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
faith or faith as it is a spiritual act and work not the works of faith that justifie a sinner in the sight of God yet that faith which giveth him a title to the righteousness of the Mediator by whom alone he can be justified must be an operative and working faith such as purgeth the conscience from dead works and bringeth the soul into subjection unto Christ's Laws and Government To this purpose the words of the Apostle James are observable Cap. 2.14 What doth it profit my brethren if a man say he hath faith and have not works can faith save him It is not said though he have faith and have not works for where there is faith in the heart there will be new obedience in the life but if he say that he hath it if he be a pretender to it can such a dead lifeless pretended faith save him Christ is held forth in the Gospel not only as a Redeemer but as a Lord and a Law-giver and these are inseparably connected and knit together He that presumeth to divide between what God hath joyned together that will accept of Jesus as a Saviour but not as a Soveraign doth not indeed receive the Christ of God but an idol stamed by his own heart Whom he doth save he will rule and govern Heb. 5.9 He became the Anthor of eternal salvation unto all them that obeyed him I shall not need to trouble you with controversal points as whether faith quà justifying under that very notion or consideration doth receive Christ as a Lord This is acknowledged on both hands that the faith which justifieth doth receive Christ in al his offices as a Prophet to instruct and guide us in the ways of God as a King to exercise rule and dominion over us and as a Priest to reconciâ—e and make intercession for us If we come to Christ for salvation we must take his yoke upon us Mat. 11.28 29. For a dividing faith is a false hypocritical faith to whom Christ giveth remission of sins he giveth repentance also He saveth us by the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost So that if we receive him as a Saviour we must have him as a Sanctifier for he saveth by sanctifying and conducteth sinners to eternal peace by guiding their feet in the ways of peace Thus I have ended together the mystical union betwixt believers and the Lord Jesus which I mainly drove at and intend when I shall speak of it afterwards as the foundation of our communion with Christ and receivings from him as also the sixth Proposition laid down to open the manner of the Conjunction between Christ and his people and their oneness thereupon There are two Propositions more yet behinde which I come now to insist upon that I may finish my answer to the third General Head 7. Propos 7. From this mystical union of a Believer with Christ or being ingraffed into Christ there doth flow another sort of union between them whereof love is the bond which may be well improved as an evidence of the former and it is usually called a moral union Such an oneness as there is between the dearest friends whose hearts are linked together in the bond of amity and mutual affection We say sometimes of intimate friends they are so nearly conjoyned as if they were but one as if the same soul did animate both in their bodies * Amor non est desiderium aut appetitus ut ab omnibus bactenus traditum Nam cum potimur amatâ re non manet appetitus Est igitur affectus quo cum re amatá aut animur aut unionem perpetuamus Scalig. Exerc. 301. Anima est ubi amat potiùs quam ubi animat Deut. 13.6 Thy friend which is as thine own soul So are the Lord Jesus and his peculiar people knit together He hath a very dear and inflamed affection to them He loves them that love him Prov. 8.17 His delights are with the sons of men Prov. 8.31 And on the other hand he is in their hearts so as to live and die together It is the greatest pleasure believers have in the world to be contemplating the excellencies of Christ and conversing with him it is that which doth yield them the most solid content and satisfaction and they are still hungry and thirsting after the further enjoyment of him as if they could never have enough of fellowship and society with him John 21.17 Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time lovest thou me And he said unto him Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee He could hardly bear it to have his love to Christ called in question This union is notably set forth in the Song of Solomon You have many passages for it I will transcribe a few of them See the workings of their hearts towards Christ Cap. 2.3 4 5.6 7. As the apple-tree amongst the trees of the Wood so is my belâ—ved amongst the sons I sate under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste He brought me to the banquetting house and his banner over me was love Stay me with flagons comfort me with apples for I am sick of love His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me I charge you O ye Daughters of Jerusalem by the Roes and by the Hinds of the field that ye stir not up nor awake my love till he please as if the Church had said O take heed of displeasing the Lord Jesus there is nothing will cut me so deeply to the heart as if you despise him and sin against him He is the life of my life and the strength of my soul it is acquaintance with him that putteth sweetness into all my accommodations they would be comfortless comforts were it not for Christ I am never better then when I am in communion with him Again cap. 3.1 2 3 4. By night on my bed I sought him when my soul loveth I sought him but I found him not I will rise now and go about the City in the streets and in the broad wayes I will seek him whom my soul loveth I sought him but I found him not The watchmen that go about the City found me to whom I said saw ye him whom my soul loveth It was but a little that I passed from them but I found him whom my soul loveth I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him into my Mothers house and into the Chamber of her that conceived me as if the soul of a believer should say how much doth my Spirit long after Christ My thoughts are not onely upon him by day but my meditation is concerning him in the night season And if he doth hide his face I have no rest in my Spirit I make use of all means to recover the light of his countenance I pray and seek and cry and watch I converse with this Christian
