saith the Lord so as I will never cast thee off I will never give thee a Bill of Divorce I will be thy Husband for ever and thou shalt be my Spouse for ever The relation is alwaies pleadable And in your near and intimate union with himself as you stand in relations of grace to him so you stand in relations of grace to the Father You are the Adopted Children of God God the Father of Christ is your Father and he is alwaies your Father and you are alwaies his Children nothing can come between nothing can cause him to cast you out and disinherit you having received you into this firm into this intimate union you are Heirs being made one with Christ you are Joynt-Heirs with Jesus Christ Heirs of God once an Heir and for ever an Heir so as all the blessed things of the purchase of Christ Jesus and the whole Inheritance of Christ Jesus is before you 't is yours and for you And now Christian what a ground of rejoycing is here for you What though your outward comforts are coming and going they are fading and vanishing It may be you have your hands full of them to day and to morrow they will be gone and you shall see them no more for ever yet know that you have an abiding ground of Joy in Christ Jesus for he it is that maintains your union with himself he hath not only united you but he keeps you in union and he maintains all the gracious relations of the union both with him and also with his Father so as though you have not a Friend upon Earth you may go and say well I have a Friend in Heaven I have not a Father upon Earth ay but I have a Father in Heaven I have not a Husband upon Earth ay but I have a Husband in Heaven I have not a faithful Brother upon Earth ay but I have a sincere hearted Brother in Heaven the relations of Grace they hold and they are alwaies pleadable and improveable And then Eightly In the eighth and last place Jesus Christ is making glorious provisions in Heaven and will in due time glorify all his people with himself for ever saies Christ Jesus It is expedient for you that I go away 't is for your good it was for your good that I came and it is for your good that I staid so long and it is for your good that now I go away For I go to prepare a place for you In my Fathers House are many mansions and I go to make these mansions ready for you I go to Heaven as your fore-runner Consider Jesus as your fore-runner that is entered in for you before-hand making Heaven ready preparing the Crown and the Kingdom for you now though you be robbed of your earthly comforts you cannot be robbed of your Heavenly glory you may be spoiled of your Treasures here upon Earth but you cannot be cheated of your Treasures in Heaven Why Jesus Christ is there to secure it and he hath it in possession he is there as your fore-runner he is there to make all ready I will Father saies he that those that thou hast given me be with me where I am and the glory that thou hast given to me be bestowed upon them that they may be one as thou Father and I are one Now under all your vicissitudes and changes and emptyings and spoylings in this world look up to Christ Jesus and see Heaven sure in him and see glory sure in him and see a Crown and a Kingdom sure in his hand take comfort then Christians in all your necessities here below in the Lord Jesus Christ and with the Prophet do you alwaies glory and rejoyce in him Vse All that I shall super-add shall be only in a sentence or two unto Sinners for as to Saints how they should come to improve Christ Jesus and to live by faith upon him in all conditions I shall shew you afterward if God gives the opportunity but here in a word let Sinners consider how miserable their state and condition is Why Sirs you have heard that there is an abiding ground of joy in Christ Jesus for the believer whatsoever his state is But do you consider that none of this belongs to you all this comfort belongs to Saints not to you you have no part in it there is an abiding ground of terrour of sorrow and of bitterness that belongs to you because you are apart from Christ that hath such a fulness of all joy in him for believers Take heed therefore how you content your selves in a Christless state and how you bless your selves whilest you are remote from Jesus Christ and without a part and interest in him thou art not under the blessing but under the curse there is the flaming Sword that hangs over thy head and there is the hand writing that is over thee upon the wall Let then the Sinner tremble on the consideration of his perishing condition in which he is out of Christ And let it be an inviting word to all of you who have not yet made your close with Jesus that you enquire after him that you earnestly pursue after him for your rest and your peace your comfort and your blessedness it is all in him and can only be obtained by a closure with him SERMON IV. Habakkuk 3.18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will Joy in the God of my Salvation THe Proposition that we are upon from the words is this Doct. That there is enough in Christ Jesus alone for the Souls full rejoycing and triumph whatsoever his condition be in this world Before I come to that which I further proposed to consider and speak to viz. how the believer should be helped to live a life of faith upon