dark hours of Temptation that have passed through Fiery Tryals and have endured great Fights of Affliction have taken joyfully the Spoiling of their Goods that have rejoyced they were accounted worthy to suffer for my Namessake that have not loved their Lives to the Death How will such a Confession of their Names by Christ put Eternal Honour on the Saints O! look beyond this gloomy Valley of the Shadow of Death to an Inheritance in Light Col. 1.12 Look beyond this short Night of Sorrows and Sufferings to the bright and glorious Morning of the Resurrection Ps 49.14 Though Saints now bow down and are laid as the Mire of the Streets Is 51. last Yet the upright shall have Dominion in the Morning they shall tread down the Wicked they shall be as Ashes under the soles of their Feet Ps 45.14 Mal. 2.3 Abigal went forth to David in his Afflicted State 1 Sam. 25.4 14 40 42. Married and followed him in a Wilderness and afterwards did partake of his Honour and Prosperity We read that after Sauls Death he led her out of this Wilderness-state into the Royal City of Hebron 2 Sam. 2.2 Even so if you now go out to Christ while his People are in a Wilderness Afflicted and Persecuted in the world Jesus Christ will make you partakers of his Honour Felicity and Glory The time will come when this Spiritual King David will lead his Afflicted Spouse to his Royal City above will place her at his Right Hand and delight in her as his Hephzibah for ever 8. Direct We must be filled with the Spirit Eph. 5.18 As there is such a strong and swift Current that always runs in at the Straits Mouth into the Mediterranean Sea that a Ship cannot come out at the Straits Mouth if it hath not a good stiff Gale of Wind So truly there is such a strong Torrent of Self-love and Carnal Affections that runs into the Camp of this World that a Soul can never come out to Jesus through the Streights of Afflictions and Sufferings and cross this violent Stream of sinful self-love and worldly lusts if the Sails of our Souls be not mightily filled with the Gales of the Spirit The Hebrews after they were enlightned endured a great fight of Afflictions Heb. 10.32 And who is it that doth enlighten but the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation Eph. 1.17.18 Our sight is cleared and recovered by the Spirits Eye-Salve Rev. 3.18 so that we can see more and further than the rest of the World Hence Saints are called Children of Light Luke 16.8 because they look into and take hold of another world As Stephens Eye was extraordinarily fortified and improved that he could see up into Heaven and behold Jesus at the Right Hand of God Acts 7.55 56. So the Spirit doth so renew and enlighten the Eyes of Saints Minds that they can see Invisible Heavenly and Eternal things And it is this sight that establishes the Heart against the threatnings and terrors of the World That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit John 3.6 that is Such are Spiritual Creatures and are also called Heavenly 1 Cor. 15.48 If you are Spirit you will not lust after and be captivated by Carnal things If you are heavenly Creatures you will not stoop and bow down to this Earth for your Happiness It is by the Spirit that we must mortifie the Deeds of the Body and Members upon Earth Rom. 8.13 Col. 3.5 These lusts that are fixed on fed and filled by Objects on Earth are tempting and drawing down Souls to a Center and Portion here below and it is by the Power of the Spirit only that we can repress and subdue them The Apostle bids Timothy to partake of the Afflictions of the Gospel according to the Power of God 2. Tim. 1.8 If we are to bear them our selves and were left to the frailty of Nature how soon should we be foiled and overcome But Saints by the Spirit and its power are enabled to deny themselves to conquer the Flesh and tread the world under their Feet Christ hath promised not to leave his People comfortless John 14.16 18. but that he would send them the Comforter What the Spirit shews John 16.13.8 Rom. 16.17 Eph. 1.13 testifies seals to the Souls of Believers is sufficient to buoy up the Hearts of Christians against all Temporal Evils If the Spirit could make supply instead of Christs Bodily Presence with his people if it could chear them in the absence and withdrawing of Christs Humane Nature can it not much more comfort us in the absence or loss of outward Enjoyments As a Tree that hath a River at its Root can retain its Verdure and Flourishing Sate though there be a great Drought and no Showers come upon it Jer. 17.8 Ps 5.2 So if we have the Comforter within if we are watered by the Rivers of its Consolations may we not be satisfied from our selves Prov. 14.14 though we have no Showers of worldly comforts or enjoyments If men would stir and labour and thereby excite their Natural Heat they would not absolutely need Fire in the coldest Weather to warm them So if Christians did more stir up Faith and walk in the Comfort of the Holy Ghost Acts 9.31 they would little need or regard the worlds consolations If you be led by the Spirit of Christ it will in some measure work in you as in him it will raise in you such apprehensions and kindle in you such Affections as were found in Jesus He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 That is He is of the same Spirit of the same Temper of the same Disposition and Inclinations with Jesus Christ As if the same Soul did animate many Bodies these several Persons would be of the same Will and have the same Affections So the Spirit of Christ dwelling in his People the same will be in them as was found in Jesus Rom. 8.9 Phil. 2.5 O! how freely did Jesus Christ yield himself to sufferings and death Ps 40.7 8. Lo I come I delight to do thy will O God yea thy Law is within my Heart And what was the Will of God that Jesus Christ did delight to do We are told what this Will was in Heb. 10.10 viz. that Jesus Christ should offer his Body once for all How difficult and hard was this Service yet such a Law of Love to the Father and perishing sinners was written in the Heart of Christ that he was straitned till this Bloody Baptism was fulfilled Luke 12.50 Though his Cup of Sufferings was so deep so large tempered with so many bitter Ingredients yet he resigned himself and said Father if this Cup may not pass except I drink of it thy Will be done Matt. 26.42 When Peter tempted him to favour spare and indulge himself he sharply rebuked him and said Get thou behind me Satan thou art an offence to me Matt. 16.22 23. How did Christ deny himself and subject his Will to the Will of God And when Christ was raised from the Dead how did he despise and disdain to be tempted to stay here below by the best things of this World Would the Riches Honours Pleasures of this world then have allured the Eye captivated or chained the Heart of Christ here below Could such things stay or stop detain or six him here below Was he not exceedingly raised in his Mind and Affections above the best things of this world This was his Request and Prayer to the Father Now glorifie me with thy own self with the glory that I had with thee before the Foundations of the World John 17.5 His Mind did soar upwards his Heart did aspire to a heavenly Kingdom and Glory Now if this Spirit of the Lord Jesus do dwell in our Hearts will it not fix our hearts and fortifie our resolutions to go through Fire and Water Floods and Storms for the Honour of God and for the Glory of Christ Shall we be of timerous base dastardly Spirits if the blessed Spirit of Jesus do dwell in us And shall we not slight also and contemn turn our Eyes from and our Backs upon all the Beauty and Excellency of this world if the Spirit hath given us a sight of the Glory of God in the Face of Christ Shall we not cry out to God as the Psalmist Ps 73.25 26. Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none on Earth that I desire besides thee How will such a Soul rate away and rebuke tempting Objects and say Get you gone I have fatness and sweetness I have fulness and satisfaction in my Lord Jesus my Eyes are closed against your Beauty my Ears are stopt against your Charms Christ I have chosen and I see no cause to repent of my choice to him therefore will I cleave and stick for ever And that you may obtain this blessed Spirit and all Spiritual good things as flowing from him Bow your Knees to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ And if Parents that are evil do yet know how to give good gifts to their Children much more shall our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him Luke 11.13 FINIS
