God that it may prove a certain evidence of conversion and consequently of our union with Christ Jesus It must of necessity have these six properties and each of them must be enquired after in the business of self-examination It must be 1. Spiritual 2. Vniversal 3. Evangelical 4. Sincere 5. Thriving 6. Stedfast obedience 1. It must be spiritual obedience answerable to the nature of that God whom we wait upon and whose servants we are His essence is spiritual and such must our obedience to him be if we will serve the Lord acceptably and make it appear that we are of the number of his peculiar people Bodily exercise and a meer external devotion will strike a great stroke in making up the form of godliness but the power of it consisteth in that which is spiritual Joh. 4.23 The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him These are the true worshippers that is such as are so in Gods account whom he will graciously receive and own in their performances When people serve him in a bare external bodily manner he reckoneth them as his greatest enemies their service is but a piece of dissimulation which hath only the shadow of worship For the substance lieth in what is spiritual And such the Father seeketh to worship him i.e. such worship he commandeth and his soul is well pleased with Although it seemeth to be spoken here with a peculiar reference to instituted worship yet it holds strongly as to natural worship also even of all the parts and particulars of his service For the reason which is rendred v. 24. is comprehensive of all Because God is a Spirit So that our obedience if it prove us a chosen generation whom God hath set apart for himself must be spiritual And that in a threefold respect In respect of the 1. Principle from whence it floweth 2. Extent how far it reacheth 3. Subject whereon it is terminated 1. In respect of the principle from whence it proceedeth It must be such obedience as cometh from the heart and wherein the soul and spirit is ingaged Not an honouring him with the lips and drawing neer to him with the mouth when the heart is removed far from him Not a serving him only by a kind of compulsion under some terrible apprehensions of the judgments of God not in a slothful careless and lukewarm manner as if Religion were a weariness to us and we had no mind to our work But when we serve him aright our hearts must be ingaged to approach unto him Jer. 30.21 22. we must be fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 And our inward parts must be employed in the works of holiness When a mans tongue doth speak forth the praises of God and his heart joyneth with him in the business when his hands do act in the works of piety and his spirit concurreth in the action and carry him on thereunto this is to serve the Lord with the Spirit Although he calleth for the body also to be imployed in his service as indeed he deserveth the whole man yet not as a picture or image without life and soul but as animated by the heart Prov. 23.26 My son give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my wayes q.d. A slave will give me his hands and feet and the strength of his body an hypocrite will offer up the outward man but if thou be a son I must have the heart and spirit 2. It must be spiritual obedience in respect of the extent of it how far it reacheth Such as sets us in opposition against spiritual sins as well as fleshly such as causeth us to fight against secret pride and envy and earthliness and unbelief and malice and double-mindedness and the like as well as to obstain from rotten communication and gross outward pollutions It must be such obedience as is exercised in spiritual duties as meditation on the word of the Lord and frequent contemplation of the excellencies of God adoring his Majesty and admiring his works and setting the affections on things above as well as in pleading the cause of holiness and openly walking in the profession of it It must carry us to such works as are performed in the secret recesses of the Spirit and sets us a striving against such corruptions as are forged and fabricated in the spirit which no eye can observe but God and our own consciences 2 Cor. 7.1 Let us cleanse our selves from all the filthiness both of the flesh and spirit Rom. 8.5 They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit Psal 73.1 Truly God is good to Israel even to such as are clean of heart See further Psal 24.3 4. Mat. 6.21 3. In respect of the subject whereon it is terminated It endeth in the further renewing and purifying the spirit and getting more degrees of habitual grace into the heart When we are not only contented to be kept free from the acts of sin but do mourn and lament under the principle of sin and labour to deaden that principle When we do not think it enough to do much for God but fain would have our spirits transformed every day more and more into the image of God Thus it will be if you are converted If a carnal person resist the temptation he thinks his work is done and is apt to glory in himself as if the whole business were dispatched But a convert layeth the ax to the root of the tree he followeth the corrupt stream to the poysonous fountain whence it is derived and nothing will satisfie him but cleansing the fountain and taking revenge upon his lusts that lodge within him Rom. 7.23 24. Paul's actual sins cause him to have an eye upon his heart by which he was turned aside I see saith he another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity unto the law of sin which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death This is the first qualification It must be spiritual obedience 2. If you would prove your conversion and consequentially your union with Christ by your obedience It must be universal obedience Not a partial and restrictive serving of God but a following him fully as far as the whole circuit of holiness reacheth As it is said of Caleh Num. 14.24 He followed the Lord fully and that proved him to be a man of another spirit and of a gracious temper indeed sanctified by the holy Ghost because his obedience was universal There is a threefold universality must go to the right qualifying our obedience that it may be evidential of a converted estate It must be universal in relation to the 1. Agent or person obeying 2. Rule of obedience 3. Times and seasons of the performance 1. In relation to the agent or person
