but people that in their ordinary course go with a great deal of contentment in evil wayes But though this be true that this is comprehended in walking after the flesh yet this is very lame and short of the full and whole meaning of this place I say it is not the main nor chief meaning of this place it is not primarily not principally meant this is a truth and it will follow as a necessary consequence as I shall shew anon and I doubt not but the Apostle means it when he saith We walk not according to the flesh because in Rom. 6. he takes a great deal of pains in that point but I think this is not the chief meaning My Reasons are these First because I finde that the very scope of this learned Epistle is different if not almost contrary to this his scope is not to quarrel with them for want of doing good works and for walking in sinful works but the scope of it is to beat them off from their own works and to bring them to Christ and therefore he saith Abraham was justified without works he all along disparageth their works as they did them Therefore I think he doth not go so far from his text or from his scope as to make this the main business their sanctification or holiness the not walking in evil or the walking in good works Secondly this cannot be the chief scope of the place because if you take these words They that walk after the flesh in this sense that is those that follow sinful courses if you take them so that none but such as walk holily have a right to Jesus Christ and his righteousness Or if you take them in this sense that they onely that walk in a holy life can come to know that they have the righteousness of Christ fulfilling the law for them neither of these can hold 1. For the first that no man can have to do with Christ or his righteousness but that man that walks according to the Spirit that walks in a holy way and not in sinful courses this is contrary to the stream of the Gospel Why Because the Gospel all along offers Christ to sinners to the chief of sinners to aliens and to the ungodly 2. Then again if this were so sanctification should be before justification a man must be holy before he should be justified As for the latter sense to wit that the Apostle should mean this that no man can know any other way that the righteousness of Christ did belong to him but onely by not walking after the flesh or by walking after the Spirit this cannot be neither for however we may know a little in a way of sense by our walking yet the main way to know our justification is the same way that we come by justification for Faith is the evidence of things not seen The main evidence whereby I know I am justified is because the word of faith saith so the word tells me and faith evidenceth it that faith that I believe by it shews me that I believe Therefore though I be inconstant in my way of grace that to sense shews me a little yet it doth not solely and chiefly and primarily So that this is the substance of it that that sense which godly reverend men give of this place it is true but it is not all nor the first and the chief part of the meaning of it Secondly flesh in the Scriptures and so here and in divers other places it may be understood concerning the Priviledges those various Prerogatives and Priviledges that the people of God the Israelites had in a natural fleshly way from generation to generation Being born of such Parents of such Tribes they had such priviledges belonging to them they had the Oracles and the Covenants and the Tables c. and this is called flesh and I doubt not but the Apostle had this in his eye Saith he The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us that walk not after the flesh As if he had said Do not think because you are of the seed of Abraham or because you have the Covenants and Circumcision and that you are born of such Parents that therefore you shall the sooner have this priviledge to have the law fulfilled take heed of that for now it springs from another root and it comes now in a Spiritual and not in a fleshly way as it did before for they had their mercies generally in the Old Testament according to the flesh that is by generation Isaac as he was Abrahams Son and Jacob his Son c. but now it is in a spiritual way Now that flesh is so taken in Scripture I will give you that one place in Phil. 3. 4. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh saith Paul If any man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh I more What doth he mean by flesh here He tells you Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the Tribe of Benjamin an Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law a Pharisee concerning zeal persecuting the Church touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless As if he had said I had all the priviledges if any man might boast in the flesh I might I am an Hebrew of the Hebrews a Gentleman of the best descent c. So in 2 Cor. 11. 18. Seeing that many glory after the flesh I will glory also ye suffer fools gladly Wherein any is bold I am bold also Are they Hebrews so am I. Are they Israelites so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham so am I. They had priviledges being Israelites more then other people and this is called flesh So I am confident that the Apostle had this in his eye in a special manner when he saith They that walk not according to the flesh And you shall finde that they attributed all priviledges to them because they were Israelites as you see in Mat. 3. say they We are the children of Abraham Saith John Baptist Ye are a generation of Vipers And so in Joh. 8. say they We are free men we are the sons of Abraham saith Christ Ye are of your father the Devil See the Gospel takes away that fleshliness and puts all in another stream and course and way The Apostle aims at that here when he saith Those that walk not according to the flesh As if he had said You shall never have this righteousness to satisfie the law the sooner because you are the Sons of Abraham no more then if you were Scythians or Barbarians Thirdly and lastly the main and chief meaning of this place is this though the other be included when the Apostle saith Those that walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit By flesh here the Apostle means walking according to the old Covenant according to the Covenant of Works in the way of the law and by Spirit is meant walking in the way of faith
Lessons that the Lord did teach us from these words The first is implied in the beginning of the Verse That every man is bound to get him a righteousness to fulfill the law of God And Secondly That all those that rightly believe in Christ have in them a righteousness perfectly to fulfull it And Thirdly That those that thus believe and have this great priviledge for it is the foundation of all others they are known or described by this They walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit The two former I have finished I entred upon the third the last day I opened it at large and proved it to you and came to make one Use of it Vse 1. That from hence we may learn how to judge of persons how to judge of those that are Saints and those that are not Saints not according to some kinde of holiness they may come up to but according to the principles they walk by either as they walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit For I told you there be divers Professors among us that it may be are eminent in the eye of the world before men yet when all comes to all their fasting and praying and preaching and repeating c. will be found to be nothing in the world but a walking according to the flesh that is according to the refined well educated principles of Old Adam But I shall go on a little further Vse 2. Therefore in the next place the Question will be How shall I know whether I walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit How shall I know whether I be one of those that walk according to the Spirit I will onely give you a few Expressions of it I will not say signs for it may be you could not all bear that word and these expressions are most of them laid down in this Chapter and hereabout whereby you may have a guess of it whether you be the men that walk according to the Spirit or no. First you shall finde in Rom. 6. that those that are under grace or that walk according to the Spirit sin is destroyed in them they are dead to sin and alive to righteousness And there are many expressions of the same thing in divers phrases as in ver 6. Knowing this that our old man is crucified that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin If thou be a man that walkest according to the Spirit thou canst say the body of sin is destroyed and thou dost not serve sin Then it is said in ver 11. that those that are under grace they are dead indeed to sin and alive to God that is another expression And in ver 12. Sin shall not reign in their mortal bodies that they should obey it in the lusts thereof And in ver 13. Yield not your members as instruments of unrighteousness And in ver 14. Sin shall not have dominion over them So there are divers expressions of one and the same thing Now from all for I cannot open them particularly how much is held forth in each of these expressions but to help thee to see a little the state of thy Soul I would gather these three things from all these expressions there is I say meant by them these three things The first thing is this That those that walk according to grace and according to the Spirit sin is dead in them that is they are dead in respect of the guilt of sin they do see and understand in some measure that Jesus Christ by his death hath abolished and destroyed and done away all their sins in respect of the guilt of them they are not under the law in that respect They see that there is a full righteousness in Jesus Christ that hath satisfied the law and so their sins are done away that they shall never condemn them This is one thing Now a man that walks according to the flesh he sees not that neither can see it for these things are spiritual Now take a man that walks according to the flesh that is according to the most refined principles of Old Adam and he alway carries guilt upon his Conscience he will alway be as a man that is rolling of a Snow-ball the more he goes on in his service the more guilt and horrour But a man that walks according to the Spirit let him be weak or strong he sees this in some measure and probably for the most part that his sins are done away and that there is no condemnation to him because he is in Christ and believes in him therefore as it is Rom. 5. 7. He that is dead is freed from sin or justified from sin That is one thing Secondly in all these phrases this is held forth to us as I understand that a believer being planted into Christ for so he looks upon himself and ingrafted and united to Christ in respect of the power of sin he accounts it as dead that is when he sees any sin stirring in him he considers I am one with Christ I am planted with him in his death and resurrection and this sin was condemned when Christ was condemned and as sure as Christ did die this sin must die therefore he looks upon all his sins and lusts as things that are gasping for life as things that are ready to die and that will surely die as surely as Christ did die Another man that walks according to the law when he sees sin in him and findes lusts to rise in his soul he saith as David in another case Surely I shall one day fall by the hand of Saul Surely I shall prove an Hypocrite one time or other this sin will break my neck and so he is discouraged and his heart is hardened But a man that is under grace that walks according to the Gospel let sin be never so strong and prevalent he looks on it as a condemned thing he can triumph over it when it is strongest and can say I know thou must be laid in the grave with Jesus Christ he reckons himself dead to sin That is another thing Thirdly and lastly from all these expressions here in Rom. 6. we gather this That surely all those that are under grace or that walk according to the Spirit in some eminent way are more holy and more freed from sin then once they were and then all those are that walk under the law in some eminent way I say they are more holy though I do not say there is no sin in them for then we should lie as John saith but certainly there is a power in their souls against sin that is exceedingly transcendent in respect of the best moral men in respect of the exactest men in the world that walk according to the law what else is the meaning of all this Ye are dead to sin and Sin shall not reign and have dominion over you and you shall not yield your members as
