took our Natures though the Crime of our first Parents had made it hateful to God and the consequent Miseries shewed it was not to be valued He that was a Judge of would become a Party and appear for us and answer in our Nature what might be required of us 3. It supports against the Terribleness of God's Majesty How can Men dwell with God Stubble with devouring Burnings If our Nature be taken into a personal Union with God it rendereth it more reconcilable to our Thoughts God incarnate born of a Virgin carried in the Womb rocked in a Cradle sucking of a Breast growing up by degrees going up and down and doing good when dying on the Cross lying in the Grave it mightily abateth our Fears 4. Against the pollution of our Natures which is so ingrained that it cannot be easily wrought off His own holy Nature is a Pledge of the Work of Grace He that separated our Nature in his own Person from all the pollution of his Ancestors he can purifie our Persons and heal our Natures how polluted soever So many as there are in the Story of Christ's Nativity Mat. 1. so many Miracles there are of Grace in that he prevented the Infection conveyed by such and such a one 5. Against the Mindlesness which Unbelief supposeth to be in God of Human Affairs especially of the Calamities of his People Now Christ hath taken the Communion of our Natures and Miseries as a pledge and sign of his Pity Heb. 2.17 He was made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful High-priest He would intender his Heart by Experience and inure himself to all our Sorrows 6. Against the doubt of Strangeness and that he will take no notice of our Request being so remote from him We may with the more confidence go to him with whom we communicate in Natures There is a natural Bond between him and us we are of the same Stock and Substance 7. Against the fear of Arrogancy in the assuming of the Priviledge of Adoption Surely he will bestow this Priviledge on a returning Sinner For if he be not ashamed to call us Brethren God will not be ashamed to be called our God Heb. 11.16 5 Use. Think of this for your Comfort We have an Unity with Christ in Nature that we may be encouraged to look after the Gifts which he dispenses that we may be one with him in Spirit We may the more chearfully come to him because he took our Nature for this end and purpose especially does this concern you that come to the Lord's Table The Meat that is set afore you is the Flesh of Christ his Humane Nature is the Food of your Souls It 's not enough that Christ the Son of God was partaker of our Flesh and Blood but we must also be partakers of his Flesh and Blood i. e. There must be a true Union and Communion with that Flesh and that Body and that Blood which Christ assumed into his Person and delivered up to Death for us all For Christ as the Son of Man in our Flesh is Head of the Mystical Body of which we are Members The Humane Nature is the Cistern in which the Spirit dwells without measure and of whose Fulness we all receive Grace for Grace that is the Temple in which the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily the Tree of Life whose Leaves heal the Nations In this Temple must we dwell into this Tree must we be grafted that we may become one with him and live by him So the Apostle tells us Eph. 5.30 For we are members of his body of his flesh and of his Bones That is not only of one nature with him which is common to them with all Mankind but as Members of one Mystical Body with him Not as God but as God-man We all draw our Spiritual Life and Nourishment from those things which Christ has done in our Flesh. For this end was the Lord's Supper instituted that we might be partakers of the Flesh and Blood of Christ not only of Bread and Wine but Flesh and Blood it self How so Not with our Mouth and Teeth but Spiritually by Faith with an hungry Conscience and Spiritual desires That which we do receive is not only the benefits which flow from Christ but the very Body and Blood of Christ That is Christ himself Crucified As none can be partaker of the Virtue of the Bread and Wine to his Bodily sustenance unless he do first receive the Substance of those Creatures so neither can any be partaker of the benefits arising from Christ to his Spiritual relief except he first have Communion with Christ himself We must have the Son before we have Life 1 Iohn 5.12 He that hath the Son hath Life and he that hath not the Son hath not Life and we must eat him if we will live by him Iohn 6.57 Well then this is our great business to be partakers of Christ. Now in partaking of Christ we begin at his Humane Nature his Flesh and Blood Iohn 6.53 His Cross and his Death His Body and Blood 1 Cor. 10.16 The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ Christ as dying becomes fit Food for Hungry Sinners So only is he suitable to their necessities Certainly the hunger is not that of the body for a Meal but that of the Conscience for a Saviour In this sense the flesh profits nothing but the spirit quickens Iohn 6.62 A man is not better nor a jot the holier nor the further from the second Death if he had filled his Belly with it 'T is a Spiritual eating by Faith that brings quickning and Life an applying of Christ as a Saviour in our Nature Well then His Flesh was given as the price of Life Iohn 6.51 The Bread which I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world This is the first receptacle of our Spiritual Life and being laid hold on by Faith is the Conduit to convey Life to us But the Author of all is his Spirit being and dwelling in us That same Flesh and Humane Nature of Christ which was offered up a ransom to justice is also the Bread of Life for Souls to feed upon tho' the quickning Efficacy and Virtue flow from the Godhead to which his Flesh is united 2. Doctrine That Christ having taken our nature upon him is not ashamed to accept and acknowledge us for Brethren What cause of shame there might be in it we intimated before in the Explication Notwithstanding our meanness and unworthyness and his own glory and excellency Divines observe That he never giveth his Disciples the title of Brethren but after his Resurrection before Servants little Children and Friends were their usual designations But then expresly he calleth them Brethren Servants Iohn 13.13 14. Ye call me Lord and Master and ye
