and Lord by a present compliance with his Terms We must devote and give up our selves heartâ—ly and unfeignedly and unreservedly to be his And then we may say My Beloved is mine and I am his I am in Christ and Christ in me And here is the great Office and Work of Faith in this World to bring Christ and our Souls into this blessed Union Upon which Account we are now in him as hereafter we shall be with him When the work of Faith is over and we are brought to Glory we shall be with Christ and shall be ever with the Lord But now we are said to be in him It is true we are now said to sit in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus But hereafter it is promised we shall sit down on his Throne with him Now he dwells in us and we in him Hereafter we shall be with him to behold his Glory For so he Prays John 17. And he promised the Penitent Thief that he should be with him that day in Paradise Our spiritual life is now hid with God in Christ as to present Union by Grace but it is hid with Christ in God as to eternal Glory The expressions are observably different In Christ now with Christ hereafter Now united with God in Christ Hereafter with Christ in God In Christ upon Earth In God in Heaven For to be in Christ refers to the Mediator and is by Faith But Faith shall cease in Heaven and the Mediator deliver up the Kingdom to the Father that God may be all in all Thus for a brief Explication of the Priviledge of being in Christ II Let us consider what is affirmed of those that are in Christ or what they are exhorted to What they are if they be in Christ What they must manifest themselves to be if they will prove an Interest in such a Priviledge that is New Creatures If any Man be in Christ he is a New Creature Or a New Creation for so the Original will bear And it is not in this place only but several others where the like Expressions are used concerning that great Change that is made by the Grace of God on the Souls of Men. It is termed a Creation for the greatness of the Change and a new Creation for the Excellency of it One may be apt to think That the Extraordinary Conversion of the Apostle Paul made so great a Change in him that it is on that Account he so often speaks in such terms that he mentions so often old things done away and the old Adam put off That he speaks of a New Man a New Creation and New Creatures and a Spiritual Resurrection from the Dead and the like As that Glorious Light which shone round about him when he was struck to the ground in the way to Damascus might occasion him so often to use the expression of Light for at every turn he speaks of the Father of Lights the Armour of Light the Kingdom of Light the Inheritance of the Saints in Light of Illumination of opening the Eyes c. But how fit a representation is this of the Change by converting Grace as might be illustrated by considering the state of Spiritual Death that we are in before and by considering the nature of the Change it self and the Effects and Operations that do afterwards manifest and discover it We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works begotten again born from above quickened and made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins Several words are used according to the several Powers of the Soul and according to the different objects the New Creature is conversant about For as this Change discovers it self in the Vnderstanding it is a translation from darkness into Marvelous Light and brings us to the true and saving knowledge of God in Christ The fâ—rst thing that God created in the Natural World was Light 1 Gen. 3. 2 Cor. 4.6 1 Pet. 2.9 10. As in the Will it is a choice of God and full purpose of heart to cleave to him And as to the different objects it has also other names As referring to Christ dying it is Faith To Christ living it is Love To Christ ruling and commanding it is New Obedience But here it is called a New Creation Not as if it were a removal of the old Substance or any of the Powers of the Soul But a rectifying a sanctifying of them by setting up a new light in the Understanding giving a new Byas and Inclination to the Will turning the Heart from Sin and the World to God and Christ to Holiness and Heaven Not changing the Nature of our Affections but curing the Corruption and Disorder of them and changing the Objects about which they are conversant Some think the Metaphor is taken from the Proselytes to the Jewish Religion whose Conversion to Judaism was accounted a kind of New Birth and they reckoned New Creatures Which our Lord seems to allude to in his Discourse with Nicodemus and wonders such a Doctor in Israel should be ignorant of it Others think it may allude to the Jewish Custom with respect to their children They taught them to read at three years old and then instructed them till five then