damnation that will befal and the sore torments that will be inflicted upon such All ungodly sinners will be punished everlastingly but such as seemed to cleave unto Christ but yet served the devil will be punished most severely and made to drink of the dregs of the cup of God's indignation as sinning against most light Gospel-light and under means of grace denied to others which are the main aggravations of sin To them is reserved the myst of darkness for ever Genitivus reflexus super nominativum singularem importat eminentiam Ut coeli coelorum i.e. Altissimi Et sic in Synenimis ut iniquitas peccati i. e. maxime peccaminosa Sic caligo tenebrarum i. e. densissima that is the grossest darkness and sorest destruction 2 Pet. 2.17 You know our Lord Christ pronounceth the most terrible woes on this account Mat. 11.21 22 23. Wo to thee Chorazin wo to thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes But I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you And thou Capernaum which art exalted to heaven shalt be brought down to hell c. that is because thou art highly advanced in spiritual priviledges and hast not improved them thou shalt be destroyed with double destruction and made utterly desolate For as our Lord Jesus elsewhere concludes This is the condemnation that men live in sin under Gospel-light light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light Joh. 3.19 And besides I might have added that the torments of such will be the greater because of the reproach and scandal which they bring upon Christ and his ways As they dishonour him actively by their own transgressions so they give occasion to others to speak evil of him and his service For will wicked profane wretches be ready to say when they see the haltings and hypocrisie of these carnal Professors Lo these are your Saints that would be accounted more precise than others Here is their Religion and such they are all of them and the like It is because of the blots and blemishes of these counterfeit Christians that the name of Christ is blasphemed Rom. 2.24 compared with Ezek. 36.20 23. 3. Their condition is sad because of their more than ordinary inexcusableness in their eternal damnation They will have no manner of Apology or defence to make for themselves their mouths will be stopped to purpose for indeed they are condemned of themselves May Christ say unto them if my service were evil why did you call your selves may servants and go under my name and list your selves into my family and if it be excellent indeed why did not you serve me in truth and in sincerity Mat. 22.12 When the King came in to see the guests he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment And he saith unto him Friend how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment and he was speechless q. d. Why didst thou associate thy self with such company if thou wert resolved to continue in thy filthiness what an impudent wretch art thou to enter thy self into my houshold and family unless thou wert purposed to subject to the Laws and Discipline thereof How couldest thou for shame rank thy selfe amongst believers whilst thou liest polluted in thine impurity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi capistro injecto obmutuit And he was speechless he was muzzled as the word signifieth he had not a word to say in his own defence his own conscience silenced him For as the Apostle argueth If the light of nature will render the Heathen inexcusable and leave them without apology in the day of judgment how much more inexcusable are those who are brought within the pale of the visible Church of Christ and yet will not have that man to reign over them that call themselves Christians and partake of the priviledges of Christianity and yet serve the devil and are of his Synagogue Rom. 1.20 compared with Chap. 2.1 4. Their estate is sad bedanse of that vexation and horror which the very reflection up on this thing will bring to their spirits everlastingly How will the worm of conscience gnaw upon their hearts from this very consideration and the hypocritical wretches be ready to fear out their own bowels When they shall bethink themselves they were so neer to Christ and yet fell short of salvation by him that then took possibly a great deal of pains in the outward part of Religion to go on in a round of duties yet for want of truth and integrity in the inward parts must lose the benefit of all that ever they did that they were not far off from the kingdom of God and for want of going further must perish amongst the devils and damned for ever and make their bed in hell According to that in Luk. 13.28 There shall be weaping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves thrust out So much more will it bring vexation and anguish upon a mans spirit when he shall see such an acquaintance