a memorial of his Death and Passion 1. Reasons why we should now express our Love 2. How we should exercise love in this duty 1. Why. 1. Because his death flowed from his love Gal. 2.20 Who loved me and gave himself for me Eph. 5.2 Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a Sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour Rev. 1.5 Unto him that loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood And therefore we never felt the principal effect of this duty unless we find this love inkindled in us we do not observe it as we ought 2. Because his intent is to convey and apply his love to us It is applied outwardly by the Word and Sacraments inwardly by his Spirit Rom. 5.5 The Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us And the Bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the Life of the World John 6.51 It is given in pretium in pabulum for price and for food His Blood which was shed for our Redemption now is poured out for our refection to chear our Souls that eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood we may become one Spirit and he may live in us and we in him and that nothing may separate us from his love All the dainties here set before us taste and savour of nothing but love Our Meat is seasoned with love and our drink is squeezed into our Cup out of the Wine-press of Love And God intendeth union Cant. 2.4 He brought me to the banqueting House and his Banner over me was Love Christ conducteth his Spouse in state to the solemn participation of his benefits and receiveth her with a Banner or Canopy This Banner is displayed in the Gospel the whole doctrine of which is to shew us the love of our Saviour towards mankind but then in the Sacrament we are brought into the house of Wine we come to taste of the satisfying and comfortable blessings which are to be found in Christ. 3. If we do not bring love with us we shall not be welcome to God for he that loveth God is known of him Others are not owned in an ordinance but dismissed as they came God will not fail the loving Soul 2. How we should exercise love in this duty 1. In ardent desires of Christ's benefits We can neither live nor die without him therefore we must desire his Grace his Righteousness and Spirit Luk. 1.53 He hath filled the hungry with good things Psal. 27.4 One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my Life to behold the Beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his Temple 2. In an holy joy and rejoicing in him Cant. 1.4 We will be glad and rejoice in thee Christ hath a special way of communicating the sense of his love to a Believer Now when we are admitted to what we long for we must express our gratitude 3. We must not restrain the benefit to the act of receiving no our future profit is to be regarded that for the time to come we may live to no other purpose in the World but to obey and honour Christ even at the dearest rates We must from henceforth live as those that are the Lords 2 Cor. 5.15 And that he died for all that they that live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again A Sermon on Psalm Lxxxiv 10 For a day in thy Courts is better than a thousand I had rather be a door-keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the Tents of wickedness IN these words is set forth David's esteem of the Ordinances and Means of Grace Here is 1. A general Proposition A day in thy Courts is better than a thousand 2. A particular Application to the Man of God's own Judgment and Sentiment in the case I had rather be a door-keeper in the House of my God than dwell in the Tents of wickedness The one sets forth the excellency of the thing it self the other David's and in his Person every godly man's sense and opinion of it Things may incomparably differ yet every one hath not the Eyes to see it In the general Proposition the comparison is made with any earthly thing whatsoever In the particular Application to David with the pleasures of sin Both must be considered In the general Proposition A day in thy Courts is better than a thousand i. e. a day or hour spent in thy Worship is better than a thousand spent among worldlings and about worldly business Eternal things and all things conducing thereunto must be preferred before temporal and communion with God above all the pomp and glory of the most splendid worldly condition But then in the particular Application temporal things are considered as enjoyed with sin as also Heb. 11.25 Chusing rather to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season However there you may observe 1. God's worst I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God 2. Sin 's best Than dwell in the Tents of wickedness Where observe I. The Terms in which one Condition is opposed to the other 1. On the one side The meanest lowest Office about God is mentioned to be a Door-keeper or as the Hebrew signifieth to sit at the Threshold A phrase often used to express the Office of the Levites or Sons of Corah who were keepers of the Gates or Thresholds of the Tabernacle 1 Chron. 