is a foolish thing for any to think of keeping both Christ and their lusts too it is a vain thing for any to think of saving the life of his sins and the life of his soul too If sin escape your soul cannot escape if thou art not the death of thy sins they will be the death and ruin of thy soul Marriage is a knot or tye wherein persons are mutually limitted and bound each to other in a way of conjugal separation from all others and this in Scripture is Prov. 2. 17. called a Covenant So when any one marries Christ he doth therein discharge himself in affection and subjection from all that is contrary unto Christ and solemnly Covenants and binds himself to Christ alone he will have no Saviour and no Lord but Christ and to him will he cleave for ever Psal 63. 8. Acts 11. 23. But Secondly This marriage-union with Christ doth include John 1. 12. Acts 5. 31. Coloss 2. 6. Weigh well these Scriptures Psalm 1â—2 3. Psalm 5. 5. Hosea 2. 7. and take in a hearty willingness to take to receive the Lord Jesus Christ for your Saviour and Soveraign Are you willing to consent to the match 't is not enough that Christ is willing to enter into a marriage-union with us but we must be willing also to enter Many can chuse Christ as a Refuge to hide them from danger and as a Friend to help them in their need who yet refuse him as a Husband into a marriage-union with him God will never force a Christ nor force salvation upon us whether we will or no Many approve of Christ and cry up Christ who yet are not willing to give their consent that he and he alone shall be their Prince and Saviour though knowledge of persons be necessary and fit yet it is not sufficient to marriage without consent for marriage ought to be a voluntary transaction of persons in marriage we do in a sort give away our selves and elect and make choice for our selves and therefore consent is a necessary concurrence to marriage Now this consent is nothing else but a free and plain act of the will accepting of Jesus Christ before all others to be its Head and Lord and in the souls choice of him to be its Saviour and Soveraign Then a man is married to Christ when he doth freely and absolutely and presently receive the Lord Jesus not I would have Christ if it did not prejudice my worldly estate ease friends relations c. or hereafter I will accept of him when I come to dye and be in distress but now when salvation is offered now while Christ tenders himself I now yield up my heart and life unto him But Thirdly This marriage union with Christ includes and takes in an universal and perpetual consent for all time and in all states and conditions There is you know a great difference between a wife and a strumpet a wife takes her husband upon all terms to have and to hold for better and for worse for richer and for poorer in sickness and in health whereas a strumpet is only for hire and lust when the purse is emptied or the body wasted and strength consumed the harlots love is at an end so here That acceptance and consent which tyes the marriage knot between Christ and the soul must be an unlimited and indefinite acceptance and consentâ— when we take the Lord Jesus Christ wholly and entirely without any secret reservations or exceptions That soul that will have Christ must have all Christ or no Christ For Christ is not divided That soul must entertain 1 Cor. 1. 13. Rev. 14. 4. Psal 66. 12. him to all purposes and intents he must follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth though it should be through fire and water over mountans and hills he must take him with his cup of affliction as well as his cup of consolation with his shameful cross as well as his glorious Heb. 2. 3. crown with his great sufferings as well as his great salvation with his grace as well as his mercy with his spirit to lead and govern them as well as his blood to redeem and justifie them to suffer for him as well as to 2 Tim. 2. 12. Acts 21. 13. Rom. 14. 7 8. reign with him to dye for him as well as to live to him Christianity like the wind Caecias doth ever draw clouds afflictions after it All that will live godly in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 3. 12. shall suffer persecution A man may have many faint wishes and cold desires after godliness yet escape persecution yea he may make some assays attempts as if he would be godly and yet escape persecution but when a man is The common cry of Persecutors hath been Christianes ad I câ—nâ—s within the first 300. years after Christ upon the matter all that made a profession of the Apostles Doctrine were cruelly murdered thorowly resolved to be Godly and sets himself in good earnest upon pursuing after holyness and living a life of Godlyness then he must expect to meet with afflictions and persecutions who ever escapes the Godly man shall not escape persecution in one kind or another in one degree or another He that is peremptorily resolved to live up to holy rules and to live out holy principles must prepare for sufferings All the Roses of holyness are surrounded with pricking Briars The History of the Ten Persecutions and that little Book of Martyrs the 11. of the Hebrews and Mr. Fox his Acts and Monuments with many other Treatises that are extant do abundantly evidence that from age to age and from one generation to another they that have been born after the flesh have persecuted them that hath been born after the Gal. 4. 29. spirit and that the seed of the Serpent have been still a multiplying of troubles upon the seed of the Woman But a Believers future glory and pleasure will abundantly recompense him for his present pain and ignominy But such as will have Christ for their Saviour and Soveraign but still with some proviso or other viz. That they may keep such a beloved lust or enjoy such carnal pleasures and delights or raise such an estate for them and theirs or comply with the times and such and such great mens humours or that they may follow the Lamb only in Sun-shine weather c. these are still Satans bondslaves and such as Christ can take no pleasure nor delight to espouse himself unto But The third word of Advice and Counsel is this viz. Put off the old man and put on the new Consult the Scriptures Col. 3. 9 10. Eph. 4. 22 23 24. Gal. 6. 15. 1 Pet. 2. 2. in the margin You must be new Creatures or else it had been better you had been any Creatures than what you are 2 Cor. 5. 17. If any man be in Christ he is a nâ—w Creature old things are past away behold all
