content themselves with any lower degree but yet those who have the smallest portion may be supported and comforted by the second Subject viz. That where there is grace but as a grain of Corn the lowest measure yet the Lord hath a high estimation of it And that all grace may be multiplied shall be the Prayer of him who is A Servant of Christ in the Gospel SAM PETTO Octob. 13. 1684. SERMON I. Ephesians 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly places in Christ IT is the Interest of Christians in all the Circumstances of their lives to enquire after and make sure of something that is Spiritual There is nothing that Satan designs more then either to obstruct their Right or to Cloud their Right to those Blessings that are Spiritual and Eternal Of all lives a Life of Faith conversant in things that are not seen is the most hateful Life to the Devil and the most unknown Life to the World but the properest Life that a Christian can live in and under all the variety of his Condition here below Christians you understand the design of the Devil and of the World upon your temporals how far it will please the Majesty of Heaven to give them leave to prosper in their design I cannot determine but that you and I may have something to bear up our Spirits withal whatever liberty or allowance they have from Heaven That we may have something to rejoyce our hearts withal I have therefore proposed to speak something to you from these words which are a discovery of the unseen blessedness of a Christian in and under all the Circumstances of his Condition in this Life If you should ask me what a Christian is I would tell you as to his state that he is a Spiritual man Blessed with all Spirituall Blessings by the God and Father of Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ This is a Christian and this is a Christians state And surely the Apostle saw great reason to rejoyce upon his view and apprehension of this no sooner did it begin to bubble in his Spirit but so soon as ever it began to work in his heart he breaks forth into Blessings of the author of it Blessed says he be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath Blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly places in Christ I shall only take notice of these 3 things that are principally comprised in the words 1. And the first is the true Gospel Relative and personal state of a Christian he is a Blessed man If there be any personally Blessed it is he if there be any that have any reserve of personal Blessings it is he if there be any that have any Relative Blessings it is he all Blessings all sorts of Blessings he is Blessed with 2. The Second thing that I would observe out of the words is this The security and certainty of these Blessings It is a work not to be done but a work that is already done Blessings not lodged in deceitful hearts but in faithful hands Blessings not betrusted with one that may miscarry but with one whom God knows cannot miscarry and therefore you may observe the Apostle here tells us that the business is done that the Blessings are given Blessed be the God and Father c. Who hath Blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in Christ Surely our Natural Blessings the Blessings of our Creation were very great Blessings our Moral Blessings were very great Blessings but not to be compared to these Spiritual Blessings neither were they so ensured For God Blessed all the Posterity of Adam with all Natural Blessings in Adam but you know what became of them but the Blessings of the New Covenant they are Spiritual Blessings no more to be trusted in the hands of any but of one whom God dare venture to trust withal therefore says he Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath Blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in Christ The third thing that is remarkable in the words is this the Author or the great Blesser Whose Glory the Apostle here doth exemplify and illustrate by his Relation unto the Lord Jesus Christ and that seems to be represented to us under this double consideration First he is the God of the Lord Jesus that died that he might purchase these Spiritual Blessings for us And Secondly He is not only the God of the purchasing Jesus but he is also his Father If there be any security or advantage arising to Christians that God is Christs God the advantage lies here and is improvable in this Case It is hâ— that Blesseth us If there be any advantage that results from the Relation that God has to Christ as a Father that was never dishonoured by him a Father that was never displeased nor grieved with him this redounds also unto Christians to illustrate the Glory of their Blessedness and to evidence the truth and certainty of their Eternal enjoyment of him he is not a God that is a God of distance in concern but he is a God concerned and not only concerned in the Relations of the Gospel to us but in all the Relations of the Gospel unto Christ who is related unto Christians So that a Christian may say the God and Father of my Lord of my head has Blessed me with all Spiritual Blessings in my Lord my head The God and Father of my Husband has Blessed me with all Spiritual Blessings in my Husband The God and Father of my Mediatour has Blessed me with all Spiritual Blessings in my Mediatour So that my Friends you may look upon God not Blessing us as a God at large but as a God engaged in Relation to Christ It is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ The same God that Blessed Adam but now God appearing as a Blessing God in another Relation and clothing himself with another Glory he Blessed him as the Creator ay but he is now Blessing Christians as the God and Father of Christ Jesus And thus now I have opened the words to you The Propositions that lie in the words are many but intending this only as an occasional discourse I shall therefore confine my self to these two or three Doct. 1 That the Blessings that properly belong unto Christians and are given to Christians they are all Spiritual Blessings Grace could never content its self infinite grace could never bound its self all the blessings a sinner stands in need of to make him a Saint and all the Blessings a Saint stands in need of to make him an Eternally Blessed Saint these are the Blessings that are the proper portion of Christians Let God dispose of temporal Blessings at his pleasure these are below the grace of God to make them the Childrens Portion Let God give them to whom he please So he do but reserve to you these that are
Riches of his inheritance in the Saints Now I shall shew you that all this is vouchsafed to Christians in Christ you shall find the Apostle Col. 2. v. 3. telling us that in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Why what wisdom and knowledge Why that wisdom and that knowledge that the eternal grace of God did design for Christians so that we are blessed with this wisdom and knowledg in Christ Look into your understandings and hearts alas there is but little there there is no treasures there but look into the Lord Jesus and there are all treasures even for foolish Christians hid and lodged there in him is hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge And that the Spirit of the Lord is alike concerned in this you shall observe if you do but consult the Apostles experience in 1 Cor. 2.9 Where he speaks of things that eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor ever entered into the heart of man to conceive But says he at the 10th verse God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit The revelation of the secrets of the heart of God is made manifest or is made known unto Christians by the Spirit of God The Apostle prosecutes illustrates this mystery by that which is commonly observ'd amongst men in v. 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of man which is in him I do not know the grace that is in another mans heart I do not know the secret purposes and devices that are in your hearts but your own Spirits are privy to them even so says the Apostle the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God Christians let me tell you there is no saving secret in the heart of God the Father there is no saving secret in the heart of Christ the Son but the Lord hath blessed us with the knowledge and the Revelatioâ— of that in Christ for so the Apostle says in the 16 verse For who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him but we have the mind of Christ Why Blessed Paul how camest thou a persecutor to know the mind of Christ An injurious and Blasphemous wretch how camest thou to be so intimate with that Jesus whom thou persecutedst even unto death in his members Why the Apostle tells you plainly not by any natural advantage of learning though he was a learned man not by any advantage of his parts though he was a man of clear natural understanding and apprehension but says he we have the mind of Christ and that by the Spirit of God by the Spirit of Jesus Christ So that you see here is another great Spiritual blessing a revelation of saving secrets 5. Another spiritual blessing that I shall superadd is this An Vniversal heading under Christ or incorporation with Jesus Christ One would think it a wonder that ever such a man that was a limb of the Devil should be made a member of the Body of Jesus A Notorious Drunkard a Notorious Blasphemer and a dreadful and implacable persecutor of Christ and his ways that ever such a one should be incorporated into and made a member of the Lord Jesus is not this a