and to seek themselves to serve Satan and sin the professed enemies of God which are not onely digressions but motives to hell and eternall destruction VVhat a pitifull thing is it that Creatures should come into the world and live some twenty some forty some moe yeers and go out of the world again not knowing wherfore they lived Good reason it is wee should live to Christ acknowledge him in all our ways live answerable to our knowledge resigne up our selves to his government and seek his glory in all things that wee may make Christ known in the VVorld That all that see us may see Christ in us and perceive our love to him That hath called us out of darknesse into his marvellous light And also to acknowledge him to be Lord of our life and in death to resigne our selves to him as a faithfull Creatour knowing that hee taketh care of us in life and death For we are not our own Wee are bought with a price as the Apostle saith Again Our selves are our greatest enemies â—here is no such flatterer as the bosome flatterer That enemy selfe that we have in our bosomes betrayeth us to Satan else all the Devils in hell could not hurt us Self is our own enemy and Gods enemy Nay enemy is too easie too good a word the best thing in us is enmity it self against God By wofull experiment wee finde that which hath brought all the misery that the world ever felt hath beene self-will Men will be turned upside down rather than their wils shal be crossed but doth not this provoke God Shall a piece of earth strive against him and will not hee break it to powder Surely God will set us as a mark to shoot at and will triumph and get himselfe victory and glory over those creatures that will have their wils Hell is fit for such God will be sure to have his will of them when the creature shall set his wil against Gods wil when an earthen pot shall set it self against a mace of brasse which will have the worst think you If we live to our selves we lie open to Satan But on the contrary part a man that liveth to God is fit for any gracious motions whatsoever they be Hee is fit for God and a blessed communion of Saints Man is a reasonable creature made for God And if you grant there is a God you must grant that man is to doe service to that God God is the Creditour and man the Debtor and of necessity there must be an obligaiion Now to shew the nature of this living to Christ. First it imports a vitall operation an exercise that proceeds from life Now as naturall life springeth from union of the body with the soule so the union of the soule with Christ bringeth into the soule true principles of an holy and spirituall life For Christ and the soule cannot touch one another but presently hee infuseth a living principle All artificiall motions proceed from something without And such are the self-seeking Christians that do only act a part in Religion but these thaâ— truly live to God and Christ they have an inward instinct that enclines them to holinesse Secondly there is intyrenesse in a Christian course so that he liveth to none but Christ. Life is not onely taken for the space of his being in the world but for the improving of all the furtherances of our life to Christ. As to bestow our selves upon him in all the civill relations wee have in the World by being obedient to him and to others in him and for him in whatsoever callings we are not onely in our naturall life but also in our civill life to go on in a constant tenour all the whole course of our lives aiming at Christ not to set our selves in our callings to get riches for those shal be cast in by the way God alloweth us riches but not to be our ends but that wee may serve him and honour him There is no time to sinne but a time for every thing else Thirdly In our living to Christ there must be evennesse and uniformity wee must not live to Christ for a fit but constantly not to doe now and then a good action but to make it our course our trade to live to Christ intirely constantly uniformly Fourthly and then living to the Lord implyeâ—h that all Christians counsel and advice is how to live to Christ. Heaven is alwayes before him because his way is to God and to Christ. Other men will rage and swel though the know wel enough they are out of the way when they be put in minde of it But a gracious man is glad to have any Scripture opened that may give him more light either by a discovery of a sin or duty because hee now knoweth an enemy and friend which before hee knew not and hath learned a duty which before hee was ignorant of for it is his scope and endevour to set himself in the way of living to Christ. Firftly Hee that liveth to Christ hath likewise this quality He is not carried on his course by false windes hee doth not sail by a false coÌ„passe Though the world incourageth or discourageth him all is one hee regardeth it not his care is wholy taken up in the service of his God And with Ioshuah think the world what it wil He and his house will serve the Lord and with holy David will resolve to be yet more vile for Gods glory And though hee getteth disgrace in the world he regardeth it not but is willing to suffer it so that his God may be honoured knowing he shall not be a looser by the bargaine Other men if so be they are disgraced they are so shallow in Religion that they are quickly taken off because the truth hath no