of his got to heaven that perhaps fate in the same seat with him who was wont to meet at the same religious exercises with him and himself excluded When he shall find such an one received into Abrahams bosom that possibly she fat outstript in commons gifts and qualifications a poor broken-hearted sinner whom he was aâ—â— to despise and himself tâ—rust into the chains of â—arkness amongst dogs and forcerâ—rs and whoremongers amongst professed Atheists and the profanest of men What bitterness will this bring to a mans thoughts O my friends think of this betimes ere it be too late and the Lord a waken your hearts that you may not rest on this side of a saving Vnion with the Lord Jesus So much for the first branch of the distinction viz. An Union with Christ by way of commoâ— profession or exceâ—nal adhâ—sion only 2. There is an Union or Onchess with Jesuâ— Christ my spiritual implantation and ingrature When a person is in him so as to receive life and nourishment from him as a quick fruit-bearing graff is in the stock as a living member is in the body and united unto the head When a soul is not only set upon the foundation but is also cemented to it by the cement of special grace the peculiar work of the spirit of holiness When he is a lively stone built upon the living foundation as the holy Ghost expresseth it 1 Pet. 2.4 5. To whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house It is this sort of union which the Scripture mentioneth as so great a mystery and to which eternal life
of my fathers have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger I will arise and go to my father When he came to himself that is when he entered into debate with his own spirit * Ut nemo tenat in se descendere Per. sat when he communed with his own heart touching his deplorable condition then he quickly resolveth to abide amongst the swine no longer he will feed no more upon husks he will rather be as the meanest servant in his fathers house a door-keeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness Before that time he gave up himself in subjection to his lusts and did not consider what he was doing he did not bethink himself as the expression is 1 Kings 8.47 If they shall bethink themselves and repent This is the second act in order to a divorce from sin An act of Consideration 3. There is a work of Humiliation and Compunction whereby the spirit is made to mourn and â—ament in the sense of sin and withal to tremble in apprehension of the danger of it This is that pricking to the heart which is the usual forerunner of conversion Acts 2.37 Now when they heard this they were pricked to the heart and they said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles men and brethren what shall we do Now their consciences are wounded and they mourn in reflection upon their evil wayes They are as an heavy load and burden uptheir spirits What shall we do q.d. We are utterly ruined and undone except the grace of God step in for our recovery Can you shew us any way to escape we are ready to close with any directions prescribed When God doth bless mens souls in turning them from their iniquities he doth first cause them to grieve and be in bitterness for those iniquities and stirreth up in them a dread and fear of his judgments * Quos non expugnat ratio eos mansuefacit motui For mark it Sirs although it be love unto God and sense of the love of God which have a mighty influence to cause a converted person to cleave unto the Lord yet it is a dread and fear of wrath and judgment which bringeth a sinner in the first conversion unto God Thus you know the Jaylor came in trembing Acts 16.29 30. And when Christ doth shoot out his sharp arrows into mens hearts then the people fall down under him Psal 45.5 It may well be understood of these arrows of compunction and terror * Haec dicuntur typicè de evangelicâ administratione Christi Malv in Psal 45. Cordaque vulâ—ificis figens inimica sagittis Sponte sibi cogis valides precumbere gentes Buchan The Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rendred shall fall down may well be be meant of an act of adoration So it is used in Deut. 9.25 in Chald. Dan. 2.46 Dan. 3.7 whereby the perversness of mens hearts is overcome and subdued of enemies they are made friends and brought into to a ready subjection unto his government That 's the third work 4. The grace of Repentance is poured out upon the soul whereby the heart is crucified unto sin and the reigning power of sin is removed and a standing aversness and antipathy put into the spirit against it When this is done then the divorce is compleated and the sinner is set at liberty from his corruptions that he may be joyned unto Christ For it is not all the arguments and perswasions in the world that can effectually prevail upon a man to cast off his iniquities and bring him from under the power of sin until the Spirit of God doth set home those arguments and doth deaden sin in the heart * Alii partes formales regenerationis duas constituunt mortificationem veteris vivificationem novi hominis Et haec illam necessario praesupponit à qua non re sed ratione tantum distincta est Wend. Syst majus Restraints of providence may keep a man from the outward acts of sin but still the heart is glewed to it As Balaam durst not comply with Balaack actually to curse the Israelites but fain he would have done it his heart followed the wages of unrighteousness 2 Pet. 2.15 But now the spirit of Repentance taketh down the dominion of sin and breaketh * I distinguish between the grace of Repentance in the first workings of it upon the