instruments to sin Shall we turn all this into speculation No certainly there is some eminent reall holiness and power against sin that they had not before therefore saith he What pleasure had you in those things whereof ye are now ashamed those sins that you committed before you are now ashamed of them And let me look a little upon my own soul or appeal to you Take any man or woman that understands what it is to be under the law what it is to walk according to the Covenant of works and according to the flesh and what covenants and resolutions and promises and fastings he had and let him look upon himself what he is now since he hath known a little of Christ and hath known that he is a justified person and that he is dead to the law and the like I appeal to you whether you do not feel a strange power in your souls killing and subduing sin that you never imagined before or almost hoped to have There are some Saints that I know that when they came to know a little of Jesus Christ they have found a power to subdue their sins that they did not hope for in their other condition they were so strong it is an eminent power A poor Saint that sees another tugging and striving and wrastling and bustling with his corruptions he knows that there is a sweet power in his soul that pulls down the highest and proudest imaginations As a godly man saith There is as much difference between a man thaâ— walks after the flesh according to the law and he that walks according to the Spirit as between a man that is in a great Lyter or in a great Boat that is fast upon the Sand and there are it may be a dozen or twenty men tugging and striving to get it off and yet it sticks and another man that is in a Boat upon the water and needs onely to hoist sail and sit down and it is gone he goes with wind and tide So a man that walks according to grace he can go as a childe and speak loving and plain words to his Father and get power over his sins that all the howling and roaring and crying of another a whole year together cannot do It is so and all you that know what grace is know it That is one thing therefore consider this if thou walk according to the Spirit thou art dead to sin that is in respect of the condemnation and guilt of it thou hearest that Christ hath fulfilled the law and that sin is done away And secondly in respect of the power of it thou canst look upon it as a dying gasping thing that must die and thou canst tread on it through the death of Christ Thirdly thou findest no lust so strong in thy soul but thou canst ordinarily bring it down thou canst bring it to the obedience of Jesus Christ another man may throw his cap at his sins and be wishing and woulding all the year long but there are strong lusts in his soul that will not out Therefore saith the Apostle when you walked according to the law the motions of sin brought forth fruit unto death inevitably it will be so Then further you shall find the fruits of walking according to the Spirit I will but name them to you and wish you to consider of them You have many set down in this 8th to the Romans When a man walks according to the Spirit you shall see this is one fruit of it A Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father That is one fruit of it as soon as a man comes to walk according to the Spirit he hath not a spirit of bondage any more What is that It is nothing but this a temper of soul like a slave just as you may conceive of a man that is taken Prisoner in Turkie what temper he is of he is glad of a Crust of bread and he fears whipping and beating and it may be killing such is the temper of a mans soul in a spirit of bondage when one is in such a temper that he is alwayes in fear of being whipped and scourged and he hath hard thoughts of God and he fears that he shall prove an hypocrite and the like Now saith the Apostle we have not that spirit but we have the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father that is there is a sweet temper such as is in a loving childe to his dear Father there is a boldness a love and delight and rejoycing and a sweetness c. This is one fruit of it therefore as far as thou art under horrour and moping and howling and crying thou comest short of walking according to the Spirit for thy soul would be alway full of sweetness in the greatest affliction if there were a Spirit of Adoption and under the worst sins thou doest commit though there would be sorrow yet thou wouldest be full of sweetness and joy That is one thing Again another fruit and consequent of it is that the Spirit of God bears witness with our Spirits that we are the children of God If thou wilt be led by the Spirit and walk after the Spirit the Spirit of God will witness with thy spirit that thou art the childe of God What is that the meaning of it is this as I understand the Spirit of God will raise up my spirit to be able to see and know that I am the childe of God for the spirit of a man knows the natural things of a man and no more but the Spirit of God witnesseth with my spirit that I am the childe of God that is he raiseth up my spirit whereby I may see and know that I am the childe of God that as before by my own spirit I was able to know whether I were poor or rich whether I were sick or well whether I were beloved or hated so now my spirit is raised up by the Spirit of God I am able to reflect upon my self spiritually and look upon my self as beloved and chosen and holy and called and justified and this is a spiritual way Thirdly here is another expression of it and that is an earnest hope or expectation of the glory that is to be revealed I finde and observe little of that to be in Professors and I have oft marvelled at it and the reason is Because they have not the Spirit of Adoption and walk not fully according to the Spirit therefore they are not filled with those expectations and those earnest desires that the Saints were ordinarily in the Primitive times Saith the Apostle in this Chapter The creature groaneth and desires to be delivered and not onely they but we our selves which have the first-fruits of the Spirit we groan within our selves
waiting for the Adoption to wit the redemption of our body The meaning is there is no man knows what that glory is that is to be revealed nor no man what it is to look for it and expect it The word in the Original is as one saith as a woman looks for deliverance when her pains are on her Oh! she would fain be delivered or as a man in Prison that looks for his Friend out of a window he puts out his head and looks but he cannot get out though he fain would Such an earnest hope and expectation and desire there is in the Saints that walk according to the Spirit to see Jesus Christ come and to enjoy that glory that is to be revealed There are many more expressions there that are the fruits of it as the spirit of supplication ver 26. and there is also a triumphing over all our spiritual enemies ver 31. What shall we say 〈…〉 God be with us who can be against us c And then there is an absolute dependance upon God for all things He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him give us all things And then there is also a patient suffering of all afflictions saith the Apostle ver 18. I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed And then there is lastly an absolute eternal union with Jesus Christ in respect of his love I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor any thing shall ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. These are the expressions of the fruits of the Spirit of God in the Soul when men walk according to the Spirit when they walk according to grace Take a man that walks according to the flesh or according to the law you shall finde none of these kinde of things in his soul So much concerning that Use Vse 3. In the next place as this Doctrine is a Touchstone whereby you may try and judge of mens persons so hereby also you may try your services and actions I say this is a rule whereby you may come to know what your services are what worth is in them For as they onely are Saints who walk according to the Spirit let the world judge how they will and those that walk carnally according to the flesh according to the law are not Saints so I say those actions or services of ours that proceed from the spirit of God they are only pleasing to God and those that proceed from the flesh from Old Adam they are not pleasing to him Now I say by this we may try our services and actions as well as our persons for there is the same reason for both in all my actions all that I expect from them is that they be pleasing to God that is the end of all that we do for they cannot justifie us that is done already or if it be not they cannot do it but all is to be pleasing to God Now then the main Rule by which I am to judge of my actions it is this not to judge of them according as they are plausible to men or according as they have affection or enlargement in them as we call it but we are to judge of our actions chiefly if not principally by the principle that they flow from if it be the weakest and meanest action if it be the least sigh or prayer if it proceed from the New Adam the Lord Jesus it is sweet and pleasing to God it is an acceptable sacrifice But if it be the most glorious thing in the world if it proceed from Old Adam not only from sinful Adam but from naturall Adam as he is called the naturall man 1 Cor. 15. I say that that riseth from natural wisdome and invention and understanding and memory c it is but flesh and whatsoever is born of flesh is flesh and as we say Pepper is Pepper that is it is dear so flesh is flesh that is it is a filthy abominable thing to God as it is in this Chapter They that walk according to the flesh cannot please God So that that is born of the flesh that service that ariseth from the flesh that is done from the flesh cannot please God Quest But you will say Cannot the actions that proceed from the principles of natural Adam be pleasing to God Every man knows that of corrupt Adam cannot but cannot that of natural Adam As a man may pray meerly by a naturall wit and bravely to please man and to please himself and he may Preach by a natural wit and do other Exercises and do them finely cannot they be pleasing to God Answ No this is a certain rule that there is nothing that comes from flesh from a principle of Old Adam whether it be naturally good or evil there is nothing whether from pure Adam or from corrupt Adam that is pleasing to God The reason is this Because as it is Gen. 3. 5. that when Adam sinned against God you know his punishment was that he should die he was not to eat or touch the forbidden fruit lest he should die Now when Adam eat of that fruit you know the Curse came upon him and in reference to this you shall finde those phrases in this Epistle Whosoever walks according to the flesh shall die whosoever walks as Old Adam is in the state of the old Curse He shall die and O miserable man who shall deliver me from this body of death He calls it a body of death alluding to the main Curse of Old Adam which was that he should die Now when the Lord said that Adam should die for sin conceive not that the meaning is onely that he should die personally that his person now should be subject to the wrath of God to damnation of soul and body for ever in Hell that is not the onely meaning of it it is true he fell under that but the meaning is this also that whole Adam Adam as thou art a publick person thou shalt die that whereas I made and appointed thee to be the Spring and Foundation of all Mankinde and every man in the world is to have thy Image on him and I have filled thee with righteousness and wisdome and good things that may tend much to thy happiness and thy posterity that thou mayest derive a principle to them to be like thee in good and to be pleasing to me But when Adam sinned now saith God thou shalt die I made thee a happy Creature and put abundance of excellencies in thee for thy self and thy posterity as a publick person but now thou hast sinned and extinguished all that good Now I will blast them all thy wisdome and thy righteousness thy soul and thy body thy very being Adam shall die Thy person as thou art a private man and as
misery the spirit is willing but the flesh is weake there is so much weaknesse and earthinesse and frailty somtimes a mans heart is right for God yet his head akes or his stomack is full of wind or he is weary and wants sleep there is some frailty or other This is all earthly Adam all this shall be gone and this kind of body and soul shall be altered and changed to the Image of the blessed second Adam we shall put off our earthiness as well as our sinfulness and have his blessed compleat image Now how glorious that shall be as you never saw the first Adam but onely by hear-say and by reading the word of God so you have not seen the second Adam but you may partly know by the manifestation of his glory on earth you have heard much of his glory We saw his glory as of the only begotten Son of God we shall then see him Phil. 3. 19. Our conversation is in Heaven from whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile bodies He meanes vile not onely in respect of sinfulness but of dustiness of earthyness and weakness that they may be like his glorious body according to his mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himselfe that is according to his usuall manner of working he can doe what he will in Heaven and Earth We cannot conceive what an image we shall have upon our bodies and souls but according to his wisdome and mighty power whereby he is able to subdue all things he will do it Therefore let me tell you this I finde few or none that have those lively expectations in these times of that glory that is to be revealed that the Saints of old had See how they speak of it What manner of love is this that we should be called the Sons of God but yet it doth not appear what we shall be for we shall be like him and Gird up the loyns of your mindes be sober and watch for the glory that shall be revealed The Saints heretofore more then half their hearts were in Heaven beforehand that is the meaning of that Our conversation is in heaven Just as you see men that go a long journey or as you see people that have been plundered that are returning to their own homes their conversation is there half a year before their hearts and their thoughts are there and they wish they were there and are thinking what they will do and what they will be when they come there So Our conversation is in heaven the Saints do so long after the glory that is to be revealed in the day of Adoption and Redemption of our bodies that the most part of them is there already Now we do not consider of this because the New Jerusalem is not yet come into our hearts we have not that Gospel-temper and frame of spirit that the Saints had before That which remains is a little to shew you what your duty is that the Lord hath brought up to walk according to the Spirit And two or three words I have to shew you how you should every one endeavour to attain to it or to attain it more and more But I shall leave that till the Afternoon SERMON V. Rom. 8. 4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit IT is the foundation of all our happiness to have the righteousness of the law fulfilled in us for thereby we are exempted from all misery freed from all our enemies and thereby we are made capable to enjoy all happiness and blessedness for all the misery that man suffers here and hereafter is because he hath not a righteousness to fulfil the law And therefore whatsoever man or woman it is that the Lord hath bestowed this great priviledge upon they must needs be in a blessed condition Now that we may know whether we are of that number the Apostle tells us that they that have this priviledge they walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit which was the last thing I was upon I told you what was meant by walking after the flesh and what by walking after the Spirit I gave the Reasons of it and made two or three Uses There are two things remain which I shall endeavour to speak of at this time Vse 4. of Exhortation First you that have received the Spirit of God and in some measure do walk according to the Spirit not according to the flesh that the New Jerusalem from Heaven is in some measure come into your hearts I will give you a few Exhortations from the Lord how you should carry your selves That is the first thing I shall do and that shall be in four or five short words 1. The first is this that the Lord having called you to this glorious free estate to this free condition that you would take heed of turning the grace of God into wantonness as many do And by that I mean but two things 1. That you would take heed of using your liberty as an occasion to the flesh 2. Of using your liberty so as to give offence to your Brethren or indeed to any I say first beware of using your liberty for an occasion to the flesh That you shall have Gal. 5. 13. For brethren saith the Apostle you have been called to liberty only use not your liberty for an occasion to the flesh but by love serve one another The Apostle shews them in that Epistle the glorious condition and estate that they were in through grace and here in this Verse there are two things that he tells them the one is implied it is worth observing ye are called to liberty that is there is a freedome there is a liberty in the Gospel in divers things that did seem to be sinful when ye were under the law or else what sense can you make of this Ye are called to liberty onely use not your liberty for an occasion to the flesh For we finde that the people under the law either they made the law stricter or looser then it was And there is no man in the world that walks according to the law but he makes many laws to himself that Christ hath not made Now when the Gospel comes in clearly all those laws that you made of your own head vanish Ye are called to liberty that is you see more freedome you are not bound to every thing that before you were Before you must not smile it was a sin if you seemed to laugh or smile and a hundred such things Now you are called to liberty but use it not as an occasion for the flesh that is take not occasion from your liberty to live more sinfully to say you are made free and others are tyed by the law and therefore you will live more carelesly and loosely and sinfully take heed and beware of that There were
