the Spirit of Christ and not after the Flesh or according to the course of the World as formerly Is the Life you lead in the Flesh by the Faith of the Son of God How do you stand affected as to inward Spiritual Duties that concern the inward workings of your Thoughts and Conscience and Affections and such things as none but God and you do know of Is it as great a burden and trouble to your Souls to act contrary to the renewed Nature as before to contradict the Inclinations of the Flesh Is Prayer your dayly work and delight Do you cherish and promote the new Creature Are you restless after you have fallen into Sin till by Repentance you recover Pardon and Peace Do you grow up daily into greater Conformity to Christ and Imitation of him Desiring nothing more than that his Image may be drawn more lively on your Hearts and exprest more fully in your Lives according to the various Providences of God that call for the exercise of such and such Graces and according to the various Institutions of Christ wherein such and such Holy Affections are to be imployed The knowledg of this Union to Christ upon examination will give us the Comfort of all those Priviledges which result from it Examine how matters are with you as to these things and what care you take to maintain the bonds of Union to strengthen Faith and obey the Spirit and whether it be better now than it was a year ago While Merchants and Tradesmen cast up their Books and make up their Accounts at the end of the Year let us not neglect the like work as Christians with reference to our Spiritual State Let us not be less concerned to know whether we Thrive or Decay whether we advance and go forward or else decline 5. The next Vse may be of Comfort to such as are in Christ Our Union to him is the Foundation of all our Fellowship with him and after supplies of Grace and Life If we are in Jesus Christ he is made of God unto us Wisdom and Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 Such shall be delivered from Wrath entituled to Eternal Life have the Pardon of all their Sins Christ as their Advocate pleads for 'em in Heaven in him they are Adopted and have free access to God his Spirit dwells in them their Services are accepted c. If we are in him there is no condemnation unto such Rom. 8.1 Such a man is not condemned is not in a state of condemnation for the present John 3.18 And such a Member of Christ cannot Perish who by Union to him is United to God the Fountain of Life Our Lord speaks of the Union of the Father unto him as Mediator and his Union unto us as both in order to our Perfection and eternal Felicity John 17.20 23. I in them and thou in me that they may all be made perfect in one But there is no Reconciliation to God no Remission of Sins no Adoption no Salvation by Christ but for such as are in him Whereas all things are yours even Life and Death things present and things to come when you are Christ's There is a Train of invaluable Blessings follow this new Creation and Union to Christ where it is truly wrought * See Mr. Polhill 's Christus in Corde chap. 8. 2 Ephes 13.14 1 Cor 3.22 You are brought under the bond and blessing of the New Covenant Jer. 31.33 You are dignified with a new Name Rom. 2.17 You are begotten to a new Hope entitled to a new Inheritance 1 Pet. 1.3 1 John 12.13 And you shall be preserved and kept by the powerful Grace of Christ unto the full possession of it None shall pluck you out of his hands because he lives you shall live nothing shall be able to separate you from him If you are planted into the likeness of his Death for the destruction of the Body of Sin you shall grow up with him in the likeness of his Resurrection Rom. 6.5 6. Not only shall you receive Influence of Spiritual Life from him while you live but by vertue of this Union you shall dye in the Lord and sleep in Jesus Rev. 14.13 1 Thes 4.14 You shall be with him in Glory and your Bodies shall be raised by him and be made like his most glorious Body Rom. 8.11 But Lastly Let me close with Exhortation 1. Unto all to labour after Vnion to Christ 2. Unto those that have good hope through Grace that they are in him and profess to be so Let me exhort them that they would live as new Creatures 1. Labour after Vnion unto Christ How earnestly should this be desired how diligently pursued For we can have no Communion no Adoption no Freedom from Condemnation without it Faith on our part and the Spirit on Christ's are the Bonds of Union Let us carefully make use of the Word and Prayer in order to both waiting and begging of God and using all the hopeful means that are in our power in order to it How earnest should be our pursuits of this Priviledge how fervent our Prayers and constant our Endeavours after it Never leave solliciting the Throne of God till the Creator and Father of Spirits have created another breath into your nostrils another spirit into your Souls even the Spirit of Christ whereby we are united to him lay your self at his feet and with all the violence and importunity and humility that your distressed case may prompt you to beg the holy spirit to over shadow thee And yet learn so much Patience from thy beggarly state as not to challenge him at thine own times but wait his leasure and observe his motions doing all that possible thou canst in the use of common Grace to prepare the room against his coming and continue in Prayer watching thereunto in the use of all the out means which God hath afforded thee 2. Be exhorted to live as New creatures You are obliged to it by your Baptism and by your Profession of Christianity You that come to the Lord's Table are especially obliged That old things should be done away and all things become New You consider his Sufferings from time to time as represented in that Ordinance You there feast upon his Sacrifice and consider the cause of his Sufferings your own Sins and the end of them your Redemption from the Guilt and Filth and Power of Sin Can you do this and not feel the Obligation to live as New creatures and resolve upon it Do you not there renew your Covenant and engage your selves afresh to walk as the Redeemed of the Lord unto all well pleasing Do you not there cast your selves into the Arms of a Crucified Saviour and plead the Merits of his Death and beg the Supplies of his Spirit and bind your selves to strict fidelity to him as long as you live under a grateful sense of his kindness who has loved you and washed you from your sins in
a Scene and a Part and have only a Form of Godliness but must expect to pay dear for your Solemn Hopocrisie Let me therefore Advise you to three things in your Retirement after the Publick Worship and Solemn Ordinances of Christ as the End and Reason for which I will press it 1 That you retire in order to the confession of Sin and the Exercise of Repentance That when you have finished the publick work of a Sabbath or come from any special Ordinance of the Gospel by after Meditation you would reflect upon your selves and take notice of your Defects and Failings Discomposures and Distempers of Mind What unsuitableness of Spirit there has been to heavenly Mysteries or what unprepared Addresses we have made to the Majesty of Heaven and Earth the roving of our Fancies the vanity of our Thoughts c. We should humble our selves on such Occasions That we attended with no more Reverence and Diligence to the Word of God That we did not receive the Truth in the Love of it That it was not mixed with Faith Tnat we did not make particular and close application of it to our selves That our Hearts were not lâ—ft up in the ways of the Lord and our Souls under an awe of God in Prayer with becoming Affections and suitable Exercise of Grace under the influence of the Divine Spirit and in the Name of the Mediator That we approached the Table of the Lord with no more Examination of our Hearts and Ways before we came with no more Repentance for our past Guilt no more hungering after the Bread of Life no more spiritual Thirst for the Fountain of Living Waters That we beheld the Memorials of a broken bleeding Saviour with no more Contrition and Brokenness of Heart That we received the Seals of his dying Love with no more raised Affection That we remembered the Agonies of his Soul with no more correspondent Impressions upon our own In a word we may lament for the most part I fear we may after such Ordinances that our Spirits were but in a common frame our Repentance so partial our Love so cold our Faith so weak our Hope so low Desires so faint Charity so narrow Thankfulness and Joy so little in the Participarion of such Glorious Mysteries in conversing with such adorable Objects under the Offers of such rich Grace under the loud Calls to such manifest Duty under the Assurances and Expectations of such great and blessed things as the Word and Sacraments propose and Seal 2. Another Reason and Ground of this Retirement is in order to Petition and Intercession for needful Mercy to our selves and others Have we been convinced of any Duty we had formerly neglected Shall not the Reflection on it excite us to beg Wisdom and Strength to perform that Duty Has any sin been called to remembrance by the preaching of the Word Should we not beg Forgiveness and Grace to leave and forsake it as the best Testimony of our Repentance Have we joyned in Prayer and Supplication with others