no conclusion or agreement made Christ and you may yet part The Lord help you therefore to ponder and deliberate with all speed and seriousness the terms propounded by Christ in the Gospel to count the cost and yet not always to be deliberating neither but to bring matters to an Issue and that with all the convenient speed you can in order whereunto lay two things before you weigh and seriously ponder them 1. What are the advantages you will gain by Christ 2. What is the most you can lose by your consent to his terms and then bring your thoughts to an Issue I. Ponder well the advantages you will gain by Christ these are so great and manifold that it is impossible for me to enumerate or value them it shall suffice in this place to shew you one of those bunches of the Grapes of Eshcol that by it you may estimate the riches and fertility of that good Land setled upon you by Christ as a Dowry or Joynture and these are four 1. The payment of all your debts to the Law 2. An Honour above Angels 3. An eternal inheritance in Heaven 4. A glorious and joyful presentation of you to the Father in the great day by Christ as his Spouse and Wife 1. The same day and hour you give your cordial consent to take Christ upon Gospel terms that is to say Christ with his yoak of obedience and Christ with his Cross of Sufferings all your debts to the Law are discharged and paid what have you been doing ever since you came into the World but runing upon score to God deeper and deeper every day O what a vast sum owest thou to his Justice And not able to pay one farthing If thou consent not to Christs offer the Bailiff and Executioner Death and the Devil will shortly be upon thy back and hurry thee away to that prison from whence thou shalt not come out until thou have paid the last farthing Matth. 5. 25 26. If thou consent to Christs terms thy debts are paid upon thy marriage day thy bonds cancelled and thy discharge in Heaven sealed Rom. 8. 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ and the reason is given vers 4. in this That the righteousness of the Law is fulfill'd in us that believe But how in us Certainly the meaning is not that the To credere the act of Faith doth as it is a work of ours satisfie the demand of the Law and fulfil its righteousness no but it apprehends the righteousness of Christ applies it and makes it ours and so the righteousuess of the Law is fulfilled in us that believe Is it an ease is it a comfort to be out of debt Then embrace the offer of Christ for after thy espousals to him the Law cannot touch thee by any act of condemnation it goes to the Husband Christ thou art discharged Well then resolve what to do shall the debt run on and increase till Justice come to levy it upon you in Hell Torments Or will you accept of Christ and the riches of righteousness that are in him and so be fully and finally acquited from all your debts at once and so be able to lye down in peace and enjoy your lives without slavish fear He that ows nothing fears no Bayliffs but may as we use to say whet his Knife upon the Counter threshold 2ly Your consent to Christs terms will advance you to an Honour above and beyond the Honour of Angels 'T is said That the Children of the Resurrection shall be equal unto Angels and it is most sure that in some respect their union with Christ advances them far above Angels for the Apostle tells us Heb. 1. 14. They are ministring Spirits sent forth for the good of them that shall be heâ—rs of Salvation As the great Peers and Nobles in a Kingdom count it no dishonour to perform their service to the Heir apparent The Ministry of Angels is a mystery which we little understand but by it we receive great and manifold advantages and it certainly puts a great deal of Honour upon all the Members of Christ. 3ly Christ will not only pay all your debts and exalt you to a dignity above Angels but in that day wherein you cordially consent to his terms he will intitle you to the most glorious inheritance purchased by his Blood You shall be heirs of God and joynt heirs with Christ Rom. 8 17. O what an inducement is here to close the match betwixt Christ and our Souls If I consent to take Christ upon Gospel terms I shall thereby be intitled to all the glory that is in Heaven it shall be mine as truly as it is Christs 'T is true the glory of Christ will in some respects far surpass the glory of the Saints he will shine among them as the Sun compared with the Stars but yet the glory which God gave him that is the communicable glory shall be truly theirs as it is his Iohn 17. 22. The glory which thou gavest me I have given them Tell my Brethren saith he Iohn 20. 17. I ascend unto my Father and your Father to my God and your God. This you shall gain also by closing this Treaty with an hearty consent to Christs terms and proposals 4ly If you will consider and consent you shall be presented by him to the Father pure and spotless with exceeding joy and gladness in the great day This will be such a presentation of your persons to God as will make your Hearts leap for joy to read what the Scriptures speak about it This methinks should induce every Soul without further delay to present himself Soul and Body chearfully and willingly to Jesus Christ. For 1. Christ will bring you in the great day to his Father in the shining beauty of perfect holyness not a spot or wrinkle upon your Souls Ephes. 5. 27. The Blood of Christ perfectly washes off every spot of guilt for then the Spirit of Christ hath perfectly cleansed the Soul from all the desilement and filth of sin so that it shall come to God a pure and beautiful Creature out of Christs Hand 2. This presentation will be made with greatest honour and solemnity we little think in what state and triumph Christ intends to bring the poorest believer to his Father Psal. 45. 14 15. With joy and gladness shall they be brought c. So Iude vers 24. They shall be presented faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy Joy running over Joy upon all Hands God himself will rejoyce that ever he created such a Soul as hath sincerely bestowed it self upon Christ. Jesus Christ will rejoyce that ever he shed his Blood for that Soul that now places his sole righteousness therein the Holy Spirit will rejoyce that ever he came with a commission from the Father and the Son to draw such a Soul to Christ who hath obeyed his voice the Angels will rejoyce with joy unspeakable Luke 15.