root in them like the bad and naughty ground and not only so but they will speake contrary to the truth in their consciences bâ—t alas one day they shall know that God accounteth them as his enemies Sixtly again a true Christian will live to the Church of Christ for we are members of Christ we ought to labour for the advancement of the truth of his Religion the Kingdome of Christ and to be of the same spirit with good Nehemiah that all may be well with us when the Church of God prospereth and groweth up in the world getting victory over all her enemies Now carnall men live not at all to Christ they care not whether Religion sinketh or swimmeth Tel them of heavenly matters tush they are not for them but God doth hate such persons for as they regard not to serve God or to owne Christ in their lives so hee wil not owne them at their deaths As in prosperity they are not on his side neither wil owne his part which one day wil prove the best so in times of trouble they cannot expect or looke for any favour or mercy from him And to adde
Christ and Scripture no further than the Church discovers 〈◊〉 And so they overturne all For they believe God because men say so It is a dangerous errour that runneth into practise If the Church say treason must bee done wee must bee traytors It is no matter what the Scripture sayth the Pope hee is the head of the Church and hee can dispense with what he pleaseth But my sheep saith Christ heare my voyce And it is our duty to heare what the Lord of our â—aith saith which is onely Christ. If he be our Lord then let our wils bee brought into subjection to his will nothing is more out of order than this will of ours if that were once subiect to Christ all controversie betweene God and us were taken away All the stâ—ife is whether we shall have our wills or he his will The Spouse hath no will of her owne but it is resigned to her Husband So must wee submit our wills to Christs desire And then againe wee ought not in any thing to regard the humours of men Christ is Lord of our affections we must hate what hee will have us hate and love what hee loveth our whole soules must be conformable to Christ. And our bodies are wholly his too and therefore wee must be content that our bodies should bee used as they used his body He gave his body for us he tooke our nature and in that nature went about doing good suffering hardship hee was hungry and thirsty hee was crucified in our nature suffered in our nature and so should we be content our natures should be used as he would have them to take much pains in doing good to suffer hunger thirst restraint yea death it selfe for Christ because wee are Christs it is no more than hee did for us hee being our Lord was abased for us in his blessed body and flesh and therefore shall not wee suffer for him So our conditions are his suffer him therfore to cut us out a portion to allot us any condition The word implyeth more particularly an application to our selves wee are the Lords and the Lord is ours And likewise a renunciation and severing from all others we are the Lords and none else the Lords and none but the Lords if we are any bodies else it is in the Lord and for the Lord. Here is likewise a resignation wee are the Lords and therefore wee will give up our selves to him with a resting in him and high estimation of him and glorying in our condition through him And then heere is an improvement of this implyed wee are the Lords therefore we ought to improve it on our parts by serving him and on his part by believing that he will have care of us We are the Lords first by particular application which is wrought by degrees First God by his Spirit revealeth himselfe to be ours not fully but by letting in so much light into the soule as may carry the soule to him and makes us yeeld to him trust in him and cast our selves upon him and by doing so wee grow into farther acquaintance with him and hee honours our faith with a farther sence assurance that he is ours and we are his There is a great deale of distance and bredth betweene the first act of faith by which we cast our selves on Christ and a confident perswasion that Christ is ours and wee are his that is a fruit of faith and there needeth a great deale of growth before we come to that And therefore if you aske what doth the soule first to make Christ his owne It is this In the use of meanes wherewith God pleaseth to be effectuall a light is by the Spirit let into the soule wherby the heart is perswaded that hee hath a good meaning towards it that he is a gracious Lord and wil forgive the sinnes of all that relye upon him And with the acknowledging of these truths together with the offer of mercie in Christ there is so much sweetnesse let into the soule as carrieth the soule backe againe to Christ to rest upon him For unlesse Christ begin in some degree to make love to the soule and giveth a taste of his sweetnesse wee cannot relye upon him nor love him not onely because we are creatures and hee is first and must begin to us but because it is the nature of a guilty soul when it is under terrour and awakened to forecast such doubts that till Christ letteth in some glimpse of his love the soule dare not looke Christ in the face Now in the unfolding of these divine truths of the Gospell some intimations are given That Christ is mine and I am