9.19 and therefore called Porters vers 17. And to these was this Psalm committed for the Title saith it was a Psalm for the Sons of Korah and to encourage them in their Office David useth such an expression He had rather be in the meanest condition wherein he might daily worship God 2. On the other side here was dwelling in the Tents of wickedness that is in the stateliest Habitations of the Great ones of the World wherein wickedness reigneth Possibly he alludeth to the wild Arabians who lived by prey and lived in Tents which were black without and rich within Therefore the Church is compared to Tents of Kedar Cant. 1.5 I am black but comely as the Tents of Kedar as elsewhere he saith God is more glorious and excellent than the Mountains of Prey Psal. 76.4 Preferring God's strength above theirs that dwelt in the Mountains and lurked there for Prey And this suiteth with his condition who in his exile from the Temple was forced to live as a wild Kedaren or Ishmaelite Psal. 120.5 Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech that I dwell in the Tents of Kedar meaning the Arabian Tents the barbarous People of Arabia that were called Scenitae for their manner of living he then resembled them II. Observe how the Terms are framed to suit
the Heart for Duties of Religion SERMON VIII TITUS II. 12 We might live soberly c. II d Branch Sobriety in Meats and Drinks IF you ask which is worst Excess in Meat or Drink Gluttony or Drunkenness I answer Drukenness is more odious and doth more sensibly deprive a Man of the use of Reason and put him upon Actions unseemly and is the cause of more Diseases and Disorders in the Body but then Gluttony is very dangerous partly because it is not of such a great Disreputation among Men as Drunkenness and Shame is one of the Restraints of Sin partly because it insensibly creeps upon us as Austin complained Ebrietas longe à me est crapula autem nonnunquam surrepit servo tuo Lord I abhor Drunkenness but Gluttony creeps unawares upon me If it be required again which Sin is worst he that is immoderate in the use of Pleasure or he that is immoderate in Worldly Cares I answer gross Intemperance brings more Dishonour to God and Worldly Cares more spiritual Disadvantage to our Souls A Worldling doth not dishonour God openly so much as a Drunkard but then he is more uncapable of Conviction and of heavenly things and by distracting his Heart with Cares he shrewdly endangereth his Salvation As for Drunkards and Sensualists their Face declareth their Shame and their Crime is written in their Foreheads and so they have less of Defence against the Stroaks of the Word Therefore our Saviour saith Mat. 21.31 That the Publicans and Harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you These things premised I come to speak of Sobriety in the use of Meats and Drinks I join them both together because Grace is exercised in the Restraint of both Christians as we are your Remembrancers to God so we must be God's Remembrancers to you and every part of Conversation falls under some Rule of Religion The Apostle saith 1 Pet. 1.15 As he that hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of Conversation in every Point and every Affair of Life and therefore eating and drinking being one part of human Conversation it is necessary to give you some Directions It is very familiar with Men to miscarry by Appetite more familiar with Man than with Beasts There is no Beast but Swine will over-eat themselves they know their stint and measure But Lord how far is Man fallen Nature is not only blind in point of Worship but weak in point of Appetite The Relicks of Inordinacy are in the Regenerate The holiest Men had need of Caution as Christ saith to his Disciples Take heed and beware that your Hearts be not over-charged with Surfeiting and Drunkenness Luke 21.34 And the Apostle bids Timothy to flee youthful Lusts to be chaste and pure as he was 2 Tim. 2.22 Flee also youthful Lusts but follow after Righteousness Faith Charity Peace with them that call on the Lord with a pure Heart Yea those that are wisest and most accomplish'd many times are swallowed up in this Gulf. Who would have thought that Adam and Eve endowed with the Image of God should have miscarried by Appetite by eating or that Solomon who had such large Gifts and Knowledg from the Cedar to the Hyssop should miscarry by Women and that Persons of excellent Abilities are many times of a riotous Conversation Certainly we are weakest where we think our selves strong When the upper part of the Soul is sufficiently fortified with Counsel and Knowledg the Devil dare not assault us in point of Error but then he draws us away by Appetite and the Baits of the Flesh and therefore we had need speak of Sobriety in Meats and Drinks Now Sobriety becomes all Persons especially Magistrates Ministers Women and Youth Magistrates and Ministers because of the Dignity of their Office Women because of the Imbecility of their Sex and Youth because of the slipperiness of their Age. 1. For Magistrates Prov. 31.4 5. It is not for Kings O Lemuel it is not for Kings to drink Wine nor for Princes strong Drink Give strong Drink to him that is ready to perish It is an Allusion to the Custom among the Iews if a Man were condemned to die it was their Courtesy to give him spiced Wine to attenuate and thin the Blood that it might sooner pass out of the Body and to inebriate the Senses that he might be less sensible of his Paâ—n Now it is not for Kings to drink Wine not for the Judg but for the condemned Person So Eccles. 