that the many weaknesses that hang upon you and the decays of Nature that dayly do attend you seem to point out an approaching dissolution I shall at this time give you this one word of Counsel viz. That every day you would look upon Death in a Scripture-glass in a Scripture-dress or under a Scripture-notion That is First Look upon death as that which is best for a believer Phil. 1. 23. For I am in a strait betwixt two having 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nâ—c Christus nec caelum patitur hyperbolen saith one here it is hâ—rd to hyperbolice a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better The Greek is very significant far far the better or far much better or much more better 't is a most transcendent expression Eccles 7. 1. Better is the day of death than the day of ones birth A Saint's dying day is the day-break of Eternal Righteousness In respect of pleasure peace safety company glory a Believer's dying day is his best day I have read of one Trophonius that when he had built and dedicated that stately Temple at Delphos he asked of Apollo for his recompence that thing which was best for man The Oracle wished him to go home and within three days he should have it and within that time he died It was an excellent saying of one of the Ancients That is not a death but life which joyns the dying man to Christ and that is not a life but death which separates a living man from Christ But Secondly Look upon Death as a remedy as a cure Death will perfectly cure you of all corporal and spiritual Vltimus morborum medicus mors diseases at once the crazy body and the defiled soul the aking head and the unbelieving heart Death will cure you of all your ails aches diseases and distempers At Stratford-bow in Queen Mary's days there was burnt Act. and Mon. Fol. 1733. a lame man and a blind man at one stake the lame man after he was chained casting away his crutch bad the blind man be of good comfort for death saith he will cure us both thee of thy blindness and me of my lameness And as Death will cure all your bodily diseases so it will cure all your soul distempers also Death is not Mors hominis but Mors peccati not the death of the man but the death of his sin Death will work such a cure as all your Duties Graces Experiences Ordinances Assurances could never do for it will at once free you fully perfectly and perpetually from all sin yea from all possibility of ever sinning more Sin was the Midwife that Peccâ—tum erat obstetrix mortis c. mors sepuâ—chrum pec aâ—i Ambrose de bono mortis c. 4 brought death into the World and death shall be the grave to bury sin and why then should a Christian be afraid to die or unwilling to die seeing Death gives him a Writ of ease from infirmities and weaknesses from all aches and pains griefs and gripings distempers and diseases both of body and soul When Sampson died the Philistines also died together with him so when a Saint dies his sins die with him Death came in by sin and sin goeth out by death as the worm kills the worm that bred it so death kills sin that bred it But Thirdly Look upon death as a rest a full rest a believer's dying day is his resting day It is a resting day Rev. 14. 13. Job 3. 13 to 17. 2 Thes 1. 7. Micah 2. 10. Jer. 50. 6. from sin sorrow afflictions temptations desertions dissentions vexations oppositions and persecutions This world was never made to be the Saints rest Arise for this is not your resting place they are like Noah's Dove they can rest no where but in the Ark and in the Grave In the grave saith Job the weary are at rest Upon this very ground some of the most refined Heathens have accounted Mortality to be a mercy for they brought their friends into the World with mournful Obsequies but carried them out of the world with all joyful sports and pastimes because then they conceived they were at rest and out of Gun-shot Death brings the Saints to a full-rest to a pleasant rest to a matchless rest to an eternal rest But Fourthly Look upon your dying day as a reaping day Now you shall reap the fruit of all the prayers 2 Cor. 9. 2. Gal. 6. 7 8 9. Isa 38. 3. Mat. 25. 31 to 41. that ever you have made and of all the tears that ever you have shed and of all the sighs and groans that ever you have fetched and of all the good words that ever you have spoke and of all the good works that ever you have done and of all the great things that ever you have suffered When Mortality shall put on Immortality Eccles 11. 1. 6. you shall then reap a plentiful Crop a glorious Crop as the fruit of that good seed that for a time hath seemed to be buried and lost As Christ hath a tender heart and a soft hand so he hath an Iron memory he punctually Mat. 10. 24 25. remembers all the sorrows and all the services and all the sufferings of his people to reward them and crown them Rev. 22. 