Christs which afterward becommeth the claime of an experienced Christian. This therefore directeth what course they shall take to get Christ that want him They must attend upon the blessed meanes of salvation and then consider how farre forth they may lay claime to Christ. For first all that live in the Church are Christs in some degree God hath prevented men with his love in admitting them to the visible Church and there is an obâ—igation on them to thinke well of Christ for that because hee had care of them before they had care of themselves by vouchsafing them the seale of Baptisme and making them members of the visible Church Secondly unlesse they labour being come to yeares of discretion to feele a farther assurance that Christ is theirs they disanull and deny their baptisme and therefore it is good for such soules as are touched with sight of sinne to gather upon Christ and to winde about all helps they can to worke on Christ as the vine gathereth on the tree it windeth about I am born in the Church I have been baptised lived in times of the Gospell have opportunities to heare the blessed truths and therefore I wil have good conceits oâ— Christ that he meaneth well to my soule Indeed a company of wretches that rest in their baptisme being prophane swearers vile persons abusers of their calling or any thing can say are not wee baptized and doe not wee come to Church but they forget that this is an obligation on them to be good no excuse for them to be evil It tieth thee to renounce that thou livest in else thou deniest thy baptisme We must know beloved that Christ loved us not as we love a goodly Pillar or other curious piece of Art that cannot love us againe but the intercourse between God and man is mutuall If he say he is ours wee say againe I am thine Lord and give my selfe to thee and the claime is mutuall He claimeth us for his and we claime him for ours for he deales with reasonable creatures that can enter into covenant with him as friends Wee must therefore give up all to God If God bee God let us owne him And as wee cannot serve Christ and sinne Wee cannot serve Christ and Antichrist we cannot comply with Christ
method Again our Saviour Christ in his ordinary speech delivered it a generall rule It is better to give then to receive VVhich containeth a direction to men to be publike and liberall Saint Pauls ordinary course was so Knowing therfore the terrour of the Lord wee perswade men c. VVhat an influence hath this into our conversations That I must do as I must give account at the day of judgment And so what use made hee of the glorious state to come in that house and building of God not made with hands not seen but apprehended onely by faith It inabled him to do and suffer all things that became a Christian to do and suffer If a man have that principle and mindeth it that all things worke together for the best to them that love God what can discourage him he knoweth in the issue all shâ—â—l be for the best and God will not fail him nor forsake him in his way but giveth his Angelsâ— charge over him So Christs direction One thing is necessary how may it rectifie us when we trouble our selves about many impertinencies If these generalists were always present upon sollicitations to sin or discomfort It shall goe well with the righteous and it shall not go well with the wicked if wee take good courses it shall be well if ill courses sinne will be bitter it would be a marvailous helpe and advantage in all particulars of our lives The second general observation is this That as we must get good principles laid up in store upon all occasions so we must specially have gracious aimes Men are as their aimes are Noble spirits have noble aimes Christians are of an higher ranke then ordinary men and therfore they have higher aimes Religion giveth command to all other particulars and prescribeth to them a general end it taketh a man off from a false end and pitcheth him upon a true end It taketh him from himselfe thâ— great Idoll that Man naturally setteâ—h up above God and above Christ and above Heaven and Happinesse and telleth him that the true end of all is to live to Christ and that on good grounds for we are his and his by good title hee died for us that he might be Lord both of quick and dead As in state Policy those that are Governours in a state they prescribe ends of Trades and reduce them to a serviceablenesse of state If they finde any thing hurtful they look to it as it stands in reference to the common good So Religion considereth of all particulars as they have reference to Christ and the mayn end taking us off from false ends and prescribing the last and best end and directing all particulars to that end But wee shall see this better in the unfolding of the words The first thing hee begins in the general is to take us off from false ends None of us liveth to himselfe First to live to our selves is not altogether to be taken in a civil sense A man liveth to himself when he liveth privatly or retiredly Benè vixit qui bonè latuit So a man may do in some things especially in times of persecution but this ordinarily is not good A man is a creature for communion God hath fitted him for communion by speech other endowmâ—nts that there may be preserved a communion of Saints But because a retired life is sometimes good it is not here