pattern whom we ought to follow And hence the Saints in their Petitions have left God to his own time and sought for mercies from him in his own season As Daniel when he found by books that is the Book of Jeremy and other Books that the appointed return of the Jews out of the Babylonian thraldom and Captivity was neer at hand he set himself to seek the Lord at that time Dan. 9.3 And David in the fore-alledged Text he prays for mercy to be shewed to Sion But when when the set time was come I would not spend my time in the further confirmation of so clear a truth Let me but add two Reasons God hath his time to do his actions in and he should not be desired to do them any other time For First Let our desires be what they will he will not be prevailed withall to do them any other time Or Secondly if we could prevail with him it were not best that he should do them any other time Let our desires be what they will God will not be prevailed withall to do his works in any other time then that which he hath fore-appointed and decreed so that it were a vain and idle thing to labour to divert him from his own season We that are men are often turned from our purpose we do not that which we resolve to do or else we do not act it then when we resolve to do it because our resolutions alter we are perswaded and convinced that some other season will be better But God for his part is not changeable he is not as man that he should lye nor as the son of man that he should repent Numb 23.19 That he should so repent as man by changing of his mind or varying from his former resolution And this is that the Psalmist beats upon Psal 102. He observes all other things and persons in the world and finds that they are variable and inconstant they are on and off again But as for God he finds it otherwise with him though they be changeable he is not so No saith the Prophet there thou art the same and what doth he infer upon it why therefore all the good and all the mercy that he hath resolved upon with reference to his people he will accomplish in the set time Thou shalt endure O Lord saith he and that for ever And what follows Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Sion for the set time is come God hath his set time to do his actions in and he should not be desired to do them any other time because if we could prevail in such a case it were not best that he should do them any other time He always pitcheth on the fit best and the opportunest seasons for his Works As he hath his times for them so those times are the best times whether they be Works of Justice or of Mercy And hence the season and opportunity in which he doth them both is stiled the due time For Works of Justice their feet shall slide in due time Deut. 32.35 For Works of Mercy in due time you shall reap if you faint not Gal. 6.9 We that are men do usually mistake our time we miss our opportunity Man knoweth not his time saith Solomon Eccles 9.12 and therefore he is snared in an evil time that fals suddenly upon him He knoweth not the good time and therefore he is snared in an evil time that comes upon him suddenly as a snare upon a Bird in which he is entangled and involv'd and so is disappointed of his purpose But it is not so with God he knows his time and fixes on it so as none but he can do it And hence is that Expostulation Jer. 49.19 Who will appoint me the time q.d. whoever doth it will be very much mistaken The time which I appoint is best and none can do it like me and therefore certainly if we were able it were not best to turn him from it nor to prevail with him to do his work in any other time This shall suffice for clearing of the Observation proceed we now to Application And this may serve for Reprehension in the first place to check and Vse 1 censure those who take upon them to appoint God a time for execution of his Works of Mercy or his Works of Justice They do not come to God as our Saviour in
what to do for then perhaps the Lord will shut the doors against you and leave you helpless in your troubles And truly it is just with God that they that seek not to him till they be driven out of all their shifts should be neglected by him when they come 2. Humbly or else the Name of God will not be a refuge to you You may come to him for shelter but he will not receive you into his protection No he will resist the proud he will keep them out of doors he will leave them succourless in their distresses They were so proud and their stomachs were so high in prosperous times that they looked not after God God was not in all their thoughts Psal 10.4 And therefore now when they come running to him because they know not how to live without him the Lord will look as little after them let them do what they will for God But on the other side my Brethren there are many sweet and pretious promises of mercy protection to the humble person 3. Heartily with all the heart and all the soul for so is the direction Deut. 4.29 you must not seek him feignedly with half a heart with a divided spirit for if you do you may expect such entertainment as is threatned to those dissembling wretches mentioned Prov. 1.28 They shall call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me and you may look to speed as hollow-hearted Israel did Hos 5.6 They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord and shall not find him 4. Reformedly in a way of Reformation and amendment It is in vain for a prophane and filthy person so continuing to run to the name of God in his distresses He must not look for any shelter there he shall not come neer God for God will be sanctified in all that come near him He that cannot endure to look upon prophaness with his eye will not shrowd it with his wing But to the Saints to holy persons the Lord will be a sure refuge The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower Prov. 18.10 the righteous runneth into it and is safe 5. Constantly we must hold out in seeking God and that not only in the act but also in the power and vigor of it And as the Spouse though she were long delaid and though she met with many difficulties and disheartnings yet she continued seeking still She followed Christ through every lane and every street and never left till she had found him So we must follow God my Brethren through all the Ordinances all the means all the wayes that lead to him and though he fly away and hide himself we must not faint and languish but continue and hold out till we have found him Vse 4 Is it so that they that belong to Christ are kept c. If then we have been kept in any dangers or distresses let us look up to this Name let us not rest in the external means and secondary causes of our succour or deliverance but let us look beyond them and above them to the name of God Let us see this Name of his engraven and enstampt upon them as the Prophet counsels Mich. 6.9 The man of wisdom shall see thy Name and when we see it let us acknowledge it to be the fountain of our help the cause of all our succour and deliverance Let us confess that God according to our Saviours Prayer in my Text hath kept us through his own Name And let his Name have all the glory And thus far of the means by which our Saviour here desires that his Disciples and Apostles might be kept his Fathers Name Holy Father keep through thy own Name those whom thou hast given me The End for which he prays they might be kept comes now in order to be handled That they may be one as we are A strange expression if we look upon it with a superficial view That the Disciples of our Saviour may be one in some respects is very easie to imagine But how they should be one as God the Father and the Son are one who are so one that they are the very same the same essence for so the union is identical though they be not the same person this is hard to be conceived yet this is the expression of our Saviour to his Father in my Text That they be one as we are Which that you may the better understand my Brethren you must know that as in Scripture is many times a note of similitude and not of equality It intimates the truth and the reality of that wherein the likeness stands and not the measure and degree I might give many instances wherein that particle is so taken you may see that place for instance Luk. 6.36 Be you merciful as your Father also is merciful It is impossible for any man to be merciful as God if you look to the degree For as the Heavens are higher then the Earth so are his ways and thoughts above ours in reference to mercy and forgiveness But yet we may be merciful as God is really and truly so although not so in such a measure We may be merciful as he though not as merciful as he So in my Text our Saviour prays in the behalf of his Apostles and Disciples to his Father that they may be one saith he as we are as thee and I are The meaning is not that they may be one as neerly that is impossible but that they may be one as truly as we are Not that they may be one by a substantial and identical but by a real union as we are Not that they many be one in all respects but that they may be one in some respects as we are But you will ask me then what those respects are I will shew you in a Word God and Christ the Father and the Son are two persons And yet though they be two persons they agree in every thing Though they be divers yet they never differ No they do continually minde the same things they will and nill the same things they love and hate the same things There is an unexpressible agreement and consent between them every way even so it is exceedingly to be desired that the Disciples of our Saviour though they be many persons yet they may be of one mind and one heart and one affection That they may agree in all things that there may be no difference no divisions no jars no strifes no rents among them but that they may in this respect be one even as the Father and Son are And this you see is the great thing for which our Saviour is a suitor to his Father in behalf of his Apostles and Disciples that they might be at unity among themselves This is the end for which he prays they may be kept by the Almighty power of God himself that as far as it is possible for men
shall live so long on earth till he be full of days even as the stomack that is full of meat till he desire to live no longer till nature be spun out to the uttermost extent and after I will shew him my salvation I will bring him to the place where he shall live for evermore And hence it is because continuance here is properly and in it self a blessing as on the other side the contrary thereto the rooting out of the land of the living is properly and in it self a curse that holyest Saints have deprecated taking hence They have been so far from praying that God would take them out of the world that they have rather prayed against it Lord take me not away in the midst of my days Psal 102.24 How did they plead sometimes for their indangered lives as a prisoner at the bar and when the Lord was pleased to leave them in the world a little longer they were exceedingly affected and enlarged to thankfulness As Hezekiah was you know who penned a Psalm of praise on this occasion and this was the burthen of it The living the living they shall praise thee as I do this day Object But you will interpose and say perhaps Some of the choicest Saints of God have prayed expresly to be taken hence and therefore it should seem to be the proper subject matter of Petition Answ 1. To this I answer such as prayed aright did not make their removal hence by death the proper subject matter of their prayers They did not seek it simply and abstractly by and for it self but in relation to some other thing which they could not have without it It 's true indeed that the Apostle Paul desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ he could not be with Christ he knew unless he were dissolved first and therefore that he might injoy him he was contented to be dissolved for that end Or otherwise he would have been far enough from desiring dissolution And therefore in another place he speaks clearly We would not be unclothed saith he viz. of life and of the body 2 Cor. 5.4 that is not properly the thing that we desire But we would be clothed upon with immortality in heaven If it might be possible we would be clothed upon with that without the putting off of this Indeed he saith before in the Name of all the Saints We that are in this Tabernacle do groan being