as it is set up by Satan with a terrible visage as it were to spit fire in the faces of the godly and faithfull seems very threatning and dreadfull But they are to know for certaine it is but a made thing there is no feare from the sins of Believers all the terror and fearfulnesse of sin Christ himselfe hath drunk it and in the drinking of it Christ himselfe our life was crucified and in that regard I say all the terror and gastlinesse and hideousnesse of sin as it is represented by Satan is spent and â—n it self is dead It is true indeed a living roaring Lion is a terrible creature but in a dead Lion there is no more feare then is in a stick or a stone to him that knows he is dead While sin is alive it is fearfull and corrible and deadly but when sin it self is dead then there is no more terror in it then is in a dead Lion Thus I speak concerning sin not as it smiles upon a man with a promiâ—ing countenance before it be committed for so it is most dreadfull and odious to the faithfull as that which crucified their sweetest Lord but as committed and lying upon the conscience of a Believer indeavouring to drive him to deny the love and free Grace of God to him and the all sufficiency of Christ For in this regard it is crucified by Christ and so a Believer need not be affraid of sin Indeed terrible it maâ— seem to be at first but there is no just cause of terriblenesse in it for it can doe no hurt Therefore the Apostle telling us of the Hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us and contrary to us saith that Christ hath nailed them to his Crosse So that the sins of Believers are crucified with Christ they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof We commonly understand this as if our mortification and denying of sin were the crucifying of the flesh but the Apostle speaks otherwise there and you may see he intends that they that are Christ are crucified with him as much as to say Christs dying upon the crosse for Beleevers his death became the death that is the expiation of sin for them that it should be no more terrible unto them nor affright the people of God I have inâ—isted the more upon this because indeed it is the root from whence all other feares spring For from crosses and afflictions which come upon persons of which we shall speake presently they run immediately to their sins and conceive that it is their sins that have put stings into them and makes them so bitter still therefore they are perplexed with fears as long as sin is upon them Certainly some fearfull thing wil come upon them Why they have committed such and such sins these be the cause of their fear But beloved either deny plainly that Christ dyed for your sins and that he hath borne the whole wrath of God that sin hath deserved or sit down by this truth that sin did hurt Christ so much that it cannot hurt the Believer for whom Christ did die Secondly as we should not fear our own sins being Believers and members of Christ so neither ought we to fear the sins of others Object You will say supposing there be no sins of our own to pull downe judgement yet the world is full of iniquity and abundance of sins there are upon the times that bring downe wrath from Heaven Answ Though it be true that Nationall sins bring downe Nationall judgements and wrath yet all the sins of the times cannot do a member of Christ a lot of hurt And therefore as they cannot do him any hurt so he need not be affraid of them I will make it appeare that the sins of the world the crying sins of the times can do a Believer no hurt at all Marke the plea of the Lord often mentioned in Ezekiel against the people that hit him in the teeth as if he were unjust The fathers say they have eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge He pleads his owne innocency in it and directly answers that the soule that sinneth shall dye As much as to say he that doth commit the fault shall bear the burthen of it thou that art not the committer of the fault thou shalt not bear the burthen of it Therefore the sins of the times that are committed by the wicked they cannot do Gods people any hurt The childrens teeth shall not be set on edge Object I but some will say I have had some hand in these sins I did not reprove these sins or I did not seperate my selfe from them Answ I answer suppose that the members of Christ are in some sort accessary to these sins yet so far as you in your owne persons have been actors or partakers of these transgressions Christ hath borne these transgressions and suffered for them It is not some sins that Christ bears and leaves some sins for Believers to bear and so also leaves some punishment for Believers to suffer for it is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world and that he doth take them all away appeareth 1 John 1.7 The blood of Christ his Sonne cleanseth us from all sins Whether then you consider every elect person as he sinneth by himselfe or as he shareth with others all these sinnes the blood of Christ cleanseth him from and therefore I say the sins of other people they shall not they cannot be imputed to him that is a Believer Object But you will say surely the Lord doth send crosses and afflictions upon his owne people as well as upon the people of the world many times and should we not therefore bee affraid of them Answ Therefore in the third place let mee tell you as there is no occasion nor need nay as people ought not to be affraid for the sins of others so ought not they to be affraid for the chastisements of the Lord upon them Consider but the true nature of feare looke upon things as they are in themselves If there bee occasion of feare in any thing that may come there must be evill in these afflictions or else there need not be feare now there is no evill in them but all are exceeding good and they work for good and that that works for good is not evill every agent produceth effects answerable to its owne nature an evill tree brings forth no good fruit no more doth a good tree bring forth evill fruit so then if there be nothing but good in all the afflictions of the people of God then there is no cause of feare there is an apprehension of evill in a thing if there be feare but there is not a just apprehension of evill in a thing that is good be assured of this there is no feare to be had of afflictions let them be never so tart let them be never so great or many Oh saith
Abednigo there was a hot fiery furnace prepared for them seven times hotter than ordinary the King proclaimes that what ever he be that will not fall down and worship his Image should presently be cast into this furnace This was enough to startle a person and make him tremble But how is the temper of the three children expressed there We are not say they carefull to answer thee in this matter These threatnings though very fearfull in the eyes of others seemed but a matter of nothing to them they made a tush at it We are not carefull to answer thee in this matter Even so people are then free from feare who when evill is comming care not for it a man when he cares not for any thing that assailes him hee rusheth in upon it and although it seeme to threaten unto him some mischief yet he is confident it cannot hurt him So far forth as youâ— can overlook evills drawing on upon you more or lesse not regarding them in respect of any hurt they can doe you so far forth are you free from feare Object You will say none in the world can have such a temper of spirit when dangers are growing especially great and thick upon them Answ No What say you of these three children I speak of men now they were carelesse Object You will say it may be that was an extraordinary case Answ Nay you shall finde that the very ground of the undauntednesse of their spirits was the same which the Lord proposeth in this Text to put us out of feare We are carelesse to answer thee in this matter Why Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us and he will deliver us The carelesnesse of their spirits was grounded upon a common principle of the whole Church and upon the same the Lord proposeth to all the rest of his people as well as to them they being confident God was their God neither the greatnesse of the King nor the violence of his threatnings could stir them a jot they were all nothing to God who was their God who was able to deliver them and would deliver them Their confidence in this was that which made them break forth into this bold expression We are carelesse to answer thee in this matter But now let us consider what the people of God should not feare Object What to be affraid of nothing doth not the Lord himselfe commend feare to men Nay is not God himselfe called the fear of Isaac and yet would you make us to believe that we should have no fear Answ I answer there is a threefold feare here is a naturall feare a religious feare and here is a turbulent feare A naturall feare is â—othing else but such an affection as is in men â—y nature that they cannot be freed from such feare was in Christ himselfe without sinne There is a religious and godly feare and that is nothing but an awfull reverence whereby people keepe a fit distance between the gloriouâ— Majesty of God and the meannesse of a creature and it is opposed to saucinesse And theâ— there is a turbulent feare and that is a feare 〈◊〉 disquietnesse now all disquieting feare is thaâ— which the Lord endeavours to take off froâ— his people Well but what are the things you will say we should not bee affraid nor dismayed atâ— Perhaps I shall pitch upon things people are much affraid of and will thinke strange theâ— should not be affraid of them First I