for the greatest Blessings and are sensible we are undone if God deny us and shall we not beg the same things again in secret Have we renewed our Vows and entered into fresh Obligations to be the Lords and shall wâ— not beg that God would heal our â—â—st â—aâ—k slidings and confirm our holy Resolutions That having sworn we may perform it that we will keep his righteous Judgments You therefore who have this Day been at the Table of the Lord let me beseech you in a special manner to retire when you come home and think of these things that you may wrestle with God in secret for a further blessing O what can he deny you when he hath given you his Son and sealed that Gift in so solemn a manner Go therefore and represent to him all your Necessities and Wants all your Griefs and Groans and Complaints and Fears and secret Desires Pray earnestly for your selves your Families and Relatives for your Ministers and Fellow Christians for all that have communicated this day with you and in other Assemblies and for all that desired to do so that were providentially hindered for all your Brethren for all the Churches of Christ throughout the World especially for those in this Nation for those in others which are oppressed by the Tyranny of the Sons of Violence for all actual Believers for all those for whom Christ died for your Friends and Enemies for the whole World 3. Retire in secret to express your Gratitude and Thanksgivings to God for Mercies received and hoped for Thank him for the Liberty of his Sanctuary for Publick Assemblies of Social Worship for Sabbaths and Sacraments and the Ministry of the Gospel considering how the Case now is with our Brethren and Neighbours in other places Thank him for another Opportunity for the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ and for so much health as to be able to partake of such a Priviledge in a publick Solemnity But above all as the Foundation of all the rest for that inestimable Blessing of Divine Love the Gift of his Son for the inexpressible Love of Christ in giving himself for us Sinners and Enemies and while we were so Thank him for the Means of Grace and the Hopes of Glory for any good Hope through Grace of present Pardon and Everlasting Communion with God in Heaven for the Offer of Forgiveness by a Covenant of Grace for the Promise of Eternal Life by Christ purchased by his Blood confirmed by the Word and Oath of God who cannot lye witnessed to many ways by the Holy Spirit made sure by the Everlasting Covenant and that sealed by Baptism and by the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Yea let us thank him for another such solemn Occasion of paying Homage to a Crucified Christ and of holy Fellowship with the Father and the son by the Spirit which this day has been afforded us Praise him for any Aâ—sistance of his Grace in the actual Celebration and for any help in our preparatory Work for reviving any of our Convictions awakening our Repentance strengthening our Faith animating our Hope quickening our zeal exercising and increasing our Love to Christ clearing our Adoption dispelling our Doubts scattering our Fears warming and filling our Desires Let our Souls and all within us bless him for any Beams of his Heavenly Light for any Glympse of his reconciled Countenance for any token of his Love to us any expression and exercise of our own to him Let us thank him for what he hath given us and sealed to us and promised to give us for what we have already received as the first Fruits and the Earnest and the Pledge of a great deal more We may Express our Gratitude and Joy to some such Purpose as this (a) almost in the words of Mr. Baxter which follows O my gracious God thou hast surpast all humane Comprehension in thy Love Is this thy usage of unworthy Prodigals I
perish in my filthiness if I am never washed till I come as I ought to the fountain opened For my Heart is hard and impenitent I feel it so I have not such an heart to turn to God as I should It is the grief of my soul that I find it thus I am without strength and unable to turn Answ But hast thou no Strength no Power to consider whence thou art fallen and how low thou art sunk and to bewail the wretchedness of thy present Case which thou beginnest to be sensible of Canst thou not lament the hardness of thy Heart which thou ownest to be thy grief Canst thou not consider thy past and present câ—ndition and thereupon Cry to God for help and a little thing will save a Man that is Drowning One look from Christ made Peter remember the Warning he had before given him and go out and weep bitterly Canst thou not reflect and consider how much better it was with thee formerly than now when thou hadst good hopes through Grace of Divine Acceptance when thou couldest go to God with Comfort and pour out thy Heart before him with freedom But now since the breach thou hast made upon Conscience if thou comest at all into his Presence thou art drag'd by fear and hardly knowest what to do when thou art there Art not thou ready to cry out O the Communion with Christ that once I had in such or such an Ordinance but now it is lost He is a stranger to my Soul He hath justly withdrawn himself If I seek him where I was wont to find him I find him not My Peace my Joy my Light my Strength is gone Therefore let me return to my first Husband for it was then better with me than now Hosea 2.6 7. Can you not thus reflect to awaken your Repentance and assist your Resolution to return and stir up your selves to call upon God for healing Mercy Object V. But some may say If God should again receive such a returning Backslider Will he not bear me a Grudge for it Will he not hereafter upbraid me with it I shall hear of it again the next Sacrament besure or under the next Afflicting Providence Answ No saith God turn and I will heal your Backslidings I will receive you graciously I will love you freely I will be merciful to your Iniquities and remember them no more Hos 14.1 2 3. Did he upbraid the returning Prodigal and say Where hast thou been Resolve therefore O Backsliding Children to return to your Father to be again Washed Sanctified and Justified Whatever Discouragement be in the way you may hope for welcome For you are Children still though Backsliding Children And remember he is your Father though you have displeased him For First If it be said by the Devil or an accusing Conscience How darest thou take the Name of Father into thy Mouth since thou hast so dishonoured him and grieved his Spirit by thy Revolt A Returning Backslider may say he is A Father still and the Love of a Father is unmeasurable measurable the kindness of a Father is infinitely Tender Though his Paternal Justice may Correct me with a Rod he will not take away his Loving Kindness utterly from me I will therefore go to my Father though he frown upon me though he chastise me though he threaten to turn me out of doors I will yet Return and go to my Father for I must be there I will dye in his Arms or I will dye at his feet I will Return But Secondly What wilt thou venture to go presently all in Rags like a Beggar rather than a Child all in thy filth and dirt thou wilt shame thy Father's House and discredit his Family if such a one as thou shouldest come and call him Father Notwithstanding this I will return presently to him saith the penitent Backslider for the longer I delay the more hardness shall I contract and the greater will my sin be and every day I shall be exposed to further sin and the same Duties now lie upon me as before which I cannot perform duly except I Return therefore I will return presently This Dr. Preston upon 1 Sam. 20.21 adviseth as the wisest and best way after the Commission of any great Sin or the Guilt of any great Backsliding Thirdly But it will be said thy Work is great and difficult before ever thy Peace can be made thou must mourn and weep and Repent in dust and ashes and be humbled to the very mouth of Hell before thou and thy Father be Friends again And will not that discourage thee No sayes the Returning Backslider I will vet go to My Father I will own that I deserve to be rejected for ever but I 'le plead the Mercifulness of his Nature and the freeness of his Covenant Love and Promise you shall never beat me out of it I will return to my Father I know he will meet me half way yea he hath met me and prevented me by his Grace He put it into my heart to return therefore he will accept me I easily foresee what will be Objected against all this That no Backslider is able thus to argue He is holden in the Chain of his own Sins He durst not use such Language I grant that while he is under the full power of Backsliding he cannot thus speak and act But to a Returning Penitent Backslider that begins to be Awakened who feels the burden of his sin and seeks after God the Relation of a Father is an unspeakable Support And notwithstanding his late Backslidings he may make out his Relation to God as his Father when once he is awakened to Repentance Partly by his Mourning and Godly Sorrow for Sin Partly by the remembrance of his former Covenant and Communion with God which when he returns by Repentance may yield him comfort though before it could not Partly by the Inward Motions of the Spirit which he finds lusting against the Flesh Partly by his vigorous importunate Desires to turn to God and be at Peace with him When it comes to this he may take Heart and ought to receive Encouragement by the Promise and Call of God Turn you Backsliding children and I will heal your backslidings The Fourth Discourse After the LORD's SUPPER OF THE Communion OF Christ 's Body and Blood From 1 COR. X.xvi. The Cup of Blessing that we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ WHen the Apostle would Reform the Church of Corinth as to that profane liberty which some of them took boldly to meddle with the Mysteries of Paganism and to Eat of things offered unto Idols He gives an Account of the Nature of this Divine Institution of the Lord's Supper and leaves it to themselves to judge whether they did not do very ill to be present at the Feasts upon the Heathen Sacrifices and to eat of things that were offered unto