burthened But yet it was not life considered in it self that was their burthen but with its evil adjuncts and associates which do continually cleave to it and which cannot be severed from it in this world So that if you take life you must take that which comes with it In this respect indeed it is a burthen to the holyest Saints because it is accompanyed with such a burthen of corruption as makes them groan and faint under it But if it be considered simply and abstractly in it self it is not a burthen from which the Saints do groan to be delivered no it is a blessing rather of which they groan to be deprived 2. Most of the Saints who have desired God to take them hence have failed and sinned in those desires of theirs It was their weakness and infirmity they did it out of fear and despondency of Spirit out of passion and impatience And thus it seems Eliah did when he fled from Jezabel 1 King 19.4 And thus it is extreamly probable that Moses did Num. 11.10 15. For it is said he was displeased and in that angry fit he said to God Wherefore hast thou afflicted me If thou deal thus with me kill me I pray thee out of hand and do not let me see my wretchedness And thus it is apparent Jonas did who being crost in a punctilio in a point of honor out of a pettish foolish childish humour will go die forsooth God must take away his life These imperfections of the Saints are left upon record in Scripture not as marks to be aimed at but as rocks to be declined Vse Now to proceed to make some Application of the point My Brethren is it so that removal out of this world is not the proper subject matter of Petition Then let not any of us make it so when we are putting up our supplications and requests to God When we consider how the world hates us how it pours contempt upon us how it follows us with troubles persecutions and afflictions so that we see but little hope that we should ever live contentedly and quietly and freely here it may be we are weary of it and ever ready to desire the Lord that he would remove us from it To wish with Israel in a pang of discontent Numb 11.1 Would God we were dead And with Eliah It is enough Lord take away our lives 1 King 14.4 It 's that which many of us are too apt to do when we are over-loaden with the cares and troubles of this world to reach after deliverance and redress and ease by this means And therefore when we find our hearts are running out in such a way as this is let us call them in again let us correct our selves and say as our Saviour in my Text O Lord we pray not that thou wouldst take us out of the world we are far from such impatience we are content to wait thy leisure to tarry till thy time come And here to keep you from such extravagancies and irregular desires I shall present you with a few things It is a special mercy of the Lord to give us life and to continue us in this world though in a comfortless and sad condition David was in a sorry case afflicted persecuted and oppressed when he put up that prayer to the Lord Deal bountifully with thy servant or be beneficial to thy servant that I may live and keep thy Word Psal 119.17 He counted it a benefit to live how troublesome soever his condition were It 's that which even Nature teaches us to reach after Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life And yet a life with nothing else some will count worth nothing You know my Brethren all that God himself did promise to some very gratious men in times of common trouble and calamity was only this they should have their lives for a prey and that was all for great things were not to be looked for Jer. 39.38 and 45.5 And yet that was a great mercy If we be not taken hence perhaps we may enjoy the mercy to out-live troubles It is mercy to live in them but it is greater mercy to live beyond them and this if we be quiet and content and patient for ought we know may be our portion And this was that which David promised to himself when he was almost over-come and over-whelmed with his afflictions and distresses I shall not die but live saith he and declare the works of the Lord Psal 118.17 Me thinks he gathers up
fruitfull and have more encrease of children then she that sometimes had an husband Oh let us magnifie the grace of Iesus Christ let us adore the infiniteness of his mercy that he hath cast us on these happy times wherein he takes such care of poor Gentiles wherein he sends to them and wherein he looks after them as if they were some rich purchase Ah my beloved did we follow this mercy as far as we could reach it in our thoughts we should at length finding no end or bottom in it cry out with the Apostle Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and goodness of Christ c. JOHN 17.18 Even so have I also sent them into the world DOCTRINE 3. There is a great similitude between the Fathers sending Christ into the world and Christs sending his Apostles and Ministers into the world THis is apparently suggested here in the particle as and the particle also As thou hast sent me into the world even so have I also sent them into the world My sending them is much like thy sending me So he compares them each with other in another place almost in the same words Iohn 20.21 As my Father hath sent me so send I you The thing is plain enough that so it was in some respects But wherein and in what respects this likeness stood will need to be explained with much Caution Because as there was great likeness between the Fathers sending Christ and Christs sending his Apostles and Ministers into the world so there was a great unlikeness too As the similitude was great so certainly the dissimilitude was great too And therefore while I shew the likness I will shew you the unlikeness both of them at one veiw That you may see the one the better for the other As God the Father sent the Son with authority and power so Jesus Christ sends his Apostles and Ministers with authority and power too as God gives him power so he gives them power And therefore having said to his Apostles All power is given to me both in heaven and in earth Mat. 28.18 he adds immediately in the very next words Go ye therefore and teach all Nations and baptize them q. d. because I have received such ample power my self therefore I give you this Commission by which I put a part of this authority and power on you Go forth and exercise it over all the world And this is that which the Apostle calls the power which Christ hath given him 2 Cor. 13.10 To intimate that he received his power and his authority by way of delegation from the Lord Christ as Christ received his power and his authority as he is man and Mediator by way of delegation from the Father and as the Father gives the Son a Key of power as you may see in that remarkable place Isa 22.22 The Key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder that is upon the shoulder of Eliakim who was in that respect a figure and a Type of Christ and he shall open and none shall shut and he shall shut and none shall open so Christ gives Keyes of power to his Apostles and his Ministers as you may see exemplified in Peter Mat. 16.19 I will give thee saith Christ the Keyes of the Kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven viz. either in the preaching of the word or in the regular administration of the censures of the Church Here is a great Similitude you see between the power with which the Father sendeth Christ and the power with which Christ sendeth his Apostles and his Ministers into the world As Christ hath power to shut and open from the Father so have they from Jesus Christ as Christ hath power to bind and loose from God the Father so have they from Jesus Christ As Christ hath power to remit sins and to retain them from the Father so have they from Christ and therefore having said to his Apostles As my Father hath sent me so send I you he adds immediately in the next verse save one Whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained But yet as the similitude is great in this respect so is the dissimilitude The power which Jesus Christ received from God the Father is an universal power All power is given to me saith our Saviour both in heaven and in earth Mat. 28.19 And in another place he minds his Father That he had given him power over all flesh Joh. 17.2 But now that power which the Apostles and the Ministers of Christ received from him is more particular and more confined Jesus Christ hath all power all sorts and all degrees of power they have but some power some sorts and some measures The power which Jesus Christ receives from God the Father is a Kingly power he sets him up as King upon his holy hill of Sion and so accordingly he crowns him The power which they receive from Christ is but a Ministerial power Christ hath a Legislative power to make laws while they have but a Legis-narrative or Declaratory power to publish laws Christ doth jus dare and they do but jus dicere Christ binds and looses shuts and opens remitteth and retaineth sins authoritatively as a Soveraign Lord they do it but declaratively as his Ministers and servants There is a great similitude between the Fathers sending Christ c. in regard of qualification as Christ receives an unction from the Father to his Office so they received an unction from the Son to their Office as Christ is qualified with the Spirit so are they Let us compare them each with other and we shall see it very clear The Prophet speaking in the Person of our Saviour saith The Spirit of the Lord is upon me he hath anointed me to preach Isa 61.1 And so accordingly when he first began to preach he took this very Text to preach upon as you may see Luk. 4.18 Behold my servant saith the Lord whom I uphold Isa 42.1 and mine Elect in whom my soul delighteth I have put my Spirit upon him and that to qualifie him for his Office as is apparent in the following words for it is added presently That he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles A bruised reed shall he not break c. And this is that which is suggested in the Prophesie Isa 11.2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him and it shall rest upon him in those graces and endowments that fit him for the places to which he is designed And hence it is immediately annexed The Spirit of wisdom and of understanding the Spirit of counsel and of might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. So then you see the Father as he sends Christ so he endues him with the Spirit to fit him for the business that he sends him
condition the Lord notwithstanding will be mercifull to them But as you tender the salvation of your pretious souls I beseech you to observe that Gods own word is peremptory and express for this that none that know not God shall have any share in the mercy of God or in the glory of the world to come Oh continue thy loving kindness to them that know thee to them and none but them saith David Psal 36.10 It is a people of no understanding saith the Prophet of the Jews Isa 27.11 And what follows Therefore he that made them will have no mercy upon them It is the common apprehension of vulgar and ignorant people that he that made them will save them too No saith the Prophet if they be ignorant of God he that made them will not have mercy upon them They have not known my wayes saith God unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should never enter into my rest But you will ask me then Quest By what means shall we come to know God Truly there is but one way of coming to the knowledge of him Answ and that way is Jesus Christ No man hath seen God at any time 1 John 18. What then is he not to be seen or known at all by any means Yes though he be not to be seen or known immediately in himself yet mediately in and by the Son he may be known For he hath manifested and revealed him to us No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son that came out of the bosome of the Father he hath declared him Indeed it was the business for which our Saviour came into this lower world to bring God down to us that we might be acquainted with him And if ever you see or know God you must have light from Jesus Christ I am the light saith he John 8.12 He that follows me shall have the light of life And therefore if you would have this light follow Jesus Christ for it How you must follow him so as to fetch this light from him I have directed you before on the third verse of this Chapter Is it so that unbelievers and