Christ Jesus unto his spiritual joy and comfort in all conditions I shall alittle insist upon and labour to clear to you the Souls interest in this Jesus that hath such abiding grounds of joy at all times in him saies the Prophet here in the text Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation I shall insist upon the Pronoun my and labour to clear the believers standing that he may know his interest and that he is indeed united unto Christ Jesus it is not in Christ at large that a Person can glory in but it is in Christ under or in a peculiar Gospel relation unto his Soul it is not in Christ in general but in Christ that his Soul is interested in that he can rejoice in in all conditions and this I suppose is an inquiry that all of you will be desirous should be spoken to viz. Qu. How the believer may know that he hath an interest in Christ Jesus That this glorious and blessed Jesus this full Jesus is his Jesus his Saviour That he may be able to say with the Prophet here Yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation
not for me only says he but for you also rest with us You shall come into the same Rest with us Ministers and People that are faithful in Christ Jesus shall all come into the same Rest a Rest that none of the troublers shall be able to disturb Rev. 14.13 Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them The labours and the pains that you take here they are very many We were driven by God into this condition in the sweat of our faces to eat our bread Well but this is but for this life You have a Hope that is laid up in Heaven for you of a blessed and a glorious Rest wherein you shall have freedom from all your labours you shall have freedom from all the disturbances and pressures that you have here 4. There is a fulness of Joy that is laid up in Heaven for all Believers Says the Prophet Isa 66.11 That ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolation that ye may milk out and be delighted with the abundance of her glory If that there be such a time a coming wherein this may be true of the Saints here upon Earth it will be much more so in Heaven for Heaven will heighten all it will heighten all your joy and heighten all your comfort and not only heighten the joy and comfort that you have but that succeeding Saints shall have when the whole Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord still there shall be a disproportion between Earth and Heaven When the voice saith Come up hither that which follows is Enter into your Master's Joy Matth. 25.21 Here the Lord for the bearing up of the hearts of his People sends down a little joy into their spirits he sends down the Comforter unto them and he comes and now and then speaks a reviving word now and then he gives a drop of consolation and it may be it is upon the end of the Rod too and this is counted a great matter and truly it should be so with us But there is a hope of another manner of Joy or other measures laid up in Heaven for you Joy it shall be the Air that the Saints shall breath in it shall be the very Orb that they shall move in the very Elements that they shall dwell in their hearts cannot hold all it shall be overflowing it shall be round about them 1. The Joy that is laid up in Heaven for the Saints it is that that shall be fully satisfying They shall have enough of it they shall be filled with it to the full so as there shall be no room for more Psal 16.11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life in thy presence is fulness of Joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore But shall the Saints have enough of this yes Psal 17.16 As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness The Soul hath not its satisfaction here when it hath a little it is enlarged to bless God but it hath not enough it would have more still a little more communion with God But in Heaven there is satisfaction to the full When I awake that is in the morning of the resurrection when this mortality is blown out of his eyes when he comes to open his eyes in the other world then shall I be satisfied with thy likeness 2. The Joy that is laid up in Heaven is unmixed Here there is a mixture with your Joy you have a little joy and a great deal of sorrow you have a little peace and a great deal of trouble you have darkness with your light and you have vexation and crosses with your comforts But in Heaven there is nothing to cross there is nothing to grieve there is only joy there is no mixture with your joy It will be pure joy 3. And thirdly That Joy that is laid up in Heaven will be permanent It is such as you shall sit down in and that which you shall partake of to eternity Here your joy is not only mixed with sorrows but it meets with great overwhelmings it is coming and going it is partaken of here at great uncertainties but now in Heaven it will be alwaies the same 4. There is in Heaven laid up for you absolute freedom and full liberty of Soul in the Service of God Here 't is not so when the spirit is willing the flesh is weak and how often are our hearts ready to die within us The Spirit will not hold out we can hardly watch with Christ one hour bodies tire and spirits tire but now there will be a fulness of strength in Heaven and there will be liberty of