must have or else they are not capable of medling with the affairs and the negotiations of their master And therefore God hath furnished Jesus Christ with powers with ample and compleat authority for the Embassage he hath sent him in All power is given to him without any limitation You see he hath a large Commission and consequently what he doth concerning what he hath received in Commission is as valid and effectuall to all intents and purposes as if God the Father did it He hath not only set his seal to Christs Commission but he hath sealed Christ himself Him hath God the Father sealed Iohn 6.27 So that he came into the world with the stamp and with the seal of God upon him that all men might receive him as sent forth from him As God hath qualified him with authority so he hath qualified him with ability for the effecting of the business and the delivery of the errand which he sent him in He hath made him fully able to go through with it and to that end hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit and a fulness of Spirit A fulness of Merit to make Peace and a fulness of Spirit to preach Peace First as God hath sent him so he hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit to make Peace Made him able to the utmost to satisfie his justice and to obtain his pardon for his people For he is God as well as man in him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily God that his Merits might be valuable for us Man that his merits might be applicable to us Secondly as he hath furnished him with a fulness of Merit to make Peace so of Spirit to preach Peace The Spirit of the Lord is upon me saith our Saviour Luke 4.18 and by this Spirit he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel as it is added there in that place As he hath sent and appointed me to preach so annointed me to preach And therefore grace is said to be poured into the lips of Jesus Christ Psal 45.2 so that he spake as never man did Iohn 7.46 That some were astonied at his doctrine and all men bore him witness and wondered Luke 4.22 JOHN 17.3 And Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent Use 1 NOW is it so that Jesus Christ is Gods Apostle a Messenger sent c. This then may teach us in the first place to admire the mercy of the Lord both of the Father and of the Son in this business The mercy of the Father in sending Jesus Christ and the mercy of the Son in that he would be sent by him In both of these the grace of God is eminent to admiration Let us here observe and wonder at the mercy of the Sender There was rich grace in this that God the Father sent his Son into the world for our sakes He is his Son his only begotten Son a Son that is extreamly like him the very picture of his Father the express image of his person a Son that never did displease him a Son that he dearly loves in whom his very soul delights in which respect he layes him in his bosom next his heart as a choice and precious thing And yet this Son of his he is content to part withall in some respect that he and we might come together To send him out of his bosom and to dispatch him down into this lower world there to continue for a while that when he returned again he might bring us up with him Had God any need of us that he should send his Son for us Ah my Beloved he is self-sufficient there is enough in him to make him happy everlastingly without us But we must be for ever miserable without him And therefore it was nothing else but free mercy that made him send down his beloved Son to us Herein is love saith the Evangelist 1 Iohn 4.10 not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son Here is love and here is mercy to be spoken of and to be wondered at in all ages Let us here take notice of the mercy of the Son in that he would submit himself so far as to become the Fathers Messenger in this business Though he be man he is the Fathers fellow notwithstanding so he stiles him Zach. 13.7 Awake O sword against the man that is my fellow saith the Lord of hosts Though he be found in fashion as a man he thinks it no robbery to be equall with God every way as good as God Philip. 3.6 And was it not an admirable condescention that when the Father had a Message to dispatch into the world for the recovery of lost creatures Jesus Christ should say to him as once the Prophet in another case Here I am send me I am very well content to be sent of this errand Especially if we consider where and whither he was sent from heaven to earth yea to the lowest parts of the earth as the expression is Ephes 4.9 In a sense to hell it self From the bosom of the Father if not into the place into the state and the condition of the damned In which respect he saith Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell Psal 16.10 He was sent to make peace to reconcile us to his Father as you heard before in Explication of the point and this he was to do by the blood of his Cross as the Apostle shews us Col. 1.20 By his extream and bitter Passion by suffering death it self yea such a shamefull and accursed death upon the Cross accompanied with such ingredients as made him roar and sweat and faint under it And was it not a miracle of mercy that Jesus Christ should yield himself to be sent on such an errand as this is That he should willingly submit himself to be the Fathers Messenger in such a business We need not wonder that he whose love and kindness was so full of wonder should be called wonderfull Isa 9.6 But you will say perhaps Object that this indeed was rare and admirable mercy if Jesus Christ had willingly exposed himself to this for us But it seems he was constrained it was against his will For he was afraid of it Heb. 5.7 Yea more then so he prayed against it Mat. 26.39 Father if it be possible saith he let this cup pass from me To this I answer my Beloved Answ that Christ must be considered in a double notion and respect either as a private man or as a Mediator and a surety for his people Take him as a private man who had assumed a nature to which death was an enemy especially so bitter and so sharp a death as he was now about to undergo and so he justly feared it and declined it Take him as a publick Surety and a mercifull high-Priest and so he willingly submitted to it And this his willingness by reason of his Office was the greater because his will by reason of his nature could not choose but shrink from