must tell you the people of Goâ— his owne people they need not be affraid 〈◊〉 their sins And yet let me not be mistaken 〈◊〉 doe not say we must not be affraid to sinne bâ— they need not be affraid of their sins they thâ— have God for their God there is no sin thâ— ever they commit can possibly doe them anâ— hurt Therefore as their sins cannot huâ— them so there is no cause of feare in their sinâ— they have committed Object Some will be ready to say This 〈◊〉 strange All the evils in the world that comâ— they grow up from the sinfulnesse of men If man be affraid of any thing he should bee aâ—fraid of sin from whence all evils do flow Answ I answer beloved it is true sin natâ—rally is a root bringing forth all manner of evill fruit The wages of sinne is death but yet I say what ever sin in its owne nature brings forth yet the sins of Gods peculiar people they that have God for their owne God their sins can doe them no hurt at all and in that regard there is no cause of feare from any of their sins that ever they have committed Beloved I conceive this may seeme somewhat harsh to some spirits touching the truth of it especially to such as misconceive the drift at which I aim which is not to incourage any one unto sin but to ease the consciences of the distressed I desire you to resolve with your selves this one thing so far forth as the Lord reveals it so far you will sit downe contented with the minde of the Lord revealed to you and I beseech you kicke not against the truth There is not one sin not all the sins together of â—ny one believer that can possibly do that belieâ—er any hurt real hurt I mean and therefore he â—ught not to â—e affraid of them How will that â—e made good you will say I will make it apâ—eare out of the seventh to the Romans from â—he midst of the Chapter to the end you see â—ow the Apostle carries it along especially â—bout the 15. and 19. verses where it is true the â—postle expresseth himself in heavy complaints â—gainst such sins as befall believers The good that I would doe that doe I not and the evill thâ— I would not do that doe I insomuch that in tâ— last verse but one the Apostle with much vehâ— mency puts the question thus O wretâ—hed mâ— that I am who shall deliver me from the body of thâ— death Some will be ready presently to saâ— here you see plainly is a fear of sin or ought 〈◊〉 be here is a body of death in men to be affraâ— of But give me leave to tell you that thâ— Apostle in this Chapter as I conceive doâ— personate a scrupulous spirit and doth nâ— speak out his owne present case as it was at thâ— time when he speaks it but speaks in the persâ— of another yet a Believer and my reason 〈◊〉 this Because the Apostle in respect of hâ— owne person what was become of sins wâ— already resolved therefore I conceive he doâ— act the part of a troubled spirit that in respeâ— of the multitude and prevalency of corruption was ready to cry out O wretched man who shâ— deliver mee from the body of this death But maâ—â— how the Apostle answers this question whâ—ther it bee his owne case or anothers foâ— will not stand upon that and you shall plainâ— see the Apostle concludes though there 〈◊〉 such marvellous filthinesse and prevalency 〈◊〉
sin yet it cannot do any hurt at all But saâ— he I thanke God through our Lord Jesus Chriâ—â— who will deliver me from this body of death As much as to say Indeed till a man looke to Christ there is nothing but matter of bitternesse and evill to be seen as the certain fruits of sin and there can be nothing but bitternesse in sin in regard of the evill that is like to follow it But when persons can once looke to Christ the case is altered What doth he thanke God for He thanks God that though naturally a body of death grew up by sin yet there is no prejudice in this kinde can come to him through Christ Now that the Apostle doth plainly mean that he thanks God in that sin could not doe him or others any hurt mark how in his thankfulnesse he expresseth himself in the beginning of the 8. Chapter There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ that walke not after the flâ—sh but after the Spirit There you see the ground of the Apostles thanksgiving namely that now there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ No you will say no condemnation in Hell but yet as there is remainders of sinne in Gods owne people so there will some evill or other fall upon the commission of sin marke what the Apostle speakes of it in the 2. and 4. verâ—â— Would you have the clear minde of the Spirit â—in it There it is held forth The Law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ hath freed mee from the law of sinne and death for what the Law could not doe in that it was weake through the flesh God sent forth his Son in the similitude of sinfull flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ hath freed mee from the Law of sinne and death Here Christ stands for the deliverance of his people from condemnation from eternall wrath say some yea but saith the Apostle wee are delivered from the Law of sin and death what is the Law of sin but what the Law may do to persons for those sins which are committed by them Now what can sin do when it is condemned It is true take a Traytor as he is at liberty hee may do mischief but take him as he is arraigned and condemned and as he is bound and manacled he can doe no hurt Now sinne is condemned to the Believer it can do no hurt at all to him for what hurt can that doe unto a man which is carried into a Land of forgetfulnesse to avoid further prejudice of such persons that are indangered by it When men have been found dangerous unto the State 〈◊〉 hath been a common practice to banish them the Kingdome into a place far remote when they cannot have any opportunity of doing any mischief and when they are banished theâ— are not to returne againe upon paine of death Now beloved our Scape Goat hath carriâ— our sins into a Land of forgetfulnesse Consider further suppose a man be entered into many bonds and they are for great summes It is true while they remaine bonds in force such a man is subject to feare arrests but put the case these bonds are all cancelled that the debt in the Creditors book be blotted out what hurt then can these bonds do unto a man when the seal is torn off and all the writing in the bond is blotted out If a man saw a thousand such bonds in which he were obliged it would affright him no more then if he saw none at all True indeed every sin is a great debt and wee commit sins daily and hourly against the Lord and the torments of Hel is the merit of the least sin in the world for I speake not this to extenuate any sin but to shew the greatnes of Gods Grace and to ease upon good grounds distressed consciences Therefore such as look upon these sins as uncancelled and these debts as true debts it is true so long these sins may work a horror and trembling in persons but for Believers that are the members of Christ they may read fairly all the sins that ever they have committed they may read also the desert of these transgressions which should be executed and inflicted upon them if they were not cancelled and blotted out But marke what the Lord speaks in the 43. of Isaiah I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine owne name sake and will not remember thy sins Now what prejudice can that do that is blotted out I say every debt of a Believer is a cancelled debt so that the Lord himselfe hath nothing at all to lay to a Believers charge For how can that Scorpion do hurt that hath lost his sting and spent his venome in the sides of Christ and left it there It was Christ that was wounded for the transgressions of his people he was bruised for the iniquities of the faithfull the chastisements of their peace was upon him saith the Holy Ghost in the 53. of Isaiah and the 5. verse What hurt can there be to whom there is peace from God and nothing but peace It is true our sins themselves do not speak peace but Christ bearing the sinne and the wrath that these sins doe deserve his chastisement or the wrath hee sustained speaks peace to every Believer whose transgressions be did beare Therefore beloved be not affraid ye that are Believers and members of Christ for fear of wrath breaking down from heaven upon you for such and such sins which you have committed for they can do you no hurt all your sins together can do you no harme all the sting and poyson of your sins were spent upon the backe of Christ Marke that excellent expression of the Apostle in the 1 Cor. 15.56 57. he tels us there indeed that the sting of death is sin and the strength of sinne is the Law so that here seems to be a sting in sin even to death it selfe But mark what follows thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ that hath given us the victory What doth he meane even the victory of overcoming of sinne and death that is his true meaning Though naturally sin hath a sting yet there is a victory over this sting Christ is the death of it as he tooke away the sting of it so that the sins of Believers set up to affright them by Satan or his instruments they are but Scare-crows and Bugbears things to fright ignorant children indeed but men of insight and understanding are able to see that they are counterfeit things It is true before men come to see the light of the Gospel of Christ their sins stare in their faces seeming to spit fire at them but just as you shall have children it may be put one of their company into hideous postures and a fearfull and terrible representation causing every one that knowes it not to run from him so sinne