maynly aymed at Again secondly VVe live to our selves when we minde our selves altogether and not one another VVhen we have more respect to our selves then to God or to our Christian brother And this is even contrary to nature wee see in nature that a particular nature wil in some cases yield to a general and thwart it self The fire is a light body and in the natural motion of it mounteth upward yet this body wil go downwards to preserve whole the uniuersal nature from a vacuum from emptinesse that the fulnesse and solidity in nature may not be disturbed And we see heavy bodies goe upward for the same end As a man wil venture the hand to save his head and to save his body so it should be in society and government particular men should venture themselves for the Prince or State for the head or for the bodie But in a more large and religious sense To live to a mans self is to make himselfe his last end his Terminus reductivus to reduce all to himself and make Religion every thing serviceable to himself When a man will serve himself of God for base ends because his service will advance him As the Sichemites were circumcised for Dinah And to die to our selves is much like it A man dyeth to himselfe when he regardeth himself in death and is regarded much of no body else Persons that have an absolute being of themselves that have no kindred not much acquaintance or have been little fruitful in their lives die to themselves in a civil sense That is no man mourneth for them saying Ah my brother They were of little use in their lives and so little mist in their deaths And usually they that live thus to themselves they die to themselves little regarded little lamented Onely this often times they do most good when they die as we say of Swine They are never good till dead But this is meant in a theological higher sence No Christian dieth to himselfe that is dieth unregarded of God and of good men As hee liveth not to himselfe but to Christ so he dieth not to himselfe Precious to the Lord is the death of all his Saints He is not Despotos without Lord and Master but whether he liveth or dieth he is the Lords So much for the negative part which wee see may be taken both actively and passively But this clause wâ—l be better understood by adding the other Whether wee live wee live to the Lord Or whether we die we die to the Lord. What is it to live to the Lord First to acknowledge the Lord in all our wayes to be our Lord to whom we owe our selves And secondly Therupon to resigne our selves to the Lord in our whole carriage so as to obey him to give up our selves to be disposed of him and directed by him as hee pleaseth And then Thirdly to refer all things to his glory as our last end and to endevour that God and Christ may be known and magnified in the VVorld VVhen wee labour to practise what we pray for according to that first Petition hallowed be thy name his Religion and truth and whatsoever else is Gods may be advanced set high published and inlarged that he may be known and worshipped that he may be to us what he is in himselfe the great God Lord of quick and dead So by our giving respect to him sutable to our knowledge of him Fourthly and lastly He that liveth to the Lord comforâ—eth himself in this that the Lord taketh notice of him in every thing For
and he must needs be a Christian the necessity and excellency of it standing upon such undenyable grounds O but I shall â—ose my reputation saith the doubtfull heart of man and be counted a foole I shall lose my friends and contentment if I come to be religious and serious indeed These be idle objections as if there were not in this kinde better in Religion then in the world as if God did bid us to our losse as if Christ should bid us follow him to our disadvantage surely no Hee is Lord of Heaven and earth and can recompence us in this world But what is all pleâ—sure here to the pleasure of a good conscience What is friendship here to communion with God and friendship with Christ and the protection of Angels VVhat are riches to him that is the fountain of all riches Did not Moses know what hee did when he forsook Pharoahs Court or Paul when he said to be with Christ is best of all Did not Abraham know what hee did when hee left his fathers house and followed God though to the giving up of Isaak whom he knew God could raise up again he being alsufficient Perhaps I loâ—e a friend or pettypleasure or contentment but that was but a particular good serving for a particular turne onely but in stead therof I have God that is alsufficient for all turnes that is neer to mee and never neerer then when I deny any thing for his sake A man hath never more of GOD then when hee denyeth himself most for God for in what measure we empty our selves of love to any creature in that measure God fils the soul with contentments of an higher kinde VVe have within that particular good which wee parted with and wee have peace and grace which is incomparably above it Think of that and it wil be an infinite incouragement to live to Christ. And therfore take these rules Seek the end in the meanes I can have Christ my end in riches pleasures friends it is well But if I cannot have my end with these things away with them When they be gone the end will remayne Christ will continue though they leave us VVe may enjoy any thing here if the