duty you do to him can be accepted 4. You can hope for no pardon of sin 5. Cannot come to God with boldness 124. What meant by the only true God p. 126. viz. the whole Essence of the Godhead 3. Doctr. That the Father Son and Holy Ghost is the only true God p. 128. Reason For he only hath being of himself 2. He is the living God 3. None can do that which he doth 4. He only is Eternal 1. Vse Be stirred up to confirm your faith of this Motives 1. For then the more and better we shall walk with him 2. Serve and obey him p. 130. Direct 1. Give full assent to the Scriptures 2. Know him to be above all other Gods 3. Be resolved not doubtful of this point 4. Pray for faith in this particular p. 133. 2. Vse Obey serve and honour him as the true God p. 134. 3. Vse Let us have no other God but him only p. 135. Serve the Lord and not Idols p. 136. Times p 138. Lusts neither your own nor that of others p. 139. 2. Fear none but him 3. Trust in him alone p. 140. 4. Vse Learn from hence to be at unity among our selves 5. Learn to see our happiness of having chosen him for our God p. 141. 4. Doctr. That Christ is the Apostle or Messenger of God p. 142. Explication 1. Sent from God and from heaven How possible p. 143. 2. Into the world 3. The errand on which he was sent viz. to make peace preach peace 4. Therefore fitly qualified with 1. Authority 2. Ability Fulness of Merit to make peace p. 145. Spirit to preach peace p. 145. 1. Vse Admire the mercy of the sender 2. Of him that would be sent Void of fear and constraint p. 147 2. Be all intreated to receive and entertain him For 1. His errand is your business 2. It 's for your good and advantage 3. The Father expects you should honour his Embassadour and Son 4. He will avenge the refusers of him 5. This Messenger can prevail with God for you p. 149. Direction 1. Receive him so as to hearken to him 2. To believe in him 3. To obey him p. 150. 5. Doct. Whoever wil be glorified with God in heaven must glorifie him first on earth p. 152 Reason It is the everlasting counsel and decree of God Vse 1. Against vain expecters of future glory p. 153. 2. Vse Learn to glorifie God here 1. By a vocal declaration 2. By a real representation in what you 1. are p. 154. 2. do p. 154. Gods glory how to be our aim in all Ver. 4 1. Doctr. That Christ was ordered by his Father in the work he did in this world p. 156. Expl. Christ was so ordered in his works of Satisfaction His obedience Active p. 157. Passive p. 158. Application p. 158. As by the 1. Promulgation of the Word 2. Internal operation of the Spirit p. 159. Reas 1. Christ was the Fathers creature 2. The Fathers servant p. 160. 1. Vse Admire the humble condescension of Christ 2. Learn to be humbled in like manner and to suffer willingly p. 161. 3. Vse Some do the good others the evil which God hath not given them to do p. 162. Danger of neglecting Gods order p. 164. How Christ had finished the work before his Passion p. 165. 2. Doct. Christ did not do his work by halves but went through with it p. 166. Sufferings of Christs body Natural Mystical 1. Vse Who guilty of adding to the works of Christ 2. Let us persevere in our work and finish it Five Motives hereunto p. 169. Ver. 5 What glory Christ prayed for Doct. Christ as Man in some measure partaker of the divine glory 1. By the grace of union 2. By the grace of dispensation from the Father p. 173. 1. Vse Know the advancement of our nature in the Person of Christ 2. Their personal advancement that belong to Christ partly in 1. Fruition 2. Assured expectation 3. This should make us despise the shame of this world 2. So to walk as not to be a shame to Christ p. 174. Ver. 6 How Christ had manifested Gods Name Doct. Christ made an absolute and compleat discovery of his Father to the people 1. By his Personal appearance in the flesh 2. By his Word and Gospel 3. By his Spirit p. 178. 2. Q. Why Christ only makes this discovery R. 1. None but he is able 2. None but he is fit to make this discovery p. 180. 3. Q. Why the discovery he makes is so full and absolute R. 1. As being the faithful Prophet of his Church 2. That the discovery may be effectual 1. Vse The ignorant inexcusable 2. Learn to bless his Name for this discovery 3. Grow up in the knowledge of this Name made known p. 182. 4. Vse Be satisfied with the discovery which Christ hath made search not beyond it Pride Sin Danger vanity thereof p. 184. 5. Vse Walk worthy of this discovery i. e. Despair not under sin or misery p. 185. 2. Doct. Some the Father giveth to Christ out of the world 2. A certain number of them 3. Being once the Lords they are no longer of the world Confirm 1. The actual members of Christ are dead with Christ and of another world as are their kindred and alliance p. 190. 3. Their habitation is spiritual so is their action and traffique 1. Vse Therefore the world storms and rageth at mens being given up to Christ 2. Examin Are we given up to Christ p. 192. Marks 1. They are not conformable to this present world 2. They speak the language of another world p. 193. 3. They dearly affect their Countreymen 3. Vse Think not strange of ill usage in the world p. 194. 4. Vse Regard not the things of this world 5. Follow not a multitude to sin It s safe and honorable to be retired 6. Be not troubled at worldly troubles 3. Doct. All Christs people were first belonging to the Father p. 197. 1. The Father essentially taken 2. All belonged to God 1. By Creation 2. By Election 3. Christs people not so his as not the Fathers 1 Vse Christ will tenderly keep those that are so given him Word of God Inward and Essential p. 202. Outward and Declaratory p. 202. 4. Doct. They whom the Father gives to Christ keep his word p. 203. Christs Word is kept In the memory by retaining In the heart by believing In the affections by loving In the life by obeying with obedience Active Passive Vse Exam. Are we so given up to Christ that we keep his Word p. 205. 2. Vse Direct For helping memory 1. Be intent and fix your mind on the Word 2. Get a good understanding 3. Value the Word 4. Strengthen the memory by meditation repetition conference 5. Set instantly to practice the truth you hear 6. Pray for the Spirit to do his Office 3. Vse of Examination Do we keep Christs word by Faith Some believe none of it 2. Some but part of it