Believers indeed the sword is broken the sting is gone The sting of death is sinne the strength of sinne is the Law 1 Cor. 15. but thanks be to God saith the Apostle that hath given us the victory over sinne and death so that we may boldly say Oh death where is thy sting Oh grave where is thy victory If you be the Lords and the Lord be yours if you be Believers you may triumph as the Apostle doth Oh death where is thy sting It is gone nay Oh death saith the Lord in the Prophesie of Hosea I will be thy destruction I beseech you give not care either to Satan or to whatsoever instrument he hath that would possesse you that though Christ dyed for you and hath borne your sins himselfe upon the Crosse or upon the tree as the Apostle Peter expresseth yet those same sins will doe you hurt and prove a mischief and bane to you I say there cannot bee greater despite done nor affront offered unto Christ then to make the Believer conceive that he was not able to beare their sinnes nor the wrath of God sufficiently for them but that they must be wounded notwithstanding all that Christ hath done If Christ be hurt as much as sin can hurt him how can any man be hurt by it for whom Christ suffered If Christ upon the Crosse took the sting out of it and carried it to his own grave how commeth it to have a new sting or did Christ dye in vain If he took away the sting of one sin and not the sting of another there were need of another Christ it seems to take away that sting that is behind and so Christ hath not perfected for ever them that are sanctified I desire you to heare with patience this is the first ground of all your comfort in affliction that sin is gone for then all afflictions in the world cannot discomfort seeing all discomfort ariseth from sin which is the sting of affliction Hereupon the Apostle triumpheth Who can lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect It is God that justifieth who can condemne Contrariwise the soul is in the greatest bitternesse when sin remains and the sting of it is not taken away but when God is reconciled as he is to the faithfull for God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himselfe not imputing their trespasses unto them how then can finne do hurt when it is not to be imputed God doth use to reckon when he doth take payment If God doth not reckon with men he will never smite them with wrath as is the wrath so must be the smart and harm and hurt that person is to sustain in respect of the sins committed Chastise he doth indeed for speciall ends but the sin doth not at all hurt And though the Lord doth afflict that will do you no hurt neither afflictions are the physicke of God to purge and sanctifie the conversation Will a man thinke that is ready to dye of the stone or wind-cholick or stoppage in the fromach if a Physitian comes and gives him a bitter potion that he doth do him any hurt when he knoweth it is to recover his life and save it he knowes he dyes if he heals not the infirmity God useth no physick no chastisement and affliction but it shall worke for good so the Apostie expresseth it in Hebr. 12. No affliction for the present is joyous but grievous yet afterwards it bringeth forth the peaceable fruits of righteousnesse to them that are exercised therewith It bringâ—th forth the peaceable fruits of righteousnesse what hurt is there in all this But I must go on and come to that which I have more particularly to deliver to you and that is upon the consideration of Gods motives by which he doth attempt to prevail over the spirits of his people not to be afraid or dismayed come what can or may come you know God is best able to perswade God best knows what Rhetorick will take with his own people A man that hath had the breeding of a childe and so comes to observe the temper of it can better tell then any other which way to win him God hath the breeding of his own children nay God goeth further he hath the spirits of his children at his own beck and therefore can best tell which way to work upon their spirits and to beget that in them which he calls for of them The Lord would have them not to be afraid nor dismayed Let the Lord propose his way to bring them to this composednesse and fixednesse of spirit it is but presumption in any creature to conceive there may be better wayes to work upon the spirits of men then that which God prescribes And it is worth your observation to consider that when the Lord puts his people upon a composednesse and fixednesse of spirit he doth not say Fear not for you have fasted for you have prayed for you have forsaken your sins and denied your selves and walked holily with me and therefore because you have done this and that Feare you not The Lord doth not say so here he hath higher Propositions that he proposeth that have more excellent vertue to move his people He saith Feare not I am toy God I will helpe thee and uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousnesse The prop for the upholding of spirits against feare when evill cometh it is without a mans selfe in him that is a rock and unchangeable The Lord doth not say You change not therefore you are not consumed you continually proceeded in holines you waver not therefore you are not consumed but I am God and change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed I say therefore again If you would have setlednesse of spirit you must go out of your selves and fetch peace of spirit out of God himselfe and I dare be bold to say take all the sweetnesse and comfort of all the world of all the creatures mixed together extract the quintessence of their own excellencies all these together shall never settle a heart nor make it secure and free from fear but only this proposition that God is their God And by the fruit of this principle a poor tottering spirit is under-propped and under-set here with four pillars at every corner one as I may so say I am thy God I am with thee I will helpe thee I will uphold the with the right hand of my righteousnesse or rather there is one main principle and three subordinate supporters affixed unto the main principle for sometimes you shall see great weights laid upon some great pillar and for the better securing of that which is laid upon it you shall have some short pillars branching out from the main spread out wide and so upholding This present discourse seems to be such a main principle that is Gods being a God to such a people I am thy God this is the foundation this is the great pillar I am with thee I will
Object Do you not see them dead you will say Answ But marke what the Apostle saith Our life is hid with Christ in God It is true there is a naturall life and that life may be destroyed as well as the life of a wicked man but yet the soule of a Believer is not destroyed the soul is cannon-proof all the devills in hell cannot destroy it The life that I now live I live by the faith of the Some of God Christ himselfe is our life Now when Christ who is our life shall appeare then shall wee appeare with him in glory So that Christ himselfe may be killed before our lives shall bee destroyed by the enemies You that are Believers have this advantage of your enemies the unbelievers you may take away their lives but they cannot take away your lives They have but one life a naturall life but they that are Believers have a life in Christ nay Christ is their life he himself shall be annihilated before they shal All the power of the sword cannot take away that life from you it is true they may take you out of this world and the comforts of it but know this world when the Lord will have the soule separated from it is a comfortlesse world If the Lord himself should answer a person to give him life in the world when himself hath purposed to take him out of the world the world and life it self would be a hell to him Beloved know this that the Lord intends only your good in all your changes and that which is best the Lord provides for you Though your life be taken away from you where is the losse where is the hurt Consider it well beloved death is but the opening of the prison doors to let you out of prison it is but the arriving of a vessell into the haven of rest What doth the sword do when it enters into a Believer it makes but a change of immortality for mortality of life for death of strength for weaknesse of glory for shame of holinesse for sin It doth but pull down a rotten house of clay to give possession of mansions of glory It doth but take persons from a cottage at will to enter into a Lordship of inheritance for it gives full possession of an eternall inheritance The sword that enters into the breast of a Believer it doth but put him into the chamber of the Bridegroome and consummates the marriage of the Lamb to that person It is the fulfilling of the great cry of the Saints Come Lord Jesus come quickly and I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ It takes the Bride into communion and fellowship with her long-looked for Beloved and gives her possession of those things that take up her longing While we are in the flesh we are absent from the Lord we enjoy the vision of Christ now but in hope and we enjoy it but darkly but when this earthly tabernacle shall bee dissolved we have an house not made with hands saith the Apostle It doth but carry the Believer out of a barren blustering troublesome wildernesse unto his home to sit downe with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of glory What hurt is there in all this Confider this that when the worst comes to the worst if ye should be brought into the greatest strait that ever man was in when cruelty shall rage and swell to the very top and to its utmost