Eph. 3.17 18. O pray Christians That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints What is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge Is it love in a friend to passe his word for his friend arrested and ready to be haled to gaole and to take the debt upon himselfe and is it no love in Christ yea is it not the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the unspeakable of loves for Jesus Christ when a writ of eternal vengeance was Ready to issue out against you to be your surety and beare the blow off to the breaking of his own armes Was it love in the Roman to personate his friend and upon the Scaffold and after to suffer for him and is it not infinite love for Jesus Christ to take the raggs of your flesh upon him and indeed to dye a death upon the crosse for you for you deare friends for you he was smitten despised rejected of men he dyed to make you live he was content to fall so you might rise Let your thoughts sinke in this ocean and spend your lives in spelling the letters of love that must be joyned in this one word or sentence I Raised thee From hence Secondly be Instructed What a perfect Saviour the Lord Iesus Christ is he leaves nothing for thee to doe but to thanke him hee makes the plaister and layes it on hee trod the Wine-presse alone and there is none with him he hath left thee nothing to do but to believe his last words All is finished he conquered sinne upon the Crosse and death and hell in the grave He will have none to be a sharer with him either in his worke of Merit or Application get but hands he will deliver thee thy pardon ready written granted sealed nay he will help thee with hands too He was made perfect through sufferings Hebr. 2.10 Heb. 5.9 Being made perfect hee became the author of salvation to them that obey him 3. From hence againe bee instructed Christian What need thou and every poore soule hath of the Lord Iesus Christ Thou wert fallen and layest as unable to helpe thy selfe as an Infant throwne into an open field Men and Angels were at their wits ends to answer to this question How then can any be saved The Heavens said Salvation was not in them and Earth sayes Salvation is not in us nothing but God-man can doe this great work There is no other name but onely the Name of Iesus by which thou or I or any of the children of men can be saved If thou hast him thou hast enough if thou hast not him it is not all the righteousnesse of Saints and Angels that will make a garment which will not bee too short to cover thy nakednesse O cry Lord give mee Christ Lord give mee Christ or else I dye Thinke not of thy owne merits thy righteousnesse is as a menstruous cloth and as a filthy ragge Christs Righteousnesse is sufficient for thee 4. Let all the redeemed ones of the Lord be instrushed How much they owe and shall for ever owe to him that is become their Saviour It is no slight mercy Sirs to be saved out of everlasting burnings It is a piece of love which as wee can never comprehend so we can never walke up to O let us all say What shall wee render unto the Lord for his mercies wee will take the cup of salvation and praise the Name of the Lord. You would thinke you owed a great deale to him that should exalt you from a Dungeon to a Throne Mephibosheth thought he was mightily honoured to be admitted to eate bread at the Kings Table How much Ah! How much Christians is every of your soules indebted to the Lord Jesus Christ who remembred you in your low estate For his mercy endureth for ever But I passe on further From hence may every one try himselfe Use 3 whether he be raised out of that lost undone condition wherein he was by Nature I have spoke to this in the former Doctrine but because I here meet it so fit again take two Notes of Triall from this Doctrine 1. If you be raised you are raised by Christs merits 2. You are raised according to Christs method 1. If you be raised It is by Christs merits all the Abana and Parphars of thy owne merits would not doe it One drop of that fountaine that was set open for Iudah and Ierusalem for sinne and for uncleanenesse is worth all the waters of thine own Damascus What trusts thou in Christian Is it what thou hast done Alas thou art so far from having any naturall strength as Pelagians and Arminians dreame or any other strength of merits either of thy owne or thy friends which Papists dreame of that if all the Saints in the earth and all the Angels of heaven could unite their forces in one arme and to one act they could as little have lifted thee up out of the pit into which thou wert fallen as thou couldst lift up an house with the palme of thy hand if it were fallen downe It was onely this mighty one this Prince of glory this King of power that could doe it Say therefore as they say that great Papist concluded