Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day This is the first thing to be noted 2. For the winning over a sinner to become the Lord Christ's and to surrender up himself into his hands He doth first treat with the sinner to that purpose and doth intreat and perswade him to accept of the grace of the Gospel Just for all the world as it is in order to marriage first the party is wooed before the contract is made so Christ doth woo the soul to become his Spouse and to accept him for an husband To this end he imployeth his Ministers to intreat sinners in his name and sends his Spirit to deal with their hearts and to propound the match unto them Such is his gracious condescension towards fallen man that although the whole benefit of this union redound unto us yet he is pleased to beseech us to close with him 2 Cor. 5.19 20. Now then we are Embassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is not only free grace and abundant grace but 〈…〉 〈…〉 with salvation unto the children of men so he doth seek unto them and earnestly beseech and intreat them to accept the offers of salvation Gen. 9.27 God shall perswade Japhet * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Alliciet scilicet ut suo tompore ad cultum Dei tentoria Shem i. e. Ecclesiam accedat Fut. per Apoc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hiph pellexit allexit c. Buxtorf so the word signifieth and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. Mark it The Church of Christ for some ages was well neer confined to the posterity of Shem Abraham and his seed came out of the loyns of Shem. And by Japhet understand the Gentiles who were his off-spring for by them were the Islands of the Gentiles possessed Now saith the Spirit of God the time will come that the Gentiles shall be gathered unto Christ they shall be brought into the Church How or by what means will this be so brought to pass why Christ will woo them and treat with them he will perswade them effectually and prevail by his perswasions 3. In pursuance of this comparison note further That our faith in Christ which is the uniting grace whereby we are joyned to him and made one with him is The consenting of our hearts to take Christ for our Redeemer as he doth tender himself to us and the resignation or giving up our selves into his hands As in the business of marriage it is the consent of parties that makes it The proposal being made the woman accepteth of such a man to be her Husband and accordingly giveth up her self unto him 〈…〉 gether Thus it is in the transactions of matters between Christ and the Church we are contracted to him by our consent to be his and taking him to be our Lord and husband Cant. 2.16 My beloved is mine and I am his Wilt thou have me for thy Husband and Saviour upon the terms of the Gospel saith Christ by his Spirit unto the sinner O Lord answereth the sinner through grace I will I give my full consent and surrender up my self unto thee and thus they are united Therefore it is the great complaint of Christ that he cometh to sinners and they will not accept him Joh. 1.11 He came unto his own and his own received him not Joh. 5.40 And ye will not come unto me that ye might have life And it is said of the Christians of Macedonia when they believed in Jesus they gave themselves unto the Lord 2 Cor. 8.5 4. This consent of the heart to be the Lord Christ's and acceptance of him for our Redeemer if it be such as uniteth us to him and maketh us one with him must be a marriage-consent and acceptance My meaning is It must be so qualified and circumstantiated as is required in the consent of persons when they are married togeâ—her That is to say It must have these three properties It must be 1. A present consent and acceprance 2. A full and hearty consent and acceptance 3. An entrie and indefinite consent and acceptance 1. It must be a present acceptance of Christ and closure with him and not only a promise for the future to take him hereafter and to submit to him in time to come For as Casuists and Civilians observe though promises for the future leave an obligation upon the parties promising yet they do not make up a marriag-contract that must be in words de praesenti So when sinners ingage hereafter to give up themselves to the Lord Jesus although it will add to their sin and condemnation to live in the neglect of performing such ingagements yet they are not thereby united unto Christ but still abide under the wrath of God If we would be made one with him we must immediately give up our selves unto him and take him to be our Lord and Saviour Psal 16.1 2. Preserve me O God for in thee do I put my trust O my soul thou hast said to the Lord thou art my Lord. Psal 116.16 O Lord truly I am thy servant I am thy servant It is not said I will become thy servant hereafter when I have a convenient season and then I will obey thee and put my trust in thee but I thy servant I thy servant q. d. Here am I ready to set upon any service I enter my self now into thy service to abide with thee henceforward even for ever 1 Cor. 7.22 He that is called being free is the servant of Christ If he be effectually called if he answer the invitation of the Gospel he must ingage without delay in Christ's work For it is the present time which is the time of acceptance and the present day which is the day of salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 And the truth is Sirs that bare promises for the future are so far from uniting us to the Son that they are nothing else but the sly endeavours of the heart to put a cheat upon Christ It is by such hypocritical promises that when sinners are convinced of the necessity of closing with Christ they do break through such convictions and get from under the power of them When conscience presseth them hard this is the answer whereby they stop the mouth of conscience hereafter they will become obedient to the Gospel But be not deceived Christ will not be dallyed with but all persons shall know that he searcheth the hearts and the reins and is able to see through their dissimulation and hypocrisie and he will give to every one according to their works Rev. 2.23 2. It must be a full and hearty consent and acceptance with the whole soul of a man It is not a faint wishing and woulding after Christ that will give us an interest in him but
pressed the necessity of Union with Christ in order to the partaking of the benefits of Redemption I was a while since intreated by letter from some that I would further instruct them in the nature of that Mystery of Union with the Son of God With the proposal of this spiritual and useful enquiry and the sundry particulars relating thereunto wherein they desired information I was not a little well pleased knowing how usual it is with many Professors of Godliness to leave the kernel and marrow of Christianity wherein the life and sweetness of it lieth and to exercise themselves about the shell and bones only of contention As if they had been brought up at the feet of those Schoolmen who turn Religion into Quodlibets and make it little else but a well-digested heap of intricate * Statum lacessunt omnipotentis Dei Calumniosis litibus Fidem minutis dissecant ambagibus Vt quisque est linguâ nequior Solvunt ligantque quaestionem vincula Per syllogismos plectiles and doubtful disputations To those savoury questions I returned answer as he that ministers seed to the sower was pleased to give ability and as might be contained within the compass of one sheet at the most Which answer I intended but as a compounding for forbearance till I should be ready to give fuller satisfaction For I found within my self a strong propension of spirit upon the first motion of it to me to wait upon God in the deligent search of the Scriptures for a more thorow insight into that great Gospel-doctrine When my Meditations were digested into this method and frame according to the following Treatise I was perswaded to believe That I could not be better serviceable to the souls of many of my dear friends from whom the Lord hath suffered me to be rent then by commending these plain Truths to their most serious study And I think I may be assured That many amongst them who have loved the Author for the Truths sake will be no whit the more averse from a sedulous enquiry into these Truths for the Authors sake For the Subject matter it needs no Apology being one of the highest and yet most necessary Points of Christian instruction unless it be for this That so mean a person as my self hath attempted the handling of it To which I shall say with Minutius Felix Nihil indignandum vel dolendum si quicunque de divinis quaerat sentiat proferat Cum non disputantis Authoritas sed disputationis ipsius veritas requiratur Atque etiam quo imperitior sermo hoc illustrior ratio est Quoniam non fucatur pompa facundiae gratiae sed ut est recti regula sustinetur All the perversion in humane affairs and disorders in the spirits of the children of men do arise according to the observation of Augustine from a twofold Original * Cum fruimur utendis utimur fruendis 1. The enjoying of what should only be used And 2. The using of that which ought to be enjoyed By giving that place to the creatures which is only due to the God of heaven and making use of the Lord and his service in a subordination and subserviency to other ends Our great work therefore consists in referring all things to their proper places and restoring them to their appointed stations according to the eternal Law To use the things of this world as not abusing them and to make God alone the object of our enjoyment This enjoyment of God since the fall of man is only attainable through Jesus Christ the Mediator And there is no fellowship to be maintained with God through Christ but only by such as are in Christ And this is the scope and drift of the Tract ensuing so to manuduct and lead sinners unto the Son That being knit unto him they may thence be conducted into the bosom of the Father And I suppose If a just reckoning be made of such as have designedly dealt upon this Subject of a Believers Union with Christ considering how many have wrote upon some others this Book need not be accounted as supernumerary If any be offended with the meaness of the stile and for want of such embellishments of Rhetorick and History wherewith it might have been adorned or that I have sometimes descended too low in the explication and proof of such matters as seem not to require it Let such please to take notice That my intent was if possible to speak to the capacity of the meanest I have often thought of Mr. Dod 's observation That most Ministers in England are wont to shoot over the peoples heads Rather would I utter the plainest Truths to the understanding and edification of the weakest Christians than study to feed more curious fancies with sublimer notions and niceties * Dissoluti est pectoris sonos auribus infundere dulciores non medicinam vulneribus adhibere Arnob. And as for ringing changes upon words and the counter-marching of sentences as one speaketh they may pass for wit and elegancy with some but contribute nothing to the nourishment of the vitals of Christianity I have purposely declined all controversal points for that I would not scratch the * Disputandi pruritus est Ecclesiarum scabies Wotton Plaus Vot Itch of any in this litigious generation Let us follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may edifie another What is found to be agreeable to the mind of God and the tenour of the everlasting Gospel let it be received and embraced in the love of it And pardon the defectiveness of the Author in the management of the whole I dare not say as Cicero who was confident Se nuâ—lum verbum quod revocare vellet emisisse Yet I may truly speak as another Ego omnia quae dixi bona fide sine ullo studio contentionis sine aliqua dubitatione veritatis sine aliquo praejudicio diligentioris Tractatus exposui R. S. A Table of the Contents of the Book CHAP. I. The Context opened Believing 1. That Jesus is the Christ page 3 2. Jesus Christ p. 4 3. On the Lord Jesus Christ p. 5 What it is for a Believer to have the witness within himself In three things p. 6 How unbelief makes God a lyar 1. Negatively 2. Positively p. 8 The Text explained What is meant by eternal life p. 10 Eternal life the gift of God in a fourfold respect p. 12 Eternal life is in the Son on a threefold account p. 14 The manner of the conveyance of Eternal life p. 15 Qu. What is meant by having the Son Answ In three things p. 16 Doct. In order to an interest in Eternal life and participation of the blessings which are given forth by the Son in a tendency thereunto it is of indispensable necessity That we be united to Christ p. 18 CHAP. II. Conclusions introductory to the handling this Mystery of Union Concl. 1. The grace of a Christians Oneness with the
