be that Love which hath so loved me Let him carry away all my affection who thus hath carried all my transgressions He shall have my love whilst I live by whose love it is that I live Oh let my love at the Sacrament revive where there is the revived memory of my Lord his love to me None but those foolish and mad creatures who are in love with their faults and with their misery will withhold their love from Christ who delivered us from both 3. Did Christ die such a death in thy stead let this then awaken thee to consider how thou wouldst resent another mans suffering for thee and speak what interess thy friend should purchase in thy affections by his undergoing afflictions for thee Wouldst thou love thy rich friend that took thy debts on him wouldst thou do less than dearly love thy skilful friend that cured thee of thy disease thy powerful friend at Court who rescued thee from a prison thy watchful friend who kept strict and careful watch lest thou shouldst be surprised and ruin'd whilst thou wert sleeping secure in greatest danger and in greatest ignorance and security But what wouldst thou say if thy friend should deliver thee from thine by making it his own disease or should go into a prison that thou mightest go out of it or expose himself to ruine that thou mightest be indemnified Just so did Christ for thee he did bear thy disease and took thy sickness upon him he became a prisoner first to unjust hands seizing on him and then to the grave which could not hold him yet a while he was a prisoner there for thy sake in thy stead and what acknowledgment wilt thou make of all this How wilt thou certifie the Christian world that thou dost well resent what Christ hath done if thou wilt not love him for doing it Thou lovest those that speak well of thee that bless thee that wish well to thee and endeavour to do thee good and what law reason or equity wilt thou pretend why thou dost not love Christ who speaks best of thee to his Father and who wished best to thee and hath done most for thee and all this by his dying a Curse for thee Let thy own heart ponder this and draw to a conclusion what ought to be done in this case say Had any man whom I know done this for me which Christ hath done I could not but love him and why do I not love Christ if I did see my friend loaded with curses and reproaches and bearing them patiently for me that I might not be reproached that I might not be cursed it would endear such a friend to me why now in the Sacrament the visible memorial of Christ's dying a Curse for me I do see such a friend so loaded for my sake that I might not be loaded with my deserved Curse I may not I will not be less to him than I would be to another I will love him more than any else for he hath done more for me than all could and I see it in the Sacrament the blessed memorial of his cursed Death Fourthly and lastly Is the Sacrament of the bloody Death of Christ a memorial of his dying an accursed death for me oh then I see the evidence of a love to me which surpasseth the love of best friends which indeed exceeds the thoughts and belief of most considerate men For who will believe beside a Christian who is taught by the revealed word of the God of truth that Christ would become a Curse for us Some men will hardly believe that the Apostle spake his very thoughts when he wished that he himself were accursed from Christ for his brethren his kinsmen after the flesh Some judge it so inconsistent with reason that they think the Apostle could not soberly sedately and rationally desire it but that he did use the liberty and freedom of an Orator to commend his greatest affection to his kindred by a greater expression But behold Reader Paul's wish for his kindred is Christ's own act for his what Paul wisht but could not do for his brethren Christ hath undertook and undergone for his brethren What some do think was too great for a rational and sober desire in the one hath been found not too great for the choice and performance of the other Now let Christ have but a serious view of this he hath done for thee and answer thy self this or such like questions Is that too little to engage my love which was too great for any to undertake but Christ Do I see Christ doing that which few men will believe a man could wish he mght do and do I still withhold my heart my affection from Christ Do I know that his love was stronger than death he was content to be accursed for the sake good life and salvation of Believers I see him for a while separated from God that he might bring me to God and now he shall have that love which is too great for any one since he hath done what is so great for me In the fifth place 5. Joy in believing a Sacramental grace The Believer's Joy is or at least might be considerably improved in the commemoration of Christ dying as a Curse for us It is not to be questioned whether joy and rejoycing through faith in the Lord be seasonable in our feasting with the Lord. Joy is the souls rest with delight in the Lord and such a disposition of mind doth the Lord require and accept at this seast Now let us observe how that his dying a Curse for us may increase our joy and this may appear 1. From the Nature of Joy which is the triumph of the mind in its freedom and deliverance from its fears or in its attaining and possessing of its hopes It is a rational security of our best hopes and a due removal of our worst fears singing a rest and happiness to the soul Joy is the rapture of our soul hearing and observing desired events sweetly keeping tune with our desires and hopes It is the Tripudium Animae the soul's dance to the Musick which the God of Heaven makes for it If there be any exstasies of joy it can be from no other harmony than which is heard not from Pythagoras his melodious spheres but from the Cross of our Blessed Lord seting Heaven and Earth in a blessed concent by his accursed Death The Philosopher will tell us Dilatatio cordis ob bonum praesens that Joy is the dilatation of the soul the enlarging of the heart to entertain a present desired good Good wished for is the Sun the heart is the Heliotrope the flower of the Sun Joy is the opening and turning of this flower towards the Sun This or somewhat like this is Joy Now in what can the soul triumph if not in its freedom from a dreadful Curse What may possibly be imagined will secure the rational hopes and wishes of a Christian better than Christ's
3. 3. The third and last concern of Faith is its present actings or fruit which it doth in some measure sustain the soul by whilst it waiteth for those great things to come for Faith is not all taken up with expectation it doth now possess much though it expect more all is not in reversion though the most though the best be Faith looks unto things hoped for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vt igitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat aliquando sisto sic 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significare potest actum habitumve fiducialem habentem vim non tantum statuminandi sperantem sed sistendi rem speratum Capellus in Heb. 11.1 yet in some sort gives them subsistence not only confirmeth the person who hopeth but sets before him as a thing present that good he hopeth for as the learned and judicious Divine Jacobus Capellus observeth on the word the Apostle useth Heb. 11.1 Indeed it seeth what is far off yet brings that which it seeth so near that it embraceth what it seeth Heb. 11.14 Faith is of very great and present advantage to the soul and exerts its power and vertue on the soul in these four particulars 1. Faith doth by the improvement of the Promises ratified in the blood of Christ our Sacrifice quiet and settle the soul in some good measure of peace and assurance This is one of the sweet and first-fruits of Faith that it quieteth the heart and pacifieth it whereas unbelief doth fill the heart with fears And a convinced soul under doubts is as restless as fears can make it for it is full of them Where there is little Faith there are usually on every awakening alarm as in Peter's case great fears Let not your hearts be troubled saith Christ cast out disquieting thoughts for saith he Ye believe in God Joh. 14.1 And indeed the Believer may well be quiet for he believeth on Christ of whom the God of Truth hath said That whoso believeth on him shall not be confounded 1 Pet. 2.6 Now this greatly pacifieth the soul it knows it shall not be confounded it hath received the earnest of a glorious inheritance and is sealed with the holy Spirit of Promise upon its believing Ephes 1.13 14. Amidst the many and great troubles the Apostle met with for the Gospel his Faith kept his heart in a very quiet and pacate frame I know saith he whom I have trusted 2 Tim. 1.12 He speaketh of himself as of one whom no troubles could much disquiet for he did both know that he believed and he knew whom he believed Hence it is that when he prayed for Peace and Joy to fill the believing Romans cap. 15.13 He makes express mention of their Faith as the means of their Peace Pax acquiritur fide Vatablus in loc Now the God of Hope fill you with all Joy and Peace in believing c. Peace and sedateness of mind is one of the first-born of Faith as on the contrary disquietude of mind is the first-born of despondency and unbelief So David's experience assureth us who found his quiet of mind decrease and the disquiet thereof to increase as his trust in God did decrease therefore he rowseth up himself to trust in God that he might recover the calm of his spirit Why art thou cast down oh my soul and why art thou disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God Psal 42.11 This then is one of the present great businesses of Faith to quiet the heart and bring it into a peaceable state Now what can give the heart rest if such glorious things expected and secured