hard if not impossible to keep in with the World and that Soul is in a most dangerous case that is fixed and resolved in this that he will be the Friend of the World that he will not venture the Frowns of Men or hazard his stake in the World that will not suffer Shipwrack of his Interests and Concerns on Earth If a Man be thus Principled and affected he is the Enemy of God and Christ he doth prefer something else before and above them he will swallow and practice that which is very grievous and displeasing to God rather than be undone by Men and hereby he proclaims his Enmity against God therefore this should be rooted and riveted in our Hearts that we must suffer with Christ if we would Reign with him we must be Faithful to the Death if we would receive the Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 And Paul saith 2 Tim. 2.11 12. This is a Faithful saying that if we be Dead with Christ we shall live with him if we Suffer with him we shall Reign with him if we deny him he will deny us It is observable how the Apostle ushers in this Assertion what a Character of Truth he puts on this Sentence If we Suffer with him we shall Reign with him this saith he is a Faithful saying Why should he preface thus these two Verses but because he saw there was need of it Flesh and Blood can hardly swallow and digest this Doctrine of Suffering How do men stretch their Wits to distinguish themselves from under an Obligation to Sufferings How do they dread and recoil from the Cross surely they may reign without sufferings Christ will not be so hard to them as to deny and reject them if they shrink and comply in dangerous Times But let not Men beguile and deceive themselves the Apostle is peremptory in this he doth not he cannot mince the Matter this is a Faithful saying if we suffer we shall reign with Christ if you refuse Christs Cross you refuse his Crown 6. Reas We should go forth to Jesus without the Camp for it is but little that we leave or lose by ownning and cleaving to Jesus Christ The Holy Ghost disgraces debases and lays low all the Grandure and Glory of the World by calling it a Camp O! what a short and mutable thing is a Camp How easily is it removed how soon is it gone Our Life is but a Vapour that appeareth a little while and then vanisheth away Jam. 4.14 Our Days on Earth are but as a Shadow that flieth away and there is no abiding Job 14.2 1 Chron. 29.15 Man is like the Flower and the Grass of the Field a Wind comes over it and quickly withers this Flower and blows out this Lamp of Life Ps 103.15 16. The Sentence is already past Dust thou art and to Dust thou must return Gen. 3.19 The Body is dead by reason of sin Rom. 8.10 If God doth but loose our Cords our Tent will presently drop down to the ground if he say return we must presently lie down in the Dust Psalm 90.3 If he give out the Sentence Jer. 15.1 Let them go forth there will be no continuing in the Camp no staying in the World if you cleave and cling to the World never so fast if God saith let them go forth you must be removed from hence Those who embrace and hug their Earthly Comforts and Enjoyments most must be stript and deprived of them whether they will or no The wicked is driven away in his wickedness Prov. 14.32 As the whirle wind passeth so the wicked is no more Prov. 10.25 He shall be driven from light into darkness and chased out of the world Job 18.18 His substance shall not continue neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth Job 15.29 God shall likewise destroy thee for ever he shall take thee away and pluck thee out of thy Dwelling-place and root thee out of the Land of the living Ps 52.5 In this Verse we may observe an Elegant Climax It is said God shall pluck a Wicked man out of his Dwelling-place but yet may he not continue and flourish elsewhere No God shall root him out of the Land of the living But if he be rooted out of the Land of the living may he not find Favour and Mercy in another world No to this it is answered God shall destroy thee for ever God sets the men of this Earth in slippery places he casts them down into destruction Ps 73.18 Those that will not go without the Camp to Jesus that hold fast their Riches and Honours how soon may they be bereaved of them Micah 1.15 I will saith God bring an Heir unto thee O Inhabitant of Mareshah And what Heir is meant By an Heir here the Lord intends Robbers and Spoilers which he would let loose to break in upon them such Heirs as they never thought of or intended When men by their care and industry have been like Birds laying up and filling their Nests with Riches as Eggs a Robber may come and take all away as Is 10.14 the King of Assyria glorieth My Hand hath found as a Nest the Riches of the people and as one gathereth Eggs that are left have I gathered all the Earth It will be our Wisdom and Interest to make a Virtue of Necessity We must forsake these things whether we will or no and is it not better to relinquish them for Christ which will turn to our account and unspeakable advantage And is it any great matter to leave a mutable Camp a weak Tent if we look upon things with a Spiritual Eye and judge right judgment we shall have very low thoughts of all Natural Excellencies and worldly Glory Observe how the Scripture represents these things as passing and perishing Their Beauty shall consume in the Grave from their Dwelling Ps 49.14 Doth not their Excellency that is in them go away Job 4.21 All Flesh is Grass and all the goodliness thereof is as the Flower of the Field Is 40.6 When they die they shall carry nothing away their Pomp and their Glory shall not descend after them Ps 49.17 And should we stick at going out of such a Camp where Beauty consumes Excellency goes away all the Goodliness of the Flesh fadeth and all the Glory of it vanisheth away 7. Reas We ought to go forth to Jesus for then there will be a happy issue of all our Sufferings a good return of our Venture a full Compensation of all our Losses Jesus was led without the Gate was put to a servile ignominious and painful Death but did God leave him in the Hand and under the Power of Enemies Did he sink under the burden of his Sorrows Was he swallowed up in a Sea of Sufferings Hath he not abolished Death Hath he not overcome the World led Captivity Captive and Triumphed over the Malice of Earth and the Rage of Hell Is he not returned to his Father arrayed with the Spoiles of his