spiritual blessing indeed A blessing wherein the Spirit of God is principally concerned in the manage of this the Apostle takes notice of verse 10. That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven and which are on earth even in him And more plainly Ephes 4.12 Where he doth expresly give us an account of the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ and he tells us there that all the gifts that were given by Christ were for the edifying of his body Do but reflect upon a passage in the 2. Chapter and there you shall see the state of sinners discovered to be as desperate and as vile as you can possibly suppose a sinners state to be Dead in trespasses and sins Children of disobedience in whom the Prince of the power of the Air the Spirit of Hell did effectually work Why Lord shall ever those be incorporated shall ever those be made members of so blessed a body as the Body of Jesus Nay this is not all but says he Ye were Children of wrath The Wrath of God smoaked against you and all the threatnings and denunciations of Gods wrath against sinners belonged to you just as an inheritance belongs to a proper and right Heir and that is not all neither but verse 12. Ye were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the World Lord shall such as these be made members of such a blessed Body as the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ is Ay my Friends here is the great blessing that God hath Blessed us with in Christ Jesus that notwithstanding all this misery and notwithstanding the desperateness that doth attend this miserable Estate yet they are to be gathered together and headed all under one Jesus I pray take notice of one expression in the conclusion of this Chapter where he calls them all complexively considered his Body and his fulness verse 23. Which is his Body the fulness of him that filleth all in all Now my Friends this is another Spiritual blessing that God hath blessed us withal and that is heading of us under or an incorporating us into the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ so that there can be no Blessing no priviledge belong to the Head but of necessity it falls naturally down upon the Body So the head anointed the Garments shall be drenched not only Aarons Beard but the very Skirts of his Garments shall be drenched throughout Is the Head advanced into glory I tell you the Head in glory will never rest till the members of his Body that are in a vile deplorable forlorn condition here be made like unto him Father says he I will John 17.24 that those also whom thou hast given me be with me c. One would wonder that God should cast off the seed of Abraham and implant Gentiles in their Room and yet you see in Rom. 11. the Lord does thus and the Apostle concludes with this verse 33. O the depth of the Riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God That the natural branches should be cut off and Idolatours that had no promises Idolatours that had no Relations at all but only of Creatures to God and who had done more to violate their Relations and forfeit all the Priviledges of their Relations then the very Beasts of the Field and the most venomous and poisonous Toad ever did yet says the Apostle The natural branches were cut off that you might be graffed in O the depth of the riches of Gods grace Surely Christians this is a great Spiritual Blessing that the Lord is pleased to vouchsafe to us to head us under Christ We
but that it should be holy and without blemish God chose us that we might be holy and without blame and Jesus Christ has such a Love to us even as the Father has that we should be holy and without blame and my Friends the Spirit is all one with the Father and the Son Does the Father choose us and does the Son give himself for us that we might be so then comes the Spirit and resolves that he will make us so and therefore you shall find the Apostle in his Epistle to the Galatians giving us an account of the fruits of the Spirit in the fifth Chapter at the 18 verse if so be ye be led by the Spirit ye are not under the Law And then as to the energy the workings of the Spirit why says he in the 17 verse The Spirit lusteth against the flesh The fleshly part in us is an unbelieving part that is against living out of our selves upon Christ ay but the Spirit that works contrary unto these natural lustings and natural workings of the flesh for says the Apostle v. 22. The fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith c. By comparing these passages together you may raise this observation that even as the Father and the Son are concerned for our practical as well as personal holiness so also is the Spirit he lusts and he works and he strives and he never leaves lusting and striving and working against the flesh until he have brought forth these fruits of Love Joy Peace and Long-suffering and Gentleness and goodness and Faith c. So that this is the first particular God has chosen us unto personal and practical holiness and if you do observe it this Spiritual Blessing is also ensured unto us in Christ with all the contents of it and with all the proper effects of it May a Poor Creature say But how shall I come to attain to this And what security can I have of it Why says he according as he hath chosen us in him he hath Blessed us in him according as he hath chosen us in him and now says he he hath Blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in him But then 2. The Second Blessing that the Apostle takes notice of is the great Spiritual Blessing of Adoption which doth not only discover a Relation to God but also a sutable frame and a sutable becoming sense of the Relation a sense of it and a frame comporting and complying with it This you have an account of in the 5 verse Having predestinated us to the Adoption of Children to himself c. I pray do but observe what the Apostle here doth discover concerning the Nature of this it is the Adoption of Children to himself The God and Father of our Lord Jesus hath ensured our Adoption with all the Priviledges with all the Blessed consequents of it unto us in Christ Jesus 'T is the God and Father of Christ Jesus and he that is so is in Christ Jesus a God adopting us unto himself by Jesus Christ This you shall find the Scripture frequently making mention of says the Apostle to the Romans We have not received the Spirit of Bondage but the Spirit of Adoption the Spirit of Sons and what is the proper work of the Spirit of Adoption You shall find what it is Rom. 8.15 Ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Says the Apostle ye are Sons ay but the Sonship is managed by the Spirit ye are not only Sons but the Spirit witnesseth with your Spirits that ye are so and that is his proper work and what is the issue of that Why says he ye cry Abba Father you may go to God in your distresses and you may go to God under your Temptations and you may go to God as the God and Father of Jesus Christ under all your straits and troubles and under all your Spiritual wants and you may say unto him Father hear and Father help Says the Apostle ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear Indeed under the Law when they were under the Power of the Spirit of Bondage they stood at a distance from God they were under fear but now says the Apostle ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby ye cry Abba Father It is as natural a Priviledge to a Child of God and it is as Natural Language to gracious hearts to cry Abba Father as it is for a Child to cry to his Father Father or Mother ye have received the Spirit of Adoption says he and the same thing you have the Apostle giving us an account of Gal. 4. v. 4 5. God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law Why what then That we might receive the Adoption of Sons and because ye are Sons says he God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father I would only observe this to you which it may be is not so obvious to every apprehension Compare but these two Scriptures together and you shall find that in the one he is the Spirit of Adoption as he is the Fathers Spirit and in the other he is the Spirit of Adoption as he is the Spirit of the Son for saith he he has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying Abba Father The Spirit of the Lord Jesus the same Spirit that influenced the Humane Nature and in which Jesus Christ always prayed to God as a Father and always walked with God under all variety of providences as with a Father the same Spirit he hath sent forth and this same Spirit that cryed Abba Father in Christ crys Abba Father also in Christians 3. The third Spiritual Blessing that the Apostle makes mention of in this Chapter is an universal acceptance of Christians in all cases notwithstanding all disobligements one would wonder that a child should sin and though the sin be rejected yet the child stand still in a state of acceptation though the Father scourge the Child yet he doth not unchild the Child This you have an account of verse 6. to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved I pray do but observe it There is nothing that a Christian can propose to himself there is no case that the Devil and the world can expose a Christian to but the Christian is still accepted in Christ Jesus and that notwithstanding all his fears and under all his Jealousies and in the face of all his conscience accusations and his own self-condemnations yet the Child is accepted the Christian is accepted who hath made us says he accepted in the beloved my friends this is a great Spiritual Blessing indeed There are many that have their hearts greatly concerned and their Spirit wonderfully