Cause by whom it is procured by whose death it was purchased As Christ bought the Elect of God to be his people and servants so he bought eternal Life to be their inheritance Hence the Kingdom of Heaven is called the purchased Possession Eph. 1.14 2. It is in Christ as in the Representative by whom possession is taken in the name of Believers and to their use For when our Saviour entred into heaven he was not only admitted thither upon his own account but he took livery and seizin thereof in the behalf of his people He entered as the fore-runner and not for himself only but for us Heb. 6.20 3. It is in Christ as in the hands of a publike Officer or Trustee whom God the Father hath appointed to this very purpose to dispense forth eternal Life unto those for whom it is prepared For as the souls of men and women are blessed upon the account of Christ's righteousness so that blessing is communicated through the hands of the Lord Jesus He is God the Fathers high Steward whom he imployeth in the distribution of his grace He sends him to bless his children Act. 3.26 And what the Spirit doth it is in Christ's name Joh. 14.26 There 's the third particular to be observed The great dispenser of this mercy God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his Son 4. Here is the manner of the conveyance of this mercy how it is made over to us and becometh ours Why by vertue of our union with Christ It is given forth by the Son to them that have the Son and to none besides He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life So that it is laid down or expressed 1. Positively 2. Exclusively 1. Positively He that hath the Son hath life He hath it 1. in respect of right and title thereto he hath a good interest therein Praesentia gratiae atlestatur faelicitatem futurae gloriae sine dubio sequuturam it is his portion and his inheritance to which he may warrantably lay claim and for which he may plead as his own 2. He hath life in the beginning and entrance thereof he hath those mercies which are certain harbingers of glory and will end in glory Or 3. He hath eternal life that is he shall as undoubtedly enjoy it as if he were already in possession it being an usual form of speaking in the writings of the holy Ghost to mention things future in the present tense to note the certainty and undoubtedness of their futurity 2. It is delivered Exclusively He that hath not the Son hath not life that is 1. He hath not life in reality whatever he may have in his own conceit and apprehension he may think himself to be something when indeed and in truth he is nothing 2. He hath not life that is he is stark dead in sins and trespasses he is under the wrath of God he is still an accursed wretch So it may be meant by an usual Meiwsis whereby less is mentioned than is intended 3. He hath not life i. e. if he die in that estate it will be evident that he hath it not he will perish surely eternally and unavoidably I mainly intend to handle this last branch of the Text. For the further clearing of which there is one previous enquiry to be made Q. The Question is this What is meant by a persons having the Son Or How may a man or woman be said to have the Son that he may have life A. For answ you must note these three things 1. The way whereby the holy Ghost in the Scripture doth most commonly set forth our having the Son it is by our union with the Son or being in him We are said to have him by being made one with him This is evident at the first to any one that is verst in the books of the Old and New Testament that having the Son is the same thing for substance with that which is frequently called our union with Christ or being in Christ Rom. 8.1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus i. e. to them that have him by vertue of their union with him Joh. 6.54 Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day And if you would see how this feeding on Christ doth contribute to a sinners having eternal Life you will find it to be because thereby he hath the Son which is expressed by union with the Son v. 56. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him And thus having the Son seemeth to be explained in the following part of this Chap. 1 Joh. 5.20 And we are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ This is the true God and eternal life q. d. this is the way to eternal life hereby alone you will come to the enjoyment of it you must have the Son that is you must be in him or united to him 2. By our union with Christ which is the way whereby we are said to have the Son I understand all along to speak distinctly the Oneness of a Believer with the Lord Jesus You may observe a difference between these two things viz. 1. The making of Christ and a Believer one And 2. Their being one when they are so knit together 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Unitio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Unitas There is the bringing of a soul unto Christ and ingraffing into Christ And 2. There is the being or standing of that soul in Christ when it is so brought and ingraffed 2 Cor. 5.17 If any man be in Christ Now it is this latter I mean all along by union The term is indeed of a latitude that may comprize both of them but I shall use it principally to denote the latter 3. Although in the writings of the Scripture you do not meet with this numerical word of Union with Christ in the very letters and syllables of it yet you have plentiful mention made of the thing signified thereby How often do you read of the Saints being in Christ and being put into Christ and expresly in one place you have mention of their Oneness with him and with the Father Joh. 17.21 That they may be one in us The words of the Text being thus unfolded and opened will afford us this doctrinal Point That in order to an interest in eternal life and partaking of those blessings which are given forth by Christ in a tendency thereunto it is of absolute necessity that we be united unto Christ If we will have life from the Son we must have the Son that is we must be made one with him No union with Jesus and no communication of life and salvation from Jesus For he that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life And therefore you shall find
soles viderent Bacon de sap veter when the Comforter is come to guide you into all truth then you shall know this mystery q. d. Now it is as the lines of a book that is sealed up a matter beyond your reach but then you shall read and understand 3. That hereupon you may be quickned to set upon this study with prayer with the earnest and fervent lifting up your hearts to heaven that God would anoint your eyes with ey-salve for the perception of this truth That he would open your minds and judgments to understand the Scripture in this particular and lead you into the knowledge and acknowledgment of this mystery For it is an Vnction from the holy One must teach us these lessons 1 Joh. 2.20 27. And therefore that prayer of the Psalmist is an excellent pattern 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato for the outgoings of our hearts at such a season Psal 119.18 Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law 4. That in order to the getting acquaintance with this Doctrine you may be convinced of the necessity of putting your selves under the promise which God hath made to reveal the secrets of his Covenant to his servants For this is one of those secrets a great mystery and upon that account mostly stiled a mystical Union And you know the way to get under the verge of that promise Nulla in discendo mora est ubi spiritus sanctus Doctor adest Beda is by indeavouring to maintain an holy dread and fear of the Majesty of heaven upon your hearts not daring knowingly to sin against him Psal 25.14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant This is the very reason why many poor Christians of low parts in comparison with others can speak more clearly and savourily of these things than some profound Doctors who are strangers to the power of godliness because the promise is not made to great parts and learning Ille qui cum puritate animae legit Scripturas plus proficiet quam si enodare tentaret mysteria multis commentariis Acost Jes but to such as have a reverential awe and regard of the Majesty of God upon their spirits The Lord doth often hide these things from the wise and prudent and reveal them unto babes Why because it so pleased him and because he hath promised to instruct them in these lessons Psal 25.9 The meek he will guide in judgment and the meek he will teach his way Again v. 12. What man is he that feareth the Lord him he shall teach in the way that he shall chuse And therefore mark what I say Humility self-emptiness and poverty of spirit together with a due dependance on the teachings of God will strike a greater stroke in acquiring the knowledge of these Lessons than the choicest accomplishments of parts and learning without them A conscientious respect to plain truths and precepts is the way to learn hidden mysteries John 7.17 If any man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine That 's the first Conclusion to be premised 2. Concl. 