a Crown is laid up 2 Tim. 4.8 an Inheritance is reserved 1 Pet. 1.4 a Rest remains for them Heb. 4.9 While their Bodies feed on God's Creatures their Souls may delight in and feast on their Fathers Love accounting that he gives bread to them that fear him he will ever be mindful of his Covenant Psal 111.5 that he spreads their Table fills their Cup Psal 23.5 annoints their heads and hearts with Oyl of Joy as Ointment was poured on great and noble Guests when they were entertained at a Feast Cant. 1.12 Mat. 26.7 They take all as coming immediately from God Gen. 48.15 The God that fed me all my life long He looks beyond Joseph Egypt and all Creatures he ascends to God as the Priests had the Lord for their Portion he provided and gave maintenance to them the Altar was as it were their Field from whence they had Bread and Flesh Mal. 1.22 therefore what was brought to and laid on it is called the Fruits of it as if it grew there for the Priests that had their Portion of the Sacrifices and are therefore said to live upon holy things and partake with the Altar 1 Cor. 9.13 Even so God is the Portion of his People even in Temporal as well as Spiritual respects Psal 16.5 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. Their very outward Enjoyments are as Shew-bread or Face-bread as it is in the Original Exod. 25.30 They receive them as those Loaves of Shew-bread from the Face of God they see his Face and Love in them and therefore may call them Peniel Gen. 32.30 They take their daily Provision as a Dish sent from their Father's Table as Joseph is said to send Messes from before him to his Brethren Gen. 43. last Their Food is seasoned with the sense of their Father's Love and with the hope of his Kingdom and Glory and so their Sawee is better than their Meat Besides after this Hundred-fold in the present time they are to inherit Everlasting Life Christ saith He that loseth his life shall find it but he that finds it shall lose it Mat. 10.39 David said Died Abner as a fool 2 Sam. 3.33 So I may say Do Saints die as Fools Do they lavish out their Blood and rashly squander away their Lives Surely no they well understand themselves and know what they do if they lose their Lives for Christ they shall find a better Life for their very Bodies They lay down the vile common Plebeian Life of the first Adam but they shall at the Resurrection receive and take up the Honourable Royal and Glorious Life of the second Adam Phil. 3.21 He shall fashion our vile Bodies like his glorious Body If we be faithful to the death we shall receive from Christ the Crown of Life Rev. 2.10 Mark that Expression The Crown of Life This very Life is a Crown it is a Royal Life Rom. 5.17 it is said That they that receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life So that Saints lose a base and common Life and are recompensed with a Kingly Life All Vails shall be taken off all Clouds shall be scattered all Reproaches shall be wiped away from the Saints the righteous shall shine out in the kingdom of their father Matth. 13.43 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Sun that disperses all Clouds But those that resolve to save their lives shall lose them This is certain that by a fond and sinful sparing of their Lives here they shall cut themselves off from all the Glory and Blessedness that Saints shall enjoy in their Souls and Bodies Hereafter they shall only Be to be Miserable and be continued to endure the Blows of an Almighty Arm to drink the Wine of the Wrath of an Eternal God and this is but a Husk and Carcase of Being Isa 66. last to be preserved to be Fuel of Everlasting Flames This State of the Wicked therefore is not called Life but the second Death yea sometimes in this Life Apostates meet with remarkable and infamous punishment and quickly lose that Life that sinfully they preserved He in Queen Maries days that said See Foxes Acts Monuments he could not burn for the Gospel of which in King Edward's Days he had been a forward Professor was himself and all his House and Family burnt in the Night by a Fire that rose suddenly And the Priest that denied the Truth in France to save his Life and was discharged out of Prison as he was going home met with two Men that had a quarrel with him for merly who fell upon him and killed him See Clarke 's History of the French Martyrs Secondly I shall now lay down some Directions how you may attain such a frame of Spirit as will incline you readily and freely to go forth without the Camp to Jesus Direction 1. Endeavour to get a clear sight of the Shortness of Life and the Vanity of all the Things of this World Surely every man walks in a vain shew Psal 39.6 What is this vain shew I answer It is the Natural Life and the earnest and restless Endeavours of Men about it and for it This Life is but a vain shew of Life as a Shadow that hath the shape of Man's Body but yet is but a vain shew of a Body or a Picture that hath the resemblance of a Man of his Head Face Body Hands and Feet but come to handle it there is nothing but Canvas and Colours there is only a vain shew of a Man and of his Members but no Flesh Bones or Life So this present Life is but a Shadow a vain shew of that true and real Life that flows from Jesus Christ and is to be enjoyed for ever with him And all the Labours and Toil of Men to provide for and maintain this Life is but a vain shew of Business Men seem to do something but indeed do nothing to purpose as long as they neglect theit Souls It is a busie Idleness a laborious doing of nothing just like Children that make Pies build Houses dress Babies and talk over every piece of their Work as if it were some very serious weighty thing and all is but a piece of childish Folly and Vanity When God awakes to judge the World how will he himself despise and render most ridiculous and contemptible to others this Image of worldly men Psal 73.20 How will he deride their Folly that forget their Souls cast God and his Word behind their backs banish the Thoughts of Eternity out of their Minds and satisfie themselves with such a vile Life and such a vain Image of Happiness And the Psalmist in this 39 Psalm ver 6. saith That a worldly Man heaps up Riches and knows not who shall gather them He seems to allude to the Custom of some Countries where the Corn is heaped up and set Artificially in the Field so as to preserve it from Weather till all
the Heavenly Canaan lyes through the Briars and Thorns of afflictions and that through many Tribulations we must expect to enter into the Kingdom of God We may learn from them that it is possible for poor frail Men to overcome all the Rage and Cruelty of the World that the greatest Torments may be patiently endured and that Christ can Ride Triumphant on such poor Worms as we are and by the weakest conquer all the strength and power of the World The same Spirit that animated and enabled them is yet alive to Cloath us with like Magnaminity and Resolution the Captain of Salvation is the same the Spiritual Weapons that we are to fight with are the same the promises of Spiritual supplies and supports are the same why then should Christians now despond or despair of like success and victory How many of the Primitive Saints did trend in their steps despising Torments and trampling on Death it self Justin Martyr * In dial cum Tryph. Jude◠applies that of Micah 4.4 to the Christians of his time he thus Addresses to the Enemies of the Church saying You behead us burn us and in several other ways kill us but yet you cannot make us afraid or destroy us When the Devil raged in the Roman Heathen Emperour Rev. 12.1.2 3 4. A great Red Dragon standing before the Church that was as a Woman in Travel to devour her Man-Child to destroy any