unsanctified persons know not God Vse 2 What cause have true believers then to admire and adore the special mercy of the Lord to them that they should be acquainted with him That he should give them the preferment in such a blessed and glorious priviledge as this is That now they can say to God as our Saviour in my text Oh Righteous Father the world hath not known thee but we have known thee O Lord whence is this to us how is it Lord that thou dost manifest thy self to us and not unto the world as the Disciples said John 14.22 How comes this to pass Lord Truly this is free-grace and free-mercy mercy to be admired and wondred at Oh let our souls and all that is within us bless the Lord Let us take up our Saviours words Father we thank thee that thou hast hid thy self from a world of wise and prudent men and hast revealed thy self to such babes as we are We bless thy name for this mercy And truly we have cause to bless him for this knowledge is our life keep it for it is thy life saith Solomon Prov. 4.13 and life is a pretious thing If we had still remained in the condition that the world is in we had never known God we must have died to all eternity we had been punished with eternal perdition we could never have enjoyed him who is the God of our life But now we know him so as to love him we shall be sure to live with him and that for ever Nay this is life yea life eternal in regard of the beginning such a life as is above the power of death and dissolution as our Saviour Christ assures us John 17.3 This is life eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent JOHN 17.25 But I have known thee and these have known c. AND thus of what our Saviour speaks against the world Oh Righteous Father the world hath not known thee Proceed we to know what he speaks for himself and true believers But I have known thee and these have known that thou hast sent me There is no difficulty in the terms requiring any tedious explication I have known thee saith our Saviour to the Father though the world be strangers to thee yet I am very well acquainted with thee I know thee inwardly And my Disciples here have known that thou hast sent me They have been throughly perswaded that I am a messenger sent forth from thee to manifest thy nature and thy will to them which I have done accordingly I have declared to them thy name So they have known thee by my means So that the special thing to be observed here my brethren is the order in which the knowledge of the Father is dispensed First Christ the Mediator knows him he is acquainted with him in the first place I know thee saith our Saviour here And then Believers are acquainted with him by the means of Christ And these have known that thou hast sent me and I have declared unto them thy name The Observation then is this DOCTRINE That Jesus Christ and he alone knows God immediately and others know him by the means of Christ All saving knowledge of the Father comes out by Jesus Christ to his people Christ knows him first and then we know him in the second place by him No man hath seen God at any time John 1.18 What then is he not to be seen or known at all by any means Yes though he be not to be seen or known by us immediately in himself yet mediately in and by the Son he may be known for he hath manifested and revealed him to us No man hath seen God at any time The only begotten Son which is in the bosome of the Father he hath declared him Indeed it was the business for which our Saviour came into this lower world to bring God down to us that we might be acquainted with him Ye neither know me nor my Father saith our Saviour to the Jews John 8.19 If ye had known me ye should have known my Father also q. d. I would have brought you to the knowledge of my Father And as the Book in Apoc. 5.9 had still remained a sealed Book unless the Lamb had opened it so God had still remained a concealed God he had never been discovered and manifested to us in a saving way unless the Son himself had done it So that the Point is plain you see That Jesus Christ and he alone knows God immediately and others know him by the means of Christ And therefore in the first place this may serve for information to let Vse 1 us see that no man can be saved by his own innate knowledge nor by the light that is naturally in him let him use it how he will or how
p. 208. 3. Some believe not the threatnings Marks They that believe the threatnings quake and tremble at them 2. Take some course to avert them 4. Some believe not the promises 1. The sad and fearful 2. They that are troubled with doubts cares distractions 3. The wavering and inconstant 4. They that will suffer nothing for it Cautions 1. You are not to believe all that is presented under the title of Gods Word 2. It 's no sign of Infidelity to move questions 3. Nor to have some doubtful thoughts concerning clear truth p. 212. 3. Exam. Have we kept the Word in our affections by loving it p. 213. Marks 1. Lovers of the Word desire on all occasions to converse with it 2. Hear as often as they may 3. Exercise themselves in the reading and meditation of it 4. Endeavour to be inwardly acquainted with it 5. Will not easily quarrel with and disobey it 6. Will hardly part with it p. 216. 4. Motives to love the Word As being 1. the means of conversion 2. A light of direction 3. A Teacher to inform you 4. Means to confirm you 5. To comfort 6. To save you p. 218. 5. You must keep the word by obeying it 1. Not by partial but by a total obedience p. 220. 2. With a cordial obedience 3. Constantly to the end Directions 1. Pray God to teach you 2. Find out and mortifie the lusts that hinder you p. 223. 5. Doctr. To entertain the Word as we ought we must know for certain that it is the Word of God p. 224. Reason 1. Then we shall receive it with holy fear 2. That we may give it full credit and belief 3. That we may yield full resignation and submission 4. That we may allow it absolute and universal obedience 1. Vse See the cause of mens slighting and disobeying the Word p. 229. 2. Vse Learn how to entertain the Word aright viz. By believing that it is Gods Scriptures proved to be the Word of God 1. By the evident accomplishment of promises 2. By the joynt testimony of the Church 3. By consent of the Writers 4. By the effectual and mighty working of it on mens hearts and souls 5. By the blood of many Martyrs sealing it with their lives p. 231. 2. The Spirit of God assures us that the Scripture is Gods Word 1. By removing impediments 2. By giving grace fitting us to receive Ver. 7 Doctr. Christ hath approved himself a faithful Prophet and Messenger to his Church p. 234. Confirm 1. As having added nothing to his message 2. That he hath taken nothing from it How Christ did and did not tell them all p. 236. 1. Vse Diligently observe and hear this Prophet 2. Trust him 3. Try other Prophets p. 237. 4. Vse Not a word of his must be nelected or slighted 5. Seek no further for direction in matters of Salvation p. 239. 6. Let Ministers learn to be so faithful 1. Adding nothing as doth 1. the superstitious 2. Sceptick 3. vain-glorious Teacher p. 241. 2. Not mincing or diminishing the Word 1. Otherwise they are guilty of the blood of souls 2. Diminish their own mercy 3. Expose themselves to the ignominy and contempt of men 4. To the injuries of men Q Why ungodly men have prevailed p. 243. Ver. 8 2. Doctr. The faithfulness of Gods Messenger availeth much to commend him and his message to the people p. 244. Vse Hence so many Ministers slighted because unfaithful 2. A Minister shews himself faithful 1. In the right delivery of his message 2. To a right end Not satisfying their own passions nor aiming at their own respects 3. In a passive way 3. Doctr. The good reception of the message depends upon the peoples good opinion of the Messenger p. 247. Vse Do not rashly judge of Gods Messengers You may judge of him 1. by his entrance 2 By his ability 3. By his readiness to love Ver. 9 1. Doctr. Christ intercedes for none but his own people p. 250. Reas He is a Priest and Mediator only for them 1. Vse Christ died not for all without limitation 2. Vse The sad condition of those without the Church 3. Vse Happiness of those that belong to Christ Having union with him that is so near to God 2. Son near to you 3. That can never dye p. 253. This gives us boldness in address 2. Supports us in the sense of our imperfections 3. Assures the success of our Petitions 4. Keeps from despair under sin 2. Doctr. That all Christs people belong to God the Father Confirm As being more his by being Christs 1. For he hath none to share with him but Christ 2. His title to them being strengthned and enlarged 3. By unity 1. Vse Therefore Christs people excellent and precious 2. Walk worthy of such a relation For 1. your sins dishonour him more 2. They are sharply and sooner chastised for their sins p. 257. 2. Vse The Saints comfort 1. They shall be the more surely heard 2. God doth more dearly love them 3. God will tender their wrong either 1. Defending Or 2. Avenging them 4. God will provide for them 5. He will not lose them p. 257. Ver. 10 1. Doctr. Christ is glorified in all that belong to him Confirm For the present life he is glorified in their Grace p. 261. future he is glorified in their Glory p. 261. 1. Vse They who live to Christs dishonour are none of his 2. It should quicken and stir us up to labour 1. For grace and holiness here 2. After glory hereafter p. 263. How Christ absent from the Father p. 265. 2. Doctr. Christ as Man is gone out of this world to the immediate presence of his Father p. 266. Reas 1. That his humiliation might be recompensed with honour 2. Because he hath no more to do here 3. Hath much to do there 1. He was to triumph there over his enemies and ours 2. That he might send down his Spirit to his people 3. Intercede for them 4. To prepare a place and make heaven ready for us 5. Christ is gone that he may now virtually draw us after him 1. Vse Expect him not here till he return from heaven 2. Make much of his spiritual presence among us Therefore 1. take heed of grieving his Spirit Either by unkinde slighting or stubborn resistance 2. Take singular and mighty comfort in his Spirit 3. Receive and entertain the graces of this Spirit p. 271. 3. Vse Follow Christ in our spirits As 1. by our thoughts and meditations 2. By our affections 3. By our desires and anhelations of the Spirit p. 273. 3. Doct. The world alwayes an uncomfortable place to Christs Disciples p. 274. 1. Here they are continually exposed to many tryals and troubles 2. Vexed with the sins of others but chiefly their own 3. Banished from Christ p 273. 1. Vse Look not for joy and quietness from the world but provide for evil 2. Think it not strange 3. Love not the world nor to continue
