wise whose propertie is as the wise man informes to be as goades or nailes throughly fastned Holy and learned men amongst whom not to number were doubtlesse to injure much mine Author are not to bee too deeply charged or too troublesomely expostulated with for some peculiarities of expressions wherein perhaps they give themselves more satisfaction than others And indeed it is a hard thing for any man to write so savourly or warily but that the Reader hath need still to bring a graine of salt with him to make the nourishment wholsome The blessing of the God of heaven bee with this little peece in its going forth into the world that it may goe forth in its might and doe worthily in Israel teaching perswading many to desire with Paul the knowledge of the fellowship of Christs sufferings and how to bee made conformable to his death which is one of the greatest and most hidden misteries of Christianitie and requireth the best and greatest Masters in Israel for its Teachers Thine in the Lord Jesus IOHN GOODWINE The Contents of the ensuing Treatises Treatise 1. TO be dead with Christ what Page 5 Propos 1. Wee must die with Christ first if wee will live with him pag. 10 Reason 1. From the contrarietie between sin and grace 12 Reas 2. Else the Spirit dwells not in us 13 Reas 3. Because it is hard to be a Christian ibid. Use 1. Reproofe of men dead in sinne 14 Morall death to sinne distinguished from the true death to sinne 16 1. In the Essence of it ibid. 2. In the efficient cause 17 3. in the latitude ibid. 4. In the issue 18 Popish mortification differs from true mortification 1. In the object 19 2. The efficient cause ibid. 3. The formall cause 20 4. The finall cause ibid. Characters of a man dead to sinne 1. When occasions to sinne worke not 21 2. When all sinne is dead in us 22 3. When we doe not the service of sinne 23 4. When we abhorre sinne ibid. 5. When sinnes power is daily abated 24 6. When we can willingly have our sins wounded 25 Meanes to be dead with Christ 1. The Spirit of God 27 2. Faith in Christ ibid. 3. Prayer 28 4. Submission to the ministerie of the Word ibid. Motives to die to sinne 1. The necessitie 29 2. The commoditie ibid. 3. The facilitie 30 4. The equitie 31 5. The treacherie of sinne 32 6. The example of others ibid. The difficultie of being a Christian 33 The method to come to live with Christ 36 Spirituall death what 40 Spirituall life what 41 Propos 2. Those that are dead with Christ shall live with him 42 Reas 1. To whom Christ communicates himselfe he doth it wholly 43 Reas 2. Death with Christ insufficient without we live with him 44 Reas 3. From the opposition betweene the life of sinne and grace 45 Use Those that are not dead with Christ doe not live with him 46 How to know wee are alive with Christ 1. By the cause of spirituall life 47 2. By the exercises of spirituall life 48 3. By the properties of spirituall life 49 1 Nourishment ibid. 2 Augmentation 50 3 Generation 51 Use 2. To labour for death with Christ 52 1. Because by him wee shall enjoy a spirituall life 53 2. An eternall life ibid. Propos 3. The knowledge of Mortification seales up the assurance of salvation 55 Reason The promises of eternall life are made to the mortified 68 Use 1. For confutation of Bellarmine 72 Use 2. To labour for Mortification 75 Use 3. Those that are not dead with Christ cannot be assured of life with him 77 Propos 4. As our death to sinne so our life to grace both proceed from christ 80 Reason They are both the worke of grace 81 Christ is the author of the death of sinne and the life of grace 1. As a meritorious cause 83 2. As the exemplarie cause 85 3. The morall cause 86 4. The efficient cause 87 Christ is the efficient cause First in the first working of it three wayes 88 1. By his Spirit ibid. 2. By the Word 89 3. By Baptisme 90 Baptisme is a cause instrumentall 3 wayes 1. As a resembling cause 91 2. As a concurring meanes ibid. 3. By Stipulation ibid. Secondly for the increase of it 2 wayes 1. By Faith 92 2. The Lords Supper 94 Use To indevour to be in Christ 95 Use 2. To returne the praise of grace to Christ 97 Use 3. What to judge of men out of Christ 98 Treatise 2. Observ 1. What Christ suffred was not for his own sin 104 Use 1. To shew how Christ could beare the punishment of sinne 108 Use 2. To discover the malice of the Iewes against Christ 110 Use 3. To condemne those that judge by successe in outward things 114 Use 4. To reade us a Lecture of patience 115 Use 5. Comfort for distressed consciences 116 Obser 2. Christ suffered all for our sinnes 118 Reas 1. The love of Christ ibid. Reas 2. The love of God the Father 119 Use 1. To admire Gods wisedome 120 Use 2. To see the haynousnesse of our sinnes 121 Use 3. To provoke us to sorrow for sinne 123 Use 4. For Consolation 125 Use 5. To set forth Gods love to us 126 Use 6. To returne love againe 127 Treatise 3. Conclus 1. SVrfeiting and Drunkennesse and Covetousnesse to be taken heed of 134 Reas 1. There is danger in these sinne 137 Reas 2. There is danger of falling into them 139 Use 1. Complaint of neglect of this dutie 141 Use 2. Exhortation to Caution 143 4 Helpes to Caution ibid. Conclus 2. The best men to take heed of these sinnes 149 Reas 1. Because they are but men ibid. Reas 2. Satan envies them most 150 Reas 3. Their falling make others fall ibid. Use 1. To shew the best men are fraile 151 Use 2. Why the best should suffer admonition 152 Use 3. How to demeane our selves 153 Conclus 3. Our care and caution must be continuall 154 Reason Because there is danger of the sinnes 155 Reason Because there is danger of judgement 155 Use To discover the abounding of these sinnes 156 Conclus 4. Drunkennesse and Covetousnesse overcharge the heart 161 Reas 1. They presse the soule from heaven to earth 162 Reas 2. They presse it from earth to Hell 166 Use 1. To take heed of these sinnes 167 Use 2. To use Remedies against them 171 Meanes to be disburdened of these sinnes 172 Use 3. To see the false judgement of the world 175 Conclus 5. We should not be overcharged with immoderate eating 177 Danger in coversing with Epicures 178 Reas 1. It unfits us for good Duties 179 Reas 2. It is the nurse of securitie 180 Reas 3. It breeds many lusts 181 Reas 4. It brings Gods judgements 182 Reas 5. It hurts the body 183 Reas 6. It hurts a mans state 184 Reas 7. It hurts the Common-wealth ibid. Reas 8. It wrongs the poore 185 Use To take heed of
the darkenesse must be dispelled before it can be lightned So this new life it is sayd to be a new Image it is a new Image indeede but iâ— is such an Image as we are not capable of till first wee be made pure Tables the former Image of Sathan and the Characters of sinne be defaced till then wee are not capable of the Image of God and the faire impressions of Grace It is called an ingrafting or inocculating now wee cannot bee grafted into Christ till we be cut off from the old stocke I say generally as wee must die to nature before we can live to glory so wee must die to sinne before wee can live to God Looke what the Angell commanded Ioshua Iosh 5.8 to put off his shooes before he came to converse with God If you please to take the allusion of Philo which is this and it is pertinent to our purpose put off thy shooes before thou come to God that is put off dead workes because shooes are made of the skins of dead beasts I say before wee can live with Christ wee must die with Christ we must die to sinne before wee can live the life of grace The reason is plaine Reas 1 First From â—he contrarietie betweene sin and grace because of the contrarietie and opposition betweene the life of grace and a life in sinne A man may live many lives if one bee subordinate to another as a man lives a vegetative a sensative and a reasonable life because these are subordinate one to another but to live in sinne and to God a man cannot because these lives are contrary they come from contrary principles they cannot consist in the same subject It is an ordinary saying The Bed and and the Throne admit not of partners It is true as Christ saith No man can