In this he is a Housholder with a witnesse he cannot eat his morsels alone he must impart that he hath The tender mother if she have but a bit the childe must have half with her and participate thereof And therefore in the 1. of Iohn he is full of grace and truth saith the Holy Ghost and of his fulnes we have received grace for grace What better Husband can you desire in the world then to have his whole purse at your command You are not at stint and allowance you may draw till you are weary there is no shutting up of the chest of his treasure he is a Fountain set open for you But to draw towards our purpose There are two offices the Holy Ghost is pleased to acquaint us withall proper unto Christ as an encouragement to win people unto him The first is generall in respect of creation and providence over the whole world the second is peculiar and speciall over the Church alone that is the office mentioned in the Text He is the head of the body the Church the beginning In the words you may observe with me a Proposition and an Eposition and Interpretation or an Allegoricall Proposition and the exposition of the Allegory The Allegoricall Proposition is He is the head of the body The interpretation of it is He is the beginning of the Church In the words note whose office this is that is here spoken of it is he that is the Head even the Image of the invisible God the deare Son of God Secondly note the office it self what that is It is Headship He is the Head of the Church He is the beginning Thirdly note among whom this office is executed and for whose use he doth execute this office that is the body interpreted to be the Church the severall members of Christ I will not set down any other Proposition but what the Apostle hath stated in the Text using his own words Christ is the head of the body the Church the beginning A head and so consequently a body admits of a threefold consideration Sometimes it is taken naturally and so proportionably it hath a body consisting of naturall members Sometimes a head is taken politically and so proportionably it hath a body politique But here it is taken spiritually for a spirituall head and a spirituall body Christ is the head and the Church you see is the body so that this is here a mysticall body And the Church is called a body not that it hath a compleatnesse without a head but in reference to the head it is called a part of the whole A body and a head is but a compleat body indeed Sometimes the body goes for a part and sometimes for the whole Here it is taken for a part only But that we are to insist upon is this First to take into consideration who this is that is the head Secondly what this office of Headship doth import unto us Thirdly how this Head is furnished to the office that is proper for a head to a body Fourthly and then as time will give leave we will have a word or two of application First who this Head is You will say we need not ask the question it is confest by all it is Christ It is true it is so but yet there is a mystery in it and peradventure the thoughts of many persons are something more confused in the apprehension of Christ as he is Head then haply they might be And it may be there might be a more cleer apprehension of Christ considered as he is Head then yet there is among us I will therefore as cleerly as possibly I may state unto you under what confideration Christ is to be considered being head of his Church or of his members Note for the making way to this that there are five very distinct things in Chrirst I say all five distinct one from another and all of them as you shall hear in the closure concurre together in Christ as head of the Church First in Christ theâ— is the one only divine nature and Godhead there is no God in the world but the God that Christ is This is worth your consideration for the mindes of men are apt frequenty to 〈…〉 so between God and Christ as if God were one and Christ distinctly another 〈…〉 God 's when as the truth is there is no other God 〈◊〉 the world but what Christ himself 〈◊〉 My Lord and my God said Thomas speaking to â—hrist And in the 2. chap. or this 〈◊〉 to the Colossians vers 9. the Apostle saith thâ—â— in 〈◊〉 dwels the fulnes of the Godhead bodily In the begining was the Word and the 〈◊〉 was with God and the Word was God In 〈◊〉 1. chapter of Iohn and the 1. vers Christ is God there is but one God in all the world and therefore you must know that you are never to separate in your thoughts God from Christ Alwaies as you look upon Christ so look upon God or as you look upon God look upon God no otherwise then as he is in Christ as if there were another God besides what Christ is for there is no such thing Secondly besides the Godhead there is the eternall ineffable personality in Christ as he is God so he is the Son And in this though we cannot fathome the difference yet certainly there is a personall difference between the Fatherhood and the person of the Son There is but one God as I said before but the persons are three the Father is one the Son is another and the Holy Ghost is another There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one Now the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are not all one personally but the Son is the Son and the Father is the Father But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son is one that is the true meaning there is a difference between the person of the Father and the person of the Son but this matter is not to be pryed into by humane wit For this of all the mysteries in Scripture is the pure object of meer faith there is no humane way to illustrate the difference between the eternall Fatherhood and the eternall Sonship Thirdly in Christ there is a distinct human nature that is as this man is not that man such a distinct individuall human nature Christ hath having a peculiar soul and body of his own that which was born of the Virgin Mary and suffered upon the crosse distinct I say from our individuall souls and bodies Fourthly in Christ there is to be considered an ineffable and incomprehensible hypostaticall Vnion of the divine nature of the second person in the Trinity and humane nature in one person There is difference between the being of God and man considered severally and the being of Christ as Mediator The Godhead of Christ is not the Mediator simply the Manhood of Christ is not
the Mediator simply considered But God and man in one person as we call it is the Mediator Finally Christ is to be considered not only personally as he is God and man being one individuall person by himself but Christ is to be considered collectively that is he is not only Christ as he is one person of himself but he is Christ as he himself in that one person is â—nited to the persons of all the elect in the world He and they make up but one collective body In brief there is a kinde of trin-union in Christ The divine union which makes the Father and the Son one The personall union which makes the divine nature and the human nature one The mysticall union which makes Christ the Mediator God and man one with all the members of Christ joyntly You know that in respect of the last consideration Christ as he is collectively considered consists of his own person as head and of all the elect as members so that in some sense Christ cannot be said to be separated but hath his members knit unto him A headlesse body or a bodylesse head are equally both of them imperfect If the Church be separated from Christ or Christ separated from the Church he should in the last consideration be imperfect Now in this Text the Apostle speaking of Christ doth understand him in the last consideration I have spoken of namely as God the Son united to the humane nature or rather uniting the humane nature unto himself as these two natures in one person are united unto the Church or members of Christ so Christ is the head It is true sometimes you have expressions of Christs own speaking by way of subjection My Father is greater then I And I came not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me which phrase of Christ being not rightly understood doth occasion in the thoughts of men some conceits as if God were a distinct being from Christ that Christ makes God here greater then himself whereas the truth is there is as I said before no God but what Christ is Christ doth never acknowledge that the Godhead of his Father is greater then his own Godhead For the Father and the Sonne is but one in the Godhead and divine nature and therefore when Christ in his â—peech hath reference unto God he hath but reference unto the divine nature that is unâ—â—ed unto his humanity and the very nature of God is within himself and there is no other but what is within himself Therefore there is no distinct God in the world but 〈◊〉 God that is become man and is now called Christ Therefore you are never to look upon Christ but as he is the compleat only true God What need all this discourse you will say I answer You must have Christ set forth in this consideration or else you shall never be able to reach that he is the head Therefore the consideration of the second thing will câ—â—er the usefulness of the first What this Headship is the Text saith He is the beginning that is the root and spring from whence things have their first being Now mark beloved either the Apostle must speake false when he saith he is the beginning or else you must consider Christ as the only God All the world grants God to be the beginning of all things therefore if there be any thing in the world that should be the beginning of being besides Christ he himself cannot be the beginning of all things therefore for the maintenance of this prerogative of Christ being the beginning and fountain he is to be considered alwayes as the only God Now this word beginning doth import unto us that Christ is first the beginning of being and secondly the beginning of well being He is the beginning of being in generall All things were made by him and without him there was nothing made that was made John the 1. As â—ere in this 1. of the Colos All things were created by him Whether visible or invisible principalities powers thrones or dominions The main thing the Apostle drives at is this that Christ is the beginning of the Church that is Christ is the beginning of them being members of himself Every member of the Church of Christ received his first being from him and only from him and from none other Consider the originall beginning of them even in eternity it self if it may be properly called a beginning it hath its being from Christ himself Mark the Apostle in the 1. chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians 2. and 3. verses Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spirituall blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundations of the world were laid This expression may seem to some to import a difference between God and Christ or something distinct one from the other as if Christ were the subject in whom persons are chosen and God the Author by whom persons are chosen But beloved properly there is no such thing as Christ distinct from God so as if he were not God If God be in Christ then it is Christ himself as he is God that doth it And therefore if you will mark the expression well it may be you shall see that it is Christ himself hath chosen us I confesse the words may have a double reference either to the Father or to Christ and according to this second reference Christ may be conceived both the object and the fountain too in whom you are chosen and the expression perhaps will bear both According as he hath chosen us in him that is according as he in him chose us But howsoever all comes to one effect the Father and the Son being one God Secondly to come down to particulars Christ is the beginning of a present possessive being as persons are members of him He is the beginning of a possessive being or being in possession Consider the first thing in the being of a member that is life life as it is spirituall and so peculiar to a member hath its first rise from Christ himself mark the expression in the 2. chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians He hath created us in Christ Iesus unto good works whereto he hath ordained us that we should walk in them You are created of God in Christ Iesus to good works or God in Christ hath done it The very self-same phrase and expression that the Apostle useth there to the Ephesians he useth again in the 2. Epistle to the Corinthians chap. 5. and verse 19. Namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself The truth is It pleased the divine nature to unite the humane nature to it self and so to mannage the affairs of the Church in those two natures so united not as if God gave out some of himself to the humane nature and reserved some of it self to it self but the whole
righteousness And among all the Aâ—â—stles and Dâ—â—cipies that conversed with Christ his Dâ—â—ciple John had the priviledge which Daniel had among the Propâ—ets to be called The beloved of the Lord the beloved Disciple And as an argument of that he is admitted 〈◊〉 in the bosome of Christ And of all the Apostles that conversed with Christ you shall finde none of them hit so upon the great Gâ—â—ce of God to the sons of men as this Apostle doth compare the Gospel which he wrote with other Evâ—â—gelists writings you shall finde a vast difference between the manifestation of the free grace of God to them and to this 〈…〉 also writing this Epistle follows the same strain therein in â—he former Chapter he delivers notâ— us two admirable passâ—ges the one is The blâ—ud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sins and the other is He is faithfull and just to fo give us one sins two great manifestions of the â—hsolute freenesse of the Grace of Gâ—d to the sons of men Now this Apostle in the 4. verse of the first Chapter declares one main end for which he doth publish this free grace of God I write these things saith he that your joy may be full implying that there is fulnesse of joy in the Grace here revealed and it is fit that little children that have fellowship with the Father and the Son should have the knowledge of this excellent Grace of God that their joyâ— mâ—y he full Now whereas he speaks of Gods forgiving freely he would not have people mistake as if his revealing of pardon of sin did intimate that people did not sin any more And therefore he anticipates it in the 8. verse If any man say he hath no sin he deceiveth himselfe and there is no truth in him Sâ—n we do but the grace of God stands in this that when wee sin sin is forgiven and it is an act of justice for God to forgive these sins that are committed Beloved I â—â—â—ceive the world clamouâ—s extremely against that in consideration of the fearfull fruits as they conceive of such publishing the Grace of God to men Tell men their sins are forgiven tell them whatsoever sins they do commit being Believers their siâ—s shall do them no hurt This is the way say they to all manner of licentiousnesse this brings Libertinisme into the world this opens the floud gates for flouds of sins to overflow the Church But the Apostle prevents this great objection and he doth not only prevent it but he establishes the direct contrary to the infrence men make from the free Grace of God And this he doth in the words of my Text. And observe it well were it not an Apostle of Christ that spake these words there are many Zelots in the Church would condemnit not only for Heresie but for the greatest absurdity in the world This appears plain for there are two things the Apostle drives at in these two verses First an inforcement of something that he would work upon little children as he calls them that have fellowship with the Father and the Son Secondly the great argument the Apostle useth to prevaile with them to entertain and imbrace that which hee would fasten upon them The thing that the Apostle would fasten upon believers was that they would not sin For which cause he writes these things to them The argument by which he would prevail with them to do this he calls upon them for is a strange one in the opinion of most men Observe the argument If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father c. Put them together and it amounts to this I would have you not to sin Now the only way and the best way to prevail with you not to sin is this I will acquaint you with this truth that if you do commit sin there is an advocate with the Father that shal take order that the sin you commit shal do you no hurt at all Though you do sin he is become the propitiation for your sins therefore feare not though you doe sin of any hurt that can come to you by these sins So that this is the argument by which he would prevail with them and us against the commission of sin Now what an absurd argument seems this to be not only to the world but even to zealous professors also to prevail with men to the forbearance of sin to tell them before hand that if they sin there is an advocate for them and he is the propitiation for their sins That this is an argument for men to forbeare sin is such a Paradox not only to the world but even to professors themselves that for ought I see in matters of Religion at this day there is nothing so vilely calumniated as the publishing of this free grace of God to men in this way as being the high way to break out into all manner of sinfulness whatsoever This say men is that which lets go the reins into the neck of Libertisme this is that which makes men take liberty without controule freely to commit any sin in the world Who ever is of this mind I must tell him before I go on he doth directly crosse the wisdome of God and directly give the lie to the Apostle here that expresseth with much infallibility to the world how little hurt the knowledge of the pardon of sin can do do to persons in Jesus Christ in that he passeth it as an argument to prevail from sin I shall beseech you beloved not to have any regard to any words I shall say of my selfe to you but as I shal speak the full mind of the Holy Ghost And I shall give you one point first in generall which is the main scope of the Apostle here and afterwards handle the severall branches of it particularly First I say take the generall scope of the Apostle here and then as the Scripture will evince the truth so for the truths sake receive that which shall be delivered though for the present it may seem otherwise then ordinary The point that ariseth out of the words is this observe how naturally it â—riseth out of the words For a person who hath fellowship with the Father and the Sonne one of the little children which the Apostle speaks of here for such a person to know before hand before he doth commit sin that there is an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the prâ—pitiation for sin to know this I say iâ— so far from being a spur to provoke him to the commission of sin that it is one of the strongest arguments and the best motives toprevail with such persons to refrain from the commission f sin First see how naturally it lieth in the Text that you may see the Doctrine is no fancâ— not opinion of men but the cleer truth It appears plainly that the Apostles business here is to take men off from sinning that appears in the beginning of the tex