knew the death of Christ but to know the power of that death keep close to the simplicity of the Gospel 4. Another thing is this you that have known a little of the Spirit of God and have inlarged hearts and enlightned eyes Let not God rest till thou find the comfort and power of what thou knowest O we know that the righteousness of the law by Christ is fulfilled in us and the like but we have not the full comfort of such a truth and many others We know Christ hath paid our debt and that we are one with him as he is one with the Father but we have not the power and the comfort of these things Beloved for thy comfort know that Paul in a sort was in thy condition Phil. 3. Not as though I had attained or apprehended but I would apprehend him of whom I am apprehended and I would know the vertue of his death and the power of his Resurrection Paul saw something that he did not fully apprehend but he would feele more of the power of the Gospel spirituall truths and if he saw that he wanted much more we Oh do not content your selves to have an old frozen knowledge of Gospell truthes whereby you are able to prove that men are legallists and that men are under Mount Sinai and yet have cold and frozen hearts cold truths without life therefore thinke of minding God of this 5. Then lastly labour to take heed that you be not by any means bewitched so as to fall back from that little light in the Gospell that you have received it is an easie thing so to doe I doe believe and it is my comfort and will be when I am farr from this place that the Lord hath enlightened divers of you to know the Gospel to know Jesus Christ a little clearer Now I know not what the Lord may doe for you but I say it is wonderous easie you may under one quarter of a years fleshly preaching lose that that you have been under two or three yeares Preaching a getting I have knowne after a quarter of a years building up of my soule in the knowledg of Christ and the setling of my faith and assurance I have heard one Sermon that hath routed and dasht all that work in my soule Therefore I beseech you beware faith is a tender thing especially the light we have that is but very weak and very tender therefore saith Paul Who hath bewitched you you foolish Galatians before whom Jesus Christ hath been lively painted as the word signifies Christ was drawn lively before the Galatians and yet they did fall If Paul that was an Apostle and had the spirit of God in such a measure laying open the spirit of Christ and yet his people did go back to Moses and to Sinai the Lord help and uphold us Therefore stand fast in your liberty in Jesus Christ This is all in short I have to say to you for that I hope you will lay up these words Vse 5. Now I have a few words of Advice and Counsel to those poor souls that do yet in a great measure walk according to the flesh in one fashion or other Their Religion is a fleshly Religion from Old Adam and according to the law in a great measure Now the Question is What shall they do that they may be spiritual Christians that they may walk according to the Spirit I will onely name a few things 1. The first is this I would desire you to endeavour to study much the difference between the two Testaments the New and the Old I mean not the two Books but the two Testaments that we reade of Heb. 8. and Heb. 9. whereof the one is faulty and the other is excellent the one is done away the other remains Study the difference between them for thereby you say the foundation of your Gospel-happiness for there is the misery of many Professors and will be their misery if they should live a thousand years they jumble both Testaments without knowledge and distinction and so they will never be better 2. Another thing that I would exhort you to is this to prize the Spirit of Christ more then you do There is nothing in the Gospel but it is a Mysterie you cannot know it but by the Spirit and there is no duty in the Gospel to be done that can be done but by the power of the Spirit We may do many things in the law by the strength of Old Adam in the Gospel we can do nothing but the Spirit is all And that is the reason I think for I speak according to the grace given me why people now are left so bare and poor and confused and know not which way to go or what to do they do not prize the Spirit of God Many men extoll Learning mightily and it is accounted almost Heresie to commend the Spirit of God There are many men I and many Professors that do not love to hear a man in a few modest words to commend the Spirit of God but all must be by study and reading and learning and for the Spirit of God it is a plain meer Cypher and there is an end But my life on it if I had a hundred I would say so they shall be beholden to the Spirit of God and extoll him before they be taught spiritually they shall be willing to lay down all their Learning as I have seen a learned godly man of late even with the Plow-boy I do not say but that Learning is good for some uses and God may bless it to help a man to express what he knows the better but as I told you Adam must die he cannot by it come to know one jot of the spiritual meaning of God in the Gospel or one jot of power or assurance to be happy or to do any thing for God towards this all Learning is not worth a straw therefore labour to extol the Spirit And if any of you have a minde to learning go on I discourage you not from it Learning is a thing in another element take pains and diligence to be learned it is good to do so But if thou wilt be a Gospel Christian thou must thank the Spirit of God for all Saith Paul for all his learning I am not sufficient to speak a good word and he was a learned man that Festus said Much learning had made him mad Beza in his Comment upon 2 Cor. 11. where the Apostle saith Are they Hebrews so am I Are they Jews so am I. Saith he I never read in any Latine on Greek Author so much eloquence and elegancy of speech as Paul hath there and yet he professeth he could not think a good thought for all he was learned so much much less do a good work As long as thou keepest the Spirit an underling as a cypher as many of the Clergie and learned men they extol Learning to the Heavens and many of them upon purpose to despight
in this world yet the power of Christ hath brought them under when all their Fastings and Humiliations would never do it when they were in that way without the clear knowledge of Christ but when they have come to Christ they have found it done In 2 Pet. 3. you shall finde there men that were carnal men that were as dogs that returned to their vomit yet the common knowledge of Jesus Christ did make them clean from the pollutions of the world and did give them power against their sins what then will the spiritual effectual knowledge of Christ do Therefore never entertain any prejudice against Christ or against his Gospel or against his Spirit and his Wayes for if there be any power in this world it is there all the rest is but a flourish but a shew of mortification when the heart is as full of lusts as a Toad is of poyson There is no true mortification or holiness but what comes from Christ and his holy Spirit SERMON VI. Rom. 8. 5. For they that are after the flesh do minde the things of the flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit IN the former Verse you remember how I shewed you that there was a great priviledge to all true Beleevers which indeed is the chiefe of all Priviledge for it is the inlet of all mercies and the principall deliverance from all evills It is contained in the beginning of Verse 4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us In the latter end of the Verse I shewed the person more largely described to whom this priviledge doth belong that is Not those that walk after the flesh but those that walk after the spirit And I have as God enabled me opened the meaning of that to you what it was to walk after the Flesh and what to walk after the spirit Now the Apostle in this fifth Verse goes forward a little more particularly to discover those that have a right to this priviledge by drawing one thing from another The main was They walk not after the flesh but after the spirit I but that is a generall word and how shall we know that Saith he you shall know that also by this They that are after the flesh do mind fleshly things and they that are after the spirit do minde spirituall things You shall know whether you have the righteousness of the law fulfilled in you if you walk not after the flesh but after the spirit And you shall know that also by your minding by the frame of your mindes if you walk after the flesh you will mind fleshly things if you walk after the spirit you will mind spirituall things And then he goes on to prove that also as we see oft in Scripture as in 1 John 5. where one thing is made the mark of another by a gradation there are five or six things and one thing proves another we know that we are the children of God if we keep his Commandements and we know we keep his Commandements by another thing and we know that by another thing So that I say the Scope of the Apostle is to cleare unto the Saints their right title to this great priviledge and also withall to convince those that are carnal that they are without it and to shew them their great miserie in being so for you shall see after how as he discovers them so also he shews their misery he saith they are enmity to God and they that walk after the flesh must dye c. Now that we may go on breifly to handle this a little to you you may take the Doctrine as it lyes here in the words for I will not nor need not frame it otherwise Doct. That those that are after the flesh do minde the things of the flesh Only remember what I said before for it is of great concernment for that great priviledge depends upon this if you have the righteousness of the law fulfilled in you you must be those that walk according to the spirit and not according to the flesh And then would you know that saith the Apostle Those that are after the flesh do minde the things of the flesh and those that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit so let that be the Doctrine or Lesson I will give you but two short words to prove this to you and then to open it as God shall help us Reas 1. The first thing to prove it is this that it must be so because every thing in the world in all the Creation of God doth act according to the nature of its principle from whence it flows As James saith Jam. 3. 11 12. Doth a fountain send forth from the same place sweet water and bitter Can a figtree my Brethren bear olive-berries or can a Vine bear figs You know that a Fig-tree bears Figs and a Vine-tree bears Grapes and an Apple-tree bears Apples and a Pear-tree Pears and every Tree and every thing will work according to its principle Make the tree good saith Christ and then the fruit will be good such as the tree is such will be the fruit such as the fountain is such will be the stream and when a mans principles the frame of his heart is nothing but flesh then of necessity his actions must be fleshly his affections must be fleshly If he have a fleshly minde he must have a fleshly will a fleshly love fleshly hatred a fleshly life fleshly prayers fleshly Sacraments fleshly every thing for every thing must be according to its principle So on the other side where the principle is spiritual there a man will minde spiritual things he will love spiritual things he will do spiritual things he will delight in spirituall things That is one Reason of it Reas 2. And the second is this for I will give you but these two because the chief thing that I intend at this time is the opening of it fleshly carnal men that are after the flesh they must minde fleshly things because they know not spiritual things they understand not spiritual things Or if you will and it may be that word hath something more in it 1 Cor. 2. they perceive not spiritual things they do not ken and perceive them Now you know that a man mindes not I mean look upon it as the acting of the understanding a man cannot minde but what he knows a man cannot think of things he knows not That is the reason to prove that poor ignorant people speak an untruth and deceive themselves when they say we remember God we minde God wheresoever we are and yet they know not God for God is not minded but when he is known As in that place of the Corinthians A natural man cannot perceive the things of the spirit he doth not know Jesus Christ therefore he cannot minde him he doth not know the things of the spirit of God therefore he cannot set his heart upon them Without
