from one Scripture turn ye both to the 17. of John the last vers Saies our Lord and Savior Christ praying unto his father And I have declared unto them thy Name and will declare it that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them I in them Mind the words Here are these Three things observable in them First of all Here ye have this Doctrine that I have been speaking of all this while Christ in each beleever I in them Secondly That God the Father does love a Beleever though not so much as Christ yet with the same love that he loveth Christ That the love wherewith thou hast loved me way be in them and I in them Thirdly That the way to procure this love and this In-being is To have the Name of God declared And I have declared unto them thy Name and I will declare it Why that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them So then the way for to get this In-being is to have the Name of God declared unto poor souls What is this Name the Name of God the Father that Christ declares It was the Love of God his Free-grace and Love Saies Christ Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world c. and stil Christ preach'd the love of God to poor lost man This was the Name of God that is declared Now then do any of your souls complain That you want this In-being of Christ in you or that you have not room in your souls to entertain such a guest Observe where this Name of God is declared and manifested this Free love of God is manifested and declared and there set thy soul under the spout under the declaration under the manifestation of the Name of God and look upon it as if Christ were there preaching and declaring the Name of God to thy soul and there Christ shall come in unto thee and there thy poor narrowed and straitned soul shal be enlarged and made more capacious for Jesus Christ Wherefore I beseech you then receive this Word of Exhortation and let every soul go unto Jesus Christ and say to this purpose Lord Jesus Thy work is to declare the Name of the Father to poor sinners that so thou maiest be in them now O Lord I am a poor sinner Lord declare the Name of the Father to me Lord declare the Name of the Father to me I have a straitned heart I have not room enough for thee in my soul Oh! that it were enlarged for thee now therefore declare this Name of thy Father to me that so the love wherewith thy Father hath loved thee may be in me and I in thee also Thus I say go unto Jesus Christ And study study much this In-being of Christ in your souls you that have it not labor to get it and you that have this In-being labor to be thankful for it improve it and get your souls more and more enlarged under it SERMON V. Preached at Christs-Church Aug. 25. 1648. GALATIANS 2. part of the 20. vers Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me I Intend at this time to speak on these words But Christ liveth in me Wherein ye have these Three things First The In-being of Christ in a Beleever Christ in me Secondly The Efficacy of this In-being Christ Liveth in me Thirdly The Constancy thereof he doth not stay for a night or two but he Liveth or Abideth in me Accordingly there are Three Notes or Observations First Christ is in each Beleever Christ is in every Christian For when he saies I live yet not I he personates a Beleever all along speaks not in his own person but in the person of a Beleever one Justified by Faith alone Secondly That Christ liveth in all Beleevers Christ liveth in me Thirdly That Christ liveth more in Beleevers than themselves do I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Christ hath a greater hand and stroke in the Spiritual actions of beleevers than themselves have I have spoken of the former of these in another place and now I will speak unto the other and therefore I shall put them both together in one Doctrine or Observation thus Doct. Christ doth so live in a Beleever that he hath a greater hand and stroke in the Spiritual actions of a Beleever than a Beleever himself hath Christ lives in a Beleever more than himself as to his Spiritual actions For the opening and clearing of this Truth First I shall labor to shew you that Christ liveth in each Beleever Secondly That he hath a greater hand and stroke in the actions of his Spiritual life then a Beleever hath himself First That Christ liveth in each Beleever A man liveth where he worketh and staieth or abideth A man doth not live where he lieth he may come and stay for a day or two and yet not be said to live there but where a man works and staies or abides there he lives Now both these ye shall find Christ doth the first in that known place the 7. of John 38. verse He that beleeveth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water This spake he of the Spirit which they that beleeve on him should receive Where the Spirit of Christ is there is Christ And this is a promise made to all Beleevers more or lesse to be fulfilled unto them Out of their bellies shall flow rivers of living water Which is to be understood of the Spirit So that the Spirit of Christ shall be in them and be working in them And as for the other you know what is said in that 14. of John and the 23. verse Saith our Savior there If any man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him It 's the same word that is used before for Mansions In my fathers house are many Mansions verse 2. We will come and take up our Mansions with him And this was so received a Principle in the Apostles time that he saies to the Corinthians in the 1 Epistle 3. chapter 16. verse Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you But if you look into the 8. chapter of the Romans you shall see all proved together verse the 10 11. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Here are Three or Four things observable First That Christ in you and the Spirit in you is all one And therefore having said in the 10. ver If Christ be in you at the 11. verse he saies If the Spirit of him that raised