safety and security lyes in drawing nigh to God Psal. 73. 27 28. They that are far from thee shall perish But it is good for me to draw near to God. 'T is good indeed not only the good of comfort but the good of safety is in it Deut. 33. 12. The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him You know the gracious presence of God is your shield and safety and if you will have the Lord thus present with you in all your fears straights and dangers see that you keep near to him in the Duties of communion For the Lord is with you whilst you are with him 2 Chron. 15. 2. XII Excellency 'T is the Honour of the Soul and the greatest honour that ever God conferr'd on any creature 't is the glory of the holy Angels in Heaven to be always beholding the face of God Matth. 18. 10. Oh! that God should admit poor dust and ashes unto such a nearness to himself To walk with a King and have frequent converse with him puts a great deal of honour upon a Subject but the Saints walk with God so did Enoch so do all the Saints 1 John 1. 3. Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Christ Iesus They have liberty and access with confidence the Lord as it were delivers them the golden key of prayer by which they may come into his presence on all occasions with the freedom of Children to a Father XIII Excellency 'T is the Instrument of mortification and the most excellent and successful instrument for that purpose in all the World Gal. 5. 16. This I say then Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the works of the flesh Walking in the Spirit is the same thing with walking in communion with God. Now saith the Apostle if you thus walk in the Spirit in the acting of faith love and obedience throughout the course of holy duties the effect of this will be that ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh he doth not say You shall not feel the motions of sin in you or temptations to sin assaulting you but he saith you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh sin shall not have dominion over you this will let out the life-blood of sin A temptation overcome this way is more effectually subdued than by all the vows resolutions and external means in the World as a Candle that is blown out with a puff of breath may be rekindled by another puff but if it be quencht in water 't is not so easily lighted again So it is here you never find that power or success in temptations when your hearts are up with God in the exercises of faith and love as you do when your hearts hang loose from him and dead towards him The Schoolmen assign this as one reason why the Saints in Heaven are impeccable no sin can fasten upon them because say they they there enjoy the beatifical vision of God. This is sure the more communion any man hath with God on Earth the freer he lives from the power of his corruptions XIV Excellency 'T is the Kernel of all Duties and Ordinances Words gestures c. are but the integuments husks and shells of Duties Communion with God is the sweet Kernel the pleasant and nourishing food which lies within them you see the fruits of the Earth are covered and defended by husks shells and such like integuments within which lye the pleasant kernels and grains and that 's the food The Hypocrite who goes no farther than the externals of Religion is therefore said to feed of Ashes Isa. 44. 20. to spend his mony for that which is not bread and his labour for that which satisfieth not Isa. 55. 2. He feeds but upon husks in which there is little pleasure or nourishment what a poor house doth a Hypocrite keep Words Gestures Ceremonies of Religion will never fill the Soul but communion with God is substantial nourishment My Soul saith David shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness whilst I think and meditate on thee Psal. 63. 5 6. It would grieve ones heart to think what airy things many Souls satisfie themselves with feeding like Ephraim upon the wind well contented if they can but shuffle over a few heartless empty duties whilst the Saints feed upon this hidden Manna are feasted as it were with Angels food XV. Excellency 'T is the Light of the Soul in darkness and the pleasantest light that ever shone upon the Soul of Man There 's many a Soul which walketh in darkness some in the darkness of ignorance and unbelief the most dismal of all darkness except that in Hell. There are others who are Children of light in a state of reconciliation yet walk in the darkness of outward afflictions and inward desertions and temptations but as soon as ever the light of Gods countenance shines upon the Soul in the duties of communion with him that darkness is dissipated and scattered 't is all light within him and round about him Psal. 34. 5. They looked unto him and were enlightned they looked there is faith acted in Duty and were enlightned there 's the sweet effect of Faith. The horrors and troubles of gracious Souls shrink away upon the rising of this chearful light as wild Beasts come out of their Dens in the darkness of the night and shrink back again into them when the Sun ariseth Psal. 104. 20 21 22. So do the fears and inward troubles of the people of God when this light shines upon their Souls Nay more this is a light which scatters the very darkness of death it self It was the saying of a worthy Divine of Germany upon his death-bed when his Eye-sight was gone being askt how it was within Why said he though all be dark about me yet pointing as well as he could to his brest hiâ—sat lucis here is light enough XVI Excellency 'T is Liberty to the straightned Soul and the most comfortable and excellent liberty in the whole World. He only walks at liberty that walks with God Psal. 119. 45. I will walk at liberty for I seek thy precepts Wicked men cry out of bands and cords in Religion they look upon the duties of goldliness as the greatest bondage and thraldom in the whole World Psal. 2. 3. Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us q. d. Away with this strictness and precisness it extinguishes the joy and pleasure of our lives give us our Cups instead of Bibles our prophane Songs instead of Spiritual Psalms our Sports and Past-times instead of Prayers and Sermons Alas poor creatures how do they dance in their shackles and chains When in reality the sweetest liberty is enjoyed in those Duties at which they thus snuff The Law of Christ is the Law of Liberty the Soul of man never enjoys more Liberty than when it is bound with the strictest bands of Duty to God. Here 's liberty from enthralling lusts
believing and hungering after Christ Their examples shall be your Judges These are Gods Witnesses Secondly Next let us consider what are the object matters unto which they give their testimony and that will be found two-fold according to the two-fold event the Gospel hath upon them that hear it of both which the Apostle gives us this account 2 Cor. 2. 16. Vnto some we are the savour of life unto life and unto others the savour of death unto death Accordingly a double Record is made 1. Of the obedience and faith of some which Record will be produced to their joy and comfort in the day of the Lord when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired in all them that believe because our testimony among you was believed in that day Ministers are Instruments of espousing Souls to Christ and Witnesses to those espousals and contracts made betwixt him and them 2 Cor. 11. 2. Both these offices are exceeding grateful and pleasant to every faithful Minister 2. A Record is made and Witness taken of all the refusals disobedience and slightings of Christ by others Thus Moses will be the accuser of the Jews John 5. 45. Do not think I will accuse you to the Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom you trust This is the saddest part of a Ministers-work the fore-thoughts of it are more afflictive than all our Labours and Sufferings There is a three-fold Record made in this case 1st Of the time men have enjoyed under the means of Salvation how many years they have sat barren and dead hearted under the labours of Gods faithful Ministers Luke 13. 7. Behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this Fig-tree and find none Behold the same term of Notification with that in the Text applyed to the time of Gods patience towards them And again Ier. 25. 3. From the thirteenth year of Josiah even unto this day that is the three and twentieth year the word of the Lord hath come unto me and I have spoken unto you rising early and speaking but ye have not hearkened Oh consider all the years and days you have spent under the Gospel are upon your Dooms-day-book 2dly Records are also made of all the instruments that ever God employed for the Conversion and Salvation of your Souls So many Ministers whether fixed or transient as have spent their labours upon you are upon the Book of your account Ier. 25. 4. The Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the Prophets rising early and sending them but ye have not hearkened nor enclined your ear to hear They have wasted their Lungs dropt their compassionate tears and burnt down one after another as Candles to direct you to Christ and Salvation but all in vain 3dly Every call perswasion and argument used by them to espouse you to Christ is likewise upon the Book of account Prov. 1. 