after him and would but accept of him and tels them more particularly that they must eat and drink his flesh and his blood as the only Food that would do good to their Souls hereupon these carnal People were extreamly offended at him and at his Doctrine for they interpret all this in a carnal manner as if Christ did mean that they must eat his very flesh and drink his very blood as they did eat and drink other food and truly it was ever thus and it wil be ever thus that nothing can act above its own Sphere and they who have carnall minds can never judg right of spiritual things thereupon our blessed Savior in the words that I have read and in many other in this latter end of the Chapter inculcates this Doctrine further Assuredly no man could ever live that did not eat and drink his flesh and blood and he that did eat him and drink him eat his flesh and drink his blood would receive such invaluable nourishment as he would think it the best meal that ever he was at And that is the scope of these words which before I come to handle give me leave very briefly to vindicate them from the gross erronious interpretation that the Papists put upon them for you all know that there is a monster in their Doctrine that is called transubstantiation which in their conceit is the turning of the Bread and the Wine in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper into the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and whosoever doth not beleeve it in their conceit is certainly damned And this Doctrine of theirs hath been the occasion of the murdering and martyrdome of many thousands of Saints and among all the Arguments that they alledg to prove it this Scripture is the prime of all the rest except only that of This is my Body But in the next place to that comes this discourse wherein Christ speaks so Positively and punctually of eating his flesh and drinking his Blood and the necessity of it to salvation that they think every man out of his wits that is not convinced by these Texts to grant their transubstantiation yea one of them and one of the learnedst of them hath left it in Print that if ever the Lord Christ should say to him at the day of judgment Why didst thou beleeve that the Bread and Wine was my very Body and Blood he would make no other Answer than this Thou spakest it so plain in such a place that it could not be denied my sense and reason could not deny it Now I wil a little cleer this Text from them and I hope to such an understanding Auditory as I think I preach to a very few words wil serve the turn There are three things which whosoever doth but weigh will be easily convinced that the eating and drinking that is here spoke of hath no relation in the world to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper The first is 1. This Sermon was preached a whole year before there was any word of the institution of the Sacrament the Sacrament of the Lords Supper was at the Passover immediately before his Death this was a whole year before it Now how can it be imaginable that Christs speech here should be meant of a Sacramental eating when no Sacrament was instituted Who can imagine such a thing Secondly 2. This Text and all this discourse in John 6. if it should be interpreted literally for that is the thing they stand for the literal sense I say interpret it literally and it is quite against their transubstantiation for they say that the Bread and Wine are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ but if here be any transubstantiation at all it is that the Body and blood of Christ are transubstantiated into bread and drink for he doth not say the bread is my body the drink is my blood but my body my flesh is meat and my blood is drink so that if you will have any transsubstantiation it is quite contrary And Thirdly 3. The eating and drinking of Christ that my Text speaks of it is very plain by our Lords words that whosoever eats him and drinks him as this Text holds out shal certainly live another life for ever and they themselves grant that you may eat that very Body and Blood of Christ as it is in the Sacrament and never partake of his Grace but go to Hell with the Sacrament in their bellies I hope that this is enough to shew you that this Text proves it not I tel you in a word that the eating and drinking that my Text speaks of is the same thing that the people of God enjoy in the Sacrament and out of the Sacrament for there do we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ spiritually by faith whosoever receives it preparedly but the discourse here is nothing at all to that But now I come to the matter and in the words there are two things which the Lord assisting me I wil open to you the first is 1. The duty required of every one that would partake of Jesus Christ and that is to eat his flesh and drink his blood that is the duty pressed over and over and so heavily that the Lord saith expressly that whosoever doth not do it can never live The duty required to eate and drink the body and blood of Jesus Christ the second is 2 The benefits which every soul doth receive who doth eate Christs flesh and drink Christs blood and that is set down in many various expressions but all tending to the same thing that is they shall live for ever they shall never hunger nor thirst they shall in no wise be cast out they shall be raised up at the last day they shall live to eternity these are the benefits or rather the benefit for all is one that every soul partakes of who eates the