live Yes saies he at the 20. ver I am crucified with Christ Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Nevertheless or now I live I live that is a spiritual life There is a Natural life and there is a Spiritual life He does not here speak of the Natural life when he saies Nevertheless I live because he adds yet not I but Christ liveth in me that is Spiritually And when he saies I live he speaks it in the Person of every Believer not in his Own Person but he personates a Believer all along I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live to God I a Believer And I am crucified with Christ I a Believer And Nevertheless I live All along he does personate a Believer and does not speak in his own Person but in the Person of a Believer And he saies here Nevertheless I live He had said before That we are justified by Faith alone and not by the works of the Law and that a Believer was crucified with Christ Now saies he This Doctrine that I have preach'd unto you is no way opposit unto our Spiritual life or unto our Holiness yet now I live or nevertheless I live From whence then you may observe these Two things First That every true Believer every Godly Gracious man is a living man lives aspiritual life is in the state of life Secondly That our justification by faith alone and our being crucified with Christ is no enemy but a friend unto this Spiritual life Nevertheless I live Doct. 1 First of all Every Godly Gracious man is a living man is in the state of life lives a Spiritual life And this ye have most expresly in that 6. Chap. of John at the 40. vers This is the will of him that sent me That every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day But though he shall have everlasting life hereafter it may be he hath not this life for the present Look therfore what he saies at the 47. vers Verily verily I say unto you He that beleeveth on me hath everlasting life 'T is not said He shall have everlasting life but he hath everlasting life everlasting life is begun in him already And that ye may be the more sure of it he gives you a double Verily Verily verily I say unto ye He that believeth on me hath everlasting life But how can this be Nay how should it be otherwise for a mans life is as his meat is and saies our Saviour I am the bread of life at the 48. vers Then at the 54. vers Whesoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life For my flesh at the 55. vers is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me even he shall live by me So that ye see this Chapter is ful of it here is a cloud of winesses I say therfore That every godly gracious man is a living man and lives another life from the life of the world a spiritual life and is in the state of spiritual life For the opening of this Truth unto ye We must first of all enquire What this Spiritual life is Take therefore this description of it It is that supernatural perfection of soul whereby a man being united unto Christ by the Spirit is able to act move and work towards God as his utmost end First I say It is a supernatural perfection There is some perfection in every life Life is the greatest good and perfection Death is the greatest evil Therefore when the Lord theratned Adam to punish him for eating the forbidden-fruit he saies The day thou eatest thereof Gen. 2. thou shalt die the DEATH Death is the greatest evil and so Life is the greatest good and perfection And this the Devil knew full well Joh 2.4 when he said Skin for skin and all that a man hath will he give for his life So that life is a perfection But I say this Spiritual life It is the Supernatural perfection of the soul And therefore in the 4. chapter of the Ephesians and the 18 verse This life of the Saints the very life of the Saints is called The life of God 'T is a supernatural perfection of soul therefore Secondly As it is a supernatural perfection of Soul So it rises from our Vnion with Christ by the Spirit A man is united to God by faith and by the Spirit and as our outward life does arise from the union between the soul and the body and though the body be never so fair or full yet if it be not united to the soul it is but a dead carkass So our Spiritual life it doth arise from our union with Christ and though a man have never so many moral virtues and his conversation be never so fair yet if not united to Christ by the Spirit he is but a dead man spiritually a dead man And therefore saies the Apostle here in the Text Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Thirdly As it arises from our union with Christ by the Spirit So I say It is that Supernatural I perfection whereby a man is able to act and move and work towards God as his utmost and last end And therefore saies the Apostle in the former verse I through the Law am dead unto the Law that I may live to God To God as my last and my utmost end And when a man is able to act and move and work towards God as his last and utmost end then he is said to live spiritually So that then ye have this description of our spiritual life I repeat it again It is that supernaturall perfection of soul whereby a man being united unto Christ by the Spirit is able to act and move and work towards God as his utmost end Quest 2 Secondly Whereby may it appear That every godly gracious man is thus a living man made partaker of this spiritual life so as to he able to act and move and work towards God as his utmost end Answ I will take but the Three ordinary lives that are in the world The vegetative life the life of Plants and Herbs The Sensitive life the life of Beasts And the Rational life the life of Man And I wil shew ye That the Essential properties of all these lives are in a Spiritual way in the godly and then the Argument will lie thus If the Essential properties of all these lives be in a spiritual way in every godly man then certainly every godly gracious man is a living man and in the state of life living another life from the life of the world First Take the life of plants and herbs or of flowers and what is the Essential property of