to us do not The Believer may see all his hopes most inviolably and under the most sacred seals confirmed to him in the Death of Christ by Sacrifice and certainly if greatness of hopes accompanied with immutable assurance of a future enjoying them do not satisfie and quiet for present nothing ever will be able in this world to compose the spirit of any man How quietly doth an expectant about Court wait for his preferment and advance upon the promise of his Friend and Patron who possibly may fail How well will it become us to wait quietly for our great advancement on the Promise Covenant and Oath of our God in which it is impossible he should fail us 2. Faith doth at present revive and refresh the soul it administreth cordials to it I had fainted if I had not believed saith David Psal 27.13 And he prescribeth waiting or believing as an excellent preservative against such faintness and despondence of spirit v. 14. on which he resolveth at what time he is afraid he will trust in God Psal 56.3 No support no reviving comparable to that Faith doth aford That Peace and that Joy which the Apostle Rom. 5.2 hath annexed unto Faith is a Peace with God and a Rejoycing in hope of the glory of God viz. That God will make us glorious in that glory which he hath prepared for all that believe Now they that expect on unfailing promises such Glory may justifiably say that their inward man is renewed not in strength only but in comfort also day by day 2 Cor. 4.16 We faint not ver 16. though our outward man perish why what kept up their spirit did any thing but Faith The Apostle mentioneth nothing else For our inward man is renewed day by day while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen v. 18. While we look i. e. with an eye of Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Grotius paralleleth it with Heb. c. 11. v. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Syr. Laetari c. if from Arab. it is either amicum se praebuit or else quievit quietavit So Grotius paralleleth the place with Heb. 11.1 And the Syriack whether it use a native or a forein word in its translation doth use a word which implieth an eminent act of Faith When the heavy burthen of guilt overloadeth the heart when the violence strangeness and frequency of temptations sadneth the soul when fierce long and wasting persecutions make havock of the Church when spiritual dulness and deadness of soul afflicteth a Believer what but his Faith can or doth comfort and revive him Faith carrieth him to his Sacrifice in the blood whereof he seeth his God atoned and reconciled who then shall condemn A Covenant of grace and mercy what grace then can he want In this Sacrifice he seeth Christ hath perfected all that are sanctified and done all that which Legal Sacrifices shadowed out but could not work out viz. Perfect Reconciliation to God and full pacification of Conscience This revives the heart God speaks peace and Conscience speaks peace and Faith doth at present employ it self in ensuring and improving both these for the comfort of the Believer And
Christ unto the soul there the soul seeth the real Testimonys of his Saviour's love Last Wills or Testaments are those in which we profess all our affection Quibus affectum omnem fatemur Brisson de Form After this men can do no more at this time therefore they will do what they can for their beloved Friends This love is an immortal love attempting to fill the cistern to leave it full when the spring head dryes up it is a love surviving Death when the lover cannot a peice of Friendship rescued from the hand and power which kills thy Friend When Jacob could live no longer to love his Joseph his love could not die but fleeteth from his feeble dying heart and reposeth it self in the sacred and unviolate treasury of Jacobs last Will where it doth and shall still survive both the Lover and the Beloved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 48.22 1 King 1. in this you discover Joseph had a double share in Jacobs love When David was to make his last will you may see which of all his Sons had most of David's heart so true is it that last Wills are open windows of the heart through which we may see the living affection of our Dying Friend This is undeniably true of the last Will of Christ who looks into it shall see the dearest love the tenderest affection the faithfullest friendship the seasonablest care and the fullest provision and who seeth this can do no less than wish he had a more dear affection to return for that which is so incomparably grater than all other Sect. 6. 6. That improves Grace which shakes off security and awakeneth out of sloth security is the lethargy of the soul and it must be cured or the soul Dyeth sloth is that scorbutick disease of the soul which weakens all its graces and takes off the edge of them and this must be removed by a vigorous exercise of that strength and life which yet remaineth in Grace or Grace will decay wither and dye rid the soul of these two and Grace will suddenly recover it self and grow Now it is unquestionable that the last Will of Christ carrieth in it sufficient considerations to awaken the soul out of pernicious security and to quicken it unto vigorous diligence For all the legacies of Christ are conditional requiring either precedent conditions or enjoining subsequent conditions of love and obedience and this love with obedience will be found such as will take up all thy time and strength set to it so soon as thou wilt here will be work enough for thy Christian care Thou wilt find life short love long work weighty strength weak The Philosopher rowsed himself with this Vita brevis ars longa life is short Art is long Christian look over Christ's expectation expressed in his Will and Testament and write this presently as thy monitory Vita brevis Fides longa The time of Life is short the work of Faith is long and rowse up thy self both from security and sloth make haste to do thy Lord's will that thou mayest have large share in the last Will of thy Lord. When a very rich gist is given by Will upon conditions and reservations and all revoked from every claimer who performeth not those conditions and disposed to others who will do and have done and performed the conditions how great care and diligence doth this awaken how speedy is the considering Legatee what haste doth he make to perform lest non-performance of his duty should disappoint his hope and cut off his claim Christian thou hast the Inheritance given by Will and that Will prescribes thee thy duty and if ever thou intendest to put in claim for it look thou put thy hand speedily to the doing of what is there enjoyned thee For I tell thee thy Lord who made the Will who prescribed the terms who enjoyned thy performance and before whom thou must make thy claim is not now dead but liveth is not far off but near to thee seeth and observeth all thy sloth and laziness and will reject thy suit and dash thy pretences and confound thy hopes unless sight of his Will quicken thee to do his will CAP. IV. Graces enumerated Improvable by the last Will of Christ I Have performed 〈…〉 at potui â—amen if not as I would yet as Bernard said as I could the three first parts of my Promise I shall now endeavour the performance of the fourth viz. in a particular enumeration of those graces which I apprehend may be much improved by the consideration of Christ's last Will or Testament renewedly remembred at the Communion of the Lord's body And Sect. 1. 1. First Faith is one Grace which is improvable by due managing our thoughts of Christ's ordaining his last Will ere he died and dying to ratifie and make his last Will firm and irrevocable This gives us greatest assurance of the truth of the Promises and so addeth to the evidence of things that are not seen Man verily believeth and boldly pleadeth his title and right to the Legacy which his dying friend bequeathed to him Sect. 2. Secondly Hope and Expectation of enjoying the good things promised is another grace improvable by the application of Christ's Death dying a Testator and ordaining his last Will. The certainty of future enjoying and the goodness of the thing to be enjoyed is the life of hope the root and strength of it Now the goodness of that we expect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the certainty of our future enjoyment are jointly contained and declared in the last Will of our Lord to which in more particular manner we hope to speak Sect. 3. 3. Longing desires of surer interess in the Covenant or Testament of Christ and desire of nearer union unto Christ is improvable upon the reflections of our serious thoughts on the Death of Christ dying and making his VVill. Every one who needeth would wish himself of the kindred and affinity of that rich bountiful and kind friend who enricheth all his kindred by his large Legacies at his Death and he will desire to be so related unto Christ who duly considers what may be obtained by Christ Sect. 4. 4. Love to the Lord and a high prizing of his person and concernments is an other Grace of the believer improveable by this meditation of Christs Death as the Death of a Testator Every one honoureth the remembrance and speaketh well of him who doth liberally and wisely provide for his indigent and needy relations strangers do value such an one and much more doth his ingenuous and considerate Friend Sect. 5. 5. Zeal to his glory and honour a spiritual fervency of heart in all that such a Friend is any whit concerned in is another qualification of a believer and this also is improved by the due manage of our knowledge of Christs last Will and Testament Were there but little cordial Friendship in the heart of a believer toward