10.16 17. Wo unto thee O Land when thy Princes eat in the Morning Blessed art thou O Land when thy Princes eat in due season for Strength and not for Drunkenness Magistrates cannot be good or bad alone when they are given to sensual Delights â—t is more odious in them for it unfits and diverts them from publick Business when they spend their time in Excess they are totally indisposed for Counsel and wise Debates and weighty Affairs therefore the Carthaginians forbad Wine to Magistrates during the time of their Magistracy And by Solon's Law a drunken Prince was to be slain 2. For Ministers their Work lies with God therefore they had need live in constant Sobriety Under Pain of Death neither Aaron nor his Sons the Priests were to drink Wine or strong Drink when they went into the Tabernacle of the Congregation Levit. 10.9 Do not drink Wine nor strong Drink thou nor thy Sons with thee when ye go into the Tabernacle of the Congregation lest ye die It shall be a Statute for ever throughout your Generations It is probable Nadab and Abihu their Miscarriage in offering strange Fire was occasioned by Fumes of strong Drink for presently God makes that Law for Aaron and his Sons So the Apostle 1 Tim. 3.3 A Bishop must be sober not given to Wine because of the Excellency of his Ministration which requires Meditation and Freedom of Contemplation which is hindred by the Fumes of Wine and strong Drink 3. For Women because of the Weakness and Modesty of their Sex In some Nations it was Death for Women to be intemperate because by this means they make Shipwrack of that Modesty which is the Ornament of that feeble Sex and therefore Excess in them is more filthy and shameful 4. For Youth they need chiefly to be press'd to this Sobriety because of the Slipperiness of their Age their Judgments are weak and green and their Affections are violent Nature is strong in them and Satan is diligent to seduce them he prizeth young Affections and they are but newly come to the Use of their Reason from living the Life of Sense and the natural Heat of the Stomach that is found in Youth is a great Provocation Though all need to be fortified yet especially these But what is this Sobriety that is required I answer You may know it by the Sin that is contrary to it and we sin against Sobriety when we offend by Quantity Quality and in the manner of Usage 1. There
6. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup thou maintainest my lot The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places Certainly they do not love God that do not value and esteem him as better than all worldly things Other things without him cannot give any solid contentment to the Soul but he without other things is enough he is all in all to the heart that loveth him Therefore if we be rooted and grounded in love to God he will be the delight of our Souls and our exceeding Joy whatever we loose in the World Thus you see Faith Hope and Love have a great influence upon this joy 3. All the Ordinances and Duties of Religion were appointed to breed and feed and act and increase this joy in us Reading Hearing Praying Meditating the Lords Supper all these Duties were appointed to quicken the Soul to delight in God and they must all be used to this end Reading wherefore were the Scriptures written but to beget in us a comfortable sense of the Love of God in Christ 1 Iohn 1.4 These things write we unto you that your joy may be full The word doth beget and keep up our delight in God by those discoveries which it maketh of his goodness to us in Doctrines Counsels and Promises that every time we look into Gods blessed Book we might have a fresh delight acted and stirred in us So for hearing its main end is to increase our joy therefore was the Ministry appointed Not for that we have dominion over your faith but as helpers of your joy 2 Cor. 1.24 That is the main end of our Ministry because the Gospel-Dispensation is a Dispensation of Grace We must press repentance but it is to cure you of your vain rejoycings in order to more solid comfort to put you out of your Fools Paradise that you may prize and esteem your Saviour and set more by him than by all the Pleasures Honours and Riches of the World Holy Mourning is in order to Comfort the vain Delight and carnal rejoycing is checked and deadned that we may raise in you the true Joy We are helpers of your joy in Gods way and truely that is the only way we need not over-Gospel the Gospel as Honey needs not to be sweetned with other things So Prayer we put promises in suit that we may have new experiences of the Love and Bounty of God Iohn 16.24 Ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full In Prayer you come to solace your selves with God and to unbosome your selves to him as your best Friend Meditation on Gods Excellencies and Benefits it is still to maintain this delight in God Psalm 104.34 My meditation of him shall be sweet I will delight in the Lord. The Lords Supper was appointed for the Elevation of our joy to the height it is our Spiritual Feast and Resection that we may go on our way with joy as the Eunuch when baptized he went on his way rejoycing Acts 8.39 Here the whole Gospel is applyed and sealed to us and Bread and Wine doth not so much chear the Body as the Body and Blood of Christ doth the Soul You come not only to remember your priviledges by Christ but it is your solemn investiture here you take possession of Christ and all his benefits The Second SERMON On I. Thessalonians v. 16 Rejoyce evermore VSE TO press you to this Spiritual Rejoycing God never hath