hath done and Suffered purchased and Promised we should come to this Feast with a Gladsome Merry Hâ—art All the Musick and Melody that the Feasts of Sensual Men are attended with wouâ—d be nothing to it Therefore take heed of mistaking the Nature of this Ordinance so as to come like Mourners to Morrow to a Funeral It is to no such Solemnity but to a Feast that you are invited to a Royal Feast And therefore your Hearts and Lips should be full of the high Praises of God and Thankful Admiration of Christ and his Redeeming Love and Grace I will bring them to my Holy Mountain and make them Joyful in my House of Prayer 5. At a Feast there is Good Company Now there is no such Company in all the World as is to be found at Christ's Table While the King sitteth at this Table Cant. 1.12 Christ himself is there present and the Father also For in this Ordinance especially we have Fellowship with the Father and the Son through the Spirit A Communion with them supposes the Presence of Father and Son The Cup of Blessing which we bless is the Communion of Christ's Blood and the Bread we break the Communion of his Body 1 Cor. 10.16 We are invited Guests by Christ and treated as his Friends We are entertained with Kindness and Familiarity which is an Honour we ought to value in his own House we are treated and have the same Fare with the best of his Friends who are Invited with us We sit down with him at his own Table in the best Company that we can desire Haman expresses it as an Honour that the Queen let none come to the Banquet but himself And to morrow says he I am invited also with the King Esth 5.12 If the Father and the Son and the Children of God that are his special Favourites and Heirs of the Heavenly Inheritance if these are Good Company you may have it at the Table 6. At a Feast there is Welcome Exprest and giveâ— by the Master of the Feast Such an expression we have of it Psal 23.5 Thou preparest my Table for me and Anointest my Head with Oile or with Aromatical Ointments formerly used at great Feasts as a token of Respect and Kindness Thou biddest me to a Feast and biddest me welcome Alluding to the Custom of the Eastern People and of the Jews particularly who exprest the h arty wâ—lcome they gave their Guests by pouring some pretious Ointment on their Heads Psal 92.10 Luk. 7.39 A very usual * See Bp. Patrick's Christian Sacrifice p. 100. Festival Solemnity Therefore when you come to morrow to this Feast you must think and believe that Christ speaks to you when you behold the Symbols of his Body and Blood For you are not to consider the broken Bread and the VVine poured out as dumb signs no they speak very distinctly to all the Communicants but come with a chearful Wedding Garment hearing the Voice of your Redeemer as if Christ should say to you That you were welcome to his Table and that he is pleased that you accept his Invitation Come My Brethren as if he should say for so he calls us when he Ascended to his Father John 20.17 Go and tell my Brethren that I Ascend to my Father and their Father to my God and their God Come my Brethren doth he say I sent and commissioned my Ministers to call you to my House solemnly and earnestly to Invite you to my Table You did well that you are come I take it kindly that you did not reject my Invitation I am glad you are come to Remember my Love and to shew your selves my Friends I have no other Design in sending for you but to make you more sensible of my Love and to give you Fresh Tokens of it to repeat the pledge and assurance of my Dying Kindness Do not despise the Entertainment I here give you though you see onely Bread and VVine Open the eyes of your Minds and let your Faith discern that this Bread is my Body my crucified Body my Body broken for you And this Wine poured out is my Blood my Blood shed for you Oh see how I loved you see what my Love to you brought me to undergo Consider how I was used for your sakes to procure your Peace and to purchase your Reconciliation I have nothing to desire of you but that you would continue in my Love and then I promise you the Love of my Father and that your sins shall be forgiven they shall not be remembred against you you shall not come into Condemnation And all your wants shall be supplied Nothing you can need but I have purchased nothing you can want but I will give Till I have fitted you for my Presence above till you come to be with me in the Heavenly state You shall receive it all from time to time Come take the Pledge and the Assurance of this by doing this in Remembrance of me Come therefore says Christ Take and Eat Eat O Friends drink abundantly O Beloved Take eat this Morsel as little and inconsiderable as it seems to be it cost my Life I give it to you as a Token of my Love and of my Fathers Love Take it and Remember both I say the same for the Cup of Blessing Drink it in Remembrance of me Come pledge me This is Wine of my own making when I trod the Wine-press of my Father's Wrath alone This will strengthen and revive thy fainting Spirit This will cure the Ulcers of thy Heart This will give thee Boldness and Courage to enter into the Presence of thy Father c. Thus does Christ give Welcome to his prepared Guests 7. And Lastly This is a peculiar sort of Feast viz. a Feast upon a Sacrifice A Feast that betokens a Covenant and Reconciliation between God and such as are Invited Guests at this Table I often take occasion to mention this because I judge it the true Notion of the Lord's Supper and the sense of the Apostle 1 Cor. 5.8 Christ our Passover was Sacrificed for us Let us therefore keep the Feast with the Vnleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth which is spoken of the Feast from which the Corinthian Church by the Authority of Christ was to bar and seclude the disorderly Person It is well known that Sacrifices were wont to be attended with a Feast The Peace-offering under the Law was to be brought on the top of the Burnt-offerings No burnt offerings were without some peace-offerings And having offer'd them to the Lord they were to eat their part chearfully among their Friends For then they had as it were one Dish sent them from God's Table One part of the Offering viz. God's was consumed upon the Altar Another part the Priests had by God's Appointment And a Third the Offerers had to Feast upon Christ's Offering up himself upon the Cross is the Great Sacrifice This Banquet at the Table of the Lord is a Feast on that Sacrifice
your Lord he will then be your God And all Blessings Temporal Spiritual and Eternal are comprized in that You are then his Jewels his Treasure his Portion his Inheritance his peculiar People If he be your God O how dear how valuable how precious are the Relations Priviledges and Blessings that this contains What need you fear What can you want What can you ask more What can dismay afflict or trouble such a Soul Why art thou cast down O my Soul Why art thou disquieted within me May you say If you can say with David in another place The Lord is my Portion and the Lot of mine Inheritance Or if you can say with Thomas here My Lord my God All things then are yours his Spirit his Providence his Attributes his Promises Life Death Things present Things to come Grace here Heaven hereafter All things yours if you be Christ's and he be your Lord and your God Blessed then are you though you have not seen him with your bodily Eyes or thrust your Hand into his Wounded Side or felt the print of the Nails in his Crucified Body Yet having now by hearing believed on him and loved him you shall see him hereafter in Glory and Triumph and be for ever with him to behold his Glory and to partake of it Amen A PARAPHRASE OF THE Lord's Prayer A PARAPHRASE OF THE Lord's Prayer Our Father O Most Merciful and Gracious Father who hast made us out of nothing by thy Powerful Word and form'd us after thine own Image but we sought out Sinful Inventions and might justly have perisht in our Apostasie We owe Thee Homage as the Father of our Spirits as the God of our Lives as the Author of our Beings much more as thou hast called us into thy Family and Favour by Jesus Christ as Redeemed by him and Regenerated by thy Spirit and Priviledged with the Dignity of Children and may call Thee Our Reconciled Father Oh what manner of Love is this that such Rebellious Miserable Creatures as we should be called the Sons of God and treated as such Holy Father we have sinned against Heaven and before Thee and are utterly Unworthy to be entertain'd as thy Servants much more to be cherisht and