Jer. 31.19.2 Cor. 13.5 Smiting himself upon his thigh saying Oh! what have I done And in that of the Epistle to the Corinthians it is said Know ye not how that Christ is in you unless ye be reprobates That is unless ye be Reprobates ye may know that Christ is in you A Reprobate indeed does not reflect upon his own action but as a beast he goes on he Prayes may be and does not reflect upon his Prayer when he hath done He Hears the Word and does not reflect upon his Hearing when he hath done he Sins against God and does not reflect upon his own action and Sin smiting himselfe upon his thigh saying Oh! what have I done But now every godly gracious man does thus reflect upon his own action and is able to do it So then take the Argument in the whole and it lies thus If a godly gracious man have all the Essential Properties of those Three lives in a spiritual way and manner then certainly he is in the state of life and does live a spiritual life Now as ye have heard Every godly gracious man hath all the Essential Properties of al these Three lives in a spiritual way and manner and therefore certainly he does live a spiritual life he is in the state of life Quest 3 But how may it appear that others are not in this state of life that a wicked man is not in the state of life that a wicked man is a dead man spiritually dead that the godly and the godly only are made partakers of this spiritual life and that others are not Answ Our Lord and Savior Christ does speak expresly Ye will not come to me that ye may have life Joh. 5.40 But look into the 3. Chapter of John and the 36. verse and ye shall find these words He that beleeveth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that beleeveth not the Son shall not see life Shall not see life mark those words he shall not come within the view or sight of life or of the good things of life He does not barely say He shall not live No but he shall not see life he shall not see the good things of life So that plainly then He that beleeveth not is a dead man spiritually a dead man and lives not this spiritual life Object But all motion does not come from life can a man act move and work and not be alive Even wicked men they Pray and they Hear and they Reade and they Meditate and they Act and Move and worke towards God and they do many good things and have many Moral vertues and can all this be and yet no life in them Answ Yes For ye know a Watch or a Jack or a Clock they all move and act and work and yet they have no life Though a wicked man may act and move and work towards God yet notwithstanding that motion does but arise from the natural perfection that is left in him by the fall Take a Civil man and though he have many moral vertues what is there in him that lies beyond the reach of Nature with the dye of Gospel-Education Put now this Spiritual life it is a Supernatural perfection Indeed it is said of Hypocrites They have a Name to live I but they are dead they are accounted living but they live not why because they are not united unto Christ by the Spirit which is the other property of the Spiritual life This Spiritual life I say It is the Supernatural perfection of the Soul whereby a man is able to act and move and work towards God as his utmost end Now there is no wicked man that is able to move towards God as his utmost end for as the Schools well speak wicked men they do Use what they should Enjoy that is God and they do Enjoy what they should Use that is the World What wicked man is there in all the world that is able to move and work towards God as his last and his utmost end There is a Twofold End There is an Hither-End or a Proxie and a Remote-End A Hithermost-End and a Remote or ones Utmost End A wicked man indeed he may have God at the Hither-End of his action but Himself is at the Utmost End Look I pray into the 2 of Samuel the 3. Chapter at the 17 18. verses and there you shall reade to this purpose Abner had communication with the Elders of Israel saying Ye sought for David in times past to be King over you Now then do it for the Lord hath spoken of David saying By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel Here now he hath God in his eye and the fulfilling of the Lords promise here is one End why he would bring about the Kingdom to David For the Lord hath spoken of David saying By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel But now look a little higher and you shall see what his Utmost End was in bringing about the Kingdom to David He fals out with the son of Saul and Sauls son comes to him and saies Wherefore hast thou gone in unto my fathers concubine verse 7. Whereupon Abner was very angry at the 8. verse Then was Abner very wrath for the words of Ishbosheth and said Am I a dogs head which against Judah doth shew kindness this day unto the house of Saul thy father to his brethren and to his friends and have not delivered thee into the hand of David that thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning this woman So do God to Abner and more also except as the Lord hath sworn to David even so do I to him to translate the kingdom from the house of Saul and to set up the Throne of David over Israel Mark Here was Self he would be revenged of him Indeed he set God at the Hither-End of the action but it was Self that was at the Utmost End of the action And so it is with a wicked man though he may have God at the Hither-End of his action yet Himself is at the Utmost End of his action 'T is not so with a godly gracious man but though Self may be at the Hither-End of his action God is the Utmost End and if you ask him Neighbor Friend why do you thus Pray and Hear and Reade and Meditate Oh! saies he that my poor soul may be comforted for I am one that am of a troubled spirit Well but why would you be comforted I would therefore be comforted That I might serve God the better Here his own comfort is at the begining of the action but God is at the utmost-end Take a wicked man I say and though he doth act and move and work towards God yet he wants a supernatural perfection he is not united to Christ by the Spirit he does not act and move towards God as his utmost-end But now every godly gracious man doth and therefore He and He