Beleevers were to fear them or as if Believers should come under them but wrath and vengeance is to be revealed as Believers are secured and freed from them that so they should fear to commit and fall into sin not for feare of coming under wrath but out of love because God hath beene so gracious to them as to deliver them from the weight of so heavie wrath and displeasure that otherwise must of necessity have fallen upon them and so their walking with God in a holy conversation is a fruit of the mercy already shewne and doth not goe before as a thing by which the mercy should be obtained and procured They serve God because they are delivered from wrath and not because they might receive deliverance from under wrath It proceeded from joy in consideration of wrath already past and not from feare of wrath to come so that the wrath of God is preached unto them not that they are to come under it or that they are in that way to fear it but that they may see what they are delivered from that they may see what they did and should and others must lie under that they may see Gods love unto them therein that this may draw them to obedience and that this might restraine them from sin And now they say because I have been delivered from so great a wrath therefore will I sing and rejoyce and I will walke before the Lord in the Land of the living and I will triumph in the Lord my deliverer leading a life answerable to the love of God bestowing such a deliverance upon me and so by this preaching of the wrath of God as being freed from it the more one seeth what he is freed from the more he seeth what Christ hath done in bearing that wrath for him and consequently the more hee is stirred up to walke before God in more cheerfull and comâ—ortable obedience and the more thankfull hee will bee And the more hee seeth what God hath done for him the more obedience hee seeth hee oweth unto God And now if any persons here present have an evill opinion of the Grace of God as a thing of dangerous consequence as a licentious doctrine and that it is a meanes to make men take liberty to sin let them learn from that which hath been said to mende their mindes and to correct their judgements knowing that the Holy Ghost is of another mindeâ— that the revealing of the Grace of God is the best way in the world to take men off from sinne so farre is it from letting loose the reines for persons to break out into all manner of sinfulnesse SERMON IV. 1 John 2. vers 1 2. My little children these things I write unto you that you sinne not And if any man sinne we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sinnes and not for our sinnes only but for the sinnes of the whole world I Have elsewhere made an entrance in respect of some generalls these words afford time being precious we shall be as thriving of it as possible may be only a few words so far as may serve to bring us where we were and then we shall bring you on through Gods assistance through the particulars this Text holds forth unto us The main scope of the Apossle in this place is to endeavour to take the people of God off from running into sin But first he useth an argument to prevail with them which seems absurd unto the world and doubtlesse goes for little lesse then foolishnesse among men if not worse then foolishnesse I write to you that you fin not Well but how will he prevail with them If any man sinne we have an Advocate with the Father and he is the propitiation for our sinnes As much as to say this is the best way to prevail with you that you sinne not to know before hand that if you do sinne you have an Advocate with the Father that will take away your faults and save you harmlesse Indeed it is accounted absurd but this is the common strain of the Gospell to make this the best argument that can be imagined to prevaile over people from the committing of sin to let them know how gracious God is unto them even to the forgiving of their sins they shall commit and that which wee noted as the main body of the Discourse was this For such persons who have fellowship with the Father and the Son to know before hand that they have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for their sins I say to know this before hand before they do commit sin is so far from being the opening of the flood-gates to sinne that it is a shutting down thereof to stop the course of sinfulnesse The Holy Ghost is very plentifull in this very way of arguing to prevail with people not to sinne shewing clearly thereby that the proclaiming of the free grace of God to men in the pardon of their sins and letting them know it before they doe sin doth not destroy obedience to the Law of God but doth establish it better than any other arguments can doe You may see it clearly in the 3. to the Romens 23. 24. verses compared with vers 31. For all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God being justified freely by his Grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ whom God hath set forth to hee the propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousnesse for the remission of their sinnes theâ— are past through the forbearance of God In these verses the Apostle preacheth free Grace in the absolute freenesse of it even to persons that are utterly undon and know not what to doe and in the last verse of that Chapter the Apostle brings in an objection Doe wee make void the Law through faith God forbid we rather establish the Law The Apostle making his conclusion we are justified by faith without the deeds of the Law this saith he doth establish the Law and doth not make it void to know that from all the sins we doe commit we are freely justified by his Grace this doth establish obedience and doth not make void the Law So in the 6th Chapter of the same Epistle to the Romans the 1. and 2. verses the Apostle having gone on to declare the exceeding riches of the Grace of God in the 4. 5. Chapters he makes the same objection in substance that he did before Shall wee continue in sinne that Grace may abound God forbid how shall wee that are deaunto sinne live any longer therein Wherein hee shews plainly that though some may collect that this is a way to make men continue in sin to preach the exceeding riches of the Grace of God yet he saith there can be no such conclusion drawne there-from by just inference How shall we that are dead unto sinne live any longer
all these but that Christ is an Advocate we cannot finde where it is mentioned in all the Scripture but in this place and therefore it will be the more difficult to finde out the intention of the Holy Ghost what he means by this office of Advocateship The word Advocate in the originall is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the some word is used by John in the 1 of John and the 26. verse and attributed unto the Holy Ghost and is there translated the Comforter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Text The Comforter will come Now the same word that we have here Advocate is also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And indeed the proper singification of the word is A Comfortable Advocate But the thing it self What is this Advocateship will you say It is a borrowed expression and an allusion opening the prevalency of Christ with the Father for his owne people it is taken from an office among men Advocates in the Common Law you call them Counsellors but in the Civill Law they have this very title of Advocate The office is this namely being well experienced in the nature of the Law and the Rules and Principles of Justice when ever a cause comes to be tried they are to make clear the Principles of Justice and so to plead out Justice on the behalfe of the client for whom they plead I say the office of an Advocate is to plead the cause of a person as it stands in equity and justice and to demand and require a sentence of acquittance and discharge from Justice and equity it selfe Herein an Advocate differs from a Suppliant a Suppliant makes only requests and depends altogether upon favour alone so as if hee should stand to the rigor of Justice he must bee gone and his cause must miscarry I say this is the proper office of a Suppliant or Petitioner but an Advocate hee stands to the justice of a person whose cause hee doth plead and puts the issue of the triall even to Justice it selfe that as the cause can bee cleared to bee a just cause so the Judge would passe a sentence upon the cause just so I say is it with Christ pleading the cause of his own people with the Father in respect of indempnity from sin for his Advocateship is this namely to lay the Law to the Father to plead justice in the discharge of the sinner that doth commit sinne that it is but right and justice to discharge him and it were an unrighteous thing and in justice if he should not I say it is most certainly true that Christ stands here upon justice and he will in righteousnesse have God to discharge his own people from all the sins that they do commit and hee pleads that it is an unrighteous thing to charge them with them or to plague or punish them for them Object But some peradventure will be ready to say this cannot be that Christ as an Advocate should plead for indempnity upon terms of justice for in the strictnesse and the rigor of justice the soule that sinneth must die And the Gospel seems to say it is onely and solely Grace that any person is discharged from sin For in justice there cannot be a claime made of pardon and discharge from sin but all the plea must be meerly bounty and favour Answ This objection seems to have a great deale of strength in it How may these two things stand together that Christ pleading justice God must forgive and yet notwithstanding justice doth sentence a person unto death if he sins For answer to this you must learn to distinguish and I desire you warily to observe this distinction that so you may plainly see a reconciliation of that which seems impossible to be reconciled I say observe this distinction namely first consider the pardon or discharge from sin in regard of any thing laid down in consideration of the sin committed by the person who doth partake of this pardon And secondly consider this pardon or indemnity and discharge from sin in reference unto Christ who gets this discharge Now I say in the former consideration that is in respect of us that do partake of this discharge from sin and in regard of any thing that we can bring in recompence for that sin or satisfie in this regard it is meerly and only Grace that sinners being the members of Christ are discharged When you or I commit sin that God doth discharge us that God doth not lay our sins to us that God doth not give sentence of damnation upon us for such and such sins as we do commit I say it is an act of meer Grace alone Justice cannot 〈◊〉 pleaded in this case But secondly consider the indemnity from sin in respect of Christ who doth get this discharge and doth purchase it of the Father Then Christ is to bee considered two wayes First as Christ is allowed by the Father to stand in the room of such persons whose cause he pleads Or secondly Christ is to be considered as he hath actually made full payment unto the Father his satisfaction being allowed and admitted before thereunto Now I answer considering Christ in his being allowed by the Father to stand in the room of the persons whose cause he pleads so this discharge from sin by Christ it is an act of Grace Christ cannot plead justice that he should be allowed There was not a tye upon the Father that Christ should bee in mans room and that the Father should be unrighteous if hee did not ordain him to bee so it was an act of free Grace in God when men were under the curse and became miserable bankrupts that Christ should make satisfaction for them When one man doth owe another money it is not an unrighteous act in this creditor to refuse a surety he may make the debtor pay the debt himselfe if he will it is matter of grace it is meer courtesie so to doe Even so it is matter of grace that Christ is admitted to come in the roome of man and to stand in the stead of man 〈◊〉 to beare the sins of man For him to be 〈◊〉 to beare the wrath of God for these sins that another hath committed this is an act of grace and in regard of these particulars is the Scripture so frequent in these expressions of the free Grace of God in communicating this discharge and pardon of sin unto sinners But secondly consider Christ allowed of the Father to stand in the room of men as he hath come forth and paid down the utmost farthing that God in justice could demand for or in consideration of these sins that are committed by his people I say when Christ hath deposited or delivered up into the hands of his Father the utmost farthing that hee could charge upon Believers or demand on their behalfe this being received by the Father acknowledgement being made by him upon the receipt of what Christ hath paid this I say considered it is an