for their meanes and where this discord happens there ever is a great deal less in performance than in purpose farre less in execution than in design and intention But where a great heart possesseth an estate carryeth an interess and enjoyeth opportunities large as its self there are ever great designs rich promises vast expectations and these give being to a hope that maketh not ashamed The favorites of Kings enlarge their hopes to the greatness of those gifts their Princes use to give It were a dishonour to a Prince if his Friend and favourite should hope for a mean and poor gift such as every ordinary man bestows upon his Friend 1 Sam. 22.7 Saul spake more like a King bestowing gifts when he talked of olive-yards and vine-yards and making them Captains over thousands And the ambitious mother measured her hope and request for her sons by the greatness of their masters state when she begged that they might sit the one on the right hand the other on the left hand of their Lord in his Kingdom So let our hopes eye the riches and treasures of our Dying Lord and grow great as his mind and good will as his means and ability to enrich us to satisfy us with most excellent Legacies with Royall gifts 3. As his mind and means were great so was his love and affections toward us Jonathan's love to David was a love that exceeded the love of women but fell short of the love of Christ to believers It is hard to find a love that may shadow out the love of Christ but it is impossible to find out a love that can equal it or set it forth to us in its gaeatness It is greater than the love of a Friend a Brother a Father a wife greater than all these could we compound them all into one Now where so great love to us in so great estate in the hands of so great mind there out hopes cannot but exceed the hopes of a man who hath the largest hopes from his Friend his Brother or Father He knows not the heart of Christ nor the riches of Christ nor the love of Christ who contents himself with small hopes or doth not enlarge his heart towards a hope great as the love of Christ See then what thou mayest expect should be thy legacy think what it likely should be that Christ Dying would bestow upon thee would he not give the greatest he could should you not hope the greatest you are capable of do not men close handed narrow hearted and loath to leave what they have do they not give the most they can to those they love most at their death have not they largest gifts by will who were greatest sharers in their good will is not this the standard by which waiting hoping Heirs measure their hopes and expectations from a Dying Friend let it be thine also and at a Sacrament remember thy hope is justifiable when exceeding great for so much as it is raised upon so great love of so great a mind in so great estate and meanes that none can equall or justify it self in a comparison with it none I say though it were the grandeur of a King of the greatest King ever the Sun did shine upon for if more crowns than one are at his disposal yet can he not bequeath a crown to every loyal subject to every faithful councellour to every dear Friend to every dutiful child Christ thy King thy Friend oh believing soul could alone do this and indeed hath done it by will Luk. 22.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this thou shouldest remember and consider at the Sacrament The renewed memorial of Christ thy Friend Dying a Testator and renewed thoughts of thy Friends greatness who is thy hope will be a renewing of thy hope and an addition to its greatness Sect. 2. 2. As the greatness of our expectations so in the next place the goodness and real loveliness of what we expect either doth add or might justly add to the growth and increase of our Hopes Their Hope may well be a growing Hope which is animated and quickened by such growing goodness Among many cross occurrences which may this often doth lessen our Hopes their greatness may possibly want commensurate goodness the quality and rellish of it may not be sweet enough though the fruit may be larger then we expected The massy bulk may be too great whilst the usefulness and profit of it may be to little David speaks of some who had more than heart could wish but this overgrown increase adds to their pride and atheism and proves a snare to them Psal 73.4 5 6. With the 8. 9. verses Their vices increase as do their riches This a poysonous quality of all worldly greatness and this venom frequently embâ—tters the considerate man's Hopes and this ialwayes empoysoneth the inconsiderate man's enjoyments But on the other side the believers Hope through the death and Testament of Christ hath in it goodness as well as greatness goodness to sweeten our Hope and to sanctify our enjoyment the unbelievers Hope and acquisition makes the estate greater and the person viler but this of the believer makes his estate more great and his person more gracious it makes him happier in his possessions and holier in his affections and so betters both the man and his condition In this the believers Hope excelleth all other which will I hope clearly appear if at a Sacrament we meditate on 1. First the Moral goodness and excellency of those things which Christ hath willed to us they are full of purity and therefore full of loveliness If Moral vertue were so desirable in the eye of the Philosopher that he could say every one would fall in love with it if it were or could be set forth in its native beauty to the eye what then will the Holiness of Christ's Legacies be to a gracious soul what will Moral vertue whereof Christ's Legacies are full enhaunced and dignified with the addition of grace which Christ doth adde to his Legacies Joh. 14.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for ever ver 16. The spirit of truth Behold here a Legacy which bequeaths all Moral vertues and all sanctifying graces at once in this one gift you have greater and choicer gifts than all the world can give Here is greatness and riches here is goodness and righteousness In one word the great gifts of dying friends have corrupted many a fair and well tempered nature but lo here 's a Legacy greater then all those and which hath rectifyed and beautifyed many a crooked and vitiated nature I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but that thou shouldest keep them fom the evill Joh. 17.15 Now as he praies it may be so with them he powerfully worketh upon them and it is so with them they are kept from the evil For he imparteth those internal operative
to excite our languishing graces and to strengthen our infirm graces which ought to be more especially found in us and acted by us in our approaches to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper as shall particularly be be shewed in these that follow Sect. 1. Repentance is unquestionably a Sacramental Grace None is fit to commemorate the Death of Christ who repenteth not of the sin which occasioned his Dying The weeping eye and mourning heart are exceeding lovely to the Lord at his Table A Repenting soul is a welcome guest there Now let me trace Repentance through these paths and see as we go how it may be suitably fitted with improveing arguments from Christ our Sacrifice 1. Repentance beginneth ordinarily in a conviction of sin not in general only but particularly in the convictions of our owne sin The righteous need no repentance Mat. 9.13 it is the Sinner which is called to repent so long as a proud Pharisaical opinion of our own Righteousness is maintained by us we shall never embrace the practice of Repentance 2. Apprehension of danger either attends or flows from this conviction of the sinner and this forwardeth his repentance the shameful cursed death sin deserveth and the sinner feareth in the midst of his sorrows hath strong influence upon the soul to grieve for self-undoing sin Although a secure unconvinced sinner blesseth himself and feareth no danger the awakened convinced Penitent apprehends greatest danger from his sin 3. Consternation of mind or Amazement at the sight of sin and danger unavoidable for ought the man can do of himself for his own help this I might call if none will be offended at it a seasonable and profitable despair of our selves while we consider our selves and observe what we have done what we deserve what God hath threatned and what millions do and must for ever suffer for sin 4. A mixture of Hope that there may be and of Desires that there should be and of enquiry whether there be not some effectutal help remedy to be obtained The awakned soul doth as it were look about to see what or whence it's help may come Enquireth what shall I do to be saved How shall I escape c. Now when it descryeth mercy to be had upon it's Humbling of it self before God upon condition of sorrow for what is past and of hatred of sin for time to come the Penitent soul set's it self to exert all these and in a vigorous constant uniform exerting these consisteth the whole life and Practice of Repentance And I hope I shall cleare it Christ considered Dying our Sacrifice will be an awakening consideration preparatory to and promoting of this Repentance in its farther Exercise and Growth Sect. 2. Christ Dying a Sacrifice well considered will conduce much to the Convincing us of a state of sin and that we were in particular involved in it we were sinners and the righteous Law of God imputed the sin to us and the righteous Judge whose it was to execute the Law accounted thee and me and every one of the children of Adam as we are transgressours of the Law if thou seest not this look to the Lord Christ a Sacrifice for sin and ruminate what answer thou canst make to these few Questions 1. What need had there been of a Sacrifice for sin if there had been no sin to expiate by Sacrifice There is certainly sin committed where 't is necessary to take away wrath by a Sacrifice There is sin of the soul wheresoever an offering for sin is appointed Tell me then seeing Christ was made an offering for sin what