Tutissimum est Christi meritis confidere it is most safe onely to rest upon him believe it all other trusts are as the bruised Reed of Egypt and as the broken staffe of Assyria which if thou trusteth too they run into thy hand and pierce thee they will cause thee to fall many strides short of heaven when they have carried thee to their furthest their Nil ultra O trust not in them if there be all thy confidence thou art not yet raised 2. If Christ hath raised you it hath been in his method of Application Christ saves none but whom he sanctifies and sanctifies none but whom he justifies and justifieth none but whom he calls Some men are justified they think but they know not which way and they shall be saved I know not which way too Christian thou wert lost and undone thou wert in Adams loines as well as any thou hadst an adventure in his ship as well as any the ship was wrackt Did the Lord ever call thee Didst thou ever yet find a powerfull worke of Gods spirit joyned with the word upon thy heart Did the Lord ever make thee in any measure to see thy lost condition Did the Lord ever yet bid thee when thou sawest thy selfe lost and wert confounded in thy owne insufficiency looke upon Jesus Christ and live Was sinne ever yet a sting to thy soule if not I doubt yea I am out of doubt Christ was never a true comfort to thee Christ was lift up as the brazen serpent now for whom was that lift up but for those that felt the smart of the fiery serpent and no way else be cured
and this should quicken us and strength derived from Christs Resurrection by faith doth quicken the Saints of God to live to God as becomes the redeemed ones of the Lord. 3. It hath an influence upon our raising by being a pledge to us of our owne rising unto everlasting glorie to live with that Christ who was dead and is alive againe This the Apostle fully proves in that fifteenth Chapter of the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians from the thirteenth Verse to the five and twentieth Now I take by raising I raised thee not onely to be understoed of the work of Redemption but also all the privileges that from that worke of Redemption flow out of course to the servants of God being but as severall steps from one of which to another the Saint is raised till hee bee got to the toppe staire of glory Christ hath raised us by his owne rising from the pit of the grave 5. He hath raised us by his Ascension and sitting at the right hand of his Father Now Christs Ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father hath an influence upon our raising these wayes 1. In going before hee provides a place for us Take this out of his owne mouth John 14.2 I goe to prepare a place for you And if I goe and prepare a place for you I will come againe and receive you unto my selfe that where I am there you may be also Christ is now preparing Mansions for his redeemed ones for in his Fathers house are many Mansions never a Saint of his shall want a seat or a roome in glory 2. In going he hath raised us in being our Way He being ascended and with the Father wee have through him a way unto the Father John 14. verse 6. I am the way hee was the way by which the Father came to us he communicated himselfe unto us in and by and through the Lord Jesus Christ and hee is our way by which wee goe to God whatsoever we aske in his Name if we believe we shall receive it we shall receive it The Saint could not pray with comfort if he did not remember that Rev. 13.8 There is an Angell that stands before the Throne to whom much Incense is given to offer up the prayers of his people unto God But knowing we have a friend in the Court we offer up our prayers with boldnes and a great confidence in his goodnesse 3. His Ascension hath an influence upon our raising in that wee know now we have an Advocate with the Father even Christ Alas with what comfort can the child of God whose conscience the Lord hath awakened to consider his daily sinnes and corruptions thinke upon God or look up unto God if he did not know Christ were with him But now that Christ is with his Father wee know 1 Joh. 2.1 That if any man sinne wee have an Advocate with the Father even Christ the righteous Hebr. 7.25 He is therefore able to save them to the utmost that come unto God through him because he ever liveth to make Intercession for them Rom. 8 27. yea and verse 34. Now Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen againe who is even at the right hand who also maketh Intercession for us Observe there how the Apostle gives Christ ascension and sittting at the hand of God as the proximate cause of our Intercessor his Death and Resurrection made him not our Intercessor his Death made him our Saviour his Resurrection our Conqueror but his Ascension and sitting at the right hand of God hath