salvation so far beyond all they looked for And they repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit shall say within themselves This is he whom we had sometimes in derision and a proverb of reproach We fools accounted his life madness and his end to be without honour How is he numbred amongst the children of God and his lot is amongst the Saints As for the oppositions you meet with the word of God is evidently fulfilled in them before your faces And they are none other than you were warned to expect Act. 14.22 2 Tim. 3.12 Besides It is but yet a little while * Nubecula est cito pertransibit and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 6. According to your several abilities set up the worship of God in your families And be conscientious and strict in sanctification of the Sabbath the Lords day It is a matter of easie observation That where these two are neglected or slightly managed the fairest profession of godliness is quickly shriveled and withereth away Never plead that you have no parts or ability for these things If you will set upon the discharge of your duty in the integrity of your hearts God will meet you therein and graciously assist you unto the performance Psal 27.14 And if there be indeed first a willing mind which willingness is manifested by vigorous and earnest indeavours it is accepted according to what a man hath and not according to what he hath not 2 Cor. 8.12 See Gen. 35.2 3. Josh 24.15 Psal 101. Jer. 10.25 Isa 56.2 4 5. Isa 58.13 14. 7. Be constant and diligent in the duty of prayer That is one of the special waies whereby a fellowship and correspondency is maintained between God and his people In taking counsel of the word we hear what the Lord is pleased to speak unto us And by the exercise of the grace of supplications we have the liberty given us to speak unto the Lord. And remember what hath often been inculcated upon you That as all sorts of blessings are stored up in the promises so Faith and Prayer are the special means which God hath appointed for the fulfilling and accomplishment of all his promises Jer. 29.11 12 13. Psal 10.14 As you cannot comfortably expect that God should preserve and keep you from the pollution of sin unless you be careful to avoid the occasions of sin So on the other hand You cannot rationally expect to receive mercies from the Lord unless you seek unto him by prayer for the obtaining of mercy Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you Mat. 7.7 Philip. 4.6 7. Eph. 6.18 19. 8. Live in the daily contemplations of eternity and of the uncertainty of the time of your continuance here Study how you may subordinate all your affairs and concernments in this world unto the matters of another world Put an estimate upon all things as they have reference thereunto Often say within your selves What evidence have I to prove my interest in God What are the grounds whereupon I look for eternal life What thoughts am I likely to entertain of sin and the world on the one hand and of conformity to Christ on the other hand when I am to depart hence and shall be seen no more How precious will that time and space of repentance then be which now I am ready to squander away upon trifles What answer shall I be able to make when God visiteth for the filling up of my Relations for the management of the Talents wherewith I have been intrusted for the right improvement of the means of grace which I have enjoyed for all the particulars of my conversation in the world Did you frequently press these and such like considerations home upon your spirits and keep them closs and warm by meditation upon your hearts what manner of persons would you be in all sobriety holiness and righteousness My brethren You know not how soon how unexpectedly you may be summoned to the giving up your accounts And it infinitely concerns you to be in a readiness That you may be found of God in peace Boast not thy self of To morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth Prov. 27.1 9. Beware therefore of procrastinating in the business of providing for your immortal souls It is one of the principal snares of the devil whereby he holds sinners fast in their spiritual bondage and captivity unto their final destruction If therefore you would set effectually upon working out your salvation ingage speedily presently in the work without further delay Give not place to the devil Deliver thy self as a Roe from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the snare of the fowler Give not sleep to thine eyes nor slumber to thine eye lids Psal 119.6 Heb. 3.7 2 Cor. 6.1 2. And now I shall trouble you no further with this preliminary discourse But conclude with my unfeigned Prayers for you all That the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords the Infinite Eternal and Almighty God and the only Redeemer of lost sinners The love of God our Father in him who spared not his own Son but delivered him up unto death And the sweet and comfortable Presence Guidance and Communion of the holy Ghost the same Infinite Incomprehensible and Immortal God the Spirit of Grace and Truth The Sanctifying Assisting Quickning Comforting and preserving presence of that Spirit may be with you and amongst you To inable you unto your duties To keep you against Temptations To support you under Burdens To carry you through difficulties To strengthen your weaknesses and plentifully to supply all your wants That you may walk wisely in your Families spiritually in your Closets soberly in your companies and Christianly in all your conversations So as to write Holiness to the Lord upon every of your undertakings That upon all occasions you may be effectually instructed in the will of the Lord and bring forth his word into practise That you may thereby witness your Union with Christ and be rooted and built up in him and stablished in the faith And so the Blessing of God may be your constant portion here and you may be everlastingly blessed in the glorious presence of God hereafter Amen 23. July 1668. Written by one who truly and affectionately desireth your Edification and Salvation ROWLAND STEDMAN To the READER IT may be interpreted by some to whom I am best known not only as a defect in prudence but a doing violence and treading counter to my personal inclination who have alwayes affected the privacy of Retirement thus to appear in publike and consequently to expose my Sentiments in the matters of Religion to the censure of all sorts of persons who may light upon this Book To whom therefore I owe this account of my Studies and the publication thereof Having often in the course of my Ministery