was thy state and mine and what was the state of all men for whom he became a Sacrifice 2. Couldest thou escape the imputation of sin when Christ a Sacrifice for sin could not escape it Could he not be a sacrifice for sin by a voluntary susception of our cause but he must bear our guilt and shall we judge it likely reasonable or indeed morally possible that our wilful transgressings of the Law should be passed over not imputed If thy sins were imputed to thy sacrifice doubtless they had been imputed unto thy self if thou hadst not had a sacrifice Stand then a while and view this No need of Sacrifice to expiate where no sin is but alas I needed such a Sacrifice No need of Sacrifice where no guilt is imputed but I see my sin I see 't is imputed I must not delay or trifle in this matter my sin is evident its imputation is certain it will be laid on my own head or on my Sacrifice and oh how impossible is it I should escape the imputation of it if I carelesly neglect this great Sacrifice For 3. Whose is the guilt is it his or is it mine who deepest in the guilt he who did no guile or I who am full of guile who nearest the crime he who never did it or I who very wickedly committed it Did God impute it to him and can an unhumbled sinner think God will not impute it unto the committer of the sin 4. With whom was God angry who was it against whom offended justice was most incensed was it against him that was the Sacrifice or against him that needed the Sacrifice and brought it undoubtedly the Sacrifice can bear no other displeasure than what it bears for him whose Sacrifice it is and for whom it is offered And canst thou hope guilty offenders may escape when guiltless victims are charged with another's guilt and suffer another's punishment 5. Who hath greater share in the Love of God had Christ thy Sacrifice for sin or hadst thou for whom he became a Sacrifice I know thou wilt not pretend a comparison with Christ the only begotten of the Father thou darest not think but his share was greater in his Fathers love as his love obedience and likeness to his Father was greater infinitely more excellent than thine was or could be Tell me then if God imputed sin to the Son of his Love when his Son had undertaken to bear the fault and punishment of offenders will he thinkest thou spare those who hate him and might justly be hated of him 6. Would God admit his Son his eternal Delight to be thy Saviour on no other terms than that he should as a Sacrifice take upon him and bear the sins of his people imputed to him that they might not be imputed unto them and dost thou not believe canst thou perswade thy self to imagine that thou mayest though a sinner yet not be charged with thy sin Dost thou not clearly discern that God will charge sin either on the sinner or on his Sacrifice In a word or two whoever knows that Christ was made a Sacrifice for sin knows also that they were under a state of sin for whom he was made a Sacrifice and if thou art a Christian and professest that Christ was thy Sacrifice thou dost thereby confess that thou wert under a state of sin that unless mercy toward
for future and doth for present sufficiently influence our Faith to quiet revive quicken and support the soul under fears languishings dulnesses and sufferings Go then aside and take a view of the particulars and meditate on them in the certainty which Christ suffering and dying our Sacrifice hath given to us concerning them and when thou hast so done observe well whether thou art not perswaded to believe in hope against hope and whether thou art not enabled to believe the Promises without staggering and to say thou faintest not because thy afflictions are light and yet do work out for thee a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while thou art able to look to and see both him that is and the things that are invisible such a Faith will be our victory by it we shall more than conquer Having discoursed somewhat on the Improvement of our Divine sorrow and our Faith in the Commemoration of Christ Dying our Sacrifice I have made way for the Improvement of our Peace and Quiet of soul likewise 3d. Grace improved viz. Peace of Soul for this is a sweet fruit of our sound Repentance and sincere faith and carry's a proportioned dimension with the increase of those Graces But I purpose to attempt a more particular discovery of the influence Christ's Death our Sacrifice hath upon the Tranquillity and Peace of the soul of a Communicant who discerneth this Death as it was a Sacrifice and under that notion improveth his Redeemer's love to him Now if I can shew my Reader that there is in this Sacrifice somwhat sufficient to remove all that disquieteth the soul I need take no further care to perswade an opinion that Peace will follow Let the storm cease and a calm will follow if the Earthquake end the old Foundations will stand firm and well setled Let that be removed which alarmed the soul and all will be in Peace Amongst other lesser which I pass over there are four grand disquietudes of the soul 1. Danger of divine displeasure and wrath in condemnation for our sin The drawn sword of Divine vengeance hanging over the head is enough to affright all peace out of the heart and to fill it with amazing horrour and overwhelming terrours How did Adam's fears seize him when his sin had laid him open to that threat Thou shalt die the death Gen. 2.17 then his guilty conscience did chase Ea conscientia est quae filgat terret accusat damnat Parentes nostros Certissimum testimonium Deum tandem ultorem futurum omnis mali Fagius in cap. 3. Gen. 8. affright accuse condem him forebode a severer Judge and Avenger whom he could not escape or shun whom he could not stand before whom he feareth and flieth The Apostle elegantly expresseth the disquietude of a self-condemning heart by the trouble of bondage Heb. 2.15 The fear of death kept them in bondage all their life the expectation of death was death to them or ere they died and they scarce lived because they continually tortured themselves with the preapprehensions of a hastening death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristot which to secure nature is the greatest of terrours though ignorance of what is consequent to death did hide the most dreadful part of death from the eyes of nature Psal 55.4 Psal 116.3 yet in David's phrase terrours of death will make the heart sigh under pain and fill it with trouble and sorrow too unless the heart be assured of the the removal of guilt the freedom from condemnation Joh. 8.21 24. Rev. 2.11 that the man dieth not in his sins nor shall be hurt of the second death No man's heart was strong under the apprehensions of the wrath of an Almighty and Eternal God nor can the greatest cheats of the world I mean hypocrites who can counterfeit almost every thing put on the counterfeit of boldness Isa 33.15 when they see the everlasting burnings and the devouring fire they are then surprized with fearfulness 2. Loss of the wonted sweetness of Divine favour and the refreshing expresses which God by his spirit did formerly give to the soul When once the soul hath been favoured with an acquaintance and knowledg of a Heaven upon earth it cannot without disquietude live on earth without it's Heaven Darkness cannot but greatly afflict the soul which enlightned once did rejoice in the light of God's Countenance shining on it What is said of the great darkness which fell on Abraham in his sleep Gen. 15.12 may be verified of all the desertions which fall upon the children of Abraham they are attended with horrour and trouble When God hid his face from David he was troubled Psal 30.5 and his soul refused to be comforted Psal 77.2 his spirit was overwhelmed ver 3. so troubled he could not speak ver 4. All which proceeded from the spiritual desertion he then lay under God hath cast off and he feared it was for ever ver 7. that he would be favourable no more c. verse 8 and 9. So that when David had lost the sense of God's love he could find peace or joy in nothing about him An Idolater once expostulated with a great deal of trouble you have taken away my Gods and do you ask what aileth me But whilst we deride or pity his blindness we should resent the real troubles of the soul which hath lost the sense of the Love of his God and Father and indulge him in a more than usual trouble for the suspence or intermission of his desired rest and peace wherein he found though imperfect yet a growing happiness and in David's words expressed his felicity He heard the joyful sound and walked in the light of God's countenance Psal 89.15 but now feareth his misery will recall his former happiness only to prove him as much sunk in woes as he was exalted in joys above other men Miserrimum est fuisse felicem this disquieteth the soul that it hath been what now it is not blessed 3. Sense of sinful weakness and suspition of worse insincerity and want of uprightness in its duties and the exercises of its Devotion towards God are a trouble to the soul in its reflections on its services and examination of it self it seeth sin adhere to every one of its best workes and it seeth imperfection still dwelling in its perfectest graces so that when he findeth to will yet how to perform he findeth not as Rom. 7.18 On which observation of his defects he judgeth himself in a miserable perplexity and under apprehensions hereof crieth out wretched man that I am who shall deliver me c. ver 24. This worthlesness of persons and performances is the subject of the Church's complaints Isa 64.6 We are all as an unclean thing And our iniquities as the wind have taken us away iniquities saith David in his complaint prevail against me Psal 65.3 And elsewhere prayeth God would search him and try him and see whether there be any