will never own them for his servants who prefer the favour and respects of men above him Mark what the Apostle saith Gal. 1.10 If I yet please men if I seek to please them so that I regard not though I anger and displease the Lord Christ If I yet please men in such a manner in such a way as this I cannot be the servant of Christ If God be the only true God then as you must serve him and none but him so you must fear him and none but him Sanctifie the Lord of hosts himself saith the Prophet Isaiah 8.13 and let him be your fear and dread The Prophet speaks it there exclusively let him be your fear and none else To which effect is our Saviours admonition Luke 12. Be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him that after he hath killed hath power to cast you into hell I say unto you fear him And therefore we are often rated in the Scripture for our fear of men and creatures as Isa 51.12 13. Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die and of the Son of man that shall be made as grass And truly we are very weak in this respect abundance of us We are exceedingly afraid sometimes how men will use us if we fall into their hands and if they come to have us in their power we cannot eate we cannot sleep we are so infinitely troubled and perplexed This violent and raging passion eats out all the comfort of our lives And in the mean time we neglect the Lord who is to be feared as the Prophet David speaks Why you will say then May we not in any case fear creatures No my Beloved not in any case make them the ultimate terminative object of our fears Fear them we may as instruments of Gods anger and then indeed we fear God in them But to fear them for themselves as if they could do evil to us of themselves is even to set them up in Gods stead Indeed if they could do us any mischief without God and which he could not fence us from we had great reason then to fear them and not him But seeing of themselves they cannot strike us and when they do they are but rods in Gods hand we should not eye the rod so much as the hand that strikes with it God would not call for all our fear if any creature could do us any damage without him But seeing he alone is able of himself to save and to destroy I say unto you fear him and none but him If God be the only true God then trust in him and none but him look not to other gods as the expression of the Prophet is Hosea 3.1 put not your trust and confidence in them For that from which deliverance is expected by us that is the thing to which we look and on which our eye is fixed I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence my help cometh Psalm 121.1 Now this we may not do from any creature For as it cannot hurt us on the one side so neither can it save us on the other no this is proper to the only true God I am the Lord saith he and there is no God besides me a just God and a Saviour And therefore addeth presently Look unto me and be you saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and none else And therefore let not any of our hearts depart from God at any time and step out to other Saviours Let us not make flesh our arm nor place our confidence in earthly Saviours It s that which we are very apt to do as it is manifest by this that we are so disquieted and troubled in the want and so secure in the enjoyment of these things that our very hearts and spirits do even come and go with them But what are they in Gods stead as once the King of Israel said 2 Kings 5.7 that they should save us and procure our peace Oh my Beloved be exceeding tender how you give his glory to another how you attribute this to any means how you expect deliverance from it If God be the only true God let nothing share together with him in your faith and confidence but let him have this part of worship appropriated to him to put your whole trust in him Use 4 Is it so that our God is the only true God is there no other true God but him only this then should teach us who have chosen him to be our God to be at unity among our selves It s true indeed my Brethren there are many persons in the Godhead but yet there is but one God And therefore we though we be many persons should labour to be one as he is one The argument is the Apostles who presseth us to unity upon the very same ground Eph. 4.3 endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace And this is used as one inducement among the rest to urge it and enforce it on us because there is but one God one only true God as you may see in the sixth verse of that Chapter Indeed if there were many Gods I mean many true Gods there were a manifest and just occasion of division It were but reasonable that there should be rents and breaches among the worshippers of these Gods That every one should vehemently contend for the God whom he fears But if there be but one onely true God whom all of us do serve and worship we may the better be at unity among our selves Yea we should strive the more to be at one to keep our selves in unity that we may be the better like God And this is that which Christ desireth in behalf of his Disciples in the 11. verse of this Chapter Holy father keep through thy own name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are By which he intimates expresly that it is a thing very much to be desired that the worshippers of God should be like God in unity Not like in all respects for so it is impossible that they should be but as God is one in Essence so they should be one in heart and in affection Oh let us labour for this Oneness that we may be in this like God Let there be no separations and divisions but let the Lords Jerusalem be like a City that is at unity within it self And truly there was never greater need to set on this Exhortation than now when God hath suffered such a spirit of division to possess his own people and when the worshippers of the only true God are of so many minds and draw so many waies and have such vehement and such hot contentions and disputes among themselves that they are no way to be pacified and appeased So that the Church had never greater reason to