2. Although the Union of a Christian with the Lord Jesus is in it self a mystery not easie to be attained as to right apprehensions thereof yet it is a point of very great concernment to be studied and a clear insight thereinto will abundantly recompense all the pains you can take in the search of it So that the difficulty of attainment shuld not deter us from a diligent enquiry into it but rather stir us up to pursue it with all our might and industry It is a point wherein a man cannot with safety be ignorant It is incumbent upon us as we tender our everlasting welfare to get right apprehensions of the substance of this thing A mistake herein may occasion our eternal undoing And therefore when Christ had treated Mat. 13. of the mixture there is in the visible Church in many parables together How that some are in the Church who are not of the Church that there are many seem to be members of the body who are not spiritually united to Christ the head of the body for that is the drift of the parables though delivered in other words how doth he close his Sermon upon that subject See v. 51. Jesus saith unto them have ye understood all these things As if he had said It doth infinitely concern you to get a good understanding in this matter you cannot safely be in the dark as to this Doctrine Let these things sink deep into your hearts and be much pondered in your thoughts Hence the holy Ghost is so much upon it and doth frequently mention not only the excellency and need of Jesus Christ but likewise the necessity of our Oneness with Christ or being in him It is a dangerous thing to have false conceptions in our minds concerning this union or to be ignorant of it for three Reasons especially 1. Because it is the want of a right knowledge and due consideration of this very thing which is the cause of the ruine of many thousand souls Amongst those that live within the pale of the Church and have heard the joyful sound of the Gospel a great number perish by splitting upon this rock They apply the vertue of the death of Christ to themselves without ever minding whether they are in Christ They hope to be saved upon his account and so go on securely to hell under the shelter of those hopes because they never considered the nature and necessity of being united to his person See the very rise of their destruction how they plead themselves into a fools paradise in expectation of being pardoned and saved through Christs blood because they never minded if they had the Son or not if they were in Christ or no Luk. 13.26 27. Then shall ye begin to say We have eatten and drunk in thy presence and thou hust taught in our streets But he shall say I tell you I know you not whence you are depart from me all ye workers of iniquity Observe their mistake from the answer that is returned them I know you not whence you are as if he had said You are utter aliens and strangers unto me persons with whom I never was acquainted Though you heard my Word yet you were never ingraffed into my body though you were never ingraffed into my body though you have eaten and drunk in my presence yet you were not implanted into me nor ever had any fellowship with me And who are those which thus deceive themselves why many very many as in that parallel Text Mat. 7.22 23. I think experience may give us cause to suspect they are the most 2. It is a dangerous thing to have false apprehensions of Union with Christ because this is the great fundamental blessing upon which all our comfort is built and other spiritual blessings have a dependance hereupon So that see
damnation that will befal and the sore torments that will be inflicted upon such All ungodly sinners will be punished everlastingly but such as seemed to cleave unto Christ but yet served the devil will be punished most severely and made to drink of the dregs of the cup of God's indignation as sinning against most light Gospel-light and under means of grace denied to others which are the main aggravations of sin To them is reserved the myst of darkness for ever Genitivus reflexus super nominativum singularem importat eminentiam Ut coeli coelorum i.e. Altissimi Et sic in Synenimis ut iniquitas peccati i. e. maxime peccaminosa Sic caligo tenebrarum i. e. densissima that is the grossest darkness and sorest destruction 2 Pet. 2.17 You know our Lord Christ pronounceth the most terrible woes on this account Mat. 11.21 22 23. Wo to thee Chorazin wo to thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes But I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you And thou Capernaum which art exalted to heaven shalt be brought down to hell c. that is because thou art highly advanced in spiritual priviledges and hast not improved them thou shalt be destroyed with double destruction and made utterly desolate For as our Lord Jesus elsewhere concludes This is the condemnation that men live in sin under Gospel-light light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light Joh. 3.19 And besides I might have added that the torments of such will be the greater because of the reproach and scandal which they bring upon Christ and his ways As they dishonour him actively by their own transgressions so they give occasion to others to speak evil of him and his service For will wicked profane wretches be ready to say when they see the haltings and hypocrisie of these carnal Professors Lo these are your Saints that would be accounted more precise than others Here is their Religion and such they are all of them and the like It is because of the blots and blemishes of these counterfeit Christians that the name of Christ is blasphemed Rom. 2.24 compared with Ezek. 36.20 23. 3. Their condition is sad because of their more than ordinary inexcusableness in their eternal damnation They will have no manner of Apology or defence to make for themselves their mouths will be stopped to purpose for indeed they are condemned of themselves May Christ say unto them if my service were evil why did you call your selves may servants and go under my name and list your selves into my family and if it be excellent indeed why did not you serve me in truth and in sincerity Mat. 22.12 When the King came in to see the guests he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment And he saith unto him Friend how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment and he was speechless q. d. Why didst thou associate thy self with such company if thou wert resolved to continue in thy filthiness what an impudent wretch art thou to enter thy self into my houshold and family unless thou wert purposed to subject to the Laws and Discipline thereof How couldest thou for shame rank thy selfe amongst believers whilst thou liest polluted in thine impurity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi capistro injecto obmutuit And he was speechless he was muzzled as the word signifieth he had not a word to say in his own defence his own conscience silenced him For as the Apostle argueth If the light of nature will render the Heathen inexcusable and leave them without apology in the day of judgment how much more inexcusable are those who are brought within the pale of the visible Church of Christ and yet will not have that man to reign over them that call themselves Christians and partake of the priviledges of Christianity and yet serve the devil and are of his Synagogue Rom. 1.20 compared with Chap. 2.1 4. Their estate is sad bedanse of that vexation and horror which the very reflection up on this thing will bring to their spirits everlastingly How will the worm of conscience gnaw upon their hearts from this very consideration and the hypocritical wretches be ready to fear out their own bowels When they shall bethink themselves they were so neer to Christ and yet fell short of salvation by him that then took possibly a great deal of pains in the outward part of Religion to go on in a round of duties yet for want of truth and integrity in the inward parts must lose the benefit of all that ever they did that they were not far off from the kingdom of God and for want of going further must perish amongst the devils and damned for ever and make their bed in hell According to that in Luk. 13.28 There shall be weaping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves thrust out So much more will it bring vexation and anguish upon a mans spirit when he shall see such an acquaintance of his got to heaven that perhaps fate in the same seat with him who was wont to meet at the same religious exercises with him and himself excluded When he shall find such an one received into Abrahams bosom that possibly she fat outstript in commons gifts and qualifications a poor broken-hearted sinner whom he was aâ—â— to despise and himself tâ—rust into the chains of â—arkness amongst dogs and forcerâ—rs and whoremongers amongst professed Atheists and the profanest of men What bitterness will this bring to a mans thoughts O my friends think of this betimes ere it be too late and the Lord a waken your hearts that you may not rest on this side of a saving Vnion with the Lord Jesus So much for the first branch of the distinction viz. An Union with Christ by way of commoâ— profession or exceâ—nal adhâ—sion only 2. There is an Union or Onchess with Jesuâ— Christ my spiritual implantation and ingrature When a person is in him so as to receive life and nourishment from him as a quick fruit-bearing graff is in the stock as a living member is in the body and united unto the head When a soul is not only set upon the foundation but is also cemented to it by the cement of special grace the peculiar work of the spirit of holiness When he is a lively stone built upon the living foundation as the holy Ghost expresseth it 1 Pet. 2.4 5. To whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house It is this sort of union which the Scripture mentioneth as so great a mystery and to which eternal life