Christians as soon as they were Spiritually brought forth to Christ yet this did not hinder Men from Embracing and Professing Christianity v. 11. but they overcame all the threatnings and cruelty of the World by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of their Testimony and they leved not their lives unto the death Cyprian said of old Nos Christiani Spiritu magis viventes sumus quam Corpore We Christians do live rather in our Spirits than in our Bodies They did estimate and value the life of their Better and despise the life of their Baser part Arnobius contr Gentes tells the Heathen You benefit and not hurt us by killing of us our Souls are in our Bodies as in a dark Prison and by Martyring of us you do but pull down the Walls of our Prison and let in the pure and comfortable light upon us What a great Speech is that of Ignatius in Epist ad Rom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now being bound in Christ I learn to desire no worldly or vain thing He intimates he was weaned from and dead to all things in this World And doth not the same Spirit dwell and act in all the Saints of God How then should we trust upon the same Spirit for the same quickning Courage and Strength Direction 7. We must look beyond this World and above our ill Treatment and Usage here Faith sees him that is invisible Heb. 11.27 and causes the Soul to look at the things that are not seen 2 Cor. 4. last Though Christ be withdrawn from the Eye of Sense and Heaven be behind the Vail far removed from the Apprehensions of the Natural Man yet Faith can pierce the Heavens behold the Churches King there in his Glory and see that goodly Heavenly Canaan that is afar off Isa 33.17 If your Eye doth not go out of the World your Hearts will not go beyond it and if your Eye and Hearts do not pass out of this World you will never be willing to go without the Camp to Jesus It is Faith that must survey that glorious City that is above and make report of it to the Soul It is the Belief of what is testified of it in the Scripture that must animate the Soul to overcome all the Dangers and Difficulties that are in the way to it You must listen to what the Word declares concerning this excellent City Glorious things are spoken of this Heavenly Zion the City of our God Christ mentions it as an excellent Privilege to have the Name of the City of his God to be written on any Man and for him to be reputed a Citizen of the New Jerusalem Rev. 3.12 I will write upon him that overcomes the Name of the City of my God There is no Temple or need of the Light of the Sun or of the Moon in this City God is All here to his People to their Souls without Ordinances and to their Bodies without Creatures Rev. 21.22 23. This is a most rich and self-sufficient City it needs not Provisions to be brought in from without the Tree of Life grows in it Rev. 22.1 2. and a River of pure Living Water issues from the Throne of God and of the Lamb. The Fruit of this Tree of Life and this River of Living Water will make a delicious and eternal Feast to all the Inhabitants of this Blessed City Look for this abiding City that hath Foundations Heb. 11.10 Heb. 13.14 from whence all Sorrow Pain Misery and Death are banished for ever and where fulness of joy doth dwell and rivers of spiritual pleasures do flow for evermore All Gods Children shall be gathered into their Fathers House all his Subjects shall be taken into and shall dwell in the Kings Palace And Gods Palace is not like the Great Turk's Seraglio * Turkish Seragl at the end of Tavernier 's Travels which one ingeniously calls a Paradise for one but a Prison to all others that reside in it But this Royal Mansion of the King of Glory is not only a Paradise to Christ but to all his Members they enjoy the Riches partake of the Honours and taste the Pleasures of it Let Faith pass within the Walls and walk in the Streets of this heavenly Jerusalem O! strive by a Spiritual Eye to see the true King Solomon wearing his Glittering and Glorious Crown though men hid their Faces from him as a Leper trod on him as a Worm despised and abbhored him Is 49.7 yet he was glorious in the Eyes of the Lord God the Father received him into Heaven and welcomed him thither with these Honourable Words Sit thou on my Right Hand till I make all thy Foes to be thy Footstool Ps 110.1 And as Christ was treated after his Sufferings so will he entertain his People after their Sorrows and Afflictions How welcome will they be to him when they come out of the Field and arrive from off a Stormy and Raging Sea how will he chear and comfort them How kindly will he speak to them What marks of Honour will he put upon them How will he praise their Faith commend their Love approve and applaud their Constancy and Loyalty to him 1 Pet. 1.7 How honourably doth Christ speak of Antipas Rev. 2.13 He Styles him Antipas his Faithful Martyr So Christ will Paint out the Services and Sufferings of his People before his Father he will acknowledge and confess their Names thus These are they that have followed me in a Wilderness that have walked after me in the Valley of the Shadow of Death that have abode with me in
speaks of the City of Caunus lib. 13. That the Inhabitants were so pale that Stratonicus said of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Dead Men walked about And is it not so here Men that are dead in Sin walk about and perform onely the Acts of the Natural Life The World is said to lye in Wickedness 1 John 5.19 as dead Lazarus is said to lye in the Grave John 11.41 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Verb is used in the first place and the Participle of the same Verb in the other This corrupt World is set out by the Dead Sea Ezek. 47.10 in which no Fish did live Engedi and Eneglaim there mentioned were Places that did lye one at the beginning the other at the end of the Dead Sea where Sodom and Gomorra stood of old and on the Banks of it Spiritual Fishermen are said to stand to draw Men out of this Dead Sea into Communion with Christ the Prince of Life The Cities of the blind Gentiles are said to be desolate Isa 54.3 because there were none in them that did live the Life of God And the Psalmist speaks of Wicked Men as dead Carcases when he saith The Pit is digged for them Psal 94.13 And shall we not come forth from such a World to Jesus Christ As God said of besieged Jerusalem of old Jer. 38.2 That he that staid in the City should die by the Famine or Pestilence but he that did go forth and yield to the King of Babylon should live So those that stay in this City of the World must be condemned and perish 1 Cor. 11.32 but those that go forth and submit to Jesus Christ shall be saved and live for ever Heb. 5.9 3. We should consider what Jesus Christ endured for us Heb. 12.3 How great a Person was he What provoking Contradictions did he suffer and that from base Worms and for vile Sinners He sanctified himself for our sakes to be a Priest and Sacrifice John 17.19 He was wholly for us he was born died rose again ascended to Heaven intercedes there and will come again for the good of his People Isa 9.6 Rom. 4. last Heb. 6. last Heb. 7.25 John 14.2 3. This precious Foundation was laid low in the Earth for us to build on this Noble Grain of Corn was sowed in the Dust that we might spring up from him to Everlasting Life This excellent Bunch of Grapes was cast into the Wine-press of the Wrath of God that we might drink new Wine with him in the Kingdom of his Father This generous Stock was wounded and cut that we as Grafts might be joyned to him and live in him