my Text Father the hour is come now glorifie thy Son now shew mercy to thy Church now execute thy wrath upon the persecutors and oppressors of the Church No he must do it presently whether his time be come or no they have not so much patience and humility to wait upon him and leave him to his own time they cannot tarry for him one hour This was the Mistake of Mary she would needs direct our Saviour when to work his Miracles before his hour or time was come John 2.4 And we poor Creatures are so sawcy and so bold sometimes to tell the Lord when he must shew us such a favour when he must give us such a mercy if he delay and if he linger beyond the time that we appoint him we are gone we cannot wait upon him any longer We send for his assistance as it were by Post and prescribe the Lord a day as the Bethulians And so upon the other side we appoint him when to deal against the enemies and persecutors of his people We set him down a time and we order him a season to wreake his vengeance and his wrath upon them But what saith God to me belongeth vengeance and recompence This is a business that belongs to me it appertaineth not to you to meddle with it Their feet shall slide in due time for the day of their calamity is at hand and the things that shall come upon them make haste We are so earnest many times that we would have him strike them presently and tread down all his enemies that rise against him and his cause and people and take an order with them out of hand But God is of another mind he designs another time and we do very ill to go about to turn him from it It is a bold intrusion on the property of God on that which appertaineth and belongeth to him in the fore-alledged text A snatching of the times and seasons out of his hands And it is a high presumption for while we carry matters thus we do at least imply that we are wiser then the Lord that we can choose out fitter seasons for the accomplishment of his designs then he doth which is a Blasphemy to be abhorred and trembled at by every Christian Vse 2 And therefore in the second place my brethren since God hath his time to do his actions in it and should not be desired to do them any other time Let us be hence instructed how to regulate our prayers and desires in this regard Let us subscribe to him for the accomplishment of all his purposes of wrath against the wicked of mercy to his own people And let us freely leave him to his own time If the prefixed and the constituted time be manifest and revealed to us as to our Saviour in my Text then let us pray as he the hour is come If it be hid then let us pray Father when the hour is come do this or that against thy Enemies do this or that for thy people but still let us comply with his time for the performance of any thing that we desire of him And this because in many cases it may seem to linger and we may be apt to faint I shall briefly set before you two or three Considerations to uphold your hearts till your fathers hour comes Consider that the Father waites for the good hour as well as you Do you wait to receive mercy He waites to shew mercy Do you wait that he may be gracious He waiteth that he may be gracious too Isa 30.18 Why are you so impatient then Why should not you be well contentted and pleased to wait as well as he Shall all the waiting be on his side none of yours see if this be good reason Consider that till the Fathers hour of mercy come he is preparing you for mercy and preparing mercy for you He is not slack as men count slackness he hastens such a work of mercy as he seemeth to defer Many times the work is great and there are many wheels that turn in it and they must move about in time too quick a motion would disorder all The Lord hath many things to bring about in such a business and therefore he goes onward with it slowly by degrees and so at length he brings it to perfection He means to make a goodly structure and therefore he is laying the foundation deep and low that he may raise the frame of mercy and salvation which he means to build upon it high and firm that it may never be removed again Let us consider if the hour of mercy linger that the fault is in our selves Alas God labours hard about us but we are knotty peices we will not suddenly be brought to any frame We are not qualified for a cure and extraordinary mercy by and by Oh what a task God hath to humble us to make us sensible of undeservingness to qualifie us so that we may prize the mercy and use the mercy as we ought to do So the while he is moulding us and fitting us he may complain of us as once he did of Israel Will you never be made fit when will it once be We have such strong Corruptions in us that they will not be subdued we have such proud and stubborn hearts that they will not be brought down So that if God be long about us and if he keep us under hand we have cause to thank our selves and the perversness of our own hearts Let us consider that the fathers hour will come in which he will shew us mercy He will arise and have mercy on Sion The needy shall not alwayes be forgotten nor the expectation of the poor fail for ever Psal 9.18 Though he hide himself yet he will be a Saviour notwithstanding And therefore this let us depend and settle on let us keep our hearts to this with the poor afflicted Church Isa 25.9 Loe this is our God we have waited for him and he will save us we will be glad in his salvation You see how confident she is she stands not upon Ifs and Ands. It is not peradventure or it may be or the like but he will save us and we will be glad c. The more the fathers hour lingers the greater mercy it will bring with it the more will it abound with multiplyed overflowing comfort when it comes Gods manner is to measure and proportion comforts to afflictions to cherish and revive his people according to the daies in which he hath afflicted them and according to the times in which their souls have seen sorrow Psal 90.15 That Proclamation is remarkeable Isa 40.1 Comfort c. comfort ye my people It is repeated twice you see And why so The reason is annexed she hath received at the Lords hand double for her sins she hath had double sorrow and therefore now she shall have double comfort And thus far of the rise of that part of our Saviours prayer which concerns himself the
must have or else they are not capable of medling with the affairs and the negotiations of their master And therefore God hath furnished Jesus Christ with powers with ample and compleat authority for the Embassage he hath sent him in All power is given to him without any limitation You see he hath a large Commission and consequently what he doth concerning what he hath received in Commission is as valid and effectuall to all intents and purposes as if God the Father did it He hath not only set his seal to Christs Commission but he hath sealed Christ himself Him hath God the Father sealed Iohn 6.27 So that he came into the world with the stamp and with the seal of God upon him that all men might receive him as sent forth from him As God hath qualified him with authority so he hath qualified him with ability for the effecting of the business and the delivery of the errand which he sent him in He hath made him fully able to go through with it and to that end hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit and a fulness of Spirit A fulness of Merit to make Peace and a fulness of Spirit to preach Peace First as God hath sent him so he hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit to make Peace Made him able to the utmost to satisfie his justice and to obtain his pardon for his people For he is God as well as man in him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily God that his Merits might be valuable for us Man that his merits might be applicable to us Secondly as he hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit to make Peace so of Spirit to preach Peace The Spirit of the Lord is upon me saith our Saviour Luke 4.18 and by this Spirit he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel as it is added there in that place As he hath sent and appointed me to preach so annointed me to preach And therefore grace is said to be poured into the lips of Jesus Christ Psal 45.2 so that he spake as never man did Iohn 7.46 That some were astonied at his doctrine and all men bore him witness and wondered Luke 4.22 JOHN 17.3 And Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent Use 1 NOW is it so that Jesus Christ is Gods Apostle a Messenger sent c. This then may teach us in the first place to admire the mercy of the Lord both of the Father and of the Son in this business The mercy of the Father in sending Jesus Christ and the mercy of the Son in that he would be sent by him In both of these the grace of God is eminent to admiration Let us here observe and wonder at the mercy of the Sender There was rich grace in this that God the Father sent his Son into the world for our sakes He is his Son his only begotten Son a Son that is extreamly like him the very picture of his Father the express image of his person a Son that never did displease him a Son that he dearly loves in whom his very soul delights in which respect he layes him in his bosom next his heart as a choice and precious thing And yet this Son of his he is content to part withall in some respect that he and we might come together To send him out of his bosom and to dispatch him down into this lower world there to continue for a while that when he returned again he might bring us up with him Had God any need of us that he should send his Son for us Ah my Beloved he is self-sufficient there is enough in him to make him happy everlastingly without us But we must be for ever miserable without him And therefore it was nothing else but free mercy that made him send down his beloved Son to us Herein is love saith the Evangelist 1 Iohn 4.10 not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son Here is love and here is mercy to be spoken of and to be wondered at in all ages Let us here take notice of the mercy of the Son in that he would submit himself so far as to become the Fathers Messenger in this business Though he be man he is the Fathers fellow notwithstanding so he stiles him Zach. 13.7 Awake O sword against the man that is my fellow saith the Lord of hosts Though he be found in fashion as a man he thinks it no robbery to be equall with God every way as good as God Philip. 3.6 And was it not an admirable condescention that when the Father had a Message to dispatch into the world for the recovery of lost creatures Jesus Christ should say to him as once the Prophet in another case Here I am send me I am very well content to be sent of this errand Especially if we consider where and whither he was sent from heaven to earth yea to the lowest parts of the earth as the expression is Ephes 4.9 In a sense to hell it self From the bosom of the Father if not into the place into the state and the condition of the damned In which respect he saith Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell Psal 16.10 He was sent to make peace to reconcile us to his Father as you heard before in Explication of the point and this he was to do by the blood of his Cross as the Apostle shews us Col. 1.20 By his extream and bitter Passion by suffering death it self yea such a shamefull and accursed death upon the Cross accompanied with such ingredients as made him roar and sweat and faint under it And was it not a miracle of mercy that Jesus Christ should yield himself to be sent on such an errand as this is That he should willingly submit himself to be the Fathers Messenger in such a business We need not wonder that he whose love and kindness was so full of wonder should be called wonderfull Isa 9.6 But you will say perhaps Object that this indeed was rare and admirable mercy if Jesus Christ had willingly exposed himself to this for us But it seems he was constrained it was against his will For he was afraid of it Heb. 5.7 Yea more then so he prayed against it Mat. 26.39 Father if it be possible saith he let this cup pass from me To this I answer my Beloved Answ that Christ must be considered in a double notion and respect either as a private man or as a Mediator and a surety for his people Take him as a private man who had assumed a nature to which death was an enemy especially so bitter and so sharp a death as he was now about to undergo and so he justly feared it and declined it Take him as a publick Surety and a mercifull high-Priest and so he willingly submitted to it And this his willingness by reason of his Office was the greater because his will by reason of his nature could not choose but shrink from