Christ And therefore it is called his joy because originally it is his and comes from him to them by way of dispensation and communication that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves So in another place he tells his Apostles and Disciples that if they were obedient to him they should abide in his love And adds immediately these things have I spoken to you that my joy might remain in you that is to say the joy that I give you John 15.11 Indeed it is the fruit and the effect of Christs kingdom erected in the hearts of his people as the Apostle shews us Rom. 14.17 His Kingdom is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost You shall be sorrowfull saith Christ to his Disciples but your sorrow shall be turned into joy John 16.20 And who can turn it into joy but Christ only But you will ask me how and in what respect is Christ the Author of the joy of his people Beloved I might instance in a multitude of things but I shall draw them all to three heads Christ is the Author of the joy of his people As he is their Prophet to instruct them The state of ignorance my brethren is a state of darkness so it is often stiled in Scripture And that is an uncomfortable state full of fear and full of sorrow But when Christ comes with light and information and instruction when he becomes a Prophet to them he gives them extraordinary comfort In that he gives them light he gives them joy for both of them are joyned together Psal 97.11 Light is sown for the righteous and joy for them that are upright in heart As he is their King to rule them you heard but now that his kingdom stands in joy And hence his subjects are exhorted to rejoyce in him Psal 149.2 Let the Children of Zion be joyful in their King Now as a King my brethren he is many wayes the author of the joy of his people I will name a few of them 1. As he subdues their enemies and gives them peace And this he doth my brethren for he is the King of Salem and the Prince of peace And when he doth it he is an extraordinary comfort to his people When he subdues their enemies within them and so gives them inward peace When he masters and brings under their stubborn and rebellious Lusts and strong corruptions which are such a daily trouble and vexation to them O what a joy is it to his people when according to his Covenant he saves them from those enemies then they serve him without fear Luke 1.75 and if without fear then certainly with great joy So when he saves them from their enemies without them and so gives them outward peace then he gives them joy too Such times have still been celebrated and observed with extraordinary gladness and rejoycing Especially when Babylon goes down the arch-enemy of his Church and his people then Christ hears many Halelujahs for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Then they that stand upon the glassie sea are in a very chearie frame They sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb Just and true are thy wayes O thou King of Saints 2. As a King Christ is the Author of the joy of his people as he gives them his spirit For this he doth under the notion of a King and when he doth it then he fils them full of joy The Spirit is the Comforter that is his name so he is stiled very often to shew us what his Office work and business is And therefore joy is made a companion of the Spirit to shew us that they use to go together Act. 13.52 The Disciples saith the Text were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost and the Apostle tells us that joy is one especial fruit of the Spirit Gal. 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is live joy And hence the Holy Ghost is called the Oyl of gladness Isa 45.7 As it is the Oyl of gladness it makes glad the heart of man and it makes his face to shine And consequently when our King pours out this Oyl upon his people he pours out joy and gladness with it Then his joy is fulfilled in them because they have this oyl from him He is anointed with it above his fellows it flows down from him the head even to the lowest members of his body 3. As a King Christ is the Author of the joy of his people as he dispenses recompences and rewards to them For this he must do as a King too and when he doth it he makes them overflow with joy and therefore he will have them to be out of measure glad even in the expectation of it Luk. 6.23 Rejoyce and leap for joy saith he and why so for great is your reward in heaven And if they have such cause to be transported in the expectation how much more in the fruition When Christ shall say to every one of his as Mat. 25.21 Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord into the self-same joy which I thy Lord and Master entred first into and took possession of before thee Then indeed the joy of Christ shall be communicated to them Then they shall have his joy fulfilled in them to the very utmost Christ is the Author of the joy of his people as he is their Priest to sacrifice and intercede for them Both ways he is the Fountain of their comfort I shall a little touch them in their order 1. As he is their Priest to sacrifice he is the Author of their joy for by this means he satisfies the justice of his Father for them he frees them from the guilt of all their sins he reconcileth them to God And is he not in this respect the cause of extraordinary comfort to his people Is it not a sad thing for a person to live at enmity with God who made him and will judge him in the great day If peace with God be so infinitely sweet is not enmity with God full of fear and full of horror is it not a doleful thing for any person to be dead in Law bound over to the everlasting wrath and vengeance of the great God in danger every hour to be haled and dragged away to execution and to be cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone and is it not a joyful thing to be delivered out of such a state as this is Now this our Saviour as a Priest hath done for his people in a way of satisfaction and so hath given them cause of exceeding great joy as the Angel intimates when he informs the Shepherds where he was born and what he was to do Luk. 2.10 Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy 2. As Christ is his peoples Priest to intercede for them he is the Author of their joy It is an extraordinary comfort to them that Christ appears in heaven for them in all causes to offer up and to