24. 25. Because I have called and you refused I have stretched my hand and no man regarded but you have set at nought all my counsels and would none of my reproofs These calls and counsels are of too great value with God though of none with you to be lost and left out of your account Thirdly we shall in the last place inquire into the grounds and reasons of these Judicial procedures of God why he will have every mans obedience and disobedience Registred and Witnessed for or against him under Gospel administrations and there are two weighty reasons thereof First that wherever the end of the Gospel is attained in the Conversion of any soul that soul and all that were instrumentally employ'd about the salvation of it may have their proper reward and comfort in the great day 2 Cor. 1. 14. As also you have acknowledged us in part that we are your rejoycing even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Iesus This will be matter of joy unspeakable both to you that shall receive and to them that shall give such a comfortable testimony for you Oh the joyful congratulations that will be in that day between Laborious Faithful Ministers and their Believing Obedient Hearers Lord this was the blessed instrument of my happy Illumination and Conversion though I might have ten thousand Instructers in Christ yet not many Fathers for by the blessing of thy Spirit upon this mans Ministry my Soul was begotten to Christ. And on the other side Lord these are the Souls for whom I travelled as in birth until Christ was formed in them 'T is a glorious thing to say as the Prophet Here am I and the children God hath given me Nay those that were but collaterally useful to help on the work of God begun by others must not lose their reward in that day Iohn 4. 36. And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoyce together Secondly Records are now made and Witnesses taken that thereby the Judicial Sentence of Jesus Christ in the last day may be made clear and perspicuous to all the world that every mouth may be stopt and no Plea or Apology left in the mouth of any condemned Sinner For Christ in that day cometh to convince all that are ungodly Iude ver 15. to convince by demonstration that all that are Christless now may be found speechless then Matth. 22. 12. Here it is said Psal. 1. 5. That the wicked shall not stand or rise up in the Iudgment And no wonder when so many full testimonies and unexceptionable Witnesses shall come point blank against them the Minister that preach'd the word they preached their own consciences and the examples of all Believers will be produced against them 1. INFERENCE First The undoubted certainty of a day of Iudgment is hence evinced To what purpose else are Records made and Witnesses taken but with respect to an Audit day this is a truth sealed upon the consciences of the very Heathens Rom. 2. 15. their consciences bear witness But in vain are all these Records made unless there be a day to produce and plead them and of that day the Prophet Daniel speaks Dan. 7. 10. The Iudgment was set and the Books were opened And again Rev. 20. 12. And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their works Believe it Friends these are no devised Fables but most awful and infallible truths according to the saving effects the Gospel now hath it will be a time of refreshing to our Souls Acts 3. 19. to all others a day of terrour wrath and amazement 2 Thes. 1. 7 8. The day in which the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not
Verily verily I say unto you you must be born again Iohn 3. 5. O sinner that hard Heart of thine must be humbled thy stubborn and refractory Will must be bowed all the powers of thy Soul must be unlockt and opened unto Christ he must come into thy Soul or thou canst never see the face of God in peace It is Christ in you that is the hope of glory Col. 1. 27. Till thy Heart be opened Christ with all the hopes of glory stand without thee And if hopes from the death of Christ without us without the application of his person be enough to save Men then why are any damned Consult 1 Cor. 1. 30. Adams sin damns none but only such as are in him and Christs righteousness saves none but those only that are by faith in him the eternal purposes of the Father the meritorious death of the Son puts no Man into the state of Salvation and happiness till both be brought home by the Spirits powerful application in the work of saving conversion T is good news good indeed that Christ died for sinners t is good news that Christ is brought to our very doors in the tenders of the Gospel and that the Spirit knocks at the door of our Hearts by many convictions and perswasions to open to him and enjoy the unspeakable benefits of his death these things bring us nigh to Christ the next door to Salvation and yet all this may be eventually but a dreadful aggravation of our damnation and will certainly be so to them whose Hearts are but almost opened to Christ. V. Inference See hence the necessity of fervent prayer to accompany the preaching of the Gospel Without the Spirit and power of God accompanying the Word no Heart can ever be opened to Christ Alas such Bars as these are too strong for the breath of Man to break Let Ministers pray and the People pray that the Gospel may be preached with the holy Ghost sent down from Heaven 1 Pet. 1. 12. It greatly concerns us that preach the Gospel to wrestle with God upon our knees to accompany us in the dispensation of it unto the People to steep that seed we sow among you in tears and prayers before you hear it and I beseech you Brethren let us not strive alone joyn your cries to Heaven with ours for the blessing of the Spirit upon the Word How doth Paul beg of the People as a beggar would beg for an alms at the door for their assistance in Prayer Rom. 15. 30. I beseech you brethren for the Lord Iesus Christ sake and for the love of the Spirit that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me For want of such wrestlings with God in prayer there is so little efficacy in Ordinances Martha told her Saviour Iohn 11. 21. Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not died and I may tell you that if the Spirit had been here your Souls had not remained dead under the Word as they do this day Oh when the Sabbath draws near let fervent cries ascend from every Family to Heaven Lord pour out thy Spirit with thy Word make it mighty through thy Power to open these Gates of Iron and break asunder these Bars of Brass Second Vse of Exhortation Seeing the Case stands thus that all Hearts by nature are barr'd and shut up against Christ let every Soul do what it can and strive to its uttermost to get the Heart and Will opened to Christ Strive to enter in at the straight gate Christ is at the Door Oh strive with your selves as well as with God now to get it opened now that Salvation is come so near to your Souls Object But have you not told us that no sinner can open his own Heart nor bow his own Will to Christ Answ. True he cannot convert himself but yet he may do many things in order to it and which have a remote tendency towards it which he doth not do and so he perisheth not though he cannot but because he will not Divers things may be done by poor sinners with their own Hearts which are not done and though in themselves they are insufficient yet being the way and method in and by which the Spirit of God usually works we are bound to do them As for Example 1. Though it be not in your power to open your Hearts to Christ yet it is in your power to forbear the external acts of sin which fasten your Hearts the more against Christ Who forceth thine Hands to steal thy Tongue to swear or lye who forces the cup of excess down thy Throat 2ly Though you cannot open your Hearts under the Word yet it is in your power to wait and attend upon the external Duties and Ordinances of the Gospel Why cannot those Feet carry thee to the Assemblies of the Saints as well as to an Ale-house 3ly And though you cannot let the Word effectually into your Hearts yet certainly you can apply your minds with more attention and consideration to it than you do Who forces thine Eyes to wander or closes them with sleep when the awful matters of eternal Life and Death are founding in thine Ears 4ly Though you cannot open your Hearts to embrace Christ yet certainly you can reflect upon your selves when the obvious characters of a Christless state are plainly held forth before your Eyes God hath given you a self-reflecting power The spirit of a Man knoweth the things of a Man 1 Cor. 2. 11. When you hear of Convictions of sin compunctions of Heart for sin deep concernments of the Soul about its eternal state hungerings and thirstings after Christ restless and anxious Days and Nights about Salvation others have felt you can certainly turn in upon your selves and examine whether ever it were so with you and if not methinks it were not hard to aggravate your own misery to take your poor Souls aside and bemoan them saying Ah my poor Soul canst thou endure everlasting burnings What will become of thee if Christ pass thee by and his Spirit strive no more with thee Why can't you throw your selves at the Feet of God and cry for mercy Prayer is a part of natural Worship distress usually puts Men upon it that yet have no Grace Ionah 1. 5. Do but this towards the opening and saving of your own Souls which though it be not in it self sufficient nor puts God under any meritorious obligation or necessity to add the rest yet it puts you into the way of the Spirit And is not thy Soul sinner worth as much as this comes too Have you not taken a great deal more pains than this for the trifles of this World And will it not be a dreadful aggravation of sin and misery to all eternity that you perished so easily Dont you see many striving round about you for Christ and Salvation whilst you sit still with folded Arms as if you had nothing to do for another World