for ever Do we believe Or can we think on these things and yet stick at any Service or recoil from any Sufferings for the sake of Jesus Christ 4. Let us consider how Honourable the Sufferings of Saints for Christ are Gal. 6.17 I bear about in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus the print of the Stripes and Wounds he had suffered for Christ's sake Saints may much more glory in these than Soldiers do in the Scars of their Wounds Was it not more Honourable for some of the clean Creatures preserved in the Ark afterwards to be offered in Sacrifice to God by Noah than for the unclean Creatures to survive them or for other Creatures to perish in the Deluge Gen. 8.20 Sufferings for Christ are part of our conformity to him in bearing the Cross and Testimonies of our Adoption that being chosen out of the World and called into the Kingdom of Christ therefore Earthly Men hate and abhor us John 15.19 The Sufferings of Saints are short their Evil things are measured by days Psal 94.12 13. but their Good and Happiness is commensurate to Eternity 2 Cor. 4.17 They drink of a Cup of Afflictions but it is a Cup like Christ's in this that it passes away by our drinking of it Matth. 26.4 Wicked Men shall drink of the Cup of Wrath and yet it shall always abide at their Lips but Saints shall drink of Christs Cup of Sufferings and the Cup shall pass away their Tears shall be dried up their Warfare shall be finished sorrow and sighing shall fly away Weeping shall endure but for a Night Joy shall come in the Morning Psal 30.5 After the smoaking Furnace of Bondage and Sufferings shall come the burning Lamp of Deliverance and Liberty Gen. 15.16 6. God sees and will reward the Sufferings of his Saints Rom. 8.18 2 Cor. 4.17 Though God doth set forth some of his People as men appointed to death 1 Cor. 4.9 yet he hath not appointed them to Wrath but to obtain Salvation by Jesus Christ 1 Thess 5.9 The Plowers indeed make long Furrows on them but God sowes them with the Promise of Everlasting Life while Men think to destroy their Gold of Grace God is refining them from their Dross of Corruption while Enemies would blow away the good Wheat that is in them God is winnowing them from their Chaff As Xerxes stood on the Shore and beheld the Sea-fight of his Men with the Grecians and when any of his Captains fought valiantly he had his Scribes by him to write down his Name and the Name of his City and Ship that he might reward him See Herod Hist 1.8 So Christ is on the calm Shore of a blessed Eternity he beholds all the Courage and Conflicts of his Servants he registers all in his Book and takes it on account in order to an eternal Reward 7. Consider the Benefit that hath accrued to the Church and the Advantage that hath redounded to the Kingdom of Christ by suffering Saints When Saints have suffered Death for Christ their Carcases have enriched and fatted the Ridges of Zion's Field their Blood hath watered the Furrows of Immanuel's Land and made it more fruitful When these Grains of Corn have fallen to the Earth and died many more have sprung up in their room Peter Martyr in Rom. 8.36 excellently observes That the Gospel hath been propagated in the World by Miracles and Torments by Works done above the Power of Nature and by cruel Sufferings patiently and joyfully endured beyond the strain or strength of Flesh and Blood These were wonderful Attestations to and Confirmations of the Truth of the Christian Religion 8. Let us consider That Christ's Interest shall at last be prevalent victorious and triumphant Crafty Worldlings desire to be of the strongest side The Decree of Heaven Psal 2.7 and the Zeal of the Lord of Hosts is for the Establishing of the Kingdom of Christ Isa 9.7 The Nations indeed have their time and are angry with Christ and his People but the time of his Wrath will also come Rev. 11.18 when he will tread them under his Feet punish and destroy them for ever Psal 110.1 Psal 21.8 9. Luke 19.27 God the Father hath promised to make all Christ's Foes to be his Foot-stooll Though Jacob be but a Worm yet shall he thresh the Mountains Isa 41.14 15. And
though Zion be as a Tabernacle weak and contemptible in the Eye of the World yet its Stakes shall not be removed nor its Cords broken Christ must reign till he hath subdued all his Enemies And though to serve Christ's Kingdom seems to be as the Potter's Vessel and his Enemies seem to have the Rod of Iron to dash it to pieces yet Faith hath another View and Prospect of Things it beholds all the adverse Powers of the World but as a frail Potter's Vessel and Christ as having the Rod of Iron and an Almighty Arm to use it for the dashing of them to pieces This Treatise My Lord that I humbly present to Your Honour is not unseasonable If we look abroad into the World we may perceive that God hath made many Shilohs among the Protestant Churches Jer. 7.12 and he sends us to those Shilohs to behold their Ruines and Desolations We yet stand on the Shore and behold the Shipwracks of others but if he that Parks in the wild Ocean and treads its mountainous Waves into a smooth Plain doth not prevent we may quickly feel and taste the same Fruits of Antichristian Rage Fury My Lord I have Dedicated this small Piece to Your Honour as a Token of my Respects and as a Testimony of my Gratitude to You for Your Favour and Kindness expressed towards me who am one of the meanest of the Servants of Christ As the Sacrifices of the Law did not discharge the Debt of Sinners but were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 2.14 a Hand-writing or Bond by which they confessed themselves obnoxious to God their Great Creditor so I presume not to pay my Debt by offering Your Honour this small Treatise but to recognise my Obligations and to confess my Engagements to Your Lordship That the Wing of Providence may overshadow Your outward and that the Well of Life may refresh Your inward Man That You may be established in the sound Belief and exemplary Practice of Gospel-Truths and so feel the Power and taste the sweetness of them for Your Eternal Comfort and Happiness it is the earnest Desire and it shall be the servent Prayer of Febr. 7. 1681. My Lord Your most Humble and Obliged Servant SAMVEL TOMLYNS Heb. 13.13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the Camp bearing his Reproach IN the Twelfth Verse the excellent Author of this Epistle speaks of the Sufferings of Christ as prefigured and typified by the solemn Sacrifice for sin that was Offered by the Jewish High-Priest on the day of Attonement That Sacrifice was not offered on the Altar as other Sacrifices were but was burnt without the Camp only the blood of the Sacrifice was brought into the most Holy Place to make Reconciliation for iniquity and for this end was sprinkled on Lev. 16.14 and before the Mercy Seat and the Fat of the Sin-Offerings only was burnt on the Altar Lev. 16.25 but the Flesh and Skins both of the Bullock and of the Goat that were offered for sin were to be carried without the Camp and there to be burnt Lev. 16.27 vid. Lev. 4.12 21. These solemn Anniversary Sacrifices offered on the great day of Attonement being the tenth day of the seventh Month did not only shadow out the Nature of Christ's Sacrifice viz. that he was to be a Sacrifice for sin Isa 53.10 2 Cor. 5. last but did also point at the very place of his Sufferings that he should be carried without the Gates of the earthly Jerusalem and there be put to death When the Israelites were Travellers in the Wilderness the Sacrifice was burnt without the Camp but when they arrived at