spared and pittied and provided for as thy Children and have the promise and hope of the Heavenly Inheritance As the Children of the First Adam we are Children of Wrath and Heirs of Hell in Bondage to Sin and serving divers Lusts the Works of our Father the Devil we have done But by thy Redeeming Love and Grace through Jesus Christ we are set Free from that Slavery and partake of the Liberty and Priviledge of Sons in thy House and Family Oh let the Spirit of thy Son breath continually in our hearts and teach us to cry Abba Father as created by thy Power and Goodness and reconciled and saved by thy Mercy after we had undone our selves Give us that Faith and humble Confidence in Prayer by the Spirit of Grace and Supplication that we may go to thee in all our Necessities as Children to a Father and come with boldness to a Throne of Grace We beg the Holy Spirit of Grace to that end which thou art more ready to give to them who value it and ask it earnestly as sensible of their need of it than any Father on Earth is to give Bread to his Children that ask it of him O let this Name of Father and our consequent Relation to thee be our Glory and our Refuge our Defence and Guard the Principle of our Obedience and Love to thee and of Charity Kindness and Affection to all our Brethren who are Children of the same Father and Adopted Heirs of the same Inheritance And let all those whom thou wilt own for thy Children most Gracious Father be united to thee and to one another in holy Bands of Love and Concord bearing with one another wherein they differ let them heartily joyn together to advance the Honour of thy Holy Name to celebrate thy Praise and promote thy Truth and Worship Grant unto them and us the help of thy Spirit that we may so Pray and Live O God of the Spirits of all Flesh the Father of Glory the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ teach us so to ask as thou mayst please to grant teach us to Worship thee in Spirit and in Truth that our persons may be well-pleasing in thy sight and our Prayers be accepted through the Great Mediator We would ask nothing but in his Name for the manner so nothing but what he hath advised and taught us to Desire and Seek Who art in Heaven And since thou dwellest in Heaven though the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee that is thy Throne and the Earth thy Footstool thou beholdest whatsoever we do or say or think and wilt call us to an Account Let us reverence thy Glorious Majesty Thine All-seeing Eye and thy Soveraign Power And raise our Affections above Earthly Things that we may seek Heaven as our Country where our Father is and our Redeemer and where we hope to possess the Inheritance prepared for us by Everlasting Love through the Purchase and Merit of thine Eternal Son who owns himself our Elder Brother and who when he was on Earth was concerned for nothing more than for the Glory of Thy Name Therefore in Imitation of his Example in Conformity to his Counsel and Obedience to his Command we beg Thy Name may be Sanctified Hallowed by thy Name Thou hast proclaimed thy Name unto the World and they who know it will trust in Thee to be a God Gracious and Merciful slow to Anger and of Great Kindness Abundant in Goodness and in Truth keeping Mercy for Thousands forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin and that will not utterly destroy his People though he do correct Thou art worthy of all our Honour Homage and Obedience and that all the World should Adore thee and Glorifie Thy Holy Name that every Creature in Heaven and Earth should tremble at thine Irresistible Power admire thine Eternal Wisdom and love thine Infinite Goodness O that the Glory of thy Holy Name may extinguish in us the Desire and Love of Worldly Honour and Inteterest that we may 〈◊〉 it our highest dignity to ad◠〈…〉 serve the Purposes of thy Glory as the Ultimate End of all Things Let us be deeply sensible of thy Dishonour in the World by our own sins and the sins of Others Let us Grieve and Mourn to observe the Prophanation of thy Name and the Violation of thy Authority when thy Laws are transgrest thy Institutions despised thy Orders contradicted thy Majesty Affronted thy Glory bespattered and trampled on The Desire of our Souls is to thy Name and the Remembrance of Thee In thy Name we Rejoyce and put our Trust O let us not dishonour it by unsuitable Affections and Actions Let our Lives be answerable to the dignity of our Relation and to what we know and profess to believe
Creation because of the necessity of Divine Grace and the power of the Spirit of Christ that Power that made us at first and raised Christ from the Dead 'T is the necessity of that Power unto this Change that is the principal ground of this term Creation The Efficiency of it by the power of victorious Grace making us a willing and holy People in the day of his Power comprehending habitual Sanctification as the root and life of actual holiness The Excellency and Extent of this I might shew as to the inward and outward Man Heart and Life all the Powers of the Soul and Members of the Body and our whole Carriage Course and Behaviour And that this is common unto all the Children of God all that are created again in Christ Jesus all that are born from above If any Man be in Christ he is a new creature To this end III. Let us consider the certain and inseparable connexion between these two That all who are in Christ are and must be new Creatures Every real Christian he is in Christ Jesus his Union to Christ doth constitute him a living Member and his being a New Creature doth prove it The one is the Essence the other his Property but they are inseparable What makes a Man but the Union of Soul and Body What makes a Christian but the Union of the Soul with Christ How know we that a Man hath a Soul but by the Motions Actions Operations of a Reasonable Soul How know you that such a Professing Christian is United to Christ by his Spirit but by the Effects and Operations of this Spirit making such a Change in Heart and Life from which they may be denominated New Creatures Therefore they are said to walk in the Spirit and after the Spirit And at other times as the Foundation of this to be born of the Spirit and born from above so as the Divine Life and Likeness is introduced But more particularly 1. They who are thus spiritually united to Christ they must be new creatures because they partake of the Divine Spirit the same Spirit that formed Christ in the Womb of the Virgin hath formed the new Creature in all that are in Christ the same Spirit that quickned the dead Body of Christ and raised him from the Dead imploies the exceeding greatness af his Mighty Power towards them that believe and by Faith are united to him the same Spirit that carried out the Soul of Christ to go to God as a Father doth enable Believers to cry Abba Father For the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of Adoption Gal. 4.6 The same Spirit that led Christ into his Tryals and Temptations and brought him off with Victory doth the like for all the Followers of Christ They are partakers of his Spirit The blood of Christ cannot save those who are destitute of his Spirit The same Spirit of Holiness conforms them to the Image Life of God they are under the conduct of the same Spirit of Humility Meekness Love Charity Prayer Courage Resignation and the like which acted in Christ And this makes them like to him like him in their Judgments and Opinions of things like him in their Affections like him in their Designs and Ends and like him in a course of Actions by which they prosecute those Designs for the Glory of God I might shew their Resemblance and conformity in Graces unto Christ in the Rise of them in the Kinds of them in the Exercise of them All which depends upon their Participation of the same Spirit 2. They must be new Creatures if they are in Christ because the new Creature is an Imitation of Him It is a little Module of Christ in its Birth and a conformity to his Pattern in its Growth and fully so in its Perfection And therefore we read of coming to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Ephes 4.12 All that are united to Christ are conformed to him Every Branch in him answers to the Root every Member suits to the holy Head in Heaven and in some measure doth resemble him That the Members of Christ should be of a contrary Temper to their Head is utterly impossible I might here urge the Imitation of Christ as becoming those who profess to be in him in several Instances as in the inward Delight which he took to do the will of his Father in his active Zeal for his Father's Glory in a patient submission to the hand of his Father tho' never so heavy in his firm Faith and Dependance on him under all Discouragements and in his Constancy and Perseverance to do good notwithstanding all the Hatred and Malice of the World c. 3. Because the New Creature is Represented in Scripture as a Conformity to the Death and Resurrection of Christ Philip. 