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A77498 The drinking of the bitter cup: or, The hardest lesson in Christ's school, learned and taught by himself, passive obedience. Wherein, besides divers doctrinall truths of great importance, many practicall directions are held forth, for the teaching of Christians how to submit to their heavenly father in suffering his will, both in life and death, patiently, obediently, willingly. / As it was lately presented to the church of God at Great Yarmouth, by John Brinsley, minister of the Gospel there. Brinsley, John, 1600-1665. 1660 (1660) Wing B4713; Thomason E1838_1; ESTC R210133 201,893 311

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see all in him see all things after another manner then here it doth When that which is perfect is come then that which is imperfect shall be done away 1 Cor. 13.10 And as perfect knowledge so perfect Love Love Seeing God as he is it cannot be but the soul must be inflamed with Love to him And so perfect Holinesse This Christians are here called upon to endeavour after Holinesse Having therefore these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holynesse in the fear of God so the Apostle exhorts 2 Cor. 7.1 But this while we are here we shall never attain unto But comming to see God now shall we be like him holy as he is holy being perfectly restored to that Image of God wherein man at the first was created consisting in Knowledge Holinesse and Righteousnesse Such is the perfection of Grace which the soul attaines by this beatificall vision 2. And as Grace so of Glory Like as silver or gold being set against the Sun Of glory by the beames thereof cast upon it it becommeth radiant and shining So shall it be with the soul by beholding the glory of God it shall it self be made glorious Such a glory had Moses put upon his face when he beheld the glory of the Lord having so near a communion with him upon Mount Sina the skin of his face did shine saith the story so as Aaron and the rest of the Children of Israel were not able to behold him Exod. 34.29.30 Such shall be the glory of the glorified soul having communion with God in Heaven and there beholding his glory it shall be made glorious This office doth death perform unto the believer it letteth in his soul into the presence of God whereby it becommeth perfect with perfection of Grace and Glory 2. The believer by death brought into the presence of Jesus Christ to have a full communion with him To this add It brings him also into the presence of Jesus Christ from whom while he is here he is absent While we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord. 2 Cor. 5.6 But now death brings the soul into his presence to have a sweet communion with him A consideration which made the Apostle not only averse to death but desirous of it I desire to depart and to be with Christ Phil. 1.23 This it was that made him so confident and resolute as he was not to regard life or fear death as he there telleth his Corinthians 2 Cor. 5 6.8 Therefore we are alwaies confident knowing that whilest we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord. We are confident I say and willing rather to be absent from the Body and to be present with the Lord Which elswhere he concludes to be far better for him then to live here Phil 1.23 To see Christ to be with him to injoy him to have a full communion with him what happinesse shall this be to the soul And this doth death bring the believer to 3. As also to Communion and Fellowship with blessed Saints and Angels Also to Communion with Saints and Angels With them the believer hath Vnion whilest here upon earth Ye are come unto mount Sion saith the Apostle to his believing Heb●ews and unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the generall Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.22 23. Being true believers they were now made members of the Mystical body the Church whereof the one part is upon earth the other in heaven they had union with Saints and Angels being united to them by faith and Love which all Believers are But now by death they come to have a full Communion with them to see them to injoy them to have converse and society with them joyning with that heavenly Quire in singing Halelujahs to him that sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb for Ever and Ever Here is now the good which death bringeth the believer to and putteth him in possession of The thought whereof being seriously set on upon the soul it cannot but work it to a willing receiving and imbracing of such a messenger as bringeth tidings of so great good unto it Anticonsiderations or Objections answered I but it may be said though it be thus with the Soul yet in the mean time what becomes of the poor Body Obj. 1 Though the soul gain by death yet the body looseth Though the soul he a gainer by death yet the Body is a looser by it Though that return to God that gave it yet this goeth to the grave where it is subject to Corruption Which maketh our Saviours case and ours far different As for him he knew that though his Body being severed from his Soul for a time should lye under the power of death yet it should not see corruption So David had foretold it Psal 16.10 Where personating of Christ as Peter expounds it Act. 2.31 He foretelleth what manner of death his should be Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell nor suffer thine Holy one to see corruption And this our Saviour himself well knew who foretold his Disciples how though he were killed yet he should rise again the third day Mat. 16.21 And upon this account he might be more willing to dye But it is otherwise with other of the sons of men That which Paul saith of David that he saw Corruption Act. 13.36 is noe less true of others Be their Bodies never so richly embalmed yet will not that preserve them from putrefaction So much the Psalmist willeth the great men of the world to take notice of Psal 49.6 7. They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches None of them saith he can by any meanes redeeme his brother and so not themselves that he should still live for ever and not see corruption Such is the common fate None but must expect to have their bodies lye rotting in the grave in that land of forgetfulnesse as the Psalmist calleth it Psal 88.12 Where as they forget all that was done upon earth so they are forgotten by those they leave behind them Being laid up in the earth there the worm feedeth sweetly on them and they shall be no more remembred as Job faith of the cruell Oppressours Job 24.20 Now this is a thing which flesh and bloud cannot but look upon with great reluctancy the thought whereof may well make it loath to lay down the body upon such tearms To return an answer to this and some other Anticonsiderations or Objections of like nature which men are ready to take up and make use of in this way as discouragements hindring them that they cannot so willingly drink this Cup submit to the stroake of death as