way of wickedness in him Psal 139.23 24. It is that which giveth a trouble to God's Children that they are not perfect that their heart retaineth too much of its native guile and is deceitfull above all things Jer. 17.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa 6.5 In brief with the Prophet they cry on t each one in sight of his Pollution wo is me I am of Polluted heart and lips When David saw the Divine jealousie breaking out on Vzza 2 Sam. 6.9 He was afraid and durst not bring up the Ark of the Lord whither he first intended He was afraid of the Lord that day and said how shall the Arke of the Lord come to me he feared and fears are troubles and questionless disquiet the mind his fears and the trouble of them arose from his foreseen unmeetness to entertain the Arke of so holy a God he was not as he desired a meet and prepared Receiver and lodger of that glorious guest This David's trouble this the disquieting thought of every good heart it cannot offer a Sacrifice pure enough immaculate and perfect as becometh the purity perfection and Majesty of his God 4. A Fourth and the last I shall now mention is a succession of doubts and jealousies lest guilt and unworthiness should hinder his acceptance with God and at last cut off his hope of every desireable blessing from God For although the believer is delivered from danger of condemnation and hath had often experiences of the favour of his God and is made upright and without prevailing guile in all his services which might in very reason be sufficient ground of a constant peaceful hope confidence and assurance that God will ever accept him and delight to bless him and at last reward him yet for all this many doubts and the same frequently returning do disquiet the soul putting it to suspect the worst and what shall never befall it Oh saith one my sins make me doubt lest that be my sad state which was Israel's complaint or should have been in Jeremiah's words Sins have hidden good things from me Jer. 5.25 And another is ready to suspect though I might be establisht yet my unbelief suggesteth apprehensions that I shall not for I have not been obedient I have been guilty of much unbelief A third complains of back-slidings and what doubts arise thence And almost every one hath his peculiar doubts or a peculiar ground for those which disquiet others as himself Now it is I judge needless to exemplifie the troublous nature of doubts and endless to enumerate the particular doubts of Christians or the easie returns they make on the souls who have frequently removed them and have thought sure now they should no more be disquieted with them I shall rather address my thoughts to the second thing I suggested viz. that there is in the Sacrifice of Christ for us somewhat which may remove these disquietudes of the soul And so Sect. 1. 1. In the first place for removal of the danger of condemnation the first disquietude mentioned there is sufficient in Christ dying our Sacrifice to effect this as will appear on these Considerations 1. Christ dying our Sacrifice was pleased to stand in our stead he was substituted in our room for us in this he became what is necessary in every Sacrifice a representative of us for whom he made himself a Sacrifice so the Sacrifice doth vices ejus qui reus agitur subire take the place or turn of the guilty of which substitution I have already spoken somewhat cap. 3. sect 1. This Substitution of the Sacrifice was so generally received an Opinion and an inseparate appendage to every Sacrifice expiatory that thou shall easily discerne it both in the writing of Heathens mentioning their Sacrifices as also in the writings of Moses relating the particularities of Jewish Sacrifices if an ordinary care be used in reading But I do not farther insist on that come we rather to see what quiet this substitution may afford to the soul how full of peace may the soul be which can carry all that is laid to it's charge to Christ which can say Christ stand's for me is substituted in my stead and if there be ought of danger it first falleth on him in whose hand never did any one miscarry who had Christ undertaking for him Christ now substitute for us stands between us and danger who are thus in Christ to allude to that of the Apostle Rom. 8.1 Are exempt from condemnation For in this substitution of our Sacrifice there is 2. A due sufficient and full transferring our guilt on our Sacrifice so that the guilty soul may now say mercy hath transmitted my guilt from me upon my substitute and he hath voluntarily taken that upon himself to answer it before my Judge against all accusers and how then can condemnation be justly feared when no guilt is found lying upon the person what servant or child needeth fear a chiding for that fault which the Master or Father hath on the interposing of a Mediatour transferred from the servant or child solicitous fears may de facto disquiet the soul for whom Christ made himself a Sacrifice but were such fears arrested examined and discovered they would be checkt discarded and cast out as groundless for it would then appear that they come intruders on innocent acquitted and imputatively guiltless soules Doth any such feare of future condemnation perplexe look to thy Sacrifice consider guilt which onely can condemne is by thy Judge in a valid sufficient form transferred from thee to thy Sacrifice and certainly thy Judge will as justly acquit the from thy guilt as he did mercifully transferre it he whose mercy so contrived to make thee innocent that thou mightest not be condemned His Justice will find thee what mercy made thee and thou shalt not be condemned Read that text 2 Cor. 5.2 He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him Certainly then the danger of Condemnation is over when we are made Righteous in Christ and he our Sacrifice made sin for us The Righteous Judge of Heaven and earth will do so justly that he will not codemn one whom grace hath made Righteous Though all we like lost-sheep have gone astray yet there is hope for the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all Isa 53.16 3. Christ our Sacrifice standing in our stead admitting the transferring of our guilt from us upon himself by his dying our sacrifice did undergo that punishment and did bear that wrath which our sin deserv'd that we might be absolved and acquitted so that now either we must doubt an after-punishment will be inflicted on us for the sin Christ hath born and suffered and we shall be condemned though he died to the end we might not be condemned which how little consistant with either the justice of God or his mercy any one may easily discern who will consider It
is a matter of justice not to condemn a person for whom satisfaction hath been made and it is matter of mercy to acquit him through another's sufferings who stood condemned for his own offences or if we judge as fit we should that neither the justice or mercy of God will permit he should be condemned for whom Christ died a Sacrifice we can conclude no less from such a death than the absolution future acquittance of a Believer whose Sacrifice Christ died who hereby hath as Isa 43.4 born our griefs and carried our sorrows i. e. the punishment due to our sins for the which he hath suffered and made satisfaction Say the Generva Notes in loc yet what follows ver 5. is fuller Vt integrae essent res nostrae nobis bene esset c. placuit c. verbera plagas quas nos commeriti eramus filius susciperet c. Castigatione verberibus filii reconciliati sumus Patri efferbuit ira Patris Fozerius in loc He was wounded for our transgressions the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed The strokes and blows which we deserved the Son took upon him to the end that our affairs being restor'd it might be well with us c. by the chastisement and stripes of the Son we are reconciled to the Father and the anger of the Father hath asswayed and ceas'd towards us Whoso can look with the eye of faith on Christ thus dying Chrîstus Dominus pro peccatis nostris dolore affectus est ergo peccata nostra deleta ergo ira Dei remisit conseditque ergo reconciliatus enim nobis ergo pax integritas salus omne bonum in nos dimanavit Fozerius may in the words of the late mentioned Commentatour triumph Christ the Lord was grieved for our sins therefore our sins are blotted out the wrath of God is appeased and ceaseth God is reconciled to us therefore peace restitution salvation and every good thing hath flowed in to us But one thing possibly may be suspected viz. Albeit such an atonement and reconciliation be made now yet may not wrath at last break forth in fury to the utter condemnation of the soul which now hath its pardon To this I shall answer by subjoyning 4. That Christ Died a Sacrifice which he himself offered through the Eternal Spirit to the end that he might purge our conscience from dead works that we might serve the Living God as Heb. 9.14 By which one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 Which great Truth the Apostle confirmeth by an Argument drawn from the very letter of that Covenant which is confirmed in this Sacrifice according to which Covenant God promiseth remission of sins so ver 17. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more Now where remission of these is there is no more offering for sin ver 18. The ground whereof is the perfect Reconciliation wrought for those to whom God doth grant remission of sin so that hence I may justifiably argue from the real expiation made at first to the perpetual continuation of it by the blood of this most perfect Sacrifice Let our Faith therefore be directed to fetch our absolution from guilt and condemnation let us ensure this to our selves through Christ dying our Sacrifice and take that comfort to our selves he hath by one offering for ever perfected them that are sanctified And he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him Heb. 7.25 Sect. 2. 