ultimately made him in a capacity to bee our Advocate and Intercessor Thus he hath raised us by Ascension Yea 4. His Ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father hath an influence upon our raising in that now from thence he giveth gifts unto men Ephes 4.8 When hee ascended up on high he led Captivity Captive and gave gifts unto men The Psalmist Psalme 68.18 from whence that passage is taken saith he received gifts for men he received them from his Father Now saith the Apostle when hee led Captivity Captive he distributed these to men As Conquerors use when they have taken the spoile to deale it out in gifts What gifts The Apostle expounds it in part ver 11. He gave some to be Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists In short I take to be meant by it all the gifts of Gods Spirit whether of common or speciall grace whether externall or internall gifts for the benefit of the Church and gifts for the benefit of our soules Nay the descending of the Spirit was a fruit of Christs Ascension See it Joh. 14.16 John 16.7 I tell you the truth it is expedient for you that I goe away for if I goe not away the comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you Now it is plaine that the internall gifts of the Spirit and workes of it are fruits of Christs Ascension as well as the more common and externall gifts given in the dayes of Pentecost from the 14. of Joh. ver 16. where Christ promiseth them that the comforter which upon his departure he would send to them should abide with them for ever And thus I have shewed you now what course the Lord Jesus Christ hath taken to raise his redeemed ones that had lost all their life and strength and comfort in Adam out of this their lost condition thus he did it meritoriously These were his acts for us But now to what purpose is all this for any soules wounds that there is Balme in Gilead that there is a Phisitian there without the Balme bee applyed to its soul 6. Lastly therefore as Christ hath meritoriously thus raised the whole number of the Elect ones so he Particularly and Actually raiseth each one of those whom hee hath purchased by his bloud by applying himselfe unto each of their soules Now for the manner of this Application the blessed Apostle describes it Rom. 8.30 Moreover whom hee did predestinate them he also called and whom hee called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified under Predestination is included Redemption and Sanctification under Justification Now therfore a little to open this mysterie of our Redemption in the Application of it to the soules of them that shall be saved You have seen how there came to be Balme in Gilead and that there is a fulnesse and sufficiency in Christ Now what doth the poore Electone want that it hath lost in Adam I conceive three things 1. Life 2. Strength 3. Light 1. Life It is a damned Creature in Adam it wants a way of salvation a pardon for its sinnes a righteousnesse to appeare in the sight of God 2. Adam hath left it a weak creature not able to do any thing that is good no not so much as to think a good thought it wants a strength to Act in
so as to please God 3. Adam hath left it a comfortlesse creature without any light of Gods countenance shining upon it Now all these are purchased The first of them is necessary to give the first being to a Saint The second is necessary to preserve the Christians being The third ad bene esse for the comfortable being of all Christ is all to the Childe of of God Psalme 27. verse 1. But how doth Christ apply these to the soules of his redeemed ones 1. Saith the Apostle He calls them We say that in effectuall calling which is when God joynes the irresistable power of his Spirit with the outward preaching of the Word God doth these three things 1. Convince the soule of his elect vessell that is a child of wrath by Nature as well as others Ephes 2.3 what a condition it is in by reason of its Originall and its Actuall sinnes 2. Humble the soule for its sinnes and discover unto the soule the insufficiency of all its owne righteousnesse that it is undone in its sinnes and undone in its righteousnesse and thirdly hee sayes to the soule Yet there is hope looke up to me and live I am as the brazen Serpent onely looke up and thou shalt live And that the soule may be able to look up with a true eye Christ gives faith to the soule to behold him come unto him and to receive him by a true resting and relying upon his Merits for salvation 2. And having thus Called the soule he then justifies it He hath in his Decree justified it from eternity hee hath meritoriously justified it by his Death upon the Crosse but now hee doth actually and formally justifie it 1. By pardoning its sinnes and acquitting the soule from the obligation it till now lay under to