serve two masters It is true when they command contrary things Now sinne and grace command contrary things therefore no man can serve them both eyther he will cleave to the one and deny the other or forsake the one and cleave to the other No man can serve sinne and Christ because they are contrary masters No man can serve two masters when they command contrary things that is the first reason Wee must first die to sinne before wee can live the life of grace because they are opposites that will not admit of one another in the same subject Reas 2 Secondly Else the spirit wells not in us till we be dead to sinne we cannot live the life of grace because we cannot till then admit of the principles of the life of grace where sinne raignes and dominiers the Spirit of grace dwells not and where that is not there is no life of grace Therefore wee must first die to sinne before wee can live the life of grace because before wee be dead to sinne the Spirit of grace that quickens and revives us doth not dwell in us Reas 3 Thirdly Because it is hard to be a Christian if it were not needefull first to die to sinne before wee live the life of grace wherein consisted the hard taske of a Christian How easie were it for a man to bee a Christian if a man might bee a Christian and live after the lusts of his owne heart if he might take libertie to doe what his corruptions prompt and suggest if a man that were ignorant might bee ignorant still and yet be a Christian if hee that is a swearer might sweare still and hee that is proud bee proud still and he that is prophane might be so still what great matter were it to bee a Christian how easie were it to perswade Agrippa not to be almost but to be altogether a Christian Therefore wee must first die to sinne before we can live to grace before we can be true Christians the reason is because the taske of a Christian is a hard taske such a taske as a man cannot performe without denying of himselfe without crucifying and mortifying of his lusts This shall suffice to have spoken for the confirmation of that point by occasion of the method of the Apostle If we be dead with Christ we shall also live with him That wee must first be dead As Christ died for sinne so wee must die to sinne before wee can live the life of grace Now I come to make use and application of it Vse 1 Which if it be so how justly doth the censure of Christ Reproofes of men dead in sinne Revel 3.1 fall upon many Christians that of the Angell of the Church of Sardis that they have a name to lâ—ve but are dead Reas 3 why dead dead because they are not dead dead to grace because they are not dead to sinne many men though they seeme to be lively and active are no better then walking breathing Carkasses The reason is this because till a man be dead to sinne hee cannot live the life of grace wee must first die to sinne with Christ before wee can live the life of grace with Christ Gal. 5. In Gallat 5. Those that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Why then on the contrary such as have not crucified the lusts and affections of the flesh they are not Christs Wheresoever any sinne reignes in whomsoever any lust dominiers what lust soever it be that man is a dead man there is no true life of grace in him The reason the Apostle gives in these words because wee must bee first dead to sinne before wee can live the life of grace first our lusts must bee mortified and crucified in us before wee can live with Christ the life of grace wee must first passe this red Sea that is to die with Christ before we can enter into the Land of Canaan â—o this life with Christ But that I may make it more usefull to you let me shew you these foure things First let mee discover to you some false deaths for as there is a false and counterfeit life of grace so there are false and counterfeit deaths to sinne Secondly let me shew you some characters whereby a man may know a true death to sinne whereby hee may judge and examine himselfe and know whether hee be dead to sinne or no. In the third place I will shew you the meanes whereby if a man bee not dead a man may get this death whereby hee may come to mortifie and crucifie the lusts and affections of the flesh and if hee bee dead whereby hee may proceede on in the worke of mortification because mortification is not one individuall act but hath a latitude and admits of degrees Fourthly I will shew you arguments to perswade you to this death to sinne with Christ especially such as are immergent arising from the words of the Text Of all which briefly First then of false deaths that seeme to be true in shew but are counterfeit deaths There is a threefold death to sinne A Morall Popish Christian death to
continuall ground and cause of light but notwithstanding the discerning and perceiving of the light may be taken from us by the night or by an eclipse or by clouds that may take away the sight of the Sunne Iust so it is with a regenerate man a mortified man hee that is not onely a babe in Christ and hath made some beginning in the course of mortification but he that is a growne man and gone on in the practice of mortification yet notwithstanding he may come to doubt and question his salvation and his right to heaven sometimes The reason is because sometimes by reason of temptations or after the committing of some great and haynous sinne mortification in him may be clouded for a time so that hee may loose his assurance the present sense and apprehension of that assurance that may bee lost for a time Iust as it was in Christ when hee was on the Crosse in combate for our sakes hâ—â— seemes to have lost for the present the assurance and apprehension of Gods love hee sayd My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The vaileing of the dietie was a kind of dissertion and forsaking of Christ in respect of evidence and assurance yet hee had the ground of his assurance still the humanitie of Christ was individually and inseparably united to the God-head which was the ground of this assurance I say then it is not every man that is mortified that hath presently assurance of salvation no nor every man that once hath had assurance of salvation that hath this assurance alway it hath ebbings and tides wanes and fulls but indifinitely true mortification seales up to a man the assurance of salvation hee that is dead with Christ that man may be assured he shall live with him Reas 1 And the reason is because God hath made a promise of life and hath intaled everlasting life as it were to those that are mortified Rom. 8.13 If yee live after the flesh yee shall die Rom. 8.13 but if through the Spirit you mortifie the deeds of the body yee shall live Looke as God threatneth death to men that walke after the flesh so he hath promised and covenanted to bestow life on those that mortifie the deeds of the flesh 2 Tim. 2.11 So in 2 Tim. 2.11 saith the Apostle This is a faithfull saying and worthy to be beleeved for if wee bee dead with him we shall also live with him It is a faithfull saying Now what firmer foundation or more pregnant rock can wee have of assurance then the promise of God saith Saint Austin S. Aug. lib. 12 cap. 1. he to whom truth it selfe hath made a promise how should hee be able to be deceived he that is truth cannot lye As God cannot be deceived so hee cannot deceiue S. August in the 12. Booke of his confessions Chap. 1. It is true saith Bellermine Bellarm. wee neede not feare in respect of God to whom hath God promised eternall life to them that are mortified and they shall certainly enjoy eternall life but here is the question How shall we know that we are mortified Quest Answ I answer briefly First where God gives a grace commonly at one time or other God gives a man a gift to discerne that grace I doe not say in the beginning when grace is as it were in its infancie and beginning or in temptation but at one time or other God gives another gift that is a gift whereby a man shall discerne that grace or else how shall God have the glory of his grace if we cannot be assured that we have it Or how shall we have