and affirmed that it is faith that doth make the union and therefore cannot be a fruit of that union Beloved this I would fain know of any person Is faith the gift of Christ or no Is it Christ that workes faith in those that do believe in Christ or no The Apostle in the 12. Chapter to the Hebrewes and the 2. verse saith expresly that Christ is the Author of our faith Is Christ then the Author of our faith and yet is that faith the Author of our union unto Christ Can a father beget a childe and yet this childe beget his own father Doth Christ beget faith in us by vertue of our being united unto him and shall this faith beget that union of which it was but a fruit From whence shall persons that do believe before they are united unto Christ receive this faith of theirs They are not yet united unto Christ and therefore it cannot come from him for we can have nothing of Christ but by vertue of union and then it proceeds not from the Spirit of Christ neither for we partake of that only by vertue of union with him too From whence should it come then If you have it not from him by vertue of union it is not from the Vâ—ne that his person is incorporated into already because there must be union before there can be communion All communion with Christ all participating of any thing of Christ proceeds from the union persons first have with him he is the root as the branch is incorporated into the body and root so sap and iâ—fluence it communicated and floweth out into the branch from the root But this you will says is but a parabolicall expression and Parables preve nothing I answer whereas Christ is pleased to apply the Parabie his application of the Parable hath as full a proofe in it selfe as any Scripture whatsoever Now in this place you shall finde that Christ doth make exact application of it himselfe to the purpose we now speake of as wee sinde in these words As the branch cannot bring forth fruit except it abide in the Vine no more can ye exceptye abide in me I am the Vine ye are the branches c. Ye cannot bring forth fruit except ye abide in the Vine and doe you abide in the Vine when you are not unitted unto Christ No man can say it Can you bring forth fruit before you are in the Vine Can you believe before you are in Christ Beloved it is as great an absurdity to say you can as to say a branch can bring forth fruit without a roote So that beloved you must hold this for an undenyable truth you cannot bring forth fruit except you abide in the Vine I can bring many other passages for the further proof of this thing but this will suffice Mistake me not I do not any way aim at any derogation to believing but my desire is that believing might have its proper office and may not encroach upon the office of Christ himself It is the Lord himself of his own meer Grace without respect to any thing in the world in men that makes him give his Son Christ unto persons that hee might be the justification of them In the 42. of Isaiah and the 6. verse you shall see there expresly Christ is given of the Father and hee is given as a covenant by the Father before ever men have eyes to see before ever they have faith to behold Christ I will give thee for a covenant to the people to open the blind eyes He himself as the Covenant and as given must open the blind eyes or else they shall never be operted Wee must not have our eyes opened and than have Christ given to us but Christ is first given and then our eyes are opened We must not believe that so we may be in convenant with Christ but wee must first be in covenant with him and then believing that must follow as the fruite of the covenant If wee have faith before wee bee united unto Christ if our eyes be opened before Christ be given to be the covenant then Christ is anticipated and prevented For whereas he comes of purpose to open the blind eyes and is given for this very thing to open the blind eyes the eyes are opened already and this work is done before he comes and so his coming and the end thereof is made frustrate in vain in that respect In briefe suppose that our faith doth act towards the discharge of our transgressions then it must follow it is not only the righteousnesse of Christ that pleads by way of Advocateship with the Father for this discharge If thou come to the Lord plead out that for thy self by vertue of thy faith which his righteousnesse alone was appointed for to do and dost not wholly cast thy self upon that as that which will bear thee out in all thy approaches to God but joyn thy faith withall in the manner I have spoken and say in thy heart I believe and in that plead thy discharge if you put this into your plea for the discharge of sin Christ only is not your sole Advocate but your faith also doth concur with Christ in this office of Advocateship and so you make it your Saviour then which what can be more dishonourable and more derogatory unto this glorious office of his For if wee must believe before God will justifie us then the simple and only plea of Christs righteousness alone is not all-sufficient for God to pardon or to discharge sin For suppose I have not yet believed now the righteousnesse of Christ it seems hath not strength enough till my believeing come in and joyn with that righteousness But it is only the righteousness of Christ that pleads out the justification of a person and not the concurrence of our believing that pleads it out our believing I confesse gives comfortable testimony that God hath freely justified persons in and through the alone righteousness of his Son Christ our believing doth conduce to the declaration and manifestation of that which God for Christs righteousness sake did doe By faith wee have evidence of this thing but it is not our believing that works the thing it self Now it remains we goe on and consider further affirmatively what this righteousnes of his is that carries the whole strength of the plea for the discharge of the people of God from their sins which they have committed I say it is his righteousness and his alone Now this righteousness is to be considered in the quality quantity and nature of it concerning the quality and quantity of it in brief that righteousness that hath the strength of plea for the discharge charge of the sins of Gods owne people both for quantity and quality it must be so powerfull and so large and spacious that it may serve to cover the whole nakednesse of the person whom it doth concerâ—â— I â—ay this righteousnesse of his hath so
the person there is no act of believing The truth is this the Father gives his elect to Christ his Son Thiâ—e they were saith Christ in the 17. of Iohn and thou gavest them me and the Father that gave the elect unto Christ he gives unto Christ also power both in heaven and in earth so saith Christ in the 28. of Matthew and in the latter end All power saith he both in heaven earth is given me Go teach all nations as much as to say I give you Apostles and Ministers that follow you a commission from my self a commission to preach and in preaching to convert and how so All power in heaven and earth is mine So that beloved the Lord takes his elect as they are self-willed and as they are untamed he brings them as they are self-willed and untamed to his Son and by vertue of all power that is given to that Son when they are brought unto him he himself doth break tame and bring them to his own bent The Father saith Christ judgeth no man but hath committed all judgement to the Son Take notice of it that now as Christ is ordained the Mediator of the covenant the Father doth nothing towards or concerning his elect people but what he doth by his Son it is the Son doth all so that all that the Father doth is to deliver up elect persons such as they are in blood enemies and rebellious he delivers them up to his Son and the framing of their spirits to his own bent is the sole work of Christ himself Christ is become by the donation of the Father the life and the soule of every elect person Now the Philosophers do observe of the naturall soul that it is the framer of its own body and the maker of its own organs that so they may be fitted for it to act its own will so may I say is it with Christ Christ hath the framing and the disposing of the whole man to bring every thing in this man to his own bent The Father bringing the creature as he is a stubborn and stiff-necked creature so delivers him up to his Son so that I say there is not a pevious foregoing act wrought by the Father without Christ I say no previous act of believing wrought by the Father or by the Spirit without Christ by which a person comes and doth close with Christ but the Father doth give that person without any faith at all or any qualifications whatsoever to his Son and his Son Christ himself he frames and creates that very faith in persons to come to him and therefore in the 42. of Isai v. 6. you shall plainly see there is not an opening of blind eyes a giving of believing eyes to close with Christ before Christ himself be given and given as a covenant to persons So saith the Text I will give thee for a covenant Here you see Christ passed to persons not with a supposition that when persons do believe he shall be theirs and they his but I will give thee for a covenant to open the blind eyes Here is not the eyes opened before Christ comes but Christ comes when the eyâ— are blind and when he comes he opens the eyes that are blind But to go further Let us suppose that coming into this place is spoken of believing Ye will not come to me that ye might have life it cannot follow that although there be no life till believing therefore there can be no union till believing I say if it possibly might be imagined that there may not be life from Christ till believing yet it follows not that there must be believing before there is union Nay beloved there is nothing cleerer in all the world then this principle namely Suppose there cannot be life before there be believing yet there must be union before there can be life fetched from Christ I say there must be union before believing can fetch life from Christ For suppose that the fruit upon a branch should have such a faculty to draw life into the branch from the root though this would be a strange conceit that the fruit growing upon a tree should have a faculty to draw life from the root to the branch whereas the root communicates life to the branch and the branch by vertue of that life communicated brings forth fruit But yet suppose the fruit should draw life into the branch from the root that is suppose that faith which is a fruit growing upon a member of Christ that is a Believer and a branch of that body suppose that faith this fruit should have such a faculty to draw life from Christ the root into the branch yet it is impossible that faith should draw life into the branch till the branch be united unto the stock For beloved that is Christs comparison I am the Vine ye are the branches Now take this comparison suppose a branch growing upon a wilde Olive is cut off from the wilde Olive and for the present it is not united to the good Olive tree Now can a wilde Olive or suppose it to be a good Olive upon this branch of the wilde tree can this fruit upon the branch draw life from the root of the good Olive tree while it is separated and laid aside and is not united to the good Olive from which root it must draw life It is known to all men that communion is the fruit of union there is no participation nor communion of any thing that is Christs but as it doth flow from union with Christ so that either you must say that faith which you speak of is not of Christ the root but hath some other root and fountain from whence it hath its being and essence or else you must confesse if Christ be the root then it must come from Christ by vertue of union of a Believer to Christ first Finally suppose it should be that coming is believing suppose that this life spoken of here is not in persons till they do believe What is meant by life here Beloved I beseech you consider the Apostle tells us our life is hid with Christ in God and Christ is the life of the world that is of the elect It seems then that the life of every elect person hath a being in Christ before he doth believe believing therefore doth not produce a new life that was not before only it manifests that life which was before and it makes that life which was before an active life or is an instrument by which that life that is hid in Christ doth now after believing become an active and appearing life in this person So that all that can be made of this is but this till believing there is no activenesse of the life of Christ in the person that is elected his life is in Christ and was in Christ and reserved in Christ till the time of believing for him and then doth he the elect person become active in life when Christ doth
is in a little Diamond How do men prize the dust of gold Despise not small things say not 't is a little book a â—ittle starre may light thee to Christ great bodies have most humours grosser volumes commonly are thickned with too much earth If thou ask what is in this I answer as the voyce once spake to Austin Tolle Lege or as Philip to Nathaniel Come and see If I should say all that I know of the Author some that know me would say that I flatter him because of my relation to him in his life though I know there 's little to be gotten by dead mens favour But this I shall bee bold to affirm there 's no Antinomianisme in the Title or Tract and from all vicious licentiousnesse of life and scandalous aspersions cast on his person by lying lips I stand upon mine owne experience and more than twelve yeers knowledge to vindicate him let the father of lies and all his brood come forth and make good their charge against him I fear not to appear in his cause yea if I should not open my mouth in his behalfe whose industry and integrity God and his Saints have so much approved and from whose labours and yoke-fellow I have reaped so much comfort if yet I should be silent I desire to be marked with a black coal Try him now and judge thou wilt find no poison in his hive no Serpent lurks under his leaves Tolle lege come and see whether Jesus of Nazareth be not here not sealed up in a Sepulchre guarded with a rude train to keep his Disciples from him as the High Priests use to do but thou shalt find him in his garden opening his fountaine blowing on his spices leading into his banqueting-house staying with flaggons comforting on every side thou shalt find more in this booke then I will promise only be perswaded to peruse it if thou lovest thy rest read it Here is newes of drye land footing for thy soul the Olive branch doth witnesse it feare not be not dismayed the waters are abated let not thy sloth make thee guilty of thy misery Will not the weather-beaten Marriner employ all his strength and oars to thrust into a quiet harbour Is any thing more desired by the chased Hart then the cooling streams How do men pursued by the enemie rejoyce in the shelter of a strong hold Can any thing be more welcome to a notorious offender justly condemned then a gracious pardon Is not God and his Righteousnesse all this and much more to a poor creature in such conditions Behold an Haven a Brooke a Tower a Pardon a full a free Pardon a Ransome for thy soule the righteousnesse of God breaking through the sides the hands the heart of Christ to make way to thee to revive thy ding drooping bleeding heart Incline thine ear hearken for the time to come hear and thy soul shall live forsake not thine owne mercies to observe lying vanities leane not to the reeds of Egypt when thou hast the rod of Gods strength put into thy hand Shal there be a price in the hand and no heart to it It may be thy feet have not yet stumbled though thou hast walked on the hils of earth the Mountains of the world the high Mountains of the flesh thy way hath beene smooth and easie so is the wilde Asse's till her moneth overtake her thy conscience perhaps hath fancied some shadow of peace by the dull glimmering of an earthly spark but they that walk in the light at last lye downe in sorrow Isaith 50.11 Be not proud therefore but give glory to God before he cause darknesse before he turn your light into the shadow of death make it grosse darknesse that darknesse that might be felt was not the least of the Egyptian plagues What greater torment then the conscience once sensible of being destitute of the light of life The Authors aim is to lead thee into Goshen to guide thy feet into the way of peace follow him walke in the steps of the faith of our Father Abraham that faith oâ— which circumcision was no cause nor evidencâ— to himself for he had it and he knew he had it before he was circumcised by this faith he gave glory to God we give glory to the robe of Gods righteousnesse when we put none of our owne under it to make it sit uneasie nor weare any of our own upon it to obscure the full glory of it thou wilt finde this garment the best fashion and as wel held forth by this as by any man whost intentions were to cover all blemishes all sins to hide all deformity with it yet to shelter no lust nor sin under it I might launch out into his life and call in all his practice to prove it but till more need require I shall referre thee to Mr. R.L. in his preface to the first volume and to the present triall of his doctrine Let a Christian heart moderate a critical eye find fault who can The God that once breathed the rich knowledg of himself through the frail organs of this earthen vessel into the eares of those that heard him now dart a greater glory of his righteousnesse and grace into the eyes of all their understandings that shall read him I know I can adde no worth to this work 't is of divine value it hath the stamp of heaven the Image of God is on it the Author is gone home and yet living with the Lord though some think the Saints dye and like the wicked leave a stink behind them I deny not the mortality of any nor need I hang thiâ— mans hearse with odoriferous Encomiums yet hee that visits his friend though never 〈◊〉 godly in the grave had need take a little Frankincense in his hand if hee be buried amonâ— men all the aire in the world is so contagiously infected with the stinking breath of thâ— living that you cannot come neer the deaâ— without a bundle of myrrhe Malice and madâ—nesse like a Gangrena stands at the tombe antent of every blessed soul crying Noli me taâ—gere Of all men one would have thought 〈◊〉 sweet a man as Christ had needed no spices 〈◊〉 his Sepulchre for hee did no evill and he saâ— no corruption Yet Joseph would not intenâ— his body without sweet odors though Mâ— had bestowed a whole boxe of precious oynment on his feet in his life time but a little before his buriall Let the Saints walke never wisely warily circumspectly let them keeâ— their feet as clean as sweet as they can they hâ—â— need have their winding sheet and coffin pâ—â—fumed I say not with the Parasiticall smoâ— of a perfumed Oration but with a just viâ—â—cation of their innocency as occasion shall â—â—quire But I hope there will be need of no â—â—gagement from me this way in the Authors 〈◊〉 halâ—â— for his two last Sermons in this voluâ— are a cleer vindication of him from those coâ—mon â—spersions laid upon