brought to light wherein the way is revealed for restoring fallen sinners to their primitive happiness or conducting souls to everlasting bliss God hath graciously pleased to declare this way by the Scriptures and to leave it upon record in the Word of the Gospel and here we have the substance or summary of that Record viz. That God is the giver of eternal Life and that this life is in his Son c. If you examine the connexion or dependance which the words of the Text have with and upon the foregoing passages of the Chapter You will evidently find our Apostle is herein giving a succinct account of the great foundation-truths which are proposed to be the object of a Christians Faith by closing with which we do eminently and signaly advance the glory of God and by disbelieving whereof we are said to make him a lyar Our faith is to be built upon the word of the Lord to be bottomed upon the Record which God hath given concerning his Son And this saith the Apostle is the Record That God hath given us eternal Life c. The better to clear this coherence and so the genuine import and scope of these words let us a little cast our eyes back upon the context or the verse immediately preceding the Text wherein we may note two things 1. The nature and excellency of the grace of faith or believing on Christ ver 10. former part He that believeth on the Son hath the witness in himself 1. For the nature of Faith it is a believing on the Son so it is usually set forth in the dialect of the Holy Ghost Act. 16.31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thine house Joh. 3.36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life This is the saving act of Faith which will bring a soul to Heaven a believing on the Son And therefore I might touch by the way on that common distinction as useful to be considered that there is a threefold act of Faith or three waies of Believing in reference unto Christ There is a believing 1. That Jesus is the Christ Credere Christum Christo. In Christum 2. Jesus Christ 3. On the Lord Jesus Christ 1. There is a believing that Jesus is the Christ an assent unto the truth of this principle that he who was born of the Virgin Mary is the true Messiah and Mediator sent of God to be the Saviour of Mankind So the very Devils believe As they know there is one God so they acknowledg this principle that Jesus is the Son of God and the only Redeemer of lost sinners Hence it is that they are so unwearied in their endeavors to hinder poor souls in closing with Christ and that they labour by all manner of false suggestions to draw their affections from the Lord Jesus Mark 1.24 The unclean spirit cried out Let us alone thou Jesus of Nazareth I know thee who thou art the Holy one of God And that herein the Father of lies spake the very truth you will find by the testimony of the Spirit of God himself v. 34. He cast out many Devils and suffered not the Devils to speak because they knew him 2. There is a Believing Jesus Christ i.e. a subscribing to the truth of the Doctrines that he delivered which are contained in the Scriptures the Word of Christ and Preached by Ministers of the Gospel in his name Thus a Simon Magus may believe he may own the verity of Christs Word though in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity Acts 8.12 13. When they believed Philip Preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ then Simon himself believed also Thus Nicodemus believed before he was instructed in the necessity or acquainted with the grace of regeneration he was convinced by the Miracles wrought by Christ that he was a teacher sent of God and consequently that the Doctrines which he taught were the truths of God Joh. 3.2 As a carnal person who never tasted of saving grace may have much knowledg in his understanding of the will of Christ so he may be under such convictions upon his judgment as in a sort to approve the Word of Christ Rom 2.17.18 3. But lastly there is a believing on the Lord Jesus When a man is so powerfully convinced of the evil of sin and his own obnoxiousness to the wrath of God and the heart so fully perswaded of the excellency of Christ and the sufficiency of his Righteousness together with the utter insufficiency of all other wayes of deliverance that thereupon he doth actually close with Christ upon Gospel terms and make application to him casting himself upon the Son of God for Salvation and renouncing all things for the enjoyment of him Although believing on Christ doth not alwayes signify a saving faith as see Joh. 2.23 yet for the most part it doth and so may fitly be made use of by way of distinction It being observed by some that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a phrase peculiar to the Holy Ghost and not used by prophane Authors This is the saving act of Faith A believing on or in the Son Joh. 11.25 26. He that believeth in me though he were dead yet he shall live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never dye For mark it Sirs that assent of the Judgment unto the great truths of the Gospel which is required of the Lord and is well pleasing in his sight is not a bare naked lifeless assent but a compounded and operative assent such as doth ingage the heart to comply with those truths and brings the whole Soul in subjection unto them Rom. 10.10 With the heart man believeth unto righteousness That 's for the nature of Faith It is a believing on the Son 2. For the excellency and preciousness of thus believing He that doth so hath the witness in himself i.e. in his own Soul and Spirit and Conscience He hath it graven upon the very tables of his heart But what is this witness which a Believer hath in himself Answ You may understand it either of these three waies 1. In relation to his spiritual state He hath a fundamental evidence that he is a child of God and in covenant with him here is sufficient matter if rightly improved whereupon to raise a testimony of this thing It is faith which brings a man under the favor of God and the act of believing is a sure token that the person is endowed with the grace or habit of Faith Spiritual actions as they must proceed from a Divine principle so they are evidences of that principle from whence they do proceed 1 Joh. 5.1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ not with a bare assent of the Judgment but he that believeth it with the heart as before * When a particular duty is produced as an evidence of a state of Salvation or hath a promise of grace and