knock and no opening and these things are very common especially among the unconverted that live under a lively Gospel rouzing Ministry of this Christ complains Matth. 11. 16 17. Whereunto shall I liken this generation They are like unto Children sitting in the market-place and calling to their fellows saying We have piped unto you and you have not daunced We have mourned unto you but you have not lamented q. d. Neither the delicious airs and melody of Gospel grace nor the mournful and dreadful threats of damnation to unbelievers avail any thing to open your Hearts to embrace me no voices from mount Gerezim or mount Ebal will prevail with you Ah how many sad witnesses unto this truth have I now before mine Eyes But God forbid it should be thus all round No no there be some Souls who hear and open even every one that hath heard and learned of the Father Iohn 6. 45. When the Spirit of God puts forth his Power with the Word then and not till then it becomes successful 4ly Sometimes Christ knocks with a thick succession of Convictions a quick repetition of his calls Some men have had thousands of Convictions in a few years for in this case the Lord saith as it is Exod. 4. 8. If they will not harken to the voice of the first sign yet they may believe the voice of the latter sign And yet sometimes neither the former nor the latter avail any thing How oft would I have gathered thy Children and ye woul not Matth. 23. 37. How often Intimating the many calls Christ gave Ierusalem to come unto him yet all in vain Obstinate sinners Christ hath been knocking and calling at some of your Consciences from your very Child-hood thousands of Convictions have been tryed upon some of you and yet to this day your Souls are shut fast against him The Lord hath waited from year to year for your answer by this signifying how loath he is to part with you such a time thou wast upon a sick-bed nigh unto Death at such a time under such a Sermon and then Christ knockt at thy Soul if all this be in vain so many Convictions as you have stifled so many fagots you carry with you to Hell to increase your flames and torments yet commonly those quick repetitions and redoublings of the stroaks of Convictions end well and it is a good sign when one Conviction revives another and the Lord keeps the Soul still waking But O take heed and try not his Patience too long lest the next stroak be more dreadful than all the former not to open your Hearts but smite dead your hopes for Heaven 5ly Sometimes Christ knocks intermittingly knocking and stopping a call and silence and that at a considerable time and distance a conviction this day and it may be not another in many Months There be some aged sinners that have not had more than one or two remarkable rouzings of Conscience in fifty or sixty years time and then no more Dont think that the Lord will make his Spirit always strive with Men Gen 6. 3. no there is a time when God saith to the Word convict the Conscience of that Man or Woman no more not a stroak more by way of Conviction but henceforth be thou for Obduration not to open but to shut him up Isa. 6. 10. Reader bethink thy self how long was it since thy Conscience was rouzed and awakened O saith one seven or ten years ago I heard such a Sermon which tore my Conscience to pieces I fell under such a sad providence which rouzed and awakened all my fears but since that time all hath been still and quiet the Lord give a second awakning lest you awake with the flames of God's wrath about you I observe it is usual when God works upon any very early he knocks thus intermittingly now the Conscience is active and full of trouble then the vanities of Youth extinguish these Convictions again but the Lord follows his design and at last the Conviction settles and ends in Conversion 6ly Christ sometimes knocks with both Hands at once with the Word and with the Rod together the latter in subserviency to the former and if ever the Soul be like to open it will open then when Ordinances and Afflictions work together The Word smites the Conscience with Conviction and at or about the same time providence smites the outward-man with some affliction to make the Word work effectually or under some smart affliction a suitable word is seasonably directed to the Conscience and thus Iuncta Iuvant the one assisteth the other and both together produce the desired effect Thus the Lord wrought upon the Thessalonians 1 Thes. 1. 6. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord having received the Word in much affliction A Child dies an Estate is lost or a Sickness seizeth at the time when Conscience is prepared by a Conviction from the Word or Afflictions have prepared it for the Word The Rod upon the Back helps the Word to work upon the Heart and if both these working in fellowship will not do the work there is little hope that any thing will do it 7ly Every knock of Christ disturbs the sinful rest of the Soul it rouzeth guilt in the Conscience and puts the inner-man into great distress and trouble before Christ comes and knocks at the door of the Heart all is still and quiet within the Soul is in a quiet sleep of sinful security no fears or troubles molest its rest Luke 11. 21. When a strongman armed keepeth his Palace his goods are in peace But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted The armour which Satan puts into the Hands of sinners to defend themselves against the Convictive stroaks of the Word are the general Mercy of God the outward Duties of Religion partial Reformations c. But when Christ comes by effectual Conviction he disarms the sinner of all these pleas and then the Soul sees what broken Reeds it leaned upon When the Commandment came saith Paul sin revived and I dyed Rom. 7. 9. i. e. all my vain hopes expired no artifice of Satan can any longer quiet the sinners Conscience he apprehends himself in a miserable condition meditates an escape farewel now to sound and quiet sleep no peace till out of danger 8ly Every effectual knock of Christ gives an allarm to Hell and puts Satan to all his shifts and arts to secure the possession of the convinced sinner The Devil is a jealous Spirit and when his interest is in danger he bestirs himself to purpose the time of Conviction is an hour of temptation We wrestle not with flesh and blood saith the Apostle but against Principalities against Powers against the Rulers of the darkness of this World against Spiritual wickedness or wicked Spirits in high-places or about heavenlies Eph. 6. 12. The strife betwixt Satan and the Soul is
out of that Bosom of delights to suffer so many things for the sake of poor sinners Secondly Let us consider Christs temper and disposition towards union and communion with sinners within time and every thing done by Christ carries and confirms this Conclusion 1. His Assumption of our Nature plainly speaks it 2. His whole Life upon Earth evidently discovers it 3. His Doctrin is a clear proof of it 4. His Joy at the Conversion of Souls proves it 5. His Sorrows for Mens unbelief evidence it 6. His indefatigable Labours plainly shew it 7. His admirable Encouragements to coming sinners 8. His dreadful Menaces to obstinate sinners 9. His sending and encouraging Ministers to draw and gather the World to himself All these things which were transacted in the Life of Christ plainly demonstrate how greatly and earnestly his Heart did propend and incline towards this desirable union with the Sons of Men. 1. Christs Assumption of our Nature manifesteth his desire after union with us Herein he gave two incomparable proofs of his transcendent love to us and desire after us 1. In passing by a more excellent Nature 2. In marying our Nature to himself 1. He passed by a superiour and more excellent Nature Heb. 2. 16. Verily he took not on him the Nature of Angels Angels were excellent Creatures but behold vessels of Gold cast into the fire and Earthen potsherds fitted for glory 'T is true the Angels that kept their integrity are Members of Christs Kingdom he is an Head to them by way of Dominion but unto us by way of Vital union Christ takes the believer into a nearer union with himself than any Angel in Heaven but for the multitudes of apostate Angels he never designed their recovery but left them as they were before bound in chains of darkness unto the Judgment of the great Day Iude vers 6. This preterition of Christ heightens his love to poor Man. 2ly In marying our Nature to himself and that after sin had blasted its beauty and let in so many direful calamities upon it Rom. 8. 