our Hearts till he hath our delight To enforce this Exhortation I must First Take off prejudices Secondly Perswade by Arguments Thirdly Direct you in the exercise of this great Duty First To take off Prejudices and Objections which may lye in the Hearts of Men against this Duty 1. Prejudice How can this rejoycing evermore stand with that sense which we should have of Afflictions coming from God Is it not a stupid thing to be merry when God is angry Must we rejoyce in troubles notwithstanding the breaches God hath made upon us I Answer 1. Carnal Rejoycing is a very provoking thing because it is an affront to Gods Providence It is a defiance of the dispensation we are under when we are not affected with our own or our Brethrens Misery or our Fathers anger Isa. 22.12 13 14. In that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and to girding with sack-cloth And behold joy and gladness slaying oxen and killing sheep eating flesh and drinking wine let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die It was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die So Iames 4.9 Be afflicted and mourn and weep let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into heaviness And chap. 5.1 Go to now ye rich men Weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you and verse 5. Ye have lived in pleasure upon earth and been wanton ye have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter Now compare this with chap. 1.2 My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations Never any were reproved for rejoycing in God in Calamities but for Carnality and for Reâ—oycing in sensual satisfactions If you say the answer cometh not home you may rejoyce in unjust dealings and persecutions of Men or in Tryals but in corrective dispensations from the immediate Hand of God how shall we rejoyce I reply we are directed to this rejoycing in God in those Calamities which come from Gods immediate Hand Habak 3.17 18. Although the fig-tree shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the vines the labour of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat the flocks shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no heard in the stalls Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation Surely Famine and Desolation come from God and come as a punishment yet I will rejoyce in the Lord. This Spiritual rejoyâ—ing is not an irreverence but an honour to God when we are satisfied in him though all Creature Comforts and Means of subsistence are blasted and we shew that we have Comfort enough in God that is out of the reach of trouble and this can support us when all things beneath God fail Iob 5.22 At destruction and famine shalt thou laugh Stupidity and Carnal Mirth are very unseasonable but to live above the Creature and without the Creature is an high point of Faith and love to God and to rejoyce in him when all outward Causes of rejoycing cease is so far from being a Sin that it is an eminent Duty Our better part and happiness is out of the reach of trouble though it be never so grievous 2. We must distinguish between the sense of Affliction and support under it For we must neither sleight it nor faint under it Heb. 12.5 My Son despise not thou the chastning of the Lord nor
to everlasting Destruction In the former respect we are compared to lost Sheep who when they are once out of the way know not how to find it again Psal. 14.3 They are all gone aside And Isa. 53.6 All we like Sheep have gone astray Swine and other Creatures if they wander all day will easily find the way home again but we are gone astray like Sheep Domini errare per me potui redire non potui Lord I have wandred of my self but I cannot return of my self In the second respect as they are in the way to destruction so we are compared to the lost Son who undid himself and wasted his substance with riotous living Luk. 15.13 So we are lost by reason of Original Sin or the corruption introduced by Adam's first sin Hereditarily derived to us from our first parents Psal. 51.5 Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my Mother conceive me And also by reason of actual sins whereby we involve our selves more and more in the wrath and curse of God Eph. 2.1 2. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins Wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this World according to the Prince of the power of the Air the Spirit that now worketh in the Children of disobedience And v. 3. We were by nature the Children of wrath even as others Take one distinction more Some are lost totally and others totally and finally too All men in their natural estate whether they be sensible or insensible of it are lost totally Isa. 53.6 All we like Sheep have gone astray not one excepted The Elect though for the present they are totally lost yet they are not finally lost But those that still continue in their impenitency and unbelief are both totally and finally lost justly given over and designed to everlasting Perdition and Destruction In which sense Iudas is called the Son of Perdition John 17.12 Those which thou hast given me I have kept and none of them is lost but the Son of Perdition unbelief persisted in is a sign of Perdition Therefore the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 4.3 If our Gospel be hid it is hid to those that are lost Well then such as refuse the Gospel are in an actual state of perdition and while they continue to repel and refuse the benefit of the Gospel there is no hope of them Thus we are really and indeed lost 2. Some are lost and undone in their own sense and feeling All by reason of sin are