God should fetch any argument or any motive to make himselfe our God from what wee do And if wee could do any such thing yet there cannot be any moving power in such performances to obtaine God for our God for in the very best of our performances there is unrighteousnesse there is filthinesse any the Prophet saith that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags sweet motives to prevail with God for such a gift as to communicate himself No beloved it is not what we do but what he in his own thoughts hath freely determined to do for us Object But you will say Christ makes God to be our God Ans I answer beloved in some sense that is true but as I said before originally Christ doth not make God to be our God Give me leave to open this clearly unto you for I must tell you that Christ himself is marvellous chary and wary not to assume or take to himself that which belongs unto his Father nor should wee give to Christ himself that which belongs unto God peculiarly as giving Christ himself unto us Christ saith Give to Cesar the things that are Cesars and to God the things that are Gods and this holds as true between God and Christ as Mediator Give unto God the things that are his and to Christ the things that are his For our Saviour in John 17. at the beginning of the Chapter saith speaking to the Father in prayer I have finished the worke that thou hast given me to doe What worke was that towards the latter end of the Chapter you shall finde As thou Father art one in mee and I in thee so also they may bee one in us as much as to say that thou mightest communicate thy selfe to them observe it Christ doth professe that it is the work that his Father hath given him to do that he did not put himselfe upon it originally but the Father did put him upon it The truth is the meer good pleasure of God contriving determining and ordaining this communicating of himselfe was the first originall and ground that Christ was sent into the world that hee was conceived in the womb of a Virgin c. And the Lord by the obedience and righteousnesse of Christ hath actually brought all the benefits of the Gospel upon us to which end Christ hath done this work But the first conception of it and the foundation of it was the thing by which he was Christ and Mediator and therefore Christ could not be the originall of that eternall decree and purpose of God to communicate himself to us for the execution whereof Christ was sent into the world The Schooles have a rule that the end of a thing is first intended though it be last in execution so this that God would communicate himself to the sons of men being the end for which Christ was sent though till Christ had by vertue of his death made way there was no actuall communion yet still it was the end of Christs coming into the world it was in the mind of God before the means was in being Therefore if you will have God to be your God you must not thinke that such and such things will make God to be yours Nothing will get God to be yours but his owne free motion from himselfe by his Son Secondly there is a way by which God is found to be the God of such peopleâ— now these things being confounded together put people into a labyrinth thinking the way to find God and to get God is all one now although it is the meer good pleasure of God himself that doth bestow himselfe upon us yet he is pleased to chalk out a way whereby he may be found to be our God and that we may find him to be so we must meet God in those wayes he useth to be met in But you will say How doth God usually manifest himselfe and how is he found of his people to be theirs I answer there is an efficient of our finding out of God or a passive instrument of finding him out the way of finding out of God efficiently to be our God is the Spirit of the Lord acquainting the spirits of men with the minde of the Lord. I say he is the efficient All the world is not able to work any impression upon the spirit of a man that the Lord is his God but only the Spirit of the Lord must perswade the spirit of man that he may receive this principle It is true indeed the Spirit of the Lord doth it according to the word of Grace and speaks no more to the spirit of a man but what is in the word of Grace but the word of Grace it selfe doth not of it selfe work this impression that God is my God or thy God but the impression is wrought by the Spirit of the Lord. Object What serve all the Ordinances for will you say is not here a crying down of Ordinances There will bee still this scandall cast upon us But let me tell you there is a most comfortable use of Ordinances though they â—erve not to such high purposes as these are I say though they are not efficient to beget and finde out and reveale to the spirits of men the things that concerne God yet besides the efficient revelation of God to be our God from the Spirit alone there is a passive inâ—â—rument by which the Lord doth make himself â—nowne to be the God of his people but that way is meerly passive and not active First passively God makes himself knowne to be the God of his people by the word of his Grace and Faith laying hold upon the word of Grace revealed and more subordinately in Prayer Fasting receiving of the Lords Supper and such Ordinances so far as they are mixed with faith Now give me leave in a few words to communicate unto you the full use and utmost extent of Gods thoughts concerning the Ordinances that he hath propounded how far forth he would have the creature look upon the Ordinances and as much as may be put upon the use of them so farre forth as they are usefull Know therefore as I said before that all these Ordinances are but passive wayes of conveying this great Gift the knowledge of God to bee our God I mean more plainly thus These Ordinances are only of and in themselves empty dry chanels or pipes through which the Spirit of the Lord brings from God himselfe the Spring these riches and conveyes the same into the spirit of a man Look as a chanell digged in a dry ground is the way through which the Spring conveyes his water into a Cisterne the chanell it selfe communicates none of its own only it is a passage through which the Spring conveys his water so are all the Ordinances even Faith it self Prayer and all other services they are but chanels through which the Spirit of the Lord passeth and bringeth from the Lord himselfe the Spring and Fountain the revelation
that which brings this salvation to you Then may I doe what I list will some say No saith the Apostle This Grace of God that brings salvation brings this too It teacheth us to deny al ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and that we should live godlily soberly and righteously in this present world I say it is blasphemy against the truth of the Holy Ghost in these severall passages of Scripture to say or to maintaine that this is a necessary inference from the revelation of the free Grace of God to men before-hand that thereby men will breake out into sin and uncleannesse and give up themselves thereto and that this is the way to give up the reines into the neck of vice and licentiousnesse I will give you but one passage more although I confesse I have gone further in the cleering of this businesse by Scripture then I intended because I know it sticks so in the hearts of opposers and quarrellers and cavillers that are ready to spit fire into the faces of those persons that are assertors and maintainers of the free grace of God and the publishers thereof to the people of God I will give I say but one place more in confirmation hereof namely that which the Apostle delivers in 1 John 3.9 the words are these He that is borne of God sinneth not saith hee because the seede of God abides in him and he cannot sin because hee is borne of God Hee that is borne of God What is that It is no more but this he that is received into Grace by Christ becomes one with Christ in respect of the spirituall union between Christ and such a person To bee borne of God and to be a new creature is all one To be new creatures is to be such as wee were not before More fully a new creature is a person that is translated from himselfe into Christ and he stands before God as Christ himself and not as he is in or of himselfe Now such a person saith the Apostle sinnes not because the seede of God abides in him nay he cannot sin because he is born of God There may bee some difficulty in the expression but you must know the intention of the Apostle John here is to take off the objection against the Doctrine of the free Grace of God that it is a licencious Doctrine to take off I say the reproach that is unjustly cast upon it And so the meaning of the Apostle John is this Hee that is borne of God sinnes not that is hee cannot take such liberty to sinne he cannot make such licentious uses of the Grace of God as to walk in sinfull courses though his sins shall not hurt him I say this Licentious living in sin is the thing the Apostle speakes of here Hee that is borne of God sins not And the reason is because the seed of God abideâ— in him that is there is an over-ruling power planted in him to over-match the propensity of the flesh that remains still in Beleevers that it should not have that liberty and power that naturally it would have by vertue of such a Principle implanted Not that the Apostle speakes absolutely of sin that a childe of God shall sinne no more for that were to make the Apostle John himselfe the lier and that by his owne words and to speak against himselfe For he saith in another place Hee that saith hee hath no sin deceives himselfe and is a lier And King Solomon also who saith that there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not Eceles 7.20 Therefore by sinne in this place he must needs mean a licentious liberty taken unto sin Beloved I know there are many objections raised against this truth I shall briefly run through some of them to you and if it be possible clear this truth unto you at this time and vindicate the Gospell from those abominable untruths cast upon it and that I will do the rather because thousands in the world turne away from the Grace of God and dare not venture themselves upon it Because they fear if they should adventure themselves upon these principles of free Grace they should presently take liberty to sin and so fall away and apostatize Oh! how many have miscarried and refused their owne mercies and have not received the Gospell to this day upon such conceits that the receiving of it should make them break out into ungodlinesse I know here are many here present cannot but witnesse they are affraid to close with free Grace though never so fully proved and manifested in Scripture upon this consideration that it will make them live loosely Object 1. First some will object and say we know many Beleevers that do take liberty to themselves when once they have beene acquainted with such free Grace that hath beene preached Answ For answer to this First I say that if Beleevers from this Grace published doe take liberty they take but what God giveth them The end of Christs coming and preaching the free grace of God to men is this very thing that in it the Lord might proclaime liberty to the captives which are Christs owne people Christ came of purpose as you shall finde in Heb. 2.15 to deliver those who through feare of death are subject to bondage all their lives long And therefore saith Christ If the Son shall make you free you shall bee free inâ—eâ—d that is if the Son give you liberty then you shall have liberty indeed So that it Believers do take this liberty upon this ground they take but that which is their owne purchased unto them by the blood of Christ and given unto them freely by God their Father Object 2 But some will say It is a true Christian liberty that Christ allows and this indeed is a liberty that Christ gives men to be delivered from the captivity and bondage of sin which they were under before But many that professe this doctrine are knowne to be more slack in the performance of duties and to grow more and more cold in their zeale and carelesse in the practice of Religion and are more regardlesse of sin and in a word take more liberty to sinne since such Grace hath been revealed Answ For answer to this Beloved first you are not to expect perfection of works from Believers in this life and that they should be free from all manner of sin I know none of those that have the most indignation against this doctrine of the free grace of God to men but will yeeld that they themselves are not without failings they ought not therefore to aggravate the weaknesse of their brethren much lesse ought the truth of God to bee charged with the failings of men But suppose some do make evill uses of the free Grace of God sometimes are therby encouraged to be more bold with sin as they are not to be upheld in it nor allowed so ought not their fault to be laid upon the free Grace of
therein Wherein he puts it to the Objectors themselves whether they can make it out how it is possible it should bee so Therefore the Apostle doth make use of it as the strength of his argument to prevaile with people In the 12. to the Romans I beseech you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice You see hee makes use of mercy and what mercy is it In the latter part of Chap. 11. he seems to intimate what that mercy is O the depth and the exceeding riches both of the Wisdome and Knowledge of God! Why wherein It follows in that he hath concluded all under sinne that he might have mercy upon all I beseeeh you by these mercies saith he and all other mercies of free Grace present your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God not conforming your selves to this world as if hee had said mercy is that which wil prevail with you most of al to present your bodies a living sacrifice and not conform your selves to the world but I must go on to that we have yet to consider I have spent some time in Obiections and Answers but wee cannot now dwell upon them We are to consider now the specialties of the argument the Apostle useth here to prevail with people that they sin not Beloved this very Text is the opening of the fountaine that is set open forâ—â—ne and for uncleannes it is a spring of strong water to revive a fainting swooning spirit it is the prop of a sinking tottering soule to keep it from sinking and perishing In it the Lord Christ is revealed unto us an All-sufficient succour to all his own notwithstanding all their sins that ever they do commit Herein we are to consider 1. The matter of this argument 2. The force and strength of it in reference to the thing the Apostle would argue from hence First concerning the matter of the argument it selfe that is contained in these words If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins The force of it lies in the reference of it to the thing the Apostle calls for wherein we may consider what prevalency this Position hath to keep from sin namely for persons to know that when they doe sin they have an Advocate with the Father We will begin with the matter of the Argument first and in this Proposition there are two things observable First a Supposition Secondly a Provision of indemnity against the mischiefe of the thing supposed The Supposition laid downe is in these words If any man sin or If any man do sin The Provision of indemnity is in these words We have an Advocate with the Father c. In the supposition you may note First the thing supposed and that is Sin Secondly note the time which doth illustrate it hee doth speak of present and future sins Note I say the time whereunto the Apostle doth refer the thing supposed he doth not say If any man hath sinned heretofore in the Pretertense but he speakes of the time present If any man sin that is if any man doe sin there are some things that are spoken of the present time that are in force but onely that very instant in which they are spoken and that in stant being past the thing it selfe is also past But for this exptession If any man doe sinne it is not a transient but a permanet expression The Apostle speakes not only of his time and of the people of his time If any man sin now the words are not to be understood of that very instant onely and exclusively as having reference onely