There is one God Generally To all his Creatures to whom he is a Father and Father of all saith the Apostle Eph. 4.6 of all creatures Which he may be called upon a divers account 1. A Father by creation All things having their Originall their being from him By Creation Vnto us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things 1 Cor. 8.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things have their being from him as a Childe from the Father Have we not all one Father hath not one God created us saith that forecited Text Mat. 2.10 2. And secondly a Father by Providence By Providence as he giveth them their being so he taketh care of them providing for them as a Father doth for his children The eyes of all wait upon thee and thou givest them their meat in due season Psal 145.15 3. And thirdly a Father to them similitudine vestigii In regard of similitude in regard of some similitude and likeness betwixt him and them there being never a creature but hath some print and footstep of God imprinted upon it Quaelibet herba Deum Never a creature but whoso looketh upon it may see something of God in it Thus is God a Father to all Creatures universally 2. Among them he may be said to be a Father after a more special manner to Mankinde Specially to Mankinde In whom there is not only similitudo vestigii but imaginis not only some footsteps but even the Image of God So was Man at the first created Let us make man in our own image after our likenesse Gen. 1.26 So God created man in his own Image in the image of God created he him vers 27. resembling his Creator as a childe doth the Father like unto him as in divers other perfections so especially in knowledge holinesse and righteousnesse 3. Peculiarly to true Believers Among men he is said to be a Father more peculiarly to all true Believers To them a Father by the grace of Adoption Having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself Eph. 1.5 As also by the grace of Regeneration Bless d be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again 1 Pet. 1.3 Hereby he reneweth his Image in them making them partakers of the divine nature as St. Peter calleth it 2 Pet. 1.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not of the Divine essenee or substance which is incommunicable to any creature but of divine qualities whereby they are made like unto God in grace here and glory hereafter And being thus related he performeth all the offices of a Father to them providing for them necessaries and conveniences both temporall and spirituall upon earth and laying up an Inheritance for them in heaven Behold a sea of matter which I might here lanch into and that without any wrong either to you or the Text. But I shall confine my self In the fourth and last place Properly unto Christ God is most properly a Father unto Christ Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 1.4 So we finde our blessed Saviour often calling him My Father worketh hitherto Joh. 5.17 and frequently elsewhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so our Translations both old and new do here render the Text My Father And so God may be said to be the Father of Christ and that in a most peculiar way so his Father as he is not of any other His Father and that in reference to both natures God a Father to Christ in reference to both natures His Godhead His Manhood 1. In respect of his Godhead According to his Godhead so he was his naturall Father begetting him by an eternall wonderfull unexpresseable unconceiveable kind of generation communicating the whole divine essence and substance unto him as a natural Parent communicates his nature to his Son Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee saith God the Father to his Son Christ whom according to his divine nature he begat from all eternity Psal 2.7 Whence it is that he is called the only begotten Son of God Joh. 3.16 the only begotten of the Father Joh. 1.14 Not only Primogenitus but Vnigenitus not only the first born which he is also said to be The first-born of every creature Col. 1.15 The first-born among many brethren Rom. 8.29 in as much as he is the heir of all things Heb. 1.2 having the preeminence among all Gods children but the Onely begotten Son 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So he was according to his Godhead 2. According to his Manhood And secondly according to his Manhood So God may be called his Father And that 1. In regard of the wonderfull Conception of it In regard of that wonderfull and extraordinary operation of the Father in his conception which was effected by his sending of his holy Spirit to work it The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the most High shall over-shadow thee saith the Angell to the Virgin Luk. 1.35 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Even as it was in the Creation where it is said that The Spirit of God moved upon the waters Gen. 1.2 putting forth a secret and immediate power in the production of those creatures so did it over-shadow the Virgin effecting this conception by an immediate and extraordinary power And upon that account though not only or chiefly that as Socinians would have it Christ is called the Son of God So it there followeth Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Thus was God the Father of Christ according to his Humane nature in respect of the conception of it 2. And secondly in regard of the Personal union In regard of the Personall Union which was and is betwixt the God-head and the Manhood The Manhood being as it were marryed unto the Godhead made one Person with it by an inseparable indissoluble union God who was the Father to the one by nature he becomes also a Father to the other And upon these accounts it is that Christ here as frequently elsewhere maketh claim to this Relation calling God his Father And to him it is that here he looketh in the businesse of his Passion Christ in his Passion looking unto God his Father as his Father Being now to drink this bitter cup which he saw coming towards him he looketh up unto God his Father and he looketh upon him as his Father Each of which will afford us somewhat for our Instruction 1. Obs Christians to eye God in all their sufferings In that Christ here looketh up unto God his Father see we whither it is that Gods people are to look in all their Grosses and Afflictions that befall them Look upwards see God in them So doth our heavenly Pattern here the Lord Jesus The High-priests with the Scribes and