shall live so long on earth till he be full of days even as the stomack that is full of meat till he desire to live no longer till nature be spun out to the uttermost extent and after I will shew him my salvation I will bring him to the place where he shall live for evermore And hence it is because continuance here is properly and in it self a blessing as on the other side the contrary thereto the rooting out of the land of the living is properly and in it self a curse that holyest Saints have deprecated taking hence They have been so far from praying that God would take them out of the world that they have rather prayed against it Lord take me not away in the midst of my days Psal 102.24 How did they plead sometimes for their indangered lives as a prisoner at the bar and when the Lord was pleased to leave them in the world a little longer they were exceedingly affected and enlarged to thankfulness As Hezekiah was you know who penned a Psalm of praise on this occasion and this was the burthen of it The living the living they shall praise thee as I do this day Object But you will interpose and say perhaps Some of the choicest Saints of God have prayed expresly to be taken hence and therefore it should seem to be the proper subject matter of Petition Answ 1. To this I answer such as prayed aright did not make their removal hence by death the proper subject matter of their prayers They did not seek it simply and abstractly by and for it self but in relation to some other thing which they could not have without it It 's true indeed that the Apostle Paul desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ he could not be with Christ he knew unless he were dissolved first and therefore that he might injoy him he was contented to be dissolved for that end Or otherwise he would have been far enough from desiring dissolution And therefore in another place he speaks clearly We would not be unclothed saith he viz. of life and of the body 2 Cor. 5.4 that is not properly the thing that we desire But we would be clothed upon with immortality in heaven If it might be possible we would be clothed upon with that without the putting off of this Indeed he saith before in the Name of all the Saints We that are in this Tabernacle do groan being burthened But yet it was not life considered in it self that was their burthen but with its evil adjuncts and associates which do continually cleave to it and which cannot be severed from it in this world So that if you take life you must take that which comes with it In this respect indeed it is a burthen to the holyest Saints because it is accompanyed with such a burthen of corruption as makes them groan and faint under it But if it be considered simply and abstractly in it self it is not a burthen from which the Saints do groan to be delivered no it is a blessing rather of which they groan to be deprived 2. Most of the Saints who have desired God to take them hence have failed and sinned in those desires of theirs It was their weakness and infirmity they did it out of fear and despondency of Spirit out of passion and impatience And thus it seems Eliah did when he fled from Jezabel 1 King 19.4 And thus it is extreamly probable that Moses did Num. 11.10 15. For it is said he was displeased and in that angry fit he said to God Wherefore hast thou afflicted me If thou deal thus with me kill me I pray thee out of hand and do not let me see my wretchedness And thus it is apparent Jonas did who being crost in a punctilio in a point of honor out of a pettish foolish childish humour will go die forsooth God must take away his life These imperfections of the Saints are left upon record in Scripture not as marks to be aimed at but as rocks to be declined Vse Now to proceed to make some Application of the point My Brethren is it so that removal out of this world is not the proper subject matter of Petition Then let not any of us make it so when we are putting up our supplications and requests to God When we consider how the world hates us how it pours contempt upon us how it follows us with troubles persecutions and afflictions so that we see but little hope that we should ever live contentedly and quietly and freely here it may be we are weary of it and ever ready to desire the Lord that he would remove us from it To wish with Israel in a pang of discontent Numb 11.1 Would God we were dead And with Eliah It is enough Lord take away our lives 1 King 14.4 It 's that which many of us are too apt to do when we are over-loaden with the cares and troubles of this world to reach after deliverance and redress and ease by this means And therefore when we find our hearts are running out in such a way as this is let us call them in again let us correct our selves and say as our Saviour in my Text O Lord we pray not that thou wouldst take us out of the world we are far from such impatience we are content to wait thy leisure to tarry till thy time come And here to keep you from such extravagancies and irregular desires I shall present you with a few things It is a special mercy of the Lord to give us life and to continue us in this world though in a comfortless and sad condition David was in a sorry case afflicted persecuted and oppressed when he put up that prayer to the Lord Deal bountifully with thy servant or be beneficial to thy servant that I may live and keep thy Word Psal 119.17 He counted it a benefit to live how troublesome soever his condition were It 's that which even Nature teaches us to reach after Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life And yet a life with nothing else some will count worth nothing You know my Brethren all that God himself did promise to some very gratious men in times of common trouble and calamity was only this they should have their lives for a prey and that was all for great things were not to be looked for Jer. 39.38 and 45.5 And yet that was a great mercy If we be not taken hence perhaps we may enjoy the mercy to out-live troubles It is mercy to live in them but it is greater mercy to live beyond them and this if we be quiet and content and patient for ought we know may be our portion And this was that which David promised to himself when he was almost over-come and over-whelmed with his afflictions and distresses I shall not die but live saith he and declare the works of the Lord Psal 118.17 Me thinks he gathers up