comfort by the Grace of God if our selves cannot come to be assured of it But saith he Obiect Doe we not know that many men deceive themselves with false perswasions of mortification Many men thinke that sinne is dead in them when it is not dead but sleepeth As ignorant men thinke thinke the Flie in winter is dead when others know that the Flie is but benummed there is life in it though shee doe not exercise that life But I answer what then Answ what though that foolish and antick man at Athens thought all the Shippes that came to Beream were his owne because hee thought the Shippes his owne should the owners of them not thinke they were theirs If a man in a dreame think that hee eates shall not men therefore that are awake be assured that they eate It followes not that because some men are deceived with a perswasion of mortification when they have it not that therefore others that are indeed mortified should not bee perswaded of it Well saith he how shall we know it I answer Quest Answ a man may know it three wayes First by the Word of God which God hath left as a Test or Touch-stone whereby men may try the sinceritie and truth of their mortification Heretofore I have given some notes and characters whereby ye may discerne whether you are mortified or no out of the Scriptures The first thing whereby we may try the truth of our mortification is the Scripture which God hath left to bee a light to our feete and a Lanthorne tp our paths to bee a Touch-stone whereby wee may discover whether our mortification bee sincere or counterfeit Secondly there is another testimonie and that is the testimonie of our owne conscience when the conscience being renewed and sanctified conscience beares witnesse before God out of long experience of the truth and sinceritie of mortification that wee are mortified for this assurance that ariseth from mortification ariseth not from one act but from long experience of mortification Now any man knowes that knowes the nature of experience that that ariseth from many acts The second meanes then to know we are mortified it is from the testimonie of our owne conscience and spirit as the Apostle saith Rom. 8.16 Rom. 8.16 that beares witnesse that wee are the children of God that we are mortified Thirdly and lastly there comes another testimonie as a meanes and that assures the rest that is of Gods Spirit that calmes the conscience and perswades of this that wee are mortified and so by consequent that wee have right to heaven That is the first reason then hee that is mortified that is dead with Christ hee is assured to live with him because God hath promised life and salvation to such as are dead with Christ and such as are dead with Christ they may know themselves at one time or other to bee dead with Christ Reas 2 Secondly Mortification seales up to a man the assurance of salvation because it seales to a man the assurance of his being in Christ The argument is this hee that may be assured that hee is in Christ may bee assured that hee shall be saved but hee that knowes that hee is mortified and dead with Christ hee may be assured that hee is actually in Christ therefore he may be assured that hee
Image or statue of Nebuchadnezar to have a head of gold and to have feet of mire and clay So Christ is not only the meritorious and exemplary but the moving perswading cause the very thought that Christ died for sin and rose againe it will move us to die to sin and to live the life of grace Fourthly and lastly Christ is the cause efficient as of our death to sinne so of the life of grace It were in vaine that Christ were the meritorious cause that hee had merited the donation of Gods Spirit whereby sinne might be killed and wee be quickened to the life of grace It were in vaine for him to set himselfe as a patterne for us to imitate and that hee is a morall cause to move and perswade us to imitate him unlesse hee were also the cause efficient to worke in us this death to sinne and this life of Grace therefore Christ also is the efficient cause hee workes in us both a death to sinne and the life of grace For the understanding of which know that Christ not only saves us by merit but hee saves us by efficacie too not only by Merite in deserving of life for us but in efficacie in fitting and preparing us to partake of life Hee not only by death hath abolished and removed death for sin but hee abates in us daily the power of sinne so hee is the efficient cause as well as the rest But you will aske how comes Christ to be the efficient cause of death to sinne Quest and of the life of grace by what meanes doth hee worke in us these two I answer Answ in Christs working in us these things there are some things that concurre in the first working of this life of grace and death to sinne and there are others that concurre not to the first worke but to the increasing and augmentation of it Those that concurre to the first worke are three 1. The Spirit of God 2. The Word of God 3. And Baptisme Now those againe that concurre not to the first worke of our death to sinne and kindling of this spirituall life but to the further increase and augmentation of it when it is wrought they are two 1. Faith 2. And the Lords Supper Of every one of these briefly First I say the principall cause of death to sinne and of the life of grace is the Spirit of Christ so saith the Apostle in that place before alledged Rom. 8.12.13 saith he If yee live after the flesh yee shall die Rom. 8.13 but if yee mortifie the deedes of the body through the Spirit yee shall live It is through the Spirit of Christ whereby sinne is mortified in us and through the Spirit of Christ that we are quickned to the life of grate In which respect it is called the quickning Spirit saith Christ Ioh. 8. The spirit quickneth It is called also the Spirit of sanctification Joh. 8. 1 Thess 2. 1 Thes 2. Why is it called the Sanctifying spirit because by it we are sanctified Now what are the parts of Sanctification They are two first our death to sinne the subduing of the power of sinne secondly our enlivening and quickning to grace Now the Spirit of God is said to be a sanctifying Spirit in respect of both these for from the Spirit of God it is that sinne is mortified in us and it is from the quickning Spirit that we are enlivened to a new life so the principall cause is the Spirit of God There are two other causes and those are instrumentall First the Word of God that is a powerfull meanes whereby God workes in us this death to sinne and the life of grace it is a powerfull meanes that God useth as the Apostle saith for the battering and demolution of all Satans strong holds Our lusts of themselves are too strong for us to vanquish it is the Spirit only that is mightier that can vanquish them but by what meanes doth the Spirit doe it It is by the Spirit as the principall cause but by the Word as the instrumentall cause or by the Spirit of God concurring with the Word For the Word of it selfe is not of power to mortifie sinne and to quicken us to a new life of grace but as it is a meanes to convey and derive to us the Spirit of God It is with us as it was with Lazarus when he was raised from the grave to a new life hee was raised by the word of Christ it was indeed by the word of Christ but it was not only the word of Christ that raised him but the vertue of Christs Spirit went along with that word and made that effectuall for the raising of him So it is with us it is not the Word only that is available for the mortifying of our sinfull lusts of that quickens us to the performance of the holy duties of a new life but the Word as it is the instrument of the Spirit of God which is the chiefe Agent Secondly another instrumentall cause is Baptisme that also is a meanes whereby the Spirit of God workes in us this death to sin and life of grace Now Baptisme is a cause of both these three wayes First as it is a cause resembling or as a type shadowing and pointing our to us our death to sinne and our life of grace which type and resemblance was farre more expresse in hotter clymates and Countreys