3.10 By putting off the old man we dye unto Sin by putting on the new we are alive to God and live to Righteousness We are hereby changed into the Image of Christ and that good work begun which is to be finish'd and consummated in the Day of Christ Phil. 1.6 There is a Conformity to his Death and Sufferings in the mortification of Sin Our old man is crucified with him Rom. 6.6 Gal. 5.24 And a conformity to his Resurrection in Heavenliness of Mind Col. 3.1 and in Newness of Life Rom. 6.4 4. Because nothing else will so prove our Vnion to Christ as to enable us to take Comfort in such a Priviledge no external Advantages whatsoever will do it For neither circumcision nor uncumcision availeth any thing but a new Creature Gal. 6.15 The highest Profession of Religion without such a Change will not save thee Except a man be born again or from above he cannot enter into Heaven John 3.5 Neither can he be accepted of God or have fellowship with him 1 John 3.2 No External Duties or Performances will avail you without this You may Read and Hear and Pray and give Alms and do many other things and yet not be in Christ if you are not Regenerated Renewed and inwardly changed by the Power of the Divine Spirit If you are not made New Creatures you can never prove that you are in Christ You may be Baptized in the Name of the Sacred Trinity you may continue in the Bosom of the Church hear the sound of the glorious Gospel and receive the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper and yet not be united unto Christ You may have some lesser change from the grosser Pollutions of the World you may have some partial Reformation which is far short of being new Creatures some outward temporary change in your carriage conversation while the Heart is unrenewed In a word our present Fellowship and Communion with God our after Service and Obedience in the Fruits of Righteousness to the praise of God and our final Blessedness in the enjoyment of him do all depend upon this Change this new Creation And therefore be
word is truth Accordingly we find Sanctification is ascribed unto Faith in Christ as the true Messiah or a sound Belief of the Revelation he hath made Act. 15.9 Purifying the heart by Faith So that we are washed and sanctified through the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ or by Christ known and beleived on as one means of it and by the Efficiency of the Spirit of God as the other whâ—ch I shall afterwards speak of In the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God In discoursing of these words I shall therefore First Give some brief account of the Nature of this Change here exprest by being Washed Sanctified and Justified Secondly Of the two great Means whereby it is brought about the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God Thirdly Make some Improvement by Application especially to assist you in examining your selves in order to the Lord's Table that we may know whether we are in the number of such upon whom this Change is passed Whether we are Washed Sanctified and Justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God 1. Concerning the nature of this Change It is evident that the defiling nature of Sin is here supposed there could not otherwise be any need of Washing And we find it represented in Scripture by Spots and Blemishes by Mire and Vomit by the Blood and Pollution of a New-born Child by the most filthy dung and Excrements and whatsoever is reckoned the most vile and abominable Therefore whatsoever Excellencies and Ornaments whatsoever Priviledges and Advantages an Unsanctified Person may partake of to recommend him to the eyes of the World he is yet a Vile Person loathed and abominable in the sight of God 2. Consider that by Nature we are All as an Unclean thing That which is born of the Flesh is Flesh and Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean John 3.6 Rom. 3.10 Job 14.4 All the Purifications and Washings under the Law did suppose our inward Defilement and represent our need of Cleansing Whatever was injoyned by the Mosaick Institution of this kind which we find was very strictly charged and earnestly prest and indispensably required and the neglect of it most severely punished yet did but signifie and represent this Which proves our Sanctification necessary Tit. 3.5 He saved us by the washing of Regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost All Men are Defiled and Unclean by Nature and need to be Washed 3. We are all over Unclean from the Crown of the Head to the Sole of the Foot Universally diseased and polluted and so need to be Sanctified in Soul Body and Spirit Ephes 5.26 1 Thes 5.23 Isa 1.6 we read of the filthiness of the Flesh and Spirit from which we are to be cleansed 2 Cor. 7.1 All the Powers of the Soul and all the Members of the Body are tainted Heart and Hand must be Cleansed the inward and outward Man Sanctified Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purifie your hearts ye double minded Jam. 4 8. 4. The Change therefore by Sanctification must be Universal in heart and life By the knowledge of God and affection to him of whom we were Ignorant and to whom before we were Disaffected by the Image of God recovered by participation of the Divine Nature and Life by the Law of God written on the Heart and expressed in the Conversation Holiness and Love to God must be the frame and temper of our Souls so that the Actings of it become easie pleasant and delightful The Old Man must be put off the New put on Old things be done away and all things become new New Principles new Ends new Motives new Rules new Comforts which will make an unspeakable difference between this Change and that Negative Religion and common Honesty which many may pretend to who are strangers to Regeneration There were many Philosophers and Sophists among these Corinthians who boasted of Purity and Reformation which came unexpressibly short of this Sanctification which I am now speaking of as owing to some other cause than the Spirit of Christ unto whom the production continuance and progress of this Sanctification is alone to be ascribed 5. It may farther be considered in its Begining or Progress or Consummation As begun by the Spirit of Life and Power from Christ as maintained and carried on by a continual influence from the same Spirit and the diligent use of God's appointed means Whereby the Lineaments of the Divine Nature are rendred more clear holy impressions more powerful and efficacious Whereby we go from strength to strength and are inabled to perfect holiness in the fear of God pressing on towards perfection to the fulness of the stature of the Man Christ Jesus till it be consummate in Heaven when by seeing Christ as he is we shall be made like him and be presented to the Father without spot or wrinkle or any such thing 6. For the sake of those who intend to come to the Lord's Table let me add That such Washing and Sanctification is requisite to our Communion with Christ in the special Ordinances of the Gospel particularly that of the Lord's Supper This is intimated by our Lord in the 13th of John v. 7 8. in his words to Peter If I wash thee not thou hast no part with me It must have a Spiritual meaning because notwithstanding the external Washing Christ says All of them were not clean And soon after this he instituted his Supper to the due participation whereof it is necessary we be Washed and Sanctified For we cannot otherwise have a Right to the Benefits purchased by his Blood which are Sealed to us in that Ordinance and we can have no Communion with him there till partakers of the Spirit of Christ Unless we are Sanctified by that Spirit we have no interest in him no Right to his Supper and so we can have no Communion with him if we are not cleansed from our Filthiness if we have spots upon us that are not the spots of God's Children unto whom this Feast doth particularly belong And therefore I may say as Peter to Simon Magus Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter for thy heart is not right with God neither can it be if this Change do not precede The Enquiry therefore is highly seasonable whether we are thus Washed and Sanctified or not But before I give the Characters of such Persons it will be expected I should speak somewhat concerning the double means of this Change In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God II. The double Means of this Change by the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God First We are Purified and Washed By the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ or by Faith in him To this purpose Consider First That all the Arguments laid down in Scripture to press Sanctification and Holiness of Heart and Life have influence