12. But Fifthly Look upon your dying day as a gainful day there is no gain to that which comes in by death Phil 1. Eccles 7. 1. Phil. 1. 23. 21. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain A Christian gets more by death than he doth by life to be in Christ is very good but to be with Christ is best of all 'T was a mighty blessing for Christ to be with Paul on earth but 't was the top of Blessings for Paul to be with Christ in heaven Seriously consider of a few things First That by death you shall gain incomparable Crowns 1. A Crown of Life Rev. 2. 10. Jam. 1. 12. 2. A Crown of Righteousness 2 Tim. 4. 8. 3. An Incorruptible Crown 1 Cor. 9. 24 25. 4. A Crown of Glory 1 Pet. 5. 4. Now there are no Crowns to these Crowns as I have fully discovered in my discourse on The Divine Presence to which I refer you But Secondly You shall gain a Glorious Kingdom Luk. 12. 32. It is your father's pleasure to give you a Kingdom But death is the young Prophet that anointeth them to it and giveth them actual possession of it They must put off their rags of Mortality that they may put on their robes of Glory Israel must first die in Egypt before he can be carried into Canaan There is no entring into Paradise but under the flaming sword of this Angel Death that standeth at the Gate Death is the dirty Lane through which the Saint passeth to a Kingdom to a great Kingdom to a glorious Kingdom Heb. 12. 28. Dan. 2 44. cap. â— 3. Rev. 19 7. to a quiet Kingdom to an
Christ was manifested to be a true man he had a body like ours a body subject to manifold infirmities yea to death it self That body which Christ had is said to be prepared by God the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is translated prepared is a Metaphor from Mechanicks who do artificially fit one part of their work to another and so finish the whole God fitted his son's body to be joyned with the Deity and to be an expiatory sacrifice for sin The word prepared implies that God the father ordained formed and made fit and able Christ's humane nature to undergo suffer and fulfil that for which he was sent into the world God the father is here said to have prepared Christ a body because Christ having received of his father the humane nature out of the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Mat. 1. 20. Luk 1. 31. 35. Holy Ghost here gives up the same unto the service of his father to do to suffer to die that he might be a sacrifice of expiation for our sins As for the words of the Psalmist Psal 40. 6. Mine ear hast thou opened Heb. digged open It is a proverbial manner of speech whereby there is implyed the qualifying or fitting a man unto obedience in service the ear or the opening of the ear Isa 50 5. Job 3. 16. being an emblem or symbol or a Metaphorical sign of obedience Now St. Paul following the translation of the Septuagint and being directed by the spirit of God expounds this of God's sanctifying and fitting a body unto Christ wherein hs was obedient even unto the shameful death of the Cross These words thou hast bored through mine ears do import that Christ now becoming man gives up himself to be a willing servant of his father to obey him unto the death of the cross And it is a similitude taken from the servants of the Hebrews who after that they had served their masters six years would not depart out of their master's service the seventh year but abide in it continually until death for a testimony whereof their ear was bored thorow on the posts of the door as may be seen Exod. 21. 6. It is therefore as much as if he should say thou hast given me a body that is willing and ready in thy service even unto death But to conclude this head the Apostle speaking of disanulling the sacrifice of the Law he uses this word body to set out a sacrifice which should come in stead of the legal sacrifices to effect that which the legal sacrifices could not effect But Fourthly Observe that Christ our Mediator freely and readily offers himself to be our pledg and surety Then said I lo I come to wit as surety to pay the ransome and to do thy will O God Every word carrieth a special emphasis as 1. The time Then even so soon as he perceived that his father had prepared his body for such an end then without delay this speed implyeth forwardness and readiness he would lose no opportunity 2. His profession in this word said I he did not closely secretly timorously as being ashamed thereof but he maketh profession before-hand 3. This note of observation Lo this is a kind of calling Angels and men to witness and a desire that all might know his inward intention and the disposition of his heart wherein was as great a willingness as any could have to any thing 4. An offering of himself without any enforcement or compulsion this he manifesteth in this word I come 5. That very instant set out in the present tense I come he puts it not off to a future and uncertain time but even in that moment he saith I come 6. The first person twice expressed thus I said I come he sendeth not another person nor substituteth any in his room but he even he himself in his own person cometh All which do abundantly evidence Christ's singular readiness and willingness as our surety to do his father's will though it were by suffering and by being made a sacrifice for our sins God's will was the rule of Christ's active and passive obedience Jesus Christ our only Mediatour and surety by free and ready obedience and death did make a proper real and full satisfaction to God's justice for the sins of all the Elect. Christ hath by his death and blood as an invaluable price of our redemption made sure the favour of God the pardon of our sins and the salvation of our souls Christ hath freed his chosen from all temporal spiritual and eternal punishments properly so called so that now the mercy of God may embrace the sinner without the least of wrong to his truth or justice But Fifthly Observe that Jesus Christ our surety does not only agree with his father about the price that he was to lay down for our redemption but also agrees with his father about the persons that were to be redeemed and their sanctification Heb. 10. 