opinion But you will interpose and ask me then What are not private Christians to imploy their gifts for the common benefit Yes to the very utmost my Beloved As every man hath received the gift so let him minister the same one to the other as good stewards of the manifold graces of God 1 Pet. 4.16 Their gift they have received to profit withal and that not themselves alone but others also But still within their own sphere within compass of their own calling They may and ought as they are able to teach c. as the Apostle speaks Col. 2.12 in a way of conference and this lies as a duty on them all in some degree For this is no Evangelical counsel but an Evangelical precept it is not permitted only but required But none of them may take upon him to be the publick Teacher of the whole without a due Vocation and Ordination thereunto How shall they preach except they be sent saith the Apostle Rom. 11.15 How shall they do it lawfully He doth not say except they be gifted but except they be sent Qualification is not enough without mission he must not go forth of himself but must be sent forth by Christ Is it so That the Apostles and Ministers of Christ are sent by him Vse 2 This then may serve to let us see how far the power and the authority of Ministers extends in binding and in loosing and in proclaming either war or peace They do it but as servants in a ministerial way and by a delegated power and in the execution of it they must exactly keep them by the rule and the directions which they have received from him that sent them They may not act according to their own discretion and as it seemeth good to them but must proceed in every thing according to the orders and instructions of their Master Or if they swerve a jot from these they stray beyond the bounds of their Commission and their authority is void So that the power of Ministers in this regard is Ministerial and declarative Yet this I add because they do it by Commission from the Lord and as Messengers of Christ it comes from them by reason of his Ordinance with more assurance to the Conscience then from any private person Vse 3 Is it so that the Apostles c. This then may serve to mind them what their duty is and I shall give it you in two words 1. They must do his work and deliver his message the errand which he sends them in They must not bring their own devices to the people their own fancies and conceits the issue of their own brains the froth of their own spirits as many do in these times No they must speak the words of Christ and speak them fully and compleatly They must fulfill the word of God as the Apostle speaks Col. 1.25 They must without respect or fear deliver all their Masters message to any man to whom he sends them how great soever he may be They must not out of base and servile dread of any suppress or mince their errand in the least degree or deal so mannerly with men that they become unfaithfull to the Lord Christ No they must seriously consider that though themselves be mean and despicable persons yet they are Ministers and Messengers of Christ himself who is higher then the highest among men And therefore as the Noble Roman said non ita memor sum dignitatis vestrae ut obliviscar me esse consulem So they must say when they are dealing with the great ones of the world I am not mindfull of dignity so far as to forget that I am the Embassador and Messenger of Jesus Christ They must be bold and resolute with this assurance that he that sendeth them will bear them out according to his many pretious promises which he hath made for their encouragement to faithfulness in his service 2. And as they must deliver Christs errand and not their own so for Christs ends and not their own they must not seek their own profit or their own honour but the honour of their Master As Christ who was the Fathers messenger glorified not himself as the Apostle speaks but him that sent him Heb. 5.5 so they that are the messengers of Christ must not glorifie themselves but Christ that sent them They must act for him and wooe for him and win the souls of men to him Their work must be to set him up and to advance him that he may appear They must with John the Baptist be contented to decrease to wither in their reputation and esteem so Christ may be in the increasing hand They must not endeavour to take such a course in the work of the Ministry that they may seem witty and learned and eloquent that men may admire them and applaud their abilities but that they may admire Christ that the thoughts and affections of men may be carried to him They must not preach themselves but the Lord Jesus Christ as the Apostle did 2 Cor. 4 5. Vse 4 Is it so that Apostles Ministers c. Then let the Church be here directed and advised to prove those that pretend they are the Ministers of Jesus Christ whether they be sent by Christ or no. The Church of Ephesus is much commended for her care and diligence in this regard Apoc. 2.2 I know thy works saith Christ there and thy labour and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil c. And thou hast tried them who say they are Apostles and are not and hast found them lyers They said they were the Messengers of Christ and that they were sent by Christ for that 's the meaning of the word Apostle but indeed they were not The Church did not give them credit till she tried them and so discovered them to be impostors and deceivers And truly there are many such in these times who say they come from Jesus Christ when indeed he never sent them They are Messengers of Satan and not of Christ and therefore it concerns the Church to prove them well who come with these pretences and to sift them to the bottome that they may know not the speech of these men only but the power as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 4 19. And here you are not only to consider whether they have obtained the election and ordination of the Church or no for many reach to this who are never sent by Christ But there are other things to be observed I shall lay them down in order They that are sent by Jesus Christ are furnished with competent ability at least for the delivery of their message You must not think that Christ will send by the hand of a fool No if there be a Messenger of Christ he is one of a thousand for gifts and abilities In the time of the Law when he raised up Prophets what spirit what power what understanding was there in them And is his hand shortned