heart and the exercise of Repentance in the further mortifying and subduing of sin the bonds of the Covenant whereby the sinner was held fast in subjection to it and then he doth say What have I to do any more with my idols Therefore believers are said to be dead to sin Rom. 6.1 2. and to have their old man crucified with Christ that they may no longer serve sin Rom. 6.6 Thus they are set free from sin that they may be united to Christ and become the servants of God through Christ Rom. 6.22 This may serve for opening the fourth Proposition 5. Propos 5. To deaden a person unto the Law and to take him off from seeking justification by the Law that he may be united or married to the Lord Jesus God doth especially make use of two means 1. The Law it self 2. The body of Christ that is the sufferings which he underwent in his body For this you have the Scripture express Gal. 2.19 For I through the Law am dead to the Law q. d. by studying the Law it self I see it can never avail to give me acceptation with the most high Whatever expectations I have formerly had that way I now utterly renounce them and the Law it self hath sufficiently instructed me in this Lesson 2. For the sufferings of Christ that place is obvious Rom. 7.4 Wherefore my brethren ye are also become dead to the Law * Mori legi est illi renuntiare ab ejus imperio manumitti ita ut nihil habeamus in eâ fiduciae Ne offenderet Judaeos verbi asperitate si dixisset legem esse mortuam deflexione usus est dicens nos legi esse mortuos Non ergo bene vivendi regula quam lex praescribit abrogata est sed qualitas illa quae libertati per Christum parta opponitur Nempe dum summam perfectionem requirit quia non praestamus constringit nos sub aternae mortis reatu Calv. by the body of Christ that ye should be married to anther even to him that is raised from the dead q.d. This instruction God hath given us from Golgotha that by the works of the Law no flesh can be justified indeed our hearts have been hankering after that way of life and acceptance nay we have ben closely linked thereunto but the body of Christ hath made a separation between them The body of Christ i. e. the passion of Christ in his body The doctrine of Christ's death and crucifixion if rightly improved will shew a man the Law 's utter insufficiency to give a
at the same time make his entrance in their whole persons and take seizin and possession of all their powers and faculties unto his use and service The plian meaning is this that the work of sanctification is a through-work wrought upon the whole man there is grace infused into every part and faculty As in the work of mortification all the habits of corruption are subdued so in the work of renovation or vivification all the seeds of holiness are introduced the whole man is purified as Christ is pure The common gifts of the Spirit are bestowed many times singly and apart one from the other but special sanctifying graces are planted together This I lay down that you may not deceive yourselves in this matter by thinking Christ is in you when you are strangers unto him There is great proness in us to mistake upon this account and to flatter our selves in this case for some common workings upon the heart to conclude that saving grace is planted in the heart And therefore mind what I say to prevent this self-cozenage that where a person is cleansed savingly and effectually there is an universal purification of the whole man and all the graces in the seed of them are infused together As all old things pass away so every thing is made new 2 Cor. 5.17 The understanding is renewed with saving knowledge of the mind of God and the will is brought into a blessed subjection to the will of God the conscience is furnished anew with tenderness and faithfulness the affections are renewed by being turned into their right channel and pointed upon their right objects love and delight upon God and hatred and sorrow towards sin and what is displeasing unto the Lord the heart is principled anew with sincerity and singleness and truth put into the inward parts the memory is made a treasury and store-house of good things and the body is fitted to be subservient unto the soul in wayes of holiness Thus I might run over the several branches of this work There is vigour and activity put into the soul to do the will of God commanding and patience to suffer and be contented under the will of God disposing there is the grace of moderation to guide in prosperity and the grace of faith to support under affliction and trouble and the man is prepared and fitted unto every good word and work 1 Thes 5.23 And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God your whole soul and spirit and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Mark it Sirs the work of sanctification is a very extensive and diffusive work it leaveneth the whole man both the inserior and superior faculties of the soul the animal and the rational powers and the body likewise So that it is not some slight trouble upon the conscience for sin or a little touch upon the affections or inclinations towards the Kingdom of God that will evidence you to be sanctified for sanctification ingageth the whole man in an holy compliance with the wayes of holiness and the interest of Jesus As a partial repentance in the exercise of it which striketh at some sins only and leaveth a man in the allowance of others is but a feigned repentance so partial workings upon the heart are but common workings they will not amount to saving grace Jer. 3.10 When Christ entereth by his Spirit into any of the children of men he