mercy annexed to it it ought alwayes to be understood of a sincere spiritual and Evangelical discharge of that duty Compare Matt 7.7 Hos 5.6 with Jer. 29.12 13. So Joel 2.32 Prov. 1.28 with Psal 145.18 is born of God That is an undoubted evidence of his regeneration for how could the heart of a sinn r bring forth such fruit unless there were the â—oot of grace planted in the heart 2. It may be meant in reference to the Doctrines of the Gospel He hath the Witness himself that is he is able to seal to those t uths experimentally from the work they have had upon his own Conscience and the effects wrought by them in his own soul He hath not only heard by report of the awakening convincing and converting power of the Gospel which are a strong witness of its divine original and authority but this witness he hath within himself as having felt that efficacy So that he can say to the Ministers as the men of Sychar to the woman Joh. 4.42 Now we believe not because of your reports for we have found it our selves to be a divine doctrine because it hath subdued our hearts and wrought mightily upon our spirits Or as the stranger that commeth into the Church Assembly upon whom the Word is quick and powerful and sharp as a two edged sword piercing into his bosom and discovering the secrets of his heart O saith he God is in you of a truth surely this is none other than the Word of the Lord of Hosts 1 Cor. 14.24 25. The Arguments produced by the Minister are a witness without him and the energy of the Word upon his heart is a witness within him 3. Or thirdly You may understand it metonymically the witness for the person witnessing q.d. He that believeth hath the Spirit of grace and holiness conferred upon him He is made partaker of the Holy Ghost whose work it is to bear witness unto Jesus No man out of sincere aff ction and true faith can profess that Christ is the Lord but by the instinct of the Holy Ghost Engl. Annot. in loc and without whom they could never believe in Jesus 1 Cor. 12 3. No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost that is no man can speak it spiritually from the heart as he ought to speak it so as to subscribe to this principle that Jesus is the Lord and to submit to his Lordship and Government but by the Holy Ghost That 's the first thing I would note in the context The nature and excellency of believing 2. We have the sinfulness of the sin of unbelief the horrid and heinous nature thereof It doth implicitely charge the God of truth with falshood and virtually impeach him as a lyar v. 10. latter part He that believeth not God hath made him a lyar because he believeth not the Record that God hath given of his Son How doth unbelief make God a lyar Answ 1. Not by the contamination or pollution of the divine nature as if the Lord contracted any defilement thereby He cannot be tempted to sin nor tainted with sin Jam. 1.13 The blessed Angels are not tainted with pollution but the nature of God cannot be tainted he is infinitely out of the reach of it Unbelief doth not take from the truth of Gods promise but puts a bar in the Way of our receiving the mercy promised 2 Tim. 2.13 If we believe not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself And mark what the same Apostle saith Rom. 3.3 4. What if some do not believe shall their unbelief make the faith of God of none effect God forbid q. d. Let not such a cursed thought enter into your hearts it cannot be but the faith of God that is the faithfulness of God as to his word and promise must abide firm and immutable to such as have an interest therein We make our fellow servants oftentimes sinners by real infection when the guilt is spread into their souls being seduced by us and made partakers with us but God is holy holy holy Isa 6.3 infinitely holy unchangeably holy capable of nothing but holiness Our unbelief doth not hurt him but our selves Job 35.6 2. But it makes God a lyar in a way of calumniation or detraction Unbelievers do really and consequentially though unjustly charge God with this imperfection They say in their hearts the Lord is not a God of truth For did they own the truth of God they would undoubtedly subscribe to his word By questioning the matter witnessed we impute falshood to the person witnessing Tantum valet testimonium quantum auctoritas testantis and this is the very nature of unbelief As it is the damning sin that locketh up a man under the guilt of all his transgressions so it is an exceeding heinous and sinful sin it carrieth a kind of blasphemy in the bowels of it it maketh as if God were a lyar As by believing we seal to the truth of God Joh. 3.33 Non quod dei fidem labefactet corum impietas sed quod per eos non stat quin issum arguant vanitatis Calv. So by unbelief we do in effect lay falshood to his charge O the desperate wickedness of mans heart O the horrid abomination of this great ungodliness and the wonderful patience of God towards unbelieving sinners That 's the second thing to be noted The sinfulness of the sin of unbelief 3. Now the Text is brought in as a Specification of that Record which is propounded as the object matter of our faith and in reference to which unbelievers do asperse and calumniate the God of Heaven as a lyar They will not acquiess in the dictates of the Scripture they call in question the record that God hath left concerning his Son And if it be demanded what this record is or what special matter it doth contain The Apostle informeth you in the subsequent verses This is the record that God hath given us eternal Life and this life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life Which words are a Compendium of the Christians Charter An abbreviature of the great deed of gift or conveyance which God hath made of eternal glory and blessedness unto the children of men the record which he hath left touching the way of salvation Wherein you have observable for the distribution of the words these four parts 1. The mercy provided or the blessing conveyed that is eternal life What are we to understand by eternal Life in this place Vita aeterna sumitur 1. Propriè pro beato electorum statu post hanc vitam 2. Impropriè seu Metonymicè pro viâ seu medio perveniendi ad vitam aeternam Ravan I answer 1. Expresly and primarily the enjoyment of God in heaven the blessed Vision and fruition of the Lord in glory the Rivers of pleasures that are at his right hand for ever the