disquieted about their acceptance O that I did but know that God did accept me O that I did but know that I were accepted in Christ Jesus Why truly Christians this is one of your proper Spiritual Blessings a Blessing which the Spirit is principally concerned in the manage of He hath made us says he accepted Though there be never so little grace in the heart yet it is accepted two Mites that the poor Widow cast into the Treasury you know what acceptation it found with the Lord Jesus Christ Verily says he I say unto you she hath cast in more then they all they of their abundance have cast into the Treasury but she hath cast in even all that she hath O Sirs if you have never so little grace cast it into your prayers and cast it into your Sermons and cast it into imploy it in your conversations Verily will Christ say this man hath done more then such a one he had but a few gifts and he imployed them all he hath but a little grace and behold I see this little iâ— every duty Verily he hath done more like a Christian then others that have a great deal and yet not half so much considering their proportion to be found in their duties The hand of thâ— Lord hath been open and hath fille many of your understandings with a great deal of Gopel light but alas there is but little of it seen in your lives and in your hearts it may be you are filled with grace ay but there is but little of this grace to be seen in your duties There comes a poor humble Christian with his Mite to pray and with his Mite to hear and behold he casts all in and the Lord sees that all the grace that is in his heart he puts forth in every duty and he exerciseth in every Ordinance Verily says Christ I say unto you she hath done more then they all Therefore my friends let me tell you the God Father of Jesus Christ for still we must consider him under that notion I say the God and father of Jesus Christ hath made us accepted in the beloved if there be any thing that is unacceptable in thee if there be nothing to be seen in thee but what is disobliging yet the Lord hath made you that are Christians accepted in the beloved not accepted in your own graces not accepted in your selves not accepted for this or that or the other but all your acceptance is still in Christ who hath made us accepted in the beloved Now my friends that the Spirit of the Lord doth manage this this also is evident if we do but consider what it is wherein our personal acceptation lies doth it lie in our gracious qualifications which we receive from Jesus Christ why those we receive by the Spirit doth the Lord accept us upon the account of the exercise of any grace in any duty why truly all this is also from the same Spirit There are says the Apostle diversity of gifts and diversity of operations ay but still there is one and the same Spirit It is the same Spirit It may be there is a great deal of humility in thy duty or in thy heart and thou art accepted in Jesus Christ but how camest thou by this humility how camest thou by this meekness why the Spirit of the Lord hath rested upon thee in the form of a Dove as the Spirit of meekness and as the Spirit of lowliness and as the Spirit of selfdenial The same spirit that rested upon Christ the same Spirit also hath rested upon thee So that you see also in this third great Spiritual Blessing how far the Spirit and how much the son is also concerned to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved O my friends that there should be such a mystery as this and all the Priviledges advantages of it should be ensured to all the seed in Jesus Christ It is God that makes us and not we our selves accepted in the Beloved wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved I will break off with this one short Reflexion upon what I have already delivered VSE You see my Brethren in the worst of times here is the Best of Blessings ensured in the worst of circumstances here are the gloriousest priviledges in safe hands for you what can you desire more then all Spiritual Blessings of the God and Father of Jesus Christ what can You desire more It may be he hath Blessed such a one with temporal Blessings such a one he hath Blessed with wisdom and such a one with strength and such a one with riches and honour and the like ay but my Friends he hath not blessed every one with all Temporal Blessings says Esau to his Brother Jacob I have enough my Brother ay but it was only Jacob It was only Israel that had prevailed with God that could say I have all My Brother I have all things what did he mean I have God for my exceeding great reward and I have all things in the Covenant I have all things in the blessing I have all things in the promise Now Christians take an occasion from hence to make an estimate of the vast difference that there is between a Christian indeed and one that is but a Christian in shew one that lay under great worldly disadvantages and yet a Christian and one that lay under or that is advanced up to the top of all secular advantages and blessings and preferments even by God himself Would you know Christians where the difference lay why it lies here the one hath all and that for ever and the other hath but what he hath in part and that not secured neither worldlings they have not their greatness in Christ they have not their honour given them in Christ they have not their Relations given them in Christ No no my Friends but now the meanest Christian hath not only all things but all things ensured him in Christ he is not only a better man then the greatest worldling is upon the account of the extent but also upon the account of the Method and Manner wherein all is give him and secured to him There is not a person in the world that can say or ever could say I have all things Nebuchadnezzar in all his glory could not say I have all things But a poor Christian a poor persecuted Paul could cry out I have all things and I can do all things even then when he had nothing at all in comparison says he I have all things and abound Now Christians I pray you rejoyce in your condition And I beseech you sinners become all Christians for whilest you are as you are you have but some things and what you have is all out of Christ but do but become Christians do but give up your heads and hearts to the Lord and then you may say Blessed be the God and father of
the Lord Jesus who hath blessed me with all Spiritual blessings in Christ SERMON II. Ephesians 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly places in Christ THE design of the Apostle in these words seems to be to set the Crown upon the head of Christ and to discover that it is the intendment of the Father in all his blessings that he bestows upon his Children to do so too the Father receives nothing from Christians but he receives it from them in Christ and the Father gives nothing to Christians but he gives it to them in Christ God was always in Christ reconciling the world to himself and he will be always in Christ a God and a Father to those that he hath chosen out of the world and reconciled Though he be the God and Father of our Lord yet he doth not look upon it as an act below his grace to bless those that he hath given to Christ 'T is not below him to avouch the relation to them also as he is the Father of our Lord Jesus he blesses all that are in Jesus with all Spiritual blessings in Jesus That Proposition which we insisted upon was this Doct. That God hath blessed every Christian in Christ with all Spiritual blessings Christians have more then the world is worth in possession but the reversions of a Christian are not to be compared they are not to be estimated with any thing that God can give in this present world It is not temporal blessings the blessings of the land of Canaan but it is Spiritual blessings the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven that the God and Father of Jesus Christ hath stated upon all his Children in Christ Jesus Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus who hath blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in Christ Because I intend this discourse only as occasional I shall therefore confine the resolve and the dispatch of the doctrinal part at present to this one inquiry Quest What are those Spiritual Blessings with which it hath pleased the Father to bless his people in Christ Ans In the opening of this I premised this in general that there is an universality annexed to every particular Spiritual blessing It is not only annexed to the sorts of blessings but to every blessing of every sort I could mention but Three The last that we mentioned was this an universal acceptation with the Father in all cases notwithstanding all disobligements O says a Poor Christian if I were but satisfied that God would accept me with all the disobliging notwithstandings of my heart and life and of my Duties how happy should I be and indeed so thou wouldst be if God would accept thee notwithstanding all thy unprofitableness notwithstanding all the treachery of thy heart notwithstanding all thy opposition to grievings of his blessed Spirit notwithstanding all the dishonour that thou hast done unto himself his Son and his blessed Spirit if the Lord would but accept thee thou wouldst be happy indeed why Christian here is thy spiritual blessedness at the 6th verse to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved Lord may every poor Christian say what am I I accepted in the