flesh of Christ and who drinks his blood wel now for the meaning of it that I may make it plain for my intent is to preach but a short Sermon I will God willing open both the parts that is the duty required and the benefit received I will open them distinctly and give you the application of them both together for the first 1. What is meant by our Lord when he doth thus positively say that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood his flesh is meat indeed and his blood is drink indeed this we must eat this we must drink What doth he mean I answer plainly that his meaning is we must beleeve Beleeving is eating and drinking and eating and drinking in this sense is beleeving that is the general meaning and that it is so any of you may prove it your selves if you wil but read the Scriptures over for where he saith My flesh is meat indeed in one place He that beleeveth in me shall never hunger nor thirst by and by He that eateth of this Bread shal live for ever So that I
wil is and he gave it me in commission when I came from him not to deny food to any one that cometh after me Nay saith he last of all 4. This is the Command I have from the Father That I should raise them up all at the last day Though it is true the bodily life ends and fails and they shal turn to dust as others do yet when I come to make good the life that my People must have in abundance when I come in the last day to make it good to them I must raise al up that ever did partake of me to life you see here is the benefit which is laid down in the Text I have only a little paraphrased upon it thus I have opened the Doctrinal part That whosoever would live happy Eating and Drinking of Jesus Christ is the Duty required of him and they that do it are happy abundantly Let me now a little apply this to you but three Uses I wil briefly make of it or rather the Lord makes them for it is out of mans power to do it three things I would observe First USE 1. If you be but willing you may cleerly discern whether you are partakers of Jesus Christ yea or no Oh! that the Lord that is the Father of spirits would work upon your spirits while I am speaking Friends Shall I speak a little freely and examin this great Assembly where doth your eternal happiness lie tel me in your own hearts what you would answer to it if God did examin it where doth your hope of happiness lie Would not this be your Answer Only in Jesus Christ the Son of God that became a Savior for poor sinners I disclaim all other things and I look for my happiness only in Christ Would not this be the Answer of you all It may be some Pharisaical self justifiers they can pitch presently upon their own honest and innocent life but I pitch upon that which I think every one of you would answer It is Christ you say but what Christ is it that you make account is your life What Christ is it Is it Christ the Son of Mary and the Son of God Christ that died upon the Cross that rose again and ascended into Heaven and sits at Gods right hand in the Glory of his Father and that shal come again in the end of the world to judg the quick and the dead Jesus Christ is preached to you in the several meetings in the ministry of the word Is it this Christ you look for I let me add this If there be no more for thee or me than this this Christ that sits at the right hand of God if thou canst not ad this Christ fed upon by me It is Christ in you the hope of Glory it is not Christ in Heaven the hope of Glory therefore I must needs beg of you that you would be true to your own souls for through mercy I have a little converse amongst men and a little experience of them but the want of the knowledg of this point undoeth many men they have heard so much of Christ that unless they be the arrantest sots and debauched persons they can tell you all the story of Christ but if you come to examin how I pra'y came this Christ into your hearts I know how he was prepared for Bread how the Father hath ground him and baked him pardon the expression I know how the Father hath prepared his flesh and blood to be meat and drink But how came he to be your food and how got you your interest in him if you did eat his flesh and drink his blood in a carnal way it would do you no good for though you go for Church members yet if the Lord have not done these things in thee which I have spoke of thou wilt be utterly lost when thou comest to seek for salvation Doth it not trouble thee to think how thou canst answer these four or five Questions I will but name them First 1. Hath the Lord convinced thy Soul really and cleerly that there is no salvation to such a wretch as thou art further than Christ Jesus wil vouchsafe it unto thee art thou set down under that that is wel for believe it til this work of Christ come upon our hearts we never see the necessity of that work Secondly 2. Hath he raised up in thee that amongst all the contents thou findest in other things though God maketh thy Wife comfortable or thy Husband comfortable and al things sutable yet stil thy heart is unsatisfied if I have not Christ I am undone What will my riches do me good if I have not Christ What wil all the talk of others do me good if I have not Christ Hath he raised up in thee such a desire after him What sayest thou Thirdly 3. If at any time the Lord smile upon thee though no body be by but he smiles upon thee in secret thou hast gotten some cleer Evidence that Christ is thine and he wil own thee before the Father Canst thou turn back and even laugh before the