soles viderent Bacon de sap veter when the Comforter is come to guide you into all truth then you shall know this mystery q. d. Now it is as the lines of a book that is sealed up a matter beyond your reach but then you shall read and understand 3. That hereupon you may be quickned to set upon this study with prayer with the earnest and fervent lifting up your hearts to heaven that God would anoint your eyes with ey-salve for the perception of this truth That he would open your minds and judgments to understand the Scripture in this particular and lead you into the knowledge and acknowledgment of this mystery For it is an Vnction from the holy One must teach us these lessons 1 Joh. 2.20 27. And therefore that prayer of the Psalmist is an excellent pattern 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato for the outgoings of our hearts at such a season Psal 119.18 Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law 4. That in order to the getting acquaintance with this Doctrine you may be convinced of the necessity of putting your selves under the promise which God hath made to reveal the secrets of his Covenant to his servants For this is one of those secrets a great mystery and upon that account mostly stiled a mystical Union And you know the way to get under the verge of that promise Nulla in discendo mora est ubi spiritus sanctus Doctor adest Beda is by indeavouring to maintain an holy dread and fear of the Majesty of heaven upon your hearts not daring knowingly to sin against him Psal 25.14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant This is the very reason why many poor Christians of low parts in comparison with others can speak more clearly and savourily of these things than some profound Doctors who are strangers to the power of godliness because the promise is not made to great parts and learning Ille qui cum puritate animae legit Scripturas plus proficiet quam si enodare tentaret mysteria multis commentariis Acost Jes but to such as have a reverential awe and regard of the Majesty of God upon their spirits The Lord doth often hide these things from the wise and prudent and reveal them unto babes Why because it so pleased him and because he hath promised to instruct them in these lessons Psal 25.9 The meek he will guide in judgment and the meek he will teach his way Again v. 12. What man is he that feareth the Lord him he shall teach in the way that he shall chuse And therefore mark what I say Humility self-emptiness and poverty of spirit together with a due dependance on the teachings of God will strike a greater stroke in acquiring the knowledge of these Lessons than the choicest accomplishments of parts and learning without them A conscientious respect to plain truths and precepts is the way to learn hidden mysteries John 7.17 If any man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine That 's the first Conclusion to be premised 2. Concl. 2. Although the Union of a Christian with the Lord Jesus is in it self a mystery not easie to be attained as to right apprehensions thereof yet it is a point of very great concernment to be studied and a clear insight thereinto will abundantly recompense all the pains you can take in the search of it So that the difficulty of attainment shuld not deter us from a diligent enquiry into it but rather stir us up to pursue it with all our might and industry It is a point wherein a man cannot with safety be ignorant It is incumbent upon us as we tender our everlasting welfare to get right apprehensions of the substance of this thing A mistake herein may occasion our eternal undoing And therefore when Christ had treated Mat. 13. of the mixture there is in the visible Church in many parables together How that some are in the Church who are not of the Church that there are many seem to be members of the body who are not spiritually united to Christ the head of the body for that is the drift of the parables though delivered in other words how doth he close his Sermon upon that subject See v. 51. Jesus saith unto them have ye understood all these things As if he had said It doth infinitely concern you to get a good understanding in this matter you cannot safely be in the dark as to this Doctrine Let these things sink deep into your hearts and be much pondered in your thoughts Hence the holy Ghost is so much upon it and doth frequently mention not only the excellency and need of Jesus Christ but likewise the necessity of our Oneness with Christ or being in him It is a dangerous thing to have false conceptions in our minds concerning this union or to be ignorant of it for three Reasons especially 1. Because it is the want of a right knowledge and due consideration of this very thing which is the cause of the ruine of many thousand souls Amongst those that live within the pale of the Church and have heard the joyful sound of the Gospel a great number perish by splitting upon this rock They apply the vertue of the death of Christ to themselves without ever minding whether they are in Christ They hope to be saved upon his account and so go on securely to hell under the shelter of those hopes because they never considered the nature and necessity of being united to his person See the very rise of their destruction how they plead themselves into a fools paradise in expectation of being pardoned and saved through Christs blood because they never minded if they had the Son or not if they were in Christ or no Luk. 13.26 27. Then shall ye begin to say We have eatten and drunk in thy presence and thou hust taught in our streets But he shall say I tell you I know you not whence you are depart from me all ye workers of iniquity Observe their mistake from the answer that is returned them I know you not whence you are as if he had said You are utter aliens and strangers unto me persons with whom I never was acquainted Though you heard my Word yet you were never ingraffed into my body though you were never ingraffed into my body though you have eaten and drunk in my presence yet you were not implanted into me nor ever had any fellowship with me And who are those which thus deceive themselves why many very many as in that parallel Text Mat. 7.22 23. I think experience may give us cause to suspect they are the most 2. It is a dangerous thing to have false apprehensions of Union with Christ because this is the great fundamental blessing upon which all our comfort is built and other spiritual blessings have a dependance hereupon So that see