perish And therefore go unto the Lord and beseech him to open to you the way of the Gospel and in this Gospel you shall be able to learn this Self-denial and be able to say as here the Apostle I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me SERMON IV. Preached at Stepney July 23. 1648. GALATIANS 2. part of the 20. vers Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me IN these words ye have another Property of our Spiritual life it is a Christ-Advancing life I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me the former words Yet not I hold forth a Depression and Annihilation of a mans self in Spiritual things These words But Christ liveth in me hold forth the Advancings of Jesus Christ He gives the Power Strength and Honor of all unto Jesus Christ But CHRIST liveth in me In the words There are these Three things especially observable First of al The Presence of Christ with a Beleever Christ in me Secondly The Efficacie of his presence He liveth in me Thirdly The Constancie of his Effectual presence He does not stay for a day or a night in me but He LIVETH in me And accordingly there are Three Doctrines that these words afford First Christ is in all Beleevers For he does personate a Beleever all along when he saies I. as ye have heard Christ is in each Beleever Secondly Christ liveth in all Beleevers Thirdly That Christ does live more in a Beleever than a Beleever doth himself Yet not I but Christ liveth in me I shall speak only unto the former Doct. 1 Christ is in all Beleevers Christ is in each Beleever Every Saint and Child of God hath Christ within him This Truth was so commonly known in the Apostles time 2 Cor. 13.5 that he saies unto the Corinthians Know ye not how that Christ is in ye unless ye be reprobates That is Unless ye be reprobates ye may know that Christ is in you So our saviour Christ himself John 6.56 in that book of John He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth or abideth in me and I in him And so often in the 14 15 and 16. chapters oâ— Jâ—hn Christ speaks to this purpose I in you and you in me So that the Scripture is full of this Christ is in all Beleevers Christ is in each Beleever For the clearing of this great Truth We must First enquire How Christ may be said to be in a Beleever And for that ye must know That as God is in the World and the things of the World several waies So Christ is in Beleevers First God is in the World and the things of the World In regard of his Power He is in all the World as we say a King is in all his Kingdom because his Power extendeth to all his Kingdom And so God is in all the World because his Power extendeth to all the World And thus Jesus Christ is in a Beleever But this is not all Secondly God is in the World and in the things of the World Psa 139.7 8. By way of Presence Whither shall I go from thy presence saies the Psalmist if I go up into heaven thou art there c. And thus also Jesus Christ is in the heart of a Beleever But yet this is not all Thirdly God is said to be in the World and in the things of the World In regard of his Essnece Essentially present unto all the World For every Attribute of God is like unto God his Attributes are all infinite He is infinite in Wisdom Justice Power and Mercy and so he is infinite in his Essence and therefore Essentially present unto all the World And thus also Christ is in the heart of a Beleever as God so is Christ But yet this is not all Fourthly God is said to be in the World and the things of the World By way of special manifestation And so God was in the Temple not because his Essence was more in the Temple than in another place but he was in the Temple by way of Manifestation of Himself unto his People there And thus also Jesus Christ is in the hearts of those that are beleevers specially manifesting and revealing himself there unto them But yet this is not all neither Fiftly God is said to be in a Creature By way of Personal Vnion being Personally United to him As when the Deity by the second Person was united unto our Nature unto flesh God was in Christ Col. 2.9 in whom the fulness of the Deity dwells bodily saies the Apostle And thus in a Spiritual and Mystical way and manner Christ is in all Beleevers by his Spirit the third Person not only the Graces of Christ but Christ Himself in and by Spirit is in the heart of a Beleever I say Christ by his Spirit And therefore Chrysostom observes Whereas it is said in the 8. of the Romans and the 9. verse That if the Spirit of God dwell in ye at the 10. verse following it is said If Christ be in you Those two being made one one being put for the other Now I say That Christ that is in a Beleever is not the Habit of grace only which the Saints have in their souls but Christ Himself by his Spirit And therefore if ye look into that 5. chapter to the Romans ye shall find That besides the Grace of the Spirit the Spirit it Self is said to be given unto us verse the 5. Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is given unto us Not only the Grace of the holy Ghost given unto us and shed abroad in our hearts but the Spirit it Self which is given unto us And so in that 16. chapter of John where the Lord promises to send the Comforter He shall teach ye saies Christ and he shall teach ye all things and he will shew unto ye things to come verse the 13. But the Habits of grace cannot teach a man and shew him things to come And what shall he teach verse the 13. Whatsoever he shall hear that he shall speak This is the Comforter this is the Spirit Now the Habits of grace does not thus speak and hear and therefore certainly the Spirit of Christ is in the hearts of Gods people and in the hearts of Beleevers it 's more than the bare Habit of grace the gifts and the graces of the Spirit And to this purpose it 's clearly spoken by the Apostle in the 8. chapter of the Epistle to the Romans and the 11. verse But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you This spirit cannot be meant Habitual grace But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you So that plainly then in a Spiritual and Mistical way Christ is in each