Lord and say Oh Lord is it so Is Christ mine Is this to thee 〈◊〉 the honey and the hony combe 4. Dost thou find likewise in a way that thou know'st not how it is brought about but thou findest somwhat settled upon thy heart that hath changed the frame of thy heart thou that art by nature proud lascivious and naught there is somwhat that is wrought in thee and there comes some strength that though thou canst not walk as thou should'st do yet the Lord is dear and his Children are dear and his waies are dear some strength God affords that thou art not pleased in the world but thy soul finds that God hath enabled thee to make him the end of thy life and his word the rule of thy life Hath he done this for thee then there is eating and drinking of Christs flesh and blood then in the name of God thou doest partake of Christ But good Friends be not deceived I tel you in many places not one of a hundred that hears such a Doctrine as this have any part in Christ or their feeding upon him or relying upon him therefore I pray try your selves That is the first Use I wil make of it Then in the second place USE 2. Oh! what a comfort may this be if the Lord would enable me to speak of it I could pour down even showers of Consolation upon those souls that have gone along with me in the tryal All you that the Lord hath shewed this mercy to you that you feed thus upon Christ I tel thee this Carry it home thou hast eat a meal's meat that will keep thee as a man while God lives he hath given thee one bit Oh! one mouthful of Christ to get into Christ I read of the Widows Oyl truly it was a delicate portion that God laid out for her that for a great while together shee
of Gods love he wil interpret every thing wel that God doth to him and he will then trust him and then fear him when he is but perswaded of his love and therefore learn this Lesson here is love indeed here is love the like was never heard of that the Lord should rear poor Worms and let such a work pass upon them to make them the Sons of God That is one collection that therefore the love of God is wonderful great unto those that do beleeve in him And Secondly I have but one Collection more that I will give you at this time and that is this 2. Hence it follows That they who beleeve in Jesus Christ are exalted to the highest dignity that any Creature is capable of that as here is a magnifyng of Gods love to them so here is a magnifying of their State That I hence collect that there are no People under the Heavens Nay let me ad not in the Heavens there are no Creatures so highly exalted as Beleevers and why Because they are the Sons and Daughters of God not in a name only not metaphorically as all the Creatures are but really God hath the heart the Bowels of a Father to them and they the hearts of Children Yea the State Adoption of Children the greatest exaltation that is in this world I remember what David said when some of his Courtiers came to him told him of Sauls good opinion of him to give him his Daughter and wished him to be thankful for it Oh! but saith he is it a smal thing in your eyes for a man of so mean a stock as I am to be made the Son in law of a King So if there be any Beleever here that thy heart tels thee that thou acceptest of Christ to be thy Savior that his Spirit hath laid hold upon thee Is it a smal thing in thy eyes that thou art really the Child of God Is there any thing in Heaven and Earth to compare with it I remember David in 1 Chron. 17. when he had Nathan came to him with a message from God and told him to this purpose saith he I wil raise up thy Child after thee and I will set him upon thy Throne and I wil be his Father and he shal be my Son and thus I wil do to thee David could not hold but runs and sits him down reverently before the Lord Oh Lord saith he who am I What comparison is there Wilt thou be my Father and the Father of my Child Is it true Lord Can this be Oh! it so amazed him that God should be his Father Oh! could we think of it I beseech you tel me to which of the Angels said God at any time thou art my Son he saith to the poorest Beleever in the world thou art my Son It is not only a name that expresseth good wil but a state and condition that the Lord hath set him in so that I dare boldly say I will draw to a Conclusion with it but I would have you study it when you are at home I dare boldly affirm that the meanest Beleever though as we say in the Country he go with his Flail or a Rake or as you wil say in the City he carries the Tankard the meanest Beleever that hath Christ for his Lord and Savior he is exalted to a higher condition than Ahasuerus was when he was made the Emperor of a hundred twenty seven Provinces for let them take al the Pomp Wealth State that is in this world let them have it all if they have not Christ God looks upon them as Satans slaves and over a few daies they wil perish among the Dogs I mean among the Devils be base and be miserable for ever wheras the poorest servant of God that believeth in Christ the Lord tenders him as his first born O! I would fain if it were Gods wil that Gods People would lay this to heart it would comfort them against all the Scorns and Reproaches of the world It is with many of Gods People as it was with Christ when he was upon Earth when he was called King How was he jeered for it Art thou a King saith Pilat when he had a seamless Coat on and bound with Halters belike you are a King So they are ready to jeer the Children of God belike you are the Childrdren of God I