bounds This is that which stayes up the heart and makes the weakest spirits strong and the want of this makes the strongest run away When a man shall thinke with himselfe if I should be now thrust through by the sword of the enemy what will become of me If I be not a member of Christ I shall go to Hell for ever Oh how will this startle him This in the heart of the stoutest souldier is enough to make him run away have he never so much courage but when a man shall stand in the face of an enemy and the bullets flye about him on every â—ide if when he shall thus think with himself What if one of these should hit me what shall become of me whither should I goe If he can but say in true faith Heaven is mine and Christ is mine I shall goe presently unto God my Father at whose right hand are ioyes for evermore I cannot have a better turne done unto me then by one of these messengers to be sent presently thither It is recorded that there was a man had a spear run at him by one that sought his life and entring it happened to lance an ulcer that all the Physitians could never cure that thrust of the spear cured the ulcer Oh beloved all the world is not able to cure the ulcers that are in Believers in respect of the cohabitation and practice of sin for sin will arise and breake forth in spite of all the world and they shall not cease to sin till they shall cease to be here below Now the sword that enters into the hearts of the Believers and members of Christ that sword at one thrust perfectly cures all the ulcers of sinfulnesse that there shall never arise any more after that Now what hurt is there in that spear that cures in stead of killing This beloved I speake by way of encouragement to all the faithfull when the enemy looks big upon you and your hearts are ready to faint consider what the Lord saith I am your God be not affraid nor dismayed Sometimes I observe people looke upon Believers with an evill eye because they doe not see them of such dejected countenances and so full of fearful expressions as are in themselves or are in others Thereupon they presently censure them to bee such as are void of sense and full of security But consider hath not the Lord promised that they shall not be moved with evill tydings Is there nothing in all the promises of God Will you say there is no strength nor truth in him in whom is the fulnesse of all that when you finde such an undauntednesse of spirit in any man that when men speake of fire and sword and the cruelty of the enemy shall say we are carelesse as touching this matter you shall say they are stupified or carnally secure Do you not therein charge the three children for the same Shall the people of God whoâ—ut of the apprehension of God being their God and being out of the gun-shot of sin say we fear not touching this matter shall they be condemned for it They know wherein pain is and misery is and death is which thou art not sensible of Do not then condemn God therefore Is thine eye evill because Gods is good Now what are the disadvantages by this dismayednesse of spirit there are three sorts of them First fearfulnesse and dismayednesse of spirit doth produce a great deal of prejudice unto God not simply to the being of God but to the glory and honour of
is now offered unto us I have peradventure in the hearing of some present made entrance into these words I have read now unto you I shall give you but a taste of what I have formerly spoken so much as may serve by way of introduction to that in which I mean to spend the remainder of this time The occasion of these words you may see in the former passage of this Chapter At this present instant a great tumult and uproar was raised upon the raising of the righteous Man from the East that is the setting up of Christ Such a noyse there was that God was fain to call for silence vers 1. and for their plea at the latter end of the verse If they have any thing to say against this businesse of setting up of Christ let them bring their strongest reasons saith the Lord. Having thus obtained silence the Lord makes his plea against their tumultuous opposition vers 2. Who is he that hath raised him up and hath given Nations to him and made him to rule over Kings I the Lord did it saith he vers 4. What have you to say to me He shall prosper and he shall prosper with facility and ease he shall go softly he shall never run for fear of being circumvented Hee shall go in a way that his foot hath not trode before he shall go further then he hath gone and what say they to this when God speaks Yet the tumultuous men will not be quiet they lay their heads together as you finde they consult to finde out helpe nay they conspire the Carpenter and the Smith have laid their heads together Now because there is such a combustion when Christ is set up lest the people of the Lord should be possessed with dismayednesse and feare of miscarriage the Lord turnes his speech to these opposed Fear not I am with thee be not dismayed I am thy God Christ when ever he is exalted did doth and will finde great opposition but in spite of all opposition Christs exaltation shall prosper all their opposition shal not hinder nay he wil go softly that the world may see that he is not afraid of all opposition whatsoever First in this Text the Lord is pleased to provide a pillow as for a King for the heads of his people or a staffe for their trembling hand a pillow to support their sinking spirits they are apt to be discouraged it seems the Lord is pleased to take their condition into his hand to speak to the occasion of their trembling and to give out such words that may be a stay that they may stand fast though blustrings grow greater then they are The Textis nothing else but a gracious incouragement or a comfortable support of a sinking spirit The incouragement is in these words Fear not be not dismayed the grounds and arguments by which he would prevaile with them not to fear nor be dismayed are in these words I am with thee I am thy God I will helpe thee I will up hold thee with the right hand of my righteousnesse The point is this That they that have God for their God need never fear nor be dismayed seeing this their God is with them will helpe them strengthen them and uphold them with the right hand of his righteousnesse Concerning this feare and dismayednesse we spake largely the last time we spake upon this occasion 1. What it is not to be afraid 2. What we are not to be afraid of 3. What the inconveniences of such feare are In brief not to feare is no more but a composednesse and setlednesse of spirit against any evill that commeth Excellent is that expression in the 112. Psalme vers 8. They shall not be afraid of evill tidings What is that Their heart is fixed their heart is established they shall not be removed Here is the expression of a fearlesse heart a heart fixed a heart established a heart not moved You have it likewise excellently set out in Daniel 3. in an example the 16. vers in the story of the three children being sentenced to be cast into the fiery furnace they came before the great King Nebuchadnezzar and hee spake big to them and tells them what they must trust unto if they will not fall down and worship his Gods Mark now how their fearlesnesse and dismayednesse is expressed We are not carefull to answer thee in this matter our God whom we serve be will deliver us See what a disposition this fearlesnesse is and then what is the ground of it We are not carefull to answer thee in this matter here is a true fearlesnesse if when ever evill comes men can say it matters not we are ready for it And look into the root of it and you shall finde it in their answer our God is able to deliver us that made them so carelesse in so weighty a thing Our God whom wee serve he will deliver us Secondly what it is we should not fear I answer first we should not fear God himself as to do us any hurt fear him with awfull reverence we must A Believer that is the servant and chosen of God need not fear that God will do him any hurt It is God that justifieth therefore it is not God that will harm thee The heart of God is to his people My bowells are troubled for thee saith God to Ephraim Can he hurt them while he is troubled for them Secondly they must not fear their own sins I do not say they ought not to fear to commit sinne but they ought not to feare what hurt their sinnes can doe them seeing they are blotted out If a man have subscribed unto and sealed a hundred Bonds and all these Bonds be quite cancelled and blotted out he need not fear no hurt these Bonds can do him Paul in the 7. of Rom. complaineth indeed of a body of death and the power of sin but in the closure of the Chapter he shews how little he fears any thing that sin could doe Thanks be unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ What doth he thank the Lord for that though his firts were so great yet they could not do him any hurt nor any of Gods people Look into the beginning of the 8. Chapter it is plaine There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ who walke not after the flesh but after the Spirit For the Law of the Spirit of life that is in Christ hath freed me from the Law of sin and death For what the Law could not do in that it was weake through the flesh God sending his owne Son in the likenesse of sinfull flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh What hurt can this do Now beloved give me leave to tell you if you be Believers and weak in faith I dare bee bold to say nothing cuts the heart so much in respect of fear of evill as the sins you do commit these will be swords to your hearts But if you be