them sharers with him in the glory None of the Types of Christ were so advanced in the figure Melchizideck was both a King and Priest as you may see Gen. 14.18 but he was no Prophet David was a King and Prophet 2 Sam. 23.2 but he was no Priest Ezechiel was a Priest and a Prophet but he was no King But all believers are so advanced in the truth they are Kings and Priests and Prophets all three as Christ is and so they have the same glory that Christ receives from God the Father The Son as Man receives much glory from the Father as by the Offices which he hath received him to so by the gifts and graces and abilities which he hath endued him with for the discharge and execution of those Offices The self same honour do believers receive in some degree from Christ again As God the Father hath annointed him with the Holy Ghost and power thereby enabling him to be an al-sufficient King and Priest and Prophet to his people so God the Son hath given down some part of his annointing to believers by which he hath enabled them to all those Offices to which he hath assumed them with himself It runs down from him the Head to the skirts of his Garment And hence saith the Apostle speaking to believers ye saith he have an unction from the Holy One 1 Joh. 2.20 Christ hath an unction from the Father yea from Christ Jesus Christ immediately from the Father ye mediately in and by and through Christ Indeed my Brethren all believers partake with Christ in this anointing of the Spirit He suffered no man to do them wrong but reproved even Kings for their sakes saying Touch not mine anointed Psal 105.15 But who were these anointed you will ask me They were not Kings as some expound it for God reproved Kings for their sakes saying Touch not my anointed But they were the Lords people as you may easily perceive if you survey the scope of that place And hence the Prophet having said God even thy God hath anointed thee he adds immediately above thy fellows Psal 45.7 so that Christ hath his fellows in the unction although not in the measure of the unction All believers share with him though they do not share like him And if they be his fellows in the unction they must be his fellows too in the honour of the unction They are partakers with him in the self same glory which c. By this time I suppose the point is cleared the self same glory which he receives from God the Father c. Vse 1 Now is it so my Brethren that the self same glory c. Here then you see what great regard he hath to them that do indeed believe in him and what a mind he hath to honour them even to the utmost So that he doth not grudge them to be sharers with him in his own glory Rather then they shall want it they shall have of that which God the Father hath bestowed on him to make him glorious in the world It satisfies him not to shine alone no he must have believers shine with him and sparkle with him O what an admirable thing is this that Christ should have such singular regard to poor wretches His glory is the thing which he is most tender of which he is lothest to forego And yet he is content you see to part with this to true believers to give them of his own allowance from the Father His blood was dear but his glory is dearer yet let it be dear and pretious as it will it is not too dear for them If he have any they shall have a part with him and that in the same glory not in another kind of glory but the very same that he is endued with so he tells his Father here The glory which thou gavest me I have given them q. d. There let them take it with my heart and much good may it do to them Vse 2 And therefore in the second place let this instruct us as Christ gives us his glory so to give him ours Why should not we my Brethren be as willing to part with ours to him as he is willing to part with his to us you hear the self same glory which the Son as man receives c. And therefore if at any time we receive any honour any way let us not keep it in our hands but let us give it up to Jesus Christ If we have done any act that draws applause or commendation if when we have performed any duty with more then ordinary zeal or power or profit or success men admire us and advance us let us not do as Herod did Let not this glory cleave to our fingers but let us shake it off from us and say with David Not unto us not unto us but to the Name of Christ be all the glory And when these Crowns of honour are set upon our heads by men O let us with the twenty four Elders cast them down before the throne of Jesus Christ And as Christ saith to God the Father here The glory which thou gavest me I have given them so let us say the same in sincerity to Christ The glory which men gave us we have given thee JOHN 17.23 I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one AND thus far of the Second Argument with which our Saviour prosecutes his suit to God the Father that believers might be one Which hath been taken from the end at which he aimed in giving them the glory which he had received from God the Father and this was that they might be one The glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one The third comes now in order to be handled And it is taken from the end of Christs inhabitation in believers and of the Fathers inhabitation in himself and this is also that they may be one yea that they may be perfect in one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one You easily discern that there is some word defective to make the sense compleat in this place I in them and thou in me what 's that Either it must be I am in them and thou in me or I have been in them and thou in me Or I shall be in them and thou in me Either all or one of these or some such thing as this is Modern Interpreters take little notice of it that I can observe and antient Writers supply it diversly according as their apprehensions lead them As far as I can dive into it it is thus exprest of purpose because our Saviour had no mind to bind it up either to the past the present or the future tense but that it might be left indifferent to them all If he had said expresly I have been in them and thou in me this could not have been properly applyed to those which then