every Regiment in every Company that seek themselves there are but few that are otherwise there are but few that naturally seek the things of God And that you may see what a fearful thing it is that you may look to iâ— you shall see in Chap 3. 18. For many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you weeping and so in 2 Cor. 12. Beloved I do not reade that Paul did write weeping to the Church about any thing but about this and what was it he wept for They are enemies to the Cross of Christ they were not profane men but Professors Whose end is destruction who minde earthly things whose Belly is their god Who are they who minde earthly things whose Belly is their god They did not fall down on their knees and worship their Belly but they were such as did take more care and pains for their Belly and did rise earlier to look after the things of this life then after the glory of God and their end is destruction notwithstanding all their Profession and you shall know them by this they minde earthly things But our conversation is in heaven from whence we look for the Saviour c. Therefore to conclude this is my meaning that all that are Professors in this self-seeking age wherein one may go with a Candle as the Prophet saith through Jerusalem a man may go with a Candle from Westminster to the Tower to look for a man that naturally minds the things of God and the People of God and the Honour of God and the like And if they be so scarce I beseech you consider what a fearfull thing it is and how the Holy Ghost sets it out here that their end is destruction and Paul speaks of it weeping Therefore let it be thy work now to look to thy minde though thou profess to be a Saint whether it be natural for thee to care for thy self but to do for God but now and then and it may be after many perswasions thou mayest be brought to do something for God and for the people of God but it is natural to thee to look to thy self and to thine own honour and thy own place and preferment c. The Lord help thee to look to this SERMON VIII Rom. 8. 5. For they that are after the flesh do minde the things of the flesh but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit I Have spoken of these words in generall and â—ow I will according to the strength that God shall give me speake of them a little in particular that seeing those that enjoy this great priviledge to have the law fulfilled in them are those that walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit That we may find whether we walk after the flesh or after the spirit I would urge it a little further and that according to the Apostles method he pitcheth upon the minde and the minde not simply considered but as it is acting and setting forth the minde in minding therefore as he takes the chiefest facultie to judge the rest by so I will take the chiefest act in that faculty that so you may judge of the rest by that one and so keep to the Apostles method Now the chiefest act of the minde doubtless is the reasoning part of the minde There are many acts in the minde as it understands it thinks it imagines but especially the reasoning part it belongs to the minde to reason concerning things and Reason is the chiefest part and is called and accounted by Scholars the chiefest part of man and therefore they say that man is a reasonable creature Now I say if we will finde ouâ— by the Scriptures what we are whether we be according to the flesh or according to the Spirit for there is the hinge of it we must examine it by the minde and not by the minde simply as it is a faculty but the minde acting and exercising and if we speak of the exercise let us take the reasoning part of it that is the best part for of all the acts of the minde the reasoning is the strongest and that that most immediately flows from the Understanding therefore if the reasoning of the Soul be carnal the whole Soul is so and if the reasoning of it be spiritual the whole Soul is spiritual that was one thing that did move me to pitch upon that it being the chiefest Besides I finde that the Apostle in 1 Cor. 5. 16. he distinguisheth those that walk according to the flesh from those that walk according to the Spirit by the reasoning part for saith he Henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more We do not saith he henceforth walk according to the flesh and we know it by our knowledge we do know things not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit if Christ himself were here we would not look upon him with a fleshly eye What this knowledge is you may see in the verses before For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge we thus reason that if one died for all then were all dead and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again We know saith he that we are spiritual and not fleshly by our judging of things by our reasoning of things for thus we judge or thus we reason that if one died for all that is did die for all then surely we all are dead And we reason further that if one man did die for us and we are suffered to live we should imploy our life not for our selves but for him that died for us This kinde of reasoning we have that walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh therefore I will pitch upon that And the rather because the Lord hath been pleased for ends best known to him to keep that in my minde and to six it so on my thoughts that I could not pass it by and I usually judge in such cases that God doth often do it for your sakes And therefore according to this Method we shall observe this Doctrine or this Lesson Doct That those that are according to the flesh or that walk according to the flesh are swayed and guided by fleshly reasonings and those that are according to the Spirit are swayed and ruled by spirituall reasonings True Gospel Believers are ruled and swayed with spirituall reasonings and all carnal fleshly men are ruled by carnal fleshly reasonings For such as the mind is so is the whole man and if your reasoning be right then I dare say that all the acts of the minde are right for that is the chiefest you may judge of all the acts of your minde by your reasoning and therefore we cull out that for the triall of the rest I say carnal men are swayed
that our souls may feed upon First that The law requires of every man a righteousness to fulfill it Or that Every man is bound to get him a righteousness to fulfil the law of God Every man is bound to fulfill the law of God That is one thing The second Lesson will be this that The law is perfectly fulfilled or satisfied in all true Believers And thirdly that All those that are true Believers or that have these Priviledges they are those that walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit These are the three Lessons I shall speak of I say first The law requireth a righteousness from every man to fulfill it Or Every man is bound to fulfill the law of God That is the first thing The grounds of that are these I shall but touch them Reas 1. Because that God made man man was his creature and the Lord was his Soveraign and when God made all Creatures you know he made laws for them he made a law for the Sun and Moon and Stars c. and every thing goes according to the law that God determined for it Now when God made man who was but his Creature though he were a more excellent Creature he made a law for him this blessed law of God which is in his Book here the Covenant of Works as it was sometimes called therefore as all other Creatures were bound to go in their course and keep their peculiar laws that God laid on them so man also was bound to keep the law of God that God made for him Reas 2. Another thing is this that besides the Soveraignty of God that might impose a law upon him there was secondly a Compact between God man and so there was a kind of bargain for God laid that law upon man and Adam as a publick person he undertook to keep that law by a contract or bargain If God as it were had had no right before to lay it on him yet now man undertook it by way of bargain to keep the law of God Adam first did it and might have done it and afterwards the people of Israel profess to do it All these words we will do we will keep them That is another Reason whereby it appears that every man and woman in the world is bound to fulfill the law of God Reas 3. Another thing is this if you consider what there is that might free a man from keeping a law that is laid upon him you shall see that there are none of those things that can help him in this As First of all our Laws many times are Repealed and that Law that a man was bound to keep a few years ago he is bound to protest against now as the Service-book the Common-Prayer c. there is that penalty now for using it as there was for not using it a few years since Now it is not so with the law of God Heaven and earth shall pass away but one jot or tittle of the law shall not pass That law is an eternal law there is no repealing of it Then secondly you know Judges and Law-givers among men may be corrupted and bribed and may be brought to dispense with their own Laws nay sometimes to go against their own laws but God is a just God and when his own Son the Son of his love did take upon him to be born under the law and to be a Surety for man he endured the smart of the law and was dealt with as if he had been another Then thirdly there is no evasion or escaping among men there is If a man break the Law and go into another Country he is clear and free but here is no escaping one cannot go away Whither shall I go from thy presence saith David Psal 139. where shall I hide my self from thee A man can go no where but the law of God will be on him So that every man and woman in the world are still bound to fulfill the whole law of God or to get a righteousness a perfect righteousness to satisfie the law of God Now there are but three wayes in the world to fulfill the law of God First Either a man must do it in his own person as most men do besides Papists more or less they will go and do their best and do the good leave the evil and perform duties and they think by their doing to keep the law Or else secondly by suffering that is partly in this world and afterwards in Hell for that is the business of Hell for Hell is nothing but the place where people are fulfilling the law of God What doth Cain and other wretches do in Hell They are paying the debt fulfilling the law of God to eternity by suffering because they did not fulfill it by doing while they were here That is the reason that they are in Hell for ever because they can never pay the debt therefore they must abide there for ever for if it could be supposed that they could give a compleat righteousness that might satisfie the law they should stay in Prison no longer they should be in Hell no more Then thirdly there is another glorious way that is in Jesus Christ Jesus Christ he hath kept the law and perfectly fulfilled it now a man by believing in Jesus Christ and by being united to him and married to him that in his own person hath fulfilled the law being married to him whatsoever he hath is yours and whatsoever he hath done it is as if it had been done by you all shall be imputed to you and so the law of God may be fulfilled in you perfectly and you shall never go to Hell and have nothing to do or to suffer in that kinde This being premised briefly the Use of this may be twofold Vse 1. To shew you what a vain and foolish thing it is for a man to go about to keep the law of God in his own strength or in his own person for you to think to save your Souls or to fulfill the righteousness of the law by your own doings Beloved it is a great matter to bring poor sinners to be awakened to see their sins or to break off their course in sin for there are many Drunkards and Swearers and jeerers of Religion and Prophaners of the Lords day that sit as sots all the year and are never awakened but generally when men are awakened out of their sins this is the resolution of all mankinde of every man none excepted unless God have mercy on him he is ready to say I see I am in a damnable way and thâ—s course will bring me to Hell by the grace of God I wil turn over a new leaf and now I will hear Sermons I was wont to jeer at them and I will get me a Practice of Piety or some other good Book I will have prayers in my house and I will be drunk no more and swear no more I will be a new man
of God he faith not by the mercy of God though that be true there is infinite mercy but saith he that God might declare his righteousness in Christ to save us It is a merciful thing for God to give us Christ and to give us hearts to know that Christ and to believe in that Christ it is infinite mercy but now that we are in Christ and united in him as there was mercy so it is righteous and just with God to save us because we are righteous persons Mistake me not I say every poor Saint through Christ is a righteous person a just man I say in and through Christ he hath taken away all our sins and forgiven all our iniquities Coloss 2. So that when God saves believers he doth not onely save them out of mercy but out of righteousness he can do no otherwise therefore it is three times over his righteousness his righteousness his righteousness Rom. 3. And that is a blessed word in Heb. 12. Ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect I do not conceive that it is spoken of the spirits of men in heaven as many do and no wonder they mistake for I did so for many years That place it looks so like heaven that I took it for heaven it self Ye are come unto mount Sion to the general assembly and Church of the first-born and to the spirits of just men made perfect A man would think it were heaven it self it is called heaven but it is nothing in the world but the glorious estate of the Saints in Jesus Christ under the New-Testament as you may see afterwards Therefore as Christ saith let this word sink into your hearts that if thou be a right believer thou art perfectly just and righteous through Jesus Christ as if thou hadst never sinned against the law of God not by thy own righteousness but by the righteousness of Jesus Christ For what can be said more faith the Apostle The righteousness of the law is fulfilled He doth not say we have a piece of it but it is fulfilled that is to an Iota or tittle the law cannot say Black is thine eye because Christ hath paid and done all that it can demand Now to give you a word or two of the grounds or Reasons to help you to believe this truth to shew you how it comes about It comes about three wayes I mean it will be clear to you three wayes if you consider three things Reas 1. First You must consider that Jesus Christ which is our Surety he was sent of the Father out of his love as a publick person to fulfil the law of God by doing and suffering as a publick person There is much comfort in that Beloved you can never throughly understand your justification unless you study the first Adam what kinde of person Adam was as you may see in Rom. 5. Now the Lord Jesus he came a publick person and he was delivered for our offences as it is said Rom. 4. 