in a lost state but some are apprehensive of it when the Soul is made sensible of its utter perishing condition and fear of its aggravated punishment by reason of actual sin as the lost Son apprehended his perishing for want of Bread Luk. 15.17 And when he came to himself he said How many hired servants of my Fathers have Bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger Thus would Christ represent the sensible sinner that is apprehensive of his condition Now such a sense is necessary to prepare us for a more broken-hearted and thankful acceptance of the Grace of the Gospel 1. Because the Scripture speaketh of an awakening before Conversion Eph. 5.14 Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light While we are asleep we are neither sensible of our misery nor care for our remedy but please our selves with Dreams and Fancies but when a Man's Conscience doth rouse him up out of the sleep of sin and awaken him to some sight and sense of his miserable condition he is in a good measure prepared to hearken to the offers of the Gospel and to be afâ—ected with and entertain the Grace of Christ so Psal. 22.27 All the Nations of the Earth shall remember and turn to the Lord first remember then turn They are like Men sleeping and distracted before they do not consider whence they are what they are doing whither they are going what shall become of them to all Eternity 2. Till we are sensible of our lost estate we have not that trouble for sin that hunger and thirst for Grace which the Scripture expresseth every where in the calls and invitations of the Gospel As Mat. 9.12 13. The whole need not the Physician but they that are sick I came not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance And Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest Isa. 55.1 Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the Waters Heb. 6.18 Who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us They that are Heart-whole will not value the Spiritual Physician neither will they that feel not their load care for offers of ease None will prize Bread but the hungry nor come to the Waters but the thirsty nor make haste to the City of refuge but those that see an Avenger of Blood at their Heels Or to devest these things of their Metaphor sin unseen grieveth not that which the Eye seeth not the Heart rueth not it is the hungry Conscience that cannot be satisfied without Christ's renewing and reconciling Grace 'T is the Curse driveth us to the promise and the Tribunal of God's Justice to the Throne of Grace One Covenant to another None do with such sighs and groans mourn and wait in the use of Means till they obtain Mercy as those who have a sight and sense of their lost estate or their sad and miserable case by nature 3. It appeareth by the Types the deliverance of the Children of Israel out of Egypt and Babylon which figured our restauration by Christ. Now God would not deliver his people out of Egypt till they sighed and groaned out of the anguish of their Spirits for their cruel bondage Exod. 3.7 I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their Task-masters for I know their sorrows So God delivered them not out of their Captivity of Babylon till they were sensible of their being ready to perish under it Ezek. 37.11 Behold they say our Bones are dried and our hope is lost we are cut off for our parts Now the great truth figured hereby is our perishing condition under the captivity of Sin before the Spirit of Life entereth into us 4. By experience it appeareth that Christ is not valued nor his Grace so highly prized till Men have a sensible awakening knowledge of their own misery and lost estate by reason of sin When sin is sin indeed then grace is grace indeed and Christ is Christ indeed if Men have a superficial sense of sin they have a superficial Faith in Christ. The slight person doth the work of an Age in a breath We are all sinners but God is merciful Christ died for sinners and there is an end both of their Law and Gospel Work If Men have a Doctrinal and Speculative knowledge of sin they have also a
Act of the Jewish Malice Psal. 69.21 They gave me also gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink Here was Light enough or Conviction sufficient for any but those who resolved to shut their Eyes 4. He said I thirst he had spent much time in watching lost much Blood his Body was tortured with extream Pain and his Soul scorched with a sense of God's Wrath and therefore well might he cry out I thirst It is notable that Christ would not declare his Thirst till he knew that all Things were accomplished that is every sad Accident except his Death Certainly if we consider the Agonies of the Garden where he excerned Blood in stead of Sweat his Scourging his being buffeted with the Soldiers his bearing the Cross all this might make him thirst before but when Wine mingled with Myrrhe a stupifying Potion was tendred to him before he reâ—used it Mark 15.23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrhe but he received it not But now when all was accomplished he saith I thirst He would take no natural Refreshment till he had born all our Griefs and Sorrows and every sad Passage by which he might promote our Comfort was accomplished He was so mindful of us that he forgat himself he saith that it was Meat to him to do his Father's Will Iohn 4.34 My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work Though the Cross-work was sad Work yet that was as Drink to Christ. After he had swelter'd under the Torment of so many hours drowth he crieth out I thirst Christ would make his Sufferings as full of Merit