by way of Introduction let us now proceed to the Explication of the matter it self The question is this Qu. What are we to understand by a persons Vnion with the Lord Jesus Or How may a man be said to be united unto the Son and so to have the Son Ans To this Question I shall answer two ways by 1. Distinction 2. Description 1. By way of Distinction Our Lord Jesus himfelf in the Sermons which he preached hath made mention of a twofold union with him or of two ways how men and women may be in him 1. By way of visible Profession or external adbaesion only as a dead branch or sprig is in the Tree though it nothing partake of the sap derived from the root as a glass eye or wooden leg is in the body though they do not partake of life with the body in any degree whatsoever 2. By way of spiritual ingrafture and implantation when they are in Christ so as to be quickned by Christ and receive nourishment from him as a living fruit-bearing slip or sience is ingraffed into the stock This distinction you have John 15.1 2. I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit Which words are a parable wherein 1. Christ compareth himself to a Vine and it is a very pat comparison both in regard of the mear â—â—ness and lowness of his outward appearance having no form and comeliness that he should be desired in that respect as the vine is the most desplicable in outward view among st the Trees of the garden And in regard of his real worth and excellency although the vine hath no beautiful shape yet it is a very useful and excellent plant so the Lord Jesus is the chiefest of ten thousands he is indeed a plant of renown But principally Christ is here resembled to a vine in regard of the sustentation of the branches and the juicy influence that from him is imparted unto the branches it is by Christ they are upheld and by communications from him they are maintained 2. God the father is likened to the Husbandman by whom the vine is planted and dressed by commission from whom Christ was sent upon his work and furnished with all things requisite thereunto and by whom persons are graffed into him 3. And persons in the visible Churches are signified by the branches in the Vine Of which saith our Saviour there are two sorts some that are dead and withered and others which are living and bring forth fruit And both of them may be said to be in him the one sort by way of profession the other by way of spiritual implantation Every branch in me that beareth not fruit c. I will open this distinction in each of the members of it 1. There is Union with Christ or a being in Christ by way of common Profession or outward adhaerence only when yet they have no saving interest in him or benefit by him Thus all that own the Christian Religion and have a shew of godliness are in him though perhaps they have nothing of the life and substance of godliness They are said to be in his Kingdom in the Church which is his Body and out of that Kingdom they shall be gathered and cast into Hell Mat. 13.41 The Son of man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend Regnum Christi 1. Oecumenieum Oeconomicuin and them which do iniquity not only out of the world in general but out of the visible Church the Mediators Kingdom and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Statim parebunt Christo summo Judici messores Ecclesiae purgatores tollent enim è regno Christi omnia offendicula Marl. in loc As carnal Professors are said to be sanctified through Christ so in a like sence it may be said they are in Christ You read expresly of their being sanctified by the blood of the Covenant who yet drew back unto perdition and trampled that blood under their feet Heb. 10.29 Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy of who hath troden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing i.e. There is a sanctification to the purifying of the flesh and a sanctification to the purifying of the conscience from dead works to serve the living God Heb. 9.13 14. The sanctification external to the purifying of the flesh consisteth in the mans separation from the world and dedication unto God's service by calling and Covenant common to all the members of the visible Church c. Dicks whereby he was separated and set apart from the Heathen and worshippers of false gods and taken amongst the professed people and servants of Christ this I take to be the genuine import of the place for it is an evident allusion to the blood of the Sacrifice sprinkled on the whole body of the Israelites whereby they were sanctified and set apart unto the Lord or as a token of their covenanting with the Lord although with many of them God was not well-pleased they continued weltring in their sins under the power of their unbelief and other wickednesses notwithstanding Now as they are sanctified by Christ so in a like sence it may be said they are in him they belong to him as his disciples and followers by way of profession See Joh. 6.66 Concerning which Union with Christ by way of common profession or external adhaesion only I will intreat you to mind these four Positions 1. Position 1. The principal bonds or ligaments whereby this union is made up by which persons are thus knit unto Christ do mainly consist of four things 1. An approbation or acknowledgment of the doctrines of Christianity 2. An external subjection to the Ordinances of Christ 3. Some common workings upon their hearts and spirits 4. A measure of reformation in their lives and conversations Let us a little touch upon them severally 1. The first bond of this Union by way of external adhaesion is an approbation and acknowledgment of the doctrines of Christianity so as to assent unto the truth and confess at least the goodness and excellency of them so as to close with them in opposition to all contrary ways of Religion It is not enough to the establishment of this Union that a man doth hear the word of Christ so may a Heathen do out of curiosity so may a Jew or Mahometan to blaspheme and cavil but at least there must be some kind of reception and approbation of the word Thus the carnal Professors of whom the Apostle maketh mention for of such he speaketh under the name of Jew's Rom. 2.17 18 21. It was this which made them Jews outwardly