10. By the which will that is by the execution of which will by the obedience of Christ to his heavenly father we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all Jesus Christ agrees with the father that all those shall be sanctified for whom he has suffered and satisfied The vertue efficacy and benefit of that which ariseth from the aforesaid will of the father and of the son is expressed under this word sanctified To pass by the notation and divers acceptations of this word sanctified let it suffice to tell you It is not here to be taken as distinguished from justification or glorification as it is else where taken but 1 Cor. 1. 30. cap. 6. 11. so as comprising under it all the benefits of Christ's sacrifice In this general and large extent it is sometimes Heb. 10. 14. cap. 2. 11. A◠26. 18. taken only this word sanctified here gives us to understand that perfection consisteth especially in holiness for he expresseth the perfection of Christ's sacrifice under the word sanctified which implyeth a making holy this Eccles 7. 31. was that special part of perfection wherein man was made at first and whereunto the Apostle alludeth where Eph. 4. 2◠he exhorteth To put on that new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness for this end Christ gave himself even unto death for his Church that he might sanctifie it The principal thing under this Eph. 5. 25. word sanctified in this place is that Christ's sacrifice maketh perfect in this respect Christ's sacrifice is here opposed to the legal sacrifices which could not make perfect So that Christ's sacrifice was offered up to do that which they could not do for this end was Christ's sacrifice surrogated in the room of the legal sacrifices now this surrogation had been in vain if Christ's sacrifice had not made us perfect if the dignity of his person that was offered up and his
Paradice opened OR THE SECREETS MYSTERIES AND RARITIES Of Divine Love of Infinite Wisdom and of Wonderful Counsel laid open to Publick View ALSO The Covenant of Grace and the high and glorious Transactions of the Father and the Son in the Covenant of Redemption opened and improved at large with the Resolution of divers important Questions and Cases concerning both Covenants YOU HAVE FURTHER Several singular Pleas that all sincere Christians may safely and groundedly make to those Ten Scriptures in the Old and New Testament that speak of the general Judgment and of that particular Judgment that must certainly pass upon them all after Death With some other Points of high Importance that tend to the Peace Comfort Settlement and Satisfaction of all serious sincere Christians To which is added a sober and serious Discourse about the Favourable Signal and Eminent Presence of the Lord with his People in their greatest Troubles deepest Distresses and most deadly Dangers Being the Second and Last Part of the Golden Key By Thomas Brooks late Preacher of the Gospel at Margarets New-Fishstreet LONDON Printed for Dorman Newman at the King's Arms in the Poultry and at the Ship and Anchor at the Bridg-foot on Southwark-side 1675. To his honoured Friends Sir John More Knight and Alderman of the City of London and to his good Lady Mary More his most affectionate Consort The Father of all mercies and the God of all blessings bless you both with Grace and Peace here and Glory hereafter Honoured Friends CHristian Friendship makes such a knot that great It s the saying of Euripides that a faithful Friend is better than a calm Sea to a weather beaten Mariner Alexander cannot cut It was well observed by Sir Francis Bacon That old wood is best to burn and old Books best to read and old Friends best to trust It was a witty saying of the Duke of Buckingham to Bishop Monton in Richard the III. his time Faithful Friends saith he are in this age for the most part gone all in pilgrimage their return is uncertain They seem to take away the Sun out of the World said the Heathen Oratour who take away friendship from the life of men and we do not more need fire and water then true Friendship In this Epistle I shall endeavour so to acquit my self as becomes a real Friend a cordial Friend a faithful Friend and a Soul-friend as to your great and everlasting concernments that it may go well with you for ever and ever Sir the points that are handled in this following Treatise and in the first part are of as high choice necessary noble useful and comfortable a nature as any that can be treated on by mortal man The four things which God minds most and loves most are 1. His honour 2. His worship 3. His People 4. His truth Surely their souls must needs be of a very sad complexion who can read the great truths that are here opened and applyed and not 1. Dearly love them 2. Highly prize them 3. Cordially bless God for them 4. Seriously ponder and meditate upon them 5. And not frequently and diligently study them and make a gracious and dayly improvement of them The Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Redemption are a rich Armory out of which you may furnish your selves with all sorts of spiritual weapons wherewith you may encounter Satans temptations wiles devices methods depths stratagems Nothing of Satans Eph. 6. 