his work as he professes to his Father in my Text I have manifested thy Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have brought it forth saith he into the light and set it in open view for so much that word imports By which he intimateth that his Fathers Name was like a rare and curious piece behinde a curtain like a rich treasure covered or a glorious Image vailed But now saith Christ the vail is taken off the covering is removed the curtain drawn I have exposed my Fathers Name to the veiw of all my people This Christ hath done you see and now let us consider what we are to do No question he hath brought it forth that we might see it that we might feed our eyes upon it that we might grow up in the knowledge of his Fathers Name of the dearness of his love and the sweetness of his mercy the tenderness and the abundance of his compassions unto poor lost creatures This is the Name which Jesus Christ hath manifested to us that we might be acquainted with it Now I beseech you my Beloved let us not by neglecting this discovery go about to frustrate Christ and do as much as in us lies to disappoint him of his purpose Oh let us labour that our knowledge of the Name of God may be in some sort answerable to the revelation that Jesus Christ hath made of it And that as we have since our Saviours coming in the flesh a fuller and a more compleat discovery of it then they in former ages had we may accordingly exceed and go beyond them in the knowledge of it too We may know more of God especially of his love and of his mercy to his people in his Son then they did Or if it be not so to what end is the pains that Christ hath taken to manifest his Fathers Name to us Oh let us be ashamed to come behind the Saints of the Old Testament in the knowledge of this Name who came behind us in the means of this knowledge Is it so That Jesus Christ hath made an absolute c. Then let us satisfie Vse 4 our selves with the discovery he hath made And let us not attempt or undertake to know more of the Father then he hath made known to us Indeed if Jesus Christ had fallen short in this discovery it were but reason that we should exceed and go beyond it If he had not told us all that is fit for us to know it were a congruous thing that we should strive to know more But seeing the discovery he hath made is so compleat and absolute in all respects so that there can be nothing added to it we have cause to rest in it and to content our selves with so much knowledge of the Father as he hath revealed to us Indeed there is an itch in Nature to search into those things especially concerning God which are concealed and hid from us Fain we would see his face when Christ hath manifested but his back-parts to us we would know more of his Nature of his Counsels and Decrees the order of them the measure of them the objects of them then he hath thought expedient to reveal to us We would approach too nigh to gaze we would intrude on those things which we have not seen for which we have no revelation as the Apostle speaks Col. 2.18 And this my Brethren is the evill Genius of these very times men go beyond themselves in sifting into things concerning God and beyond Christ too I mean beyond any thing that he hath manifested of his Father to them Indeed they tell us that Christ reveals it to them by his Spirit But that is not the Spirit of Christ which shews us any thing beyond what he hath written in his Word The business of the Spirit is not to bring us any other truths then those which are revealed in the Word but to clear those to us If any spirit bring us any thing crossing with or but so much as diverse from the Scripture if an Angel dropt from Heaven teach us any other Doctrine he must not be believed but accursed To the Law and to the Testimony saith the Prophet Isa 8.20 If any man or Angel speak not according to this Word let him pretend what light he will it is because there is no light in him And therefore let us satisfie our selves with that which Christ hath manifested of his Father in his Word and in his Gospel Since his discovery is so full let us not seek to go beyond it That speech of God to Moses who whether he were curious or no was very earnest to behold his glory is observable Exod. 33.19 I will make all my good go before thee that is I will discover so much of my self to thee as shall be good for thee to know And this our Saviour Christ hath done compleatly We need no further knowledge of the Father here to make us happy to make us wise unto salvation And therefore let us rest in it And to this end I shall present you with a few Considerations It is a fruit and evidence of pride to strive to know more of the Fathers Name then Christ hath manifested to us It proceeds from a desire to be observed as having something more then ordinary in us and this hath much prevailed with many men in these times to know no more of God then Christ hath shewed us in the Scripture this is no such great matter this will never make them famous And therefore they must have their nice and curious speculations by themselves beyond any written word they must have hidden things discovered to them which other men are not acquainted with that they may be observed to be men of singular depth and extraordinary intercourse with the Spirit of Christ This the Apostle notes in those Impostors Col. 2.18 Intruding into those things which they have not seen But how comes this to pass vainly puffed up by their fleshly mind There is the cause of this intrusion And hence the Prophet David to shew that he was not proud and haughty makes this the evidence Psal 131.1 I do not exercise my self in things that are too high for me It is a grievous sin to labour to know more of God then Christ hath manifested to us It is no better then intrusion on the right of God himself such a man doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the fore-alledged Text Col. 2.18 Intrudes upon anothers right enters on the possession of another Now whose possession are these secret things To whom do they belong to God saith Moses Deut. 29. ult The secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and unto our children So that while we content our selves with these revealed things we are like honest-minded men that keep and use their own and love not to encroach upon their neighbours But if we be not satisfied with the things which God hath manifested
and revealed of himself as thinking them too narrow and too mean a purchase for us and so presumptuously go on to search and dive and pry into his reserved secrets which he hath locked and sealed up we go beyond our own and enter upon his possession And this is that which the Apostle notes in these seducers they entred and intruded into those things which they had not seen for which they had no revelation from the Lord no demonstration from the Scriptures they were not things allowed for them to know and so their medling with them was intrusion And as it is a sinful thing so it is a dangerous thing to labour to know more of God then he hath manifested to us It is a matter of extream hazard The people of the Jews you know had certain bounds and limits set them at the promulgation of the Law beyond which none of them might dare to step no not a foot to gaze or pry Exod. 19.21 Their ground was measured out and so was Gods so much he allowed to them and so much he reserved to himself as long as they contained themselves within their compass they were safe But if out of a curious disposition any man adventured into Gods precincts there was no other way but death So God hath set us bounds and limits in our knowledge of himself so much he allows to us and so much he reserveth to himself So long as we contain our selves within the bounds of things revealed we are safe for they are ours as Moses tells us But if out of a vain desire to gaze and pry we enter upon secret things we have intruded upon Gods peculiar and we may justly fear his stroke Consider it is a fruitless thing to labour to know more of God then he hath manifested to us for more of him cannot be known And to seek to know more is the direct and ready way to lose that which we know already to press too near to gaze upon him is to have our eyes darkened till at last we see nothing Excellens visibile destruit sensum He dwelleth in light that no man can approach unto and therefore the Apostle Paul exhorting us to labor for the knowledge of the Lord and of his will advises us withall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to be wise above that which is meet Rom. 12.3 Adam had a mind to know as much of God as God himself and by this means he came to know nothing And truly it is just with God to suffer such to err and wander in their vain imaginations who would be so overwise till they become meer fools as the Apostle Paul speaks Rom. 1.22 Is it so that Jesus Christ hath made an absolute c. then let us live Vse 5 and walk like men that have this rich discovery made to us Like men that know the Fathers Name All people will walk every one in the Name of his God saith the Prophet Micah Mic. 4.5 And why should not we add as he and we will walk in the Name of our God for ever and ever I shall perswade you to it especially in two Cases in times of sinful and of poenal misery 1. First when we are under sinful misery by reason of the guilt and power of our transgressions let us walk like men that have the Fathers Name made known to us We are apt in such a case sometimes to cast away all hopes of pardon and forgiveness to think that mercy is too narrow for us to say to God as Peter to our Saviour Depart from us for we are sinful men Why my Beloved do you know the Fathers Name the Name which he himself proclaimed to Moses Exod. 34.6 The Lord the Lord God patient and long-suffering merciful and gratious and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin All sorts all kinds and all degrees of sin And can you doubt whether there be enough of mercy in him to cure your sinful misery What do you want or what can you desire that is not to be found in his Name Are your sins many for the number of them and great for the measure of them The mercies of the Lord are more and greater he is abundant in goodness and truth Are they of divers sorts and divers kinds He forgiveth iniquity transgression and sin Have they been long continued and held out against God He is gratious and long-suffering Somewhat there is in Gods Name to answer all objections of the humble soul and to keep it from despair when iniquities do look most horrid and most black upon it 2. So in the second place when we are under poenal misery let us walk like men that have the Fathers Name made known to us What ever our distresses be either personal or National let us not give all for lost as most are very apt to do Oh we shall never be delivèred There is no other way but we must sink in this affliction Why my Beloved do you know the Name of God do you know his power and mercy How is it then that you have so little faith That you depend no more upon him mark what the Prophet David saith Psal 9.10 They that know thy Name will put their trust in thee And therefore while you are so diffident and faithless it is too apparent that you are not so well acquainted with the Fathers Name as you might and ought to be Now I beseech you my Beloved take in the discoveries that Christ hath made of this Name And when you are in any misery in any sinful in any poenal misery hide your selves in the Name of the Lord your God JOHN 17.6 Unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world AND thus far of our Saviours action in reference to his Apostles and Disciples of which he minds his Father here I have manifested thy Name Proceed we now to his description of the persons to whom he had made known his Fathers Name The men which thou gavest me out of the world The Father gives men to his Son Christ either for outward administration or else for inward union and incorporation Either to be his servants or to be his members Our Saviour clearly speaks of those that were bestowed on him in the latter way to be united to him as living members of his body And this is very evident because he saith that they were given him out of the world They that were bestowed upon him only for outward ministration as Judas was Or only in regard of outward profession as many others were were given him So that they were of the world still They were a part of the unbelieving world and of the wicked world the world that lies in wickedness notwithstanding this donation But as for them who did in deed and truth believe in him and were by faith incorporated into Jesus Christ they were the men that were given him out of the world That is they