as he is pure 1 John 3.3 3. By the grace of Regeneration the Lord Christ is said to take up his abode in us because the Holy Ghost in that work doth act in his name as purchased by Christ and receiving commission from him and being sent by vertue of his Prayer and Intercession John 16.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive In the transactions of the everlasting Covenant our Lord Jesus undertook to sanctifie and comfort and to quicken and stablish his people and by the Spirit of truth he doth accomplish that undertaking By his death the Spirit was purchased and in his name he is sent 4. The grace of Regeneration may be stiled Christ dwelling in us from the tendency of it which is to bring sinners in subjection to the Government of Christ and to make them ready to obey the Laws of Christ Hereby we become his Servants and possession is taken of us to his use and behoof that we may cleave unto him and be followers of him Col. 3.24 For ye serve the Lord Christ Mat. 19.28 Ye that have followed me in the Regeneration c. that is in your regenerate condition in the exercise of that grace which was bestowed upon you in your New-birth for so it may be well understood The grace of Regeneration plucketh sinners out of the Kingdom of Satan and seizeth on them for the service of Christ carryeth us out to him and maketh us obedient to his Laws and Dominion This may suffice to be spoken to the first branch of that Vnion which is between Christ and Believers or the first sort of Conjunction betwixt them 2. There is a legal Conjunction and oneness thereupon arising from a Believers reception of Christ closing with him and getting into him Such an Union as there is between the principal Debtor and the Surety who hath paid the debt for him and made over that payment unto him The Law reckoneth them as one what payment the Surety hath made for the Debtor in his name and firmly made over unto him the Law accounts it as if the Debtor himself had paid it and dischargeth him thereupon as if it had been his own personal Act and Deed because of that intimate relation or oneness that is betwixt them in the estimation of the Law Such an union there is between Christ and his people and therefore we call it a legal union because it hath a special reference unto the Law of God which acquitteth the person thus united to Christ by vertue of the sufferings and satisfaction of Jesus Christ as fully and firmly as if the party himself had suffered and satisfied And likewise we call it a legal union because of the analogy it beareth unto the proceedings of Law in Courts of Judicature amongst men The bond of this union is a saving faith whereby Believers receive Christ and take hold on him As by the Spirit of Regeneration Christ doth take hold of their souls so by a living faith of the operation of the Spirit they are inabled to take hold of the Lord Jesus and so they are compacted and knit together You know faith is set forth by such expressions a receiving of Christ and taking hold of him John 1.12 But to as many as received him to them he gave power to be the sons of God even to them that believe on his name Mark it we receive Jesus Christ and take him home to our selves by believing on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ As under the Law when a man q. d. ran for refuge and protection to the Altar he was wont to lay hold upon the horns of the Altar so by faith a sinner betaketh himself for shelter and security unto Christ and layeth hold upon Christ Heb. 6.18 That we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us * We who to flee from deserved wrath have taken our course towards Jesus in hope to get the Salvation offered to us in him Dicks in loc that is upon Jesus Christ the object of our hope and confidence who is set before us in the Gospel as the person in whom we are to trust and upon whom to rely and place our hope By faith we lay hold upon him and by this laying hold on Christ a Believer is joyned unto Christ and made one with him By faith we are in him and put on his righteousness Phil. 3.9 That I may be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith It is of God he provided it for us and it is made over to us and becometh ours by faith in the Mediator This is the Second Branch of the mutual conjunction between Christ and a Believer and the union thereupon the bond whereof is faith in Christ Concerning which I will propose onely these four things to your serious perusal and meditations 1. That the Holy Ghost in the writings of the Scriptures doth distinctly speak of a fourfold faith There is 1. An Historical Faith 2. A Temporal Faith 3. A Faith of Miracles 4. A saving and justifying faith in Christ which is the bond of our union with the Lord Jesus As this is an ordinary School-distinction so it is a Scripture-distinction which hath its warrant from the word and its foundation in the word of God 1. There is an Historical Faith whereby we believe the Scriptures and the matters therein contained to be Divine Truths and to have proceeded from God * This is by some called a dogmatical faith such a faith the Apostle supposed to have been in Agrippa in respect to the writings of the Old Testament Acts 26.27 King Agrippa believest thou the Prophets I know that thou believest q.d. I am confident thou art perswaded of the truth of those things Agrippa being a Jew and always conversant in Judea could not be ignorant of the Scriptures and Paul takes it for granted that he who owned their Original to be of God and that in them was discovered nothing but the truths of God I know that thou believest I am well assured thou darest not deny their Divine Authority This we call an Historical Faith because it assenteth to the truth of the History of the Bible as it is a Narrative of things done and containeth Predictions of things to be done as it comprehends matters of fact mentioned to be performed Doctrines asserted Prophesies and Promises to be fulfilled and the like And pray mark it Sirs this faith is diversifyed according to the different testimony on which it is bottomed * Quia testes quibus fidem adhibemus ex lege ordine communi sunt homines vel Deus idcirco sicut testimonium sic etiam fides distinguitur in