2. The second Disquiet of the soul I mentioned was a fear lest it should lose the refreshing apprehensions and sweet enjoyments of the Divine Favour how much this would disturb the peace of the soul I am not here to discourse having said all I intended already on it But now it is my business to shew that Christ's Death as our Sacrifice is sufficient to prevent this fear or to secure unto the soul an enjoyment of the Divine Favour which I now attempt to shew 1. In that this Sacrifice duly apprehended by us doth very much abate of the ground of our fears of the withdrawing the Divine Favour from us Now the apprehension of the dread and terrour of spiritual desertions ariseth from our doubts that they are but precursory to a final and eternal displeasure that they are but the Primordia dolorum the beginnings of sorrows that the full measures will be at last for everlasting poured out upon the soul Oh this afflicts This Will God be gracious no more is the sword which wounds to the heart and whilst this fear abides on the soul it can take no rest Now see Christ our Sacrifice hath atoned vindictive displeasure reconciled us to God delivered us from wrath to come so that undoubtedly these present seasons of darkness are but seasons These sorrows may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning Christ in the merit of his blood doth ever appear for me with God though God appear not to me now as of old yet I shall enjoy him 2. Christ Dying a Sacrifice for us hath now changed the nature of all our afflictions and turned them into wholsom corrections and into necessary exercises of our graces not onely our outward afflictions are so changed that there remaineth not any deadly poyson in them but our spiritual troubles among which this I speak of is to be accounted chief these are much more altered in their nature as indeed it was expedient they should for as they sink deeper into the soul and do more speedily seize the spirit and have an immediate influence on the soul so they would be of more dangerous consequence if they retained an unrebated poyson in them These would undo the soul whereas outward afflictions can approach to the soul but intermediately and being kept still about the outworks can only disquiet alarm cannot kill the soul nor its comforts Now we are beholden to the excellency of this Sacrifice for this By this sacrifice our afflictions are rendered only corrections whatever is vindictive and which the soul cannot beare is derived upon our Sacrifice being hereby secured from wrath For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life Rom. 5.10 The Apostle argueth from our reconciliation once effected unto our salvation in due time to be accomplisht And happy they who have Christ once dying a Sacrifice to make their peace but ever living a merciful and a faithful High Priest to maintain their peace with God Such he is to all for whom he is a Sacrifice 3. In midst of spiritual desertions Christ our Sacrifice preserveth inviolate the state of our peace though we have not the sense and sweetness of that peace The Covenant of peace between God and the soul standeth unaltered still and this in the vertue of this blood of Christ our
the new Testament in my blood this is a Testament which bequeaths to every believer the whole purchase of grace comfort glory and every good thing which the blood of Christ was the price of And he that bequeath'd all this would not alter it if he were to make his will anew if any one will controvert my Title Christ the Testator is to be Judge if any would defraud and detain my part or any parcel of it Christ lives to be his own Executor and to give the possession of all as well as to give me title unto any Thus sure are the Promises of the New Testament the Legacies of every Believer Here are many Arguments and each of them I think apt enough to perswade were they duly improved Reader let thy thoughts and deeper meditation add strength to thy Perswasion and Faith by drawing out the strength of these Arguments which may be truly called Arguments put into thy hand rather than handled for thee I hope thou wilt find thy Faith taking deeper root whilst like a tree it spreads its roots among these firm reasons I hope thy experience will as thy judgment must subscribe the truth of that Observation Look how many more are the good and fit Arguments which do perswade us of any thing Quô autem plura sunt argumenta bona illa atque Idonea quae nobis aliquid persuadent eô persuasio altiùs in mente radices agit PP Salmur disp de Sacra in Gen. Sect. 46. Quanto plura sunt illustriora documenta quae ad unius rei cognitionem vel persuasionem ingenerandam concurrunt tanto naturaliter sit in nobis vel rerum cognitio clarior vel persuasio certior ac minus dubitabilis Iidem de discrim Sacram. Sect. 6. so much the deeper rooting should the perswasion take in the mind How fit the arguments appear I know not but certainly if they seem weak it is from the weakness of the handler They are of great force in themselves and will be mighty to the deligent deliberate soul who is willing to perswade his faith to an increase CAP. V. Sect. 2. Hope Improved on Christ Dying a Testator A Second Grace improvable by our serious and meditative remembrance of Christ dying a Testator is our hope Whosoever doth employ his thoughts on the last will of the Lord Jesus and duly reflects upon it will find an addition to his hope and expectation of that good which is bequeath'd to the believer by his Lord. Bishop Reynold's of the Passions cap. 24. Hope is an earnest and strong expectation of a great good future possible and difficult Hope is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an expectation of things that are good and it springs grows up and flourisheth with Faith being grafted on a branch of the same stock on which Faith is grafted The Promise which the Lord makes to us for I speak of a Divine hope in which Promise there is ratio veri undoubted truth and there is ratio boni desirable good The former St. Paul expresseth thus The Promises are Yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 the lattet St. Peter expresseth thus Exceeding great and precious Promises 2 Pet. 1.4 And the Royal Prophet hath excellently joyned both together 2 Sam. 7.28 The word of God which was the Promise made to David by the Lord in the mouth of Nathan the Prophet is true and good Now as Faith springs up and flourisheth on the truth of the Promise so Hope springs up and flourisheth on the goodness of the Promise or in the words of the Learned PP of Saumur Indeed Faith embraceth the Promise as it appears Nimirum Fides Promissionem amplectitur sub ratione veri spes verò Promissionem considerat sub ratione Boni futuri Disp de Sacram. in Gen. Sect. 47. and is true but Hope considereth the Promise as it is and as it appeareth to be good and future And this notion of Hope is warranted by the Sciptures The Apostle speaking of Hope determines it unto good as its proper object Rom. 8.24 By Hope we are saved salvation is a great good and to this the Christian Hope applyeth it self It is a Blessed Hope that is a Hope of Blessedness at the glorious appearing of Christ our Saviour Titus 2.13 Thus the Apostle describeth the object of a believers Hope as it is good and in both places he includes the futurity of this good and makes it a condition of good as it is hoped for Hope that is seen is not Hope Rom. 8.24 saith the Apostle c. So then let the notion of Hope be remembred that we may see the influence of the last Will of out Dying Lord giving life and growth to our Hopes If our hopes are an expectation we may expect what Christ hath given if an expectation of great good Christ's gift by will cannot but be a great good if this great good must be future and possible it cannot but be yet to come for we cannot receive all in this present life but what is future is possible yea sure though unseen and to be attained with difficulty Christ will invest every believer with that which he hath bequeathed to him in his last Will. But I pass from this general discourse unto the particular discussing of the strength and growth of our Hope when it is acted on Christ's last Will and Testament in which the considerate soul observeth Sect. 1. 1. That there is an exceeding great benefit and advantage offered and proposed to it Christ hath bequeathed most transcendent blessings to the believing soul the Legacies he hath given are not few small dying or fading but they are many great and eternal All which will appear by these following considerations 1. The greatness of his mind it is not to be doubted whether Christ were of a large and noble heart He did excel all men in true magnanimity and greatness of mind as much as he excelled all men in holiness and freedome from sin Now let this be noted and we shall see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as was the man so were his gifts A great mind accounts small gifts below its grandeur When a King I think it was Alezander gave a gift that was complemented with because it was too great for him who was to receive it answer was made It was not too great for a King to give The Scripture gives us a ghess at the greatness of Araunah's mind by the greatness of his gift 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Sam. 24.24 Indeed they do mutually declare and shew themselves unto men so that the boons and Gifts of Christ unto believers do and could not but bear a proportioned greatness and a richness commensurate and suited to the greatness and largeness of his heart 2. Let it farther be noted as was the greatness of his heart so was the greatness of his interess estate and treasures Men somtimes have hearts too large for their houses and minds over-grown and exceedingly too large