25. he did die for our sins That 's one thing Reas 2. Now the second thing that demonstrates this to us is besides his dying as a publick person there is a union made between every poor believer and Christ as really as between Christ and his Father Indeed it is called in Scripture a Marriage because as in a Marriage all the wealth of the Husband is the Wives it becomes hers and she hath a right to it after Marriage so all that is in Christ becomes ours by this union But it is a more real union a closer union by far then that of Marriage it is compared to the union between the Members and the Head now by this union that you may reade of in Joh. 17. all that is ours becomes Christs and all that is Christs becomes ours There are two things Reas 3. Then thirdly we finde that God the Father to whom the debt was owing and whose law this was that we must satisfie he acknowledgeth satisfaction And what can we have more God the Father acknowledgeth that his Son hath satisfied the law and therefore we are freed Now he doth acknowledge it three wayes First You shall have it Mat. 17. compared with 2 Pet. 1. for Peter is much in it We follow not devised fables but we come to speak of the voice in the Mount This is my beloved Son As if he had said This is one main piece of the Gospel we heard a voice when we were with our Master in the Mount saying This is my beloved Son in whom my soul is well pleased That for his person Then a second thing that did shew that he was satisfied was by suffering Jesus Christ after he was arrested and in prison for our debt for Christ was in prison for our debt he was arrested and that according to law he was brought into prison and all our Suits were clapped on his back all our Executions and Outlaries were laid on his shoulders and then the Father let him out of prison being our Surety if he had not paid our debt he had not come out of prison but now the Father lets him out that is the Father suffered him to rise from the dead Therefore we find that our justification is laid more upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ then upon his death as we see in Rom. 4. 25. Who was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification that is he did die for our sins and was raised again for our justification And in Rom. 8. He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him give us all things Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us that is his dying for us did satisfie the law but that did not justifie us untill we see that he was risen again and then we see that all the debt is paid because our Surety is gotten out of prison Therefore justification I mean the knowledge of it at least principally ariseth from Christs resurrection Now when I see Christ is risen and gone abroad he is gone out of the grave and gone to heaven I know that the law is fulfilled and the Father is satisfied and the Sergeant the Devil hath nothing to arrest me for all is satisfied all is clear Thirdly and lastly I know God the Father is satisfied for the law it is God the Fathers Writ that he had against us and now we see that all is paid not onely because our Surety is got out of prison for so a man may do that hath not paid a debt but because when he was out of prison he ascended to his Father and the Father made him sit at the right hand of God in the glory of Majesty on high and he hath given him power and authority to rule the world till the day of Judgement Now in
London there is never a childe of God that hath walked more barrenly then I have done and yet through Christ I am as just in Gods sight as any man in London I am Gods childe but I am an unhappy graceless childe then a man can call himself fool and be angry with himself and weep bitterly Now usually when you mourn for sin you think there is a crack in your justification and so many sins as you have committed there are so many flaws in your justification and so many faintings of faith in the favour of God and therefore when you pray to God and are humbled for sin it is your manner and it was mine most of my dayes onely to dawb up the flaws of justification and you pray the Lord to pardon such a sin and now you see God is wrath with you and you are like to be cast off and your hearts begin to be hard and you have sad thoughts of God arising in you and unquiet and horrour in your souls and you are far enough from true sorrow all this while It is impossible there should be true sorrow when you keep a coile and confess your sins and wrangle it out with God and you will confess your sins to day and think to make God amends to morrow and so as a man stops chinks in a wall we think to dawb up the flaws and cracks of justification this way Whereas we should look on justification as a thing intire in the hands of Christ that we have nothing to do in but it is in Christ altogether founded on his death and resurrection and all the title that we have in it is onely by faith as Rom. 10. sheweth The righteousness of faith saith on this wise c. The word is nigh thee There is our title and tenure I have nothing to do for my justification but Christ hath fulfilled the law and he did die and rise and sitteth at the right hand of God and I endeavour to believe it that is to consent that it is so and praise his name and live to him all the dayes of my life O here is the life of Christianity I have seen people quarrel with themselves and complain O I have a hard heart and I desire the Preachers to pray for me and when you have fallen into weakness you will go and confess your sins and strive to break your hearts and mourn for your worldliness and your pride and frowardness and yet it will not do but your hearts grow harder then they were before and whereas when you have committed a sin to day you think to go and reform to morrow and to turn over a new leaf to morrow you will be worse then to day because you think to make God amends he leaves you to your selves and you grow worse The reason is this because in some sort even to this day you mix sanctification with justification Now I know it I speak what I know could you leave your justification alone in the hands of Jesus Christ and look on it as I said as Cash in the cupboard not to be touched and as long as Christ is righteous say I am righteous behold your selves alway as just men and women that in Jesus Christ have fulfilled the law of God and then you will finde your hearts inclined to any good thing then would your hearts break and shatter to pieces when you have done the least evil against God then you would know what true sorrow and what true repentance is and not before then you would know those things that now you know not nor cannot know Therefore labour to learn that lesson it is one of the greatest Mysteries in the world and that is the reason that carnal people carp at these things What greater Mystery then for me being a just and righteous man through Christ yet to be so sinful that I can say there is none more sinful and yet I am as righteous as Abraham or Paul in respect of the righteousness of Christ I have as large a share as Abraham or Paul and yet I am full of sin A Christian knows this and he knows how it is so Well that is one lesson consider of it that you may know where to plant your justification upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ The Lord teach it to you and me Secondly if the righteousness of the law be fulfilled in all that are believers through Jesus Christ Then all you that are Saints all you that believe in Jesus Christ labour to see the glorious condition that you are in that you may be able to reflect upon your selves not according to what you are out of Christ but what you are considered to be as Members of Jesus Christ as united to Jesus Christ Therefore you shall have Paul and it doth me good to see his spirit he never reckons himself as in himself but as in Jesus Christ I can do all things I can want and I can abound I can do this and that and all in Christ So I must never conceive of God out of Christ nor of my self out of Christ I must never conceive of my self and Christ as two but I should endeavour clearly and constantly that whatsoever good there is in Christ it is mine as if it were in mine own person And so we should have our spirits raised above the temptations of the world and above the afflictions of the world and above corruptions It is a pitiful thing to see poor Professors there is not one of many but they are ordinarily below temptations and they lye under burdens and are below their sins nay there are many Professors that are more sad and drooping then carnal people Surely this was not the way of those Saints that we reade of in the New Testament they had glorious spirits how do you think else they could go to the Stocks and to Prisons and from one Compter to another and have their spirits so raised and yet sometimes were to die the next morning for ought they knew Your spirits will never be heightned and raised to live the life of Paul by beholding any thing that is in you personally in your possession but what you are by relation and marriage to Christ Reckon your selves dead with Christ and so conceive I am a just man I was bound once to the law of God a terrible law and there are thousands in Hell paying the debt and cannot pay it and yet I have paid every farthing and the law cannot ask me more I have offered a perfect righteousness and I am now sitting at Gods right hand in Heaven by my union with Jesus Christ This is the life of faith that we may be able to triumph over all these things below from our justification as Paul doth Rom. 8. It is God that justifieth and who shall condemn Who shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus shall tribulation or distress or famine or nakedness or peril
is nothing but a transforming them from one lust another Saith Peter you must not do so but as obedient children if God have justified you if Christ have fulfilled the law perfectly for you that you dare Sin and Hell and Satan and tread all under feet doth it become you to fashion your hearts and lives to your lusts Is that a good rule no you must not do so 2. Another Rule is this world Rom. 12. 2. Be not conformed to this world It is the Copy of many men the Looking-glass that they dress themselves by every day how to square it in the world how to keep their port with their Neighbours and Gentlemen they converse with and with great men that have command of them and with their fellow-Officers c. And so women how they may go brave as their Neighbours do and get credit in their eyes So most people their main Rule is they care not whether it please God and conform them to his Son at all so they can keep correspondency with the world now you must not do so for they are yet in their sins poor wretches therefore let them conform to their lusts and they that are of the world let them conform to it but 3. Since God hath redeemed you from the wicked world by the blood of his Son and hath brought you to this condition and bestowed glorious and unspeakable Priviledges on you you should conform your selves to the Image and Example of Jesus Christ and to the Rules of Jesus Christ in the New Testament in all your actions and wayes You cannot write without looking on your Copie the best Saint cannot write one line without viewing and looking on his Copy for every letter For all your actions you are to have two things in your eye that you may do the action right and carry your selves right 1. Either eye Jesus Christ and his Example how would Christ have done if he had been here what did Christ do in the like case in the Gospel So by eying that there will be a power as in Jacobs sheep by beholding the rods the Spirit of God will convey a power looking upon the picture that is before us that is Jesus Christ to transform us into his likeness Or 2. Think of the Rules of Jesus Christ the Rules of the New Testament this blessed Word Have frequent recourse to the Spiritual Rules of the New Testament that should be your Copy When any case comes follow not your lusts and act not according to the wisdome of the flesh to say this or that I will do but consider what is your Rule you walk by another Rule What have I to do what such a man and such a man doth but what is my Rule how must I carry my self As for instance when you come among people that rejoice for any mercy what is the Rule Rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with them that weep It may be a man hath received great unkindness and is wrong'd by him that he hath been most kinde to of all the men of the world and yet he proves most ungrateful if a man should go to flesh and blood he would hate and abhor him and not indure him man in his best naturals would not bear it he would not bear ungratefulness and wrong but labour to requite it But what is the Rule The Lord is good to the wicked and unthankeful therefore Lend freely looking for nothing again Presently God will bring a Spiritual Rule to your minde and God will give you power to do it And so suppose a man should charge and challenge you with a debt and would you pay such a debt you perhaps know no such thing and are perswaded of the contrary What now You know what most men think I will never pay him I were a fool if I should give away my estate and be a beggar when I have done but what is the rule If thine enemy sue thee at the law and take away thy cloke give him thy coat also A Christian comes to this law he consults not with flesh and blood when a case comes but he thinks what is the rule in this case But all the misery is you will be fingering with justification which you should leave alone upon Christs death and refurrection you should be working out your holiness every day that should be your way God will bring it in So when a woman is putting on her clothes and making her fine clothes and thinks to be as fine as her neighbours she should think but what is my Rule Not to conform my self to others in embroidered hair and fine apparel and gold but with the ornament of a meek spirit So you have the New Testament full for every case there is something that will direct and lead you that thereby you may conform to Jesus Christ I give you but general instances if God open your eyes to see your glorious condition in the New Testament you must resolve on this to walk according to the copy and the rules of it that in any case you may ask What is my rule as I am a Christian as I am a free man one with God that I may walk by it Now I exhort you to this because if a thousand Devils should preach in stead of men and tell you what the Torments of Hell are all would not be so great a motive by half to walk holily as to tell you that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled by Christ that you are righteous and just and all your sins are done away by Christ Therefore O love him and live to him comform to your copy Let your Neighbours conform to their copy to the World and others conform to their lusts as too many do but do you conform to Jesus Christ Think what would Christ do if he had my opportunity what would he have taken in hand And whatever occasion you have with God or man ask What is my rule in the New Testament and conform to that Blessed is the man or woman to whom God gives a heart so to do There remains one word more of this and the third Lesson which is the principal thing the description of those persons that have this Priviledge They walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit But because the time is gone and my strength also I shall leave that till God give another opportunity SERMON III. Rom. 8. 4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit THere were three Lessons that we may learn from these words The first is implied namely That the righteousness of the law must be fulfilled by every man Or Every man is bound to fulfill the law of God And Secondly That the Law of God is perfectly fulfilled in all true Believers And Thirdly That true Believers are they who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit We were the last time