to those that did sin in his time then these words should have been transient But the meaning of the Apostle is that the present of which hee spake should bee a standing present time and the words should be of force for present even as long as the Word of God should remain upon record If any man sin So that the words are to bee understood of this present time and all present times that shall bee in the next age that shall succeed If any man sinne now or if any man sin in the next age so that there is to be understood a perpetuity of present time to bee included in this expression If any man do sinne It is of great concernment beloved that you receive this truth unlesse you exclude your selves from the benest of the Advocateship of Christ For if the words were spoken of the present time and intended only for that time wherein they were expressed what should become of us that live so many ages after that time They must therefore be of a perpetuall and permanent being Thirdly note in the supposition the nature of it if any man sinne saith the Apostle this word If here admits of a double construction either the Supposition imports a thing possible but not likely or a thing that may be likely to come to passe or rather a thing that may and will come to passe Either it is a supposition in case a thing is which it may bee will not or a supposition by way of confession and granting of the thing supposed In this place John puts not the word If by way of supposition as if it were onely likely there should bee a sinning and if there were a sinning there were an Advocate but he puts the word here by way of concession as if hee had said there must and will be sinning We Gods own people shall fall into sin it cannot be denied But for refuge when there is such sinnes committed know that there is an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Thus you have the first part of the Text branched out unto you namely the Apostles Supposition Secondly consider the Provision that the Lord by the Apostle holds forth unto persons that are Beleevers the Members of Christ I say the provision the Lord holds out by the Apostle for their indempnity against these sins that they do or shall commit namely We have an Advocate with the Father In this Provision observe First the office assigned for the making good of such provision The office assigned here is mentioned in these words We have an Advocate with the Father Secondly note in this provision the person to whom this office of Advocateship is given and therein the ability and qualification of this person to this office to manage it effectually in these words Jesus Christ the righteous Thirdly the issue and the event of the execution of this office in these words He is the propitiation for our sins In the office that the Lord sets on foot for the provision of indemnity against sin being committed you may observe in it 1. The office it selfe and that is an Advocateship 2. The propriety of this office or the relation of it to the persons that are the members of Christ The Apostle doth not say
simply and abstractively there is an Advocate but he speaks relatively we have an Advocate that is our Advocate c. Thirdly this Advocate is set forth not only in his relation to men as he is their advocate but he is declared also and set forth as he hath relation unto God Hee doth not say simply we have an Advocate but I say the Apostle doth declare the excellency of this office of advocateship in respect of this circumstance With the Father we have an Advocate and that with the Father we have an Advocate he is ours and not only so but he is an Advocate of ours which the Father which notes unto us that the plea of Christ for indemnity from sin is not in any inferiour Court where if there bee a sentence of acquittance procured there may be a charge from an higher Court But the Advocateship of Christ is managed for our good in the highest Court of all with the highest Judge that when hee gets a sentence it is definitive and determinative and there is no other Court that can take upon it the determination of the case or call in question the triall of that which hath been determined there Lastly the provision in respect of the office assigned is excellently illustrated by the circumstance of time when the office is on foot or when the officer doth manage it The Text doth not say we had an Advocate or we shall have one hereafter but he speaks in the Present Tense We have an Advocate that now is to agitate it It is but a cold comfort for a man to say being now a begger he had abundance of wealth neither doth it give him fulnesse of comfort to say that he shall have abundance of wealth hereafter but herein lyes his comfort and happinesse that he can say in truth I am rich I have abundance of all things It is but cold comfort for a man to say I had a friend in Court once but he is dead now If he had been alive now it had been better with me then it is I should have sped well I had then carried the cause on my side hee would have done so and so for me I but here lies a mans comfort that he hath a friend at Court that will doe him a good office at his need The Apostle saith here we have an Advocate As therefore I said of the present being of sin committed so I say of the present being of our Advocate It must not be understood to be a transient but a permanent sentence it was in force in the Apostles time it is as full in force in our time and we may as well and truly say Wee have an Advocate and in after ages the Church of God shall say to the end of the world in their times as truly as we now and the Apostle in his time said We have an Advocate with the Father Secondly consider here the person managing this office of Advocateship who is described unto us by three admirable and notable titles that are proper and full for the comfort and incouragement of those whose Advocate he is He is Jesus Christ the righteous saith the Text this is our Advocate First he is Jesus and that is a word that imports a Saviour as the Angel expounded it Luke 1. And they shall call his name Jesus for hee shall save his people from their sins An admirable encouragement to lift up the heads of dejected and drooping spirits when the Advocate comes to plead this Advocate is their Saviour that is his plea is of such force and prevalency that he saves his client Object But some may say many times in suits of Law men have skilfull Lawyers to plead for them which are able to save them who are not admitted to plead for them because they are not called to the Bar. Answ Yea but this Jesus is Christ too this Advocate doth not rush into this office of his own head without warrant but is called to it For as you shall heare afterwards the word Christ imports anointing to the office Many a good Lawyer indeed may not be admitted to come to the bar of Common pleas although he can plead the cause of his client the best of all he must be authorized and called unto the bar or else he may not speak But the Advocate provided for the indemnity against sin is Christ he is called to it Thirdly it is Jesus Christ the righteus and that imports the strength of the plea hee hath by which he becomes a propitiation for sin it is his righteousnesse that prevails in heaven to get the sentence to go on the side of his client Lastly you may observe here the issue what will become of this Advocateship what effect it will have at the last Many men who have causes in suit are restlesse to know how their cause will goe when they come to triall fain they would know on which side the verdict will be given and it is a great refreshing to persons to know before-hand that the cause will goe on their side Now the Apostle doth here intimate unto us what will become of the cause before it is tried He is such an Advocate with the Father saith hee that hee is become the propitiation for all the sins of Gods people and what that is we shall shew hereafter Beloved this is a large field of excellent variety of sweetnesse and fatnesse we must take the particulars into consideration that wee may discusse them the more orderly and I hope it will be no difficulty to gather some of the flowers in this garden and the Spirit of the Lord assisting there may be sucking yea sucking so that persons may be satisfied that they may suck and bee satisfied at the brests of consolation That wee may the better lay our mouthes to this breast and draw more easily the milke thereof let us briefly consider these particulars First concerning the office here spoken of we are first to consider what it is to be an Advocate and how Christ doth manage this office being in heaven I say first what it is to be an Advocate with the Father and how Christ doth manage it Secondly whose cause it is that Christ doth undertake to be an Advocate for Thirdly how Christ is gifted and qualified for the comfortable managing of this office of Advocateship Fourthly what it is to have Christ to be the propitiation for the sinnes of his people this I conceive contains the sum of the whole drift of the Apostle in these words To begin with the first what the office of Advocateship is and what it is for Christ to be an Advocate and how hee doth now manage it in heaven for his elect First this office to bee an Advocate as it is appropriated unto Christ I doe not finde that it is once more mentioned in all the Scripture besides this place Of an Intercessor and Redeemer and the atonement we reade frequently in Scripture that Christ is
act of justice and righteousnesse that the Father should justifie and acquit these persons for whom he hath received of Christ this satisfaction and accordingly hath acknowledged satisfaction under his own hand and acquitted them You know though it bee in a mans power and liberty whether hee will take a surety or the principall for his money yet when he hath taken a surety and he hath made payment it is an act of unrighteousnesse in the creditor after the acknowledgement of full satisfaction to come upon the principall again and to make him pay the money And it is a plea grounded in Law that if that cause come in triall again the Judge ought to acquit the principall if it bee proved that the debt is paid by the surety Now Christ hath paid all that the Father could ask and God hath acknowledged full satisfaction for all He beheld the travell of his soule and was satisfied Now being satisfied it is an act of justice and righteousnesse that the Father should acquit a person in this kind Suppose a person should bee brought before a Judge in a cause wherein hee oweth the Judge himself such a summe of moneyes and borrowed it of the Judge himself an Advocate comes and pleads the cause before the Judge that it is true there was so much money lent and borrowed but saith the Advocate I my selfe became the surety for that man I paid every farthing there is the acquittance you gave under your own hand Now I ask this question the Judge being convinced and a righteous Judge too of the truth of the plea whether in judgement he ought not to acquit that person whose cause is pleaded before him He tooke saits faction he acknowledged satisfaction he could have but satisfaction of him therefore in justice he must discharge him The same case is betweene God and us it is true indeed Beleevers doe commit those things that are in their own nature debts Forgive us our debts as the word is but when this cause came to be agitated and pleaded before God the Judge himselfe to whom the debt was owing Christ the Advocate came and stood up and pleaded that he himselfe being become the surety of a better testament upon it he came and paid the whole debt and hee having satisfied his Father hee received under his Fathers hand that he had paid every farthing and that he was satisfied and that upon that satisfaction his people should be discharged Now this plea is grounded upon iustice it selfe Observe but how fully and clearly the Apostle speakes the same things in the 1. of John 1.7 the Apostle tels us expresly that the blood of Christ his Son cleanseth from all sins and here If any man sinne we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and hee is the propitiation for our sins and againe in the former Chapter If we confesse our sinnes God is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins Mark well that the Apostle grounds himself upon Christs satisfaction namely his blood that doth cleanse us from all sin Upon this ground hee doth conclude that it is an act of faithfulnesse and justice in God to forgive sinne I dare say none are so ignorant in these daies of light as to thinke there is such a proportion between confession of sin and forgivenesse of sinne that confession can ballance forgivenesse and so consequently make it an act of justice No the Apostle doth ground the force of justice upon the blood of Christ that is shed Therfore if you do observe it well you shall find that the Apostle speakes of confession by way of anticipation or prevention of fear you know the common Proverb in the world concerning a Malefactor apprehended is Let him confesse say wee and he shall be hanged Why so because if it be disclosed the Law lays hold upon him and hee shall be sure to die for it and therefore in naturall policy his safety lies in concealing of it But now if satisfaction hath beene made by a friend of his to the Law and accordingly a pardon sued out for him there is no danger in his confession at all Now the Apostle in this place having before said that the blood of Christ his Sonne cleanseth us from all our sinnes from hence he gathers incouragement unto the people of Christ that they should not fear so as to conceal their sins lest being known they should do them a mischief But saith he lay all open before the Lord there is nodanger to be supected now For God is faithfull and just to forgive them therefore the hiding of them should prevent no evill because no evill should come upon them for them though they were laid open never so naked Therefore was this spoken by the Apostle to take away fear and this is the â—rue meaning of the Holy Ghost therein I say to take away fear from the damage that would ensue if we should confesse our sins what they are Paul writing to Timothy mark what he ascribes to participating of the excellencies of Christ even of righteousnesse and justice I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousnesse Marke a crown of righteousnesse is laid up in which is included the discharge from sin and participating of glory and a crown of righteousnesse prepared and laid up But mark the foundation of his confidence that he shall partake of it It is a righteous Judge that shall give it he shall give it out of righteousnesse it self justice shall prevail with him to do this thing for him Whence it is that Christ is called so frequently Righteousnesse The Lord our righteousnesse as you have it in the 33. of Jeremiah a Prophesie concerning the righteous Branch and his name shall be called The Lord our righteousnesse that is the Lord that is righteous makes us one with God and doth communicate his own righteousnesse unto us that we may be the delight of the Father Give me leave to tell you beloved that God is so unchangeable in all his Attributes that even Christ himself is not able to obtain any thing of the Father that may be any wayes prejudiciall to the nullifying of any attribute whatsoever I say Christ himself can get nothing of the Father whereby his justice may suffer or be violated Christ must make it clear that justice shall have its full due and God shall not need to bate one grain of what justice doth expect or else Christ himselfe can have nothing of the Father For Christ came not to destroy the Law and so he saith himself much lesse did Christ come to destroy that which is essentiall unto God Gods justice is essentiall unto him If Christ violate justice he should destroy the very being of God himselfe Therefore without giving justice satisfaction this would be a derogation to the Father therfore when Christ doth plead with the Father for the