and were setled in Canaan then the Sacrifice was burnt without the Gates of the City of Jerusalem And Jesus Christ to fulfill this Type suffered without the Gate The Divine Penman of this Epistle proceeds in the words of the Text to improve the Doctrine that he had delivered concerning Christ's suffering without the Gate and on it doth ground an excellent Exhortation and press a weighty Duty to wit To go forth to Jesus without the Camp bearing of his reproach The Sufferings of Christ were not only expiatory but also exemplary they did not only serve to appease God but also to instruct and animate men to tread in his steps to imitate his pattern to bean his Cross As Christ was an Abject so his people must expect to be Out-casts the world that was so unkind to him will not be friendly towards them as he was treated as unworthy to live among men so they must reckon to be cast out as unmeet to be accounted and reputed either as Parts of the Common-wealth or Members of the Church they must look to drink of Christ's Cup and to be baptized with his Baptism Rom. 8.36 1 Cor. 4.9 and so account themselves as Sheep for slaughter as men devoted to death as condemned Malefactors going without the Gate to Execution In the words we may observe these several Parts 1. A Duty urged and enforced on the Hebrews in which the Author of this Epistle doth comprize and comprehend himself Let us go forth to Jesus 2. The place to which they were to go viz. without the Camp 3. We have the difficulty of this Duty and what it will cost us to comply with it we must share in the reproach and ignominy of Jesus Christ To be separated from the world to be exclaimed against to be hooted and pointed at by men to be spoiled imprisoned condemned and executed as vile Hereticks as infamous Malefactors carries in it a great deal of shame in the Eye of sense When the people of God do suffer hard things they that are either actors in their Tragedies or spectators of their Miseries are very prone and ready to conclude that they have committed some great evil of sin and so deserved this evil of punishment I suffer saith Paul 2 Tim. 2.9 as an evil-doer even unto Bonds And Christ foretels to his Disciples that the men of the world should cast out their names as evil Luke 6.22 and elsewhere Matt. 5.10 11. he intimates that Adversaries should revile them and speak all manner of evil falsly against them for his names sake Nothing is more ordinary and common than that the world should calumniate brand and black those that will not wear its Livery and shape themselves after its Manners and Example And in these words bearing of his reproach we may discern and espy a motive and argument secretly couched to encourage and animate them to go forth to Jesus and to bear reproach for it is his reproach we are no worse used and treated than our Lord was we are but conformed to him in ignominy and revilings Was the Prince of life the King of glory thus clouded and eclipsed thus blackt and stigmatized by the world and shall we be tender of our Names shall we doat on our Credit or be fond of our Reputation shall we shrink and recoil from sufferings and
cast away outward things When they tempt us from Christ to stay with and cleave to them we must grow jealous of them and our jealousie must be cruel as the Grave Cant. 8.6 Then we must hate and forsake whatever is sweet and dear to the Natural Man and is like to prove a fatal snare to our souls a bribe from Satan to buy off our love from Christ and to tempt us from our Loyalty to this glorious King and from our Chastity to our heavenly Husband in this case we must turn the world out of our hearts cast it out of our hands throw all things below behind our backs and follow Christ Thus Moses may be said go without the Camp when he renounced and relinquished the Honours of Pharaoh's Court all the Pleasures and Treasures of Egypt joining himself to his Brethren that were the Servants Worshippers and People of God He might have kept himself in Pharaoh's Court and Palace and been unconcerned at the burdens and bondage of the Israelites he might have lived as in a strong and safe Camp But he refused to be called the Son of Pharaoh 's Daughter and chose rather to suffer afflictions with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin that were but for a season esteeming the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures of Egypt Heb. 11.24 25 26. So those eminent Saints and Worthies that we read of Heb. 11.37 38. did go forth without the Camp when they left Cities and Towns forsook their Houses and wandred up and down in Desarts and Wildernesses were clothed but with Sheep-skins and Goats and had no other Chambers or Beds to lodge in but Caves and Dens of the earth they had hard Fare vile Rayment and bad Lodging while others had delicious Feasts costly and gorgeous Garments warm Chambers and soft Beds Object But how may it bee said that Christians go forth without the Camp or that it is their own voluntary and free act when indeed the world casts and drives them out as Isa 66.5 Your Brethren hated you and cast you out for my Names sake John 9.34 it is said the Pharisees and Jews cast out the man that spake honourably of and gave glory to Christ So Luke 6.22 They shall separate you from their Company and cast out your Names as evil In these words Christ seems to allude to the Custom of the Jews that when they excommunicated a man did blot out his Name from their Publick Registers and Records as a man that was spiritually dead and no longer to be reputed as a Member of their Church or Synagogue So that it seems the world obtrudes and imposes sufferings on the People of God how then are they exhorted or said to go out of the Camp Answ These things may well consist together and do not justle or contradict each other as 2 Chron. 26. â—0 the Priests are said to thrust Vzziah out of the Temple and yet he himself is said to haste to be gone as he was willing to withdraw in the sense of Gods hand stretched out against him so the World casts out and yet Saints go out without the Camp The Men of this Earth are bent and rage against the Saints of the Most High yet if they would recede from the Truth and decline from the pure Worship of Jesus Christ if they would send an Ambassy to the World pray for conditions of Peace Luke 14.32 be brought to their Lure and stoop to their Wills they might be reconciled to their Enemies and gain their Favour Heb. 11.35 They were tortured and accepted not of deliverance after they had some taste of Torments some sence and feeling of Anguish and Pain their Enemies ceased a little time from their cruelty gave them some respite and interval of Ease and then fell to colloguing with them and alluring of them and making them fair Promises of Life and Preferment if they would desert Gods Truth and Worship and comply with their Will but these Spiritual Champions disdain such Offers and Terms They accepted not of deliverance that they might obtain a better Resurrection So Christs sincere Disciples do in Christs Language take up their Cross Matth. 