who were Vile and Miserable in themselves without God and Christ and under gross Idolatry This Feast is for us Gentiles Which I shall first particularly Explain and Prove and then Apply 1. In this Spiritual Feast or Banquet are the Choicest Provisions that can be for the Nourishment of our Souls There is Spiritual Food for the satisfaction of Spiritual Hunger where we may eat and be satisfied and find that which is sweeter than Honey the Love of Christ better than Wine Psal 22.6 Cant. 1.2 Wine that is said to chear and delight the heart Eccles 10.19 To lift a Man above sad and melancholy Thoughts Make a Man forget his Affliction and Misery Prov. 31.7 Give Wine to him that is of a heavy heart Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more It may much more be said so of this Sacramental Wine exhibiting the Love of Christ to the Soul And though Wine be put for all manner of Delicacies Isa 25.6 Yet the Love of Christ is better than Wine Cant. 1.4 His Blood is Drink indeed and his Flesh is Meat indeed John 6.55 Far beyond Manna which yet is called Angels Food He is Manna for Food the best Bread And He is Wine for Drink And the Blessedness of the Heavenly State whereof this Feast is the Earnest is set forth by the Pleasures of eating and drinking Luk. 22 30. That you eat and drink at my Table in my Kingdom O the Satisfaction and Delight that holy Souls experience in tasting of those Provisions when they come with that due Preparedness which they ought All the Delights of this World are not to be compared with one hours Enjoyment of Christ in this Ordinance One hour one half hour of Communion with the Father and the Son by the Spirit in such a Duty is more delightful than all the Pleasures of the Palate and Taste It is a nobler a purer a sweeter a better kind of Content and Satisfaction that we here meet with I may appeal to the Experience of Serious Christians for the Truth of this 2. At a Feast there are All Sorts of Provision Not only the Choicest and the Best but there is Variety It iâ— a Feast of Fat things full of Marrow of Wine on the Lees well refined And it is suitable to every Condition to every Relation to every Necessity Grace for Grace out of his Fulness that is All manner of Supplies of Grace John 1.16 Forgiveness of Sin to take away our Fear of Hell And the Assurance of Eternal Life to answer our Desires of Happiness And therefore answerable to all the Exigencies of our Case For what can we need but may be received from Christ who of God is made unto us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption His precious Blood can wash away the stains of our blackest guilt and his perfect Righteousness be the Covering of our Naked Souls by Meriting and procuring our Pardon by Purchasing and applying the Spirit of Holiness Light Strength Stability Comfort Whatever we need we may receive from him among the Provisions of the Gospel in this Spiritual Feast We may apply to the Heavenly Nourishment of this Table what the Jews say of their Manna in the Wilderness It was sent down by God from Heaven to them It contained they tell us all the Tastes that any Man desired or longed for It was suited to every Palate and to every Constitution That none could fail of being * Bp. Patricks Christian Sacrifice fed and pleased though they were of never so different Tempers It is called the bread of Heaven Exod. 16.4 And the Taste of it is said to be like Wafers made of Honey Verse 31. And yet in Numb 11.8 the Taste of it is said to be as the Taste of fresh Oile Now How can all these be true How can they all Agree that this Manna should be like Bread and like Honey and like Oile too The Jews Answer That the Young Men tasted in it Bread the Old Men Honey and the Infants Oile We may Accommodate this to the Divine Food of the Lord's Table which is suitable to every Complexion of Mind and Temper of Spirit The Infant Christians are there cherished and incouraged they having the Oile of Joy and Gladness poured upon them The Young Men have Strength and Power by this Bread of Life to overcome the Wicked One The more Aged the more Exercised Christians they find such Relish in it that they can say Thy Commandments are sweeter than the Honey and the Honey-comb and in keeping of them there is great Reward Being a little Earnest and Pledge and Foretaste of the Joys of the Heavenly Feast For therefore Manna in the Wilderness had the Taste of Honey say the Jews that it might be an Earnest and Representation of the Land of Canaan a Land flowing with milk and honey unto which they were now going In a word Young and Old Weak and Strong Christians of all Sizes and different Stations may receive Nourishment Refreshment and Advantage by this Heavenly Food of the Table of the Lord. There is great variety at this Feast to suit every ones Palate and Temper 3. At a Feast as there is Rarity and Variety so Plenty and Abundance that none need go away hungry or empty complaining or discontented Here are Riches unsearchable Riches of the Grace of Christ We have here All things given us richly to enjoy And the Sanctifying Gifts and Graces of the Spirit are said to be shed on us richly or abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour T it 3 6. There is a Fountain of Grace that will not have the less for us by supplying the wants of others 4. There is a Mirth and Chearfulness at this Feast which is another Concomitant of a Banquet A Feast is made for Laughter and Wine maketh Merry Eccles 10.19 When prodigal Sinners first return their Father hath Mirth and Musick to entertain them Luk. 15.24 Let us kill the fatted Calfe and make merry For this my Son was lost and is found was dead but is alive And shall not the Reconciliation between God and our Souls through Christ when it is solemnly professed and avowed at the Table of the Lord be accompanied with Joy and Mirth The Jews were not to Afflict their Souls in any of their Feasts Religious or Common Thou shalt Rejoyce in thy Feasts Deut. 16.14 We are not called to the House of Mourning You may eat this Bread with Joy and drink this Wine with a Merry Heart in hopes of God's Acceptance of you and your Sacrifice Eccles 9.7 Our Redeemer seems to speak to those who are Disconsolate at his Table and if he see us Sad and Melancholy to use some such Language What Do you not know where you are Do you not understand what I have done to you and for you What I have done upon the Cross and what at the Table O did we but understand it better and consider it more what he
of thy Adorable Perfections that we may so Glorifie thy Name in the Eyes of the World that others seeing our Good Works may Glorifie Thee our Father who art in Heaven To this end Let thy Kingdom come Thy Kingdom Come O Thou who Reignest among the Armies of Heaven and over all the Inhabitants of the Earth rule in our Hearts by the Power of thy Word and Spirit Subdue every Lust and inordinate Affection in us Mortifie all the Rebellion of our Wills and the Enmity of our Carnal Minds and Hearts that we may no longer be in Slavery to the Devil and to foolish Criminal Passions but our Understanding Will Affections Conscience and Conversation be more intirely Conformed to thy Holy Pleasure and Precept And after the Establishment and Advancement of thy Kingdom of Grace in our Souls perfect it in due time by admitting us to thy Kingdom of Glory And let all the Kingdoms of the World submit to the Scepter of our Lord Redeemer that he may Rule to the ends of the Earth Let all the People praise thee and Worship thee O God let all the People Praise thee Let not Satan the Usurping God of this world Tyranize over so great a part of this Earth But let the Kingdom of thy Grace be enlarged and thine Authority be more generally submitted to in all the World Let the everlasting Gospel of the Blessed God be publisht understood believed and obeyed from the Rising of the Sun to the setting of the same And as the Effect of the Coming of thy Kingdom in Power Let thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven Thy Will be done Thy Will O God is the Measure of Holiness and Peace the Rule of Justice Truth and Perfect Wisdom Oh that it may be the Rule of our Desires that our Will may be intirely conformed to Thine All thy Works are Wisdom and all thy ways of Providence are Judgment Let us adore thee as Infallible in all the Revelations of thy Mind and as Wise and Good Just and Holy and True in all Thou do'st Let us acquiesce in thy good Pleasure as knowing nothing can be better done than what thou orderest In Fulness and in Want in Joy and Sorrow in Life and Death thy Holy Will O Lord be done Let us obediently comply with thy Preceptive Will in all thou hast commanded and humbly submit to thy Providential Will in all thou shalt appoint and be satisfied with our Portion Station and condition here on Earth Let us be govern'd in all things by thy Holy Will with Cheerfulness and Readiness and Faithfulness and Zeal without Deceit Delay or Murmuring Complaints That we may observe and please thy Will on Earth as the Angels do in Heaven where thou art loved delighted in and obeyed in Perfection And let all the World we beseech thee joyn with us and them to praise and glorifie thee with one heart and one voice and one consent and be the Servants of thy Holy Will for ever But our Satisfaction in thy Declared VVill doth not hinder but we may Ask the necessary Supports of Life We pray thee therefore Give us tbis day our Daily Bread Thou takest Care of our Souls provide also we beseech thee for our Bodies Prolong our Lives till we have finisht the Work of Life and answered the Ends of Living Continue a suitable and convenient Supply for the Necessities of our Nature Give us that Health Protection Peace and Plenty which may best assist us in our present Duty and tend to our Comfortable Accompt in the Day of Reckoning Thou hast directed us not to Chuse either Poverty or Riches because of the Temptations of either extreme Give us therefore Food Convenient according to that Rank and State and Condition thou hast plac'd us in or may'st hereafter do That so the Temptations of the Right Hand may not make us Wanton Secure and Proud forgetful of Thee and our Selves and the greater Concerns of Eternity or our Hearts be set to make Provision for the Flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof And that on the contrary by the Snares of Poverty and pinching Straits we may not be tempted to doubt or deny Thy Providence or quarrel with it that we may not be exposed to Contempt and Misery and thereby to Impatience Distrust and Despair Keep us from undue Sollicitude about these things and give us Contentment with our present Condition Grant us that measure and proportion of Temporal Blessings which may enable us the better to serve and glorifie thee And whatever thou do with us let us be Calm and Quiet and Thankful and never admit any dishonourable Thoughts of thy Rule and Government Let us own Thee as the Original and Fountain of all our Good and faithfully depend on Thee for the Supply of all our Wants But whatever thou give us of Earthly Good Lord what will it avail us when our Sins are so many and great unless thou Forgive and Pardon us Therefore we beseech thee O Lord to Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us Look upon us with a Merciful Eye for we are here before thee in our Trespasses Forgive our Sins of Ignorance and of Wilfulness those of Presumption and those of Infirmity secret and open in heart and word and deed the Vanity of our Minds the Carelesness of our Spirits the Wickedness of our Hearts the Irregularity of our Affections the Folly of our Lips and all the Omissions and Commissions of our past Lives from our Birth and Infancy to this very hour Look not upon our Offences but cast our sins behind thy Back Remember 'em not against us to our Punishment and Condemnation We beg this for the sake of our Blessed Saviour who hath made Expiation for Sin by his Cursed Death For his sake be Reconciled to us and remember our Iniquities no more and seal to us the free and full Forgiveness of them by the Witness of thy Holy Spirit that we may Rejoyce in God through Jesus Christ as having received the Atonement Enable us by a large and Evangelical Charity heartily to forgive all those who have any way troubled or injured or offended us lest our Prayer be turned into sin and thou deny us that Pardon which we deny to our Fellow Creatures That having by thy Grace this Character of thy Disciples and Children we may reap the Benefit of thy Pardoning Mercy here and in the other VVorld But because tho we should be forgiven for the Time past we shall run into the like sins again and contract New Guilt and fall an easie Prey to Temptation we beseech thee preserve us from being tempted or overcome when we are Lead us not into Temptation Lord we are Weak and Ignorant and Inclined to that which is Evil and our Adversary the Devil goes about like a Crafty Serpent and a Roaring Lion seeking whom he may deceive and destroy let us never be Careless Secure and Confident of our selves He is a Malicious Experienc't Watchful Envious Unwearied Enemy let us not be Ignorant of his Devices Enable us to Mortifie the Love of Sin and Inward Lust and diligently avoid the Occasions and Appearances of Evil the Incentives and Provocatives to Wickedness And suffer us not to be Tempted above what we are Able Order our Conditions and Affairs so as we may be free from great and Dangerous Temptations Help us that by taking to us the whole Armour of God we may be able to withstand the Wiles and Assaults of Satan that by the Protection and Guidance of thy Providence the Ministry of thine Angels and the Aids of thy Good Spirit we may not enter into Temptation and yield to it that Such as we cannot avoid may not prevail against us to thy Dishonour and our Eternal Ruin Deliver us from the Evil of every Temptation and from the Evil One the Tempter and from other Evils to which we are Incident But deliver us from Evil. Forgive what is Past Remove what is Present Prevent what may otherwise be to come from Sin and Shame from the Malice of the Devil and the Falshood and Treachery of Men from open Enemies and unfaithful Friends from the Deceits of the VVorld and the Lusts of the Flesh but above all from thy VVrath and Vengeance due to our Sins VVe Beseech thee to deliver and save us Pardon us so freely that all the Sufferings of this Life may be turned from Evil to Good that if thou smite us here with the Rod of a Father thou may'st spare us hereafter That all things may work together for our Advantage and that in every Condition we may be kept from Sin To that end Deliver us from the Evil One the Great Enemy of thy Glory and our Salvation Let us resist him stedâ—astly in the Faith that he may flee and we may Conquer We acknowledge our own Weakness and desire to be sensible of it and therefore humbly Invoke thine Aid and Help O save us from an Impenitent hard Heart while we live and let us Finish our Course in thy Fear and Love let us dye the Death of the Righteous and not have our Portion to all Eternity in that Region of Darkness and Torment which thou hast prepared for the Devil and his Angels For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Thou art able to do all this for us as the All-mighty Wise and Holy Lord and Governour of the VVorld whose Glorious Perfections are displayed and honoured in all thy Works We hope the granting these our Supplications will advance the Mightiness of thy Kingdom and Manifest thy Power Mercy and Truth For of thee and to thee and through thee are All Things to Thee be Glory for ever and ever Amen As Thou sayest so it is As Thou hast Promised So it shall be And as we have Prayed we Beg it may Be Amen and Amen THE END
assured None can be in Christ without it none in Christ so as to have any special distinguishing saving Benefit by him Application 1. Are none in Christ but new creatures How many then must be excluded How many of excellent and laudable Qualifications of great Attainments and high Professions and moral Accomplishments must yet he excluded and shut out from having any part in Christ because they are yet Strangers to this New creation and consequently are not in Christ but under condemnation Meer Civility and a plausible inoffensive Carriage is quite another thing We need but view the Lives and Actions of the generality of such as are called Christians to confirm this That the Number is but small of those who are in Christ How few have had any awakening Convictions about these things and many such miscarry 2. How miserable is the condition of all unrenewed Souls without a change they are excluded from all saving benefit by the Redeemer They are not in Christ and therefore are under the Curse and Condemnation which by union to Christ we are delivered from Rom. 8.1 Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye are Reprobates 2 Cor. 13.6 All our hopes of Life and Salvation by Christ depend upon it The Guilt of all our Sins doth otherwise lye upon us And all the black Clouds of Divine Vengeance hang over our heads The Wrath of God bides upon us as if there were no Christ no Gospel And there is nothing between us and Everlasting Ruine but a little Breadth 3. Then none but New Creatures have a Right to the Lord's Table For the invited Guests are such who are in Christ The Covenant of Grace cannot be sealed in that Ordinance to those who are not under the Bond of the Covenant The Benefits purchased by Christ are not confirmed at his Table unto those who are none of his I grant there is an Unworthiness as to present frame that even those who are in Christ may have but it is the Unworthiness as to state that I am speaking of Such as are not in Christ having nothing to do to eat his Flesh and drink his Blood lest they eat and drink Judgment and Condemnation to themselves He that doth not truly Repent cannot be truly Interested in the Promise of Pardon and therefore cannot have a Right to the Seal of it They are dead in Sin cannot receive Nourishment by this spiritual Food The least that can be said as one observes is this That it is in vain and to no good purpose for such can no more receive Christ in the Sacrament than a Chicken that should come into the Assembly and pick up some of the crumbs of the bread from the ground after Consecration can be said to receive the Body of Christ But the Danger is unspeakable of Eating and Drinking unworthily for such eat and drink Judgment to themselves not discerning the Lord's Body You may desire to come to this Table and you may say enough it may be to satisfie a Minister of Christ who cannot judge of your Heart and Conscience doth not know the whole of your Life But you your selves must look to it that you be in Christ and that you evidence you are so by being New Creatures We can but Warn and Admonish you and offer our Assistance and help At your own peril be it if you come and yet live in any known Sins and cherish the Enemies of Christ though you profess to be his and presume upon all the Priviledges of his House and Family as real members of it But I will yet add That those who are in Christ if they would have Assistance and Grace from the Spirit of Christ to walk as New Creatures they ought on the other hand to take heed how they absent themselves from that Ordinance If they would either have the comfort of their being in Christ or would have supplies of Grace to walk as New creatures they should be frequent and serious in Sacramental Duties Have you not weak Graces to be strengthened and manifold Corruptions to be more subdued Inordinate Love to this World