as possible he could and therefore would not receive the least draught of Comfort till he had paid our whole Debt We do evil with both hands earnestly Micah 7.3 and fill our Actions with as much Disobedience and Rebellion as we can possibly put into them Behold thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest Ier. 3.5 Sin hath not been cheap to us we have bought the Pleasure of it at a dear rate with much Loss and Self-denial And therefore Christ's Sufferings were made as high and extream as possibly they could be Let us now see what they did to Christ when he had declared the extremity of his Thirst Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a spunge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth Vers 29. This Fact of theirs is diversly construed some say they did it out of kindness and that it was usual to provide a Vessel of Vinegar and to have it at hand under the Cross of those that were Executed this is probable Others think it an act of Spight and Malice partly because it is made an Exaggeration of Calamity Psal. 69.21 In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink And partly because their Courtesie to the Dying was to give Wine and Myrrhe and therefore it is said Prov. â—1 6 It is not for Kings to drink wine nor for Princes strong drink and Vers. 6. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine to those that be of an heavy heart That is to say it is not for the Judge but the Condemned and they mingled it with Myrrhe and hot Spices partly to attenuate the Blood and so to dispatch them the sooner and partly to cause Giddiness that their Senses might be the sooner gone But now in stead of Wine and Myrrhe they gave Christ Vinegar and Gall to increase his Misery and they prepared it in readiness in case he called for the usual Refreshment And the Conjecture of the Carthâ—sian is not amiss who imputeth it to the Malice of the Soldiers to change the Wine prepared by the charitable Women into Vinegar for the greater Spight and Mockage And it is said They filled a spunge with vinegar and put it upon â—yssop The other Evangelists say They put it upon a reed and it is hard to conceive then how they could put it upon Hyssop It is probable that Hyssop in these Countries was tall as Mustard-Seed is said to grow up into a Tree and Pliny saith they made Stayes of Mallows in Arabia which with us is but a slender Herb but Hyssop is put for a Shrub Salomon wrote of all Herbs from the Cedar to the Hyssop but that is Wall-Hyssop which is dwarfish and tender as ours is Observe when Christ stood in our stead no Comfort was granted to him but what was devised to augment his Grief When his Strength was dried up like a Potiheard and his Tongue cleaved to his Jaws They gave him Vinegar to drink when he was providing for us a Cup of Blessings a Torrent and a River of Pleasure of which we might drink Vers. 30. When he had received the Vinegar he said It is finished and he bowed the head and gave up the ghost When he had received it that is tasted it for they put it into his Mouth with a Spunge on the top of a Reed then he said It is finished That is as much as was necessary for his Humiliation God's Glory and Man's Salvation as much as was decreed as much as was foretold And he saith It is finished because he was now upon the last work Death which was coming upon him and therefore foldeth it in the Expression with what is past It is finished because the last Act was at hand Matth. 26.28 This is my blood of the New Testament which is shed that is which is about to be shed Iohn 17.4 I have finished the work thou gavest me to do All the Sufferings were now compleated at Death which he was to suffer for our Sins Doctr. Christ closed not his Sufferings till all was finished which he had to do for us 1. In what sense it is said All things are finished 2. The Evidences and Reasons thereof 3. What Comfort this is to the Faithful I. In what sense it is said It is finished 1. All the Scripture Prophesies which spake of Christ's Death and Sufferings were now fulfilled and accomplished As that he should make his entrance into Ierusalem upon an Ass in all humility this was Prophesied of the Messiah Zech. 9.9 Behold thy King cometh unto thee he is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt the fole of an ass And fulfilled by Christ Matth. 21.4 5. All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet saying Tell ye the daughter of Sion Behold the King cometh unto thee meek and sitting upon an ass and a colt the foal of an ass That he should be betrayed by one of his Familiars his own Disciple Psal. 55.12 13. It was not an enemy that reproched me then I could have borne it neither was it he that hated me that did magnifie himself against me But it was thou a man mine equal my guide and my acquaintance So Psal. 41.9 Yea