enemies seeing the delivering up of his Christ was for the good of his people will he now detaine small things in comparison of him in consideration of weaknesses in us Marke the Apostles words he that spared not his owne Son but delivered him up to death for us how will he not with him give us all things that are good for us as if he had said Thou poore wretch wantest such and such spirituality thou seekest them and thou canst not find them and by and by thou cryest out that such and such sins hinder God that he will not give thee such grace as thou needest and at last thou questionest whether God did give thee Christ or no Nay when thou wert viler then now thou art thy vilenesse then did not hinder but that hee freely gave his Son for thee thy vilenesse much lesse shall hinder thee now to bar from thee those spirituall gifts that God intends to give to thee Here objections start up this is the way to make persons slack duties and to bee carelesse but if we would preach that God will not give till we mend our selves and leave our sins were not this a far better way to put men upon it then thus to preach let me tel you we must not be more wise then God that all that the creature hath might appear to be from the grace of God and so he have the praise of the glory of his owne grace I say again it is no sinfulnesse in the creature shall hinder Gods communicating so much of his Spirit as hee seeth usefull to creatures and he will take order that they shall not take a licentious liberty to go on in sin or neglect seeking God because they know it is not their seeking makes God answer for what they want for it is not your amending nor reforming that gets God to communicate more to you but that he doth it is meerly for his own sake from his meer motion out of his meer compassion the riches of which was purchased by the blood of Christ this is the only spring and fountain that brings forth to you the fulnesse of God in such measure as you have as he is yours so whatsoever in him is fit for you in season he shall cease to be his owne when he ceases to be yours and therefore beloved I shall beseech you that you will not stumble at God himselfe as if he were so humourous and peevish that every little thing not that any sin is in its owne nature little but comparatively every infirmity and failing should make him pull his hands into his bosome and refuse to give his grace the Lord from all eternity determined what to give to every Saint and had every act of every Believer before his eyes so that if they would have been provocations to him to keep his gifts he should never have bestowed any upon him But I must tell you it is the foundation of all our comfort in all our failings in this life that there is nothing that we enjoy from God but what was appointed us before and no sin 〈◊〉 committed but what was from eternity before God and if any sin should have hindered God he would never have set down so fully and graciously what he would do so that if the Lord hath already manifested the greatnesse of his purpose and love by communicating himselfe to you assure your selfe this being established nothing in the world shall hinder the communication of any thing whatsoever that may make for your good Well let us go a little further and counder how God doth become the God of people I must tell you that for lack of cleer distinguishing between these two things how he doth become theirs and how he is to be theirs the confounding of these that are so distinct occasions a great deal of confusion in the minds of men for these two go al for one but you shall see the difference of them and the different principle from whence they flow First how doth God come to bee the God of people You will say this is of great use it is worth the hearing let it cost what it will to have God for my owne but I say there is no more treasure in God to be for our use then it is free to I say the gift of God for our own God is as cheap as it is rich God rever looks the creature should bring any thing that he might procure of God to be his God but we do partake of this mearly and properly from the pleasure of his own will I say there is originally and efficiently no other motive nor nothing concurring to make him our God but only the good pleasure of his owne will he would do and he would do it simply for his own sake and therefore it is so Beloved look but upon the creatures God communicates and gives his Image only to the sons of men Let us make man after our own Image How doth man thus become partaker of the Image of God more then the rest of the creatures You may plainly see there is nothing in man himself nor in any other creature that procures this priviledge to him Man was made but of one common lump with other creatures he was made of the same materials even that Toads and Spiders were Now that which was the cause why man had the Image of God and no other creature the same is the cause why Believers have God given up and God given up to bee their God and the reason of both is from the good pleasure of God It is true there is a propriety of land many times made over unto persons in respect of amiablenes or desert conceived to be in these persons so it is conferred unto them but in Gods conferring himselfe to the sons of men there could not be such motives in these creatures The ground is this if any thing could be a motive to the Lord it must be the most excellent thing the creature hath since the fall their fasting and prayer and mourning and weeping and self-deniall and mortification and cleansing of themselves and amending and the like but it was impossible beloved there should be any motive out of any of all these things for God to communicate himself and to give himselfe over to people for all these performances and what ever else are in man they are but branches that issue from this main root Gods being their God If they be spirituall gifts they issue out of this principle God is our God there is no man that believeth that fasteth that prayeth that mourneth in a truly gracious manner but God is first his God and being his God doth communicate these things to him How can that then be a motive to God to communicate himself to men that is not in man till he hath communicated himselfe And indeed is but the issue of that communion that he hath afforded unto men So then I say it is impossible that
longer therein The summe and substance of the objection is this Is there so much Grace that where sin hath abounded Grace aboundeth much more then it seems that the more sin a man doth commit the more will the glory of the Grace of God appear in the pardoning of these sins and so I shall glorisie God best when I commit sin most will some say So that the preaching of the abundance of grace where sin hath abounded seems to let men loose to the commission of sin as much as possibly The Apostle answers this with God forbid as if he had said God will never suffer any Believer though never so weak through any such truth reveal'd to break out into any sin because wher sin hath abounded grace hath abounded much more God will never have them to make any such abominable inference from such truths And he also gives the reason why they cannot make such use of the grace of God How shall we that are dead unto sin live any longer therein to the Apostle the inference of the objectors from this argument seems so absurd that he doth appeal to the adversaries themselves how such an inference as this can follow such a Proposition He doth not say positively that they cannot live in sin that are dead to it but he puts the question to them how it can be And whereas some may answer yea they may easily do it No saith the Apostle they that are partakers of this Grace are dead unto sin and how can they live in it when they are dead to it The glorious power of this Grace revealed strikes sinne dead in men or rather strikes men dead to sin Sinne shall not have dominion over you saith the Apostle for you are not under the Law but under Grace And as you shall heare by and by the Apostle makes the very Grace of God to have that power in it as to breake the neck of sin in the Believer This is the most certaine truth of the Text and springs directly from it There is a death unto sin where there is a revelation effectually of the Grace of God to persons to whom it doth belong It brings a dart with it to slay sin The law of the Spirit of life that is in Christ hath freed mee from the law of sin and death and what the law could not doe in that it was weake through the flesh God sent forth his Son in the simili tude of sinfull flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh so that although to reason and sense the preaching of the free Grace of God to men and to publish what the Lord hath done for them for his own sake and that before-hand may seem to be a doctrine that gives liberty to sin and so to be a licentious doctrine yet it seems to the Apostle that there is nothing that doth more establish a restraint from sin then the manifestation hereof In the 11. to the Romans towards the latter end of the Chapter the Apostle tells us that God hath concluded all men under sinne that hee might shew mercy upon all and therefore he falls out into admiration O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdome and Knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgements and his wayes ast finding out Now what follows Having prevealed this unsearchable Grace see how hee begins in the 12. Chapter and 1. verse I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice acceptable to God which is your reasonable service And be not conformed to this world but bee