let them scorn I have read of Princes that when for some ends they could be strangers from their own Countries a while they could bear the Scorns and Jeers of People but when I am at home I am known what I am So a poor Child of God may say I go in a russet Coat and have never a penny of Mony in my purse and undergo many afflictions and troubles Wel but God is my Father and the very thought of the dignity that God hath exalted him to will make him quietly and contentedly undergo all the afflictions of this world These are but general Collections had I time to enter into the Particulars to shew what Gods Children by Adoption are delivered from Sin and the Law and what they are instated into under his Family under his Provision Protection and the like truly I might set that before you that if a man could hold to it by Faith and the Lords spirit help him to apply it to his heart he would live comfortably here al his daies FINIS FAITH THE ONLY MEANS Spiritually to FEED on CHRIST Opened in a Sermon at Mary le Bow November 12. 1654. JOHN 6.53 54 55 56. Then said Jesus unto them Verily verily I say unto you Except ye Eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood ye have no Life in you Whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day For my Flesh is Meat indeed and my Blood is Drink indeed He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in Him I Read all these verses because they all hold out one and the same Doctrine though in a little different phrases That you may the better understand the scope of our blessed Savior in these words know that the occasion of it was this Christ having the day before fed the Bodies of many thousands who attended upon his ministry The rumor of this flying abroad the next day great multitudes thronged after him again and Christ knowing what lay at the bottom of the heart told them plainly they sought him for carnal ends because they had eat of the Loaves and were filled but that was not the end of his coming into the world to fil their Bellies No there was better food that he was willing to give all that had an appetite after it and thereupon that I may not stay you fals into a most divine discourse of his own being sent out of the bosome of his Father to be the Bread of life to al who did thirst
in the midst of all thy corruptions if thou didst know it it would engage thee to joy and to every thing that is Holy and Good the Lord set it home to the hearts of his people and teach them to apply it to their own Souls in secret And then Secondly USE 2. 2. I say to you all from hence All of you learn what need there is of getting an interest in Jesus Christ for that is the end of my Sermon To perswade you to see the need that you have of getting an interest in Jesus Christ. Would you know why I wil tel you Al the sins that you commit as you wil commit sins every day you live but all the sins that you commit are all writ down in Gods Book he numbers your steps though you number them not your selves he hath your iniquities in a Bag and the day is coming when he wil cal every one of you to an account and now Friends what if you have not a Daies-man or a Mediator to appear for you I remember Ely said Oh my Sons if men sin against men men shal speak for them but who shall speak betwixt the Soul and God So you have committed innumerable sins and your own hearts and Consciences tel you more than any man can charge you with How wil you do to appear before God What if you have not a Mediator the Lord Jesus that is a Propitiation for our sins What a woful case are you in Take heed you do not imbrace a Cloud but study Christ and get found Faith in him and if Christ be yours you are secure but look to it or your case is dangerous I dare not stay you any longer The Lord give us understanding in all things FINIS THE HIGH PRIVILEDG Of all True BELIEVERS To be the SONS of GOD. Opened in a Sermon at Suttons Hospital Novemb. 12. 1654. John 1.12 13. But as many as received Him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that beleeve in his Name Which were Born not of Blood Nor of the will of the Flesh Nor of the will of Man But of God THe dependance of the Words stands thus First You have in the beginning of the Chapter a most glorious Description of Jesus Christ both of his person and of his Natures and of his Office under the Name of the Light that inlighteneth every one that cometh into the World Then Secondly You have a description of his Entertainment in the World when this great Lord submitted to this work and manifested himself What was his entertainment First He came into the world and though the world were made by him Yet the world would not know him he came amongst his own that is his own nation and kinred who had been instructed about a Messiah that was to come and had long prayed for him Oh! that he would bow the Heavens and come down amongst us he came amongst them and they would none of him they would not receive him Truly this is the ordinary lot of Jesus Christ wheresoever he cometh but yet there were a remnant that did receive him and shal receive him even those that belong to the Covenant of Grace And what get they by it That Remnant that handful that do receive Christ make the best bargain that ever was made in the world As many as did receive him to them he gave this priviledg that they should become the Sons of God and so here you have the comprehension of all the happiness that Beleevers do receive by Jesus Christ they are made the Sons of God so