11. 2 Cor. 2. 11. Revel 2. 24. can stand before the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Redemption well understood and well applyed In the Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Redemption 2 Sam. 23. 5. Isa 54. 9 10. Jer. 32. 38 39 40 41. Zach. 9. 11. Heb. 13. 20. that is past betwixt God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ you will find many rich and rare cordials which have a strong tendency to preserve all gracious souls from desponding and fainting 1. In times of afflictions 2. In times of temptations 3. In times of desertion 4. In times of sufferings for Christs sake and the Gospels sake 5. In times of opposition 6. And at the time of death and dissolution There are no comforts nor cordials that can reach the souls of Christians in their deep distresses but such as flow from these two Covenants the more it concerns all such Christians to study these two Covenants and to be well acquainted with them that so they may the more readily have recourse to such cordials as their present estate and condition calls for In these two Covenants you will find much matter which has a strong tendency 1. To inflame your love to God and Christ and all in the Covenant of Grace Psal 116. 1. 9. 16. Psalm 3. 2 Sam. 23. 5. Psal 103. 17 8. Psal 111. 5 9 17. Gen. 1. 2. 2 Cor. 2. 14. Galat. 6. 14. 2. To strengthen your faith 3. To raise your hopes 4. To cheer your souls 5. To quiet and satisfy your consciences 6. To engage you to a close and holy walking with God 7. To provoke you to triumph in free grace and in the Lord Jesus Christ 8. To sit loose from this world The riches and Treasures that are wrapt up in both these Covenants are so great so sure so durable and so sutable to all believers as may well deaden their Revt 12. 1. hearts to all the riches and glories of this lower world In these two Covenants every sincere Christian will find 1. A special salve for every spiritual sore 2. A special remedy against every spiritual malady 3. A special plaster against every spiritual wound 4. A spiritual magazene to supply all their spiritual wants and 5. A spiritual shelter under every spiritual storm In these two Covenants you will find food to nourish you a staff to support you a guid to lead you a fire to warm you and springs of life to cheer and refresh you In this Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Redemption 'T was the saying of an eminent Saint on his Death-bed that he had much peace and quietness not so much from a greater measure of grace than other Christians had or from any immediat witness of the spirit but because he had a more clear understanding of the Covenant of Grace than many others having studied it and preacht it so many years as he had done you may clearly see the wisdom counsel love and transactions between the Father and the Son sparkling and shining there being nothing under Heaven that contributes more to the peace comfort assurance settlement and satisfaction of sincere Christians than such a sight the main reason why so many gracious souls are so full of fears doubts darkness and disputes about their internal and eternal estates is because they have no more clear and full understanding of these two Covenants and if such Christians would but more seriously buckle to the study of those two covenants as they are opened
unshaken Kingdom to a durable Kingdom to a lasting Kingdom yea to an everlasting Kingdom Death is a dark short way through which the Saints pass to the Marriage-supper of the Lamb. But Thirdly You shall gain a safe and honourable Convoy into that other world Luk. 16. 22. Oh in what pomp and triumph did Lazarus ride to heaven on the wings of Angels The Angels conduct the Saints at death through the Air the Devil's Region every gracious soul is carried into Christ's Presence by these heavenly Courtiers Oh what a sudden change does death make behold he that even now was scorned by men is all on a sudden carried by Angels into Abraham's bosom But Fourthly You shall gain a glorious welcome a joyful Rev. 4. 8 to 11. Luk. 15. 7 10. Heb. 12. 23. welcome a wonderful welcome into heaven By general consent of all Antiquity the holy Angels and blessed Trinity rejoyce at the sinner's Conversion but oh what inexpressible what transcendent joy is there when a Saint is landed upon the Shore of Eternity God and Christ Angels and Arch-angels all stand ready to welcome the Believer as soon as his feet are upon the threshold of Glory God the Father welcomes the Saints as his elect and chosen ones Jesus Christ welcomes them as his redeemed and purchased ones and the Holy Spirit welcomes them as his sanctified and renewed ones and the Blessed Angels welcome them as those they have Heb. 1. ult guarded and attended on When the Saints enter upon the Suburbs of Glory the glorious Angels welcome them with harps in their hands and ditties in their mouths But Fifthly You shall gain full freedom and liberty from all your enemies within and without viz. Sin Satan Luk. 1. 70 71 74 75. and the World 1. Death will free you from the indwelling power of sin In heaven there is no complaints Rom. 7. 23. as in hell there is nothing but wickedness so in heaven there is nothing but holiness 2. Death will free Gal. 5. 17. you from the power and prevalency of sin Here sin plays the Tyrant but in heaven there is no Tyranny but perfect felicity 3. Death will free you from all provocations temptations and suggestions to sin Now you shall be above all Satan's batteries Now God will make Rom. 16. 