transformed by the renewing of your mindes that is I beseech you by the mercies of God that you refraine from sinne What mercy doth he meane Even the mercies of God concerning the freenesse of his Grace manifested before in all the 11. Chapter Now if the Apostle had beene of some mens mindes that the preaching of the free Grace of God were a dangerous doctrine to set men loose to sin he would never have used the mercies of God as an argument to prevail with men to refrain from sin Hee would not have published that which should have been of such dangerous consequence but he would rather have been filent so far would hee have been from revealing of it as an argument to the contrary were the revelation of it the way to bring men to loosenesse and licentiousnesse it had been the wisdome of Paul and the other Apostles to have concealed it which certainly he would have done had it been so But the Apostle was not of that judgement and therfore in 1 Corinth chap. 6. and towards the latter end he draws his argument after the same manner You are not your owne you are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and spirits for they are Gods Observe here that the injunction which the Apostle gives the Corinthians is that they should glorifie God in their bodies and spirits and what is the argument by which he would perswade them to it You are bought with a price But will some say it seems I am bought and the price is laid downe for me now I am sure enough I am safe the gates of hell cannot prevail against me I may live as I list for no danger will follow now I may take liberty to sin Now if the Apostle had known that this consequence would justly have followed upon the preaching of this Crace he had dealt very discourteously with the people of God and absurdly by inforcing a conclusion from a ground contrary to it by revealing such a doctrine as this is Therefore surely the Apostle would never have used this expression of being bought with a price if he had knowne that this would follow but contrariwise he knew that there is no way in the world will so much prevaile with Gods people to leave their sins as by telling them before hand that their sins are forgiven them and that they are bought with a price In 2 Titus from the beginning to the 12. v. you shall finde how the Apostle urgeth Titus that hee presse a holy conversation answerable to old men and old women as also to young women and young men and also a conversation suitable to servants and especially he writes concerning them that they should not purloin from their masters but shew all faithfulnesse But what is the argument now by which the Apostle urgeth all these things upon these men See in the 12. and 13. verses and you shall finde that the argument is the same we have now in hand For the Grace of God saith he that brings salvation hath appeared teaching us to deny all ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and that we should live righteously soberly and godly in this present world As much as to say The Lord hath made known and revealed his salvation to you and you see it before you Salvation is brought unto you and not your well-doing but the Grace of God is
of God shall we tell Believers if they sinne they shall come under Gods wrath and except they do such and such good works God will be angry with them and that after he hath so sworn and ingaged himself that he will not be wroth with his people any more Is not this to make God a lier Againe wee doe not only so much as lies in us make God a lier but we offer an insufferable affront unto Jesus Christ and strike at the very heart of the whole office of Christs Mediatorship If wee say that God is wroth with Beleevers for whom Christ died for what end did Christ suffer death I say if this principle bee a truth that God will bee wroth with his people and angry with them then Christ died in vaine For God could have been but wroth hee could have been but angry with his people if Christ had never died And to bring the people of God under wrath and vengeance againe for their sins is to take away all the vertue of the death of Christ and to make it of none effect And how will this principle stand with that in the 53. of Isaiah where it is said that he beheld the travell of his soul and was satisfied Was God satisfied with sufrerings of Christ having the sinnes of men laid upon him and yet is God wroth and angry with Beleevers for those very sins again which before hee acknowledged satisfaction for If so be a man be indebted unto another and the creditor be willing to take a surety for the debt and this surety comes in and payes this debt for the man hee was bound for and hee thereupon gives a generall discharge under hand and seal shal he yet by by after take the debter by the throat and clap him up in Gaol when the surety hath answered for the debt before and after hee hath delivered under hand and seal that he was satisfied and that his book was crost Who but must say it is injustice in the highest degree What justice what equity is in this Beloved Christ became our surety God accepted of him for our debt he clapt up Christ in Gaol as I may so say for the debt God tooke every farthing of Christ that hee could demand of us he is now reconciled unto us he will not now impute our sins to us he hath acknowledged satisfaction it is upon record And now shall he come upon them again with fresh wrath for whom Christ hath done all this Shall hee charge the debt upon them againe He hath forgotten the death of Christ it seems if this be true Therefore know thus much that it is against the death of Christ it is a making of it of none effect it makes the coming of Christ to be in vaine to say that the wrath of God will breake out upon Beleevers if they commit such and such sinnes And for this that I have said If any man can produce one Scripture against it if any man can shew in all the Booke of God that it is any otherwise then I have delivered for my part I shall be of another minde and willingly recant my opinion But I see the Scripture runs wholly in this strain and is so full in nothing as in this that God hath generally discharged the sins of Beleevers Oh then take heed of falling into that error of the Papists that say that God hath taken away the sinne but not the wrath of God due to sinne that he hath forgiven our sins but not the punishment of sin But I beseech you consider that as our sinnes were then upon Christ he was so bruised for our iniquity that by his stripes we are healed and the chastisement of our peace was so upon him that he being chastifed for our sins there is nothing else but peace belongs to us And the chastisement of our peace was so upon him that he beheld the travell of his soule and was satisfied Christ was so chastised as I have often said with the rod of Gods wrath that it was quite worne out and wholly spent it selfe upon him This is apparent in the very tenor of the new Covenant it self It runs altogether upon free Gift and Grace God takes upon himself to do all that shall be in Believers asking and requiring nothing at all of us It is true he saith there shall be the new heart and a new spirit and that there shall bee a new Law written in the inward parts But hee requires it not of the Believer but hee himselfe hath undertaken to doe all and bestow upon the Beleever A new heart will I give thee and a new spirit will I put into thee and I will take away thy stony heart and I will give thee a heart of flesh Hee doth not say you must get you new hearts and new spirits and you must get your stony hearts taken away and you must get you hearts of flesh But I will take the worke in hand and I will see all done my self All runs freely upon Gods undertaking for his people Seeing therefore God doth all things freely of his own accord in us then beloved see how the Grace of God is abused by those that would make men beleeve that the Grace of God depends upon mens doings and performances upon actions in the creature and tell men if they doe it not the wrath of God will follow thereupon This likewise batters down to the ground that way of urging men to holinesse which some men hold forth that if men doe not these and these good workes and leave these and these sins then they must come under the wrath of God and that the wrath of God is but hidden all this while they doe these and these good works but if they faile in any of these then the wrath of God will breake out upon them whereas they ought rather after the example of the Apostle to excite them to these good workes because they are already freed from wrath Certainly this that I have delivered proves this sufficiently that the appearing of the Grace of God doth teach men to doe the will of God effectually the love of God constrains the faithfull and not the feare of wrath But to conclude do not mistake me in the mean while I have no thoughts as if wrath and vengeance were not to be preached and made known even to Believers yea beloved wrath and vengeance is to be made known to them and that as the deserts of sin and as the means to keep men from sin Obj. But now some may say this seems to be against all that you have said before this seems to overthrow all that you have delivered Answ Observe me well do not mistake me You must know that wrath and vengeance must be revealed to Believers and it must bee known to the end to restraine them from sin but not in that way men doe ordinarily think I mean thus Wrath and vengeance is not to be revealed as if