3. He was found in the likeness of sinful flesh i. e. Flesh subject to weariness pains and death which though there be no sin in them yet are the effects and consequences of sin Such a Nature he assumed into a Personal union with himself not to experience any new pleasure in it but to capacitate himself to suffer and satisfie for us and therein to give a convincing proof of the strength of his love and vehemency of his desire to us His personal union with our Nature shews his desire after a mystical union with our Persons He would never have been the Son of Man but to make us the Sons and Daughters of the living God He came in our likeness that we by Sanctification might be made in his likeness Behold how near Christ comes to us by his Incarnation O what a stoop did he make therein to recover us Rather than lose us he was contented to lose his manifestative glory for a time for his Incarnation made him of no reputation Phil. 2. 7. Behold the desires of a Saviour after union with sinners II. The whole Life of Christ upon Earth was an evident proof and demonstration of the desiers of his Heart to be in union and communion with us Iohn 17. 19. For their sakes I sanctifie my self The Life of Christ was wholly set apart for us therefore it is said Isa. 9. 6. Vnto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given What was the errand and buisness upon which Christ came into this World but to seek and to save that which was lost All the Miracles he wrought on Earth were so many works of Mercy he could have wrought his Miracles to have destroyed and ruined such as received him not but his Almighty Power was imployed to heal and save the Bodies of Men that thereby he might win their Souls unto him Acts 10. 38. God anointed Iesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with Power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil for God was with him When the Apostles desired a Commission from him to fetch fire from Heaven to destroy the Samaritans he rebuked them saying Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of for the Son of Man came not to destroy Mens lives but to save them Luke 9. 54 55 56. The whole Life of Christ in this World was nothing else but a woing drawing motive to the Hearts of sinners he rejected not the vilest of sinners Luke 7. 39. He rejected none that came unto him he would not have little Children forbid to be brought unto him Mark 10. 13. What his winning carriage should be was long before predicted by the Prophet Isa. 42. 3. A bruised Reed shall he not break and smoaking Flax shall he not quench Lentulus the Proconsul in his Epistle ad S. P. Q. R. having Graphically described the Person of Christ gives this account of his carriage and deportment In his reproofs he was terrible in his admonitions fair and amiable chearful without levity he was never seen to laugh but often to weep his words grave few and modest c. Christ was in the World as a load-stone drawing all Men to him his deportment was every way suitable to his Commission which was to preach good tydings to the Meek to bind up the broken Hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound Isa. 61. 1. III. As his Life so his Doctrin was a woing and inviting Doctrin a most pathetical invitation unto sinners Never Man spake as he spake whenever he opened his Lips Heaven opened the very Heart of God was opened in it to sinners the whole stream and current of his Doctrin was one continued powerful perswasive to draw sinners to him This was his Language Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Matth. 11. 28. In the last day the great day of the feast Iesus stood up and cryed If any Man thirst let him come to me and drink John 7. 37. Himself resembles it to the clucking of a Hen to gather her Chickins under her wings Luke 13. 34. O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered thy Children together as a Hen doth gather her brood under her wings Certainly tâ—e whole stream of the Gospel is nothing else but the charming voice of the Heavenly Bridegroom IV. The Joy he always exprest for the success of the Gospel speaks him to be an earnest suiter for the Hearts of Sinners 'T is very remarkable that all the Evangelists who have recorded the life of Christ never mention one laugh or smile that ever came from him For he was a Man of sorrows yet once you read that he rejoiced in Spirit and you shall see the occasion of it in Luke 10. 21. In that hour Iesus rejoiced in Spirit And what was it
the sincerity of Christ in those gracious offers he makes unto coming Souls Be satisfied he speaks his very Heart in them to thee the Devil labours to sow jealousies and beget suspicions in the Hearts of poor convinced sinners that they will not find such a welcom entertainment with Christ as he seems to promise them in those encouraging Scriptures Matth. 11. 28 29. Iohn 6. 37. But that something else lies hid in those Scriptures as a mystery which they understand not and so by shaking the assenting act labours to hinder the accepting act of Faith this is a case as common as it is sad the Lord help poor Souls to avoid this snare lest in stead of honoring Christ by a resolved adherence to him they make him a lyer and impute insincerity to the God of truth For he that believeth not hath made him a lyer IV. Direction Fourthly Look up to God for power to enable you to come to Christ in this supernatural and difficult work of Faith. Dont think Faith is of the growth of thine own Heart No Man can come unto me saith Christ except my Father which hath sent me draw him There is a legal Spirit working under Evangelical pretences in many Souls they look within them to find that which is quite above them the Apostle points you to the fountain of Faith in Eph. 2. 8. It is not of your selves it is the gift of God. 'T is one of the greatest difficulties in the World to believe For if the power of God must be owned as the cause of every new degree of Faith in the greatest believers in the World as is plain Luke 17. 5. The Apostles said unto the Lord Increase our Faith. How much more is the production of Faith it self and the first vital act thereof to be ascribed to the Almighty Power of God V. Direction Fifthly Keeping thine Eye of Expectation upon that Almighty Power pray and plead with the Lord assiduously and importunately for the exerting of that Power upon thy Soul and give not over thy Suit till thou feel that Power coming upon thee The time of believing is a time of earnest pleading thine own danger and necessity and the Spirit of the Lord improving them will abundantly furnish thee with Pleas and Arguments to enforce this Suit. Such as these 1. Lord I have thy call and invitation yea I have thy command to encourage me to believe it is not presumption therefore in thy poor Creature to come after thou hast invited and commanded me hadst thou not encouraged me I durst not have moved towards thee Lord whose Word is it 1 Ioh. 3. 23. is it not thine own This makes my Faith an act of obedience 2. Yea Lord I have thy promise as well as thy command made upon no other condition but my coming to thee blessed Jesus hast not thou said Iohn 6. 37. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out An invitation is much but thy promise is more 3. O my God I have not only thy command making it my duty to believe and thy promise to encourage me to that duty but I have the examples of other sinners that came unto thee long ago and thou didst not reject them nor do I abuse those examples in drawing incouragement from them for it was thy very design in recording them that they might be so many patterns to all that should hereafter believe on thee 1 Tim. 1. 16. 4. O my God I am shut up under a plain necessity I have no other way to take thus stands the case with me I am beaten off from all other refuges there is no help for me in Angels nor Men in duties or self-righteousness in thee only my Soul can find rest I am shut up to thee as to the only door of hope Gal. 3. 23. here I must speed or perish my Soul is burthened and wearied I know not how to dispose of it but into thy Hands nor where to lay the burden of my guilt but upon thee if I miss here I am gone for ever 5. Lord I am willing to renounce and abandon all other hopes refuges and righteousness and to stick to and rely upon thee only Duties cannot justifie me tears cannot wash me reformation cannot save me nothing but thy righteousness can answer my end I come to thee a poor naked Creature saying as the Church Hos. 14. 3. Asshur shall not save us c. for in thee do the fatherless find mercy Thus plead it with God and still remember you are pleading for Life yea for your eternal Life VI. Direction Sixthly Labour to make a resolved adventure upon Christ amidst all those encouragements let the issue be what it will resolve to venture though you have not the least degree of assurance that you shall be accepted and pardoned This is that brave and noble act of Faith which carries the Soul to Christ much as Hester came to the King Yet will I go in to the King and if I perish I. perish Hest. 4. 