Sarah's severity made Hagar weary of her service and fly from it I observe she was perswaded to return to submit her self and to become obedient to Sarah at the command and upon the promise of God who liveth and seeth Gen. 16.13 For memorial of which she gave name to a Well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calling it Beer-la-hai-roi Christian thy Lord who commandeth thy obedience and encourageth thy diligence and willingness both liveth and seeth Wilt thou not obey that he may perform his promise to thee What shall slothful careless and unfaithful servants shake off sloth and put on a shew of diligence and faithfulness whilst under the eye of their Master and shall not the Christian who is ever under the eye of his Master be thereby perswaded to care diligence and faithfulness in his obedience Whoever thou art that attendest at the Lord's Table dost know or else now learn it that for future thou mayest know it and consider it That the Lord of the Feast cometh to entertain his Guests and to receive their promises of renewed Obedience and when thou hast made the promise Christ makes the observation what diligence thou usest in performing thy promise he seeth whether thou art mindful of thy promise and will one day call thee to account for it and require it of thee And what wilt thou answer to such a demand Friend wast thou not guilty enough under the single guilt of neglect but must thou needs add the guilt of perfidiousness and falshood to thy other guilt How didst thou dare to affront me to my face to give me thy promise at the Sacrament and under my eye break the promise thou madest me Let me O God! ever keep it in mind my Testator liveth and seeth may he see my obedience renewed in its fruits as my obligations are renewed in the Sacrament 4. Consider in Christ a Testator living and seeing who do or who do not perform the conditions qualifying the Legatees for the receiving the Legacies Thou mayest see him Judge supreme Judge of all the claims that are made to the whole or to any part of what he hath bequeathed In this he excelleth all other Testators who can only make their Wills and dye they cannot judge and determine the pleas and pretences which are made upon their last Testament Hence it often falleth out that such get and possess the goods bequeathed whom the testator never intended should be the better for them But here no pretender can by sleight and fraud get any of the great and rich Legacies of Christ Nor shall any who hath good right ever miss of them Oh! let us look to our Blessed Redeemer the Soveraign Judge of his own last Testament and readily diligently constantly do what he commandeth that we may receive what he promiseth Fulfil his holy Will that he may make good his last Will to us Let Sacraments bind us to an increase of Obedience for this will be the only Plea allowed by our Judge this will be the only Plea advantageous to us These are some few of many inducements which may move us to renew our obedience for so much as we obey our Lord a Testator bequeathing us Legacies rich and worth our greatest obedience Legacies no way to be attained but in the sincere obedience of our life and heart Legacies that shall be given by him who is now living to see who obeys him as he once died to ensure the reward to their obedience Legacies that must be adjudg'd to the obedient by him who commands the obedience and made the Will out of all which resulteth 1. A Motive that may prevail with our ingenuity and hopes we obey in expectation of a Noble Reward our Legacies are worth better obedience 2. A Motive that may work on and prevail with our fears and our less ingenuous principles Our Judge his eye is on us and he is our Judge who will give only to the obedient 3. A Motive that may meet with and prevail on our mixed affections to encourage our hopes to manage our fears to enforce our backwardness we must obey or lose our reward to cherish our ingenuity the reward is generous and noble exceedingly well becoming the ingenuity of the most free and noble spirits CAP. V. Sect. 12. Brotherly kindness improved on Christ's last Testament THE Twelfth and last Grace mentioned cap. 4. sect 12. as a Sacramental Grace well suiting with the Lord's Supper that Feast of Love and improveable by the consideration of Christ's dying a Testator is Brotherly Kindness and Charity a peaceable disposition of mind towards our Christian friends and a loving affection for our Brethren in Christ This grace is so needful that none are so ignorant as to doubt none so prophane as to deny it a needful qualification yet whilst ignorance and prophaneness confess it in words they are both far from the true exercise hereof The considerate meditating and discerning communicant will be careful to provide this grace for this Sacrament and to improve it by the Sacrament which may very well be done by such considerations as these 1. First Our Christian Brethren whom we should love are made truly lovely by the Legacies which Christ hath bequeathed to them and which he hath in some part already bestowed upon them For Christ the great bountiful and wise Testator hath as is already observed so disposed his estate and treasures of grace consolation and glory with other advantages and needful supplies that all his friends should be handsomly maintained out of his Treasury although the principal of the estate be reserved in Heaven to enrich them there As Rebeccah was adorned with rich Jewels before she was brought to Isaac who invested her with all when she came to him and the marriage was consummate So the Church so each particular Believer is adorned with very rich Jewels of grace gifts and comforts in which she is brought to Christ who will invest all on her when he shall consummate the Marriage in Glory The Crown it is true is reserved for the future state of Glory but there are many single Jewels already bestowed The King's daughter is all glorious within Psal 45. The Saints of God the Righteous ones are the excellent on earth Psal 16.3 They are filled with the Spirit of Christ and they are led by that Spirit into all the waies of Truth Holiness Meekness Goodness Long-sufferance and the like The Philopher tells us that true Friendship is only among the true vertuous Vice cannot be a cement of Friendship In the Redeemed Called Sanctified there is what fitteth them for and renders them worthy of our love and brotherly affections Two things do ordinarily prevail with men to excite Natural love first the sweetness of disposition a skill and delight to shew our selves friendly as Prov. 18.24 He cannot be much beloved who is not ready and prone to love Secondly the largeness of estate and wealth it is the Rich man that hath many friends
live on them muddy and shallow scarce worth the tasting and which is worse yet they prove bitterer than gall and wormwood and of shorter continuance than a morning dew But our Joy in blessed peace with God in sweet hopes of glory in sure foundations of faith in endless happiness to crown our faith to satisfie our hopes and to be the manner of enjoying our God which are the pleasant fruits of Christ thus dying do increase upon us as our insight into them increaseth and are purest when nearest are deepest in the spring or rather ocean of true Delight and Joy are sweetest when most lived upon and are most lasting when we enter at last into them The Joys of others are never so great as their hopes nor so lasting as their desires But the Joy of a Believer in his Dying Lord is at last greater than his hopes and as long liv'd as his desires And in this he may exalt his Joy above the greatest that ever the world boasted of If ever mortal man satiated and glutted himself with worldly Joy it was with a sudden gush which left him so soon that he had the more time to lament himself and wofully wrack himself with the loss of it I believe Caesar never met his expected content and joy in obtaining Rome's Empire I know it lasted not with him so long as he desired in one or both of these it proved less to him when he knew most of it This made a good Emperour once say That if men knew what thorns and cares a Crown was lined with they would not take it up if they found it in the street Now oh blessed soul whose Joy lives upon the Death of thy Lord tell me did ever any experienced knowing and expert Christian abase the worth of those Joys with such a report of them Can thy own jealous fears suggest a rational probable likely ground of suspicion that these Joys are greater in hope than they will be in hand dost thou think that there is any disappointment in Heaven Are there any complaints that less is possessed than was looked for Hast thou ever had any cause to wish thou hadst known less of Christ and his Death or couldst thou ever say that the Joy had been greater if thy knowledge and experience had been less I know thou darest not say so nor debase the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus thy Lord. Turn therefore thy serious thoughts upon this meditate more that thou mayest know more for the more thou knowest of this the more wilt thou rejoice in Christ Thus renew thy Meditations on the Cause of thy Joys and they will renew thy Joys Others will see and thou wilt find in thy own soul that the more thy Cause of Joy aboundeth the more thy Joy will abound Now that Christ hath thus died thy soul oh happy Believer shall not be left in Hell nor shalt thou see an eternal corruption This is ensured to thee by the Lord whose Death thou commemoratest Say then and speak it with enlarged heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoiceth moreover my flesh shall rest in hope for God will not leave my soul in hell And now oh my soul set thy self to hear what may be spoken to thee By these who will have to do with thee in thy most weighty matters And so 1. First what would a judicious and affectionate Believer say What news would such