put them to School where they learned the Law of Moses till Ten and for three years more they applyed themselves to understand the Jewish Traditions and the Mysteries of the Synagogue and when that time was expired at the Age of Thirteen they said a Child was a New creature that is sufficiently instructed how to live and please God alledging Isa 43.21 This People have I formed or created for my self Our state of nature and sin is ordinarily exprest by the Metaphor Dr. Hammond's Serm. on Gal. 6.15 of Old Age our natural Corrupt Affections that are born and grow up with us are called the Old Man as if since Adam's Fall we were decrepit and feeble and Aged as soon as Born as a Child begotten by a Man in a Consumption never comes to the strength of a Man is alway weak and crazy and puling hath all the Imperfections and Corporal Infirmities of Age before he is out of his Infancy And accordingly all that is opposite to this old corrupt decrepit state is termed New And so we read of a New Doctrine and New Covenant New Tongues a New Commandment New Man Mark 1.27 Chap 16.17 John 13.34 Ephes 2.15 and the state of Grace exprest by this All things are become New The Man when old hath entred a second time into hiâ— Mothers Womb and is born again and is become a glorious beauteous New Creature so that you would wonder to see the Change You have heard in the Primitive Church of a Grain of Faith removing Mountains The work of Regeneration the bestowing of a Spiritual Life on one dead in Trespasses and Sins the making of a Carcass walk the Natural Old Man to Spring again and move spiritually is as great a Miracle as that Therefore called a
assured None can be in Christ without it none in Christ so as to have any special distinguishing saving Benefit by him Application 1. Are none in Christ but new creatures How many then must be excluded How many of excellent and laudable Qualifications of great Attainments and high Professions and moral Accomplishments must yet he excluded and shut out from having any part in Christ because they are yet Strangers to this New creation and consequently are not in Christ but under condemnation Meer Civility and a plausible inoffensive Carriage is quite another thing We need but view the Lives and Actions of the generality of such as are called Christians to confirm this That the Number is but small of those who are in Christ How few have had any awakening Convictions about these things and many such miscarry 2. How miserable is the condition of all unrenewed Souls without a change they are excluded from all saving benefit by the Redeemer They are not in Christ and therefore are under the Curse and Condemnation which by union to Christ we are delivered from Rom. 8.1 Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye are Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.6 All our hopes of Life and Salvation by Christ depend upon it The Guilt of all our Sins doth otherwise lye upon us And all the black Clouds of Divine Vengeance hang over our heads The Wrath of God bides upon us as if there were no Christ no Gospel And there is nothing between us and Everlasting Ruine but a little Breadth 3. Then none but New Creatures have a Right to the Lord's Table For the invited Guests are such who are in Christ The Covenant of Grace cannot be sealed in that Ordinance to those who are not under the Bond of the Covenant The Benefits purchased by Christ are not confirmed at his Table unto those who are none of his I grant there is an Unworthiness as to present frame that even those who are in Christ may have but it is the Unworthiness as to state that I am speaking of Such as are not in Christ having nothing to do to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood lest they eat and drink Judgment and Condemnation to themselves He that doth not truly Repent cannot be truly Interested in the Promise of Pardon and therefore cannot have a Right to the Seal of it They are dead in Sin cannot receive Nourishment by this spiritual Food The least that can be said as one observes is this That it is in vain and to no good purpose for such can no more receive Christ in the Sacrament than a Chicken that should come into the Assembly and pick up some of the crumbs of the bread from the ground after Consecration can be said to receive the Body of Christ But the Danger is unspeakable of Eating and Drinking unworthily for such eat and drink Judgment to themselves not discerning the Lord's Body You may desire to come to this Table and you may say enough it may be to satisfie a Minister of Christ who cannot judge of your Heart and Conscience doth not know the whole of your Life But you your selves must look to it that you be in Christ and that you evidence you are so by being New Creatures We can but Warn and Admonish you and offer our Assistance