hold the Bladder in your hand or the greatest hand in the town cannot hold the Bladder But take a pin and prick the bladder and the least child may hold it then What is the reason that men cannot be held cannot be handled cannot be touch'd by their neighbors friends and those that are about them they cannot be grasp'd and walk'd with but because they are proud and swoln Therefore get an humble and self-denying heart and thou shalt walk more sweetly with thy own soul and others that are about thee Thirdly The more you deny your selves in Spiritual things the more you shall be exalted in them I say The more you deny your selves in Spiritual things the more those spiritual things shal grow be exalted the more increased Humble thy self 1 Pet. 5.6 or your selves saies the Apostle under the hand of the Lord and he will exalt you in due time And let me tell you this that look what that is wherein you do Humble your selves before the Lord therein the Lord will exalt you Doest thou humble thy self before the Lord in regard of these outward things There will the Lord Exalt thee Doest thou humble thy self before the Lord in regard of thy Parts and thy Gifts There will the Lord exalt thee Doest thou humble thy self before the Lord in regard of thine own Graces and thine own Obedience and thine own Righteousness Therein will the Lord exalt thee Ye know that John the Baptist said concerning Christ Joh. 3.30 Joh. 1.27 He must increase but I must decrease And saies John again concerning our Savior Christ Whose shoe-latchet I am not worthy to unloose Or whose shoos I am not worthy to carry Mark how he humbles himself to Jesus Christ And mark how Christ honors John Mat. 11.11 Mat. 8.8 Oh! saies Christ There 's not a greater among women than John the Baptist Christ exalts him And so saies the Centurion Oh! Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof Mark how he humbles himself here before the Lord Christ And mark what our Savior saies of him Vers 10. I tell you I have not found such faith no not in Israel So that look where thou Humblest thy self there will the Lord Exalt thee Soul doest thou desire therefore that the Lord would Exalt thy Graces that thy Gifts and Graces should be increased Humble thy self there and learn to Deny thy self in spiritual things not only in regard of outward but in spiritual things that you may say I live yet not I. Quest But you will say This is a hard thing What may we do that we may be able to deny our selves in spiritual things Answ 1 First Never perform any Duty but as often as thou canst reflect upon thy performance and observe the Defects thereof When ye write a Letter after ye have written it you reade it over Or what ever ye write almost if it be of any concernment after ye have written it then you reade it over and if ye find any thing amisse then ye blot it out and when ye have done ye take your sand-box and throw dust upon it or ye go to the Chimney and take ashes and throw upon the paper Will ye do thus for your letters that ye write and will ye not do thus for your Duties and Performances When you have Prayed and performed Duty Go go and look it over and there you will find many Defects many things to be blotted out and many things to be put in and when you have found the Defects in your Dutie throw dust upon it and humble your selves before the Lord. Secondly If you would deny your selves in spiritual things Observe much the In-comes of the Spirit of the Lord upon your soul The way and manner of it how Suddenly how Unexpectedly how Freely the Lord by his Spirit breathes upon your soul When your heart is Dead when your heart is Hard when you say God is now gone and will never return again Oh! what freedom once I had in Prayer but now my heart is hard and I shall never be able to Pray again Then comes the Spirit of God and breathes upon your soul and gives you Prayer again Now if I would but observe the breathings of the Spirit of the Lord how it comes upon me thus when I am dead when my heart is hard when I say I shall never have prayer again if I could but observe the Freeness of the Spirits breathing over my soul and raising up my heart to Duty again should I be proud of Duty think you should I not rather say Shall I be proud I was dead my heart hard and had not the Spirit come and breathed upon my soul I had never been able to pray again but had been lock'd up for ever and shall I be proud Observe the In-comes of the Spirit the way and manner of it be much in this and you will be able to deny your selves in spiritual things Lastly Look much into the Gospel study much the Gospel and the way of the Gospel The more you see an Humble Christ the more you will learn Humility Where shall you see an humble Christ but in the Gospel The more you see a Self-denying Christ the more you will learn Self-denial And where shall you reade of a Self-denying Christ but in the Gospel The more ye see the Free and Rich grace of God the more you will deny your selves in spiritual things And where shall ye see the Free-grace of God but in the Gospel The more Faith ye have the more you will deny your selves in Spiritual things And where shall ye get faith but in the preaching of the Gospel and in studying of the Gospel This grace of Humility and Self-denyal in spiritual things grows only in the garden of the Gospel in the bed of the Gospel There is a Field-Humility and there is a Common or a Field-Self-Denial as I may so speak As ye see it is with your Flowers and Herbs There is a garden-Tyme and there is a Field-Tyme there is a Garden-Rose and there is a Field-Rose there is a Garden-Hony-suckle and there is a Field-Hony-suckle So there is a Field-Self-Denial that grows among Heathen and among Moral people that can deny themselves of this or that particular thing their Appetite Cloathing or now and then their Company And there is a Gospel-Self-Denial a Mysterious Self-Denial But this Self-Denial in spiritual things grows no where but in the Garden of the Gospel there thou shalt see an Humble Christ and become Humble There thou shalt see a Self-Denying Christ and become Self-Denying Therefore study the Gospel and study the way of the Gospel You that have walked in a Legal-way study the Gospel and the way of the Gospel I tell you in the words of the Apostle If the Gospel be hid it is hid to them that perish 2 Cor. 4.3 If the Gospel and the way of the Gospel be hid it is hid to them that