the uttermost 2 Cor. 5.14 Do we make void the law through faith God forbid yea we establish the law Rom. 3.31 But now as it is a Covenant of life and doth promise justification unto the observers of it so the death of Christ doth deaden us unto the law it is of notable force and efficacy to take off a man from building and bottoming upon his own legal performances For this very topick the Apostle argueth with the Galatians cap. 3.1 O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you Mark it the great matter wherein the Galatians fell from the truth of the Gospel was by adhaering to the law and seeking righteousness therein Now saith the Apostle a man would have thought the doctrine of Christ's death and crucifixion might have been a strong fence against that error unless you had been under a kind of fascination and witchcraft upon your spirits Hath the great fundamental principle of the death of Christ been so plainly and faithfully preached unto you and set forth amongst you in such lively colours as if he had been crucified before your eyes and are you still so foolish as to rest upon the law Certainly this is an argument of abundant sottishness and madness or else you have quite forgotten the doctrine of Christ's death and neglect to make a due improvement thereof The death of Christ will be of notable use to deaden a man to the law by making a threefold discovery 1. By discovering the sinfulness and damnableness of the evil of sin or transgressionof the law of God in that it could be expiated at no lesser rate than by the crucifying of the Son of God It is not any corruptible thing as silver and gold could make satisfaction for sin but the precious blood of the Son of God and therefore certainly it is an evil of a very heinous nature Thus my brethren a real sight of the greatness of the evil of sin would sooner convince a man of the insufficiency of all his legal righteousness to satisfie for the wrong that is done unto God by it If men think to recompence the Lord by any obedience of their own for the sins whereof they are guilty it is because they have low and slight thoughts of the evil of their sins Now the death of Christ may serve to rectifie such thoughts and to set forth the damnableness of the nature of sin And indeed it was one of the ends which God aimed at in the death of Christ as to save the sinners so to damn the sin Rom. 8.3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh He condemned it that is he made it thereby to appear what a deadly destructive and damnable nature it is of how odious and abominable a thing it is in his sight * He condemned it of that capital crime that it was the meritorious cause of the death of Christ who was most innocent Engl. Annot. By what way was this made to appear Why because nothing could appease his wrath but the crucifying of the Lord Jesus Undoubtedly it must needs be a very accursed thing for which Christ himself was made a curse 2. The death of Christ is of use to deaden a sinner to the law by making discovery of the inexorableness of the justice of God of his severity and strictness in requiring the utmost farthing that is due for satisfaction He did not spare his own Son when he had iniquity laid upon him but he was put to a painful cursed ignominious and reproachful death so that let not the children of men ever expect to be spared if they lie under the guilt of the least ungodliness God the Father did not abate his own beloved Son any part of the punishment surely he will never make abatement unto his adversaries And this was another end of Christ's death to set forth the exactness and inexorableness of the justice of God that he will by no means clear the guilty Rom. 3.25 26. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus * Deus justitiam suam dicitur oftendisse quia non aliter remisit peccata hominum quam pretio iusto redemptionis accepto non ab ipsis hominibus sed a Christo pro nobis satisfaciente Justum ergo se Deus exhibuit in nostro justificatione liberalem seu gratiosum Justitia fuit relatione ad Christum gratia vero relatione ad nos Tolet in Rom. 3. Lastly the death of Christ will serve to take off a man from seeking justification by the law by making a full discovery that there is no other way imaginable to make reconciliation for sin and to deliver sinners from the wrath to come but the death of Christ only For Sirs if there had been any other way could have been found out undoubtedly God would have spared the dearly beloved of his soul he would never have striken and bruised his only begotten Son For as the Apostle argueth If there had been a law given which could have given life verily righteousness should have been by the law Gal. 3.21 q. d. Had that way been sufficient to save men and women from everlasting destruction God would have taken that way and prevented the sorrows and sufferings of his Son He would never have sent him into the world in such a low and despicable condition nor have brought him into such strairs and agonies as made him sweat drops of blood not would he have poured out upon him the vials of his wrath for the accomplishment of that which might have been otherwise accomplished So that to test for justification upon the law is in effect to frustrate and make void the grace of God in the death of the Mediator For if righteousness come by the law then Christ is dead in vain Gal. 2.21 Thus much for the fifth Proposition touching the way of a sinners union or conjunction with the Lord Jesus 6. Propos 6. The way of the actual conjunction between Christ and his people when they are thus divorced from sin and deadned to the Law may be conceived thus The Lord Christ by his Spirit taketh possession of them and dwelleth in them and Believers through faith of the operation of the Spirit take hold of Christ and get into him and so they are knit together and become one For this conjunction you must understand is a mutual conjunction * Abide in me and I in you And again He that abideth in me and I in him By which
at the same time make his entrance in their whole persons and take seizin and possession of all their powers and faculties unto his use and service The plian meaning is this that the work of sanctification is a through-work wrought upon the whole man there is grace infused into every part and faculty As in the work of mortification all the habits of corruption are subdued so in the work of renovation or vivification all the seeds of holiness are introduced the whole man is purified as Christ is pure The common gifts of the Spirit are bestowed many times singly and apart one from the other but special sanctifying graces are planted together This I lay down that you may not deceive yourselves in this matter by thinking Christ is in you when you are strangers unto him There is great proness in us to mistake upon this account and to flatter our selves in this case for some common workings upon the heart to conclude that saving grace is planted in the heart And therefore mind what I say to prevent this self-cozenage that where a person is cleansed savingly and effectually there is an universal purification of the whole man and all the graces in the seed of them are infused together As all old things pass away so every thing is made new 2 Cor. 5.17 The understanding is renewed with saving knowledge of the mind of God and the will is brought into a blessed subjection to the will of God the conscience is furnished anew with tenderness and faithfulness the affections are renewed by being turned into their right channel and pointed upon their right objects love and delight upon God and hatred and sorrow towards sin and what is displeasing unto the Lord the heart is principled anew with sincerity and singleness and truth put into the inward parts the memory is made a treasury and store-house of good things and the body is fitted to be subservient unto the soul in wayes of holiness Thus I might run over the several branches of this work There is vigour and activity put into the soul to do the will of God commanding and patience to suffer and be contented under the will of God disposing there is the grace of moderation to guide in prosperity and the grace of faith to support under affliction and trouble and the man is prepared and fitted unto every good word and work 1 Thes 5.23 And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God your whole soul and spirit and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Mark it Sirs the work of sanctification is a very extensive and diffusive work it leaveneth the whole man both the inserior and superior faculties of the soul the animal and the rational powers and the body likewise So that it is not some slight trouble upon the conscience for sin or a little touch upon the affections or inclinations towards the Kingdom of God that will evidence you to be sanctified for sanctification ingageth the whole man in an holy compliance with the wayes of holiness and the interest of Jesus As a partial repentance in the exercise of it which striketh at some sins only and leaveth a man in the allowance of others is but a feigned repentance so partial workings upon the heart are but common workings they will not amount to saving grace Jer. 3.10 When Christ entereth by his Spirit into any of the children of men he doth take possession of them wholly and set up his residence in every part and faculty 3. In this work of the entrance of the Spirit into to a mans soul whereupon Christ is said to be in him and to dwell with him and possession is taken for his use and service the soul of that man is altogether passive My meaning is this It is not in the power of any person upon the earth to plant grace in his own soul or to confer the habits of holiness upon himself nor doth he contribute any active assistance in the performance of it but is wholly wrought upon by the mighty power of God and the effectual operation of the holy Ghost We are apt to imagine that it is in our own power to make a saving change within our selves that we can convert and turn to God at any time and repent when we please As Luther said in point of merit there is a Pope in every mans belly so may I say in this case there is a tang of Pelagianism in every mans heart and hence it is they take incouragement to procrastinate and delay in the matters of salvation they think they can repent when they will if it be but upon their death-bed But Sirs it must be a day of power that maketh you willing A as if God should give you up unto your selves you would perish for ever in your unregeneracy The planting grace in the heart is a turning the course of corrupted nature it is as a quickning the dead it is a creating and infusing of how principles into a man * Opus hoc conversionis sive duobus effici non potest Uno a quo fit altero in quo fit Deus est â—â—tor salâ—â—is liberum arbitrium tantum capax Bern. Observetur in primo actu veluntatis qui procedit à gratia praeveniente voluntatem esse motam non moventem Aquin. prima secundae q. 111. of which there is nothing in us by nature but a contrariety and repugnancy thereunto Eph. 2.5 Even when we were dead in sins he hath quickned us together with Christ And v. 10. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works So that it is not mans free will but God's free grace and his infinite power by which it is wholly wrought and to him alone doth belong the glory of it 4. Although we are wholly passive in this work of regeneration or planting grace into our hearts whereby Christ entereth into and taketh possession of us and we contribute no manner of active affistance therein yet there is something required at our hands in order to the attainment of this grace and that we may be made partakers thereof This is well to be noted that it may prevent our abuse of this doctrine and that we may not turn the grace of God into negligence and slothfulness For will sinners be apt to argue thus if it be God alone by his infinite power who can imprint grace upon our hearts and this he doth without our concurrent assâ—stance then we may fit still and let the Lord perform his own work if he please to convert and sanctifie us we shall be converted and if not all our indeavours are to no purpose But Sirs this is to pervert the grace of the covenant God forbid there should be such cursed inferences drawn from this excellent doctrine although it tendeth to advance and magnifie the free grace and power of God yet it gives no manner of incouragement to the