in which in Baptisme they used to drench the child to dippe it in the water which dipping of the child in the water was a resemblance and type to them of their death to sinne with Christ and their rising out of the water exprest their rising to newnesse of life so by Baptisme wee are said to bee dead to sinne and alive to God through it as a resemblance expressing to us this death and life Secondly not only as a resemblance but as a speciall meanes whereby the Spirit of God concurres and goes along with the Element of water and makes it effectuall for the cleansing of us as from the guilt of sin so for the subduing the power of sinne and working in us a new life in which respect it is stiled by the Apostle in Titus 3. The laver of regeneration that is T it 3. it is that meanes whereby the Spirit of God workes regeneration this death to sinne and life of grace Thirdly and lastly Baptisine is said to be a cause as of our death to sinne so of the life of grace in regard of the stipulation or covenant because when wee are baptised wee enter into a solemne vow and covenant with God that we will forsake the Divell and all his workes there is mortification and that wee will lead a new life there is vivification So it is said to be a cause in regard of the stipulation and contract that wee make then solemnly by our selves or by those that undertake for us that are our sureties our God-fathers and God-mothers It is a
A GLEANING IN GODS HARVEST FOVRE CHOYCE HANDFVLS The Gate to Happinesse Wounded Saviour Epicures Caution Generation of Seekers By the late Judicious Divine HENRY RAMSDEN sometime Preacher in London IUDO 8.2 Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better then the vintage of Abiezer LONDON Printed for J. D. and R. M. and are to bee sold by Thomas Slater at the Swan in Duck-lane 1639. The Epistle to the Reader GOOD READER THe Author of these Sermons having served his time and being fallen asleepe before their time came to looke out and doe service in the world I conceived it might beare the construction of a peece of some light charitie to lead them out in their Orphan-like condition by the hand of a recommendatorie Epistle into the world Men for the most part desire in Bookes to know first what is said of them before they care to know what they say and sometimes an Author worthy of prime inspection for want of an Agent to make his worth his harbenger may lie as long neglected and unread as the poore Cripple at the poole of Bethsaida lay uncured for want of one to cast him into the water The subject indeed here principally discoursed and brought out of darknesse into light Christian mortification seemeth to disdaine all mediation and petitioning for it it being of so great weight and transcendent importance that it commands all hearts and eyes to looke up unto it and threatens with power and authoritie from on high even the greatest on earth that shall turne their backe and not their face upon it There are three things especially among others that will say well to make this rough and hidden way of Mortification smooth and plaine The first is the greatnesse of the Author and founder of that honourable order of Mortification and who was the glorious President of it himselfe Even the Lord Iesus Christ the apprehension and sense of such fellowship with us in our way cannot but devoure and drowne all sense and thought of what otherwise might be difficult and distastfull in it Among the Romans the Generall being slaine in the battell there was scarce any Souldier that regarded his life but rather chose to make an exchange of it for such a death wherein hee might beare his Generall company and if any did returne home alive in such a case there was a brand of ignominie set upon him ever after The truth is were not the consideration of sin and the madnesse of unbeliefe in the world at hand to qualifie the matter and give satisfaction it were the most astonishing wonder that ever the world saw that Iesus Christ being dead the whole world should not presently resolve to die with him The second is the greatnesse of the helpe or mighty arme of assistance that is ready to joyne with us in this great worke of mortification if our hearts bee once set upon it this is the Spirit of God and of Christ If you mortifie the deeds of the body by the spirit you shall live Rom. 8. This Spirit of God residing and dwelling in those that beleeve to whom hee is given is alway at hand ready yea desirous and longing to bee set on worke in their soule to be imployed in this honourable service against sin and all inordinate affections evill-concupiscence uncleannesse pride covetousness c. And being stirred up and set on to purpose it carries on his worke before him with an high hand making havock and desolation among the fleshly lusts and corruptions of the soule The greatest and most difficultest undertakings and such which the soule of man would otherwise abhorre and turne aside from altogether are yet digested and carried on with a sweetnes and pleasantnesse of hope when a man sees measure for strength for strength as much in his meanes as in his opposition as many with him as against him Now the Spirit of God within us is of more might then all the hills of the robbers as David speakes in another case hee is stronger than all their strong holds he is above all the high things and imaginations that lift up themselves to the highest within us against the knowledge of God Mortification can bee no other but a solid delight and spirituall recreation to him that duly and deeply considers what oddes and advantage hee hath of his enemie the flesh by the partaking and close standing of that blessed friend of his the Spirit The third and last is the exceeding greatnesse of the reward which the God of recompences as the Scripture termeth him hath sealed and settled by purpose and promise both Yea and Amen upon this worke of Mortification If wee be dead with Christ we beleeve that is wee easily beleeve or have ground sufficient to beleeve that wee shall live with him as the foundation of the ensuing discourse proclaimes aloud to the world whereby living with Christ is not meant of an everlasting being in his presence only though his presence alone be a Paradise of joy and blessedness in abundance but an admittance or taking up into an intire communion with him in all his glory or as himselfe is pleased with the expression Revel 3.21 a sitting downe with him upon his Throne Men for the most part can bee content that any man should chuse or appoint their worke for them if it might bee permitted to themselves to choose their wages and have good securitie for it Who would refuse with Sampson to encounter Lyons if they could be secured to eate honey out of their carkasses Who would not have cast in his lot with those three faithfull servants of GOD and have beene content to have taken part with them in that hotte service of the fierie furnace could they have beene satisfie for their safe comming off with their lives untouched and like advancement afterward in the Kingdome Low wages and slender recompences make even light worke heavie the only way to drowne the sowernesse or unpleasantnesse of any taske is to make it swimme in an Ocean of reward It is a principle in reason Finis dat amabilitatem mediis Good ends make hard wayes or meanes lovely and desireable If Mortification had as bitter and irreconcileable an opposition and repugnancie to nature as the grave it selfe yet the transcendent vastnesse of the reward that same farre more exceeding eternall weight of glory as Saint Paul had much adoe to bring out his notion of it in words without losse and leaving somewhat behinde 2 Corinth 4.17 dearely apprehended and beleeved mightily and effectuously considered is able fully to reconcile the disproportion I am loth to exceed the time and measure of an Epistle The nature necessitie and meanes of this great Master-peece of Mortification with some other things of Affinitie with them are well laid downe in the Sermons following Some straines I beleeve thou wilt meet withall that have beene strangers to thee heretofore and which will doe lively execution and quit themselves like the words of the