and help At your own peril be it if you come and yet live in any known Sins and cherish the Enemies of Christ though you profess to be his and presume upon all the Priviledges of his House and Family as real members of it But I will yet add That those who are in Christ if they would have Assistance and Grace from the Spirit of Christ to walk as New Creatures they ought on the other hand to take heed how they absent themselves from that Ordinance If they would either have the comfort of their being in Christ or would have supplies of Grace to walk as New creatures they should be frequent and serious in Sacramental Duties Have you not weak Graces to be strengthened and manifold Corruptions to be more subdued Inordinate Love to this World more Crucified Do you not need more Ability to discharge several Duties and overcome divers Temptations Do you not desire to be more Partakers of the Image and Life and Spirit of Christ Is your likeness to Christ so compleat your Faith in all its branches so active and firm your Love to Christ so warm your Heavenly Desires so fervent your Patience and Resignation so perfect your Obedience so exact your standing so sure that you need no more Influence of the Spirit of Christ Should not your own necessity oblige you to be frequent in this work besides the Authority of your Lord which is motive enough to those that are in Christ And he requires you should remember his Dying Love this way and show forth his death tiâ—l he come It is proper work for us to begin the year with To renew our Covenant with the Lord by partaking of the Symbols of Christ's Body and Blood giving up our selves again to be the Lords with renewed Repentance for the sins of the Year past and repeated Exercises of Faith for Pardon and Peace and Grace and Righteousness and Life 4. The next Vse may be of Examination To try whether we are in Christ or no by inquiring whether we are New creatures or not Your Love to Christ your Likeness to him your Subjection to him your Fruitfulness in him will discover it Are old things done away with you and all things become new Is there still the old Darkness and Blindness that was upon your minds or Are you Light in the Lord Doth the old Deadness Security and Carelessness remain upon your Hearts and Consciences old Thoughts and old Designs old Discourses and Conversations as little Savour in the things of God as ever As little Victory over the Temptations of the World and the Flesh as formerly Are your Wills as rebellious and stubstorn as ever Are your Desires after Vanity and your Affections towards Earthly Things the same as formerly So for your Hopes and Fears Joys and Sorrows What Change hath been wrought Does fleshly Appetite and Sense and Carnal Interest sway and govern as much as ever Or is there a New Creation wrought in you Have you a new Mind and Judgment a new Heart and new Affections Do you walk in Newness of Life Is your Internal Principle changed and the External Rule of your Actions changed too Are you no longer conformed to the World but transformed by the renewing of your Minds Rom. 12.2 Is that sin hated and crucified that before was indulged Is that Saviour prized for to them that believe he is precious and the Chiefest of ten thousands that before was slighted Do you delight in the Law of God after the Inward Man Do you find the Holy Law of God written in your Hearts setting you against every sin in your selves and others Do you walk in the Spirit and after
The very Name of this Sacrament the Eucharist imports this That Thanksgiving is our principal Work He took the Bread and he took the Cup and he gave Thanks say the Evangelists indifferently of the one and of the other Blessing and Giving of Thanks being the same This Food is hallowed by Thanksgiving and if ever the High Praises of God should be in our Mouths it ought to be so upon this Occasion Praising God for parting with his only Son not sparing him that we might be spared Thanking our Lord Redeemer for leaving the Right Hand of his Father and the Glory of Heaven to come and Tabernacle amongst us and take our Nature and Dye for us Lord Jesus Who are we What am I that thou shouldst part with the Glory of Heaven and part with thine own Life upon the accursed Tree for such a Wretch as I am Was I dearer to thee than thine own Heart-blood that thou didst freely shed it upon the Cross for me How Amazing is thy Love How do I rejoyce in it With what Thankfulness do I reremember it How am I ashamed of my self that I love thee no more O that I might feel the Constraints of thine Endearing Love to warm and quicken my cold and dead Heart that so I might speak thy Praise And let Heaven and Earth and Angels and Men for ever Extol thy Matchless Grace and Love which passeth Knowledge but calls for Everlasting Thanksgiving With such a Frame as this