that the Text hath two things in it First 1. Here is the Means whereby Souls are made partakers of Christ that is upon receiving of him that is the means and condition or instrument All that receive him which is interpreted in the next words even they who believed in him Believing in Christ and Receiving Christ is al one This though it be a Doctrine of wonderfull comfort I shall speak nothing of it but of the second That is 2. The benefit that they all receive who do partake of Christ what they get by him They all of them have this priviledg or Prerogative That they are made the Sons of God and so without any more preparation to the Text or explication for the Doctrine I will explain in the handling of it I say without any more preface I lay you down this Doctrine Doct. That al who believe in Jesus Christ are made the Sons of God the Children of God And that you may receive this with better attention I will to make you the better understand the Lord's scope answer a Question that is this Quest. You say it is very cleer in the Scriptures that al Beleevers are made the Children of God that is one of their Priviledges but what is the reason that no more is named but that one They are Justified they are Sanctified they have the Promises they are Reconciled they have a thousand excellencies in this world yet here is none named but only this they are made Sons Why is no other named but this Answ. I Answer plainly and it will be of great use to understand it namely that though somtimes in the holy Scriptures our Sonship is but one of our Priviledges yet very frequently in the Scripture all that Beleevers do obtain from Christ in this world and the world to come here and to eternity all is comprehended in this one That they are made the Children of God Really you wil see it as cleer as the Sun presently that God comprehends all other priviledges in this one that he that hath this one he that is made the Son of God he hath all other that can be imagined or that you can find any Speech of in al the Book of God so great is this And I wil give you a little light about it and then you wil receive the Doctrine I hope with the more attention and with the more desire to see your own Interest in it You shal see and observe it as a general that very frequently when the Lord describeth the Covenant of Grace the new Covenant what he wil be to his people in the new Covenant he is very frequent in the setting down of this I wil be their Father saith he and they shall be my Sons and Daughters I know not how often the whol Covenant of Grace is expressed in that word I wil be their Father they shal be my Children but very cleerly you shal see it if you turn to Ephes. 1.5 where the Apostle doth bless the Lord for all the abundant Grace that is manifested to us in Christ there he sets it down in this one expression having predestinated us to the adoption of Children What is al that Al the Graces al the Good that we enjoy from Christ you have it in this one Sentence God predestinated us to the adoption of Children he hath done all when he hath
Sense what is Adoption I describe it thus It is a gracious Sentence of God the Father who cals sinners if Beleevers his Sons for Christ's sake I give you this short description That it is a gracious Sentence of God the Father whereby he doth call Beleevers though sinners yet he cals them his Sons for Christs sake the very Scripture language We are called Sons but yet I think a little plainer take this It is a gracious work of God whereby he doth take poor sinners who beleeve in Christ into that Glorious Condition of being his own Children All this will by and by be more plain when I come to shew you what it comprehends in it but the Lord of his free Grace when he hath brought home a Soul to make it accept of Christ to be its Savior then doth he how unworthy soever that Wretch be he takes him into the condition of his own Children That is the first and I am the shorter in it because the next wil explain it more The second Question is this 2. What is this work of Adopting or how is it done and therein I humbly crave your best attention because I know to you that are the Lords I am opening the most glorious Priviledg that Christ Jesus hath bought with his blood for you and it wil be wel worth your understanding how we that are Children of Wrath come to be made the Children of God I Answer you then First 1. In general The Adopting of a Soul to be a Child of God is so high a work that the whol Trinity the Father the Son the Holy Ghost every one of the three Persons have their distinct work in Adopting a poor Sinner to be the Child of God nor is any man upon Earth ever made the Child of God til al those three works of the Trinity have passed upon him so great a matter is it to be made Gods Child And this wil I open to you in the second place 2. What the several works of the blessed Trinity are in making a poor unworthy sinner to become the Child of God First 1. The work of the Father God the Father what is his work in our Adoption It stands in two things you will find them cleerly if you do but study the Scriptures The first is 1. From all Eternity the Lord did choose them to be his Children that when he did first pitch upon them if I may speak of any thing that is first which is eternal but when the Lord pitched upon poor Creatures and chose them to life he chose them to be his Children as you have it in Ephes. 