20.35 Remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said It is more blessed to give then to receive And so he mindeth the Corinthians of that whith Christ himself spake To the marryed I command and yet not I but the Lord 1 Cor. 7.10 As intimating that the words which dropped from his lips did challenge singular regard from them And such regard my Brethren let them have from us when we meet with his Prayers his Sermons his Sayings let us hear this Prophet and hear him so to be obedient to him It was a dangerous thing you know to refuse to hear Moses he that despised Moses Law was to die without mercy But it is much more dangerous to refuse to hear Christ There is a sorer punishment for such Heb 10.28 It went very hard with those who refused the word that was spoken by Angels But if we refuse the word that was spoken by Christ and do it finally there is but one way with us we are gone without recovery For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast for the execution of it and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which was spoken by the Lord If we hear him not we die and that without mercy too But if we hear him and obey him we shall live and that for ever The words that he spake are spirit and life And if a man keep his sayings he shall never see death 2. This should teach us in the second place to trust him since he is such a faithful Messenger that he varies not a word we may well rely upon him and believe him to the utmost His words are all heavenly all of God he hath given us those words that are given him of the Father all those and none but those and why then should we not depend upon them for our direction for our Consolation and trust him perfectly in all cases 3. To try other Prophets by this Prophet other Messengers by this Messenger and so accordingly to embrace them or reject them Other men that come from God really or in pretence may speak more or speak less then he hath put into their mouths Christ hath said neither more nor less and therefore let us always try their Messages by his Message if they agree with his let us embrace them but if they disagree let us reject them JOHN 17.8 I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me ANd thus far of the General Application Proceed we now a little more particularly and distinctly to apply the divers branches of the point in order Vse 1 Hath Christ himself approved himself a faithful Messenger from his Father to his people in this respect that he hath added nothing to his Message That he hath not delivered so much as a word more Then surely not a word of his must be neglected by us nor slightly passed over without the most exact examination All the words of Jesus Christ have weight in them and therefore they must all be weighed by them that handle them or read or hear them Every word that he delivered comes from heaven it is given him of his Father as you have it in my Text. And do you think his Father would give down from heaven so much as one vain word to be delivered by him to his Church and people And if there be not one superfluous word in his Message then certainly there is not one to be unadvisedly and lightly passed over by us And therefore let it be our care to pry into and study every word of Jesus Christ which he hath left upon record in Scripture to sift it and to scan it to the very utmost to seek to God by earnest prayer to open and unfold it to us that nothing in it as far as it is possible may scape us unobserved And truly my Beloved this deserves the more to be considered by us because we know not what we lose sometimes by our neglect in this particular by slight and careless handling reading or hearing of the words of Christ Oh the inestimable hidden worth that is wrapt up sometimes in one of his expressions and we take no notice of it Either we are ignorant of the Original the Language and the Tongue in which he speaks and so cannot or else we are negligent and idle and remiss and so do not dive in it It is not to be imagined what a world of light and information in deep and mysterious things of sweet direction of precious Consolation we lose by this means And therefore when we labour to expound the Scripture when we read or when we hear it let us not look upon a sentence or a verse in gross and so indeavour to find out the general intent and drift and meaning of it but let us scan and study every word Were there any loose expressions as there are in other writings that carry nothing of solidity and weight in them we might very well omit them and not spend our thoughts upon them But there is not a word to spare in that which Jesus Christ delivers from his Father to his people nothing but what is necessary to express some matter of importance and concernment to us and therefore let us value it and fist it well that we may know the mind of God and the mind of Christ in it Hath Christ approved himself a faithful Messenger from his Father to Vse 2 his people in this respect that he hath taken nothing from his message Then let us seek no further for direction in matters that concern salvation but let us satisfie our selves with that which Christ hath brought us from his Father Indeed if he were any way defective there were some colourable reason then why we should labour to supply him as the Papists do with their Traditions and unwritten Verities and so botch up as well as we are able that which he hath left unperfect But since he hath delivered to us all that his Father put into his mouth and hath not kept a word back Oh let us rest in the discovery he hath made as that which of it self is able to make us wise unto Salvation Let us beware of itching after novelties and hearkning after new and strange discoveries such as Christ hath never made as many do in these days Oh let not any of us who have heard and learned Christ turn away from wholesome doctrine and be turned after fables as the Apostle Paul speaks Let us not leave the Living Fountain and go to broken Cisterns that will hold no water But let us stick to Jesus Christ and satisfie our selves with that which he hath taught us in the Scripture as comprehending in it all that is necessary to salvation But here to clear my self a little that I may not be mistaken I acknowledge that many necessary things are not expresly delivered to us by our Saviour from his Father and
we thrive apace in knowledge then we grow to perfectness then the Church of Christ goes up But till the stones be joined close together there will be no edifying that is in English no building It is of great concernment to the entertainment of Christ Jesus in the world that his Disciples be at nearest c. If they be alwayes wrangling and contending others will not come among them No they will stand off from them and from the Master which they serve if he be owned and followed by none but by a company of quarrelsome contentious people And hence is that Petition of our Saviour in behalf of his Apostles and Disciples at ver 23. of this Chapter In my text he prayes the Father that they may be one even as the Father and himself were one And in the cited verse he renews the same petition that they may all be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they may be one in us And why so That the world may believe that thou hast sent me q. d. If my disciples be not one among themselves if they be rent asunder by a spirit of division the world will not believe that I came forth from thee who art the God of love and peace that thou hast sent me down into the world to be a Mediator and a Peace-maker to make up all the breaches and the differences between thee and thy people They will look strangely upon me and I shall never bring them to believe that I am come on such an errand as this is And therefore I beseech thee Father that I may be entertained under the Notion of a Mediator that the world may believe that thou hast sent me on this business do thou take care that my Disciples may be at unity among themselves It is of great concernment to the happiness of Christs Disciples that they be at neerest c. Among the eight beatitudes the third in order falleth to the meek and peaceable Mat. 5.5 And if the meek and peaceable be blessed then certainly the fierce and furious are accursed It is a pretty observation of Ludolphus out of Bede on that place Heaven is promised to the pure blessed are the pure in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Earth is promised to the meek Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth So there remaineth nothing else but hell for the contentious and impure spirit Ah my beloved would we avoid the curse and would we be partakers of the blessing would we have heaven and earth to be our portion Let us be pure and peaceable let us make and keep peace and so the blessing of the God of peace will be upon us And therefore David having broken out into a passionate and pithy commendation of the unity of brethren behold how good and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity it is like pretious oyntment c. Psal 133.2 he shuts up all with this conclusion There the Lord commanded the blessing and life for evermore There where brethren live in unity and love there the Lord commands blessing it cannot choose but come upon them for the Lord himself commands it And this blessing it is life and this life it is eternal There the Lord commanded the blessing and life for evevermore Vse 1 Now to proceed to application Is it so my brethren that it is a matter of wondrous difficulty and of great concernment for Christs Disciples to be at neerest unity among themselves Then let this quicken us and stirr us up who would be taken to be Christs Disciples to labour after this oneness and to endeavour to the utmost of our power to get and keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace You hear it is a matter of great concernment and therefore it is worth the striving for It is a matter of wondrous difficulty and therefore is not to be had without striving Now I beseech you my beloved let us set our selves to this business There was never greater need them now when God hath suffered such a spirit of division to possess his own people And when the members of the body mysticall of Christ are of so many minds and draw so many wayes and have sometimes such vehement and hot contentions and disputes among themselves So that the Church had never greater reason to cry out as Rebecca sometimes did when she had parties in her womb If it be so why am I thus and therefore we had need to put some spirit into this perswasion and you had need to put some spirit into your endeavours and if the Lord will put his spirit of unity and peace into us it may subdue and overcome the spirit of division which reigns too much abroad in these times But you will ask me How may we attain this and what are we to do that we may come to be at neerest unity among our selves Though it be very difficult as you have heard it may be compassed notwithstanding by the blessing of the Lord upon the use of these directions You must endeavour to the utmost of your power to mortifie those lusts and those corruptions that incline you to dissentions I shewed you formerly in explication of the point that the cause of our divisions is within and not without us They do not come so much from outward provocations as inward corruptions If there were no lusts within there would be no wars without as the Apostle James insinuates And verily if our corruptions as pride and passion and self-love were throughly mortified within those outward provocations would never cause such wofull rents and such implacable contentions as they do And therefore let us set our selves effectually and throughly to subdue these lusts of ours though they be naturally as dear and near as the members of our bodies let us persue them to the very death as the Apostle Paul advises Col. 3.5 Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the earth Let nothing satisfie us till we have the life of them Let us not wound them only but destroy them that ought to be the Christians aim as the Apostle shews Rom. 6.6 that the body of sin may be destroyed Our lusts seek our life either they must dye or we And they seek Gods life Omne peccatum est Deicidium And they have sought Christs life and brought him to a shamefull and accursed death And therefore let us seek their lives too and never satisfie our selves till we have the blood of them Let it be far from any of us to nourish or to cherish our corruptions to favour them or to deal kindly with them any way No let us dash this Babylonish brood against the stones let us shew them no mercy And when they are once destroyed our differences and debates will end with them As we must mortifie our carnal lusts so we must chase away out of our hearts our carnal reasonings that foment