surfeiting ibid. Many wayes of sufeiting 186 Treatise 4. SEeking things aboue enforced 196 1. In respect of God 197 2. In respect of our selves 204 Things above what 209 Why so called 211 Seeking What. 212 Propos Those that are risen with Christ must seeke the things above 213 Conditions requisite in seeking 3. 214 Meanes of seeking 218 Signes of seeking 223 Use Exhortation to seeking 226 FINIS THE GATE TO HAPPINESSE ROM 6.8 Now if we be dead with Christ we beleeve that we shall also live with him Scope of the words THe aime and scope of the Apostle in this place is by the occasion of an objection proposed verse 1. to shew the necessary coherence of sanctification with justification The objection is this If where sinne bath abounded grace doth much more abound which the Apostle S. Paul affirmes in the former Chapter treating of free justification by grace then saith the carnalist let us continue in sinne that grace may abound this is the objection To this the Apostle answers two wayes First by way of detestation Secondly by way of confutation By way of detestation in the beginning of the second verse God forbid farre be it from such gracious premises to make so dangerous and pestilent an inference What saith he shall we continue in sinne that grace way abound God forbid Secondly by way of confutation and that by a double argument answerable to the two parts of Sanctification Mortification and Vivification both of them pregnant and full of sinewes to enforce and presse the cause and conclusion in hand The first argument is thus such as are dead to sinne with Christ they cannot wilfully and wilingly live and continue in sinne but such as are justified from their sinnes by Christ they are dead to sinne with Christ therefore such as are justified by Christ they cannot live and continue in sinne The Minor proposition the Apostle proves First by the efficacie of baptisme vers 4. and 5. and by conformities Christ in his crucifying and sufferings verse 6. The second argument as a consequent and dependent upon the former is thus Those that are quickned by Christ to a new life of grace they cannot willingly and wilfully continue in sinne but those that are justified by Christ are quickned to a new life of grace they cannot therefore willingly and wilfully continue in sinne The Minor proposition the Apostle proves thus those that are dead with Christ are quickned to a new life of grace Such as are justified by Christ are dead with Christ therefore they are quickned to a new life with Christ and therefore they cannot continue in sinne The Major proposition is in the words of the Text Now if wee be dead with Christ wee beleeve that we shall also live with him You see the Logicke and argumentation of the Apostle which words being a proposition and argument hupotheticall observe in them two parts First an Antecedent according to the law of such propositions And then a Consequent Or more properky one thing supposed and another thing inferred First the thing supposed in the former part of the verse that wee are dead with Christ The other inferred in the latter part wee beleeve that we shall also live with him More particularly you may please to observe these foure parts First the method and order of the parts first we must be dead with Christ before we can live with him If wee be dead with Christ wee beleeve that wee shall also live with him Wee must first die with Christ before wee can live with him Secondly the inseparable connexion and conjunction and union of these two though the one goe before yet the other followes inseparably and unavoydably as Iacob tooke Esau by the heele In the latter part Now if we be dead with Christ we beleeve that we shall also live with him there is the conjunction of these two Thirdly the assurance of this connexion or conjunction If we be dead with Christ wee beleeve we shall live with him Fourthly and lastly the cause and ground as of the two former so of the latter both of our death with Christ and of our life with Christ it is Christ Christ is the cause of both If we be dead with Christ that is as Aquinas rightly interprets the place through or by the vertue of Christ Wee beleeve that wee shall also live with him or bee raised to the life or grace by the same vertue Thus you have the parts If wee be dead with Christ wee beleeve that we shall also live with him First of the order and method of the parts which is the first part or proposition Wee must first die with Christ before we can live with him To be dead with Christ what To be dead with Christ is in imitation or conformitie with Christ to be dead to sinne as Christ dyed for sinne So we are sayd to dye with Christ when we dye to sinne Now we are sayd to be dead to sinne when sinne is dead in us when the command and dominion of sinne is broken downe when the power and force of it is enfeebled when we doe what we can that sinne may not have any vigour or power or command no nor quiet being in us then sinne is sayd to be properly dead in us Now we must not conceive that as long as we live sinne will utterly and totally dye The reason is this it is a comparison of St. Basil saith hee it is with sinne S. Basil and with the corruption of nature as it is with the Ivie and the wall Simile when the Ivie is fastned and incor porated into the wall a man may cut the boughes and branches but hee can never roote it out except hee pull downe the wall As Ivie is to the wall so is sin and corruption to our nature it is so scrued and got into our nature that so long as we live so long as this house of clay stands wee cannot utterly roote it out wee may mortifie and kill it in some measure but when this house of clay shall be demolished and dissolved then sinne shall be utterly extinguished I say then we must not conceive sinne to be so dead as that it hath utterly no life in it but it is sayd to be dead in a double respect First it is dead Civilly Secondly it is dead Naturally It is a rule among Civillians he that it a servant is halfe a dead man The reason is because hee is no longer at his owne command but what he is he is that he is as hee is inspired and animated by the command of his master So sinne is said to bee dead because it is made a servant it is forced to undergoe the yoake to be subject to the Spirit of grace therefore it is sayd to bee dead civilly Secondly it is sayd to bee dead naturally too the reason is this because howsoever there bee some life left in it yet it hath its deaths wound that wil
when the Sun approacheth if it doth not shoote forth and flourish then we say it is a dead tree I apply it thus looke what the Sunne is to the tree so is occasions to lusts he that doth not sin when occasions are offered and present themselves when a man hath occasion to satisfie his lusts if he doe it not this man is truly dead to sin Whereas such a man as eyther through age or want of opportunity and occasion is disabled from fulfilling his lusts but in the meane while he pleaseth himselfe to revolve them in his mind and to discourse of them with his tongue such a man is not dead to sinne if he had the same strength and occasion presented as before such a man would discover that sinne were alive in him as much as ever it was Secondly wee may know we are dead to sinne if all sinne be dead in us it is not sufficient that one lust seeme to be mortified and crucified in us unlesse all be mortified Wee know there is life in an Apple tree or a Peare tree if it produce but one Apple or Peare So we may know that sinne is alive in us if there be but one reigning domineiring sinne It is true I confesse in the best men sinne is so much alive in them that ever and anon it will be shooting forth some of these cursed fruits but yet as wee shall see in the third place the power of it is more infeebled I say where one sinne or lust rules and dominiers in a man that man is not dead to sinne as if an Apple tree bring forth but one apple wee