Sanctified in a large sence but where do ye find in al the Bible of any Hypocrite that Christ is said to be in him really united unto an Hypocrite No this is the great Priviledge of a beleever only Col. 1.27 Christ in you the hope of Glory Fourthly If Jesus Christ be really united unto each beleever by his Spirit Then a beleever shal never die again spiritually die again I have read of a Woman that when her Husband was dead she would eat and drink the ashes of her Husband have his bodie burnt to ashes and so eat and drink the ashes of her husband and being asked the reason because saies she I mean to part with him no more I have parted with him once already when we were one but now I will be made one with him in another way and I will part no more with him So if Christ be in a Beleever really in a Beleever Christ really united unto each Beleever by his Spirit Then Christ and that Beleever shal never part again that Beleever shal die no more for the same Spirit that raised up Christ from the dead dwelling in a Beleever shal also raise up a poor beleever yea though he fal into the grave of sin he shal never die spiritually again upon this account Fiftly If Christ be really united unto al beleevers by his Spirit Then they may come with boldness unto the throne of grace and with unlimitted expectations of mercie from God the Father and from Christ Jesus The nearer ye are unto any Person the more boldness ye have towards him and the larger will your expectations be from him If a man marry his Servant whilst she was his maid she was not so bold nor could expect so much from him when she becomes the Wife then she is more bold and can expect more because now she is nearer A Child may have more boldnes and expect more from the Father than the servant and the servant that is within doors more than the servant that works in the field but the Wife that is nearest she is most bold comes with most boldness into the presence of the man and hath the largest expectations from him because she is nearest to him So the nearer that the soul of a beleever does get unto God the more boldness he may have when he comes to God and the largen expectations of mercy from him Now if Christ were in a beleever only by the Habit of grace and Christ in the soul were nothing else but the Habit of grace here were yet a great distance from Christ but now if Jesus Christ be really United unto each Beleever by his Spirit here is a close Union indeed And therefore upon this account every beleever may come with boldness now and with Unlimitted expectations of mercy from God the Father being brought thus neer that Christ Himself is really in the beleevers soul And what a Glorious and Blessed Condition is every beleever in now upon this account Applyca First Here I would stand admire and call upon you all to admire the Condescending Glorious and Unspeakable love of Christ It was infinite love in Christ to condescend so far as to come down into our Nature when he was incarnate but as if he were not neer enough to us then he comes down into the heart of a beleever by his Spirit When Christ was upon the Earth we were in him as in a common Person Now Christ is in Heaven he is in us by his Spirit What Glorious Condescending love is here If a Father Portion a Child set him up in a good Trade and the child decay through his own folly the Father will not Portion him again possibly he may help him but he will not give him ordinarily parents do not give so great a Portion to help him up again somewhat the parent will do but not so much as at the first The Lord of Heaven he put a great Portion into our hands at first and we decayed and broke and behold the Lord does not only give us as good a Portion as we had at the first but infinitely better for now the Lord Christ is United unto each Beleever now he comes and dwels in the soul of a beleever by his Spirit The Psalmist wondered and admired at the love of God to Man Psal 8.1 4. O LOrd saies the Psalmist how excellent is thy Name Lord what is man Why Lord what is man that thou visitest him He wondred at the love of God that would visit man But behold a greater love than so to visit poor man for Christ is come down into the soul of a beleever he is come into him by his Spirit not only come to visit him but Christ really United unto each beleever by his Spirit What Glorious and Condescending love is here Secondly Upon this account no Wicked man should dare to oppose any of the children of God Why because Christ is in them Christ not only in his Graces but Christ really in all beleevers by his Spirit And will a man dare to speak evil of him that is one with Christ or to defile the Temple of the Lord and the dwelling place of the Lord 1 Cor. 3.17 He that defiles the Temple of the Lord him will God destroy Take heed what you do if there be any opposers here Thirdly What abundance of Comfort is here unto all beleevers Christ is in you of a truth not only by the infusion of his Grace but Christ really in you by his Spirit It is some comfort to a sickly man that he hath a Physitian alwaies in the house with him and to a woman that is neer her time of travail that the Mid-wife is in the house with her What comfort is it then unto a poor soul that Christ is alwaies in him really in him by his Spirit You that are beleevers will not this content you He is too Covetous whom God cannot suffice He hath all things that hath him that hath all things Now every beleever hath Christ Christ really in a beleever by his Spirit not Notionally not by the Habit of grace only but Christ is really United unto each beleever by the Spirit Here is Comfort Comfort Comfort unto all those that are beleevers Object But I fear that Christ is not in me I do not find or perceive that Christ is in me and therefore I can have none of the comfort of this Doctrine were Christ really in me by the Spirit Christ would be working in me but I do not find these workings of Jesus Christ in me and were the Spirit in me it is quick lively and powerful I should do great things for God but alas I do nothing for him and therefore I fear that the Lord Christ is not in me of a truth Answ 1 First I grant That where Christ comes into the soul he does cause the soul to do great things for God greater than it could do before So it was with