all these but that Christ is an Advocate we cannot finde where it is mentioned in all the Scripture but in this place and therefore it will be the more difficult to finde out the intention of the Holy Ghost what he means by this office of Advocateship The word Advocate in the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the some word is used by John in the 1 of John and the 26. verse and attributed unto the Holy Ghost and is there translated the Comforter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Text The Comforter will come Now the same word that we have here Advocate is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And indeed the proper singification of the word is A Comfortable Advocate But the thing it self What is this Advocateship will you say It is a borrowed expression and an allusion opening the prevalency of Christ with the Father for his owne people it is taken from an office among men Advocates in the Common Law you call them Counsellors but in the Civill Law they have this very title of Advocate The office is this namely being well experienced in the nature of the Law and the Rules and Principles of Justice when ever a cause comes to be tried they are to make clear the Principles of Justice and so to plead out Justice on the behalfe of the client for whom they plead I say the office of an Advocate is to plead the cause of a person as it stands in equity and justice and to demand and require a sentence of acquittance and discharge from Justice and equity it selfe Herein an Advocate differs from a Suppliant a Suppliant makes only requests and depends altogether upon favour alone so as if hee should stand to the rigor of Justice he must bee gone and his cause must miscarry I say this is the proper office of a Suppliant or Petitioner but an Advocate hee stands to the justice of a person whose cause hee doth plead and puts the issue of the triall even to Justice it selfe that as the cause can bee cleared to bee a just cause so the Judge would passe a sentence upon the cause just so I say is it with Christ pleading the cause of his own people with the Father in respect of indempnity from sin for his Advocateship is this namely to lay the Law to the Father to plead justice in the discharge of the sinner that doth commit sinne that it is but right and justice to discharge him and it were an unrighteous thing and in justice if he should not I say it is most certainly true that Christ stands here upon justice and he will in righteousnesse have God to discharge his own people from all the sins that they do commit and hee pleads that it is an unrighteous thing to charge them with them or to plague or punish them for them Object But some peradventure will be ready to say this cannot be that Christ as an Advocate should plead for indempnity upon terms of justice for in the strictnesse and the rigor of justice the soule that sinneth must die And the Gospel seems to say it is onely and solely Grace that any person is discharged from sin For in justice there cannot be a claime made of pardon and discharge from sin but all the plea must be meerly bounty and favour Answ This objection seems to have a great deale of strength in it How may these two things stand together that Christ pleading justice God must forgive and yet notwithstanding justice doth sentence a person unto death if he sins For answer to this you must learn to distinguish and I desire you warily to observe this distinction that so you may plainly see a reconciliation of that which seems impossible to be reconciled I say observe this distinction namely first consider the pardon or discharge from sin in regard of any thing laid down in consideration of the sin committed by the person who doth partake of this pardon And secondly consider this pardon or indemnity and discharge from sin in reference unto Christ who gets this discharge Now I say in the former consideration that is in respect of us that do partake of this discharge from sin and in regard of any thing that we can bring in recompence for that sin or satisfie in this regard it is meerly and only Grace that sinners being the members of Christ are discharged When you or I commit sin that God doth discharge us that God doth not lay our sins to us that God doth not give sentence of damnation upon us for such and such sins as we do commit I say it is an act of meer Grace alone Justice cannot 〈◊〉 pleaded in this case But secondly consider the indemnity from sin in respect of Christ who doth get this discharge and doth purchase it of the Father Then Christ is to bee considered two wayes First as Christ is allowed by the Father to stand in the room of such persons whose cause he pleads Or secondly Christ is to be considered as he hath actually made full payment unto the Father his satisfaction being allowed and admitted before thereunto Now I answer considering Christ in his being allowed by the Father to stand in the room of the persons whose cause he pleads so this discharge from sin by Christ it is an act of Grace Christ cannot plead justice that he should be allowed There was not a tye upon the Father that Christ should bee in mans room and that the Father should be unrighteous if hee did not ordain him to bee so it was an act of free Grace in God when men were under the curse and became miserable bankrupts that Christ should make satisfaction for them When one man doth owe another money it is not an unrighteous act in this creditor to refuse a surety he may make the debtor pay the debt himselfe if he will it is matter of grace it is meer courtesie so to doe Even so it is matter of grace that Christ is admitted to come in the roome of man and to stand in the stead of man 〈◊〉 to beare the sins of man For him to be 〈◊〉 to beare the wrath of God for these sins that another hath committed this is an act of grace and in regard of these particulars is the Scripture so frequent in these expressions of the free Grace of God in communicating this discharge and pardon of sin unto sinners But secondly consider Christ allowed of the Father to stand in the room of men as he hath come forth and paid down the utmost farthing that God in justice could demand for or in consideration of these sins that are committed by his people I say when Christ hath deposited or delivered up into the hands of his Father the utmost farthing that hee could charge upon Believers or demand on their behalfe this being received by the Father acknowledgement being made by him upon the receipt of what Christ hath paid this I say considered it is an
in generall If any man sin as if he had said there must something be done by Believers that goes beyond the being of sin before they can be excluded from having interest in the Advocateship of Christ Here the Apostle speaks expresly there is an Advocateship of Christ for Believers finning without exception I know it is too frequent among many that more grosse sins then ordinary in a Believeâ— do not only waste the conscience but do also interpose between such a person and Christ of which we shall have occasion to speak else-where For present there is a coâ—â—eit that if a Believer sine more then ordinarily presently there is just câ—use for him to suspect Christ will not sufficiently manage his office for him an least Christ hath not sufficiently managed it already so that there is juâ—t cause of feare But let me tell you to the everlasting consolation of Gods people that there is no sin which a Believer can commit which can exclude him from the benifit of this Advocateship or bring him beyond the bounds of this large grant If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father And if it be any man you will say it extends to all men in the world as well as Believers if any man sin Nay there is a restraint in the words and you shall easily see it If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father If any of us that have fellowship with the Father and the Son it is not every one that hath Christ for an Advocate but those that are Believers Those that have right to fellowship with the Father and the Son are only spoken of in this place I speak this to the end that those who 〈…〉 fear of death are subject unto bondage all their lives long â—ay know that Christ is coâ—â—e to deliver them and reveales this truth on purpose to deliver them from the feare of death and bondage by being their Advocate for their sins He is an Advocate he is a propitiation for every sin of his The words run in the generall to the end If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father and he is the propitiation for our sins The Apostle doth not say he is not an Advocate for such and such but for such and such Believers that sin so and so if they commit sin so and so agravated and if their sins rise to such an height there is no propitiation for them But the Apostle speaks in the generall style If any man sin and he is the propitiation for our sins and yet beloved I must be bold to goe a little further in respect of the persons whose cause Christ doth plead and in whose behalf Christ is an Advocate I say it is for all sorts of Believers nay I go further it is for more then present Believers even for some who are not for the present Believers but remaine as yet in a state of unbelief In brief Christ is the Advocate of the cause of euery person in the world for whom he paid the price of redemption whether they be persons already called or persons not yet acquainted with the Grace of God for every Elect person as well unconverted as converted Christ doth equalty in respect of the substance of his plea interpose but when I say he plead as well for the unconverted as for the converted I mean for such unconverted persons as do belong unto the election of Grace and have their