1. verse 5. He hath predestinated us to the Adoption of Children that although he himself had a naturally and only begotten Son every way pleasing and delightful to him yet besides this only begotten Son would he have other Children who with that Son should enjoy him and serve him and under that notion he chose to make them his Children Not only so but 2. When he gave them to Christ which was likewise a work from all Eternity When the Lord gave these to Jesus Christ whom he chose to be Sons he gave them to him under the notion of Brethren These are to be thy Brethren I give them to thee to compleat the work which I have chosen them to which is to be my Sons and therefore it is said in that place of the Hebrews That because the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood that is those that the Lord had chosen and looked upon as Children he that was their Surety must partake of Flesh and Blood So there is the Fathers work that from all Eternity he taketh a poor Creature and saith This shal be my Son and he gives him to his Son Christ These I give as thy Brethren to thee to bring them to the enjoyment of me There is the work of the Father this I hope is plain Then Secondly 2. There is a work of Jesus Christ What is that The work and Office of Jesus Christ in the point of Adoption that likewise stands in two things The First is 1. He was to purchase their Sonship for them for though the Father would give it them freely it should cost them nothing yet Christ being made their Surety he must purchase it for them so that the Lord although he was the Heir of all things yet he condescends by his own Blood by his own Sufferings by himself being made a Curse He condescends to purchase adoption for those that were given him to bring to life This is plain in Gal. 4. where iâ— is said When the fulness of time was come God sent his own Son born of a Woman made under the Law that we might receive the adoption of Sons that our Adoption as it flows from Christ is the price of his Blood that is one of the works that Christ doth The second is this 2. That when the acceptable hour is come that the Lord is pleased to bring a Sinner home to Christ Christ is applied to him as a Brother that when they are brought to Christ by Faith Christ cometh to be applied to them as their elder Brother not only as a Redeemer that hath satisfied God and purchased for them but when he is made over to them he is made over to them in his Sonship as wel as in the rest of his works so that as our justification ariseth from Christs righteousness being applied to us so our Sonship arising from Christ as the Son being the only begotten Son of God and our elder Brother is applied to us Yea I tel you this application of Christ in his Sonship to the Saints is so neer and so close that although he be the only begotten Son of God the first born the Heir of all things yet by vertue of his application unto Beleevers they likewise come to be called by God himself his first born These are high things but the Scripture is cleer in them for so you read it in the latter end of Heb. 12.23 where it is said that we are come to the new Jerusalem to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and to the Congregation of the first born whose names are written in Heaven that all they that are called home to Christ by reason of their conjunction to their elder Brother they are the first born of God and the Lord speaks thus of all his Saints in that place of Exod. in that sense I am speaking Go saith he to Pharoah tel him Israel is my Son What Son My first born he is my first born because Israel was comprehended in Christ and Christ looked upon as his Brother Israel is Gods first born So here are two of the works of the Trinity in our Adoption the work of the Father in chusing us to it and giving us to Jesus Christ as his Brethren the work of the Son is in purchasing this great priviledg by his Blood and when the time
of Application is come the making himself over to them in the consideration or notion of an elder Brother and so they really by their conjunction with him partake of it There is the second work 3. There is the work of the Holy Ghost and til that likewise be past over the Soul never is any man made the Son of God The Holy Ghost and his work is so eminent and apparent that he is called the Spirit of Adoption that when the Lord gives his Spirit unto his Children he cals it by the Spirit of Adoption because it is the great Office of the Spirit to make that great work of Adoption Quest. Now what is the Holy Spirit 's work about it Answ. I Answer It stands in three things and you wil see them all cleer in Scripture and I hope I shal have some time for the Application for I go it over as fast as I can the Holy Ghosts work in making us the Sons of God stands in three things as it is cleer in the Scripture The one is 1. When the acceptable time is come that the Lord means to make a Soul that is by nature a Child of wrath to become the Child of God He sends the Spirit of Jesus Christ into that Soul to be a band of union betwixt Christ and that soul that whereas Christ is to be applied to them as a Brother and they to be mystically united unto him the holy Spirit takes this Office upon himself to come and dwel in the heart as a band of union betwixt Christ and them that Christ and they should never more be separated and this work of the pouring out of the Spirit into the Soul to take possession of him for Christ and to give the possession of Christ unto him the Spirit being the band of it this is the first work of the Spirit as he is the Spirit