conclude it is not dead Thirdly a dead man cannot performe the workes of a living man when wee performe not the workes and service of sinne then we are dead to sinne Everything hath power to bring forth fruite according to its owne nature Ioh. 8.39 Ioh. 8.39 If you were the children of Abraham you would bring forth the fruits of Abraham Now if a man bring forth ordinarily the fruits of sinne let him say what hee will sinne is alive in that man I grant that as I sayd before sinne will ever and anon bee sending forth bitter and cursed fruits but he that is ordinarily and commonly transported to the service of his owne lusts that man is not dead to sinne Shall a man say hee is a dead man that lives in pride that hee is a dead man that lives in swearing or uncleannesse c I say he that is ordinarily and habitually transported with pride with swearing and blasphemy with uncleannesse c. he that is ordinarily transported to the committing of any sinne that man is not dead to sinne Fourthly it is not sufficient to forbeare the practice of sinne but to abhorre and detest sin we know when we come by a putrified dead Corse we stop our noses to shew that we abhor the noysome smell and detest it If we doe not onely forbeare sin but loath and abhorre it it is a signe that sinne is dead it is a Carkasse we begin to abhorre it Fiftly by this Character wee shall know that sinne is dead if daily more and more wee see the power of sinne abated and infeebled in us we know dying men the nearer they draw to the grave the more weake are all the actions and functions of the soule So I say sinne shall never in this life be utterly dead but it hath its deadly blow and languisheth away Now then we may know we are dead to sinne if sinne more and more decay and the power of it bee more and more feeble if every day the inclinations and provocations to sinne are more weake Yet mistake not a man may deceive himselfe by this Character for oft times it comes to passe that sinne when it hath its mortall and deaths wound it rageth more then it did before Simile It fares with sinne as with a wild beast that hath received his deaths wound he rageth more then he did before So sinne and Sathan then labour to provoke and stirre up corruption in a man to rage more notwithstanding stay a while and you shall see the power of it more infeebled So I say a man must not judge himselfe by the present fit or rage of sinne to have no sparke of regeneration for that may bee occasioned by the deaths blow of sinne but looke if sinne bee enfeebled and the inclinations and lusts to sinne grow every day weaker then other and that is an argument that sinne is dead Sixtly we may know that wee are dead to sinne by this argument then a man is dead to sinne when he can willingly and patiently indure the Axe of the Gospel to be laid to the roote of his sinne when he can patiently submit himselfe to have his sinne wounded and to have it executed by the sword of the Spirit I say patiently to indure the reproofe of his sinne especially when the reproofe is layd against the sinne that most prevailes against him the sinne that a man loves dearest patiently to indure the reproofe of that sinne is an argument that that man is mortified and dead to sinne Let a man say what he will hee that stormes and grudges and grumbles and chafes when his sinne is met with in the Ministery of the word that man is unmortified at the least so farre as he chafes and frets so farre hee is unmortified Hee that is mortified to sinne hee that is growne to a loathing and detestation of his sinne he rejoyceth when the Ministery meets wiâ—h his sinne Oh saith such a one that my sinne might bee met with to day I stand in termes of hostilitie with it I would have it put to death Oh! that it might have one blow to day by the Sword of the Spirit such a man as will not indure the reproofe of his sinne hee is unmortified at least so farre as he is impatient of reproofe Yet mistake not a man may bee more impatient for some sinnes than for others for though in a gracious man all sinne bee mortified yet some sinnes be more rooted and radicated As wee say in Philosophie there are some parts that live first and die last as the heart As it is in the body of it is in the state of nature in the body of sinne there are some sinnes in which life is more radicated and one sinne may have more life when others are mortified one may have more strength then others and life in it and yet the mortification be true yet generally such men as are impatient at the reproofe of their lusts especially that lust that dominiers that man is unmodified he that is a mortified man that sinne is dead in he will suffer reproofe patiently Now I come to the third thing I propoposed to shew the meanes whereby wee may come to be dead with Christ for if wee cannot come to live with Christ but wee must first die with Christ then it mainely concernes us
to labour to die with Christ to sin that so wee may come at the last to live with him The meanes are foure The first cause which is the principall cause is the Spirit of God so saith the Apostle Rom. 8.13 the place before alleadged If yee mortifie the deeds of the flesh through the Spirit yee shall live Rom. 8.13 It is true we are enjoyned mortification but wee cannot doe it till by the Spirit of God our sinnes be mortified It is with sinne as it is with some wilde beasts Simile they cannot bee taken and apprehended till they be shot and wounded So it is with sinne till the Spirit of God give the deaths blow to sinne wee cannot mortifie it of our selves therefore the first and principall cause is the Spirit of God he that is in us is stronger then he that is in the world The Spirit of God is strong and powerfull to subdue sinne Secondly Faith in Christ for by faith we must be ingrafted into Christ and so partake of the Spirit of Christ whereby sinne is dead in us so saith the Apostle Rom. 6.5 Rom. 6.5 For if we be planted into the likenesse of his death wee shall be also into the likenesse of his resurrection First we must be planted and grafted into Christ As a Syens must be planted into the stocke of a tree before it partake of the juice of it So we must be planted into Christ by faith before we be made partakers of the vertue of the death of Christ to kill our sins so saâ—th the Apostle Col. 2.13 Wee are raysed though the faith of the operation of God it is through faith not â—â—â—ely as a perswading mooving cause but as an efficient cause because faith as a pipe of Silver conveyes the juice the water of life the Spirit of God whereby our sinnes are mortified it unites us to Christ and makes us partake of the vertue of his death whereby our sinnes are killed The third meanes to worke this death in us it is Prayer Psal 19.13 so David Psal 19.13 Lord keepe mee from presumptuous sinnes let them not have dominion over me that is mortifie and crucifie them so that they may not have dominion over me or not have a being if it were possible Let them not have dominion over me Fourthly and lastly a speciall meanes to put sinne to death is to submit our selves to the Ministery of the Word such as can manage and brandish the two edged Sword of the Spirit against sinne And so in private by meditation to apply to our selves the curses and judgements that God hath threatned against such sinnes as wee give most way to for if once the principall and vitall sinne as I may call it be destroyed then other sinnes will die of themselves this shall be sufficient for the third part touching the meanes to die with Christ I come now in a few words to the motives to perswade us to die with Christ The first ariseth from the necessitie of dying to sinne eyther wee must die to sinne or die for sinne Rom. 8.13 woe to us if we doe not die to sin If yee live after the flesh yee shall die Rom. 8.13 that is if yee live unmortified yee shall die how eternally not onely the death of the body but of the soule too here is the choyce we must eyther mortifie our lusts or incurre the danger of damnation there is no other way to escape it If yee live