doth take possession of them wholly and set up his residence in every part and faculty 3. In this work of the entrance of the Spirit into to a mans soul whereupon Christ is said to be in him and to dwell with him and possession is taken for his use and service the soul of that man is altogether passive My meaning is this It is not in the power of any person upon the earth to plant grace in his own soul or to confer the habits of holiness upon himself nor doth he contribute any active assistance in the performance of it but is wholly wrought upon by the mighty power of God and the effectual operation of the holy Ghost We are apt to imagine that it is in our own power to make a saving change within our selves that we can convert and turn to God at any time and repent when we please As Luther said in point of merit there is a Pope in every mans belly so may I say in this case there is a tang of Pelagianism in every mans heart and hence it is they take incouragement to procrastinate and delay in the matters of salvation they think they can repent when they will if it be but upon their death-bed But Sirs it must be a day of power that maketh you willing A as if God should give you up unto your selves you would perish for ever in your unregeneracy The planting grace in the heart is a turning the course of corrupted nature it is as a quickning the dead it is a creating and infusing of how principles into a man * Opus hoc conversionis sive duobus effici non potest Uno a quo fit altero in quo fit Deus est â—â—tor salâ—â—is liberum arbitrium tantum capax Bern. Observetur in primo actu veluntatis qui procedit à gratia praeveniente voluntatem esse motam non moventem Aquin. prima secundae q. 111. of which there is nothing in us by nature but a contrariety and repugnancy thereunto Eph. 2.5 Even when we were dead in sins he hath quickned us together with Christ And v. 10. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works So that it is not mans free will but God's free grace and his infinite power by which it is wholly wrought and to him alone doth belong the glory of it 4. Although we are wholly passive in this work of regeneration or planting grace into our hearts whereby Christ entereth into and taketh possession of us and we contribute no manner of active affistance therein yet there is something required at our hands in order to the attainment of this grace and that we may be made partakers thereof This is well to be noted that it may prevent our abuse of this doctrine and that we may not turn the grace of God into negligence and slothfulness For will sinners be apt to argue thus if it be God alone by his infinite power who can imprint grace upon our hearts and this he doth without our concurrent assâ—stance then we may fit still and let the Lord perform his own work if he please to convert and sanctifie us we shall be converted and if not all our indeavours are to no purpose But Sirs this is to pervert the grace of the covenant God forbid there should be such cursed inferences drawn from this excellent doctrine although it tendeth to advance and magnifie the free grace and power of God yet it gives no manner of incouragement to the
is the Creator God blessed for ever It is God whose wayes are perfect that is not wont to carry on his designs by halfs and to leave them in the mid-way unfinished and that cannot be disappointed in the fulfilling his counsels 2. It is the God of grace the Author and giver of grace and who aimeth at the magnifying of the riches of his grace in the salvation of his people and therefore will certainly accomplish it and not suffer them to fall back and perish from the right way 3. He is the God of all grace of strengthening and persevering as well as of the first converting and sanctifying grace 4. It is that God who hath called us and therefore will not forsake us utterly now we are called To what end do you think did he bring you into fellowship with himself if he purposed afterwards to reject you and let you perish for ever certainly he that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ If whilst you were enemies he reconciled you unto himself and took you into the bond of the Covenant with himself it cannot be imagined that he will now cast you out of his favour If when ye were dead in sins and trespasses he quickned you much more being quickned ye shall be saved through his grace 5. It is he that called you by Christ Jesus who will undoubtedly carry on the work which he hath undertaken Indeed if God had put your happiness into your own keeping again you might have lost it as Adam did at the first But he hath put it into the hands of his own Son who is a faithful Trustee And he hath done it to this end that the promise might be sure to all the seed Wherefore do ye think did God lay such a sure foundation and build his people upon the rock but that the wind and stormes might not overturn the building 6. It is that God who hath called us unto glory unto eternal glory by Christ Jesus not only to have fellowship with him for a time here but to sit down with him in his kingdom for ever And how should that be attained if he should suffer you to be separated from his Son and to draw back unto perdition Undoubtedly you may go to this God with a full assurance of faith to make you perfect to stablish strengthen and settle you That is the third foundation on which the inseparableness of this Union is built 4. It is built upon the Advocateship and intercession of our Lord Jesus which he is making for believers at the right hand of the Father For as he came into the world to