20. good the promise of treading Satan under your feet Some say Serpents will not live in Ireland The old Serpent Rev. 12. 8 9. cap. 21. ult is cast out and shall be for ever kept out of the new Jerusalem above 4. Death will free you from all the effects and consequents of sin viz. losses crosses sicknesses diseases disgraces sufferings c. when the cause is taken away the effect ceases when the fountain of sin is dried up the streams of afflictions of sufferings must be dryed up the fuel being taken away the fire will go out of it self Sin and sorrow were born together do live together and shall die together To open this fourth Particular a little more fully to you consider these four things First That death will free you from all reproach and ignominy on your names Now Elijah is accounted the 1 King 18. 17. Nâ—hem 6. 6. Psal 69. 12. Jer. 15. 10. Troubler of Israel Nehemiah a Rebel against his King and David the song of the Drunkards and Jeremiah a man of contention and Paul a pestilent fellow Heaven Act. 24. 10. wipes away all blots as well as all tears as no sins so no blots are to be found in that upper world The names of all the Saints in a state of Glory are written as I may say in Characters of Gold But Secondly Death will free you from all bodily infirmities and diseases we carry about in our bodies the matter of a thousand deaths and may die a thousand several Above all things let us every day think 〈◊〉 our last day 〈◊〉 〈…〉 naus ways each several hour As many senses as many members nay as many pores as there are in the body so many windows there are for death to enter in at death needs not spend all its arrows upon us a worm a gnat a fly a hair the stone of a raisin the kirnel of a grape the fall of a horse the stumbling of a foot the prick of a pin the pairing of a nail the cutting of a corn all these have been to others and any one of them may be to us the means of our death within the space of a few days nay of a few hours Here Job had his Botches and Job 2. 6 7. Isâ— 37 21. 〈◊〉 â—8 5. 〈◊〉 20. Maâ— 9. 20. Hezekiah had his Boil and David his Wounds and Lazarus his Sores and the poor Widow her Issue of Blood Now the Feaver burns up some and the Dropsie drowns others and the Vapours stifle others one dies of an Appoplexy in the head another of a Struma in the neck a third of a Squinancy in the throat and a fourth of a Cough and Consumption of the lungs others of Obstructions Inflamations Plurisies Gouts c. We are commonly full of complaints one complains of this distemper and another of that one of this disease and another of that but death will cure us of all diseases and distempers at once But Thirdly Death will free you from all your sorrows whether inward or outward whether for your own sins Psal 38. 18. 2 Cor. 7. 11. Psal 119 136. Nehem. 1. 3 4. or the sins of others whether for your own sufferings or the sufferings of others Now it may be one shall seldom find you but with tears in your eyes or sorrow in your heart O but now death will be the funeral of all your sorrows death will wipe all tears from your eyes and sorrow and mourning shall flee away Isa 51. 11. But Fourthly Death will free you from all those troubles calamities miseries mischiefs and desolations that are Isa 57 1. Mâ—â—h 7. 1 to 7. a coming upon the earth or upon this place or that A year after Methuselah's death the Flood came and carried away the old world Augustine died a little before the sacking of Hippo Luther observes that all the Apostles died before the destruction of Jerusalem And Luther himself died a little before the Wars brake forth in Germany Dear Lady death shall do that for you which all your Physicians could never do for you which all your Relations could never do for you which all Ordinances could never do for you nor which all your faithful Ministers could never do for you it shall both instantly and perfectly cure you of all sorts of Maladies and weaknesses both inward and outward or that respects either your body or your soul or both Oh my dear friend is it not better to die and be rid of all sin to die and be rid of all temptations and desertions to die and be rid of all sorts of miseries than to live and still carry about with
obstinate Rebellion of the greatest part of the Jews against that blessed word which he had clearly and faithfully made known to them When Christ looked upon the paucity and small number of those that his Ministry had any saving and powerful work upon he pours out his complaints before the father not that Christ's pains in his ministry among the Jews were wholly in vain either in regard of God that sent him or in regard of the persons unto whom he was sent as if not any at all were converted Oh no! for some were called converted and sanctified as you may see by the Scriptures in the margin Or in regard of himself as if any loss or prejudice should thereby redound unto him Oh no! but in regard of the small the slender effect that his great labours had hitherto found yet surely my judgment is with the Lord. Christ for the better support and re-encouraging of himself to persist in his employment opposeth unto the want of the chiefly desired success of his labours with men the gracious acceptance of them with God It is as if Christ had said although my labour hath not produced such fruits and effects as I indeed desired yet I do comfort and bear up my heart with this that my heavenly father knows that in the office and place wherein he hath set me I have faithfully done all that could be done for the salvation of poor sinners souls and for the securing of them from wrath to come And my work or reward with my God that is the reward of my work or my wages for my work which God will render