of Adoption There is one The second work of the Spirit is this 2. That when the holy Spirit comes to make Christ and us one he as the elder Brother and we as his Brethren inseparably united to him whereas he findeth us enemies hateful hating that would rather be united to Harlots to the Creature to any thing the Spirit of God works a Child-like heart in them framing and molding their Spirits that for the time to come they calling God Father as they have warrant to do they likewise shall be made Sons even in the frame and bent of their spirits which is very excellently expressed in the very next words to my Text wherein it is said He gave them this Prerogative that they should become the Sons of God which were born saith he mark not of Blood nor of the wil of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Now no longer shal flesh and blood sway them but being born of God the Spirit of God gives a new birth and a new life now they come to have the hearts of Children that as nature hath planted in the heart of a Child toward the Parent Honor and Love and Reverence and Obedience where sin hath not utterly perverted it this is the natural genius of a Child to his Father So the Spirit of God molds and frames the Soul and this the Scripture signifies when it saith Because you are Sons God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts whereby now we can cry Abba Father now the hearts of them shal stand to God and be carried to him in Faith and Prayer as the hearts of Children are naturally carried to their Parents That is the second thing And then the third and last work of the Spirit and so you have all this indeed as plain before you as I can set it out briefly the Third Work is this 3. This Holy Spirit even as it is the Spirit of Adoption doth not only unite them to Christ and frame a sutable disposition in them towards God and Christ But it abides in them upon all need to witness to their Spirits that this is their condition to give not only the Seal of it by changing their hearts but by giving them the comfort of it as they need it in their necessities which the Apostle expresseth in those words it is in Rom. 8. And the same Spirit witnesseth to our spirits that we are Gods Children it carries our hearts to God and testifies to the Soul that God is their Father There is the second Now I have been larger in that because in truth the world doth not ponder these things nay few of Gods own Children do ever consider what a strange work it is that none but the blessed Trinity can undertake and each of them have their distant work in it of bringing a poor Child of Wrath to become the Child of God That is the second You hear now what Adoption is and how it is wrought Now the third thing in the Doctrinal part and then I hasten to the Application is Wel What are the benefits of it Now what are the benefits of our Adoption That when the Lord hath took this strange course and brought about this strange work Wherein doth the worth of this Priviledg stand I answer You wil receive a great deal of light of it at least it wil help you to remember it and understand it the better if I do illustrate it by the practice that was amongst the Romans So their Adoption and the Roman Adoption had three things in it it carried three things as all learned men that have read their Stories and Laws do know The first is 1. When a man was Adopted into a Family the Family of a Caesar or the great men by his Adoption he was cut off from the Family from which he sprung by his natural birth cut off from it not simply but from whatsoever was base or unworthy in that Family that if his Father were a Slave and himself by his birth a Slave it was hereditary to him or if any blot or infamy stuck upon his family whatsoever it was the Adopting of this Person into another Family wholly cut him off from al the base ignominious slavish bondage and dangers which belonged to the Family from which he sprung by his natural birth That was the first The second was 2. That by his Adoption he was taken as belonging to the Family into which he was Adopted as much as if he had been begotten by him he was to have by the Laws of the Empire the same respect from his adopted Father the same provision the same protection the same immunities whatsoever that his own begotten Son might claim by nature from the Roman Laws the adopted Child was instituted in them all And Thirdly 3 By his Adoption he had the same right to the inheritance that the begotten Child had if there were no other begotten Children the whol Inheritance sel to the Adopted Child if there were another begotten Child though beloved the Adopted shared with him in it Look how
know not how often in this one Chapter eating drinking is interpreted by Beleeving and Beleeving in a Metaphor is nothing but Eating Drinking therefore my work shal be God willing to explain this know then in general that this great Grace of Faith whereby Souls partake of Christ it is in the true nature of it nothing but an accepting or receiving of Jesus Christ to be that unto us which God sent him to be for poor sinners the Scripture is most cleer in 1 John 12. As many as received him he gave them power to become the Sons God even they that beleeved in him So that to receive Christ is to believe in him now the receiving of Christ being a spiritual act of the soul wherin the understanding and the wil must both have a share it hath pleased the Lord I beseech you mark it it hath pleased the Lord to set out this one act of