beloved I accepted in the beloved Son In the beloved Saviour In the beloved high Priest Lord what manner of grace is this This is not the kindness of man Christians let me tell you it is Gods work of grace to make you accepted and it is your Priviledge in grace to be accepted he hath made us to be accepted in the beloved if there be any thing of unworthiness in you there is the blood of the beloved to ballance it if there be any thing of emptiness or Barrenness there is the fulness of the beloved to counterpoise that if there be any unworthiness discovered in any of your Relations or carriages to God there is the full import of all his Relations to God to make all even Though you do not always carry it as Children yet this Son of God always did and though you do not always live like Servants yet this Son of God did to a point and though you do not always carry it like friends to God and like the people of God yet behold the head of all he carries it like such a one God may have abundance 't is like to charge against you But this is not your business whether you have much grace or little grace or whether you exercise more or less The acceptance must be in the beloved Thus far we have proceeded 4. Another spiritual blessing wherewith God hath blessed Christians in Christ is the revelation of his secrets God may reveal the secrets of his Providence to others as I might instance in diverse but his saving secrets those are made manifest only in Christ Jesus to Christians many have a dogmatical discursive knowledge which God hath given them but here is the eclipse of the glory of all their knowledge It is not given them in Christ here is a poor Christian that is but broken and now and then hath a little glimmerings of the light of God and a little insight into the secrets of his grace Now my friends this little light and these little glimmerings that he hath into the mysteries of the will of God these are all given him in Christ Jesus he sees sin in Christ and he sees the beauty of grace and holiness in Christ The revelation of Gods Gospel will about sin and holiness The beauty of holiness and the exceeding sinfulness of sin is made manifest to him in Christ Jesus I pray do but observe how the Apostle expresses himself in the 9th verse Having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself The Apostle in the 18th verse makes it his particular supplication to God for these Christian Ephesians that says he the Eyes of your understandings being inlightned that ye may know what is the hope of your calling There is the mystery of his will manifested in particular in the hope of your calling You are called off from sin there is hope in that calling and you are called unto duty and there is hope in that calling and you are called off from all your Relations unto the world as you stand in the World and there is hope in that calling now says the Apostle I pray for you that your eyes may be inlightned that you may know what is the hope of your calling and my Friends you will find that the Apostle doth wrap up them together with himself in the 9th verse and tells us there that he hath made known unto us the mystery of his will and yet for all that he prays that the eyes of their understandings may be inlightned that they may know what is the hope of their calling and what is the
are blessed with this in Christ Jesus 6. Another Spiritual Blessing is this A reserved Inheritance of all full and Spiritual and comprehensive blessednesses My friends here we have to allude to the people of Israel in the wilderness it may be some few Cottages or Tabernacles that are transitory as those People had some moving resting-places Here is a little grace planted a little faith and a little love and this grows up pretty likelily and pretty promisingly but what is this to the inheritance where that which is in part shall be done way where there is no such thing as grace in part no such thing as love in part no such thing as joy in part no such thing as communion in part for that which is in part shall be done away I think the Apostle speaks fully to our purpose where he tells us of an inheritance reserved 1 Pet. 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ You see the Apostle mentions the same Relations that are here in the Text why what is the matter Blessed Peter Why says he the matter is this The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you verse 4. Why friends what is this inheritance Why there I shall inherit the Covenant in its fulness I shall not say that either I want any Law in my heart or in my Head in my inward or in my outward man I shall have no reason to complain that I want the least blessing of the least promise Why Christians this is your inheritance and are not here Spiritual Blessings that are the proper matter of this Inheritance Now the Apostle tells us that he hath blessed us with this in Christ verse 11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to â—he purpose of him that worketh all things after the Counsel of his own will How far Christ is concerned in this Spiritual blessing â—ou may easily observe if so be that you â—ither consider the type or the antitype as â—o the type which was Joshua or Jesus Moâ—â—s must not bring the people into their Inheritance indeed in Moses's Time they might have some Bunches of the Grapes of the good land but Moses must not bring them in it must be Joshua that must bring them in So I say my Friends it is not this or that or the other but the Lord Jesus alone that must bring his people into the possession of this reserved inheritance here is indeed a Cluster of Spiritual Blessings infinitely exceeding all the capacities of the Sons and Daughters of men though most of all inlightned by the Spirit to comprehend in whom says he we have obtained an Inheritance who is this whom It is the Lord Jesus Christ to gather together in one all things in Christ in whom we have obtained an Inheritance As much as if the Apostle had said as the Apostle doth in Christs own case we see not yet all thingâ— put under him So I may say you have noâ— yet obtained the Inheritance no more had Paul no more had these Ephesians but yeâ— he speaks as one having full assurance in whom we have obtained answerable to that of our Lord in Joh. 14.2 I go to preparâ— a place for you And the Apostle takeâ— it up and otherwise phrases it Heb. 6 2â— Whither the forerunner is for us entred speaking of the Inheritance that is above whither cur forerunner is for us entered so that this another Spiritual Blessing wherewith we are blessed in Christ Jesus 7. But another spiritual blessing wherewith we are blessed in Christ Jesus is this The Seal and Earnest of what is to come and the very Spirit is made the very matter of this Blessing wherewith he hath blessed us in Christ Jesus I pray do but cast your eyes upon verse 13. In whom ye also trusted still he continues his discourse and fixes Christ at the bottom of all in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth the Gospel of your Salvation in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise verse 14. which is the Earnest of our Inheritance until the Redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory Here is a comprehensive spiritual blessing indeed which is the Seal of the eternal Inheritance and the Earnest of it as if the Lord should say when he sends forth his Spirit go my holy Spirit go and seize upon such a heart and seal up such a Soul for the eternal Inheritance and as if he should say to his Son Lo my Son I have given my Spirit to such a one whom thou hast shed thy blood for and lo I send him as the Earnest of the Inheritance that thou hast purchased as the Earnest of my eternal love to thee as the Earnest of my eternal Communion with thee as the earnest of my answering of thy prayer and the import of all thy blood Lo I have sent him and lo he is to them an Earnest Now Sirs this is a great blessing a very glorious blessing indeed God might have designed and kept the design in his own breast or he might have divulged it yet have given us no earnest or pledge of it what needed all that between God and us Christ might have taken his word and we had good reason to rest upon any report that the Lord Christ makes of his confidence in the Father but the Lord Christ and the Father did concur together in this that we should have the Blessing notwithstanding all notwithstandings and that it should be sure to all the seed Yet for our further satisfaction says the Lord behold I give my promise and I give the promised Spirit and that Spirit shall be my Seal upon their hearts and my seal upon their understandings so that look into your hearts and into your understandings and upon this inquiry whose are you Do but make a reflection whose Seal whose Image whose Superscription is this You shall find that the Spirit of the Lord is as it were Gods assuring Seal Ay but it may be you will say this is a great while to come It may be Ten or Twenty or Thirty or Forty years to come Well if those do not satisfy you that you are sealed the Spirit also shall be an Earnest of the Inheritance an Earnest of the future personal blessedness and glory which God hath blessed you with in Christ It is not only Heaven but the personal condition and state of Saints in Heaven that is the glory of their Inheritance and this is another thing 8. But then in the 8th place another Spiritual blessing wherewith the God and Father of Jesus Christ does bless Christians is this Practical experiences of the power of Gods grace