upon the second we have proved it and opened the Point and have made some use of it First that from hence we may learn where our justification lieth and whereon it is built not upon any thing in us or done by us but only upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ Secondly hence all that are Saints all that believe in Jesus Christ should labour to see the glorious condition they are in by Christ Thirdly we should learn being justified freely and fully by the grace of Jesus Christ to conform our selves in our hearts and lives to the Example of Jesus Christ and to his Rules in the Gospel Vse 4. I shall adde but one word more from this Lesson that is that seeing the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in them that believe you may hence see that none are further from Antinomianism then those that are true believers those that are godly Saints You have a great stir concerning Antinomians what they should be it is one that is against the law that is the signification of the Greek word Now the question is Who is most against the law of God I do not deny but there are some and they may be called Antinomians though we should not miscall people yet they deserve it But now a Saint that is in Christ he is not an Antinomian he is not against the law because he hath satisfied the law Every man must pay the law and they that would fulfill the law with their own righteousness they do the law wrong they that do most here and they that suffer most in Hell they can never satisfie the law But a Christian hath satisfied the law because he hath given it a perfect righteousness Now if a man should owe Ten thousand pounds and he had but Fifty shillings a year coming in and it may be one year he payes ten shillings another year he payes a Noble and another year three pence yet he payes as well as he can But now suppose there come a Surety and he payes the whole Ten thousand pound and he saith to the Creditor You shall be paid no more by three pences but you shall receive the whole sum what do you think is not that better So there are none that satisfie the law so roundly and fulfil it so perfectly as he that relinquisheth all that is in him and layes hold on Jesus Christ and in him payes God to a farthing Therefore when Paul is proving strongly that we are justified by Christ and not by the law saith he We take not away the law but we establish the law This is a better way of fulfilling the law then any other All the damned men in Hell and all the Pharisees on Earth cannot satisfie the law so well as one poor sinner that believes in Jesus Christ And so for matter of practice a man that believes in Jesus Christ he walks more strictly then any Pharisee can for he looks not only what is lawful but what is convenient he walks by a more sublime excellent rule A Pharisee looks only what is lawful and what is not lawful but a Christian he looks what is exact and expedient Take any man that knows what it is to be justified by Christ and that man goes a thousand-fold further then another for a man that would be saved by his own fulfilling of the law if he cannot come up to the law he will bring the law down to him As a man that hath a heavy burthen if it be too heavy for him he will cast off some of it so when a man goes about to keep the law and findes it too heavy for him he will throw away some and cut out a part and make a carnal gross law and endeavour to keep that Now a man that is justified by Christ he knows that the law must be satisfied and so he takes it in the purest spirituality and goes to Christ Jesus and he hath satisfied all So much briefly for the second Lesson Now I shall enter a little upon the third as far as the Lord shall give strength and time Those that believe and have this great Priviledge which is the foundation of all others to have the law perfectly fulfilled for them in Christ they are here described to be such as walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit So in the third place take this Doctrine or Lesson Doct. 3. That they and they onely that walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit are partakers of this Priviledge to have the benefit of the righteousness of Christ to fulfill the law of God for them I say they and they onely have it for it excludes all other The Scripture doth not onely set it down positively as it saith Go baptize all nations in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost therefore we may conclude thence that we may baptize those that are disciples but from that place to gather this Doctrine That they and they onely are to be baptized cannot be right but here I say it is they and they onely Why so because we see after those that walk according to the flesh shall die the righteousness of the law is not fulfilled for them for then they should never die nor be damned they that walk after the Spirit and they onely have this Priviledge Now the main business that I shall endeavour at this time will be onely to open to you these two words What iâ— is to walk And what is meant by flesh and what by Spirit For if we understand what it is to walk according to the flesh we shall easily understand what it is to walk according to the Spirit Concerning the former word to walk I shall say but little because you understand it To walk is a general word in this place it is of a great extent and comprehends a mans whole course and way and practice A man who goes or converseth whose course and way is according to the flesh whatsoever that flesh is as we shall see afterwards such a man walks Therefore it is oft set down in Scripture by several expressions They that are after the law and they of the concision c. Put what words you will so they be general enough they whose thoughts and words and courses are that way they are they that are said to walk There are three words in the Original for walking and of those three the word here is of the largest extent To walk according to the flesh what is the meaning of that I shall be a little larger in opening of this I will not trouble you with the various acceptations of the word flesh You know there is a literal sense of it and by a Synecdoche it is put for the whole person Soul and Body and there is a Metonymicall acceptatoin of flesh I will give them a heart of flesh it is called flesh for softness and there is a Metaphorical
acceptation of flesh a borrowed kinde of speech and so it is to be understood in this place Now to open this to you I shall shew you First in general what is meant by flesh Secondly particularly By flesh therefore in general you are to understand in this place and the like every thing let it be what it will be that is against Jesus Christ or his Spirit or his Worship or any thing else that belongs to it any thing that is not of faith or of Christ is it flesh in general Let me speak more plainly Any thing that is of Old Adam is flesh whether it be good or evil and any thing that is of and from the New Adam that is Spirit Now you know we receive two things from Old Adam some natural moral good some reliques of that that he had the fulness of and we receive evil when he was corrupted Now both these take them in the largest extent they are both called flesh in Scripture whatsoever is of or comes from Old Adam is called flesh therefore flesh in many places in the New Testament it is the very same with the old man and you have them taken promiscuously Our old man is crucified Rom. 6. And in another place Those that are Christs have crucified the flesh not onely the corruption or evil that Original sin as we say that is within us but whatsoever of the image of the old man is upon us whatsoever we have had whether it be good or evil from the old man And indeed in the New Testament it is more frequently taken for the moral good of Old Adam then the evil though it be taken for both yet I say most frequently the good of Old Adam especially the wisdom of Old Adam The wisdom of the flesh is enmity to God Rom. 8. as in the New Adam the Lord Jesus Christ the wisdom of the holy Ghost is a most excellent piece so the wisdome of Old Adam is the unhappiest and most miserable thing of all That you may understand this you must conceive that all the principles of this world I mean of all Mankinde all their motions and actions do wholly spring and flow from two roots two principles as the Heathen Philosophers said in another sense they held that all this world did rise from two Beginnings from two Beings from two Principles there was one good and another evil that set all things on work so all things in every man in this world the principles and motions and actions and thoughts and inclinations and wisdome and reasoning and doing whatsoever is within or without man springs from one of these two roots that is it is either from Old Adam â— mean not nature in you but it flows from Adam that was once in Paradise or else from the New Adam Christ Jesus for there were but two men that ever in the world were publick persons that were the Fountain of the principles and proceedings of Mankinde Adam in Paradise natural Adam and the Lord Jesus Christ the Spiritual Adam All Mankinde was made after the Image of the first Adam We have born the image of the earthly Adam 1 Cor. 15. and indeed all the Saints shall bear the image of the heavenly Adam too hereafter at the least Now both these Adams are as two Springs in a hill conveying their streams to two rivers they are springs from whence arise all the thoughts and imaginations and actions and proceedings all the wisdome and righteousness whatsoever is in us it springs either from the second Adam the Lord Jesus planted in the Soul or else it flows from Old Adam from natural Adam that is in us therefore they are called the roots the Lord Jesus is called the root of Jesse Why so because all the new Creation all the work of grace all the principles thoughts and actions of a Saint so far as they are of grace they rise from the New Adam the Lord Jesus Christ Therefore I say to understand this a little in general before I go further A man that walks according to the flesh who is he A man that walks according to any thing of Old Adam whether it be good or evil And usually in the New Testament it is taken for the good 1 Cor. 1. there flesh is taken for the good of Old Adam when a man walks according to the wisdome of Adam according to natural wisdome and according to the righteousness of Old Adam that is done by us or when we walk according to the sins and lusts and corruptions of Adam for both are put together and all makes but flesh and whole flesh strives against whole Spirit Now I say take it in a general sense to walk after the flesh is not onely to walk sinfully and carnally but when a man walks though devoutly and righteously in the eye of the world yet if it be after the principles of Old Adam if he do not walk by a principle planted in him from the New Adam the Lord Jesus Christ all this is but flesh Now then for a man to walk according to the Spirit What is that All his principles spring from the root of Jesse from the Spirit of the Lord Jesus all his actions are upon another ground Now I say all the principles and actions of every man and woman in the world springs from one of these therefore it is convenient and necessary that you consider how the two Adams are the two Springs of all Mankinde the two pillars as it were upon which God hath laid all Mankinde and all that is done in the world and those that walk after the one walk after the flesh and those that are after the other walk after the Spirit So much in generall Now more particularly by walking after the flesh in this place there are three things meant The first thing meant by walking after the flesh according as most of our godly and learned translate it is when a man walks according to the dictates and suggestions of corrupt nature So flesh is taken for Original sin that is that corruption of nature that is prone to every evil and that is an enemy to all good So a man that walks according to the flesh is when the course and bent of a mans soul and life goes after sin though he do some good sometimes yet when his course is that way that is his continuedness and contentedness is after sin this is to walk after the flesh First when it is his continued course for walking is not a step or a leap or a stride but walking is a thing of many paces So it is called a going from iniquity to iniquity Rom. 6. And then there is in walking contentedness and sweetness a man is not said to walk when he is tired or when he goes in danger but walking it pleasant to all young and old So when he saith they that walk according to the flesh that is not onely when men are overtaken by lusts and sin