him glory in the Lord for all the sap and juice cometh from the root The branch hath nothing of its own but what is received from thence All your support is by vertue of the root so that walk humbly with God in the sense of your own emptiness and utter insufficiency And if you would live the life of God indeed have your constant recourse unto the Lord Jesus and be drawing nourishment from him for thou standest by faith Rom. 11.20 2. The similitude imports That the union of a Believer with the Lord Jesus is a very closly compacted and intimate union that they are very firmly and entirely knit together The branch when it is graffed becometh thereby incorporated into the vine so in a spiritual sense there is a kind of concorporation of Christ and his people together and therefore it is represented under the notion of being graffed into him There is a deep and inward connexion between them so deep and intimate that they are called by his Name 1 Cor. 12.12 As the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ i. e. so is the company of Believers Christ mystical who are so knit closs unto Christ as if they were the same as if they were consolidated into one 3. From this resemblance we may observe That a person cannot possibly be united unto Jesus till he be taken off from all other dependances whatsoever First there must be a cutting on the 〈…〉 stock in which it naturally groweth before it can be graffed into another First there must be an abscission before there can be an insition A branch may grow neer to the vine without being cut off from its old root but it must be wholly cut off ere it can be graffed into the vine Sirs By nature we grow in the wild olive tree we are rooted in the old Adam sin and self for when men are convinced of sin presently they have recourse unto self as a Saviour to deliver them from their sins But if you would get into Christ you must be taken off from these As you have it in the continued metaphor or allegory Rom. 11.25 For if thou wert cut off out of the olive tree which is wild by nature and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree Mark it first cut off from the one before capable of being graffed into the other 4. Learn in the last place from this similitude That the glory and excellency of a Christian doth lie in practical holiness or in being fruitful and abundant in the work of the Lord. You know The worth and excellency of a branch doth not consist in its beautiful outside or in the fair leaves and blossoms which it may bear but in bringing forth much fruit When there are fair clusters of grapes hanging upon it this doth content the Husbandman and prevents the pruning-hooks cutting off such a branch for the fire So herein is the excellency of a Believer when he is active for God in his place and calling and filled with the fruits of righteousness This is acceptable unto God and well pleasing in his sight This commends the root as a juicy sappy root when the branches are fruitful Joh. 15.8 Herein is my Fathor glorified that ye bear 〈…〉 fruitful you will be taken away and burnt the unprofitable servant shall be cast into outer darkness But then you will honour me indeed and be like to enjoy the comfort of your relation towards me when you express the power of godliness in your conversations This is the second resemblance 3. The third similitude setting forth the relation of a Believer to Christ is drawn from the â—uptial conjunction which is betwixt the husband and wife Christ and his people are joyned together in a conjugal union He is married unto them and they are his Spouse whom he hath betrothed unto himself When a man and woman are joyned in marriage according to the Institution and Ordinance of God they become one flesh so the Lord Christ and true Believers are one spirit Eph. 5.31 32. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joyned to his wife and they two shall be one flesh This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the Church It is as much as if the Apostle had said If the husband and wife are one by vertue of their marriage-covenant or nuptial contract much more intimately are Christ and his people one by their spiritual marriage the other is but a shadow of this Union Here is a mystery indeed for of this spiritual union you must understand me I speak concerning Christ and the Church Cant. 5.1 I am come into my garden my sister my spouse And throughout that book of the 〈…〉 1. When the 〈…〉 together into one It is according to the will and pleasure of the Father and a matter very pleasing and acceptable in his sight When marriages are regularly made it is with consent and approbation of parents on either side Now God is the parent on both hands in this spiritual conjunction and they have his consent to their espousals 1. He giveth his Son to the Church to be an husband Isa 49.6 I will give thee to be a light unto the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation to the end of the earth Gal. 4.4 When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son c. Joh. 3.16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son 2. Upon the other hand he taketh the Church to be a Wife or Spouse unto his Son and giveth Believers unto him Joh. 17.6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world thine they were and thou gavest them me Heb. 2.13 Behold I and the children whom thou hast given me So that this is the Father's will that sinners should come unto Christ and be united unto him And pray observe it the rather because there is a proneness in the heart of man to question the Fathers good will Sometimes sinners have good thoughts of Jesus Christ as one that minds their salvation and came down from heaven to accomplish it but they are full of doubts and jealousies touching the Father they question whether he be willing to accept them Why mind it Sirs What the Lord Jesus 〈…〉 〈◊〉 doth is by God the Fathers appointment and approbation It was he that sent him about his work and giveth lost sinners into his hands to be saved This is mentioned as an incouragement to believe in Jesus for if you do so the Father will receive you graciously and you shall in no wise be rejected See the words of our Saviour Joh. 6.37 38 39. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise east out For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me And this is the
that hath hitherto spared them and the infinite goodness of that God who still waiteth that he may shew mercy unto them Certainly it is wonderful long-suffering and powerful patience whereby the wrath of God is restrained from taking vengeance upon such Numb 14. v. 17 18. 2. Persons unregenerate and out of Christ are dead in respect of the putrefaction and rottenness of their condition A dead carkass the longer it lieth the more it putrefies and is corrupted so it is with impenitent sinners The longer they lye in their unconverted estate the worse they grow the more their spirits are setled in hatred against God and the greater is their forwardness and proneness to all sorts of abominations And therefore none are so hard to be wrought upon as old sinners that have spent the most part of their time in the service of the devil 2 Tim. 3.13 Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse For custom in sin doth naturally tend to strengthen the habits of sin * Suffocat hominem à veritate avertit abducit à vita est laqueus est barathrum est malum ventilabrum mala consuetudo As it is in any secular trade or imployment the more time a man spendeth in his Trade the more skill he getteth and the more handy he is at his work till he come to perfection in such an Art or Mystery So the more time a sinner spendeth upon his lusts the more cursed skill and wisdom he getteth to make provision for the flesh and to find out wayes to satisfie his lusts and evasions to break through convictions upon his conscience the more handy he groweth to commit any sort of wickedness so that in process of time he will turn a deaf ear unto counsel * Ex voluntate perversâ facta est consuetudo dum consuetudint non resistitur facta est necessitas Aug. conf You read of sinners compared to wild asses used to the wilderness And who can turn them away saith the holy ghost Jer. 2.24 q. d. They are grown obstinate in their rebellions formerly perhaps a reproof would have taken with them but now you had as good speak to a stock or a stone Continuance in sin taketh away the conscience of sin Formerly some workings of a natural conscience might put a stop to mens running to all excess of riot but when the bridle is broken whither will not a wicked man run So that my brethren it is a point of wisdom to seek unto God betimes and for persons that are in their youth to remember their Creator in the morning of their lives We are apt to cozen our selves by promises to repent hereafter when I have a convenient season saith the sinner I will make my peace with God and when I am in a better temper Nay but O vain man * Qui promittit poenitenti remissionem non promittit peccanti poenitentiam now is the most convenient season For besides the slipperiness and uncertainty of a mans dayes upon earth the longer thou liest in a course of sin the harder thine heart will grow and the faster hold will the devil get of thy soul So that deliver thy self as a roe from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the snare of the fowler Give not sleep to thine eyes nor stumber to thine eye-lids Prov. 6.4 5. 3. Persons out of Christ are in a dead condition in respect of their impotency and inability to that which is spiritually good A dead person hath no power to perform the works of nature as eating and drinking and walking and discoursing and the like because he is dead Thus impenitent sinners are without strength unto the things of God Rom. 5.6 A sincere Christian is dead to sin and the unconverted are dead in sin they have no power of themselves to the works of holiness and righteousness In this sense I principally understand that place Eph. 2.5 Even when we were dead in sins and trespasses he hath quickned us that is When all our spiritual abilities were gone If we had been left to our selves we should never have recovered out of our bondage and slavery but must have lain in it eternally without hopes of being delivered and then God came and breathed the Spirit of life into us And Sirs this should awaken us to cry mightily unto the Lord and never to give him rest till he steppeth in for our recovery This should cause us to take diligent heed that we quench not the motions of the Spirit nor provoke him to withdraw his workings from us for if he wholly depart we are undone irremediably I might under this head descend unto particulars by shewing you 1. That unconverted sinners have no power to turn their souls unto God nor to make a saving change upon their own spirits but this I have touched upon before 2. That they are without power to walk in the wayes of holiness or to perform one good action in an acceptable manner When the Lord himself took a view of all mankind in their apostatized condition he found not one that did good no not one Psal 14.2 3. And 3. That they are without strength to resist the temptations of the devil further than they are kept in by the restraining grace of God Satan leadeth them captive as he will 2 Tim. 2.26 As the heart of man is tainted with the principles of the most horrid abominations that ever were forbidden in the Scriptures so if God did not set bounds to the lusts that are within us we should quickly rush into the practise of them Sirs were it not for the restraining grace of the Almighty you would have been murderers as Cain and guilty of witchcraft as Manasses and have been as gross Idolaters as any of the Heathen Nay you would have sinned your selves before this time into hell or without the compass of the promise of mercy and forgiveness Surely this is not a condition wherein a person should quietly rest one moment for if God should pluck up the flood-gates whither would not the violent torrent of a mans corruptions carry him Deut. 18.10 11 12 13 14. I might have shewed you 4. That the unregenerate are so far from having any power by nature to turn themselves unto God or to serve him in truth and sincerity that their hearts are filled with enmity and hatred against God and his wayes and ready to fight against the means appointed to draw them heaven-ward Nay the carnal mind is enmity it self so it is expressed in the abstract Rom. 8.7 As if they were made up of nothing but venom and poyson and wrath and bitterness against God But I must not dwell upon these things The Lord press them upon your hearts and awaken you to follow hard after him and to take fast hold of him and never to let him go till he hath given you clear evidence of your freedom from this sad condition The Lord make you restless in your spirits