sons of men that they might have discharge from sin he doth make it manifest that all he doth aske of the Father he doth ask according unto justice nay Christ makes it to appear that justice is as much satisfied in discharging of Believere from their sins as it is in the damnation of the Reprobates in hell for their sins Justice 〈◊〉 no more right in their damnation then it hath in the others acquittance and discharge In the damnation of the Reprobates in Hell to satisfie justice there is no more but the wrath of God revealed from Heaven and executed upon them Now for those Believers that are the members of Christ and are discharged by Christ from their sins the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven and poured out upon his Son in their behalf who sustained in respect of the proportion of justce equivalently to all the torments the Repriobates in Hell do sustain So that Christ hath as fully satisfied the justice of God for his elect as it is satisfied in the damned in Hell who suffer in their own persons Surely there had been no need of Christs coming into the world if Believers might have been saved and justice violated without satisfaction But now justice had been violated had not a proportionable recompence been made before the sin had been discharged from off the person committing the same Therefore the Psalmist speake admirably when he saith Mâ—rey and Truth hath met together and Righteousnesse and Peace have kissed each other This place is appropriated unto Christ shewing that in managing the work of Redemption of the sons of men as he doth exâ—â— Mâ—â—cy so he doth not diminish Justice and Righteousnesse but carries the businesse so that they both of them have their due and both of them have so their due that they agree one with another nay they do imbrace and kisse each other they come to rejoyce and triumph in the satisfaction of each other And therefore it is but an ignorant imagination in the hearts of some men that God will grow more remisse in respect of the sins of his own people that God is not so much offended with the nature of sin after Christ died as before For God hath all the abhorring detesting thoughts of sin in the nature of it since Christ is dead as he had before he died It is altogether as abominable unto him as before it was Christ did not come to make sin lesse filâ—â—â— to the Lord or to make a person where sin is more lovely or lesse hatefull before God but rather declares and sets forth the wrath of God 〈◊〉 sin in the highest degree Where eveâ— thâ— Lord seeth sin and not Christ upon the persâ—n taking away that sin the Lord cannot but hate both the sin and the sinner All the pleasure the 〈◊〉 takes in the sons of men proceeds from a purity Christ put upon them and the taking away of that sinfulnesse from them which otherwise could not but stir up indignation and wrath in the Lord against the perâ—â—ns where he findes it I say this is the ground upon which Christ pleadâ— justice that so it might appear there is no violation of it but the Lord is as well satisfied as if the person transgressing had lain under the wrath deserved in his own person I could wish I were able to speak to you in so sull and clear language that not one dram of this glorious mysterie of this Gospel of Christ might be hid for the comforting and refreshing of your spirits The thing I drive at being that all the people of Christ might know wherein lies their strong consolation not in themselves as if they did not sin nor in themselves as if they could mâ—ke amends for their sins but in him who hath made perfect amends for them and in whom they are accepted with the Father as if they themselves in their own persons had made this amends who hath presented them so compleat in himself unto the Fathers eye that the Lord is pleased to looke upon them as upon his own innocent Son and to take pleasure in them with the same pleasure that he takes in his Beloved And if ever you mean to have your consciences and your consolations established and well grounded concerning the pardon of your sins you must see that Christ hath onely pleaded and doth plead out your acquittance and discharge and this your indemnity even to the sans◠〈◊〉 of justice it self For if justice be not yet 〈◊〉 if the Lord hath yet a plea against your â—ouis if Christ hath not fully answered it but lefâ—â— us plea with God who shall stand up before him Christ being silent to plead for you Gods jurâ—ce comes in and pleads terribly against you and will exact satisfaction of you therefore you must receive this principle if you will be established in consolation that as there is mercy in respect of us who bring nothing in consideration of our sins so there is righteousnesse and justice in forgiving of sin in respect of Christ our Advocate that doth manage his office and makes it known for this very end that in knowledge thereof we might have the stronger consolation SERMON V. 1 John 2. vers 1 2. My little children these things I write unto you that you sin not And if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins WE have formerly as some of you may remember entered upon these words wherein the Apostle makes the proposall of the Grace of God in Christ the encouragement unto people to forbear sin The first thing we noted therefore from hence was this That the knowledge of an Advocate that becomes a propitiation for sin even for such as do commit sin I say the knowledge of this Grace is so far from opening a gap unto a licentious life that indeed it is the best means and help in the world to keep us from sinning The last day we fell upon the matter of the Argument which the Apostle useth to disswade little children from sin If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous Herein we proposed to be considered First what this Advocateship of Christ is and how Christ doth manage this office of Advocateship Secondly whose cause it is that Christ doth here plead Thirdly how Christ is gifted and qualified for this office of Advocateship Lastly what the issue of this Advocateship of Christ is proposed in the last words of the Text He is the propitiation for our sins Concerning the first what this office of Advocateship is the summe is briefly this The office of an Advocate is to plead out the cause of a man as it is in justice and right so that the Advocateship of Christ consists in pleading forth the discharge of his people even from the principle of right and justice Whereas it is objected and indeed seems a thing unreconcilable namely that
this discharge from sin goes all along under the notion of Grace and free Grace and pardon how can this be if it be meerly an act of justice for God to forgive sins This may easily be reconciled with a distinction discharge from sin in respect of us or what we can bring by way of recompence for the sin committed is meerly free Grace Wee can bring nothing at all Also in respect of Christ as he is allowed to stand in the room of us it is Grace too But thirdly Christ being allowed and admitted and the Lord having taken the full payment he could ask at the hands of Christ and acknowledging satisfaction upon such payment this act of Christ makes it an act of justice and right that God should forgive sins and therefore the Apostle in the first Chapter of this Epistle of John tells us That the blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanseth us from all our sins And therefore he concludes that he is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins But I cannot insist upon what I have formerly delivered Now peradventure some though I confesse a little over-curious desire to understand how Christ being now in Heaven doth execute this office of Advocateship or in what sense he is said to plead the cause of his people I call it a curious querie because the Scriptures are very sparing in declaring the manner of Christs managing this office That he is an Advocate is cleer enough how he doth deale with God in the execution of it is more obscure Frequent mention is made indeed of Christs intercession in Heaven be ever liveth to make intercession for us as the Apostle testifieth he doth intercede for the Saints saith the holy Gost yet though this be so frequently mentioned and the comfort of Gods people much laid upon this nâ—â—ely this intercession yet the Scriptures are very sparing what kind of intercession he makes whether he prays to his Father in heaven as he did upon earth or no The like I say oâ— this businesse of Advocateship Some few passages of Scripture there are that will give some â—int at least to have some glimmerings of the very manner of Christs Advocateship and the exâ—cution of it In Heb. 11.4 there is something that wil give us some light Bâ— faith saith the Apostle Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice then Cain whereby he received or obtained witnesse of God that he was righteous by which he being dead et speaketh that is by which sacrifice he being dead yet speaketh The sacrifices you know they were Christ in the Antitype for all the life of sacrifices from which persons obtain testimony of God that they are righteous is Christ himself And it is Christ in sacrifice that speaks even when the sacrifice it selfe is offered I conceive therefore beloved as sacrifices speak in respect of a prevailing power they have with God when he sits in judgement we are to conceive likewise of the Advocateship of Christ which iâ— nothing else but the speaking of Christ is in such a kinde managed after such a manner Christ speaks as sacrifice speaks for indeed Christ as Advocate pleads only as a sacrifice form an In the 12th Chapter of the same Epistle and the 14. verse you have another expression having a little more cleernesse in it We are come saith the Apostle to Mount Sion the City of the living God to an innumerable company of Angels and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things then the blood of Abel Here you see whereas the Apostl in the former Chapter imports a voyce or a plea in the mouth of sacrifices in this Chapter and verse he speaks more plainly and puts a voyce or plea to that which is the life of sacrifices namely the blood of sprinkling the blood of Jesus Christ Wee are come unto the blood of sprinking And this blood is that which speaks better things then the blood of Abel You know that there was a strong plea in the blood of Abel which cryed from earth to heaven till it brought vengance upon the head of Cain The blood of Christ hath a stronger plea and hath a stronger cry and is for better purposes So that under favour for in this I shall not contend much so far as I can see the value and working and desert and preciousnesse of the bloodshed of Christ that is the plea that Christ makes as Advocate in heaven that when a Believer doth commit sin the efficacy of this blood-shed is fresh in the pretence of the Lord in the behalfe of that poore wretch that hath thus sinned I say the blood is present and the whole efficacy power and vertue of that blood is fresh in the thoughts of the Lord. And as it is thus effectuall and powerfull it procures the discharge and brings the discharge and acknowledgement of the Lord to his thoughts too if I may so speak whereby he is pacified towards them and pleased with them This is alwayes before him and present with him yea present before him when the sins that a Believer commits are present and the counterplea of the value of the blood of Christ overcomes the naturall plea of the sin it selfe But I will not dwell upon this but rather hasten to a second thing very considerable which is Whose cause it is that Christ doth plead with the Father or for whom the value and vertue of his blood doth plead I remember the Disciples when Christ spake generally concerning his betraving were very inquisitive Is it I saith one Is it I saith another I doubt not but in regard of the prevalency of the plea of the blood of Christ many persons present will fal upon this inquiry Is it I that he means is he my Advocate Am I his client to plead my cause I shall endeavour to make it cleer and to resolve it is the Apostle doth here propose it The plea that Christ puts up for the persons whose câ—use he doth undertake are first all sorts of Believers whatsoever high or low rich or poor â—ay strong or weak Christ I say pleads their cause he is the Advocate of the weakest Believer iâ— the world Nay more he is the Advocate of the weakest Believer when he is the greatest sinner I mean when he falls foulely when he falls it may be through the weaknesse of his faith making him suspect that Christ will be silent in his cause in regard of such failings and sinfulnesse I say he is then as properly the Advocate of such a person a Believer who peradventure falls into some scandalous evill at that very time when this person that is a Believer falls thus Mark but the Apostle If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father he makes no exception neither in respect of persons nor in respect of sins If any man sin he doth not say if any man sin meerly of infirmity and common frailty but
be are more able to plead a cause and can doe it better then some Sergeant at Law or some others that are called but yet because he is not called he must hold his tongue Beloved were Christ our Advocate a Novice and not graduated if he were not called to the Bar though he can plead never so excellently with God he could not be heard God will give a call before he heare So Christ is called Yet again when men are called to be Counsellors yet they cannot plead at every Bar. At the Common-pleas none plead but a Sergeant at law though many Counsellors be able Lawyers better gifted then some Sergeants yet this will not suffice he is not called to that Bar in speciall and therefore they must not come till they have the cal as the Sergeants have The Lord doth not bid us to seek his face without a Mediator but he that is the Advocate at the Court of Heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ that is one Man the Man Christ He that hath the best Rethoricke in the world to plead his cause must have him as a Sergeant to plead for him he cannot be admitted into this Court to plead for himself The Ministers of God are in some sort the pleaders of our cause yet they themselves must have this Sergeant to plead for them when they come to this tribunall of God and he alone is admitted to it And it is a great matter to know what kinde of Christ he is that is singled out and then you must know that if all the world offer this service unto you to plead your cause before God it would not avail if this Man Christ were not freely assign'd and called to plead your cause you are gone for ever nothing in the world can be heard but Christ Obj. You will say the servants of God are heard when they pray Answ I say Christ is onely heard when he Prayes you must pray in faith saith James Let him not think that he shall obtaine any thing at the hand of the Lord that wavers he must ask in faith that is he must ask in Christ for faith rests not upon it self but upon Christ It is Christ gets every thing for men it is not they themselves nor their prayers but it is Christ that prevails Now this Advocate Christ he speaks his minde and is admitted to speak his minde to the full But this is not all Christ is gifted and qualified that he may plead effectually There may be some unrighteous Judge in the world that may call men for favour as a father calls his son whether he be gifted and qualified or no that is not regarded This man for some by-respects shall come to the Bar but God is a righteous Judge a Judge that hath no partiality Christ indeed is his Son but Christ his Son is not called meerly for favour but as he calls his Son so he breeds his Son You know beloved that at the Inns of Court the Judges and primest Lawyers are teachers of Students and when they finde them to be proficients then they call them and admit them to the Bar. So Christ is the Student and the Father he doth instruct and tutor him he breeds him up if I may so speak after the manner of men to be fit for the Advocateship and then when he was fit he put him out unto it You shall find anointing as in the word Christ to import gifting of men when they are called out Aaron he was anointed he was gifted to make atonement and so of Saul when Samuel anointed him the Text saith God gave him another he gave him a regall heart and when hee made him a King he gave him the heart of a King he gave him a kingly spirit And this was that which Solomon prayed for when the crown was set upon his head that God would give him a wise and understanding heart to goe in and out before his great people and the Lord answered him and gave him wisdome so that there was none before him nor after him like unto him Even so God did with Christ he was anointed to be our Advocate and as he anointed him he gifted him for it as he saith I have laid help upon one that is mighty Christ is the person that must bring help and therefore his person shall be mighty In Psal 68. vers 18. you shall see there that God did gift Christ when he called him forth Thou art ascended up on high thou hast led captivity captive and received gifts for men Here the office of Christ is to deliver captives and for this purpose must be gifted if he be not qualified unto it he will fail in the execution of it The Apostle recites the same passage but above all that place in Isaiah 42. and the 2 3 4 5. verses doth manifestly cleer this matter Behold my servant saith the Lord mine elect in whom my soule delighteth hee shall not fail neither shall he be discouraged I will hold him with my right hand he shall not be dismayed saith the Text Here you see in the words how many expressions the Lord useth to shew how he qualifieth his Son Christ that so he may be fit to manage his businesse But further in the second place he is not only called Christ but he is Christ Jesus saith the Text and the title doth further illustrate the excellency of Christs qualifications to be an Advocate Here is Christ Jesus Jesus is a name importing the effectuall prevalency of Christ in his plea. I will not stand to cleer the signification of it by the Etymologie of the word but for a more sensible understanding of it the word is taken up and examined by the Holy Ghost himself in Mat 1. verse 21. when the Angel brings the tidings of his birth he gave his name They shall call his name Jesus for hee shall save his people from their sins Jesus is as much as to say a Saviour of people from sin Now see how admirably our Saviour is qualified hee hath not only Rethorick Law at his fingers ends as we say but he hath an admirable prevalency in his Rethorick There is not any cause that Christ yet took in hand that miscarried not any client that ever Christ pleaded for that at any time was cast but he that pleads is still the Saviour of his people This Jesus pleads so that he saves them from their sins It is admirable to consider let the sins produced against a person be never so many never so hainous let the witnesses come in and swear never so punctually and prove never so fully the crimes committed against such a Law yet such is the faculty of this Advocate with the Father that he is Jesus that hee stops the judgement the sentence cannot goe forth This Christ as he is Jesus is first the baile of mens persons till the day of payment You know the nature of bailing persons should go to prison presently