give satisfaction for them unto the justice of God so he entred into heaven by vertue of that satisfaction to plead for mercy in their behalf And this is one of the mercies which he pleadeth for That they may abide in him for ever and may not at any time be parted from him God the Father heareth his Son alwayes and granteth him whatever petition he maketh for his people And this is one of the great petitions which he presenteth that whilst his servants are in the world they may be kept from the evil of the world that as they are knit to him so they may never be divided from him till they arrive with safety where he is Joh. 17.15 24. And it is noted as one of the foundations whereupon the indefectibility of a Christians faith is bottomed and consequently of their Union with Christ which is made up thereby Luk. 22.31 32. And the Lord said Simon Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not q. d. The great design of the devil is to root out your faith He knoweth if that grace fail other graces will fail with it if your faith be gone your union with me is dissolved and broken asunder But for thy comfort I assure thee of the contrary Thought it be strongly assaulted yet it shall never be utterly vanquished though it may be battered yet it shall not be wholly overcome though it may be kept under a little yet it shall in no wise be rooted up Whence doth this proceed Why from Christ's intercession it shall not fail for I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not 5. The inseparableness of a believers union with Christ is built upon the mighty power by which they are upheld and whereby they are preserved in Christ and that is the infinite unlimited and almighty power of God All the power in heaven is ingaged in their defence This the Apostle Peter urgeth for our incouragement 1 Pet. 1.5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation As the inheritance is reserved in heaven for you so ye are kept and preserved for it Yea but Satan our adversary is a roaring Lion that seeketh to devour us and what if he should pluck us out of the hands of our keeper Why saith the Apostle Your keeper is God the Lord of Hosts who hath ingaged his strength for your preservation He is able to bruise Satan under your feet Is not he that delivered you at first out of the paw of that Lion of strength sufficient to keep you The work is easier in it self to keep Satan out when he is dispossessed than at first to cast him out of his possession to keep sin under when it is subdued than at first to subdue it Besides God is omnipotent there is nothing too hard for him you have his power for your defence who is greater than all and none can pluck you out of his hands Joh. 10.29 6. Lastly it is built upon the durable nature of the new creature or the graces of the Spirit whereby Christ is formed in the souls of believers and they are fashioned after his likeness It is a seed which is of a permanent nature 1 Joh. 3.9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him neither can he sin because he is born of God i. e. He doth not sin allowedly and customarily as the wicked do he doth not give up himself to serve his lusts for he hath a seed within him another principle which is contrary to sin and warreth against it and hath the supremacy in the Spirit But what if that seed should be lost would he not then return with the dog to his vomit yea but saith the holy Ghost It shall not be lost for the principle of grace is a divine principle not only infused and put into the soul but fast riveted into the soul Herein it differs from the habits put into the nature of man at first They were of divine original but they were loseable but when grace is restored under the second Covenant it shall never be lost It is an indefectible principle an everlasting seed If not in it self yet in respect of the fountain whence it is
Christ's mind is placed and act in the like manner as his acteth Their hearts must be moulded into the same frame with his heart and so I might instance throughout the whole man Christ must be formed in them Gal. 4.19 And Phil. 2.5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus They must be so clothed with his divine qualities that it may be said they have put on the Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 13.14 2. There must be conformity to the sufferings of his death in a spiritual sense As Christ died for sin so Believers must die unto sin As our Lord Jesus was put to a painful lingring and ignominious death in like sort must their corruptions be mortified and killed For Mark it Sirs The death and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus is not only the meritorious cause through which sin is mortified and a strong evangelical reason why it should be mortified but it is also the pattern and exemplar according to which it is done In the very same way and manner as Christ was put to death for us so are our lusts and corruptions to be crucified within us Hereby we are rendred conformable unto his death Phil. 3.9 and planted together into the â—â—keness of his death Rom. 6.5 3. There must be conformâ—y to the Lord Jesus in his resurrection and ascension into heaven As he rose again from the dead and went up into heaven never to return to corruption any more so must the hearts of believers be raised unto spiritual objects and their affections set upon things that are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Col. 3.1 Their hearts must be withdrawn from sin and the world never to be ingaged upon them any more but they must live as persons that are revived and