16.24 as they chuse rather to suffer than to sin to go without the Camp and please God than to stay in it and displease him there needs no other Cords but their own fervent Love to Christ and their fixed purposes to be faithful to him to bind these voluntary Sacrifices to the Altar of sufferings Psal 118.27 3. How and in what sense may Christians be said to go forth to Jesus without the Camp Answ When we own Christs Truth avow his Ways adhere to his sure and spiritual Worship join our selves to him by a firm and lively Faith and cleave to him with full purpose of Heart forsaking all things for him then we go to Jesus hereby we declare whose we are to whom we belong and whom we will follow even to the Death We go forth to Jesus when we are ready to be bound and to die for his sake when we are conformed to him in Sufferings and submit to be used and treated by the World as Jesus Christ was He was no Citizen Darling or Favourite of this World as soon as Born he experimented what the courtesie he tasted what the kindness of the World was to him there was no room for him in the Inn he was thrust out into the Stable and laid in a Manger Afterwards the Worlds enmity did more ripen and rise to a greater height he was filled with Sorrows loaded with Sufferings crowned with Throns bathed in his own Blood These were the Fruits that Heavenly Husband-man received from his own ungrateful Vineyard and when we consent to have Fellowship with Christ in his Tribulations then we go forth to him when we are contented to bear reproaches and disgraceful Sufferings from the World for his sake to be cut off from the Esteem Favour and Society of the World to be excluded from their Company Dainties and Delights to be removed from Men as Lepers and condemn'd Malefactors for such were disgracefully turned out of the Camp of Israel of old Numb 12.10.14 Lev. 24. v. 23. as Christ was carried without the Gate being condemned to Death as if he had been a Blasphemer against God and a Traytor against Caesar Object But here it may be questioned how Christians can be said to go forth to Jesus without the Camp Doth he still stand without the Camp is he yet Suffering without the Gate or hanging on the Infamous Cross on the Fatal Tree Answ It is true that the Personal Sufferings of Christ are at an end God hath taken him from Prison and Judgment He hath raised him from the Grave and exalted him at his Right Hand Tears are wiped from his Eyes and a Massy Glittering Crown is set on his Head He is entred into his Royal City and Palace placed in his Throne and Feasted with all the delights
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken by the Grecian Lawyers vid. Zauch in Locum for a Mulct and Fine It is always a Crime in the Eye of the wicked World to separate from their corrupt ways and cleave to Christs Truth and pure Worship When the world are restrained when the Hands of Wicked men are bound then the Fine runs lower the men of this Earth only reproach and revile the People of God for this reputed Crime of forsaking Satans Camp and Tents and following Christ the Captain of Salvation But there are Times when Satan is loosed when the Dams are broken down and the restraints are taken off from his Instruments then a Flood of Temporal Evils pours in upon the People of God Now the Fine is increased they are threatned with spoiling of Goods loss of Liberty and Life if they will not deny Christ and comply with the inventions and corruptions of men There are Seasons when Sailing towards Heaven seems very dangerous in the Eye of Flesh and Blood As Paul Acts 27.9 10. When Sailing began to be dangerous towards Winter saith Sirs I perceive this Voyage will be with hurt and much dammage of the Lading of the Ship and of our Lives Even so men may perceive and discern such Times when the Voyage to Heaven is like to be with much Dammage of all the Wealth and Riches that they have laded themselves with yea their very Lives may be lost Have you thought of such cloudy times of dark hours of temptation of the gloomy Valley of the Shadow of Death that God may try you whether you will cast all over-board to keep the purity and peace of your Consciences suffer shipwrack of your Estates and Honours rather than suffer shipwrack of Faith and your Integrity You may lay the Foundation of your Spiritual building in a peaceable time in Halcyon days but great storms and fights of Affliction may arise and surprize you before you have finished your Building As the Foundation of the Temple of Jerusalem was laid in Peace without opposition or contradiction from the World but before they could finish it their Enemies bestirred themselves procured an Authority and Order from the King of Persia against them and speedily put it in Execution causing the Jews to cease by force from prosecuting of this Building Compute the 3. of Ezra the 8 9 10 11. with 4. of Ezra 21.23 Thus it may be with you Consider therefore whether your Hearts are fired and your purposess fixed for Christ Can you say with Paul You are ready to be bound and to die for the Name of the Lord Jesus Acts 21.13 Are you not rather resolved against standing any brunt bearing any hardship suffering any loss for that Profession as Henry the 4th of France is said to have spoken that he would venture no further into the Sea of Religion but that he might still see the Shoar and retreat at his pleasure to it Have you not such secret resolutions as these that you will not interest your selves too deeply and ingage too far in any matter of Religion but that you may make a fair and safe retreat if you see need Or have you reckoned up all the troubles and losses that you may be exposed to for Christ and are come to this resolution with Paul Acts 20.24 None of these things move me neither do I account my life dear to me that I may finish my Course with joy Do you judge of all Losses and Afflictions as Paul that said I count the Sufferings of the present time not to be worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed in us Rom. 8.18 Are you resolved to go forth to a Despised Hated and Persecuted Jesus and with Peter to count your selves safer with Christ on the Waves than in the Worlds Ship without him Matt. 14.26 28 29. Quest 2. Have you sold all for Christ Matt. 13.44 45. He that found the hidden Treasures for joy went and sold all that he had that he might buy the Field and assure the Treasure to himself Christ is a Rich Treasure a Pearl of inestimable Price O! have you found this Treasure this Pearl Do you discern espy and know the Worth and Riches of Jesus Christ Are you so affected with him as to sell all for him And what is it to sell all for Christ Surely it is to part with the esteem to relinquish the inordinate love of this world or any thing in it When the Market is faln the Price of these things beaten down as it were to nothing buy those Spiritual Goods that are imported by Christ the heavenly Merchant from another World O! have your Souls such a sight of Christ and his Excellent Commodities that you are weaned from your Estates and Lives that you little value any thing here below yea count all things but Dung that you may gain Christ Phil. 3.8 If you have indeed thus sold all things it will not be very difficult to yield possession to quit the use and enjoyment of that which your Hearts are dead to That which is truly put and turned out of your Hearts will certainly be cast out of your Hands in the day of Trial and Adversity Quest 3. Are you indeed Married to Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 11.2 I have espoused you to one Husband even to Christ Rom. 7.4 that you may be Married to him that is raised from the dead Hath he spoken and gained your Hearts Hath he allured and drawn your Souls to himself In Jer. 2.2 God speaks of the love of Israels Espousals That she went up after him and followed him in a Wilderness in a Land that was not sown where they might fear want and feel Penury without a miraculous and extraordinary Provision If you are truly espoused to Christ you will follow him in a Wilderness I have read an History concerning the Mogul a Great Prince in the East Indies that grew jealous of his Son lest he should aspire to his Kingdom and dethrone him in his absence from his Imperial City And therefore caused a Tower to be built without any Gate or Door yet well stored with all necessary Provisions in it to shut up his Son during the time of his absence When this was understood the Wife of this Young Prince desired to be shut up with her Husband in this Tower such was the great love that she did bear to him Thus if you love Christ as a Husband you will go out to him you will not be separated and parted from him but will say as Ittai to David 2 Sam. 15.21 As the Lord liveth where my Lord the King is there will thy Servant be whether in Life or in Death As Rachel and Leah were ready to leave and forsake their Fathers House and to follow Jacob their Husband into his Country and Fathers House Gen. 31.13 14 15 16. Even so wilt thou determine to go forth to and follow Christ to his Heavenly Country if he be thy Husband and the