upon the trespasse but bail takes men off till judgement be given or perfect satisfaction be made As wee have sinned so in legality wee ought to lie by it presently but Christ comes before hand even the Advocate and passeth his word for these persons that there shall be currant payment in due time binding himself body for body that there shall be appearance at the day but that is not all when the day is come though most witnesses prove point-blanck the crime objected and the Law pleads the just desert of the punishment provided in that behalf yet this Advocate steps in and payes all the Law can demand I my self have satisfied the Law on their behalf saith he therefore there can be no more asked of them This you know that if a man have borrowed an hundred pounds and he be sued never so violently and witnesses come in and prove the debt never so cleerly yet if a surety comes in and enters bond for him yea and payes the debt for him if he hath been discharged hath an acknowledgement of satisfaction made on the behalf of that person then there is no judgement comes out against that person that borrowed the mony though the thing be proved This is the case with our Advocate he is the Surety of a better Testament and pleading when matter of fact is proved and the Law speakes directly against it and justice pleads for such a penalty to be inflicted yet then is the Saviour produced that makes currant and full payment There could not be expected any stopping of the sentence for the client by pleading for them but there must first be a satisfying of all This is the Saviours office and as a Saviour so he is the satisfier Thirdly this Advocate is Jesus Christ the righteous and this title imports two things to us and they are very considerable and they have either respect unto us or they have respect unto God and both of them shew how admirably Christ is gifted how sufficiently he is qualified For this office of Advocateship as it hath reference unto us he is Christ Jesus the righteous as much as to say the true and faithfull Faithfulness and righteousness are taken for one and the same thing for dealing truly with persons Many a one loseth a goodcause for the unfaithfulnesse of his Counsel they make against their clients for bribes and play on both sides they deal not honestly with men they carry the business in a dilative way they will not dispatch the suit they have all the arguments of delay But this your Advocate and our Advocate is the righteous Advocate the faithfull and true witness he dealeth ingenuously and uprightly this one you may trust and put all things into his hand Many times men put their whole business into their Counsels hands to sink or swim But here is an Advocate that is faithfull here is no danger of sinking you may put all into his hands you need not fear at all he is the righteous and faithful Christ the faithfull Advocate But the principal thing I intended in this righteousness is that wherein the strength of his argument lieth that he doth plead in the behalf of his client that is the Advocate Christ is so righteous that this very righteousness of his shall carry the cause on your side even to a full dicharge even from all sins whatsoever Beloved the whole security of persons from wrath and Hell from sin and death hangs upon this one hinge of his righteousnesse As there is force enough in his righteousnesse so the cause prospers on the clients side if that should fail nothing in the world can uphold the cause It will be therefore of mighty concernment to consider First how cleere the Scripture is that layes all the burthen of the task in pleading upon his righteousnesse and further to consider what kind of righteousnesse of Christ that is that carries such a strength in Christs pleading for his people Both of them need to be cleered especially the latter passage For the first the Scriptures will be cleer of themselves only the latter passage what kinde of righteousnes it is that hath that prevalency is to be made apparent A righteousnesse and his righteousnesse most grant but some mistake there is in the mindes of some people that reach not the height of the Gospel what that righteousness is that hath such a prevalency The present time will not give me leave to handle it fully and I will not doe it by halves and therefore I will leave it to another time SERMON IV. 1 John 2. verse 1 2. If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins c. IN these words you have the Apostles conclusion and his Argument to inforce it his conclusion is that he would not have them to sin his argument is If any man doe sin c. The first thing that we have observed out of these words is this That it is a powerfull argument to prevaile with persons such as John writes unto not to sin to let them know that though they do sin yet they have an Advocate with the Father We are fallen upon the consideration of the Argument it self First in the matter of it Secondly in the forâ—e of it Every Argument hath some firmnesse in it self from whence is produced some good inference That which hath not a power in it self is not able to make good another thing Concerning the matter of this Argument you have First the Apostles Supposition Secondly a Provision against that which this Suppesition might doe or against that which he doth suppose a man might do First I say here is a Supposition You may sin though you be little children The Provision against the evill that sin might doe is in the following words Though we do sin yet we have an Advocate with the Father ' And concerning this matter of the Argument we have these things proposed considerable First what the office is that is here ascribed unto Christ in that he is called Advocate We have an Advocate and how Christ in Heaven doth exercise this office Secondly whose cause it is that Christ doth plead by verâ—â—e of this his office Thirdly how this Advocate is qualified unto this office Lastly the issue and the event of the execution of this office Concerning the first this Advocateship oâ— Christ is a plea founded or grounded upon Justice Christ doth not appeal in his plea to meere mercy but his client shall stand or fall as Justice it self shall pronounce a sentence And concerning the second clause of this first part Christ doth exercise this his office in Heaven rather virtually then vocally He speaks as his blood doth speak We are come to the blood of sprinkling saith the Apostle in the 12th Chapter to the Hebrews that speaks better things then the blood of Abel We came further to consider whose cause it is that
righteousnesse by which we come to have our discharge from sin The Apostle tells us in the 2. Chap. of the Epistle to the Collos In him speaking of Christ dwelâ— the fulnesse of the God head bodily and wee are compleat in him saith the Text the fulnesse of the God-head dwells in Christ and we are compleat in that fulnesse of his our compleatnesse consists in and springs from the fulnesse of the God-head in Christ as from its fountaine There is certainly something in it worth our obseruation that the Holy Ghost should take notice of a fulnesse of the God-head in Christ before he speaks of a compleatnesse which we have in Christ Surely it doth import that Christ doth communicate something that is Gods own unto us and yet this will not import any essentiall thing that is wrought in our persons as if Christ did substantially change our natures into Gods nature or Gods into ours which were a grosse absurdity But this there is there is a communication of an infinite value and vertue to the active and passive obedience of Christ For the righteousnesse that becomes ours by which we stand compleat with God it must have so much value as I said as may stand in proportion to the breach of the Law of God Now if there be but a righteousnesse of Christs humane nature consisting in his active conformity to the Law and suffering for the breach of the Law and we to stand in this righteousness this righteousnesse will not make us compleat For mark he that is compleat by the righteousnesse of Christ that righteousnesse must serve for every purpose whatsoever if there should be some defect which the righteousnesse of Christ as it is acted by him in his human nature doth not make up in respect of such defect we could not be compleat by it although that even as it is humane it is absolutely compleat in his kinde and without defect This righteousnesse of a man doth consist in a conformity to the will of God revealed and that in all relations whatsoever and in all actions of those relations Suppose a Magistrate besides his common duties he is to perform as he 〈◊〉 man or a Christian must perform the 〈…〉 his publike relation he must do justice in judgâ—ment and the like Now 〈◊〉 he should be exact in all the common 〈◊〉 as he is a Christian and should still fail in 〈◊〉 duties oâ— this publike relation he is not compleatly righteous because there is a want of a Magâ—â—â—rares righteousnesse Now what is it that makes this man compleat in Christ it must be the fiâ—â—ing up that which is empty in him there must be that found in Christs righteousnesse that may fill up this deffect or else there cannot be compleatnesse in this person So likewise if a father or a mother doe faâ—l in the duties of their relation they must go to Christ for a righteousnesse to supply this and all other defects Now where will you finde it in Christ He never was a Father nor a mother Christ did never perform these severall offices requisite to the severall relations Christ never brought up children Christ was never a Magistrate When a father failes in the duties of his reâ—ation where can he finde out a righteousnesse fit for him to make it up in Christ Now therefore the divine nature either must adde some eminency of worth that must serve in the stead thereof unto that the humane righteousnesse of Christ which his active and passive obedience as humane did not particularly effect or else there cannot be a compleat righteousnesse given by Christ unto this person and therefore whereas it is objected against the active obedience of Christ for as much as it doth not serve for us inregard it is not every way answerable unto the unrighteousnesse done by man therefore there must come a righteousnesse of faith in stead of that righteousnesse I say the remedy is worse then the disease and my ground is this Iâ— Christs active obedience through non-performance of some particulars required of us be not a compleat righteousnesse for every circumstance required much lesse faith wherein as acted by us there is both omission of good and coÌ„mission of evil which simply is sin whereas the active obedience of Christ could not be charged with the least sin in any kinde I say much lesse can faith fill up this emptiness being it self sinfull seeing the active obedience of Christ being free from the least spot of sin only through not-performance of these severall duties of these severall relations and being but a created righteousnesse could not fill it up and therefore I collect from hence rather that a supply here is from the dignity of the God head which could not be in the active and passive obedience of Christ and this shall be in the stead of every particular circumstance which ought to have been in the perfect accomplishment thereof So that though we faile in our relations as of fathers and mothers and Magistrates And the active obedience of Christ hath not these particulars in it yet this is supplyed by the eminency of worth of the person being God himself and it cannot possibly be any otherwise supplyed but by the giving such infinite value and vertue to that which Christ did that though Christ did not every particular circumstance which is wanting in us yet notwithstanding it doth amount in value to all particulars which we should have done Now it remaineth that we should onely consider wherein the strength of the plea of that righteousnesse doth consist we have considered what that righteousness is namely the active and passive obedience of Christ made of infinite value by a supply of worth from the dignity of the person super-added thereunto we should now I say have considered wherein the strength of the plea of that righteousness doth consist There are but two wayes by which persons may be acquitted in judgement being charged with any crime Either by pleading and proving not guilty or by pleading and proving ful satisfaction made though there be guilt either of these two wayes are enough to plead out a full discharge As for the first way of plea Christ manages it not that is Christ doth not plead non factum Christ doth acknowledge this and that person did commit such and such transgression It is true this he doth not deny but the strength of the plea of Christ doth consist in the latter that though the fact be done yet Christ by vertue of this righteousnesse pleads out a satisfaction and by vertue of that satisfaction hee pleads out a ful discharge for those that are his members SERMON VIII 1 John 2. vers 1 2. Wee have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins c. YOu have heard from these word First an Argument to prevaile over the people of God to abstain from sinning My little children I write these things to you