unto me not according to the issue or success of my labours but according to my pains therein taken and the faithful discharge of my office and duty therein What saith Christ though the Jews believe not repent not return not to the most high yet my labour is not lost for my God will really he will signally reward me Upon this God the father comes off more freely and roundly and opens his heart more abundantly to Jesus Christ and tells him in the fifth and sixth verses following that he will give him full compleat and honourable satisfaction for all his pains and labours in preaching in doing in suffering and dying that he might bring many sons to glory vers 5. And now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob again to him though Israel is not gathered yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength In this verse you have a farther encouragement to our Lord Jesus Christ God the father engaging himself not only to support him and protect him in the work of his Ministry but of making him glorious in it and by it also and that though his work should not prove so successful among his own people as he desired yet his Ministry should become very glorious and efficacious upon the Gentiles far and near throughout the whole world Jesus Christ is very confident of his being high in the esteem of his father for the faithful discharge of his duty And that notwithstanding all the hard measure that he met with from the body of the Jews that yet his father would Joh. 5. 20 23. cap. 10. 15 17. Joh. 17. 1 5. Thil. 2. 9. crown him with honour and glory and that he would enable him to go through the work that is incumbent upon him and that he would protect him and defend him in his work against all might and malice all power and policy that should make head against him vers 6. And he said it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation to the ends of the earth Thus you see that God the father still goes on to shew that the labours of Christ should be very glorious not only in the eyes of God but in the eyes of all the world Yow know elsewhere Christ is called the way Joâ— 14. 6. the truth and the life and here he is called the light and salvation of the Gentiles God the father speaking to Jesus Christ tells him that it was but a small matter a mean thing Heb. it is too light for him to have such happy and ample success as to reduce and win the Jews in comparison of that further work that he intended to effect by him even the salvation of the Gentiles unto the ends of earth God the father seems to say thus to Jesus Christ the dignity and worthiness of thy person thou being the eternal and only son of God as also the high office whereunto I have called thee requireth more excellent things than that thou shouldest only raise up and restore the people of Israel to their right I have also appointed and ordained thee for a Saviour to the Gentiles even to the ends of the earth therefore though the greatest parâ—â—mong the Jews will not receive thee nor submit unto thee yet the Gentiles they shall own thee and honour thee they shall embrace thee and give themselves up unto thee I shall be briefer in the remaining proofs And therefore The Fourth Scripture is that Isa 52. 13 14. Behold The fourth proof The Chaldee Paraphrast some Jewish Doctors expound this place of the Messias Isa 42. 1. cap 53. 11 c. my servant shall deal prudently he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high The three last verses of this chapter with the next chapter do joyntly make up an entire Prophecy concerning Christ his person parentage condition manner of life sufferings humiliation exaltation c. with the noble benefits that redound to us and the great honour that redounds to himself In these two verses you have 1. The two parties contracting viz. God the father and Jesus Christ Behold my servant saith God the father this title is several times given by the father to Jesus Christ because he did the father great service in the work of man's Redemption freeing fallen man from the thraldom of sin and Satan 2. Both parties are very sure and confident of the event of the paction and of the accomplishment of the whole work of Redemption Behold my servant shall deal prudently he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high Here are divers terms heaped up to express in part the transcendent and unexpressible advancement of Jesus Christ when men are raised from a mean and low estate to some honourable condition when men are furnished with such parts and endowments of prudence wisdom and understanding as makes them admirable in the eyes of others and when they are enabled to do and suffer great things whereby they become famous and renowned far and near then we say they are highly exalted Now in all the serespects our Lord Jesus Christ was most eminently