16. It pities me to think how the saving act of Faith is grosely mistaken in the World the generality think it is enough for them to believe that Christ died for sinners and therefore for them as well as any other but you see Faith is another matter O there are great difficulties and mighty wrestlings in the Work of Believing 't is a great matter for a poor convinced sinner in the face of so much guilt and viâ—eâ—ess and amidst such manifold damps and discouragements from Satan to cast and adventure himself upon Christ and that upon such self-denying terms but the pinch of necessity will bring the Soul to this for now it reasons with it self as the Lepers did 2 Kings 7. 4 5. If we go to the Camp of the Assyrians we can but dye and if we abide here we must certainly dye thus here if I sit still in the state of Nature and still continue demurring and delaying my damnation is unavoidable to Hell I must go and if I cast my self upon Christ I can but be rejected but he hath said He will not cast out those that come unto him in this way of Faith there is a possibility of Salvation yea there dawns from it a strong probability this therefore is my only way To him I will go and if I perish I perish VII Direction Seventhly Never measure the grace of God nor the mercy of Christ by the rule of your own narrow conceptions and apprehensions of him but believe them to be far greater than your contracted and narrow understanding represents them to you Our casting of the pardoning power and mercy of God into the mould of our own thoughts disfigures and alters them so that they look not like themselves but with a very discouraging aspect upon our Souls by this Satan keeps off many a Soul from coming to Christ the Lord knows how to forgive thee though thou scarce knowest how to forgive thy self for the
special season or hour as Christ calls it Iohn 5. 25. The hour cometh when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And elsewhere by the Apostle it is called the accepted Time the day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6. 2. And the conjunction of the Spirit of Christ with the Word Ordinances or Providences of God but especially the Word makes this blessed hour The Word alone though never so excellently preacht conduces no more to the Conviction and Salvation of a sinner than the Waters of Bethesda did when the Angel came not down to trouble them Iohn 5. 4. But when the Lord pours out his Spirit with the Word according to that promise Prov. 1. 23. I will pour out my Spirit upon you and make known my Words unto you then Christ speaks to the Heart this great conjunction of the Word and Spirit makes that blessed nick and season of Salvation The time of love the time of life Now the voice of Christ is heard with effect the Ordinances impregnated with convincing and converting efficacy There was an abundant effusion of the Spirit in the first Age of Christianity and then the voice of Christ was heard by multitudes of Souls at once There hath since been a restraint of the Spirit comparatively speaking whereas three thousand Souls were then converted at one Sermon possibly three thousand Sermons have since been preached and not one Soul effectually called This hath made the Church like a Wilderness a Land of drouth and so 't is like to remain until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high and the wilderness be a fruitful field according to that promise Isa. 32. 15. And such a time we expect Lord hasten it when the waters of the Ordinances shall be healed and every thing that liveth which moveth whithersoever the River shall come shall live And fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim they shall be a place to spread forth nets their fish shall be according to their kinds as the fish of the great Sea exceeding many Ezek. 47. 9 10. Then Ministers shall no longer fish with Angles catching now one then another but shall spread forth their nets and inclose whole shoals multitudes of Converts in the mean time there are some signal periods and happy seasons wherein Christ uttereth his Almighty voice in the World but that season is utterly unforeknown to Man we cannot say when it will come but are to wait for it as the Man did at the pool of Bethesda Ministers must preach in hope wait in hope if at any time God will give the people repentance 2 Tim. 2. 25. We are often mistaken in our conjectures when we have made the best preparations and find a more than ordinary enlargedness of Spirit we are apt to conclude certainly this is the blessed hour wherein Christ will speak to the Heart as we do to the Ear but we oft-times find our selves mistaken yet we must wait in hope and so must our people Such a happy time may come and when it doth it will be a day for ever to be remembred because then the first actual application of Christ will be made to your Souls without which all that the Father had done in Election and the Son in his meritorious Redemption had been of no benefit or advantage to your Souls And therefore you shall find that this work of the Spirit stands betwixt both those works and makes them both effectual to our Salvation 1 Pet. 1. 2. This is that blessed hour upon which your eternal blessedness depends eternity will be taken up in blessing God for this hour it will be celebrated for ever in your praises in the World to come O what an influence hath this hour into all eternity The hearing of this voice of Christ effectually opens the Cabinet counsels of Heaven and brings to light the eternal counsels of God concerning you 1 Thes. 1. 4 5. Knowing brethren beloved your election of God for our Gospel came not to you in word only but also in power and in the Holy Ghost This gives greater assurance of the eternal love of God to a Mans Soul than the sweetest smile of providence or any oraculous voice from Heaven can do This is the time of life the day of your Spiritual Resurrection Iohn 5. 25. A greater and more glorious Resurrection by far than that of your bodies at the last day â—o much greater as the value of your Souls is above your Bodies As also because the blessedness of your Corporeal Resurrection depends upon this your Spiritual Resurrection by the voice of Christ. Dreadful will the voice of Christ be at the Resurrection of your Bodies except you first hear this vital voice of Christ quickning your Souls on Earth with spiritual life To conclude this is the great Aera or head of account from which you are to reckon and date all your spiritual sanctified mercies for as the Lord said unto the Jews Hag. 2. 19. From henceforth will I bless you So saith the Lord to you from this hour wherein you have heard and obeyed the voice of Christ will I bless you for ever with all Spiritual blessings in heavenly places in him I. Vse for Lamentation This Point presents us with abundant matter of Lamentation and mourning over the greatest part of those that sit under the sound of the Gospel but yet as Christ speaks of the Jews Iohn â— 37. who have not heard the voice of God at any time the Ministerial voice of Christ they hear dayly but this Efficacious Internal voice which makes the Ministerial voice the Word of Life and Power they have not heard The Gospel to the most of our hearers is but an empty sound this is a sad symptom 2 Cor. 4. 3. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them that believe not c. This hiding of the Gospel is not opposed to the external administration of it nor yet to the understanding of the true sense and meaning of the truths delivered by it but only to that internal efficacy which is here called the hearing of Christs voice Our people are generally well satisfied when they have heard a Sermon much more if they can remember something of it though the Lord hath not spoken one truth they have heard home to their Hearts Now this is a sad case and God grant it be not that very judgment threatned Isa. 6. 9. Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not So that hearing the meer voice of Man without feeling the power of God is all one as if we heard not Reflect sadly upon this you that sit as unconcerned under the Word as the Seats you sit upon God speaketh once yea twice but man perceiveth it not Well the eternal Decrees and Counsels of God are now executing upon the Souls of Men under the Gospel As many as