up Jesus from the dead dwell in you Again you may observe here That Christ in a Beleever is not Habitual grace only for saith he If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you It was not Faith or Habitual grace that raised up Christ from the dead but the Spirit of God himself And saith he this Spirit dwelleth in you So that Christ in a Beleever is not only the Habit of grace but the Spirit of Christ And then Thirdly ye may observe this too That this Spirit is a living Spirit and dwelleth or abideth in a Beleever For it is said twice here That the Spirit dwelleth in you So that plainly then you see from the words Christ dwels in every Beleever Christ dwels in every Christian he liveth in him And if it were not so How should the absence of Jesus Christ be recompenced by the coming of the Spirit or of the Comforter When our Lord and Saviour Christ left the World and his Disciples he gave them a gracious Promise of sending his Spirit Ioh. 16.7 And if I go not saith he the Spirit or the Comforter will not come but if I go I will send the Comforter and he shall make up your losse of me Now if that the Spirit of Christ should not be in a Beleever and live in him how would the coming of the Holy Ghost and of the Spirit make up the losse of the personal presence of Jesus Christ Besides You know that friends love to be neer unto one another and the neerer they are the happier they count themselves they love not to be asunder the soul of the lover liveth where it loveth rather than where it liveth Now there is the greatest friendship between Christ and a Beleever and the Lord Jesus Christ hath a happinesse above all friends that he can make himself neerer and be more One with his friends than any friend in the world can And therefore upon those terms of Love and Friendship Christ by his Spirit liveth in all Beleevers Object It will be said If Christ liveth in all Beleevers really liveth in them by his Spirit then what need of Ordinances for Christ and the Spirit of Christ in me can live without Ordinances and if a man have attained once unto the Spirit Christ in him and Christ living in him and have attained unto the Spirit the Spirit of Christ really living in him what need of any Commandements without or Rules without for the Spirit will be a sufficient-Rule to lead him into all that is right what need therefore of any Commandements Rules or Ordinances without Answ Yes For we use the Ordinances not only for the enjoyment of God in them but as a testimony of our Obedience If that the enjoyment of God and Christ were the only reason of the Ordinances then in case that a man could without the Ordinances have the enjoyment of God and Christ he might lay by the Ordinances but seeing that we are for to use the Ordinances as an act of our Obedience although a man can enjoy Christ have the Spirit and Christ living in him yet notwithstanding he is still to bear up the Ordinances because there he is to expresse his Obedience unto God and Christ And now give me leave a little to fix here to take off this scruple and Objection if you look into the 27. of Numbers you shall find that Joshua had the Spirit and not in an ordinary way but in a more than ordinary way the Lord gave Joshua his Spirit and yet notwithstanding Joshua was to be under Commandements and under Ordinances at the 18. verse The Lord said unto Moses take thee Joshua the sun of Nun a man in whom is the Spirit and lay thine hand on him and set him before Eleazer the Priest and before all the Congregation and give him a charge in their sight Mark he was to come under a Command and under a charge although he had the Spirit And he shall stand before Eleazer the Priest who shal ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord. And so it was And Moses did as the Lord commanded him Now Moses doth not say What need I go to Eleazar or to the Priest what need I go and consult by Urim and Thummim for I have the Spirit that is able to leade me into all Truth No but he submits unto his Charge and he waits upon the Lord in this way of the Ordinances although it is said here that he had the Spirit So had not David the Spirit in a great measure and yet did he not use the Ordinances But look into the new Testament and there you find that the Apostles had the Spirit also Our Lord and Savior Christ he breathed upon them they waited for the coming of the Spirit and the holy Ghost fell upon them and yet notwithstanding they were under Commands for saith our Savior Christ to them Go Mat. 28.19 teach all Nations Baptizing and teaching them to do what ever I command you So that although they had the Spirit and the holy Ghost in a greater measure than any man for ought I know ever had since yet notwithstanding they were under Commandements Teaching them saith he to do whatsoever I command you And ye know what our Savior saies in that place I mentioned even now Joh. 7.38 39. He that beleeveth on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water which he spake concerning the Spirit and the holy Ghost that should be given for he was not yet glorified A Promise made to Beleevers and the Churches in the times of the Apostles they had the Spirit by vertue of that Promise and yet notwithstanding they were under Ordinances and did use the Ordinances But that you may see how this Objection runs crosse both to the old and to the new Testament look upon one place more it is in the 30. chap. of Isaiah the 20. and 21. verses a Promise made concerning the times of the Gospel And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more but thine eyes shall see thy teachers Here are Ordinances here are Teachers Well now but where is the Spirit Verse the 21. And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying This is the way walk in it Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee Who speaks that word Look into the 1. chapter of the Revelation there you shall find it is the Spirit that speaks the word behind one at the 10. verse I was in the Spirit on the Lords day and heard behind me a great voice So that this voice behind is that of the Spirit When we do not expect the Spirit the Spirit cometh and speaketh to us So that thus now ye see Teaching and Ordinances and the Spirit of Christ in us and living in us may and do stand together Object