everlasting life for it is explained that not to lose them vers 39. is that they may have everlasting life for the further assurance of believers of their eternal happiness it is also covenanted that they shall have this life in present possession in the earnest and first fruits thereof for they have everlasting life even here and before their raising up They have everlasting life 1. in prâ—misso 2. in pretio 3. in primltiis he stands already on the battlements of heaven he hath one foot in the porch of Paradise Again Christ having given an earnest-penny of salvation will not suffer it to be lost by any difficulty or impediment in the way but will carry believers through all difficulties till he destroy death and the grave and raise up their very dust that in body and soul they may partake of that bliss and that he may make it manifest that death and rotting in the grave doth not make void his interest nor cause his affection to cease Therefore it is added And I will raise him up at the last day Thus you see that God the father did lay his commands upon his son to engage in this great work of redeeming and saving poor sinners souls c. In the third place I shall shew you that the manner or quality of the transaction between God the father and Jesus Christ was by mutual engagements and stipulations each person undertaking to perform his part in order to our recovery and eternal felicity we find each person undertaking for himself by solemn promise The father promiseth that he will hold Christ's hand and keep him Isa 42. 6. God the father engages himself to direct and assist Christ and to keep him from miscarrying and that he will give him all necessary strength and ability for the execution of his mediatory office and work wonders by him and with him according to that word My father hitherto worketh and I work and the son engages Joh. 5. 17. himself that he will obey the fathers call and not be rebellious Isa 50. 5. I was not rebellious neither turned away Exod. 3. 11 13. cap. 4. 1 10 13. back that is I did not hang back as Moses once and again did nor refuse to go when God sent me as once Jon. 1. 3. Jon. â—s did but I offered my self freely and readily to my father's call there was no affliction no opposition no persecution no evil usage that I met with in carrying on the work of Redemption that did ever startle me or discourage me or make me flinch or shrink back from that great and blessed work that I had undertaken I was dutiful and obedient to the calls commands of my father in all things that he required of me or set me about Now the father the son being thus mutually engaged by promise one to another in honour and faithfulness it highly concerned them to keep one another close to the terms of the Covenant that was made between them and accordingly they did for God the father peremptorily stands upon that compleat and full satisfaction that Christ had promised to give to his justice and therefore when the day of payment came he would not abate Jesus Christ one penny one farthing of the many ten thousand Talents that he Mat. 18. 24. was to pay down upon the nail for us Rom. 8. 32. God spared not his own son that is he abated nothing of that full price that by agreement with his father he was to lay down for us other fathers give their all to spare and redeem their children but the heart of God the father is so fully and strongly set upon satisfaction that he will not spare his son his own son his only son but give him up to death yea to an accursed death that we might be Mauritius who died most miserably spared and saved for ever I have read of a Roman Emperour who chose rather to spare his money than to redeem his souldiers being taken prisoners But to redeem us God would not spare no not his own son because no money nor treasure would serve the turn but only the blood yea the heart-blood of his dear son 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. And as God the father keeps Christ close to the terms of the Covenant so Jesus Christ keeps his father close to the terms of the Covenant also Joh. 17. 4 5. I have glorified thee on the earth saith Christ to his father I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do And now O father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was O my father I have finished the work of Redemption but where 's the wages where 's the glory where 's the reward that thou hast promised me There was nothing committed to Christ by the father to be done on earth for the purchasing of our Redemption but he did finish it so that the debt is paid justice satisfied and sin Satan and death spoiled so that nothing remains but that Christ be glorified according to the promise of the father to him The summ of Christ's petition is this that since he had finished the work of Redemption that therefore the father according to his engagement would advance him to the possession of that glory that he enjoyed from all eternity Now for the clearing of this we must consider that as Christ was from Eternity the glorious God so we are not to conceive of any real change in this glory of his Godhead as if by his estate of humiliation he had suffered any diminution or by his state of exaltation any real accession were made to his glory as God But the true meaning is this That Christ having according to the paction past betwixt the father and him obscured the glory of his Godhead for a time under the veil of the Phil. 2. 5 6 7 8. form of a servant and our sinless infirmities doth now expect according to the tenour of the same paction after he had done his work to be exalted and glorified and openly declared to be the son of God the veil of his estate Rom. 1. 4. of humiliation though not of our nature being taken away It is further to be considered that however this eternal glory be proper to him as God yet he prays to be glorified in his whole person Glorifie me because not only his humane nature was to be exalted to what glory finite nature was capable of but the glory of his Godhead was to shine in the person of Christ God-man and in the man Christ though without confusion of his natures and properties Christ did so faithfully discharge his trust and perfect the work of Redemption as that the father was engaged by paction to glorifie him and accordingly Christ God incarnate is exalted with the father in glory and majesty so that believers may be as sure that all things necessary for their Redemption are done as