Lord himself in some other place hath undertaken to perform that we might be quickned to seek unto him for it In Jer. 4.4 you have it as a precept Circumcise your selves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your hearts But in Dent. 30.6 it is a word of promise And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul Ezek. 18.31 God hath laid it as a commandment upon us Make you a new heart and a new spirit But Ezek. 36.26 The Lord himself hath undertaken it for us A new heart also I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you 4. God doth command the unconverted to turn themselves though they are dead in sins and trespasses because he doth employ his word of precept as the means whereby effectually to turn them Together with his commandment To cleanse themselves he doth send forth his Spirit to make them clean * Utitur Deus praeceptis ut corda nostra ad obsequium trahat Sic mortuos quoque non frustra Deus alloquitur quando per ipsum illud alloquium vitam mortuis infundit quod efficere vult declarat Wendel It is just for all the world in this case as in Christ's calling upon Lazarus Joh. 11.43 He cried with a loud voice Lazarus come forth This did not import any power in Lazarus to raise up himself for he had been four dayes dead But together with the word of Christ there went forth a secret energy and vertue from him whereby he was raised So when Christ's call goeth forth unto the wicked to turn and repent it doth not suppose any power in them but together with his word he sends forth the efficacious operation of his Spirit whereby they are turned and repentance is wrought within them And this is according to one of the Statute-Laws of the great God of heaven that his Word and Spirit shall go forth together The holy Ghost worketh in the word and by the word The commandment is the vehiculum or conduit-pipe by which the Spirit is conveyed to plant grace in mens hearts Isa 59.21 Prov. 1.23 Jam. 1.18 And this should incourage the unconverted to be much inreading the word and in meditation upon the word and to give their constant attendance upon it when it is preached and to be often pressing it upon their hearts and personally applying it to their own cases and consciences 5. I might shew you That although it is God alone by his Almighty power who is able to convert a sinner unto himself yet he is pleased to lay his commands upon them and to reason and expostulate the case with them that so they may be wrought upon in a rational way For God doth not work upon men as upon stocks and stones but dealeth with them as creatures indued with reason and understanding He draweth them powerfully to Christ yet he doth it sweetly without offering violence to the will of man And therefore he maketh use of commandments to press them thereunto and of arguments and spiritual reasonings to inforce those commandments and so doth overcome their stubbornness by making those means to prevail Joh. 6.44 45. No man can come unto me except the father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day It is written in the Prophets And they shall be all taught of God Mark it The Lord draweth men by teaching them and making those teachings efficacious He acteth with a strong hand and an outstretched arm but that arm conquereth them in a way of instruction And thus I have done with the first Vse viz. that of Information CHAP. XI The Use of Trial. Self-examination the way to attain the knowledge of our Union with Christ Wherein the work of Self-examination consisteth Motives to quicken thereunto Directions for the right managing of that work 2. THe principal use I drive at for the improvement of this point is by way of examination and Trial. If union with Christ or having the Son be of such absolute necessity in order to salvation by him Then it concerneth us to take this doctrine home to our selves and to enter upon a serious debate wich and examination of our selves whether we be in Christ whether we have the Son by being united unto him Else we have no right to eternal life but are still in our sins and under the wrath of God So that as you tender your everlasting well-being and the welfare of your immortal souls put this question closly to your hearts and follow it earnestly till you get a determinate answer thereunto Am I united unto the Son of God Doth Christ dwell in me and am I ingraffed into him It is a matter of infinite weight and moment for if you fall short of this priviledge you are ruined everlastingly A mistake herein may undo you utterly without recovery This is the foundation of all true peace and comfort so that make a strict enquiry into it It is a matter which may be known for the Apostle John telleth us of Believers that they knew they were in Christ 1 Joh. 2.5 and Self-examination is the way to know it And therefore take my counsel in the words of S. Paul 2 Cor. 13.5 Examine your selves whether you be in the faith prove your own selves Know you not your own selves how that Christ is in you except ye be reprobates Examine and prove that is make a curious and narrow search into it be very inquisitive concerning it ransack your whole souls that ye may find it out pierce your selves through leave no stone unturned no corner of your hearts unript up What! know ye not your own selves q. d. Is it not a shame to be ignorant of your own spiritual estate whether you be in Christ and Christ be formed in you Can you rest contentedly without the knowledge of it Why if you do not know it the fault is probably in your selves because you do not set upon the work of Self-examination or you are slight and superficial in that work so that enter upon it throughly and in good earnest My brethren If you knew that you were united to the Son of God your hearts would be able to make their boast of God continually you might rejoyce in him all the day long you might be assured of access unto him and a gracious acceptance with him upon all occasions you needed not be afraid in times of evil though one evil rumour come upon the neck of another and one sore calamity usher in another When others walk droopingly and disconsolately you might serve the Lord with alacrity and gladness of heart and this joy of the Lord would be your strength And if you continue out of Christ better were it for you that you had never been born So that it much lieth upon you to get the knowledge of it and therefore call
way for your â—ture getting into Christ It is less dangerous for a â—an to be a stranger unto Christ and know that he is so â—an to be in that condition and not to know it This I â—dd to remove the main impediment that hindreth â—ens setting about the work of self-examination â—or I am verily perswaded herein lâ—eth a principal â—stacle They are loath to search themselves lest â—ey should find the worst by themselvs Just as some â—reless Shop-keepers that are run much behind â—nd they cannot endure to look into their books 〈◊〉 to cast up their accounts lest they should be â—quainted with their own poverty and see in â—â—at a low condition they are But mind it Sirs it â—better to trie and know that you are under the guilt of your sins and children of the wrath of God then to continue such and not to know it It is the knowledge of a sinners perishing condition will cause him to hunger and thirst after the righteousness of Christ and make him restless in his spirit till he get into Christ These are the people to whom Christ is sent to bring deliverance such as find they are sinners and are heavy laden under the burden of sin Isa 61.1 2 3. They are such lost sheep which the great Shepherd of souls will seek after that is such as are sensible of their lost condition Ezek. 34.16 I will seek that which is lost and bring again that which was driven away and will bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick But I will destroy the fat and the strong and feed them with judgment And it is ignorance of mens misery and wretchedness which is the devils great engine whereby he carrieth sinners blindfold and headlong into the pit of destruction As the knowledge of the disease is the first part of the cure so it is the knowledge of a mans damnable condition which is one of the first steps unto his conversion and salvation This is all I shall speak to the second head under the Use of Trial By way of motive and provocative thereunto 3. Let me close this Use with some special directions to guide you in the discharge of this work of self-examination That you may come to a right conclusion and resolution of the case Whether you are spiritually ingraffed into Christ and be such as have the Son and life through him or not And here I might give you a catalogue of Scripture-marks and evidences for trial upon this account But I shall not multiply particulars we will only insist upon the principal matter to be enquired into for proof of your union with the Son of God And a little to direct you in the method of your proceeding herein that it may be done effectually and successfully you must diligently heed and observe these following Rules of advice wherein I will proceed by way of gradation the better to help both your understandings and memories Direct 1. For the examination and trial of your selves and in order to the passing a righteous sentence upon your selves whether you are united to Christ You must firstly and fundamentally enquire if the grace of regeneration hath been poured out upon you and a sound conversion wrought within you This is the foundation evidence of a mans having the Son and other marks are made use of for discovery of this and in a subserviency to the manifestation hereof And the reason of it is obvious Because in the day of conversion this union is made up By the spirit of regeneration Christ doth take possession of sinners for himself and by a living faith which is one of the graces then planted in their souls they do