portion in the price of his blood Beloved for mine own part I cannot yet conceive any other considerable difference between the plea of Christ for the converted persons and the Elect unconverted but this circumstantiall difference namely that the value of his blood is equally of force to Believers and unbelievers being elected saving that the Belevers have this priviledge that the Lord Christ pleads for the manifestation of this discharge unto this converted person but pleads not for the present manifestation there of unto the unconverted elect person tell such time as he shall be called to the faith and by that faith that thing be made evident which before was hid I say the pardon of sin by the blood of Câ—rist is 〈◊〉 full for the unconverted elect person as fully passed over in grant I mean to that person as to the Believer himself God doth add never a tittle of pardon it self more to him that is a Believer then to that person not yet converted to the faith in regard of the substance of the pardon it self For the cleering of this to you I beseech you note what is the rise or ground-work of the pardon of sin Secondly note when this pardon of sin is compleat with God These two things considered you shal perceive that all the pardon in respect of the substance of it that God passeth over unto men he doth passe it over before their conversion Look I say upon the rise the true rise or originall of the pardon of sin is the gracious grant of God upon the blood of Christ shed This is the onely foundation of pardon I say Gods gracious grant upon the sheding of the blood of Christ there is no pardon appliable to any person in the world but what pardon is to be found in the word of Grace Thou that art a Believer at present thou hast the pardon of thy sins in thy spirit thou art assured of it Where hadst thou this pardon Didst thou not fetch it out of the word of Grace Then as soon as the word of Gods Grace was first published this Grace of the pardon of sin was held forth If thou foundest it not here thou found'st it some where else but tell me where will you have this Grant of God to build upon if you will not have it in the word of Grace You will say the Spirit of God will reveale it unto you It is true indeed but if the Spirit of the Lord doth reveal a grant to you of Grace it is according to his Word The Spirit speaking out of the word oâ— Grace to men speakes no otherwise but according to this word of Grace in men and if that there be a contradiction between the inward voyce and this word of Grace that is enough to give you cause of suspicion yea you may be confident that that voice within you in respect of such contradiction is a false voyce I say that the Lord Christ sends us unto his Word and from the word we take out the pardon of sin we have Now beloved I beseech you consider if all pardon to all the Elect to the end of the world be contained in this word of Grace there is no more pardon then what is written there then it must needs follow that God passed over his act of pardon of sin at that instant when he entred this pardon in the volume of his Book Is there no pardon till thou art converted and called then the pardon of all thy sins are not to be
all the members of Christ all that Christ hath prevailed for with the Father they are the beloved of the Father and the darlings of his soule and his love ceaseth not nay his love diminisheth not to them when they are under the rod. One word of application and so I shall have done Is it so beloved that Christ is such an Advocate that having such a strength of plea in his righteousnesse he produceth such a good issue as to bring at the last reconciliation In a word then you know what to trust unto for your soules discharge and comfort In many things wee sin all what should uphold your spirits that your sinnes should not sink your soules Here is held out unto you the great Supporter the Righteousnesse of Christ the Righteousnesse of God I will uphold thee with the right hand of thy righteousnesse Isaiah 41. vers 10. feare not be not discouraged and why the close of all is this I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousnesse If you goe any where else for support when sin is committed your sins will sink you and swallow you up nothing can beare you up in respect of the weight of sin but the right hand of his righteousnesse that alone is the thing that must uphold your spirits or nothing at all can doe it O that the Lord would be pleased to work upon your spirits to betake your selves to this support and to fix your spirits upon the fulnesse of support and strength that is in this righteousnesse of his When the Israelites were stung by the fiery Serpents it was not the applying of a plaister could heal them only the brazen Serpent could heal them and nothing but the brazen Serpent Oh look upon the brazen Serpent the Lord Jesus look not upon any other plaister in the world but him to heal your wounded soules stung with the Serpent of your sins though they may serve for other uses yet they have not so much vertue in them as to heale the sting of sin Fix your eyes here cast your selves here rest here let the weight of your souls lean here Hee that believeth shall be saved hee that believeth not shall be damned He that believeth shall be established hee that believeth not shall not be established Oh go not to Christ as if there were not enough in him to answer your transgressions that you must carry something else with you to him that may be a help to your discharge if ever discharge from heaven come unto your spirits it is onely the hand of Christ by his Spirit that must bring it down to you and nothing in the world can doe it but that discharge as it is recorded in the Word of Grace in things that come by relation unto men and so are opened unto them How can men be satisfied concerning the thing reported but upon the credit of him that is the reporter thereof to sit down satisfied by faith concerning the truth thereof Let a man tell me never so good news if I doe not believe him my spirit is not satisfied So concerning the discharge from sin beloved you heare it related from heaven Wee have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins Now there is no way in the world to know that there is such a thing as an Advocate and Propitiation but as it is revealed from heaven The Apostle Iohn hee indeed reveales it here if hee had delivered it meerly as hee is man so it had occasioned suspicion and doubting but as it is the revelation of the Holy Ghost and of Christ himselfe by the Apostle so wee are to stick close unto it and wee shall finde rest unto our soules as wee can credit the report of it therefore as the Lord will work upon your spirits take up your rest where rest is to be found so your souls shall rest you shall lie down and sleep in peace and safety you shall sing and leap for joy and you shall have all peace and joy in believing O that men would keep up the dying language of a Martyr None but Christ none but Christ in matters of faith and stability of spirit in matters of peace of conscience as well as in matters of salvation And so I shall commend this word to the grace of God in respect of the issue thereof upon your spirits SERMON X SOLOMONS SONG 4.10 Thou art all fair my Love and there is no spot in thee THe Gospel of Christ being the great and invaluable treasure of the Church the Helena for which the Church should contend yea the Sanctuary and refuge thereof It hath pleased the Holy Ghost to present and hold forth this Gospel in variety or change of rayment as I may so speak sometimes presenting the Gospel as it were in a cloud more darkly by Visions and dreams when deep sleep was fallen upon Gods people Thus the Lord in former ages frequently held out the Gospel especially in that notable example of Jacob who while he slept had the Gospel preached unto him in the vision of a ladder that reached from earth unto heaven by which the Angels ascended and descended which Ladder was nothing else but Christ by whom alone the sons of men doe mount from the lowest condition of Sin and Misery to the highest condition of Grace and Glory Sometimes the Gospel was brought forth to the Church with a mask upon the face of it I mean in hard Riddles and dark Sentences to exercise the wits of Gods people and thus among other times the Gospel was presented unto Sampson You know the Riddle that was put forth occasioned by a Lion shine by him which being dead there was a stocke of honey in the Lion which represented unto his thoughts the admirable benefit and priviledge of the preaching of the Gospel Out of the eater came meat and out of the strong came sweetnesse It was nothing else but this Jesus Christ the Lion of the Tribe of Judah by death had a stock of honey not only nourishing but sweet to the eater Sometimes again the Gospel was presented though not with so darke masks yet with a vail over the visage and face of it that though some of the beauty of it might be seen yet in respect of the glory of it in an obscure way and thus the Gospel was exhibited unto the Jewes in their types and shadowes and thus the Gospel was held forth in their Sacrifices Temples Tabernacles Altars Mercy-seat and Incense and the like In all of which there was a generall darknesse namely a puting over the face of Moses a vail who in that represented Christ the Mediator as he was to be exhibited unto the people in those times and yet although for royalty and honours sake the Gospel was vailed yet sometimes the Holy Ghost was pleased to lift up the vail for a moment as it were that there might some glance of the beauty of it appeare