or in the way of the Gospel or in the way of Christ There be divers expressions in Scripture that help us to understand it as Rom. 4. 14. it is called They that are of the law that is those that walk according to the law In Gal. 3. there are two or three phrases Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith The walking according to the Spirit is the hearing of faith and it is twice there they that are of faith they that are of faith To be of faith and to walk according to the Spirit is the same to be of the law or of circumcision is to walk according to the flesh In Rom. 10. 5. The righteousness which is of the law saith on this wise The righteousness of the law that is the way of the law that Scripture sets out the way of those that walk according to the Covenant of Works now the way of the law is the same as walking after the flesh and faith he The righteousness of faith saith on this wise that is the grace of the Gospel or the way of faith So the meaning is this we hear of a glorious priviledge that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us and there is no man in the world can get it by his own works or in reference to the Covenant of works no not Abraham himself but it is meerly by Jesus Christ Therefore if any of you think to have this righteousness fulfilled in him and go in the old way to Mount Sinai to the Covenant of Works he is deceived he shall never have it but by walking according to the Spirit no man can enjoy this priviledge by a Covenant of works by their own doing by seeking to fulfil the law of God by their own righteousness but they that walk after the Spirit as if he had said Do not mistake me it is a great priviledge to have the law fulfilled for you but it is not by your own strictness and zeal and though some of you go further then others yet none of you can attain the fulfilling of the law that way for all are come short Rom. 3. But it is those that walk after the Spirit that is those that seek it in a way of faith in another not in themselves those that seek it according to the principles and directions of the Gospel Now because I know this Expositions is harsh to many of you though I exclude not the other therefore I shall endeavour to shew you three things First I will prove clearly out of the Scriptures that this is the meaning Secondly I will give you a Reason why that is the chief meaning Thirdly I shall give you a few Reasons why the Apostle saith that they that walk according to the Covenant of works walk according to the flesh and they that go according to the way of faith walk according to the Spirit Concerning the first that flesh is often taken clearly in this sense I will give you some places of Scripture Gal. 3. 3. This I would learn of you Received you the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith Are ye so foolish that having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect in the Flesh We see in Chap. 1. they are called to the grace of Christ through the Gospel Gospel principles were rightly and savingly practised among them and after there came some among them that perverted them and saith he Are ye so foolish that having begun in the Spirit and have had Christ crucified among you that now you will be made perfect by the flesh that now you will go and seek justification by your own works and go about to keep the law c. Another place is in Phil. 3. 4. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh and then he speaks of the priviledges of an Israelite and if you look further ver 7. I count all these loss that I may win Christ and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but that which is of the faith of Christ So by the flesh he means the righteousness of the law which he throws away for the righteousness which is of faith Take another place Rom. 10. 5. compared with Rom. 6. 14. saith the Apostle Sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the law but under grace When you were under the law and walked after the flesh sin had dominion over you and you obeyed it Here is a parallel place for saith the Apostle When you were in the flesh the motions of sin by the law did work in your members When you were in the flesh that is when you were under the law then the motions of sin did work but now sin shall not have dominion over you because you are not under the law you are not in the flesh you do not walk according to the flesh And that I suppose is the meaning of that Scripture 2 Pet. 2. 10. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly and to reserve the wicked to be punished but chiefly those that walk after the flesh in the lusts of uncleanness Now if you take walking after the flesh for sinful wayes it would be the same as if he had said There are divers people that walk wickedly but chiefly they that walk after the flesh for all people naturally walk after the flesh but these were a peculiar people that the Lord would bring judgements on and they walked according to the flesh Who were they They were most of them Jews they were Adams sons that walked in the old Covevenant chiefly they that walk according to the flesh that is the meaning of it or else he would not have said according to the flesh for every man naturally walks according to the flesh So in this Text Who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit and in ver 8. of this Chapter They that are in the flesh cannot please God Now I shall open that by another Scripture Heb. 11. 5. where it said that Enoch pleased God We reade of Enoch Gen. 5. 24. that he walked with God he walked not according to the flesh now saith the Apostle Without faith it is impossible to please God now he that walks in the flesh cannot please God Why so He that goes not in the way of faith by Jesus Christ he cannot please God By believing I please God by walking in the obedience of faith to God I and my works please God Now to please implies one was offended before all my doing cannot please God but my believing presenting to God a perfect righteousness by faith pleaseth God and then all my works are accepted There are two words for it in the Original one signifies to please one that hath been offended another is pleasingness with one that hath not offended as my childe pleaseth me though he have not offended me but the
other is to be pleased with one that was an Enemy before one that was against me that is now received to favour So I have told you briefly some Scriptures to shew you that the flesh is taken in this sense Now the main Reason of it why I believe this to be the chief meaning of it is because that I see clearly that this is the chief drift and scope of this Epistle and if I may speak without disparagement there is nothing more methodically laid down and this is spoken to bring them from the way of works to the way of faith But I hasten Why doth the holy Ghost call walking after the Covenant of Works and after the law walking after the flesh and the other walking after the Spirit The Reason is Because there is so great affinity and nearness between walking legally and walking sinfully that they are promiscuously in Scripture taken one for another For let a man walk and endeavour and do his best according to the Law and not by the Gospel he shall be sure to walk sinfully and carnally there is no help for it If he be under the law sin will have dominion over him and if he go after the flesh the motions of the flesh will bring forth fruit unto death Sin and the law are as it were of so near a kin that the law makes sin more sinful and the more a man strives to keep the law the more he sins The Apostle brought it so near that people were ready to speak non-sense that the law was sin He prevents the objection Is the law sin O no faith he sin is the transgression of the law So that a man that walks according to the law and not according to the way of the Gospel in spight of his heart he shall walk according to the flesh that is according to the lusts of nature he can never walk holily let him do what he can A second Reason why it is called flesh is in allusion to the two Sons of Abraham as we see in Gal. 4. 21. The Apostle there speaking of these two Covenants he saith Abraham had two sons the one by a bond-maid the other by a free woman but he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh but he of the free woman was by promise which things are an allegory or a comparison for these are the two Covenants the one from mount Sinai which gendereth to bondage which is Agar for this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children but Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all He is proving that the old Covenant was to be done away Agar was to be thrown out with her children He proves that those two Sons of Abraham Ishmael and Isaac were types of the two Covenants that God made with mankinde the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace Now the Covenant of Works he compares to Ishmael that was born after the flesh as other children were Abraham went in to Hagar and she conceived and bare a childe as other women but Isaac was not born after the flesh all fleshly wayes could not produce Isaac he was a childe of Promise and the Spirit of God breathing in the promise and working mightily in Abraham and Sarah Isaac was produced This is an Allegory there is a great Mysterie that you think not of when you reade of Ishmael and Isaac By Ishmael is meant the Covenant of Works and the principles of it and the practitioners of it and they walk according to the flesh as Ishmael did and by Isaac is meant the Covenant of Grace and those that go that way are children of the promise as Isaac was So God hath set this Comparison and I conceive the Apostle alludes to it and calls it a walking according to the flesh As if he had said Thou shalt never have this righteousness by walking in the way of thy father Ishmael by Mount Sinai in Arabia by walking in the law to turn away the wrath of God but if thou wilt get this righteousness thou must walk according to the Spirit thou must get the Spirit and be a childe of promise The third and last Reason that I shall give why it is called walking according to the Flesh is because of weakness for flesh is put for weakness as the Scripture saith They are Flesh and not Spirit that is they are poor weak things so those that walk in that way in the way of the law they are weak creatures there is nothing but wishing and woulding and covenanting and promising and protesting and vexing and fretting but there is no strength Now one Saint that is truly planted in Christ and the Gospel hath truly taken place in his heart he hath more strength then five hundred of the other Saith Paul I can do all things I can want and I can abound I can go to prison freely I can rejoyce with them that rejoyce and mourn with them that mourn Because the same Spirit that dwells in Christ and works effectually the same Spirit dwells in us and works in us Therefore that is the meaning of it They that walk after the flesh that is they that go after the law they are weak they tug and are never the nearer Heaven and if they should live a thousand years they would be no better but wishers and woulders and say I have a good desire to do as the Preacher saith but I have no power Vse Let me conclude with one word of Use from all this that hath been said which I hope you will consider of From this Doctrine thus opened you may hence see the saying of our Lord Jesus Christ verified and made good that few shall enter into the kingdome of Heaven Doubtless Paul did not look on sinners and Saints as we do we account every Professor let his principles be what they will either from the first or second Adam if he begin to leave sin and to perform duties we account him a good man But when the Lord comes to judge he will look further and examine us and will I fear finde abundance that shall never enter into the kingdome of Heaven even of those that follow good old Adam I mean there are abundance of Professors that have left corrupt Adam in his grossness and follow good old Adam that is a sprig from that they will abstain from sins and they will perform duties and they will do no wrong and all is but old Adam still Therefore you that are Professors look to your selves for the Lords sake I am mistaken if there be not many hundreds of us that will be found the Sons of Ishmael at the last day many that make a great Profession and many that make a greater Profession then others that are honest spiritual Saints before the world before men for when a man goes to keep the law every light that comes into his
can do a little from the Spirit of Jesus Christ and if God will frame my heart from the Lord Christ and his Spirit to speak a few words to my Father this is all I care for And so for other things Therefore I beseech you let this sink into you That makes you proud that you cannot rule your hearts but you are lifted up with pride when you have done duties it is because every fine thing you do from old Adam makes you proud you take all in the bulk and consider not whence you do things you consider not how much of the old Adam or of the new there is in your Prayers and duties Therefore let this be an universal eternal rule to know the worth of all your services and actions by whatsoever is of the flesh is flesh and whatsoever of my Preaching and of your praying and lending and giving and of your publick actions if it be not from a Spiritual Principle from Jesus Christ according to the Gospel planted in you it is of old Adam and it is condemned labour to leave that Vse 4. I shall conclude with one word more and that is this That this being so that this is to walk according to the Spirit Then we should long very much for the fulfilling of those Prophesies and Promises that God hath made unto us concerning the latter times There is no Saint almost now that I know but expects glorious times onely one Saint thinks that the glory of the Saints shall be in this thing and another in that thing but every Saint expects continually the fulfilling of those Prophesies and Promises set down in the latter end of the Revelations and they are glorious ones whatsoever the meaning of them is and I think the chief thing there promised which shall be the height of our happiness that the New Jerusalem shall come down from heaven mistake me not though it be a consequent yet it is not chiefly and properly such a way of Government this or that or the other way though it be true that Government will follow upon it yet if the meaning of it were onely to Reform our Churches though that were a blessing or that Christ should come and reign here temporally and give us Inheritances and Riches and the like truly a Saint would not long much for these things But the New Jerusalem shall come down from heaven and abundance of blessings that shall go along with it What is that The meaning of it is we shall have the light of the Gospel clearly revealed unto us and we shall have Gospel-principles fully put into our souls which by Antichrist by Babylon we have been sednced of these thirteen or fourteen hundred years For that was the mischief of Antichrist he hath kept us all his reign under the Old Testament with Altars and Sacrifices and Priests and I know not what every thing just as they used under Moses and we are not wholly gone out of Antichrist yet But the Lord will send a light into our hearts to know the truth in the power and to square our hearts to it For that is New Jerusalem if you compare it with Heb. 12. where the holy Jerusalem the heavenly Jerusalem is clearly opposite to Mount Sinai So compare it with Gal. 4. he tells us that Jerusalem which is above is the mother of us all that is the Covenant of grace and the principles thereof in the souls of men Therefore I wish that the Lord would set your hearts and mine longing after that that we may have more of the spirit of the Gospel and of the Principles of the New Testament in us and then for matter of Government of Churches those things would follow For to set up Government and Discipline before this comes into the soule truely it is to build Castles in the ayre for let a man take us and frame us in the Independent or Presbyterian way in what way he will unlesse the Principles of Jesus Christ in the Gospel be spiritually planted it will be a fleshly Independent and a fleshly Presbyterian service Therefore labour chiefly for that and pray the Lord to fulfil that and then your Government whatsoever it shall be God will reveale it more fully People are now generally going to build and order Churches and I know not what unlesse the spirit of the New Testament govern in the New Testament it is a vain thing for if we have our former fleshly hearts that walke according to the law and according to the flesh all the Government in the World will never doe us good because God hath cursed flesh and it will never be regulated and brought to good And this also should move us exceedingly to long for the comming of Jesus Christ to glory for his comming to us or our comming to him and the reason of that you shall have in 1 Cor. 15. 