receive Christ and embrace him as theirs and so are knit unto him as hath been largely opened By a through conversion the Lord Jesus doth cull out a people from the world and gather them unto himself So that this is primarily and chiefly to be sought into whether you are truly converted and made partakers of the renewing grace of the holy Ghost For if any man be in Christ he is a new creature 2 Cor. 5.17 Here is the grand question Are we new creatures Is there a through change wrought upon our spirits Is corruption mortified in us and the power of it subdued and a new principle of holiness put into and ingraven upon our hearts Thus it will be if you are one with Christ Except you are converted you are strangers to him and have no saving interest in him Rom. 8.10 If Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is life because of righteousness The body is dead that is the body of corruption is mortified and the force of it is taken away whereby it exercised dominion over you As before you were dead in sin so now you are dead unto sin and quickned and made alive unto righteousness Here is the failure of many and the occasion of their being deceived in this point of their belonging to Christ They sometimes look into the actions of their lives but never seriously consider whether the grace of conversion be shed abroad into their hearts They rest in a civil moral conversation and do not throughly weigh whether they are made partakers of the spirit of regeneration Whereas this is the fundamental evidence of our union with Christ 1 Joh. 4.13 Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit And Rom. 8.9 If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his That is If he have not those gracious qualifications which are infused into the soul by the spirit in the work of conversion If he have not his heart moulded anew and fashioned aright by the holy Ghost If he have not the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord which was the spirit that rested upon Christ he is none of his Isa 11.2 This is firstly and fundamentally to be enquired after whether the work of conversion be wrought upon us and the grace of regeneration be formed in us Direct 2. If a person would be inabled to take cognizance of himself and to pass a right judgment upon himself whether he be converted and so knit to Jesus He must of necessity in order thereunto be well instructed in the nature and quality of conversion My meaning is this He must rightly understand wherein a sound and sincere conversion lieth and what a change it maketh upon the soul and what effects it produceth that so he may not mistake a feigned conversion for a true and a slight work upon the spirit which is common to the wicked for the grace of regeneration which is peculiar to the people of God For mark it Sirs There is a false conversion as well as a true and counterfeit grace as well as that which is grace indeed and in
reality As there is a feigned faith and formal worship and hypocritical obedience so there is a counterfeit conversion Jer. 3.10 Her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart but feignedly saith the Lord. There is much deceit and treachery in this work there may be a turning from sin when it is done in falshood there may be an inward work upon the heart that doth not amount to a saving change or sanctifying of the heart As for instance 1. There may be a kind of abhorrence and forsaking of some wicked wayes to cleave the faster unto others A sinner may shake off some kind of pride to feed his covetousness and in compliance therewith He may leave his profaneness and become an Idolater or superstitious As it was in the case of Micha Judg. 17.2 5. When his mother cursed and bann'd for her money that was stollen this startled his conscience and made him vomit up the sweet morsel which he had swallowed down But the man Micah had an house of Gods an made an Ephod and a Teraphim A sinner may leave his worldliness and become loose and wanton He may cast off his open debauchery and become a secret opposer of the power of godliness For as sin is contrary to grace and striveth against it so there are corruptions which are contrary to one another and fight one against the other Jam. 4.1 2. There is a kind of conversion from sin to civility When a person leaveth his swearing and drunkenness and revelling and the like and becometh a civil man and of an ordinary external demeanour but proceedeth no further Mat. 23.27 28. 3 There may be an abandoning and casting away many miscarriages in the practise when yet the heart still hankereth after them and were it not for some restraints of providence would quickly rush into the actual commission of them What could have been spoken more like to a convert than that of Balaam Numb 24.13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord to do either good or bad of mine own mind but what the Lord saith that will I speak When yet he loved the wages of unrighteousness and fain would have cursed Israel 2 Pet. 2.15 4. There may be a kind of conversion from sin for the present with a secret purpose of the heart to return to it again in convenient season A sinner may fall out with his lusts and be filled with dislike of them for some present mischief they have done him when he is corrected for them with an outward judgment and yet the heart intend no total divorce or separation Just as friends may fall out in a fit of passion but when they are come to themselves they are easily reconciled again As it was in the case of the Jews Jer. 34.9 10 11 15 16 17. When the King of Babylons army fought against Jerusalem and the Princes and people were in great distress they turned and did that which was right in the sight of the Lord But when the distress was over they returned back again to their sins as fast as ever So it is with many carnal people when they are on their sick beds O how hot are they then against their sins and what a cry will they make as if none were more filled with hatred against sin But when once the sickness is over they quickly repent of their repentance See how far the people went in time of a destroying plague when they were every hour in jeopardy of their lives Psal 78.34 35 36. When he slew them then they sought him that is they prayed to him and they lamented after the Lord they poured out their supplications in the time of chastisement And they returned that is they left their sins and promised amendment and possibly made solemn vows Covenants never to return to them again if God would deliver them but this once they would serve him for ever And they enquired early after God that is earnestly and affectionately as if they were eagerly set upon regaining his favour and nothing would satisfie them without it They enquired after him as if they had been ready to do whatsoever he should command them And they remembred that God was their rock and the high God their redeemer So that this was not only a sudden flash of their spirits but a matter done upon some kind of deliberation they were convinced that it was best for them to serve the Lord and they cast off their sins upon that conviction And yet all was done but in hypocrisie as it followeth v. 36. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their lips and they lied unto him with their tongues For their heart was not right with him neither were they stedfast in his Covenant Now if persons be not rightly instructed in the nature of a true conversion and where the difference is betwixt it and this counterfeit work it is impossible they should rightly judge if themselves are truly converted If they be not rightly informed of the nature of saving grace they cannot rightly determine whether they are partakers of it I am perswaded that this is the original of the presumption and self-deceit of many They presently conclude themselves to be godly because they are not well instructed in the nature of godliness They think that they have repented unto salvation because they know not wherein such repentance doth consist they take the form of godliness for the power of it and a legal repentance for evangelical If they find some convictions and trouble in their spirits for sin they are presently willing to believe it is a conversion from sin If there be found in their hearts some slight affections to the word they apprehend themselves to be savingly wrought upon by the word If in their conversations they leave some old sins and turn over a new leaf they imagine themselves to be new creatures Whereas a saving conversion is another kind of matter it maketh a change in the whole nature of the sinner It is not limited and confined to any particular faculties of the soul but extendeth it self to the renovation of the whole man Jer. 24.7 It doth not only set a man free from some grosser acts of iniquity which a natural conscience will startle at but setteth up a standing enmity in the soul against every false way whether greater or lesser whether they be sins of the flesh or of the spirit Psal 119.104 And this enmity is a lasting irreconcileable enmity such as shall never be rooted out again It is not as the damming up of a stream with mounds and banks which when they are broken it runneth the same way with as great a violence as ever but it is as the cleansing of the fountain and turning the water into another channel Jer. 3.19 A sound conversion doth not only turn the soul from sin but causeth him to return unto the Lord even unto
perfected hereby we know that we are in him Direct 4. In the examination of your wayes and works as a proof of your conversion and union with Christ thereupon this must be carefully minded That it is not the external discharge of some particular duties will evidence a sincere conversion unto God but a diligent search must be made into the main bent of your spirits as to the wayes of holiness and the whole tenour of your conversations must be considered upon that account It must be observed whether you make religion your business and if it be the great design you drive on to study to please the Lord and to be accepted of him It is not the workings of your spirits in a fit of affection when your hearts are warmed by the word or you are under the call of some awakening providence that will prove you to be converts indeed but the general scope and tendency of your lives when godliness is the trade that you follow and holiness the high way wherein you travel As the expression is Isa 35.8 9. And a high way shall be there and a way and it shall be called the way of holiness the unclean shall not pass over it but it shall be for those the way-faring men though fools shall not erre therein No Lion shall be there nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereupon it shall not be found there but the redeemed shall walk there Mark it Sirs Holiness is the high way where the servants of Christ take their journey They do not only now and then make an excursion into some acts of piety and godliness when they are under convictions and the like But they spend their very life time in walking with God As holiness is a plain way wherein the meanest Christian may go on directly to heaven without danger of miscarrying