my God I have slighted Ay Christian thou mayest say so but it is Blasphemy for thee to say or think that ever Christ could say so in truth he never provoked his God he never dishonoured his God he never did any thing that might disoblige his God Christ never did He in whom thou art blessed it is God as the God of Christ that hath blessed thee and therefore Christian great encouragement there is unto thy Soul Secondly As he is Christs God all the promises were not only summed up in him that were made to Christians but the Blessedness of all the promises have a primary respect and relation unto him My meaning plainly is this God hath promised thee peace Ay but this peace hath reference unto the honouring and glorifying of the man Jesus Whose God hath Blessed thee with this peace in him Jesus hath the glory of all and God eyes the glory of Jesus in all the promises he makes to us and so my friends all the promises were not only designedly given for the advancement of him but all the promises were summed up in him When God made the promise of a seed to Abraham Abraham had enough he was under some discontent before but now says God I will not only give thee a Child one to be thine Heir but I will give thee a Son and that Son that I will give thee shall be my Heir One in whom all the Nations of the Earth shall be Blessed Now Abraham had enough you never find Abraham seeking any more Children at the hands of God no having an Isaac a seed in whom all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed Now Abraham is satisfyed and therefore the Lord in the prophesy of the Prophet Isaiah doth thus explain himself when he promiseth the Lord Jesus Christ Isa 55.4 Behold I have given him for a witness or a Covenant to the people I will give him Who I will give my Son Jesus for a Covenant to the people That is as much as if God should say I will give him for All he is as it were the Sums and Substance of all say but Christ and you say All. When God gives Christ to a poor Creature he gives all the Promises all the Covenants and all the Blessings of Earth and all the Blessings of Heaven all the Blessings of providence and all the Blessings that are reserved in the everlasting Mansions And thus now you see in these respects upon what account it is that the Apostle seems to lay the Emphasis upon this word Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath Blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings c. I shall give you but 3 or 4 inferences USE 1 Is it so my friends that God as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath Blessed Christians with all Spiritual Blessings Then In the first place Vain are the attempts of any of the enemies of Christians to interpose between them and their Blessings Though they may sometimes interpose between them and some of the means of their Blessings yet I say vain are the attempts of their enemies against their Blessings Why Because that God as the God and Father of Jesus Christ hath blessed them with all Blessings Now you may observe that the Devil hath been all along at it and he makes it his design business from time to time from age to age and from dispensation to dispensation to interpose between the Lords people and their Blessings but still in vain and therefore the Psalmist eyeing the Lord Jesus and eying by faith this blessedness wherewith the God of the man Jesus should bless Christians he cryes out in the 2 Psal 1. Why do the heathen Rage and the people imagine a vain thing Their great design was to keep the people of God from those Blessings that God had designed by promise to give to them There they were imagining and consulting and there they were designing well but observe it that very thing that they thought would be the compleatment of all their designes tending to this purpose was the greatest in-let to all these Blessings Certainly they were in great Joy and had much satisfaction upon their Spirits when they got Christ nailed upon the Cross but their very nailing and crucifying of him made way for all these Blessings It opened as it were all the treasures of grace it opened all the Relations that were discovered and the Blessings upon the death of the Lord Jesus Christ came flowing out of the promises and flowing out of Relations and the World was filled with these Blessings So that I say whatsoever devises the World hath to interpose between Christians and their Blessings they will be in vain if they take up one conduit God will lay many more And if they give an obstruction one way he will proceed other waies and manage it It is the God of Jesus Christ that hath blessed Christians and therefore Christians have their Blessings sure USE 2 Secondly Then methinks Christians you should look unto God as the God and Father of Christ under all the discouragements that arise upon your own Spirits from your own violations of the obligations of his Relation to you My meaning is this when you cannot comfortably go to God as your God for a blessing you may comfortably go to God as Christs God for any Blessing Why my friends here lay the case O saies thy conscience thou never comest to the word of God but thou despisest the God of the word and thy heart is shut against the word even from thy Child-hood and in thy Child-hood the Devil shuts up thy heart and the World shuts up thy heart and thy corruptions shut up thy heart but whatsoever it is that shuts up thy heart or whatsoever it is that gives being to any disobligement thou art guilty of be not discouraged though thou canst not go to him for a Blessing as thy God because thy conscience tell thee that thou hast sinned against thy God yet thou mayst go to him at that time as Christs God for God as the God of Christ Jesus hath Blessed thee with all Spiritual Blessings Therefore Christians under all your discouragements that arise from the sense of your own unworthiness let this be your way to look upon God as the God of Christ and go to God for Blessings as the God of Christ VSE 3 Doth God bless us with all Spiritual Blessings as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Then my friends you may here take occasion to magnify the Mystery of the Gospel And you may see great reason why you should glorify these persons that are principally concerned in the mysteries of the Gospel No wonder the Apostle breaks out Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus-Christ And can your hearts hold from breaking out in the praises of God O Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath Blessed us with
God doth not deal so with his people but he takes them into all Relations at one and the same time A Christian that hath the least degree of grace stands in the highest Relations to God God doth not make him first a Servant and then a Steward and afterwards adopt him and afterward state all his Glory and Kingdom upon him but at one and the same time when grace is first wrought then all the Relations of the Gospel lye open together to the least degree of grace If a Son then an Heir The Apostle concludes that and that is right Gospel arguing and that upon the least degree of grace if a Servant then a Friend if a Friend then a Son and if a Son then an Heir a joint Heir with Jesus Christ Gospel Relations bear not proportion to the graces of the Relation they are not more or less as grace in us is more or less No but one manat the same time that hath theleast degree of grace all the Relations of the Gospel lye open before him Though you have not as much grace as others yet there are as many Relations and as great Relations between God and you as others yea as there are between God and the best Christian in the world and let me tell you the meanest Christian in our days hath all the Relations of the Gospel lying open to him as well as the best Disciples that ever Jesus Christ had either in or after his daies and if so my friends then no wonder why God is so concerned about a little grace Yet saies he shall not the least grain fall upon the Earth 5. The least degree of grace bears an essential likeness to Christ as well as the greatest degree of grace doth I say there is an essential resemblance in the least degree of grace unto Christ as well as in the greatest every spark of fire is true fire as well as the greatest fire in your Chimney I tell you Christians the least grace is Christ within you there is the whole Image of Christ there is the love of Christ and there is the holiness of Christ and there is the meekness of Christ and there is the lowliness of Christ there is in that little an Essential Resemblance of Christ therefore no wonder that God takes so much care for and about a little grace Appl. Is it so That for these reasons God doth look after the least grace in the least Christian Then O do you make much of a little duty God makes a great account of a little grace do you make a great account of a little duty If you have but little breathings of heart after God and Christ Jesus in your heart do not deny it do not say It is not likely that these should be regarded why because they are but some weak faint breathings You see that God looks after a little grace in your hearts and maketh a great account of it Therefore I beseech you having received a little from God make you great account of that little I will but urge this with these two considerations 1. Seeing God makes a great account of that little that thou hast Let me only ask you this Question Whether it be not better for you to follow the example of God than to follow the Devils example The devil would have