might be pardoned did not this sin lye in the way were this gone all the rest were gone too but whilst Unbelief remains they also remain upon thee 2ly Of all the sins that are upon the Souls of men this is the most difficult sin to be removed and cured Other sins lye more open to conviction but this hath the most specious pretences to countenance and defend it Men commit this sin out of a fear of sin They will not believe lest they should presume They dare not believe because they are not qualified The strength of other sins meets in this sin of Unbelief it is the strongest Fort wherein Satan trusteth Take an Adulterer or a profane Swearer and you have a fair open way to convince him of his sin shew him the Command he hath violated and he hath nothing to say in his own defence but the Unbeliever hath a thousand plausible defences 3ly This is the great damning sin of the world I do not say but all other sins deserve damnation for the wages of sin is death but this is the sin in the virtue whereof other sins damn and ruin the Soul. This is the Condemnation John 3. 19. And as it is a damning sin so it is a sin which damns with aggravated damnation 2 Thess. 1. 8. O then let us mourn over and tremble at this dreadful sin which opposes and so often frustrates the great design and main end of the whole Gospel IV. Vse for Exhortation Is it the main scope of the Gospel to bring men to Christ by Faith then be perswaded heartily to comply with this great design of the Father Son and Spirit Ministers Ordinances and Providences in opening your hearts to receive Christ this day by Faith unfeigned And oh that I could suitably press this great Point which falls in so directly with the main stream and scope of the whole Gospel And oh that whilst I am pressing it you would list up an hearty cry to Heaven Lord give me faith whatever else thou deny me open my heart to Christ under the Gospel Calls I do not only press you to a general and common assent to the Truths of the Gospel that Christ is come in the flesh and laid down his life for sinners but unto an hearty Evangelical consent to receive him upon Gospel terms to close with him in all his Offices subjecting heart and life unto his Authority living entirely upon him for righteousness and to him by holiness The value of such a Faith as this is above all estimation For 1. this is the Grace which God hath dignified and crowned with Glory and Honour above all its fellow Graces It s singular Praises and Encomiums are in all the Scriptures This is called precious faith 2 Pet. 1. 1. Soul enriching faith Iames 2. 5. That 's a miserable poor Soul indeed that is destitute of it whatever the Largesses of Providence have been to him And he is truly rich to whom God hath given Faith whatever he hath denied him of the comforts of this life This Christ calls the work of God Iohn 6. 29. This is the work of God that you believe Why so are all other things that your eyes behold they are the works of God the Earth the Sea the Sun Moon and Stars they are his handy-work True they are so but this is the work the most eminent glorious and admirable work of God sine pari excelling all his other works which your eyes behold And 2. that which exalts and dignifies it not only above all the works of God's hands but even above its fellow Graces the works of his Spirit is that high Office unto which it is appointed in the justification of a Sinner God hath singled out this Grace from among all the other Graces to be the instrument of receiving and applying the righteousness of Christ for the justification of a guilty Soul Rom. 5. 1. You are never said to be justified by love hope or desire but by faith 'T is true all other Graces are supposed in the person justified but none apprehends and applies the righteousness of Christ for justification but this only And the justifying act of faith being a receiving act the Glory of God is therein secured therefore it is of Faith that it might be by Grace 3. The Grace of Faith which I am recommending to you this day is not only the instrument of your Justification but it is also the bond of your union with Christ Eph. 3. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by Faith. 'T is the uniting Grace the Marriage Knot 't is that which gives interest in and title to the person and benefits of Christ. The great thing upon which the eyes of all the awakened world are intently and solicitously fixed Whatever apprehensions you have of an interest in Christ and whatever his benefits be worth in your eyes neither himself or them can ever be obtained without Faith. O Brethren there is a day coming when they that now sleight and neglect this interest and concern of their Souls would gladly part with ten thousand worlds for a good title to Christ could it be purchased therewith But it is Faith and nothing without Faith that intitles you to Christ and to his benefits 4. That which should yet more endear this Grace of Faith to you is this that it is the hand which receives your pardon from the hand of Christ the Messenger that brings a sealed Pardon to a trembling Sinner Acts 10. 43. And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses Cleared of all those sins from which the Law could never clear them nor any Repentance Restitution or Obedience of their own without Faith O what a welcom Messenger is Faith and what joyful tydings doth it bring you would say so if ever you had felt the efficacy of the Law upon your Consciences if ever you had lain as some sinners have with a cold sweating horrour upon your panting bosoms under the apprehensions of the wrath God. This fruit of Faith is rather to be admired than exprest Psal. 32. 1. 5. Faith is not only the Messenger that brings you a Pardon from Heaven but it is as I may say that heavenly Herauld that publishes Peace in the Soul of a Sinner O Peace how sweet a word art thou how welcom to a poor condemned Sinner Beautiful upon the Mountains are the feet of them that publish peace Now 't is faith that brings this blessed News and publishes it in the Soul without which all the publishers of peace without us can administer but little support Rom. 5. 1. Faith brings the Soul out of the Storms and Tempests with which it was tossed into a sweet Rest and Calm Hebr. 4. 3. We which have believed do enter into Rest. Is the quiet Harbour welcom to poor weather-beaten Seamen after they have past furious storms and many fears upon the raging
Christ unto greater chearfulness in the paths of obedience to Christ. This is another end for which God communicates them that our Souls being refreshed by them we might pluck up our feet the more nimbly in the paths of duty Psal. 119. 32. Then will I run the ways of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart Now God expects that you pray more frequently meditate more delightfully and perform every duty more cheerfully And this is the way to perpetuate your comforts How many Christians go on droopingly in the ways of duty for want of those encouragements you enjoy SERMON XI Revel 3. 20. I will sup with him and he with me WE have heard the first encouragement or argument of Christ to perswade the Hearts of Sinners to open to him viz. That he will come in to them and that not empty handed He will also Sup with them and to make the encouragement compleat and full he here adds And he with me This last clause sets forth that Spiritual-soul-refreshing-communion which is betwixt Christ and believers begun in this World compleated and perfected in the World to come Hence our tenth Observation is XI DOCT. That there is a mutual sweet and intimate communion betwixt Iesus Christ and believers in this World. Communion with Christ is frequent in the lips of many men but an hidden mystery to the Souls of most men This Atheistical age scoffs and ridicules it as Enthusiasm and Fanaticism but the Saints find that reality and incomparable sweetness in it that they would not part with it for Ten thousand Worlds When the Roman Soldiers entred the Temple at Ierusalem and found no Image there as they used to have in their own Idolatrous Temples they gave out in a Jeer that the Jews worshiped the Clouds Thus prophane Atheists scoff at the most solemn awful and sweetest part of internal Religion as a meer fancy but the thing is real sure and sensible if there be truth in any thing in the World there is truth in this That there are real intercourses betwixt the visible and invisible World betwixt Christ and the Souls of believers which we here call communion 1 Iohn 1. 3. Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Christ Iesus 'T is really and truly so we impose not upon the World we tell you no more than we have felt The life of Enoch is call'd his walking with God Gen. 5. 24. O sweet and pleasant walk All pleasures all joys are in that walk with God. Blessed are the people that hear the joyful sound they shall walk O Lord in the light of thy countenance Psal. 89. 15. The joyful sound there spoken of was the sound of the trumpet which called the people to the solemn Assemblies where they walked in the light of Gods countenance the sweet manifestations of his favour and because the World is so apt to suspect the reality and certainty of this Doctrin the Apostle again asserts it Phil. 3. 20. Truly our conversation is in Heaven We breath below but we live above we walk on Earth but our conversation is in Heaven To open this Point three things must come under consideration 1. What Communion with Christ is 2. That there is such a Communion betwixt him and believers 3. The excellency of this Communion First What Communion with Christ is in the general nature of it To open this it must be considered that there is a twofold Communion 1. A state of Communion 2. Actual Communion The first is fundamental to the second we can have no actual Communion with the Father Son or Spirit till we be first brought into a state of Communion This state of Communion is in Scripture called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our fellowship or partnership with Christ. Such a Fellowship as Merchants have in one and the same Ship and Cargo where one hath more and another less but however a joint though unequal interest one lives in one Kingdom another in another Kingdom but they are joyntly interested in the same Goods This comparison must not be stretcht beyond its intention which is to shew nothing but this that Christ and believers are co-partners or co-heirs in the same inheritance hence they are called Psal. 45. 