49. a glorious word that hath dwelt much in my thoughts I told you the reason why every man must dye a naturall death because of that absolute grand curse that Adam did fall in as a publick person and we being from him we must dye Now here is the comfort of it a blessed word it is As we have born the image of the earthly so we shall bear also the image of the heavenly that is when the redemption of our bodies comes at the day of Christ then as we have borne the Image of the earthly so we shall bear the Image of the heavenly We have born hitherto and do beare the Image of naturall Adam we are all his Sons and his Daughters just like him in our wisdom and understandings and bodies and soules poore earthly creatures naturall frail creatures we are and by that curse that was layd upon him we must all dye and lay downe these earthly Tabernacles these earthly creatures must be dissolved As we have born the Image of the earthly not only as we have born the Image of old Adam sin and wickednesse and pride and frowardnesse so now we shall bear the Image of the new not only in respect of grace and holinesse and righteousnesse that if I be in him all those corruptions of nature shall out and I shall have a new nature That is true but that is not all but as I wholly beare the Image and shape of old Adam his body and soule and senses and all those must dye so when these bodies shall be raised we shall as absolutely and largely beare the Image of the new Adam the Lord Jesus in our body senses and all our whole man soule and body in respect of substance as well as quality we shall bear the Image of the second Adam as lively and in as large an extent as ever wee bore the Image of the earthly Adam Therefore that is a great comfort I will tell you why because it is not onely the sinfulnesse of a Christian that troubles him but his earthinesse so many distempers and troubles that it is a
some it seems I am sure there are some now that all the liberty and freedome they hear of from the Gospel or by getting off from the law it is nothing in the world but that they may go on more in sin and enjoy their lusts more freely this is to pervert the Gospel And what the end of these people shall be you may see in 2 Pet. 1. and in the Epistle of Jude they are appointed to damnation and their damnation slumbereth and sleepeth not that is they are going on amain they are going faster towards Hell then any Drunkard or Whoremonger A Malefactor never goeth so fast to death as these do to destruction when all the knowledge of liberty that they have is onely to give occasion to provide more for their lusts then before Let us consider and take heed of that 2. Another thing is seeing you have liberty by walking according to the Spirit for where the Spirit is there is freedome that is certain use it not for the offence of your Brethren As some there are that when they hear they are free are ready to say I care not what all the world say I know this is not a sin and therefore I will do it Beloved that is far from walking worthy according to the Gospel I became all things saith Paul to all men that I might win sâ—me I am under the law to them that are under the law and without law to them that are without law I became all things to all men that I might gain some so we must not please our selves but one another for edification Rom. 15. and condescend to men of low sort Rom 12. Who is weak saith the Apostle and I am not weak If thou see a man under the law fumbling and wallowing upon Mount Sinai without the knowledge of the Gospel despise him not and say He is a Legallist and what have we to do with him but endeavour to frame thy heart and thy language and carriage so suitable to him that thou mayest win upon him and so with others This is the language of the Gospel and the true way of the Spirit of God when a man knows his freedome and yet he becomes all things to all men that he may do them good There is one word that I think is the word and will of God and I desire that thou mayest take it so and carry it with thee 2. A second thing that I advise you to that are Spiritual that the Lord hath revealed a little of the Gospel to it is this that you would endeavour to walk humbly O walk humbly Why so I will tell you why because a man when he is under the law he shall be twenty years striving for a little knowledge or grace and shall hardly get them but as soon as ever a man comes rightly to Christ and to know him then there is such a flood of grace and such abundance of revelations it is the Scriptures word there is such abundance of manifestations of God and of the Image of God when they begin to come in that it is a hard thing then to keep the soul down for Spiritual things when they come in rightly when the flood-gates are open they come in as waves one upon the neck of another For Spiritual Gospel-truths multiply in the Soul a thousand-fold one lesson from another and one Scripture opens another and then there is no end and then it is hard to keep the soul humble Therefore in 2 Cor. 12. when Paul was wrapt into the third Heavens because of the abundance of revelations that he had seen for he had seen and heard things that he could not utter and speak to others he was ready to be proud to be lifted up and lest he should be so God sent a messenger of Satan to buffet him It implies it was a hard thing for Paul the Apostle when abundance of revelations came into his soul not to be lifted up And this spoils some honest hearts I hope they are so and that God will bring them home that having been kept bare of food as some Souldiers that went to relieve Glocester when they came home to the City they killed themselves with eating full and good food so when poor souls have gone upon the bare Mountains of Sinai and then have come to the Pastures of righteousness they go so greedily and are so taken that if God be not wonderful merciful they will be undone by being lifted up Therefore beware of this learn from Paul's example to seek to the Lord to keep your hearts humble 3. A third thing is this Endeavour to walk simply I mean to keep to the simplicity of the Gospel The Gospel though there be glorious Mysteries in it to feed the soul yet notwithstanding it is a plain simple thing Now here the Devil endeavours to undo souls as it is ordinary in this City when men come once to understand a little of the Gospel and to taste the sweetness of it the Devil screws them up to sublimare all Religion into Notions to cleave a hair and Religion will be all in Idea's and conceits of the Nature of God and of the Creature whereas the Gospel is a plain thing Paul desired to know the death of Christ and the power of his resurrection and Paul teacheth Servants how to obey their Masters and Masters how to carry themselves to their Servants and Wives to their Husbands and such simple plain things Now these are accounted nothing and that is the reason that many among us they do more and more lose the Word of God unless it be about some sublime Notions If a Minister be upon such Points some high Idea's for they feed upon such that is worth the while but if a Minister speak of things that concern their Calling or their Sex and Condition that is plain it hath no taste in it no more then the white of an Egge It is a hard thing to keep to the simplicity of the Gospel As the Devil tempted our first Parents God gave Adam and Eve sufficient knowledge to do his will and they had sufficient Natural knowledge for they named all the Creatures yet notwithstanding she must needs go from the simplicity of Gods will and be curious and she must know good and evil there was the distinction good and evil thought she what kinde of good and evil she goes to this sublime conceit and so was lost Now saith Paul I am afraid of you lest the Devil should beguile you so I am loth to offend you for I had rather win you or else I could instance in twenty or forty conceits and distinctions of things Idea's that are above the simplicity of the Gospel and that is enough to make us leave them because they are above the simplicity of the Gospel and the excellency of the Gospel is not in those Idea's but in knowing the power of plain things as the death of Jesus Christ Every man in Jerusalem
when I have killed him and burned him to raise him up again and therefore I will go and sacrifice him and thence it is that the Holy Ghost saith that God raised him from the dead Beloved there is nothing that seems to be more without reason then faith and in faith there is nothing seems to be more without reason then for a man to go and kill his Son his only Son and yet he reasoned it is said And so in Romans 4. He looked not upon flesh and bloud but reasoned from the promise so shall thy seed be What was that God called him out in a clear night and shewed him the stars in the firmament and said so shall thy seed be and he reasoned and staggered not but looked upon God as one that was able to bring it to pass and therefore it is said in hope above hope he believed What shall I speake of Moses You have it in that Chapter they say old men are twice Children but Moses being forty yeares old refused to be called the Son of Pharaohs daughter some might think what a madness this was the text gives the reason he reasoned or he Esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures in Egypt that is he reasoned thus here I am in great honour I may be called the Son of the Kings Daughter and here I have hunting and hawking and riches c. and yonder are the poore people of God making brick and there they have burthens laid upon them every day and are sighing and groaning and making spirituall prayers and saith he the blessing of God is there and these riches are but for a time and there are the riches that are abiding and blessed and therefore saith the text He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Thus you see in these instances that Faith goes all upon reason upon spiritual reason 2. And so for doing for obedience as it refers to doing I will give you that one place that I had even now 2 Cor. 5. 14. saith the Apostle We thus judge or we thus reason that if one died for all then were all dead And further this is another Conclusion He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves but to him which died for them and rose again There is no act of obedience that a Saint under the Gospel doth but it proceeds from Gospel Spiritual reason Christ died God reveals this in the Scripture to me and he seals this to my soul that he died for me when I was the veriest enemy in the world why then there is all the reason in the world he dying for me that I should live to him and serve him all the dayes of my life he redeemed me and paid a ransome for me there is all the reason in the world that I should live to him you must not think that the people of God take so much pains to deny themselves and to be carried on in such hard and rough wayes but that they are carried on in a way of spiritual reasoning 3. And then for suffering which is another part of a Christians life you shall reade in Rom. 8. 18. If we be children then heirs heirs of God and joynt-heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy of the glory that shall be revealed in us Reckon or I reckon for it is the same word in the Greek that is he did put the two sums together as one learned Expositor saith he put all the sufferings on the one side as light things as short things and the Priviledges of the Saints on the other that we are sons and heirs and coheirs with Christ and that if we suffer with him we shall be glorified with him and so after all his reasoning he saw it was better to under go sufferings with Jesus Christ considering the gain and the loss putting them both together in the Ballance and therefore he resolved to suffer any thing that God should lay on him So if we compare this place with 2 Cor. 4. 16. For this cause saith the Apostle we faint not but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day for our light afflictions which are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory We have abundance of afflictions as it is known to you Corinthians as he saith before We are afflicted on every side there was a great deal of affliction and yet notwithstanding he did not faint he was able to go on and suffer Why so Not phantastically or rashly as many a carnal man may do for it is not so with a Saint he will choose dishonour when he may have honour but it is upon good reason I will tell you why because though the outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day and therefore saith he our light afflictions which are but for a moment they work to us an exceeding eternal weight of glory As if he had said the afflictions which are now on me however you may conceive them to be great yet in the Scales of spiritual reason I see they are but light and little in comparison of what the wicked shall suffer and what I have deserved and it is but for a moment it is but for a time and it doth work an exceeding excessive weight of glory and therefore I have all the reason in the world to suffer afflictions for if the outward man suffer the inward man gets by it and if it be light there is a weight of glory and if it be for a moment there is an eternal weight of glory And saith he We do not look at things that are seen for they are temporal but at things that are not seen which are eternal We look at things in a spiritual way and thus saith he I bless God I do not faint And thus we have opened the Lesson to you that they that walk according to the flesh are led by carnal reasons and they that walk according to the Spirit are ruled by spiritual reasons Now before I come to prove the Doctrine unto you to make way for it because in my apprehension it is a spiritual thing as I shall shew you hereafter There is nothing that I know in this blessed Book that may help you in a clearer way to discover your estates to you in a spiritual way for such as the man is such is his minde and such as his actions are such is his minde and we may better understand the acts then the minde and we may better understand both then the man And therefore that you may understand this I will lay down three things before-hand before I come to prove the Doctrine or to apply it The first is this