strengthned him 2 Tim. 4.17 3. Turning them to good Like as the skill of the Physician turneth Poysons into Medicines Turning then to Good making a soveraign Treacle of the venomous Viper Thus doth God bring good out of evill Josephs Brethren thought and wrought evill against him but God turned it to good good to him and others Gen. 50.20 4. And lastly giving a seasonable issue and deliverance Working deliverance He will with the temptation make a way to escape saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he will give an issue finde out an outlet for them one way or other When Gods people are beset on every side yet he can finde a dore or a window to let them out at As in a literall sense he did for David when his house was beset by Sauls Messengers 1 Sam. 19.12 and so for Paul when wait was laid for him at Damascus 2 Cor. 11. last they were both let down through a window and escaped So in a Metaphoricall sense be the strait never so great yet God hath a Window for his people at which he can and in his time will let them out working deliverance for them some way or other Such is the Providence of God which he exerciseth towards and upon his people in their sufferings Ordering of them he supplyeth strength for the bearing of them turneth them to good and giveth a seasonable Issue out of them All these besides many other Consolations may the true Believer fetch from the God of consolation for the bearing up of his spirit in the midst of whatever afflictions In the next place look we up unto Christ our Saviour In him considering what he hath done Look unto Christ our Saviour In whom Consider what he doth for us 1. What he hath done how among other things which he hath obtained for us by his death he hath overcome the World for us What he hath done for us overcomming the World That is the Consolation which he himself giveth unto his Disciples Joh. 16. last In the World ye shall have tribulation but be of good comfort I have overcome the World This hath Christ done for his Church and people he hath overcome whatever is in this world which might be hurtfull unto them Sin Satan his Temptations and Instruments Death with all its retinue whatever might hinder or endanger their salvation he hath conquered all which he did for those who believe on him that they may have the benefit thereof So that as Serpents which have lost their Stings they may now hisse but they cannot hurt Christ by drinking of this Cup as you have heard hath taken away the bitternesse of it the Curse belonging to afflictions he being made a Curse for us 2. What he doth How he sympathizeth with us and pleadeth for us 1. He sympathizeth and even suffereth with us being as the Head in the naturall Body is sonsible of all the aylments of his Members What he doth Sympathizing with us We have not an High-Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our Infirmities Heb. 4.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cannot sympathize with us in our afflictions and sufferings which he taketh notice of and is affected with as before was shewn Pleading for us 2. And sympathizing with us he pleadeth for us Sitting in heaven at the right hand of his Father he maketh continuall intercession for us He ever liveth to make intercession for those who come unto God by him Heb. 7.25 By which means he maketh peace for them in Heaven whilest there is war upon earth reconciling God to them when he seemeth to be offended with them This was his work when he was upon earth He made peace through the bloud of his Cross Col. 1.20 impetrating that Reconciliation for his Elect people which upon their believing on him is actually applied to them as the next verse there hath it And this work he still carrieth on being in Heaven where he maketh peace by his Intercession A sweet and comfortable meditation as at all times so specially in time of Affliction when God seemeth to be angry with his people frownes upon them le ts flye the showres of his displeasure at them yet then let them with Stephen lift up their eyes to to heaven and there shall they see this their High Priest the Lord Jesus sitting at the right hand of his Father soliciting a peace for them which being concluded in Heaven let them not be inordinately troubled about whatever wars they meet with upon earth And in the third place look we at the Holy Ghost our Comforter Look 〈◊〉 the Holy G●●●st our Saviour So we find him often styled in Scripture a comforter the comforter and this comforter Gods people have still with them That is the promise which our Saviour maketh to his Disciples when he was to withdraw his Corporall presence from them Joh. 14.16 I will pray the Father saith he and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever And this promise will he make good to all who truly believe on him When he withdrawes outward Comforts from them let them but wait patiently for him and he will send them another Comforter even his Spirit which shall make a supply to them inwardly of what they want outwardly that shall refresh and cheer up their hearts and spirits with inward Consolations in the midst of all their afflictions And never so fit a time for this Comforter to come as when all others Comforters have left a man And if this Comforter be with us to support our spirits and strengthen our hearts what is it that should so discourage us as to cause us to faint under our sufferings To these soveraign Consolations I might yet ●x abundanti add many more The Minstery of Angels As the Ministrie of Angels who are as Guardians to Gods Saints Are they not all ministring spirits sent forth to Minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation Heb. 1. Last So they were to our blessed Saviour in the Wildernesse he there wanting food and other accommodations The Angels came and ministred unto him Matth. 4.11 And so were they to Peter and other of the Apostles opening the Prison doors for them and setting them at liberty as we have the stories recorded Act. 5.19 and 12.7 And the like offices they are ready to doe to all Gods Saints many of which questionless they daily doe though in invisible waies so as they are not taken notice of being ever at hand ready to step in to them with timely succours in their greatest straits To which might be added what is not to be sleighted the Communion of Saints The Communion of Saints who as they bear a part with their brethren in their sufferings drawing with them in the same Yoke so they are ready to help them with the benefit of their prayers Which being a common stock every particular believer