made partakers of a new life Rom. 6.4 As he was raised from the dead by the glory of the father even so must we also walk in newness of life 4. Believers must be made conformable unto Christ in the holiness of his conversation They must tread in his steps doing the same work as he did and acting upon the same principles and motives as he acted upon and carrying on the same designs as Christ carried on and serving the Lord in the like manner with cheerfulness delight and alacrity as he served him Eph. 5.2 Walk in love as Christ also loved us And Rom. 15.1 2 3. We ought not to please our selves but every one his neighbour for his good to edification for Christ also pleased not himself c. 5. They must expect to be made conformable to Christ in the troubles and persecutions that befel him upon the earth Therefore it is called a suffering with him that is the same things and in like manner as he suffered Rom. 8.17 If we will be faithful unto Christ we must look to meet with the like usage as he met with and to go through many tribulations into the Kingdom of God This is the second thing to be noted under this comparison 3. According to the purport and tenour of this similitude taken from the foundation and the building Our faith which is the uniting grace is a resting upon Christ and his righteousness The stones are joyned to the foundation by being laid upon it and there resting So when we lay the stress of our salvation upon Christ and cast our burden upon him and there stay our selves as upon a rock thereby we are united unto Jesus and made one with him By nature we are as rough unpolished stones in a quarry without any relation to Christ Now the work of conviction may be compared to the unsettling of these stones and humiliation and legal terrors upon the heart are the hewing of these stones By the first they are removed out of the Quarry and by the other their ruggedness is pared away The grace of conversion is as the fitting and polishing the stones for the building and faith is a putting them upon the foundation and their resting upon it As by the cement of love the stones are coupled one to another so by faith they are knit unto the foundation By the Spirit they are brought unto Christ and so stay upon him Isa 50.10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servant and walketh in darkness and hath no light Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God Rom. 9.33 Behold I lay in Sion stumbling stone and rock of offence and whosoever believeth on him shall not be confounded Mark it As Christ is a foundation to his people so he is a rock of offence to them that are disobedient they split themselves against this rock they stumble and fall and are broken in pieces If you would be saved by him you must by faith rest upon this foundation For whosoever believeth in him shall not be confounded 1 Pet. 2.4 5. To whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house c. See likewise Eph. 2.21 22. This is all that I shall speak under the sixth general Head for the illustration of this Mystery of Union with Christ by those similitudes which the holy Ghost hath made choice of to this purpose That which remains further is the Application of the Point CHAP. X. Inferences drawn from the Doctrine of Union with Christ The excellency and dignity of Believers The peculiarity of the providence of God towards them The miserable estate of Christless sinners FOr Application or practical improvement of this Doctrine I will manage it under these three Heads By way of 1. Information 2. Examination 3. Exhortation 1. By way of Information What are the practical Inferences which may be deduced from this Point of a Believers union with the Son of God and the necessity thereof I will not aim at the ingrossing of all that might be taken in upon this fruitful and spiritual subject Only I shall select these three Inferences which naturally arise from what hath been delivered 1. If believers are united unto Christ and made one with him in order to their salvation then hence I gather That they are the most honourable and most excellent persons upon the face of the earth Why Because they are united unto the Son of God and accordingly they should have the greatest esteem of us and be most precious and lovely in our eyes It is the character of a man that shall see the Lord in Sion that he contemneth a vile person but he honoureth them that fear the Lord Psal 15.1 4. Now here is that which maketh them right honourable above all their fellow-creatures they are intimately joyned unto Christ So that the Saints which are in the earth are the excellent of the earht Psal 16.3 more excellent than their neighbours than all that dwell round about them Prov. 12.26 You know the excellency or worthlessness of any