there may be union before such coming But now to come to the proofes to the texts of Scripture that are brought in for the confirmation of it You will not come to me that you might have life The strength of the Argument it seems lies in this there is no life till there be coming and coming is for life it self there fore there is no union till there be coming by way of believing For answer to this and so to cleer up the meaning of the Holy Ghost In this text of Scripture we are first to consider what our Saviour means by coming in this place You will not come to me And secondly we shall consider what this life is that Christ speaks of which they should have in coming to him And to begin with the first what that coming is our Saviour speaks of in in this place You will not come to me that you might have life I will not insist upon this that Christ did speak to the opposers men that did contest with him and so that he doth speak to persons with reference and relation unto others For I verily believe though our Saviour speaks this to the Pharisces who certainly never should come to 〈◊〉 Christ nor have life by Christ yet his intent was to speak to them to whom the life of Christ did belong and who should come to him Let us therefore I say consider what he means by coming in this place In Iohn 6. vers 44. there you shall have our saviour plainly expounding unto you what he doth mean by coming unto him No man saith he there cometh unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him Mark the expression well and therein you shall perceive what Christ means by first coming unto him For in that place You will not come to me that you might have life Christ speaks of first coming and not of after coming No wan cometh unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him In which words you may perceive the act of first coming to Christ is rather by and from the Father then by any activity in the person that comes For coming there is plainly attributed unto a drawing act of the Father So that the first coming to Christ is just like the coming of a froward childe to meet the mother the childe hath taken a stomach and is sullen and dogged the childe will not stir if the childe be carried it strives and strugles wherefore the Father of this childe is fain to take up this childe and by a kinde of force to carry it with an overmastering strength where meat is The childe comes to his meat but how not by any act of the childe as if he did come of himself but by the power and over-mastering of him that brings the childe A coach we say comes to town when it is but drawn to town and yet it is said to come The Coach is wholly passive the childe is passive in coming to meat and so every elect person at his first coming to Christ the coming of this elect person to Christ is a passive coming And the coming of this person is nothing else but the Fathers over-mastering and drawing of this person elected unto Christ In the 31. of Ieremiah the Lord speaking there of the conversion of Ephraim Thou hast chastised me saith Ephraim I was chastised as a bullock unacquainted to the yoak convert thou me and I shall be converted Ephraim here appropriates the act of his conversion not to any coming of his own but only to the Lord himself acknowledging that the work of bringing unto Christ is the work of Gods own drawing nay he sheweth that he himself was so far from coming that he did confesse that when God took him first in hand to bring him to Christ he was as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoak It is true in a common speech the bullock is said to come unto the yoak even a bullock unaccustomed but how by meer force he is brought to it and not that he is brought willingly to it Beloved you must either establish the rotten Principle of Free-will that is a pervious principle of a mans own spirit to come to Christ or you must confesse that persons at their first coming unto Christ are meerly passive It is a known principle we are first acted or actuated before we do or can act there is not only a weaknesse simply before calling but there is a deadnesse and therefore there cannot be coming and if there be it is meerly passive and the whole businesse must be the Fathers own drawing In the 110. Psalme and about the 3. verse the Lord speaks to Christ thus Thy people shall be a willing people in the day of thy power There is no willingnesse till the over-ruling and overcoming power of Christ comes in to make and frame a willingnesse even contrary to the naturall will The summe then briefly is this and so to apply it to the Text objected You will not come to me that you might have life that is it hath not pleased the Father to draw you unto me that you might have life I cannot conceive how there can be any other sense given to the Text but that it is the Fathers sole and only power and the overcoming act of his to bring to Christ that there may be life Now what will be the sense of the words it will be only his there is no principle of life from Christ â—ill the Father by his over-ruling and overâ—nastering power do bring unruly and crosse spirits unto Christ Object But it may be some will say though this coming to Christ be the act of the Fathers drawing yet there is an act of believing when the Father doth draw Answ I answer it is not possible there â—hould be an act of our believing while the Father is first drawing mark what believing is in summe and substance it is but a yeelding to â—he minde of the Lord revealed I say the yeelding of mans spirits to the minde or God while persons are contradicting persons they are not believing persons in respect of those things that they do contradict To believe and to contradict the same thing is a contradiction For to believe is to sit down satisfied with the thing that is related and reported as long therefore as persons are contradicting persons as long as their spirits are crosse spirits as long as they do kick against that which God doth propose unto them so long do they not believe Now while the Father is drawing that very drawing is an argument of resisting and a kinde of kicking against that which the Father doth aim at For if there were yeelding if there were a submitting if there were a willing coming on to the truth reveald what need there any drawing men do not draw those things that do come of themselves And therefore I say during the Fathers first act of drawing the Father laying violent hold as it were upon
As a wife of youth so the Lord for a moment hid his face but as a wise that is grown up so the Lord will not be wroth with her nor rebuke her any more The Apostle Paul doth most excellently expound this different estate of the Church in the time before and after Christ In the 3. Chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians and the latter end of that Chapter and the beginning of the 4. Chapter There was saith he a time of minority wherein even an heir being but a childe differeth nothing at all in respect of outward carriage from a servant though even then he be Lord of all In the 4. Chap. and verse 1. to the Galatians and this time of being a servant is not for ever saith the Apostle but till the time appointed of the Father Here in respect of outward usage during this minority there is no difference between such a person and him that is not an heir at all but he is under Tutors and Governours that is he feels alike of the rod and still this is till the time appointed of the Father See how the Apostle expounds the words even so we saith he while we were children in our non-age were in bondage under the elements of the world we did partake of the common calamities of the world but how long was this VVhen the fulnesse of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons There was a redemption even in the minority of the Church when the Church was at the youngest age there was redemption but not a redemption in respect of that which he speakes of here that was a redemption from that condition wherein the heire did not differ from a servant therefore most properly according to the coherence of the words the redemption most properly and specially spoken of here was a redemption from a condition wherein they did not differ from servants into a condition wherein they should differ So in the 54. Chap. of Isaiah verse 8. there is such a difference in this two fold estate of the Church as is between a wife of youth and a wife grown up What is that you will say I answer you know even among men they marry children when they are but two or three yeares of age the childe she is a married wife and yet for all this while she is foure or five yea six or seven yeers of age she is used as one that is not married there is no difference between this childe and one that is not married both are corrected and both are whipped but when she cometh to riper yeers of age and hath the actuall fruition of her husband then she cometh to be freed from the rod and receiveth all the immunities and priviledges of a wife which she though a wife did not enjoy before And so in this Text the Church as a childe under age and wife of youth is visited for a moment and there is a kind of hiding the face of God while she is as the wife of youth but when the time of riper age is come then this shall be as the waters of Noah to me as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more drown the earth so have I sworn that I will not be worth with thee nor rebuke thee Thus beloved you see that God once reconciled he never falls out with his people any more It is true indeed he doth chastise them hee doth correct them but he never doth it in wrath he never doth it in sury In the 27. of Isaiah and the 4. verse speaking of his Church that he would watch it night and day he saith fury is not in me he hath no acquaintance with fury in reference unto such persons And therefore although it be true there may be afflictions and these afflictions may be exceeding tart to the flesh even when a person is grown and when a Church is grown up yet notwithstanding there is not wrath in these afflictions Every sonne saith God I love I rebuke and chasten There is love even in chastisements and the fruit of it is love to take away sinne The end why God sends these afflictions is not in wrath for sinne but to purge them from their filth God takes occasion when his people doe sinne to chastise them in love but that chastisement is no fruit of the wrath of God it is no fruit of the curse of God nor sentence of the Law but the tender compassions of a loving Father that makes use of them for his childrens good There is as much reconciliation with God under the rod as when persons are not under the rod A father may love a childe as dearely when hee corrects him as when he gives him plums It is thus with God children reconciled to him as he corrects a child committing a fault he never whips him but there is feare he will commit it againe and therefore he doth chastise him to prevent a fault He doth not punish him to pacifie his anger for the fault committed So God in respect of the Church for the purging of his Church and for triall in these respects he will chastise and in chastising he will convey the Spirit of amendment to them but in respect of what is done were it not to have them purged for the future he would never afflict his people for that which is past So that I say though this be the great Objection that troubles mens spirits they fall daily into troubles and afflictions here is wrath and enmity reconciliation is not firm God is now fallen out yet beloved know that God is not fallen out with his people when he chastiseth them No man under Heaven can suffer under afflictions more then Christ himself did yet saith God hee is my beloved Son not my hated Son but my beloved Son I afflict It is true indeed as the Apostle Paul speaks No affliction at first seems joyous but grievous yet afterwards it bringeth forth the pleasant fruits of righteousnesse to those that are exercised therewith Consider this one thing Can God poure wrath when he intends onely the good of his people to purge his people to bring them as gold out of the fire Certainly what David had experience of shall be the fruit of all the afflictions of all the members of Christ though they be never so many and great Before I was afflicted I went astray but now I have learned to keep thy Laws Whereupon hee saith that it was good for him he was afflicted God afflicts to teach God afflicts to draw home God afflicts to refine and purge You know the Merchant doth not in wrath fling away his gold when he puts it into the refining pot it is no argument of lesse love onely he would have his gold tried and refined and the drosse taken away out of it It is so with God
divine nature gave up it self though only in the second Person God was in Christ as much as to say whole God the divine nature assumed a humane nature and so makes up a Christ And thus God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself You shall see in the Apostles expression elsewhere that the beginning of life in a member of Christ flows from Christ Your life is hid with Christ in God It is such another phrase as the two former It is hid with Christ in God that is it is hid in that God who by being man is become Christ For that is all the difference between God and Christ all the difference I say is between God simply and absolutely considered in himself and God considered as ineffably united to the humane nature God I say thus united becomes Christ and so in such a union is reconciling the world unto himself and takes the Church who is his body The Apostle tells us further Now I live but he presently checks himself yet not I but Christ lives in me Christ is the soul of the body and as the body without a soul is dead so a person without Christ is dead I will not dispute that needlesse dispute of the Philosophers whether the soul be seated in the head principally or in the heart but this I am sure of the life and soul of the Church is in the head of the Church I am the way the truth and the life he is the life of the soul of man as the body without the soul is dead even so if there could be such a thing as the body of the Church without Christ that body were but a dead thing It hath all animal vertue from him alone It hath all life in all respects from him Take life in the first fruits in its sence or motion all spirituall sence all spirituall motion all spirituall actions and activenesse for action receives being and beginning only from Christ Hee is given for a covenant to open the blind eyes All eyes are blind till Christ opens them there is no seeing till the body receive sight and seeing from the head The head causeth us also to sinell as wel as to see the sweet savour of the ointment of Christ that makes the Virgins love him Because of the sweet savour of thy oyntments therefore do the Virgins love thee Now this savour the smell thereof being as the smel of a field that the Lord hath blessed to smel this is the sole work of Christ himselfe So also the spiritual taste to tast how good God is to relish the fatnesse and marrow and sweetnesse of the spirituall wine well refined upon the lees is all by the power of Christ and hath its being from Christ So all our feeling to feel comfort joy unspeakable and glorious all is from Christ Christ opens our eyes he boars the eares he causeth us to smell You will say all this is the worke of the Spirit why doe you say it is the work of Christ Mark what John saith in the 16. chapter the words are these He that is the spirit shal glorifie me For he shall receive of mine and he shall shew it unto you The Spirit himselfe as he dealeth with the members of Christ is the agent of Christ proceeding from Christ communicating that that is Christs to those members So that the Spirit is as it were the conduit-pipe through whom the fulnesse of the fountaine conveyes it selfe and runs forth to every member The Spirit is as the veins and nerves in the naturall body The blood you know hath its fountain from the liver but the veins carry it into every part of the body And as the naturall eye cannot see except the nerves feed it with visive spirits so neither can any eye behold the secrets of the Lord the hidden things of Christ such as he thanks his Father hee reveales unto babes while he hides them from the wise of the world except the Lord Christ do feed the members with his own Spirit It is not the eye that doth discerne and see of it selfe but the spirits that do come from the head cause sight by the eye For there may be an eye and no sight where a want of these spirits are Looke over all the Book of God and you shall finde that there is no action that comes from the Spirit but Christ is the head and spring of it You shall finde the strength and hearts of people faile when hee withdrawes himselfe It is hee that is the strength of them for ever Feare not saith the Text be not dismayed I will uphold thee I will strengthen thee There must needs be miscarriage for want of power except Christ come with his strength and power to uphold Therefore when Paul exhorts those to whom he writes to worke the workes of the Lord hee gives them this counsel Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and again saith hee Put on the whole armour of God Now it is a vain thing to think of taking up of arms except there be strength to manage them Saul thought David to be a puny when he was to sight with Goliah and had no regard to him although hee might have good armour on hee was too little a man What Saul thought of David is true of all the whole armour of God it is to no purpose except men be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might And therefore when Paul was in a strait hee begged and begged again to have strength given though hee had not an answer to his mind yet God told him My grace is sufficient for thee My strength is made perfect in weaknesse All persons are weak but as they have strength in Christ Yea there is no strength but what is his and is sent by him Let me tell you this and I beseech you consider they that have Christ for their head they have an infinite advantage above the closest hypocrite in the world although he goe never so farre All he doth is but from a weake principle Christ is not the principle of that hee doth but hee that hath Christ for his head hee hath a spring of fulnesse The Holy Ghost tells us He is full of Grace and Truth and in him dwells the fulnesse of the God-head bodily and It pleased the Father that in him all fulnesse should dwell So that you may plainely see that the preaching of Christ as head and setting up of all the glory of Christ is not the preaching of licentious liberty to men Hee that can win a person to be a true member of this head that is Christ hee brings that person into a fat soile hee transplants him from a barren soile from a rocky soil into a rich soile whereby he come to abound in all manner of fruitfulnesse And certainly beloved fruitfulnesse will be more abundant as the soule can apprehend it selfe by true faith to be a part of this head