Beleever by his Spirit and this Christ in a Beleever is not the Gifts and the Graces of the Spirit but Christ Himself by his Spirit This I confesse rises high but herein I am not alone divers School-men and Fathers and of our own Divines concurring with me The Reverend Mr. Perkins it was his speech That the Person of a Beleever is united to the Person of Christ But I shall give you the words of an Eminent Preacher that is now in Heaven as we have them in the Works that he hath left Saies he It hath been a great Dispute among the School-men Whether a Beleever does receive the holy Ghost it Self or only the Gifts and Graces of the holy Ghost But saies he it is a Question where there needs be no Question and Dispute where there needs no Dispute for the Scripture is clear That we do not only receive the Gifts and the Graces of the holy Ghost but the holy Ghost it Self for are we not said to be the Temple of the holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6.19 and this sets out the abundant Kindness and Goodness of God As saies he yet it is more Kindness to give a man Fruit and the Tree than to give him barely the Fruit So it is abundantly more grace in God to give a man the holy Ghost it Self rather than to give him only the Gifts and the Graces of the holy Ghost And indeed What greater Comfort can there be than this That Beleevers are not only made partakers of the Gifts and Graces of the holy Ghost but of Christ Himself Christ really in all Beleevers by his Spirit Object You will say unto me But how can this be we have ordinarily understood it otherwaies and so we have heard it preached too That Christ in a Beleever is nothing else but the Grace of Christ and the Spirit in a Beleever is nothing else but the Gifts Graces and Operations of the Spirit and indeed how can it be otherwaies For if Christ be really united unto each Beleever really in a Beleever by his Spirit and so made one with him then a Beleever may say I am Christ and I am the Spirit Which is Montanisme and which is Blasphemy and therefore how can this be that Christ is really united to each Beleever by his Spirit and really in a Beleever by his Spirit Answ I confess this is very hard to understand and when I consider the In-Being of Christ in a Beleever I remember that story that is written concerning Austin That walking by the Sea-side he saw a Boy take a Mussel-shell and go to the Sea carrying water with his Mussel-shell into a Ditch that was by out of the Sea into the small trench He asked the Boy what he would do Saies he I will empty all the Sea into that Ditch And he Smiles and told him he could not do it Saies he No more able are you with the Mussel-shel of your Understanding to carry out the Ocean of the Trinity in a small Tractate and Discourse of your own And what is our Understanding but as a little Mussel-shell in regard of Christ and the glory of the Trinity Surely we are not able with this little Mussel-shell for to carry out all the depth of this Truth in a small Discourse But it is a great Mystery Are ye able to tell me How the Child is formed in the Mothers womb Or are ye able to tell me How the Soul is United to the Body Who then can tell exactly How Christ is United to the soul of a Beleever 'T is a great Mysterie one of the great Mysteries of the Gospel But because our Saviour hath said Matth. 13.11 Vnto you it is given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom and to others it is not Therefore we should all labor to understand it And that ye may not be mis-led herein as divers of late have been into strange kind of Blasphemous speeches I shall give you these Three or Four Propositions or Distinctions about it First of all You must-know That though Christ be really united unto each Beleever yet this Unition or Union is a Voluntary act and not a Natural act and so Christ may Unite himself unto the soul so far as it pleases himself It is not a Natural act but a Voluntary act and being an act wherein he is free he may Unite himself unto the soul so far as he pleases and no farther Now the Lord Jesus Christ hath not united himself so far unto the soul of a Beleever that a Beleever should say I am Christ and I am the Spirit for then a Beleever were to be Worshipped as well as Christ if he were Christ Secondly You must know this That there is a great-deal of difference between joyning unto another by way of Contact or Touching and joyning unto another by way of Composition As for Example The Sea and the Land they are joyned together they are united but how not by way of Composition but by way of Contact the Sea touches the Land the Land touches the Sea yet the Land cannot say I am the Sea nor the Sea cannot say I am the Land Why because it is an Union only by Contact by Touching and not by Composition one being compounded of the other So the Union that is between Christ and a Beleever it is by way of Spiritual Contact Christ touching the soul by his Spirit and the soul touching Christ by faith I say it is a Union by way of Spiritual Contact and Touching and not by Composition and therefore a Beleever cannot say that I am Christ and I am the Spirit Thirdly You must know There is a Two-fold In-being One whereby Essences are applyed unto each other and another whereby Essences are mixt together I 'le make it as plain as I can thus Ye see in a heap of Stone and Wheat they both make but one heap and the Stone may say I am in this heap and the Wheat may say I am in this heap but the Stone cannot say I am the Wheat nor the Wheat cannot say I am the Stone Why because though they be united and joyned together in one heap it is by way of Application of one Essence unto another one being applied unto another But now take Water and Wine and mingle them together and there every part may say I am Water and I am Wine Why because there is an Union by way of Mixture Now there is a great Union between Christ and a Beleeving soul yet a beleeving soul though he be really united to Christ by the Spirit cannot say I am Christ or I am the Spirit Why because it is an Union by way of Application and not by way of Mixture as Wine and Water mingled together if it were an Union by way of Essences then a beleever might say I am Christ and I am the Spirit but it is an Union by way of Application a beleever being applied to Christ and Christ applied unto a