let us endeavour to Come and we shall find that His Banner over us will be Love THE END The Eighth Discourse AFTER THE Lord's Supper From St. JOHN xx 27 28. Then said he unto Thomas Reach hither thy Finger and behold my Hands and reach hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side and be not faithless but believing And Thomas answered and said unto him My Lord and my God A Strange and surprizing Spectacle to see an Apostle of our Lord carry it like an Infidel an Vnbeliever To behold one of the Twelve that was to spread the Faith of Christ throughout the Universe to want that Faith which he was to perswade others to To hear the great Article of the Resurrection one of the most deeply Fundamental Articles of the Christian Religion to be obstinately denied by those Lips that were to Publish the Gospel of Christ And this as the Sum of it That he is Risen from the dead What more likely to scandalize the Weak to stagger the Faith of many not yet confirmed Disciples and to hinder the belief of Christ's being Risen than such an Example of Incredulity in one of his Apostles But the permission of such Falls and the raising a Revenue of Glory to the Redeemer by them is one of the Secrets of Predestination that will be Eternally Adored This is sufficiently manifest in this very Passage relating to the Apostle Thomas whose Infidelity as one of the Ancients observes has proved as serviceable to Christianity as the Faith of the other Apostles His Incredulity strengthens our Faith in the Resurrection of our Saviour as it gave occasion to his Appearing another time for the Cure of his Unbelief And because after so much Obstinacy and pertinacious Doubt he at last yields and acknowledges the Truth of Christ's Resurrection and makes a Glorious Confession of his Faith Whereas if only a few credulous Men men of an easie and hasty Faith had assured us of it their Testimony had been more liable to suspicion The Wisdom of God has Recorded the Faults and Miscarriages of the Apostles for our Instruction and Vse These Suns enlighten us not only by the Lustre of their good Examples when they shine in Grace and Holiness but even by their Eclipses too Their Cowardize their Rashness their Presumption their Unbelief is of use to be considered Our Heavenly Physician Extracts some of the best Medicines out of the most deadly Poyson to caution and warn and instruct and Edifie us by the Miscarriages and Faults of David of Peter of Thomas and the like Let us therefore view this Passage and consider what Reflections may be made upon it And the whole may be comprehended under these Four Heads 1. The Incredulity of this Apostle he could not believe without seeing feeling and having the Testimony of Sense Except I shall see in his Hands the print of the Nails and put my Finger into the print of the Nails and thrust my Hand into his Side I will not believe Verse 25. 2. The Condescention and Kindness of Christ in appearing to him another time and granting it Verse 26 27. 3. The Cure of his Vnbelief and the Excellent Confession of Faith which thereupon he makes Verse 28. And Thomas answered and said unto him My Lord and my God 4. The useful Admonition which our Saviour gives us concerning Faith that though Thomas having seen him had believed yet Rather blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed 1. Concerning the Incredulity of this Apostle the Evangelist gives us an Account that on the First Day of the Week towards Evening our Lord being Risen from the Dead early in the Morning when the Disciples were met together and had shut the Door for fear of the Jews Ver. 19. He suddenly presents himself amongst them saying Peace be unto you He assures them of his being Risen from the Dead imparts to them the Holy Ghost and gives them a Charge and Commssion to act as Apostles in Remitting or Retaining Sins But Thomas whose Greek Name was Didymus both signifying Twins was not present at this Assembly But as soon as the other Disciples met him they tell him They had seen the Lord that Mary Magdalen had seen him that Peter had seen him and the two Disciples going to Emaus and then all the Ten and had full Assurance that he was Risen This makes little Impression in order to his believing it for no Eyes will serve him but his own Though Faith comes by hearing he professes he would not believe except he saw Except I see in his hands the print of the Nails and put my Finger into the prints of the Nails and thrust my Hand into his Side I will not believe O suspicious incredulous Man Who will be the Loser if thou wilt not believe But wherefore dost thou doubt How is it that so many Eyes and Tongues are not as credible as thine own Eyes and Hands Shall the World be Proselyted to the Faith of Christ upon the Testimony of these Witnesses and wilt not thou Assent Did not thy Lord foretel his own Death and Resurrection Didst thou not hear him declare that he must be Crucified and that afterwards on the Third Day he would Rise again Is there any thing we Attest concerning his Resurrection but what was promised and foretold Why may not we be credited in our Report of a Matter of Fact whereof we have so plain and full an Evidence What ground is there to disbelieve so many Eye-witnesses