Though he be of never so low parts and endowments yet if his design be to fear the Lord and to be blessed in the enjoyment of him God hath chalked out the way so clearly that he that runs may observe it And as it is a safe way wherein the Lord hath undertaken for the protection of travellers against all dangers and evil occurrents So it is the great road wherein all the redeemed ones travel from one end of the week to the other My brethren such as are Christians in good earnest do not take up a garb of Religion for the Sabbath and then lay it aside the six dayes following as men put on and off their best apparel They do not put on a kind of seriousness in spiritual exercises and live as Atheists and worldlings in their secular negotiations and affairs They do not enter upon the performance of some particular duduties only to stop the clamours of an awakened conscience and when that turn is served return to their vanity and wickedness But they make the Lord their constant companion and take holiness as a clew of thread that runs through all their undertakings and concernments Zech. 14.20 21. In that day there shall be upon the bells of their horses Holiness to the Lord and the pots in the Lords house shall be like the bowls before the Altar yea every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts In that day that is when God doth pour out plentifully of the spirit of grace and wash sinners in the fountain set open for sin and uncleanness then they shall endeavour to be spiritual in the very common and ordinary actions of their lives and to be holy in all manner of conversation As it is not some particular acts of sin into which a man falleth through weakness and the violence of temptations that will prove the person offending to be wicked and unconverted but when he liveth in a course of sin and any ungodliness is the way wherein he goeth So it is not the performance of some particular duties of Religion unto which a man is carried by the force of a natural conscience will prove his conversion but when holiness is the high way wherein he travelleth and the very business which he prosecuteth This was Noah's evidence that he was righteous and perfect in his generation He did not only obey the voice of the Lord in some particulats but he walked with God Gen. 6.9 And Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God for he walked with him for hundreds of years together from one end of the year to the other Compare Heb. 11.5 with Gen. 5.22 Direct 5. That obedience which will evidence that you are regenerated and converted by the Spirit of Christ and so knit unto him must not only be right for the matter wherein it doth consist but rightly qualified also for the manner how it is discharged and tendered unto the Lord. It is not barely the work done opus operatum but principally modus operationis * Bonum oritur ex causis integris malum ex quolibet defectu the manner of the performance that will prove a principle of grace to reside in the heart of that man or woman by whom it is done As the sinfulness of sin doth lie chiefly in the manner how it is committed as when men sin wickedly and presumptuously against light and knowledge and break through convictions to the perpetration of evil So doth the excellency and evidencing vertue of the acts of obedience lie especially in the manner how it is performed An hypocrite may do the same external work which a believer doth and which for the matter of it is good Therefore the Lord doth expostulate with that sinful people who trusted in their outward duties concerning their defectiveness in the manner of the performance of them Isa 58.3 5. They had fasted and sought unto God but Is it such a fast as I have chosen saith the Lord v. 5. Mark it Sirs In the trial of your obedience to prove that you are sanctified you must not only mind the substance of the work what is done but likewise examine the suchness of it how it is done Possibly thou prayest often and readest the Scriptures frequently and givest alms to the poor and the like and from thence art confident of thy being in the state of grace But man is it so praying as God requireth And such a studying of the word to which the blessing is annexed Is it such a giving of alms as hath the promise of acceptance It is a good thing to run in the way of God's precepts But do you so run that ye may obtain 1 Cor. 9.24 This is the fifth Rule of Direction That in the examination of your obedience for the clearing up your conversion and union with Christ you must not only look into the matter what is done but strictly enquire into the manner how it is done and whether it be rightly qualified according to the purport and tenour of the Covenant of grace Direct 6. For the right qualifying and modification of our obedience to
God that it may prove a certain evidence of conversion and consequently of our union with Christ Jesus It must of necessity have these six properties and each of them must be enquired after in the business of self-examination It must be 1. Spiritual 2. Vniversal 3. Evangelical 4. Sincere 5. Thriving 6. Stedfast obedience 1. It must be spiritual obedience answerable to the nature of that God whom we wait upon and whose servants we are His essence is spiritual and such must our obedience to him be if we will serve the Lord acceptably and make it appear that we are of the number of his peculiar people Bodily exercise and a meer external devotion will strike a great stroke in making up the form of godliness but the power of it consisteth in that which is spiritual Joh. 4.23 The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him These are the true worshippers that is such as are so in Gods account whom he will graciously receive and own in their performances When people serve him in a bare external bodily manner he reckoneth them as his greatest enemies their service is but a piece of dissimulation which hath only the shadow of worship For the substance lieth in what is spiritual And such the Father seeketh to worship him i.e. such worship he commandeth and his soul is well pleased with Although it seemeth to be spoken here with a peculiar reference to instituted worship yet it holds strongly as to natural worship also even of all the parts and particulars of his service For the reason which is rendred v. 24. is comprehensive of all Because God is a Spirit So that our obedience if it prove us a chosen generation whom God hath set apart for himself must be spiritual And that in a threefold respect In respect of the 1. Principle from whence it floweth 2. Extent how far it reacheth 3. Subject whereon it is terminated 1. In respect of the principle from whence it proceedeth It must be such obedience as cometh from the heart and wherein the soul and spirit is ingaged Not an honouring him with the lips and drawing neer to him with the mouth when the heart is removed far from him Not a serving him only by a kind of compulsion under some terrible apprehensions of the judgments of God not in a slothful careless and lukewarm manner as if Religion were a weariness to us and we had no mind to our work But when we serve him aright our hearts must be ingaged to approach unto him Jer. 30.21 22. we must be fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 And our inward parts must be employed in the works of holiness When a mans tongue doth speak forth the praises of God and his heart joyneth with him in the business when his hands do act in the works of piety and his spirit concurreth in the action and carry him on thereunto this is to serve the Lord with the Spirit Although he calleth for the body also to be imployed in his service as indeed he deserveth the whole man yet not as a picture or image without life and soul but as animated by the heart Prov. 23.26 My son give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my wayes q.d. A slave will give me his hands and feet and the strength of his body an hypocrite will offer up the outward man but if thou be a son I must have the heart and spirit 2. It must be spiritual obedience in respect of the extent of it how far it reacheth Such as sets us in opposition against spiritual sins as well as fleshly such as causeth us to fight against secret pride and envy and earthliness and unbelief and malice and double-mindedness and the like as well as to obstain from rotten communication and gross outward pollutions It must be such obedience as is exercised in spiritual duties as meditation on the word of the Lord and frequent contemplation of the excellencies of God adoring his Majesty and admiring his works and setting the affections on things above as well as in pleading the cause of holiness and openly walking in the profession of it It must carry us to such works as are performed in the secret recesses of the Spirit and sets us a striving against such corruptions as are forged and fabricated in the spirit which no eye can observe but God and our own consciences 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all the filthiness both of the flesh and spirit Rom. 8.5 They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit Psal 73.1 Truly God is good to Israel even to such as are clean of heart See further Psal 24.3 4. Mat. 6.21 3. In respect of the subject whereon it is terminated It endeth in the further renewing and purifying the spirit and getting more degrees of habitual grace into the heart When we are not only contented to be kept free from the acts of sin but do mourn and lament under the principle of sin and labour to deaden that principle When we do not think it enough to do much for God but fain would have our spirits transformed every day more and more into the image of God Thus it will be if you are converted If a carnal person resist the temptation he thinks his work is done and is apt to glory in himself as if the whole business were dispatched But a convert layeth the ax to the root of the tree he followeth the corrupt stream to the poysonous fountain whence it is derived and nothing will satisfie him but cleansing the fountain and taking revenge upon his lusts that lodge within him Rom. 7.23 24. Paul's actual sins cause him to have an eye upon his heart by which he was turned aside I see saith he another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity unto the law of sin which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death This is the first qualification It must be spiritual obedience 2. If you would prove your conversion and consequentially your union with Christ by your obedience It must be universal obedience Not a partial and restrictive serving of God but a following him fully as far as the whole circuit of holiness reacheth As it is said of Caleh Num. 14.24 He followed the Lord fully and that proved him to be a man of another spirit and of a gracious temper indeed sanctified by the holy Ghost because his obedience was universal There is a threefold universality must go to the right qualifying our obedience that it may be evidential of a converted estate It must be universal in relation to the 1. Agent or person obeying 2. Rule of obedience 3. Times and seasons of the performance 1. In relation to the agent or person