mayn end can be enjoyed with them if not let us be willingly stript of all for we shall be stript of them by death God hath enough he hath all things at command and hath wisdome enough a thousand ways to provide that we shall not be losers by him no not in this life Consider then what it is to give our selves to the Lord. VVhen we give our selves wee give all things else with our selves They gave themselves to the Lord and then they would easily part with their goods as the Apostle saith But wee will never give our selves to the Lord till we consider what he hath done for us He hath given himself wholly for us left heaven for us denyed himself for us made himself of no reputation for us became a worme and no man a curse for us And in way of requitall wee should answer him with giving our selves and all wee have to him this is to be a Christian to purpose Christ hath given himselfe to mee and therfore I will give my goods my self my life to Christ that is in affection and preparation of spirit though not in action And in action too when he calleth for them I am not mine own he hath my selfe And fructus sequâ—tur fundum Hee shall have whatsoever is mine If he call me to suffer losses crosses disgrace or death it selfe welcome all I am his and therfore whatsoever is mine is his And it is no more then he hath done for mee Hee went so low that hee could not be lower and be God He hath advanced my nature as high as my nature could be advanced by union with his person and he will advance my person to heaven And therfore the Martyrs were willing to part with their lives They loved not their lives to death as Christs phrase is Hee that loveth his life shall lose his life My life is not deare to me saith Saint Paul so ready was hee to resigne all for Christ. The reason is which I desire may not he forgotten wee have a better being in God then in our selves If wee lose our naturall life we have in him a better life If wee lose our riches wee have them in heavenly treasures The water is not lost that runneth into the Sea it is in the Ocean still it s better receptacle It was Saint Pauls desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all But if hee will have mee to serve the Church here and enjoy my life longer his will be done So hee liveth to the Lord and dieth to the Lord and whatsoever commeth Hee is in 〈◊〉 paratus VVhether he liveth and dieth hee is the Lords THE FOVRTH SERMON ROM 14. 7. 8. 7 For none of us liveth to himselfe and no man dieth to himselfe 8 For whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we dye we dye unto the Lord whether we live therefore or dye we are the Lords IN these words the Apostle taketh us off from our selves and assigneth us to a true end As the first thing that grace doth is to set God and Christ in his owne place the Heart so in the second place it begets a regard of our selves such as may stand with the love of Christ. For till Christ hath a place in the heart by our comming to some degrees of selfe-deniall selfe hindereth us in all our whole course both of believing and doing For wee have naturally contrary principles to all articles of faith and contrary motions to all the commands of God It hinders us in the duties to God to others to our selves And therefore to what I formerly sayd I may adde this consideration That it is no easie thing to bee a Christian. If wee were required to renounce any thing else we might obtaine it of our selves sooner than deny our selves for what is nearer to our selves than our selves Thousand Rivers of Oyle the first fruits of the body would be given for the sin of the soule That outward mortification so much magnified in Popery is nothing to the renouncing of a lust But if we would be Christians to purpose wee must bee stript of our selves as they say of the serpent he must part with the old Slough we must have an higher principle than our selves before we can doe it A Christian is above himselfe and better than himselfe and stronger than himselfe because hee hath a better selfe than himselfe And by vertue of that better selfe which is grace in his heart hee is able to bring under all his other selfe not onely his sinfull selfe but his naturall selfe neither his life nor any thing is deare unto him in comparison of Christ. Therefore we must not have conceits of religion as easie indeed if
that is Lord of Lords King of Kings that is Lord Paramount who will not suffer any thing to befall his Church or any particular Christian that shall not bee for their good for he hath all power in heaven and earth for that purpose and for ever What a comfort is it in life and death in the middest of oppositions here or from the powers of hell that we have a Lord that is commander of all Lord of life or death He hath the keyes of hell and death Himselfe hath conquered all and hee will conquer all in us by little and little What happinesse is it Isay to be under such a Lord The end of the fourth Sermon THE FIFTH SERMON ROM 14. 7. 8. 