Beleeving by abundance of Metaphors in the Scripture similitudes taken from the Body and every one of them being rightly interpreted wil cleerly set out the nature of Faith and what the Soul doth when it beleeveth in Christ as I wil give you but a tast because it is but one only that I mean to open and that is in my Text Somtimes 1. Beleeving it is very often set forth by Coming Come unto me He that cometh unto me I will not cast him out that is to Beleeveâ— Now Coming therein is a figure an expression taken from an act of our Body of our Feet wherein there are alwaies these three things 1. There is the place from which we go 2. There is the place to which we go 3. There is the way and means in which and by which we go Now these interpreted would cleerly shew you what the Soul doth in Beleeving So likewise 2. To look up to Christ that as Moses lift up the Serpent in the Wilderness that whosoever looked upon it was cured so Christ is lifted up that we may look upon him Now that very act of the eye to look to an Object for such an end being rightly interpreted would cleerly shew you what the Soul of man doth when it beleeveth in Christ. And so 3. To stay upon him or to lean upon him which is a Metaphor taken from the Body that reposeth it self upon somewhat to uphold it when it wants strength of its own now this being discovered would cleerly shew you what the Soul of man doth when it believeth in Christ. 4. Now among many of these Metaphors this Text of John's pitcheth upon this especially of eating Christ and drinking which is the action of our mouth and stomach wherby our life comes to be maintained by our Food and there is in this of eating and drinking so cleer a demonstration what the Soul of man doth when it beleeveth in Christ and how it may discover whether men do beleeve or no that you cannot desire a cleerer than this is if God do but vouchsafe the ful understanding of it That then which I have laid out for a part of this afternoon's work is to shew you wherin the eating drinking of our food doth shadow out Beleeving in Jesus Christ to eternal life though I have but now brought you to that which I would endeavor a little more fully to discover to you Would you know then wherein the Holy Ghost maketh the comparison to stand for I dare not go to ad the study of our own brains but wherein the Scripture makes these to answer one another eating and drinking food for bodily life and Beleeving in Christ for spiritual life wherein do they answer I answer in these six things some of them I shall not need to stay upon for if I should stay upon all I should not have time to cleer the rest but in six things do the eating and drinking of our food answer our laying hold upon Jesus Christ by Faith and I wil desire you to mark them because it is the foundation of a great tryal of your spiritual estate The first 1. That the Lord when he first created man with a living Soul with a life this life of man is not able to nourish it self to preserve it self in being nor to strengthen it self when it is any waies impaired but God hath appointed that which is food such creatures as have suitable spirits in them to the life of man that mans life under God lies in these and cannot be preserved without them but it is the meat and drink as the ordinary expression is it is the food and the nourishment the means wherby the life of man is preserved in a man and give him all other things in the world let Angels attend him Princes wait upon him let all that God hath given to the whole Creation be bestowed upon him keep food from him and the man dies he doth not live though it is true we live not by Bread only but God can preserve it otherwise but in the ordinary proceedings of God take away food and you take away life you need no other weapon mans life the nourishment of mans life is food that is one Now answerable to this for our spiritual life it is laid up and to be found wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ in his flesh and his blood but you must know it is his flesh and blood prepared that look as other meat Bread must be broken and ground and baked and so made fit for mans use before he partakes of it so the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ was ground was broken by the passion and sufferings he underwent for our sins and by vertue of his dying communicated it to us his flesh and blood hath merited life satisfied wrath and in Christ and Christ alone lies all the spiritual life of his people and can be had no where else Give him all the obedience that ever mortal man had give him the righteousness of the Holy Angels in Heaven give him all that a mans Tongue can speak of or his Pen write down he is a dead man if he have not the Lord Jesus Christ to be his life it self Our life is hid in Christ as the Apostle saith there is the treasury of it There is the first that as our humane life lies in Gods disposing I mean by his so ordering it in our food so our spiritual life lies only in Jesus Christ. That is one Secondly these three first I wil be very brief in The second branch is this 2. That look as God in nature hath planted in every man because his life is the most excellent thing skin for skin and all that a man hath he wil give for his life therfore God hath planted in man a more vehement appetite and desire after food then after any thing else in the world and if he be put to it that the choyce must be made it may be he would not part with any thing that he thinkes is sutable to him but if