of thy Adorable Perfections that we may so Glorifie thy Name in the Eyes of the World that others seeing our Good Works may Glorifie Thee our Father who art in Heaven To this end Let thy Kingdom come Thy Kingdom Come O Thou who Reignest among the Armies of Heaven and over all the Inhabitants of the Earth rule in our Hearts by the Power of thy Word and Spirit Subdue every Lust and inordinate Affection in us Mortifie all the Rebellion of our Wills and the Enmity of our Carnal Minds and Hearts that we may no longer be in Slavery to the Devil and to foolish Criminal Passions but our Understanding Will Affections Conscience and Conversation be more intirely Conformed to thy Holy Pleasure and Precept And after the Establishment and Advancement of thy Kingdom of Grace in our Souls perfect it in due time by admitting us to thy Kingdom of Glory And let all the Kingdoms of the World submit to the Scepter of our Lord Redeemer that he may Rule to the ends of the Earth Let all the People praise thee and Worship thee O God let all the People Praise thee Let not Satan the Usurping God of this world Tyranize over so great a part of this Earth But let the Kingdom of thy Grace be enlarged and thine Authority be more generally submitted to in all the World Let the everlasting Gospel of the Blessed God be publisht understood believed and obeyed from the Rising of the Sun to the setting of the same And as the Effect of the Coming of thy Kingdom in Power Let thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven Thy Will be done Thy Will O God is the Measure of Holiness and Peace the Rule of Justice Truth and Perfect Wisdom Oh that it may be the Rule of our Desires that our Will may be intirely conformed to Thine All thy Works are Wisdom and all thy ways of Providence are Judgment Let us adore thee as Infallible in all the Revelations of thy Mind and as Wise and Good Just and Holy and True in all Thou do'st Let us acquiesce in thy good Pleasure as knowing nothing can be better done than what thou orderest In Fulness and in Want in Joy and Sorrow in Life and Death thy Holy Will O Lord be done Let us obediently comply with thy Preceptive Will in all thou hast commanded and humbly submit to thy Providential Will in all thou shalt appoint and be satisfied with our Portion Station and condition here on Earth Let us be govern'd in all things by thy Holy Will with Cheerfulness and Readiness and Faithfulness and Zeal without Deceit Delay or Murmuring Complaints That we may observe and please thy Will on Earth as the Angels do in Heaven where thou art loved delighted in and obeyed in Perfection And let all the World we beseech thee joyn with us and them to praise and glorifie thee with one heart and one voice and one consent and be the Servants of thy Holy Will for ever But our Satisfaction in thy Declared VVill doth not hinder but we may Ask the necessary Supports of Life We pray thee therefore Give us tbis day our Daily Bread Thou takest Care of our Souls provide also we beseech thee for our Bodies Prolong our Lives till we have finisht the Work of Life and answered the Ends of Living Continue a suitable and convenient Supply for the Necessities of our Nature Give us that Health Protection Peace and Plenty which may best assist us in our present Duty and tend to our Comfortable Accompt in the Day of Reckoning Thou hast directed us not to Chuse either Poverty or Riches because of the Temptations of either extreme Give us therefore Food Convenient according to that Rank and State and Condition thou hast plac'd us in or may'st hereafter do That so the Temptations of the Right Hand may not make us Wanton Secure and Proud forgetful of Thee and our Selves and the greater Concerns of Eternity or our Hearts be set to make Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof And that on the contrary by the Snares of Poverty and pinching Straits we may not be tempted to doubt or deny Thy Providence or quarrel with it that we may not be exposed to Contempt and Misery and thereby to Impatience Distrust and Despair Keep us from undue Sollicitude about these things and give us Contentment with our present Condition Grant us that measure and proportion of Temporal Blessings which may enable us the better to serve and glorifie thee And whatever thou do with us let us be Calm and Quiet and Thankful and never admit any dishonourable Thoughts of thy Rule and Government Let us own