7 For none of us liveth to himselfe and no man dieth to himselfe 8 For whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we dye we dye unto the Lord whether we live therefore or dye we are the Lords THere is nothing more availeable to the living of a Christians life then to have the eye of the soule on his maine end and scope And then to be furnished with some maximes and principles to direct our lives to that scope Where the parts are most noble and large there the aime and scope is most excellent Now a true Christian being raised above others hath an end and scope above other men And that indeed maketh him a Christian in good earnest When God by his Spirit discovers an higher excellency then the world can affoord and setteth our hearts towards it Now the Apostle setteth downe the scope of out whole condition both of life and death First Negatively No man liveth to himselfe No man dieth to himselfe Then Affirmatively Wee live to the Lord and dye to the Lord. And hee giveth the ground of both Whether we live or dye we are the Lords If we live to the Lord we shall have a being after life A Christian is when hee is not when he is not here he hath a being in heaven and â—uitably to his severall conditions he hath a Lord to owne him in all Now hee liveth yet cannot build on life nor any thing below because life is short and uncertaine But this he may build on Whether he liveth or dyeth he is the Lords Now Christ is said in Scripture to bee Lord oftener then God because God in the second person hath appeared in our Nature overcome all our enemies hath triumphed and is now in heaven in our Nature and because Lord is a word of authority and soveraignty And God hath made him governour of quicke and dead He is a Lord in regard of God the father by Donation God hath given the elect to him before all worlds He is a Lord in regard of himselfe by conquest over the enemies of our salvation And then by Ransome He hath paid a price to divine justice for us For though God gave Christ to us from all eternity and us to Christ yet on these tearmes that he should ransome us God will not have his justice a looser therefore Christ must pay a price to divine justice such was his mercy and the glory of his mercy to find out such a way to satisfie justice that God should dye No attribute of God must be a looser he must have the honour of all his attributes and therefore of his justice and here is the glory of his wisedome in contriving a way that mercy may triumph and justice may be satisfied And then he is Lord by our voluntary submission to him for we set a crowne upon his head when wee subject our sâ—lves to him He is our Lord in all estates living or dying At all times without limitation In all conditions whether it bee a life of prosperity or adversity let us dy by what manner of death soever And so I shewed wee are the Lords in a double sence In regard of our carriage to him and in regard of his care over us both must be included Wee are not the Lords onely for that hee taketh care of us and without our service nor that wee doe him service without his care of us but hee is so our Lord that wee have grace to acknowledge him and he hath grace and love and mercie to protect and acknowledge us both in life and death It is no prejudice to a Christians estate that hee is anothers it is the happinesse of the weake to be under a stronger of those that bee deficient to bee under fulnesse Now there is all-sufficiencie in Christ therefore to bee under him is our happinesse Give mee leave to illustrate this Every thing is beautifull in its owne place things that are highest it is fit they should bee highest things that are lowest it is fit they should bee lowest If the head were not in its owne place there would bee deformitie in the body And so it is fit Christ should be our Lord being God-man and the glory of our nature And it is our happines our beauty comelines our safety perfection to bee under Christ and to be onely under him Hee is onely larger than the soule he is of equall continuance with the soule hee is onely suitable to the soule being a Spirit he only is eternall and therefore being every way so aboundantly satisfactory to the soule it is the happinesse of the soule to have him for its Lord especially considering what a Lord he is a Lord independant Lord of Lords that hath all other Lords at command a bountifull and gracious Lord. And we are not onely the Lords while we live but when we come to dye therfore wee should bee willing to dye when our time cometh yea to dye any kinde of death because hee is Lord of quicke and dead We should be like David and Moses who were very fruitful towards their ends And as we are not ashamed to live so so good a Lord so we should not be afraid to dye to him as one sayd of himselfe This word Lord implyeth there bee some dutâ—â—s owing by us wee are the Lords in our soules in our bodies in our conditions and therefore wee should wholly give up our selves to him and 〈◊〉 no thoughts to dishonour him give way to no â—isings no desires which become not the subjects and servants of the Lord believe noâ—hing that wee â—ake up of our selves keepe the chastiâ—y of our â—aith and understâ—â—ding not to believe lies and untruths But submit our very understandings and faith to God Wee must not bee servants of men in our judgements or soules no maâ—cipium alien◠〈◊〉 as the Philosopher â—ayth But consider what Christ hath revealed and let us submit to that And therefore it is a grand errour in the Church of Rome who would have people to belieâ—e as â—he Church believeth which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first lye that leadeth them into all those erroâ—â—s â—o believe