that hath hitherto spared them and the infinite goodness of that God who still waiteth that he may shew mercy unto them Certainly it is wonderful long-suffering and powerful patience whereby the wrath of God is restrained from taking vengeance upon such Numb 14. v. 17 18. 2. Persons unregenerate and out of Christ are dead in respect of the putrefaction and rottenness of their condition A dead carkass the longer it lieth the more it putrefies and is corrupted so it is with impenitent sinners The longer they lye in their unconverted estate the worse they grow the more their spirits are setled in hatred against God and the greater is their forwardness and proneness to all sorts of abominations And therefore none are so hard to be wrought upon as old sinners that have spent the most part of their time in the service of the devil 2 Tim. 3.13 Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse For custom in sin doth naturally tend to strengthen the habits of sin * Suffocat hominem à veritate avertit abducit à vita est laqueus est barathrum est malum ventilabrum mala consuetudo As it is in any secular trade or imployment the more time a man spendeth in his Trade the more skill he getteth and the more handy he is at his work till he come to perfection in such an Art or Mystery So the more time a sinner spendeth upon his lusts the more cursed skill and wisdom he getteth to make provision for the flesh and to find out wayes to satisfie his lusts and evasions to break through convictions upon his conscience the more handy he groweth to commit any sort of wickedness so that in process of time he will turn a deaf ear unto counsel * Ex voluntate perversâ facta est consuetudo dum consuetudint non resistitur facta est necessitas Aug. conf You read of sinners compared to wild asses used to the wilderness And who can turn them away saith the holy ghost Jer. 2.24 q. d. They are grown obstinate in their rebellions formerly perhaps a reproof would have taken with them but now you had as good speak to a stock or a stone Continuance in sin taketh away the conscience of sin Formerly some workings of a natural conscience might put a stop to mens running to all excess of riot but when the bridle is broken whither will not a wicked man run So that my brethren it is a point of wisdom to seek unto God betimes and for persons that are in their youth to remember their Creator in the morning of their lives We are apt to cozen our selves by promises to repent hereafter when I have a convenient season saith the sinner I will make my peace with God and when I am in a better temper Nay but O vain man * Qui promittit poenitenti remissionem non promittit peccanti poenitentiam now is the most convenient season For besides the slipperiness and uncertainty of a mans dayes upon earth the longer thou liest in a course of sin the harder thine heart will grow and the faster hold will the devil get of thy soul So that 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 stumber to thine eye-lids Prov. 6.4 5. 3. Persons out of Christ are in a dead condition in respect of their impotency and inability to that which is spiritually good A dead person hath no power to perform the works of nature as eating and drinking and walking and discoursing and the like because he is dead Thus impenitent sinners are without strength unto the things of God Rom. 5.6 A sincere Christian is dead to sin and the unconverted are dead in sin they have no power of themselves to the works of holiness and righteousness In this sense I principally understand that place Eph. 2.5 Even when we were dead in sins and trespasses he hath quickned us that is When all our spiritual abilities were gone If we had been left to our selves we should never have recovered out of our bondage and slavery but must have lain in it eternally without hopes of being delivered and then God came and breathed the Spirit of life into us And Sirs this should awaken us to cry mightily unto the Lord and never to give him rest till he steppeth in for our recovery This should cause us to take diligent heed that we quench not the motions of the Spirit nor provoke him to withdraw his workings from us for if he wholly depart we are undone irremediably I might under this head descend unto particulars by shewing you 1. That unconverted sinners have no power to turn their souls unto God nor to make a saving change upon their own spirits but this I have touched upon before 2. That they are without power to walk in the wayes of holiness or to perform one good action in an acceptable manner When the Lord himself took a view of all mankind in their apostatized condition he found not one that did good no not one Psal 14.2 3. And 3. That they are without strength to resist the temptations of the devil further than they are kept in by the restraining grace of God Satan leadeth them captive as he will 2 Tim. 2.26 As the heart of man is tainted with the principles of the most horrid abominations that ever were forbidden in the Scriptures so if God did not set bounds to the lusts that are within us we should quickly rush into the practise of them Sirs were it not for the restraining grace of the Almighty you would have been murderers as Cain and guilty of witchcraft as Manasses and have been as gross Idolaters as any of the Heathen Nay you would have sinned your selves before this time into hell or without the compass of the promise of mercy and forgiveness Surely this is not a condition wherein a person should quietly rest one moment for if God should pluck up the flood-gates whither would not the violent torrent of a mans corruptions carry him Deut. 18.10 11 12 13 14. I might have shewed you 4. That the unregenerate are so far from having any power by nature to turn themselves unto God or to serve him in truth and sincerity that their hearts are filled with enmity and hatred against God and his wayes and ready to fight against the means appointed to draw them heaven-ward Nay the carnal mind is enmity it self so it is expressed in the abstract Rom. 8.7 As if they were made up of nothing but venom and poyson and wrath and bitterness against God But I must not dwell upon these things The Lord press them upon your hearts and awaken you to follow hard after him and to take fast hold of him and never to let him go till he hath given you clear evidence of your freedom from this sad condition The Lord make you restless in your spirits