wholly to themselves and to their own free wils either to ratifie it or infringe it so making his decree like a Noveriut universi If men believe not persevere not then the election must be void Otherwise if they believe and continue to the end it must remain in full power strength and vertue I say that this corrupt opinion which is so confidently vented now adayes may not take with any of you I shall lay down some arguments against it and answer others that are brought for it This universal and conditional election overthrows the end of God all which he aims in all his Counsels and Decrees and in all his dispensations viz. the glory of his free grace This was that which the Lord had in his eye when he appointed men to glory even that he might make known the riches of his own glory on those which he prepared to glory as you have it Rom. 9.22 Now how shall he attain this end by choosing all men to Salvation if they will themselves how is the glory of his mercy magnified and advanced where is the freeness of his grace more to one man then another since he doth alike for all electeth all alike to glory and salvation prepareth heaven no more for one man then another so that if any man be saved he may thank himself he may glory in himself and not in God And therefore it is very notable that the Apostle making this the end of the decree of God viz. the glory of his grace withall discovers that he electeth men to life not according to their wills as they will either choose it or refuse it but according to his own Eph. 1.5 6. Having predestinated us by Jesus Christ to the praise of the glory of his grace How so according to the pleasure of his will To shew that he works freely in the business without impulsion or provocation from external causes And so he must if he will atttain his end If it be to the glory of his grace it must be according to the pleasure of his will So afterwards ver 11 12. We are predestinated that we should be to the glory of his grace And to this end we are predestinated according to his purpose who worketh all things after the Counsel of his own will If he will glorifie his grace in this business we must be saved according to his will and pleasure and not according to our own His will must have the first and greatest stroke in this mercy This universal and conditional election as it overthrows Gods end Vse 2 so it hinders our duty It cannot choose but wonderfully cool and dead our hearts in rendring thankfulness to God when we consider with our selves that he hath done no more for us in this business of election and salvation then he hath for all the world Our Saviour Christ endeavouring to quicken his Disciples to thanskgiving shews them the priviledge and the preferment which they had in the mercy of the Lord Mat. 11.25 and 13.16 17. And the same course the Prophet David takes with Israel Psal 147.19 20. He shewed his word to Jacob his statutes and his judgements to Israel He dealt not so with other Nations and therefore you are specially engaged to praise the Lord. And certainly that soul shall find it self most quickned and enlarged to the praises of the Lord that sees his special and peculiar favour to it self which millions are rejected from Oh will the soul consider with it self in such a case Why hath God pitched on me neglecting others whence was it that he took me into his decree what did he see in me more then in those whom he laid by why he did choose me In our elections who are men beloved there is something still that carries and inclines us to a choice Some fitness in the object of it some relation to our selves some motive or inducement that prevails upon us But now my brethren we are all alike to God in the act of his election we lay together in the same corrupted Mass all weltring in the same blood and tumbling in the same gore and when he came to choose a little number in comparison of those he left Oh what a mercy was it that he should pitch on thee and me which if he had not done we had been lost for ever Truly my brethren did we sit down and weigh it well in our advised and deliberate thoughts it would transport and carry us beyond our selves It would make us to break out with the Apostle Eph. 1.3 4. Blessed be God who hath chosen us us who deserved no more then others who were no fitter for his choice then others And yet us when he hath rejected others Oh blessed be the Lord for this mercy But now my brethren none of this if all be chosen to salvation with this condition that they will accept it they may have it if they will The damned reprobate in hell by this account hath as much reason to be thankfull as the triumphant Saint in heaven Why may this wretched Catiffe say God did as much for me as him only indeed I did not so much for my self And may the glorified Saint in heaven say The Lord hath done as much for those in hell as ever he hath done for me He hath elected them as well as me and he hath assisted them as much as me for he is to all alike only they have not used their own free-wills as well as I have done and this is the only cause that they are damned and I am saved And therefore I wil ever thank my self and not God At least I have no greater cause to think him then the damned have If there be any difference between them and me it is not God that made it but my self God did for them and me alike And that they are not in the same condition with me the only reason is because we did not for ourselves alike And therefore they are every way as much obliged and bound to God as I am Vse 3 This universal and conditional election doth in some respect set up man above God God for his own part chooseth all men to salvation he would have all men to be saved How comes it then to pass whence is it that they are not saved Because they will not themselves God will and they will not who carries it in this business Their will takes place and not Gods The will of God you see by this opinion is ordered and disposed by the will of man He chooseth all men on condition but his final resolution and absolute determination is suspended upon the operation of the will of man He is at liberty to make it good or make it void at his pleasure If he will be saved he may if not he must be damned though God for his part have ordained him to salvation What is this but to make God in some respect an underling to man to make the will of
be a Offring and a Sacrifice to God the Father Reason And it must needs be so my brethren for being God there was no greater power then his to master him and overcome him A man is never forced to any thing against his will unless some outward violence prevail against him which he is no way able to resist Now this was not the state and the condition of our Saviour his death was not inflicted on him by an excess of strength in those that gave him up to it His Father was not able to constrain him for he was God and therefore equally Almighty with the Father And men had infinitely less ability to overrule him and to force him to it and therefore it must needs be voluntary of himself and this he cleerly intimateth in that speech of his in the fore-alledged Scripture John 10.17 No man takes my life from me the meaning is no man can take my life from me and therefore it is added in the following words I have power to lay it down that is to lay it down of choice and free election so that I cannot be constrained to it and I have power to take it up again And certainly if he had power to take it up again when he had lost it then he had much more power to keep it when he had it and enjoyed it So that you see he was not neither could he be inforced to die but of his own accord he willingly and freely gave himself to it Use 1 Is it so that Jesus Christ did willingly and freely set himself a part to be an Offering and Sacrifice to God the Father The greater and the more unsearchable was the exceeding riches of his love to us and the greater cause have we to magnifie it and admire it Had he done it by constraint and had be been enforced to it there had been no such matter in it so no such cause of Admiration and Thanksgiving The praise had then been due to him that forced him and not to him that was inforced But this was love as the Apostle John speaks love in the height and with a witness this was unparalleld and matchless love that Christ should willingly and freely lay down his life for us Had his life been taken from him for our sakes this had been no great love but that himself should lay it down freely of his own accord here was love and here was mercy to be spoken of and to be wondred at in all ages What that he should abase himself that he should not be made obedient by another but that he should himself become obedient to the death yea to that shamefull and accursed death that he should willingly expose himself to such abasures to such indignities reproaches scorns and to such unsufferable tortures to such a heavy and intolerable burthen of his Fathers wrath and all for those that were not undeserving only but even ill deserving too that were not friends but enemies Oh let us stand astonished at such a mercy We need not wonder that he whose love and kindness was so full of wonder should be called wonderfull Isa 9.6 Is it so that Jesus Christ did willingly and freely set himself apart to be Use 2 an Offring and Sacrifice to God the Father Then let us learn of him my brethren as willingly if it be possible to offer up our selves our persons our estates our names or lives and all to him to suffer any thing for him again What my beloved did he suffer willingly for us and shall we suffer grudgingly and unwillingly for him did he consecrate himself to be an offering and sacrifice for us and shall not we on our parts consecrate our selves to be an offering and sacrifice for him if he shall call us thereunto did he give himself for us and shall not we as readily give our selves for him again did he take up his Cross and go before and shall not we take up our Crosses too and follow him I do not say we should draw Crosses and afflictions on our selves but if they come upon us for our Saviours sake we should not take them as inforced upon us but we should freely set our shoulders to them and cheerfully submit our selves to bear them And thus far of the first conclusion mentioned The second followeth DOCTRINE 2. Christ did not set himself apart to be an Offring and a Sacrifice to God the Father for his own sake but for his peoples sakes and that to this end that they might be sanctified by this means Not that they might be justified only but that they might be sanctified also He did not do it for his own sake for there was no sin in him and so in that respect he need not to be made a Sacrifice for sin There was no transgression in him and why then should there be an expiation for him But it was for his peoples sake To say the truth all that he did all that he suffered was for their sakes For their sakes he became man for their sakes he became Mediator between God and man for their sakes he became a King a Prophet and a Priest And as a Priest so a sacrifice and offring to the Father for he offered up himself All was for their sakes And that to this end that they might be sanctified by this means Not only that they might be justified but that they might be sanctified also That which was the scope and aim of Gods election Ephes 1.4 He hath chosen us in him that is in Christ to this end that we might be holy and unblameable before him of Gods Vocation 1 Thess 4.7 he hath not called us to uncleanness but to holiness The same my brethren was the end of Christs redemption He sanctified himself that is he set himself apart to be a Sacrifice to God the Father for his peoples sakes that they also might be sanctified as you have it in the Text. He loved his Church and out of the abundance of this love of his he gave himself for her as the Apostle speaks Ephes 5.25 What that he might redeem and justifie her only No my beloved more then this that he might sanctifie and cleanse her too through the washing of Water by the word and that he might present her to himself a glorious Church not having any spot or wrinkle but being holy and without blemish He bare our sins in his own body on the Tree that we being dead to sin might henceforth live to righteousness as the Apostle Peter speaks 1 Pet. 2.24 he dyed for us that we which live should henceforth live no longer to our selves to our lusts and to our ends but to him who dyed for us He hath performed the mercyes promised he hath remembred his holy Covenant he hath saved us from our enemies and from the hands of those hate us Luke 1.74 What that from henceforth we might be our own Masters and live at liberty and walk according to our