you to make nothing of a little God and Jesus Christ would have you to make great account of a little Satans design is when he cannot hinder the work to ecclypse the glory of the work that is wrought and to abate and allay the beauty of the work that is wrought that is Satans business and design I pray friends consider you hear it is Gods way to make much of a little Now whether will you fall in with God or with Satan He would make little of a great deal of grace yea he would make nothing of it but God he makes a great deal of a little grace O Sirs do you therefore in imitation of God Christ Jesus do you also make much of it you see God hath made so much of it that he hath made it the peculiar special matter of a distinguishing promise well says he though I will command and sift the House of Israel and I will turn them out of one sieve into another yet saies he shall not the least grain fall to the earth I will not lose the least grain no not for all the Assyrians for all the Babylonians no not for all the Devils in Hell I will not lose the least grain God hath other manner of thoughts of the least work of grace thou hast than I am perswaded most Christians have of the greatest works of grace 2. Truly you do not know how soon this little may grow up to a great deal It is the hypothesis of our Lords arguing says he since thou hast not been faithful in a little who will trust thee with more So I say on the other hand if thou beest faithful with a little if thou admire the condescension of the grace of God to work a little grace in thy heart how dost thou know but God may the next Sermon work a great deal more Jesus Christ may come the next opportunity with a full hand and empty his hand into thy heart thou dost not know how soon this little may be made a great deal If you be faithful in the improvement of a little if you be thankful for a little if you do make great account as God doth of a little then grace will soon add more You know not how suddenly you may be surprised with more I am verily perswaded that one great reason why men grow no more in grace is because they despise their little so much One great reason why God gives no more grace is because they despise their little grace so much Christians I beseech you if you have but a little O make great account of that little if there be but a grain It is one of Gods grains cast in by Jesus Christ and the Spirit of Jesus Christ into thy heart make much of it because thou doest not know how soon more may come Says Christ Take the Talent from him that did not use it give it to him that had five even so the Lord may come and say here is a poor creature his heart leapt within him for Joy because I have given him a little grace this Soul is always blessing me for a little I will give him more Truly Christians a high esteem of a little grace is much becoming the best Christians if God hath given you but a little I am sure that little is more than you deserve the smallest things of the Gospel should be spent with a crying grace grace Therefore my friends in observance of God and in imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray set your eye and your heart upon that little let there be a great value and esteem put upon your little grace because
though it be to be made a curse Now Christians if the case be so is there not great reason then that the Blessings that we have we should be blessed with them in Christ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us in him 2. But then the Second Illustration of it is this Jesus as a Saviour must not only be a sufferer but a Surety He must be one that must undertake to respond to God for all and to satisfy the justice of God for all Now Sirs what are the Blessings that we receive by his Suretiship Why truly upon the account of that we receive all Spiritual Blessings Christ is Surety that I should live like a Child of Adoption for the substance and main that my heart should be in a frame becoming those that are the Lords Adopted ones O but where is he that hath undertaken it why it is Jesus and therefore you shall find the Apostle fix it upon this very title Heb. 7.22 by so much was Jesus made a Surety of a better Testament by so much was Jesus You see here is the very Title that is given him in the Text Jesus the Saviour and Jesus the Surety for all that are saved and therefore good reason that we should be Blessed with all Spiritual blessings in him And then 5. Lastly The 5th reason that is in the words is this he hath Blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in him because he is the Christ I pray do but observe it he is the Christ And therefore good reason that all our Blessings should be lodged in him There is not another Christ in Heaven there was none of all the Angels of Heaven that were fit to make a Christ of all the Sons and Daughters of men put them all together were not fit to make a Christ of vain are the suppositions and presumptions of the Papists There is none but this Jesus that is fit to make a publick Christ of and this Jesus was anointed with all Spiritual Blessings to this end he was anointed with them in the fountain in the principle I will but turn you to one Scripture for the confirmamation of this that Jesus was anointed with all Spiritual blessings for this purpose I pray do but observe that passage there Isaiah 61.1 verse The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me I pray consider it Sirs The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for or wherewith he hath anointed me And this is the Oyl of gladness wherewith he was anointed above all his fellows Because the Lord hath anointed me To preach good tidings to the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the Captives and the opening the Prison to them that are bound c. I pray do but consider how he brings in the thing to my present purpose all Spiritual Blessings Thou art a poor creature a weak creature not worthy of the least crumb of Bread and yet my Friends all things are given in the Lord Christ because he was anointed with all for us therefore is it that we are blessed with all Spiritual Blessings in Christ SERMON IV. Ephesians 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings in Heavenly places in Christ THe state and Condition of this Church of Christ at Ephesus we have in some measure opened The suitableness of this passage of the Apostle to that their state we have also discovered To be deprived of Temporal Blessings and exposed to Temporal Troubles and Trials as well as Spiritual Temptations is easily ballanced with the discovery the Apostle here makes of being Blessed with all Spiritual Blessings This universal word is not only applied to the kinds but also to the degrees of every kind of these Spiritual Blessings It is all for the kind and all also of every kind not only faith or only love but both not only pardon or only peace but both and not only so but all of all who hath Blessed us with all Spiritual Blessings Though you have but little in hand or as I may rather say little in your own hearts yet you have all Spiritual Blessings in the hand of Christ A Third inquiry is this Quest 3 Who is it that doth bless us with all Spiritual Blessings or under what consideration are we to look upon this great Blesser Ans And I pray mind it It is not God at large neither is it God as the Creator of all but here he is discovered as clothed with his principal Gospel relations and that not to us so much as to his Son our Lord Jesus Christ It is not said our God and Father in Jesus Christ the Lord but the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath blessed us Before I enter upon the particular resolve of this I will only premise this in general that both these Relations or Titles that are here attributed to God have an equal respect unto all the Relations under which Jesus Christ is here considered The God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ so that the resolve of this upon this hypothesâ—s will Issue it self in this general proposition or assertion viz. Doct. That God as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ doth bless Christians in Christ with all Spiritual Blessings I would speak these mysteries with all plainness But my Friends there is none of you those that have the greatest advantage of parts and gifts that can understand practically what I shall say without the Spirit of the Lord lead you into the truth which I shall discover to you I hope in the Spirit In the prosecution therefore of it I will only deliver my sense in these Four or Five Generals and then make improvement 1. The first is this when we say that God as the God and Father of Jesus Christ blesses us this seems to be implyed in it That all the advantages that any of the people of God in either Testament have by Gods being their God or that hangeth upon this relation they are all summ'd up in this that he as the God of our Lord Jesus blesses his people with all Spiritual blessings If so be that you reflect upon the Old Testament you shall find Abraham greatly glorying in this and the Lord laying it as a foundation of Abrahams glory Gen. 17.1 says he I am God all sufficient walk before me and be thou perfect and Chap 15. verse 1. you have another appearance of God to Abraham Says he I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward Now Sirs I pray Consider The man Jesus the Lord Jesus as betrusted with all our Spiritual blessings lies under the advantage of this relation to God if so be that God be the God of Abraham much more will he be an all sufficient God in the manage of the concerns of Abrahams seed as