7. his fellows God even thy God hath anointed thee with the oyl of gladness above thy fellows and again Rom. 8. 17. If children then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Christ states his people gives then a right and title not only to himself but to those good things purchased by him yea and the very glory he now enjoys in Heaven Iohn 17. 22. The glory which thou gavest me I have given them 'T is true there are some things in Christ which are peculiar to himself and incommunicable to any creature as his eternity consubstantiality with his Father c. neither have we fellowship in his mediatorial Works we have the fruits and benefits of them but no partnership with him in the glory and honour of them that is peculiarly his own and though it be said in the Scriptures that believers are righteous as he is righteous yet the meaning is not that they can Justifie others as Christ doth no they are Justified by him but cannot communicate righteousness to others as Christ doth to them But there are other things wherein there is a partnership betwixt Christ and his people among others they partake with him in the Spirit of Sanctification on Earth and glory in Heaven The same Spirit of holiness which dwells in Christ without measure is communicated by him to the Saints in measure 1 Iohn 4. 13. He hath given us of his Spirit And as Christ communicates his Spirit to the Saints so he communicates the glory of Heaven to them not that they shall be as glorious in Heaven as Christ is no no he will be known among the Saints in glory as the Sun is known from the lesser Stars Thus briefly of the state of communion which is called in Scripture our being made nigh Eph. 2. 13. and indeed we must be made nigh before we can actually draw nigh We must be put into a state of fellowship before ever we can have actual communion with God. Secondly Beside this state of Communion there is also an actual Communion which the Saints have in this World with the Father and Son in the duties of Religion This is that I am here ingaged to open This is our supping with Christ and his with us and for clearness sake I shall open it both 1. Negatively What it is not 2. Positively What it is I. Negatively What it is not for I find persons are hugely apt to mistake in this matter taking that for Communion with God which is not so and here let it be noted First That Communion with God doth not consist in the bare performance of Religious duties I do not say that Men may have Communion with God in this World without duties 't is a delusion
and from enslaving fears The Spirit of Life which is in Christ Iesus hath made me free from the law of Sin and Death Rom. 8. 2. And here is freedom indeed If the Son make you free then are you free indeed John 8. 36. And here is freedom from fears Luke 1. 74 75. Those that will not endure any restraint from their lusts they will have their freedom to sin a freedom they shall have such as it is Rom. 6. 20. When ye were the servants of sin ye were free from righteousness Let none therefore be prejudiced at the ways of Duty and strict Godliness The law of Christ is the perfect law of liberty James 1. 25. Not liberty to sin but liberty from sin XVII Excellency 'T is a Mercy purchased by the blood of Christ for Believers and one of the principal Mercies setled upon them by the new Covenant grant A peculiar mercy which none but the Redeemed of the Lord partake of a mercy which cost the blood of Christ to purchase it I do not deny but there are thousands of other mercies bestowed upon the unregenerate they have Health Wealth Children Honours Pleasures and all the delights of this Life but for communion with God and the pleasures that result therefrom they are uncapable of these No supping with Christ upon such excellent privileges and mercies as these till the heart be opened to him by faith you cannot come nigh to God until you be first made nigh by reconciliation Eph. 2. 13. Heb. 10. 19 20 21 22. What would your lives Christians be worth to you if this mercy were cut off from you There would be little sweetness or savour in all your outward mercies were it not for this mercy that sweetens them all And there is this difference among many others betwixt this mercy and all outward mercies You may be cut off from the enjoyment of those you cannot from this no prison can keep out the Comforter O bless God for this invaluable Mercy XVIII Excellency 'T is Natural to the new Creature the inclination and instinct of the new Creature leadeth to Communion with God. 'T is as natural to the new Creature to desire it and work after it as it is to the new-born babe to make to the breast 1 Pet 2. 2 As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby There is a law upon the regenerate part which inwardly and powerfully obliges it to acts of Duty and converse with God in them Communion with God is a thing that riseth out of the principles of grace You know all Creatures in this lower World act according to the Laws of Nature the Sun will rise and the Sea will flow at its appointed time and the gracious Soul will make towards its God in the times and seasons of Communion with him They are not forced on to those Duties by the frights of Conscience and the fears of Hell so much as by the natural inclination of the new Creature Two things demonstrate Communion with God to be co-natural to the regenerate part called the inner-man and the hidden-man of the heart viz. 1. The Restlesness of a gracious Soul without it Cant. 3. 2. The Church in the first verse had sought her beloved but found him not doth she sit down satisfied in his absence No no I will rise now and go about the City in the streets and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my Soul loveth 2. The Satisfaction and Pleasure the rest and delight which the Soul finds and feels in the enjoyment of Communion with God plainly shews it to be agreeable to the new Nature Psal. 63. 5. My Soul shall be satisfied whilst I think on thee And when it is thus then Duties become easie and pleasant to the Soul 1 Iohn 5. 3. His commandments are not grievous Yea and such a Soul will be constant and assiduous in those Duties That which is natural is constant as well as pleasant what 's the reason Hypocrites throw up the Duties of Religion in times of difficulty but because they have not an inward principle agreeable to them The motives to Duty lie without them not within them XIX Excellency 'T is the Occupation and trade of all sanctified persons and the richest Trade that was ever driven by men This way they grow rich in Spiritual Treasures the Revenues of it are better than Silver and Gold There be many of you have Traded long for this World and it comes to little and had you gained your designs you had gained but trifles This is the rich and profitable occupation Phil. 3. 20. Our conversation is in Heaven Our Commerce and Trade lies that way so that word signifies There be few Christians that have driven this Soul-enriching Trade any considerable time but can shew some Spiritual Treasures which they have gotten by it Psal. 119. 50. This I had because I kept thy precepts As Merchants can shew the Gold and Silver the Lands and Houses the rich Goods and Furniture which they have gotten by their succesful Adventures abroad and tell their Friends so much I got by such a Voyage and so much by another So Christians have invaluable treasures though their humility conceals them which they have gotten by this heavenly Trade of Communion with God. Their Souls were weak and by Communion with God they have gotten strength Psal. 13 8. 3. I cryed and thou strengthnedst me with strength in my Soul. They have gotten peace by it a treasure inestimable Psal. 119. 165. Great peace have they that love thy Law and nothing shall offend them They have gotten purity by it Psal. 119. 3. They do no iniquity that walk in thy ways O what rich returns are here Nay they get sometimes full assurance by it The riches of both the Indies will not purchase from a Christian the least of these mercies These are the rich rewards of our pains in the Duties of Religion In keeping thy Commandments there is great reward XX. Excellency 'T is Oyl to the Wheels of Obedience which makes the Soul go on chearfully in the ways of the Lord Psal. 119. 32. Then will I run the ways of thy Commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart Non tardat uncta rota Oyled Wheels run trig and nimble How prompt and ready for any Duty of Obedience is a Soul under the influences of Communion with God! Then as Isaiah having gotten a sight of God Here am I Lord send me Isa. 6. 8. Now the Soul can turn its hand to Duties Of 1. Active And 2. Passive Obedience I. Hereby the Soul is prepared and fitted for the Duties of Active Obedience to which it applies it self with pleasure and delight Psal. 43. 3 4. Then will I go unto the Altar of God unto God my exceeding joy or as it is in the Hebrew the gladness of my joy It goes to prayer as an hungry man to a feast or as a covetuous man to his