Thee as the Original and Fountain of all our Good and faithfully depend on Thee for the Supply of all our Wants But whatever thou give us of Earthly Good Lord what will it avail us when our Sins are so many and great unless thou Forgive and Pardon us Therefore we beseech thee O Lord to Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us Look upon us with a Merciful Eye for we are here before thee in our Trespasses Forgive our Sins of Ignorance and of Wilfulness those of Presumption and those of Infirmity secret and open in heart and word and deed the Vanity of our Minds the Carelesness of our Spirits the Wickedness of our Hearts the Irregularity of our Affections the Folly of our Lips and all the Omissions and Commissions of our past Lives from our Birth and Infancy to this very hour Look not upon our Offences but cast our sins behind thy Back Remember 'em not against us to our Punishment and Condemnation We beg this for the sake of our Blessed Saviour who hath made Expiation for Sin by his Cursed Death For his sake be Reconciled to us and remember our Iniquities no more and seal to us the free and full Forgiveness of them by the Witness of thy Holy Spirit that we may Rejoyce in God through Jesus Christ as having received the Atonement Enable us by a large and Evangelical Charity heartily to forgive all those who have any way troubled or injured or offended us lest our Prayer be turned into sin and thou deny us that Pardon which we deny to our Fellow Creatures That having by thy Grace this Character of thy Disciples and Children we may reap the Benefit of thy Pardoning Mercy here and in the other VVorld But because tho we should be forgiven for the Time past we shall run into the like sins again and contract New Guilt and fall an easie Prey to Temptation we beseech thee preserve us from being tempted or overcome when we are Lead us not into Temptation Lord we are Weak and Ignorant and Inclined to that which is Evil and our Adversary the Devil goes about like a Crafty Serpent and a Roaring Lion seeking whom he may deceive and destroy let us never be Careless Secure and Confident of our selves He is a Malicious Experienc't Watchful Envious Unwearied Enemy let us not be Ignorant of his Devices Enable us to Mortifie the Love of Sin and Inward Lust and diligently avoid the Occasions and Appearances of Evil the Incentives and Provocatives to Wickedness And suffer us not to be Tempted above what we are Able Order our Conditions and Affairs so as we may be free from great and Dangerous Temptations Help us that by taking to us the whole Armour of God we may be able to withstand the Wiles and Assaults of Satan that by the Protection and Guidance of thy Providence the Ministry of thine Angels and the Aids of thy Good Spirit we may not enter into Temptation and yield to it that Such as we cannot avoid may not prevail against us to thy Dishonour and our Eternal Ruin Deliver us from the Evil of every Temptation and from the Evil One the Tempter and from other Evils to which we are Incident But deliver us from Evil. Forgive what is Past Remove what is Present Prevent what may otherwise be to come from Sin and Shame from the Malice of the Devil and the Falshood and Treachery of Men from open Enemies and unfaithful Friends from the Deceits of the VVorld and the Lusts of the Flesh but above all from thy VVrath and Vengeance due to our Sins VVe Beseech thee to deliver and save us Pardon us so freely that all the Sufferings of this Life may be turned from Evil to Good that if thou smite us here with the Rod of a Father thou may'st spare us hereafter That all things may work together for our Advantage and that in every Condition we may be kept from Sin To that end Deliver us from the Evil One the Great Enemy of thy Glory and our Salvation Let us resist him stedâ—astly in the Faith that he may flee and we may Conquer We acknowledge our own Weakness and desire to be sensible of it and therefore humbly Invoke thine Aid and Help O save us from an Impenitent hard Heart while we live and let us Finish our Course in thy Fear and Love let us dye the Death of the Righteous and not have our Portion to all Eternity in that Region of Darkness and Torment which thou hast prepared for the Devil and his Angels For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Thou art able to do all this for us as the All-mighty Wise and Holy Lord and Governour of the VVorld whose Glorious Perfections are displayed and honoured in all thy Works We hope the granting these our Supplications will advance the Mightiness of thy Kingdom and Manifest thy Power Mercy and Truth For of thee and to thee and through thee are All Things to Thee be Glory for ever and ever Amen As Thou sayest so it is As Thou hast Promised So it shall be And as we have Prayed we Beg it may Be Amen and Amen THE END