after the flesh yee shall die that is eternally therefore there lies a necessitie that should perswade us to die to sinne Secondly from the commoditie by dying to sinne we shall not onely free our selves from eternall death but from much trouble and molestation and disquiet also that wee should be sure to have by keeping sinne alive and by yeelding to the lusts of sinne Most true it is that it is with our lusts as with little children humour and observe them and give them that they cry for Simile and you shall never have rest but still they will cry for something more so it is with our corruptions and sinfull lusts yeeld to them upon every desire and we shall never have done when we have satisfied one lust it will call upon us againe and will never have done whereas by mortifying of it we shall bring to ourselves much quiet and free our selves from much molestation Thirdly consider the facilitie by mortifying the deeds of the flesh we loose nothing that will make to our happinesse Adam in innocencie in Paradise was happy without these lusts Christ on earth was happy without them the Saints in heaven are happy without them Iam. 1.21 these are but superfluities Iam. 1.21 Lay aside all superfluitie of naughtinesse and malice Wee may have all true contentment whatsoever yet part with our lusts they are things that we may well spare By mortification of them a man looseth no profit nor pleasure nor honour whatsoever but there is recompence with advantage Let a man mortifie his lusts that bring him profit hee shall have profit in durable riches not onely in this life but for his reward hee shall have a whole kingdome to enjoy Let him loose some present pleasures as we have all too much of common Souldiers in us we love present pay hee shall have infinite recompence he shall have pure pleasures peace of conscience God will praise him and say well done good and faithfull servant he shall have peace of conscience that will lift a man above ground an infinite recompence in the losse of other pleasures Secondly for honour what if a man for the crucifying of his lusts be reproached and contemned in the world yet he shall have true honour of God in heaven he shall have honour of Angels of good men honour did I say of good men nay wicked men shall honour him God is able to command honour from the hearts even of wicked men so much as hee is mortified Let a wicked man see one that is a mortified man that as David was he behaves himselfe as a weaned child from the world he cannot but give a good testimony but if he will not now let him be on the racke in sicknesse let death appeare then he will desire to die the death of the righteous and that his last end may be like his It is true while he is in his jollitie and bravery then such men load a mortified man with reproach and contempt but wee must doe as Phisitians doe when they judge by urine of the state of the body they looke not on the urine that is voyded when men are walking up and downe before they goe to bed Simile but that which they make after their first sleepe when they are come to themselves So take not a wicked man now in the fulfilling of his lusts but looke on that man when hee hath slept and you will judge otherwise of him he cannot chuse but give
shall be saved I aske whence comes this death with Christ Whence comes it that sinne is mortified in a man Is it not because hee is in Christ and is united to Christ and thence it is because hee is united to Christ that hee partakes of the vertue and Spirit of Christ whereby sinne is mortified Let this bee sufficient to bee spoken for the proofe of the point Vse 1 In the first place it serves for confutation for if they that are dead with Christ may be assured by this that they shall also live with Christ Then surely a man may attaine a greater assurance of salvation then Bellarmine and the rest of that faction perswade men he may They say a man cannot attaine it by the contemplating and viewing of the grace of God is him hee can but attaine a kind of hope of salvation a kind of doubting conjecturall morall assurance but for this assurance that we speake of our Countrey-men at Rhemes sticke not to say that it is a damnable false thing Rhem. on Rom. 9. upon Rom. 9. such an assurance as is impossible to bee attained in this life except it be by revelation and by extraordinary meanes And then they say moreover if it bee attained it is perillous and dangerous to attaine because it opens to men a gappe to all licentiousnesse for say they if a man may be assured of his salvation let him doe what he will hee shall be saved I cannot now enter into the lists with these Rhemists at this time but give me leave to their objection to returne two things First say they it is impossible for a man by mortification to come to be assured of his salvation I desire them to unriddle me this They say a man by mortifying by macerating himselfe by fasting and sackcloth and by whipping himselfe hee may merit salvation and heaven May hee merit heaven and not bee assured hee shall come to heaven What is it because God is ignorant and knowes not their good deeds or because hee is unjust and will not reward them If they say either it is blasphemie if they give way to either of them then they give way to this doctrine that wee speake of If a man by macerating himselfe in sackcloth and ashes by whipping and beating himselfe may merit heaven as the Papists joyntly affirme or most of them And Getzer in his second booke of Discipline Chap. 8. then certainly a man by mortification may come to have assurance of heaven for if a man bee not assured but doubts that doubt must come that either God knowes not that wee deserve heaven by our mortification and then God is not omniscient Or if hee doe know it hee will not reward us according to our merits and then hee is unjust either of which to affirme is blasphemy So their owne tenent overthrowes themselves See the difference betweene truth and errour one truth and vertue contraries not another but one vice and errour contradict each other as Covetousnesse opposeth Prodigalitie c. Secondly say they as it is impossible to attaine so it is dangerous to attaine this opens a gappe to licentiousnesse I wonder what feare there is of this since wee affirme that this assurance is to bee had by holinesse by mortifying of our sinfull lusts It is true indeed if we had assurance if we did maintaine that it might bee gotten notwithstanding that we went on in the practice of our sinfull lusts then it were another matter but wee affirme that this assurance is had only by the practice of mortification by mortifying and subduing our sinfull lusts And as it is gained by this so it is to be preserved by this I wonder then what feare here can be of opening a gappe to licentiousnesse and wickednesse by maintaining assurance of salvation when we maintaine here with that assurance is had by mortification and is to be kept and preserved only by it The rule of Philosophy here is true the same cause that produceth the same cause preserveth a thing but to let them passe and to returne to our selves Vse 2 If those that are dead with Christ may come to be assured that they shall also live with him how should this stirre up all of us to labour for mortification To indeavour to subdue and mortifie our sinfull lusts that we may come to bee assured that after wee shall live with God! It is that that the Apostle commands 2 Pet. 1.10 saith he 1 Pet. 1.10 Give diligence to make your calling and election sure Give diligence it is not a thing so easily attained as some dreame it is a thing that requires cost and paines a man hath it not but after long practise and indeavour of mortification Now I say it is that that the Apostle perswades us unto to give diligence to make our Calling and election sure It is sure enough in Gods counsell we should labour to make it sure in our owne conscience Wee may complaine men give diligence to make their houses sure to make their lands and preferments and offices and friends sure but how few give diligence to make their Calling and