more Crucified Do you not need more Ability to discharge several Duties and overcome divers Temptations Do you not desire to be more Partakers of the Image and Life and Spirit of Christ Is your likeness to Christ so compleat your Faith in all its branches so active and firm your Love to Christ so warm your Heavenly Desires so fervent your Patience and Resignation so perfect your Obedience so exact your standing so sure that you need no more Influence of the Spirit of Christ Should not your own necessity oblige you to be frequent in this work besides the Authority of your Lord which is motive enough to those that are in Christ And he requires you should remember his Dying Love this way and show forth his death tiâ—l he come It is proper work for us to begin the year with To renew our Covenant with the Lord by partaking of the Symbols of Christ's Body and Blood giving up our selves again to be the Lords with renewed Repentance for the sins of the Year past and repeated Exercises of Faith for Pardon and Peace and Grace and Righteousness and Life 4. The next Vse may be of Examination To try whether we are in Christ or no by inquiring whether we are New creatures or not Your Love to Christ your Likeness to him your Subjection to him your Fruitfulness in him will discover it Are old things done away with you and all things become new Is there still the old Darkness and Blindness that was upon your minds or Are you Light in the Lord Doth the old Deadness Security and Carelessness remain upon your Hearts and Consciences old Thoughts and old Designs old Discourses and Conversations as little Savour in the things of God as ever As little Victory over the Temptations of the World and the Flesh as formerly Are your Wills as rebellious and stubstorn as ever Are your Desires after Vanity and your Affections towards Earthly Things the same as formerly So for your Hopes and Fears Joys and Sorrows What Change hath been wrought Does fleshly Appetite and Sense and Carnal Interest sway and govern as much as ever Or is there a New Creation wrought in you Have you a new Mind and Judgment a new Heart and new Affections Do you walk in Newness of Life Is your Internal Principle changed and the External Rule of your Actions changed too Are you no longer conformed to the World but transformed by the renewing of your Minds Rom. 12.2 Is that sin hated and crucified that before was indulged Is that Saviour prized for to them that believe he is precious and the Chiefest of ten thousands that before was slighted Do you delight in the Law of God after the Inward Man Do you find the Holy Law of God written in your Hearts setting you against every sin in your selves and others Do you walk in the Spirit and after
those who did officiate in the Temple who after having been purified and Washed in the morning as often as they came out and returned againe did only wash their Feet Doubtless therefore the necessity of inward Purification and Holiness must be comprehended as the import of this washing The being sanctified in Soul Body and Spirit as necessary unto all that are accepted of God and in a Covenant Relation with Christ necessary to a saving intrest in Him and Communion with him And such a Change as this some of the vilest and worst of sinners have experienced upon true Repentance and an unfeined Faith This the words I have read give us an account of And such were some of you c. In the beginning of this Chapter the Apostle reproves a very unwarrantable Practice among these Corinthians to implead one another in matters of Right and Wrong before the Heathen Tribunals which seems to blemish the Christian Profession and contradicted the prescribed Rule of our Lord. Matth. 18.15 they were also Injurious and Unjust in their Carriage to their Brethren from which he Indeavours to deter them 1. By that dreadful threatning vers 9. Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven And for the farther confirmation of it enumerates several kinds of such Persons and bids them look well to it and not deceive themselves tho' one would hardly think that men should be deceived in so plain a case as if their profession of Christianity would save them while they lived in any such wickedness Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers in any c. shall inherit the Kingdom of God He then adds another argument in this Text to diswade them from such an unchristian Behaviour viz. from the mighty Change that had been wrought upon several of them by their Conversion to the Faith of Christ And such were some of you but ye are Washed c. The Change is represented by three several expressions and the Means by which it was brought about is double viz. In the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God 1. The mighty Change which was wrought upon them by their Conversion to the Faith of Christ in those words But ye are Washed but ye are Sanctified but ye are Justified some would consider these three expressions as a regular Gradation and make this Washing to signifie the first Change by Regeneration or the new Birth and being Sanctified to denote the further progress measure and Degree of the spirit of Holiness and being Justified follows as that which by a real change of Heart and Life is evidenced and cleared to the comfort of Believers Others think we may consider this being Washed as the general Term comprehending the other two Sanctification and Justification For we find that expression used in both senses for our deliverance from the Guilt of sin by pardoning mercy and from the impurity and stain the power and filth of sin by renewing grace David beggs to be Washed and made Clean in both respects 51. Psalm 2.7.10 And our Lord is said to have loved us and washed us from our sins in his owne blood Rev. 1.5 Which comprehends both the forgiveness of sin and the sanctifying influence of the spirit of Christ Others think all the three terms Washed Sanctified and Justified are here Synanimous as significant of the great Change that is wrought by the renewing and converting grace of God and that Justified in this place is not to be taken in a * Le Blank Theses theol de usu acceptatione vocis Justificandi c. p. 256. §. 6.8.9 Answered by Dr. O. of Justification p. 179. Forensick or Law sence but hath the same import with the other two expressions Washed and sanctified so the expression 12. Dan. which we render turn many to Righteousness in the Original is Justifie many So Sanctification they think may be comprehended under the term Justified Rom. 8.30 Or else one of the greatest Advantages we enjoy by Christ is not there enumerated So here where our Justification is ascribed to the holy Spirit whose office and work it is inwardly to renew and change us and whereby those Corinthians who were vile and impure before are now qualified for the Kingdom of God Tit. 3.5.6.1 However I exclude not our being washed from the guilt of sin as part of the Sense of this Text but it is the other Washing by Sanctification of which I would speak at this time 2. You have the double means whereby this is brought about In the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God c. 1. In the Name of the Lord Jesus or by and through the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Greek Particle doth often signifie For it is the same in the Original in both Clauses The first may as well be rendered By the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ as the other By the Spirit of our God The same Preposition being used in both Referring the whole to Sanctification In my present Discourse I shall not need to Assign Reasons why the word Justified is put last or search for the like Instances of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tho such may be given to vindicate the order of the Expressions and why the Name of Christ which especially refers to Justification should be mentioned before the Spirit of our God which especially refers to Sanctification which yet is named before our being Justified In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ or by his Name may import in the General for the sake of Christ upon the account of his Merit and Mediation and so we pray in the Name of Christ and beg Mercy for his sake But more distinctly the Name of Christ may be considered 1. In relation to his Office of Mediator and the Soveraign Authority of it he is the Jesus the Saviour this is the Name that is given him above every Name and so in by or through the Name of Christ does signifie through faith in him as the only Mediator between God and Man In several like Expressions we must grant that Faith must be supposed when it is not expressed As when we are said to be Baptiz'd in the Name of Christ for the remission of sin Acts 2.38 i. e. believing on his Name 2. It may be considered in relation to the Truth of his Doctrine and the Divine Authority of that Revelation which he made from God to the World upon which his Name is engraven As when we read of suffering for the Name of Christ i. e. for owning the profession of the Christian Religion To this purpose our Sanctification is said to be by the belief of the Truth John 15.3.17 chap. 17. 1 Pet. 1.22 2 Thes 2.13 Ye are clean through the word that I have spoken to you sayes our blessed Lord. And in his Mediatory Prayer to the Father Sanctifie them by thy truth thy