death and forgetting the injury done to himselfe by any of its sinnes 2. By imputing the Righteousnesse of Jesus Christ to the soule by which it appeares the sinner is pardoned not without a satisfaction first given to Justice 3. By accepting graciously the soule thus justified as perfectly righteous for the Lord Jesus Christs sake as if it had never sinned And the worke of true faith in this Justification is to lay hold upon it And thus now Christ applyes the merits of his Death to the soule in conveying life and pardon to it thus hee raiseth it saying to it in its bloud live But this is not all 2. The soule is weake and is not able to live an houre of it selfe Christ therefore in the next place in order to its more perfect raising sanctifies the soule which implyeth two things 1. He gives unto the soule new principles of grace 2. He gives the soule power to act these principles for as except from him we have nothing so without him we can doe nothing Joh. 15.5 Which power being given the soule from above the soule is raised and becomes strong in the strength of Christ and sets upon works 1. Of Mortification to subdue the strong holds of Satan viz. the remainder of corruption in the soule 2. Of Vivification setting upon such Duties as God hath required of his redeemed ones being exercises of the grace which they have received from the Lord Jesus Christ he gives the soule power to live upon faith to love to desire him to delight in him to do and to suffer for him to be content with him c. Yea and thirdly In his due time he raises the soule to a comfortable life in giving it the sense of his love a perswasion of its Union with the Lord Jesus Christ peace in the inward man thining upon it with the light of his Countenance which is better to it than thousands of Gold and Silver This I say he does in his due time not to all nor continuing it constantly to any but according to his good pleasure thus making knowne to it the Redemption he hath purchased for it and the Justification of its soule which is past in heaven before 4. And lastly in his due time he will yet further raise the soule by taking it to himself and glorifying it with himselfe for ever He will come againe on purpose to raise the soules of his redeemed ones from the dust and to take them up to himself in glory that where he is there they may be also John 16. verse 3. Thus Christ hath meritoriously raised all his redeemed ones and will apply their Redemption with the fruits of it to them in his due time applying life to them by Vocation and Justification strength to them by Sanctification light and comfort to them by shining with the Light of his Countenance upon them and finally giving them Glorification hee shall then perfect his worke of raising us and wee shall live with him in the Highest Heavens for ever I have now done with the Doctrinall part so farre as to shew you 1. That it is Christ that raiseth his Elect ones 1. He is designed 2. He can doe it 3. Hee onely can 4. Hee hath done it meritoriously for all 5. Hee hath done it actually and formally for some and will doe it for the rest And so farre as to shew you the manner how he did it and doth it both in respect of his owne acts in relation to the fitting himselfe for the worke and in respect of his application of it to the soules of his servants If now you aske me the Reasons why and to what end he did it for the reasons of the particular Propositions I have given you them before Now for Reasons in the Generall I shall give you them in two words 1. The moving cause was his owne grace because he would 2. The finall cause was his own glory 1. The moving cause and reason was his owne grace and goodnesse This is the reason of all Gods acts of grace towards the Creature whether Election or Redemption or Vocation or Justification or Sanctification or Glorification the sole cause was in himselfe because he loved us and delighted in us for his owne Names sake c. Isa 43.25 Deut. 7.7 Hos 14.4 His owne will was all the reason he did it freely we buy without money or money-worth Isa 55.1 2. 2. If you aske to what end hee did it It was his own glorie that he might get himselfe glory from poore dust and ashes that little thanke him for all this mercy declared to their souls He Predestinated Redeemed and Adopted us meerely to the praise of the glorie of his grace Ephes 1. verse 6. The end which he aimed at in Calling us was his glory Rom. 9.23 24 25 26. If you aske me why God that could as well have been glorified in the damnation of poore wretches would chuse rather to be glorified in their salvation and bringing them to life I must run back again to the Fountaine againe meerly because so it pleased him because it was his will There wee must rest I shall now proceed to the Application of this mysterious