election sure Yet I know not when there was ever more need that wee of this place should labour to make our calling and election sure then now wee perceive already that wrath is gone out from God and the Angell of the Lord hath strucken some among us and they have fallen on the right hand and on the left hand before us and behind us aâ—d wee our selves know not when our turne may come Now the lesse assurance we have of being here on earth the more wee should labour for assurance of our well being hereafter in heaven And if wee have once this assurance this will bestead us and minister comfort in all calamities What though we bee poore if wee have this assurance wee know wee shall come there where there is durable unperishing riches What if we be in disgrace this will make us possesse our soules with patience and tell us that we shall come shortly to a place where wee are assured all teares shall be wiped from our eyes and all that blemisheth our name What though we bee sicke wee are assured that wee shall come to a place where we shall have no sicknesse but constant health What though death come It will make us chearfully to welcome it and it will make us call it as Saint Ciprian doth S. Cyprian the Midwife of immortalitie that shall translate and remove us from a fading perishing life to the everlasting life Then let us that God hath bin so gracious unto that he hath spared us and visited others labour to improve the time to practise mortification that in case worse come wee may yet be provided If wee adresse our selves to this who knowes if God will not graciously spare us and not afflict us or if it come wee shall have infinite comfort then when our dores shall bee shut up and we have
no other comfort yet then our conscience will witnesse comfortably that notwithstanding wee die yet wee shall come where wee shall live for ever Oh then as the Apostle saith let us give all diligenec to make our calling and election sure It is a matter of paines it is not easily gotten but it will abundantly recompence the paines If wee looke and finde our sinfull lusts mortified in part let not that satisfie us let us not rest there but goe further and proceed in the worke of mortification for looke as our mortification is so is our assurance the weaker our mortification is the weaker our assurance of salvation the stronger our mortification the better assurance wee have of salvation Vse 3 Thirdly if they that are dead with Christ may rest assured that they shall live with him then by the rule of contraries they that are not dead with Christ cannot assure themselves that they shall live with him If only he can be assured of salvation in whō sinfull lusts are mortified then hee in whom they are not mortified that man cannot bee assured of salvation Indeed hee may have a kinde of a wilde hope a presumptuous confidence but it is such as will faile him in the time of need Like to your Winter brookes or land-floods In the time of Winter when a man hath no use of water they flow abundantly but in Summer in the time of drought when men have need they are gone they are not to bee had So that assurance that a man hath as long as hee goes on in the practice of his sinfull lusts it is a wild deceitfull presumption such an assurance as will doe him no good when hee comes to need it I have read it was the manner of tryall that was used when there was a controversie of land whether it belonged to Ireland or to England they did take Snakes and Toades and poysonous Serpents and put there and if they lived there they concluded it belonged to England if they died they judged it belonged to Ireland the reason was because no venemous thing will live there I apply it thus sinfull lusts are like Snakes and Toades and venemous creatures looke what soule they live in if they live in a mans soule it is an argument that hee belongs not to heaven and wee know what place he belongs to then onely to hell if it dye in us we may assure our selves that wee belong to heaven Hee in whom sinne lives and his lusts continue unmortified that man cannot assure himselfe of salvation The reason is because all assurance comes from the promise of God God hath made no promise to men that continue and goe on in the service and obedience of their sinfull lusts hee threatens nothing but death and destruction to such If yee live after the flesh yee shall dye Rom. 8.13 Rom. 8.13 This shall suffice to have spoken of the third point the certainty of this connexion If we be dead with Christ we beleeve that we shall also live with him Mortification seales up to a mans soule and conscience the assurance of salvation for they that are dead with Christ may rest assured and perswaded that they shall live with him I come to the fourth and last point The cause and ground of this death to sinne and this life to grace which is Christ If wee be dead with Christ we beleeve that we shall also live with him If we be dead with Christ that is if we be dead by the vertue and power of Christ then wee beleeve that wee shall also live by vertue and power of the same Christ The conclusion is this that As our death to sinne so our life to grace they both proceede from Christ If we be dead with Christ saith the Apostle that is if wee be dead by the vertue and power of Christ if sinne be dead in us then wee beleeve that wee shall also live with Christ the life of grace here and of glory hereafter by the power and vertue of the same Christ I say the point on which I shall insist is this that as our death to sinne so the life of Grace they both proceede from Christ Christ is the author and the producer of both So saith Saint Paul in Gal. 2.20 saith the Apostle Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ yet notwithstanding I live yet not I but Christ liveth in mee and the life that I live in the flesh is by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himselfe for me Looke what the Apostle Paul speakes of himselfe the same may every Christian in whom sinne is dead and mortified and the life of grace wrought speake of himselfe saith the Apostle I am crucified with Christ that is sin is crucified in me sinfull lusts are crucified and mortified in me by the vertue of Christ so saith he I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me I live by the faith of the Son of God As I am crucified to sinne by Christ so I live by the vertue of Christ Phil. 3.8 9 10 So in Phillip 3.8 9 10. He desires so earnestly to be found in Christ that he contemned and undervalued all things but this that he might be found in Christ saith he I account all losse for the excellent knowledge of Christ for whom I suffer the losse of all things nay I account them not onely losse but dung that I may winne Christ and be found in him we see in verse 10. the reason that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffeings being made conformable to his death The reason why the Apostle desired to be found in Christ and why in comparison of this he accounted all things as drosse it was because he might bee made partaker of Christs death What is the fellowship of Christs death but to bee partaker of the Spirit of Christ that raised him from the dead that by the same Spirit of Christ hee might bee raysed from the death of sinne to the life of grace The reason of it is this because as our death to sinne so our life to grace are both the worke of grace from whom can wee expect the worke of grace but from him in whom is the fulnesse of grace so saith Saint Iohn Ioh 1.14 The Word was made flesh that is Christ and dwelt among us Ioh. 1.14 and wee saw his glory as the glory of the onely begotten Sonne of God full of grace and truth Our death to sin and our life to Christ are both the effects of Gods grace Now from whom can we have the effects of Gods grace but from him in whom alone is the fulnesse of grace The word was made manifest among us in whom is the fulnesse of truth and grace Look as it is in the naturall body so it is in the misticall body as in the naturall body all the naturall motion proceeds from the head and from the