a one tell thee from Mount Calvary from the Cross of Christ Suppose thou heardest such an one improving this Doctrine why should I fear when the iniquity of my heels compasseth me about hath not my Lord taken away all the Curse I feared Do I not see him evidently set forth crucified before mine eyes he drank off the bitter cup of astonishment I will therefore take the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. I will rejoice in him yea and I will tell my Brethren the good news that they may rejoice with me Come all ye that fear the Lord hear and rejoice for I have found at the Cross of Christ the blessing which I lost in Paradise and which is more I found yours there too and if you will go with me quickly you shall find it too Come oh come and see Christ laying down a Blessing for thee when he took up thy Curse would not such a friend's voice sounding in thine ear ravish thy heart or at lest revive thy drooping spirits and turn thy grief into joy Could'st thou do less than smile to see thy lost Heaven found thy dying Soul recovered to life thy God reconciled and delighting in thee Hear next 2. What language the Embassadour of thy Soveraign and Gracious Lord useth to thee when he offereth a Dying Christ unto thee a Christ bearing thy Curse for thee Behold thou drooping Believer That Blood which I offer thee in this Cup is the purchase of that happiness which thou desirest the atonement of that wrath thou fearest Lo here is that Blood which can abate the scorching heat of a self-accusing condemning and tormenting soul Oh taste drink of it this never failed of curing easing comforting so many Saints in Heaven In one word Christ's Minister doth in Christ's Name offer thee that Blood which was shed for the remission of the sins of many and in which thou mayest find forgiveness of thine also and thou findest little if thou findest not Joy in the forgiveness of sins Thou art very slow of understanding if a Publick Officer proclaiming thee acquitted and cleared doth not raise thy joy But yet oh fainting soul hearken Lastly What will be the language of Christ himself to thee when he unfolds thy blessedness and declareth before Men and Angels that he took upon him thy sin thy guilt thy punishment was made a Curse for thee and so presents thee to God and makes good all thy claim to Blessedness What heart is large enough to conceive the thousandth par of that Joy Oh! a single sight of this one unrepeated once pronounced sentence of Christ's own mouth Soul thou art blessed for I was made a Curse for thee would swallow up all other Joys and would fill the heart of the believing soul with Joy unspeakable Now I must tell thee oh thou doubting sollicitous and trembling Believer that Christ will so bespeak thee ere long and so give thee an entrance into thy Master's Joy that thou mayest rejoice for ever in this Blessedness which I tell thee is the fruit of Christ's Death as it was an accursed Death And if after all this thou wilt weep and not be comforted I must also tell thee thy tears are not wiped away because thou wilt not suffer us to do it thou art a stranger to thy desired joy because thou art so much a stranger to the Death of thy Lord. Oh that our eys were opened to see that fountain whence most refreshing streams do flow continually
Lord give me a heart knowing how to turn this kind of my Lord's Death into what Joy is hidden in it and I know my heart will need no other will desire none but this Again in the sixth place A peaceable 6th Sacramental grace peaceable disposition to the Brethren compassionate and tender affection toward our Brethren our fellow Christians is a Sacramental Grace a disposition of mind which is never out of season and is most in season at a Sacrament Christians should ever live in charity but they should feast with their Lord and with their Brethren in highest measures of charity When they thus feast they should embrace each other when they walk together it should be hand in hand This Love-feast must not be allayed with any mixture of sowre murmurings bitter envyings or unsavoury grudges of discontent The Apostle doth give us a most excellent Rule for this 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Purge out the old leaven c. Let us therefore keep the feast not in the old leaven nor with the leaven of malice c. In malice we should ever be children but especially at the Lord's Supper I will not urge reasons why we must be thus affected each to other when we come to the Table of the Lord for it is so universally known by all and it is so necessary among many other graces that too many think this alone sufficient to prepare men for the Lord's Supper It is true who hath all other but hath not this preparatory is unfit Whosoever wants this alone is not fit though this alone will not fit him for the Lord's Table The want of this must keep him back from this Supper until he hath a mind full of sincere and true love to all men especially to all the invited guests of the Lord. Supposing therefore that it is nothing doubted peaceable affections and compassionate tender love or charity to the Brethren is a Sacramental Quality I shal insist a little on the manner how this may be improved and advanced by the Death of Christ dying an accursed Death for us And so 1. First When thou art at the Lord's Supper and seest a few of thy Christian Brethren there to celebrate the Death of thine and their Lord dying a Curse this in all likelihood will be thy first reasoning upon it If Christ died a Curse for us then were we all under a Curse then were we all plunged in misery all were under the guilt of sin and under the wrath of God and what tongue can tell what this is or what heart can think of it and not be compassionately tender over such poor creatures Can your obdured hardened hearts hear the groans of men tormented with the Strangury or Gout or Stone Can you look upon the miseries of an Hospital without yearning bowels or can you look upon the tortures of one wracked and torn upon a wheel or between wild horses without a wish oh that I might deliver them what kind of hearts do you bear toward persecuted murthered and tormented Christians when you see the pictures of them or read the history of them do not your hearts drop into tender compassions toward them Why now look on Christ dying a Curse he is the lively picture of thine and their woful state it is to be seen in his Death read over the story of Christ accursed it is the story of thy most woful state and of the miserable state of them who are now communicating with thee they were with thee sinful guilty dying creatures which ere long must have been groaning sighing howling under the avenging wrath of the Almighty if Christ had not thus died for thee and them Look upon them say as indeed they were behold what was saved of my shipwrack These were tossed in the same vessel dashed on the same rock taken up helpless and lifeless c. with me Oh I never see them but it comes into my thoughts and my heart my heart weeps over our common danger We do so often renew our compassionate affections toward our companions in dangers as the sight of them renews the thoughts of our danger That which in a different case David said When I remember these things I pour out my soul within me The soul redeemed from the Curse will be able to say when I remember these things compassion and tenderness are poured out The remembrance of a common danger Nihil ad misericordiam sic inclinat atque proprii periculi cogitatio August Misericordia est vicina miseriae Seneca de Clem. is a most prevailing enducement to compassion The Philosopher could tell us That this Pity is a neighbour to misery Whence likely it was that the Lord did enjoyn the Israelites to shew a hearty compassion unto afflicted strangers for They know the heart of a stranger for they were strangers in Aegypt We must compassionately and tenderly love wish well and affect those whose hearts we know for so much as we were in like case Now this is one part of our brotherly love or charity here it begins though it doth not end here This tenderness of heart is like the pith or tender pulp which runneth through the whole body of the tree This indeed is the Root on which the delightful Tree grows and from which the beautiful fruits of love do blossome bud increase and ripen And so often you water the root of Love as you do soften and mollify the temper of your heart which is done when soakt in the thoughts of our common danger I shall close this particular with that piercing Question Matth. 18.33 Shouldest thou not have had compassion on thy fellow-servant even as I had pity on thee How shall we answer this Question if the consideration of our common danger do not stir up in us a love of compassion to others what bowels hast thou if they do not now yearn and move towards them We are apt to pity those whose tormenting diseases and sharp pains we have felt and if ever we felt the inward sorrow and trouble of an accursed state we shall pity such who are under it and with tender affection demean our selves towards those who were under it it will renew our sympathy and this will renew our love to them But Secondly In the remembrance of Christ's dying a Curse for us there is the renewing of a most self-abasing and humbling consideration Now the renewal of this will be a very likely means to improve our love which is a humble self abasing grace So that what increaseth our humility will increase our charity Solomon tells us that onely by pride cometh contention and our own experience proveth the proud man neither sit to be chosen for a loving friend nor to be trusted as one that will be constant in his friendship and love such an one will be ever breaking the laws of friendship of which the Apostle discoursing 1 Cor. 13.4 5 6. tells us that it neither vaunteth it self nor is puffed up