you bring forth the fruits of righteousness here and endeavour to be holy in all manner of conversation If you live in any course of sin or in the neglect of observing any of God's commandments it is not possible you should come to the enjoyment of God whilst you abide in that estate Never dream of being saved without holiness for such imaginations are but dreams and fancies Heb. 12.14 Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived c. q. d. It is a plain case that the unrighteous will perish unavoidably it is a token of gross ignorance to think otherwise Do not hope for or expect salvation without righteousness for by such hopes and expectations you will but cheat your own souls Gal. 5.19 20 21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulation wrath strife seditions heresies envyings murders drunkenness revellings and such like Of the which I tell you before as I have told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Mark it if a man live in any of these sins or in any other sin like unto these whether it be filthiness of the flesh or of the spirit open or secret though not here particularly enumerated he cannot enter into eternal life It is a matter as if the Apostle had said which I have studied and the more I think of it the more I am confirmed in it I have preached this doctrine to you formerly and I am still of the same mind and therefore warn you of it again that if you be such persons you cannot be saved 2. Although I counsel you to be much in the works of righteousness yet you must despair of ever being justified or saved upon the account of your righteousness For alas what are the best of our righteousnesses to give satisfaction to the justice of God for the wrong that we have done him If you be pardoned and accepted of the Lord it must be for the sake of the righteousness of Jesus Christ and not by virtue of any thing of your own For the Seripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe Gal. 3.22 3. Although you must be active and diligent in the service of God and labour to walk in uprightness before him yet you are utterly to despair of doing this in your own strength It is only strength and aflistance from Jesus Christ that will inable you to be faithful unto Christ If you trust in your own hearts they will deceive you 2 Cor. 3.5 Psal 71.15 16. * Ad evulsionem hominis à statu peccati requiritur 3. ut ex evictione conscientiae desperatiosalutis consequatur respectu nostrarum virium omnis etiam auxilii quod à creaturis haberi potest Ames de cons 4. I would counsel you to work up your hearts to an utter despair of receiving either righteousness or strength from Christ except you get into him Sit down and rest in this conclusion that unless you be united to the Son of God you cannot dwell in the presence of God There is no salvation to be had upon other terms And thus to despair of deliverance in a state of separation from Christ is an excellent means or inducement to drive you unto him Thus the Law is our School-master to lead us unto Christ i. e. by convincing us of our undone condition without him * Lex in vero suo officio est ad gratiam ministra praeparatrix prodest ad justificationem non quod justificat sed quia urgeat ad promissionem gratiae cam facit dulcem desiderabilem Luth. It pursueth us with wrath as the avenger of bloud that we may be forced to hasten into the City of refuge Gal. 3.24 This is the first Direction I intended in order to the attainment of this grace of union Direct 2. If you would be united unto the Son Get the Spirit of the Lord Jesus into your hearts It is only the holy Ghost who is sent in his name that can lead you unto him and ingraff you in him and form Christ within you And if you have not the Spirit of Christ you cannot be his Rom. 8.9 And therefore to this end 1. Be much in prayer to God for this very mercy that he would graciously send the Spirit of his Son into your souls There is an encouraging word to draw forth your fervent supplications in this behalf Luke 11.13 If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him It is the mercy which he delights to be sought unto for and to be dealing forth in return to the prayers of his Servants 2. Be much conversant with the word of Christ and constant in your attendance upon the Ordinances of the Gospel Be frequent in reading and studying the Scriptures make them the matter of your daily meditations lose no opportunity to acquaint your selves therewith or to wait upon Christ in the wayes of his appointment Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom Col. 3.16 For it is the word and institutions of Jesus Christ which are designed as conduit-pipes to convey the spirit of sanctification into mens hearts And therefore the word hath the promise of conversion annexed unto it because the spirit of conversion worketh in and with and by the word Psal 19.7 The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul Jam. 1.18 Of his own will he begat us with the word of truth As the word cannot work savingly without the concurrent operation of the holy Ghost So the holy Ghost doth not ordinarily work without the word For the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth Rom. 1.16 And when our Saviour prayeth for them that should be gathered unto him it is under this expression For them that shall believe on me through their word Joh. 17.20.3 Take heed that you resist not the Spirit by quenching his motions or rising up in contradiction against the convictions that he is pleased to work upon your hearts Readily hearken to his call and comply with him in the tenders of grace If you repel him by the frowardness and perverseness of your spâ—rits you know not when he will return Joh. 3.8 Take therefore the Apostles advice Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption Direct 3. If you would be knit unto Jesus and so have an interest in him endeavour after the uniting grace of faith in his bloud cast your selves upon his righteousness for salvation according to the proposals