least Satan may suggest why what is this a poor thing that can hardly crawl towards Christ in a duty so weak there is little or nothing to be seen of the Image of God in his heart because there is so little Ay but Christians you do not know under what designment this little is what great things the Lord hath to manage by this little grace Daniel when the Lord shewed him the great revolutions that were to be in the world he shewed him a Mountain a mighty mountain And he shewed him also a little Stone that was cut out of the Mountain without hands and this stone should be bigger than the Mountain The Mountain if you take it to be the Roman Empire that was as a Mountain that filled a great part of the Earth ay but the little Stone that is cut out of the Mountain without hands that shall cover all the face of the Earth in its time So I say do but you make it your business to discover grace and never prescribe any limits as to that grace A little grace may be under a great design little David did more then the mighty man Saul that was taller than all the Israelites he was under a greater designment I pray consider this with me under these two branches 1. The least grace may be under a designment for greatest service for the time to come Christ is Prophecied of as a root that should grow out of a dry ground so Christ is compared he promised but little there was but a very slender appearance of Jesus at the first that ever he should be the man in whom all the Promises and Prophecies should center A Carpenters Son this is but the Son of a Carpenter say they an unlikely thing that all the Promises and Prophecies of the Messiah should center in him and have their accomplishment in him Even so it may be with Christians little beginnings many times do work and boil up and improve unto greatest undertakements If you nakedly consider how the Lord dealt with his own Disciples one would wonder that they should be his hearers three years and and an half and when all came to all had not so much Faith as to believe that this was really he that they should not have grace enough to bear them out in one brush of trial that they met with in the apprehending of our Lord but they must all forsake him when he was upon the Cross That indeed was something a great trial but to forsake him as soon as ever he was apprehended and for Peter to deny him as soon as ever he was challenged this do's not discover greatness of grace Truly these men as I may say were men of little stature and the Kingdom of Heaven in them during that time they lived with Christ and heard the Lord Christ was but as a grain of Mustard Seed and yet these were the men that must do the great work of God in the World So it may be there is but a little grace in thy Childs Heart or in thine own Heart but that little grace may be under a great designment for great service and therefore it is that the Lord will look after a little because he knows what it is that you are designed for and that every one is designed for 2. The least grace may be under a designment for the greatest injoyments that is God may design a Person for the greatest enjoyments that hath now but the least grace Many times Children that are weakest have most of the manifestations of the tender affections of the Mother Truly so I may say the Lord doth lead those many times by the hand that he hath given but little grace to when others are as it were turned to go of themselves the Lambs are carried in the Bosom of the Shepherd Isa 40.11 the Lord promiseth that he will raise up a Shepherd that shall gather the Lambs with his arm and carry them in his Bosom Christians though you be but little yet I Pray consider you may be under a designment of great enjoyments the Lord doth many times give you as it were the sweet of the Gospel whilst he feeds others with courser and harsher fare The Lord giveth you the dainties of the Covenant and of the Promises when he doth treat with others with more course or more common Providences Christians I pray consider not only for the present but for the time to come you may be under the greatest designments for the greatest enjoyments and therefore it is that God will not lose the least grain what sieve soever he makes use of to be sure his Eye and his Hand will be upon the least grain in the sieve because of their designment 3. The Lord will take care of those that have the least grace because those that have the least grace have a full right I pray do but observe there is no gradual difference in Gospel right if I have a right to an Estate wrapt up in a scroul of paper it is as much as the right that another hath to his Estate that is written or enlarged upon in a sheet truly so it is with Christians little grace gives a full right and therefore the Lord will look after it or else he must suffer his own right to be lost the right that he hath given to be void if he doth not look after the least grace I will open this in these two Branches 1. The greatest promises are made to the least of graces I pray turn to that passage of our Lord in the first Sermon that ever he preached upon the Mount in Mat. 5. Blessed say he are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven What can you have more than the Kingdom not the Kingdoms of the Earth but the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom without limitation Theirs is the throne of the Kingdom and their is the Crown of the Kingdom theirs is the Blessedness the glory of the Kingdom and who are these to whom this Kingdom in all its glory is thus annexed by promise It is those who are poor in Spirit that have but a little grace and yet are sensible of their little Christians there is no graduall variation in right though there are always gradual variations in the comfort of your right you shall scarce meet with two Christians that have in all points an equal ballance of comfortable enjoyment of their Right and yet their Right is the same thy promise is my promise and the Blessing that is a Christians by Covenant that hath attained to the greatest measures of grace these very Blessings and this very Covenant may with all its Blessings belong to him that hath least grace May a man that is well thriven in grace say all this is mine as God said to Abraham when he led him forth come saies he look towards the East and the West and the North and the South Behold all this Land will I
it is also your duty Keep but in Gods hands and you are well enough Do not you by reason of your own Corruptions start out of Gods way God hath the sieve in his own hand The Nation is but a sieve as I may say pray while God would have you there keep there don't step out of the Lords way till the Lord hath done all his work I pray observe one thing for the opening of it and that is this Live by this principle let the Lord take his own course with you to finish his own work upon you The Lord he is offended at Israel and he takes the Rod of his anger into his hand and he breaks them and bruses them Ay but there were some in Israel that did keep in the Lords way and what then When the Lord hath accomplisht his work upon Mount Sion why then he will break the Rod. My friends do but look upon temptations and afflictions you meet withal as means and methods that he purge you with Is there no chaff hangs upon the Corn I believe there is too much it may be God hath a mind to shake thee out of thy profession that is out of confidence in or lurking under thy profession for security Here 's a little chaff hangs and God hath a mind it shall be burnt and it sticks very close and God he will give it another shake in the Sieve Why Sirs let the Lord alone in his own way He is sifting Ay but he will look after the Wheat while he is sifting pray Christians let God alone It may be God is trying you this way it may be God is trying another another way trying a Servant by a Mistress trying a Parent by a Child trying a Child by a Parent trying a Mistress by a Servant Why what is the meaning of all Why yet there is a little sticks to the grain O Sirs I tell you God would I have you all clean and let God alone in the way of his own proceeds with you he will look after the grain and it 's no matteâ—â—f the chaff be burnt And now I pray Sirs having thus stretch't forth my hand to you what is the return I shall make to him that sent me Are you willing to abide in Gods way And let God alone in his own way Christians should be willing that God should sift till the grain be clean You do not take the chaff and the grain to make your selves bread of it is not fit for your use till it be sisted Well Sirs I tell you there may be a little grain but God hath a mind to sift you a little more he will make you fit for his use before he hath done with you And therefore let him alone in his way Does God afflict you I pray keep in Gods way though it be in a way of affliction though it be in a way of Tryal do not you leap or step out of the way of God No no It is a dangerous thing for a Christian to be found wandering alone in an evil time All that I shall say as the close of the whole is this You see my Friends that God commands the Sieve Behold saies God I will command what will God command Why I will command the Assyrian into the use of a sieve and I will command the Babylonian into the use of a sieve and I will command Edom into the use of a sieve I will command this Nation and the other Nation you see my Friends what ever instruments God makes use of he hath a peculiar