us up as far as it is possible to cleanse our selves from sin when we are making our approaches to him For sin my Brethren is against the righteousness of God yea in directest opposition And therefore it is set out by the name of unrighteousness in Scripture Not only all injustice is unrighteousness but sin is generally so The wrath of God saith the Apostle is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men Rom. 1.18 against every kind of sin especially that violates the second Table And so all unrighteousness is sin saith the Evangelist 1 Joh. 5.17 And I may say as well all sin is unrighteousness And hence it is my Brethren that it is so infinitely odious to the righteous God And truly did we seriously consider this my Brethren when we come to pray before him we should be deeply humbled for it and ashamed of it we should strive exceedingly to quit and rid our selves of it which is so contrary to this attribute of his and consequently is so detestable to him Oh we would shake and quiver every joynt to think of coming to the righteous God in our unrighteousness unhumbled for and unreformed We would consider with our selves What will the Lord say to me when he sees me in his presence How will he look on such a wicked and unrighteous wretch as I am how is it possible but he should hide his eyes from me how can he choose but hate me and abhor me Do I expect to find favour in his eyes and come before him with that which he so abhors as if I meant to vex him and provoke him And therefore if we ever look to speed with God in prayer let us consider what a righteous God he is and let us labour to cleanse our selves from our unrighteousness that is as far as it is possible from every sin and he will receive us as his own expression is 2 Cor. 6.17 or otherwise he will not 2. The meditation of the righteousness of God will strengthen and confirm our faith in all the pretious promises of God when we are pouring out our prayers to him Because indeed his righteousness and justice lies at stake for the performance of his promises by reason of his Covenant and Engagement to us It is true before he made the Covenant he was free he might have done according to his own pleasure But having made it he is bound he is held to it and may not vary Now he must forgive our sins ours that believe or else he is unrighteous as the Apostle John insinuates 1 Joh. 1.19 He is faithful and just to forgive our sins Now he must reward our labour or else he is unrighteous as the Apostle speaks Heb. 6.10 The Lord is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour He doth not say the Lord is not unmerciful but the Lord is not unrighteous Now he must give us everlasting rest and render everlasting trouble to our enemies or else he is unrighteous And therefore saith the same Apostle 2 Thess 1.6 It is a righteous thing with God to render tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us And therefore when we pray for the pardon of our sins the acceptance of our labours or any other good thing comprehended in the Covenant from the beginning of it to the end Let us fix our serious thoughts not only on the mercy but also on the justice and the righteousness of God and we shall find it will exceedingly confirm our wavering faith while we consider that his righteousness is bound for the performance of his promises and that as sure as God is righteous he will with-hold no good thing from us JOHN 17.25 The world hath not known thee OUR Saviour having ended the petitionary part is at length come to the conclusion of his prayer In which he shews the Father reason why he should be heard in all that he hath been a Suitor for in the behalf of true believers viz Because himself and they were inwardly acquainted with him whereas all the world besides were strangers to him as I have noted heretofore In this conclusion of our Saviours prayer have been considered two things To whom he speaks and What he speaks First To whom he speaks and this you see my brethren is to God whom he stileth Righteous Father Secondly then in the next place What he speaks and here is something that he speaks against the world and something that he speaks for himself and true believers 1. Here is something that he speaks against the world the world hath not known thee 2. Then here is something that he speaks for himself and true believers but I have known thee and these have known that thou hast sent me To whom our Saviour speaks as he is set forth by his title and his attribute hath been considered heretofore The thing which we have now in hand is what he speaks and more particularly what he speaks against the world Oh Righteous Father the world hath not known thee We have observed heretofore out of the ninth verse of this Chapter that he speaks not for the world No it is utterly excluded from having any share at all in our Saviours intercession let their case be what it will let their necessities be what they will Christ even leaves them to themselves and never interposes for them to the Father Nay which is worse he speaks against them He speaks against the world as you hear him in my text You see he cannot end his prayer but he must have a parting blow at them Oh righteous Father the world hath not known thee to kindle and exasperate his wrath against them It hath not known thee with a knowledge of affection they have not known thee so as to love thee and obey thee They are strangers yea they are enemies to thee Let justice have its course against them let it be executed on them to the utmost This I have glanced at only from the general that Christ speaks against the world Proceed we more particularly to consider what he speaks against the world Oh Righteous Father the world hath not known thee And here I shall unfold the terms and come to a more special observation Two things we have to be enquired and resolved 1. Whom our Saviour means by world 2. What he intendeth when he affirmeth of the world that it doth not know God As for the first of these The world imports not here the frame and frabrique of the world as it doth sometimes in Scripture but the people of the world And yet not all the people of the world neither for Jesus Christ immediately excepts himself and true believers The world hath not known thee but I have known thee and these have known thee The world you see is set in opposition here to Christ and his Disciples So that our Saviour by the world intends all the people in the world besides himself and
them hasten him and fetch him by their prayers that he may say unto them as the Angel did to Daniel Dan. 10.12 From the first day that thou didst set thy self to understand thy words were heard and I am come for thy words And here to quicken you a little I shall present you with a few Considerations 1. The Lord expects you should be very earnest and importunate with him this business He hearkens after supplications and looks that men should ply him hard Thus saith the Lord the holy one of Israel and his maker Isa 45.11 Ask of me things to come concerning my Sons command you me q. d. There are great things to come that I am doing for my Church what is the reason that ye are so stil and that I hear of no Petitions from you touching these things You are alwayes plying me for present things but I delight to hear you pleading with me for those glorious things to come which I will surely do for my people Come put in your Petitions and requests concerning them and I will stoop so low to be commanded by your prayers Ask of me things to come concerning my Sons and concerning the work of my hands command ye me 2. Consider in the second place to quicken you in prayer that this is such a business as is worth your earnestness assure your selves you cannot lay out too much heat and zeal upon it When once the Lord hath gathered in a people to him over all the world the Church shall have perfection of beauty It is a very high expression but you shall see it is applied to Sion Psal 50.2 And it is meant apparently my bretren of the Gospel Sion of the Gospel Church for in the following parcell of the Psalm the Lord rejecteth Jewish worship Indeed the Churches happiness shall be so great in those dayes that it is called heaven very often in the Scripture And so the Saints who are to be the Members of that Church are said to dwell in heaven Apoc. 13.6 Indeed my brethren it shall be heaven upon earth 3. Consider that the bringing in of people over all the world to Christ will be an extraordinary honour to him the enlargement of his Kingdom is the enlargement of his glory It adds exceedingly you know my brethren to the Luster of a Kingdom when it hath many people under it and when the territories of it are amplified and enlarged It s no such glory my beloved to be the King but of a little City or a little Island or of a small and inconsiderable company of men But to be the King of many Nations and of many Kingdoms to have a multitude of people in subjection this is a glorious thing indeed In this respect the Empire of Christ Jesus in the latter times shall be unparalleld when once the Jews come in and bring the fulness of the Gentiles with them And therefore out of love to Jesus Christ and regard to his glory we should be intent upon it 4. Consider that the bringing in of people over all the world to Jesus Christ will be very beneficial and advantagious to our selves Perhaps we do not apprehend it to be so this Countrey is come in already to the profession of the Gospel we are come in already and what need we care so much for other Nations and for other people We are well enough our selves and why should we look after others Yes my beloved we have reason to look after others for till all others that belong to Christ of all the Nations of the world be gathered in we are not in so good a case as we shall be afterwards We are in Christ perhaps and that is well for us indeed but others of his people by election of many other Countreyes are as yet without and we without them cannot be made perfect as the Apostle shews Heb. 11. ult We without them are members in a sence of an imperfect body We without them have but imperfect grace nay though we were in heaven already we could have but imperfect glory Till all that appertain to Christ be gathered in of all Nations so long as there is but a man without there can be no day of judgement and so no full reward no complement of our beatitude And therefore we have reason to help on this glorious work to the utmost of our power because till it be accomplished it cannot be so well with us as it will be afterwards we without them cannot be made perfect Is it so that Iesus Christ sends forth his Ministers to gather Churches and to erect his Kingdom over all the world Here then is matter of rejoycing and thanksgiving for us the once rejected and neglected people of the Gentiles There was a time my brethren when we were set without the verge the reach of mercy When the poor Gentiles liv'd and we too liv'd without God without Christ without a promise without Gospel when Christ did never send to them to invite them to come in and when he had no Scepter but in Jewry no subjects in a manner but among that people Alas my brethren Christ was a King in those dayes to break the Gentiles by his power but he was not a King to rule them by his grace But now my brethren in these Gospel dayes there is no such respect of persons with him as the Apostle shews Acts 10.34 In every Nation and in every people he hath or shall have some to serve him and to be accepted with him And therefore whereas formerly he sent his messengers to none but to V se 3 the people of the Jewish Nation and gave them an express Injunction Goe not into the way of the Gentiles In which respect it was that Peter was scrupulous to preach the Gospel to Cornelius Now he sends forth his Ministers to all the world to all Nations now he enlargeth their Commission Go preach the Gospel to every Creature So that we Gentiles are included in it All Countreys People Callings Nations are alike to Christ in this respect the publication of the Gospel and the tender of Salvation belongeth to them all alike and if they entertain it and embrace it whether they be Jews or Gentiles whether they be Males or Females whether they be bond or free they shall have salvation by him How great a cause have we my brethren that are Gentiles of rejoycing and thanksgiving that Jesus Christ should send to us that the word is come to us as it is to all the world that we should have the Gospel published and revealed to us That we who formerly were utterly shut out from the enjoyment of the means of our salvation should have as full and free a title to them now as the very Iews themselves Nay that we should have the preferment of the Jew in that by the abundant blessing of the Lord upon the means the Churches of the Gentiles which were wholly desolate and barren heretofore should be more