feared Heb. 5.7 Are you mocked reviled buffetted contumeliously used So was Christ. Are you scourged put to Death by violence So was Christ. 2. From the manner with Meekness and Constancy With Meekness not as Swine but as Sheep Isa. 53.7 As a sheep before the shearer is dumb so he opened not his mouth 1 Pet. 2.23 Who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously Though he had not in the least kind offended either God or Man yet he was handled as a Sinner and when foul Crimes were laid to his Charge he did not repay his Slanderers in their own Coin but resigned himself to God to deal with him and his Persecutors as he saw fitting he vented no Carnal Passion So for Constancy he continued till all was finished and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross Phil. 2.8 When he was tempted to descend from the Cross he would not but stayed there as long as it was necessary to shew us that we should not descend from our Cross and free our selves from Tribulation by Sin till all be finished If God keepeth us long in an oppressed State without Relief or Deliverance do not make hast but tarry his leisure If by Providence you are unequally yoked bear your Cross as long as God seeth fit to continue it to you If it be a long Imprisonment a long tedious Sickness or any other Affliction do not descend from your Cross till God take it off and help not your selves by Sin out of Affliction 3. From the End the bitterest Trouble will at length have an end Christ was a Man of Sorrows all his Days Tempted Despised Persecuted Censured Scourged Crucified but at length the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is finished cometh and there is a kind of Triumph over all his Enemies and Calamities To teach us to finish our Course with perseverance and patience that at the last we may say we are come to the end of our Sorrows His laborious Pilgrimage was now over and there will a time come when ours shall be over also Christ's Life was a continual Cross and constant Affliction but at length all was finished and the Sorrows of thirty three Years recompenced with Glory and Honour and great Fruit and Success in the Affairs of his Kingdom What is a little momemtary Suffering to the rest of Eternity For a little while he was the despising of Men and the leaving off of the People but afterwards God exalted him and gave him a Name above all Names The perfidious Iews rejoyced for a while but a sad Reckoning came afterwards Iudas had a small time to enjoy his thirty Pieces Pilate within a while rued his Facility and yielding to the Importunity of the Iews But as to Afflictions holily suffered stay a little and all the bitter part will be over 4. All was fulfilled which God determined to be done for the expiation of Sin So that no more Ransom is to be paid our Debt is satisfied Divine Justice hath no more demand to us Sin Satan and Death are spoiled and disarmed and way is made for our Salvation to be owned as coming from Christ alone This is the main Circumstance and therefore I shall explain it a little 1. Negatively 2. Positively 1. Negatively And there 1. In regard of Christ himself And 2. In respect of us 1. In regard of Christ himself Not as if all the necessary Acts of his Mediation were now past Death was just at hand and was comprized in the Expressionâ— his lying in the Grave was but the continuation of his Abasement till the time of his Exaltation should come But in the way of satisfying Justice he had no more to do whatever was done afterwards was by way of Reward not to satisfie Justice but to satisfie the World of the Dignity of his Person He was to Rise from the Dead and ascend into Glory that 's for our more abundant Comfort His Resurrection was his solemn Acquittance our Surety was let out of Prison Rom. 4.25 Who was delivered for our offences and rose again for our justification His Ascension was that we might have a Friend at God's right hand to appear for us Heb. 8.12 We have such an High-priest who is sate on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the Heavens Heb. 9.24 For Christ is not entred into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but into Heaven it self now to appear in the presence of God for us That being in a glorified and exalted condition he might powerfully apply his Purchase and by his Spirit communicate the Fruits thereof to Believers And he is to come to Judgment to bless and reward his People and to punish his Enemies But all the Sufferings are now compleated or about to be compleated which he was to suffer for our Sins 2. In respect of us It is not so finished but that something is to be done by the Creature Though the Satisfaction be never so perfect yet there is a necessity of Application The Sacrifice and Atonement is sufficient but it must be applied in the way appointed by God The means of Applying are partly Internal which qualifie the Subject and make us capable of the benefit of this Atonement and Satisfaction which are Faith and Repentance and also new Obedience as the consequent of both for Repentance is a returning to our Duty to God and Faith a thankful owning of our Redeemer by whom we return and if we are serious and real all will end in new Obedience and Holiness or else we are liable to Wrath still Faith is necessary Rom. 3.25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood Repentance is necessary Acts 3.19 Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out New Obedience is necessary Heb. 5.9 He is become the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him And partly External by the Word and Sacraments The Word Iohn 17.19 And for their sakes I sanctifie my self that they also may be sanctified through the truth The Word calleth upon us to accept of Christ and that Life and Mercy which is offered to us in him The Sacraments which are Baptism and the Lord's Supper By Baptism we profess and are obliged to put on Christ Gal. 3.27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Or to apply him to our selves as a Garment to the Body that he may communicate to us his Righteousness Life and Spirit And by the Lord's Supper we come more abundantly to take part in this Consolation 1 Cor. 10.16 The cup of blessing which we blâ—ss is it not the communion of the blood of Christ The bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ That is hereby we are solemnly made Partakers of the Body and Blood of Christ and the