God saith he my heart is fixed I will sing and give praise Psal 57.7 There hath been much talk of late concerning fixing arms but surely this of fixing hearts is the most necessary business 4. That our hearts may be prepared they must be awakened they are naturally dead and dull and sleepy especially at sometimes by means of some corporal or spiritual distemper They cannot watch to prayer one hour and though the spirit is ready yet the flesh is weak And therefore we must quicken them and rouse them up from drowsiness before we set about the duty and while we are in the performance of it we must call upon our hearts as Deborah Judg. 5.12 Awake awake Deborah awake awake utter a song And as David on his Harp Awake Harp so we awake heart I my self will awake early Psal 108.2 You see in brief the Rule of Christ in reference to preparation Now let us see what he prescribes both for the matter the manner and the end of prayer As for the matter of your prayers you must search the promises You are to pray for nothing but only what you have a promise for not what you have a mind to but what you have a promise for It is the business and the work of prayer to put the promises of God in suit not our desires but his promises And therefore we must study promises if we would know how to make prayers or how to judge of prayers after we have made them If they agree not with the promises they are but rash and inconsiderate desires they are the sacrifice of fools as they are called Eccles 5.1 And God will never look after them nor shew respect to them as Elibu teaches us Job 35.13 Surely God will not hear vanity neither will the Almighty regard it As for the manner of our prayers the rule of Christ is very large here and so accordingly directions might be copious both how to form our supplications which we are about to tender and having tendred them how to resolve whether they have been according to the will of Christ or no. I shall but touch upon the principal 1. It is in the will of Christ that we pray without wrath for so is the express direction 1 Tim. 2.8 I will therefore that men may pray every-where lifting up pure hands without wrath We must not come to God with hearts distracted and disturbed with passion but with composed meek and quiet spirits It was the fault of James and John who when a certain Town of the Samaritans repelled Christ and refused to receive him would in a fit of rage and anger have prayed for fire to come down from heaven to consume them Luk. 9.54 And so when the malitious enemies of Christ have done his cause or people any great mischief it may be we are ready in a heat to call for vengeance out of heaven upon them But if we pray in such a manner we may look for such a censure as James and John had in the fore-alleadged Text Ye know not what spirit ye are of You think it may be you are zealous but you are very much mistaken you are cholerick and angry you do know not the temper and disposition of your spirits Brethren we must not go to prayer in a fit of anger and a pang of discontent as it seems Eliah did 1 King 14.4 It is enough Lord take away my life for I am not better then my Fathers And as it seems Job did Job 6.8 Oh that I might have my request and that God would grant me the thing that I long for Even that it would please God to destroy me that he would let loose his hand and cut me off And as it is extreamly probable that Moses did when he conceived his burthen was too heavy for him Numb 11.10 15. For it is said he was displeased and in that angry mood he said to God Wherefore hast thou afflicted me You see he calls the Lord to coram to see how he can answer his proceedings Wherefore c. I am not able to bear all this alone And if thou deal thus with me kill me I pray thee out of the way and do not let me see my wretchedness And thus it is apparent Jonah did who being crost in a punctilio in a point of honour out of a pettish childish humor will go die God must take away his life We must not come to God in such a temper to empty and disgorge our choler and to vent our passions to him No Tempus mansuetudinis est tempus orationis The time of meekness is the time of prayer 2. It is the will of Christ that we pray without doubtings and this is also added in the Text before alledged 1 Tim. 2.8 Pray lifting up pure hands without wrath or doubting He would have us come to God with confidence and strong assurance as it beseemeth those to do who are indeed in Covenant with him You know a houshold servant that is in Covenant with his Master cals confidently for his break-fast and his dinner and his Supper whereas a beggar or a stranger doth not so So he that is in Covenant with the Lord should come with boldness to the Throne of Grace relying formerly on the promises of God as David did I cryed and I hoped in thy Word Psal 119.147 Lord I want faith give it me I want patience let me have it I find my heart is out of order joynt it mend it unite it to thy self It is for those that are without and that are strangers to the Lord that live on nothing else but common providence to come doubtfully to God when their distresses force them to his presence But if those that are his friends and that are in Covenant with him come in such a posture to him he may justly say to such Why what 's the matter that you are so strange and that you are not bold with me as you have wont to be you shall fare neer a whit the better for coming to me after such a manner And verily my Brethren unless we draw nigh to God in faith well grounded on the promises we can have no hopes to speed in our petitions He that would ask any thing of God saith the Apostle James chap. 1.6 7 let him come in faith nothing doubting Otherwise let him not think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 3. It is the will of Christ that we pray with much zeal that our Petitions be not formal cold and drowsie prayers but that there be some heat and fervour in them You know the prayers of Gods people are compared to Incense Psal 141.2 And Incense sends up no sweet savour till the fire come to it It is the fervent prayer only that is effectual with the Lord as the Apostle teaches us Jam. 5.16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much And hence saith David Hear me O Lord and why so I cry with my