Exod. 16.3 And in the 11. of Numb the 5. Verse We remember the Fish which we did eat in Egypt freely the Cucumbers the Melons the Leeks the Onions and the Garlick There they accounted they had their Varieties Fish and Flesh several sorts of Sallets and Fruits but now they reckoned they were at short Commons and confined to one Dish ver 6. There is nothing but this Manna before our Eyes And their Soul was dried away with it And Numb 16.13 Some of them chid with Moses and challenge him for bringing them up out of Egypt which they call a Land flowing with Milk and Honey O! how excellent pleasant a Land is Egypt in their Eye The Epithetes God gave to Canaan they transfer and apply to Egypt as if the Country they were called from did better deserve this Name than the Land that they were called to And they seemed so far to be transported with the love of Egypt and to repent of their leaving of it that they stirred up one another to make a Captain and to return thither again And Stephen asserts that they returned to Egypt again in their Hearts Acts 7.39 Thus too many pretend a separation from the World yet the World is still in their Hearts And while it is thus they will never go forth without the Camp to Jesus But Christians should strive to imitate Abraham Isaac and Jacob The Scripture saith that if they had been mindful of the Country from whence they came out they might have had opportunity to have returned Heb. 11.15 Hereby the Divine Pen-man sufficiently intimates that they were not mindful of Vr of the Chaldees the Country from whence Abraham came They did not confess themselves Pilgrims and Strangers because drawn from Vr but because they were yet on Earth and not arrived in Heaven They were quite weaned from and dead to Vr and all other Countries on Earth Thus the world should be rooted and banished out of our Minds and Hearts Christ hath chosen his people out of the World John 15.19 and therefore they should not remember or be enticed by it but leave this Camp and go forth to Jesus 4. Direct Labour to get a clear sight and deep sense of the love of Christ to perishing Sinners and particularly to your own Souls How wonderful is it that He that made all things should be made Flesh 1 John 1.2.14 that the Creator should become a Creature That the Fountain and Ocean of Being should take a Humane Nature and so become a drop of Being A Diamond or Ruby is debased when set in Iron or Lead what a wonderful condescention is it then that the Divine Nature should be joyned with a Humane Nature in the Person of the Son How did he that was in the Form of God and thought it no Robbery to be equal with God empty and humble himself by becoming man They are very Excellent and Emphatical Words that the Apostle uses Phil. 2.6 7 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he emptied himself of all Majesty State and Divine Glory in the Eye of Man which the Apostle admirably expresses thus He was found in Fashion like a Man That is he looked but like an ordinary and common Man as if there were nothing extraordinary or supernatural in him as if he were no more than a Man Thus he vailed his Eternity Omnipotency Immensity and infinite Wisdom by becoming an Infant of Days a Weak Child confined to a Manger or a Cradle and not able for the present to speak and express the inward Sentiments of his Soul The Ancient of Days yea he that was Ancienter than Days whose goings forth were from Everlasting came forth of Bethlem but yesterday Mic. 5.2 All Temporal Benefits are compared by Parisiensis to sparks of Fire But when Jesus Christ came into the World this he saith was a Mountain of Fire cast into the Earth How should the Hearts of the Sons of Men be inflamed by this wonderful and astonishing kindness of God in sending his Son And Christ did not stop here but he stooped yet lower when he was he found in fashion of an ordinary common Man he humbled himself to death and that not an ordinary or common one but to the death of the Cross A death that Servants Thieves and the worst of Malefactors were adjudged to A painful lingring and most shameful death it was and this he did undergo that Sinners might not Perish Everlastingly He that was the Judge and might have destroyed Offenders O! that he should stand and suffer as an Offender He that might have Executed Vengeance on us did endure it for us He to whose Justice we might have been offered up as whole burnt-Offerings in Everlasting Flames became a Sacrifice himself Needed the Father or the Son to have valued the loss and ruine of a world of Sinners What are all Nations to God but as the drop of a Bucket and as the small Dust that cleaves to the Ballance Is 40.15 And who values the loss of a drop of Water or of a mote of Dust And as unconcerned might God have been at the loss of the whole World but the Bowels of the Son of God yearned towards a perishing World and rather than the Sheep should go to the Slaughter the Shepherd offers himself to be their Ransom and Exchange And how resolved was Jesus Christ to perfect this work Is 50.6 7. He gave his Back to the Smiters his Cheeks to those that plucked off the Hair He hid not his Face from Shame and Spitting he set his Face as a Flint This expression may be illustrated and commented on by the words of Luke Luke 9.51 In Isaiah we have the Prophesie in Luke the History of Christ He stedfastly set his Face to go up to Jerusalem saith Luke He set his Face as a Flint saith Isaiah Christ was resolved to go through the Storm he knew what a dreadful Tempest did abide him at Jerusalem yet he would not recoil draw back or turn his Face from it He was as stedfast as resolved as if his Face had been a Flint and without sense or feeling of Pain and anguish of Blows and Wounds Again it is said he poured out his Soul to the death Is 53.12 How much love is implyed and imported in this Expression That Christ had as low and vile thoughts of his Life and was as freely and willingly ready to part with it as if he had but poured out so much Water on the ground O! how bounteous and large Hearted was Christ that he did not spare his very Blood Love made him yet wisely and holily prodigal of his Life he poured out his Soul to the death Christ's Adversaries upbraided him thus Matth. 27.42 He saved others but himself he cannot save These very Words of Christ's Enemies signifie and set out to us the wonderful Love and excellent Self-denial of Jesus Christ He wrought Miracles to heal the Diseases of some and he raised up others from the Dead some