regard unto the least grace and the least Christian I will command them and I will sift Christian the worst of thy condition is still in the Lords hand And therefore I pray Christians upon the review of the whole considering God hath said that he will do the business if God saies I will sift such a one in the Sieve of Temptation I will try him this way I will sift another with afflictions I will try him that way I pray'e let God alone Keep your hearts alwaies open to him keep in the way of God and then you will be found inheriting of the blessing of these Sermons and it will be said Lo though the Lord hath sifted them yet not one grain is lost And you may say Lo though the Lord is sifting me in the sieve of the Nations yet I shall not lose one grain For this is his word I will Command and I will sift them in the sieve of the Nations As Corn is sifted in a sieve yet shall not the least grain fall to the Earth SERMON VII Amos 9. Verse 9. For Lo I will Command and I will sift the House of Israel among all Nations as Corn is sifted in a sieve yet shall not the least grain fall upon the Earth THe words are a reserve of grace this and the preceding verse are a mixture of wrath and mercy The greatest discovery of wrath that ordinarily we meet withal and yet the greatest reserve of grace and mercy that ordinarily we meet withal in the Scripture The discovery's of wrath I shall only desire a little to descant upon says the Prophet in the 8. v. The Eyes of the Lord are upon a sinful Kingdom and what then I will destroy it says he from off the face of the Earth and at the 9. v. says he Lo I will command I will sift the House of Israel among all Nations Nations of all Tempers and Nations of all Spirits be they of an Egypttian or of a Babylonian Spirit be they of an Edomitish Spirit or of any Spirit whatsoever says God I will sift them among all Nations It is as much as if God should say I will let loose all sorts of Spirits that are evil and afflictive upon the sinful Kingdom the House of Israel behold says God the Eyes of the Lord are upon a sinful Kingdom I pray observe Obs That your presence with or your relation to a Religious People cannot secure you from the dreadful threatnings that are denounced against the Irreligious by a Holy God Lo says he I will command c. And I do not remember a like passage upon the like occasion in the Scripture I will command says he and I will sift the House of Israel and the Eyes of the Lord are upon a sinful Kingdom Sirs it is not enough to be with Christians and to walk with Christians except you your selves be Christians it is not your being with or walking with the Lords People that can secure you from the Lords threatnings But yet notwithstanding the dreadfulness of the threatning here is a double reserve of grace in the 8. v. he concludes with a reserve of grace and indeed it is the manner of God in the Old Testament to wind up his dreadful threatnings in the most incouraging promises of absolute grace saving that I will not utterly destroy the House of Jacob saith the Lord. I will only observe this one thing
squander among the People and here were two or three and there was another two or three or it may be more in a company that skulkt away from his force and cruelty into by ways and by places endeavouring to shift for themselves and save their lives I pray do but observe now how the Lord comes upon Edom that was the Off-spring of Esau Jacobs Brother in the 10. v. of that prophecy for thy violence against thy Brother Jacob shame hath covered thee and thou shalt be cut off for ever Lord might Edom say didst not thou say thou wouldst utterly destroy this People from the Earth and I will hiss for the Assyrian and Lord hast thou not said that Assyria is the rod of thine anger in thy hand well my Friends notwithstanding all that could be objected in a way of reason see how God treats with Edom v. 1.4 neither shouldst thou have stood in the cross way to cut off those of his that did escape c. This I only produce to discover to you the severity of Gods threatning against those that offer disturbance and discouragement to his People in their weakest capacities and conditions The like you may observe in the Revelations and in the other passages of the New Testament but I will not any further proceed upon that so that you see I have opened a further reason of the Lords special care and tender regard that he hath over his own People 4. The greatest promises lay hold upon those that are in the meanest condition upon those that are in the poorest weakest unlikeliest condition Be not discouraged Christian at the unlikeliness that is upon thy Soul as to the grouth of grace though your grace be little and your discouragements great yet let me tell you there are greater promises in the word proportionally considered made to you than to others I pray observe what the Psalmist say's in the 72. Psa 16. v. There shall be a handful of Corn in the Earth upon the top of the Mountain the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon and they of the City shall flourish like the Grass of the Earth They are in a prosperous condition shall flourish like the Grass of the Earth those that prosper in seculars or in temporals they shall not lose their blessing but shall flourish like the Grass of the Earth but says he there shall be at that time when these things shall be there shall be a People that shall be cast into the World as a handful of Corn that is cast upon the top of the Mountain alas what can you expect from a handful of Corn that is cast upon the top of a mountain but that it should be withered and dried up why because there want Earth and Soil to nourish it and the spirit of the Earth to maintain it therefore it cannot be expected that it should come to any maturity Yet says the Lord when they of the City shall flourish like the Grass then the handful of Corn that is upon the top of the Mountain that is exposed to wind and weather the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon they shall grow like the Cedars in Lebanon so that you see my Friends those that are unlikely those that are meanest that are but as a handful of Corn cast upon the Mountains yet I tell you you are under as great a promise as any under their greatest external flourishing they of the City shall flourish as the Grass of the Earth but those that are cast upon the Mountain shall shake like Lebanon Appl. And there are three Inferences that I shall desire to manage and so conclude the first shall be in relation to those that are the least Christians the second shall have relation to those of a bigger size and the third Inference shall have relation to those that are neither great nor little Christians but no Christians at all VSE 1 to those that are least they are grains but they are the least grain my meaning plainly is this and I think it is the meaning of the Holy Ghost those that have least grace and those that have least gifts those that have done least for God and those that have enjoyed least of God those that have observed least of Gods goings in his Sanctuary that have experienced least of Gods workings upon their Spirits my design Christians is principally upon you and therfore I shall say three or four things particularly to you and the first is this be not discouraged at your littleness of grace if there be but truth of grace There were many when the second Temple was built and they saw it did not amount to the glory of the first Temple they fell a weeping and were greatly discouraged and God was fain to raise them up a Prophet on purpose to bear up their spirits O there was not that Gold there was not that outward Glory and Splendor that there was upon the first Temple that was destroyed and God raised them up a Prophet and what says the Prophet to them says he You saw the Glory of the former Temple and I tell you says he that the Glory of the latter Temple shall be greater than the Glory of the former They were discouraged at the plainness and meanness of the building and of the furniture and adorning of the Temple nay says God if that be the thing do not trouble your selves about it So I say my Friends you may take an estimate of others Hearts and compare others Hearts with yours and you fall a murmuring and discouragement seizes upon you nay but let me say to you in the name of the Lord if there be but a little grace be not discouraged at the littleness of it you have reason to be humbled that it is no more that is very true but yet you have no reason to be discouraged because there is a little and the Lord hath commanded me to tell you that it lay in his power and within the reach of his grace to make the glory of that little grace that is in your Heart far exceed the Glory of that great deal that you observe to break forth in the Hearts of others and therefore be not discouraged I shall urge this under these two considerations 1. Thou seest it may be what is in thy heart but thou doest not know what is in Christs hand for thy heart Thou seest what comes out of Christs hand to thy heart but thou doest not see what remains in Christs hand for thee therefore be not discouraged because it is little I pray do but observe a passage in Zach. 12.8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem And he that is feeble among them That is he that hath little Courage little spirit little strength the word signifies he that is so feeble that he is faln amongst them faln among the Croud by reason of his feebleness he that is feeble among them At that day shall be as David