spirit proportionable to all strength and to all grace the Soul will be in absolute freedom for God and the body under an absolute freedom too answerable unto all the freeness of the Soul now the body is a great clog to the Soul it is a great hinderance that you cannot do for God and you cannot lay out your selves for God as you would but there will be no weariness in Heaven in your Spirits though you shall serve night and day world without end the promise is Isaiah 40.31 That they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not be faint The Saints rejoyce as they can experience something of this here but the fulness of this promise will be in Heaven there you shall mount up indeed as with wings there Soul and Body shall be in all liberty in the service of God Now what would Saints give to have their Spirits in a freedom and full liberty for God but one day O they would count it a corner of Heaven if that they could have their Spirits set in full liberty for God but one of his daies that they may serve God and delight themselves fully in the service of God a whole day But Sirs in Heaven you shall be fully delighted in the service of God to eternity all clogs shall be taken off from your Spirits 5. The Saints have a hope laid up in Heaven for them of an eternal abode in the glorious pallace of their Father here their dwelling is uncertain they have no sure dwelling place upon earth their Landlords sometimes warn them out of their Houses and command them to seek a new dwelling sometimes God turns them out of their Houses they may be driven out of their Houses here by the Sword they may be driven out by fire but the Lord he hath chosen Heaven as the place of their perpetual residence Deut. 1.33 Who went in the way before you to search out a place The Lord went before Israel in the Wilderness by Fire and by the Cloud to search out a place for
For the Lord is not slack concerning his Promises as some men count slackness but is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance Why in Christ Jesus God he is patient and God he glorifies his Patience that he might be known to be gracious Fifthly The Love and Goodness of God out of Christ is not relieving for 't is at an end The Soul may think well his love is at an end he hath no more love for me I am his enemy Man when he had sinned must turn out of Paradise he must pack away and be gone See my face no more says God But now in Christ Jesus is the Love of God revealed and the Goodness and Mercy of God revealed Sixthly The Immensity and Benignity of God out of Christ is not relieving What though God may give thee a considerable portion in the world he may fill thine hands with wealth and thy house with treasure and fill thy chest with store But all this is given in anger and displeasure there is nothing of love in it and thy fulness is but fitting thee for the slaughter There is the Curse of God upon all thy store and plenty this will not at all avail thee But now in Christ Jesus the Immensity and Benignity of God is reconciled and how doth it speak out love and grace God is an Immense God and he gives out according to his own Immensity And what then are the gifts of his Love and Grace they are such as cannot be weighed they are such as cannot be measured there is a height and depth and length and breadth in all his goodness that cannot be fathomed And all this he is to the Soul through Christ And Seventhly If you consider his Eternity out of Christ it is no way relieving That God is my enemy says the Soul and is an everlasting God he will be my enemy for ever and all that is in God will be engaged against me for ever his Justice his Wisdom and his Power and all his Attributes will be engaged against me for ever But now in Christ Jesus the Eternity of God is matter of great comfort to thee because he is an Eternal God being thy God he will be thy God for ever thy dwelling place for ever and thy portion for ever he will never depart from thee he will never leave thee he will never cease to be what he hath promised to be because he is an everlasting God and thus you may run over all the Attributes of God the glory and the fulness of them is exhibited and unfolded published and revealed by Christ Jesus unto us and hence it is that in Scripture ordinarily there is no great mention made of the mercy and kindness of God to sinners but through and with respect to Christ Jesus Eph. 1.3 Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus And hence is it said that we with open face behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ 2. Cor. 3.8 and 2 Cor. 4.6 God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and hence is it that Jesus Christ is said to be the brightness of the Fathers glory and the express image of his Person Heb. 1.3 So as here is another thing that is an abiding ground of joy and rejoycing for us in Christ Jesus he is the exhibiter revealer and unfolder of the fulness of all the blessed and glorious properties of Gods nature in a salvation way hence when God comes to enter into Covenant with a believer he doth not enter into Covenant with him absolutely but in and through Christ Jesus and hence is it that all the promises of the Covenant that are Gods gifts of grace to us they are yea and Amen in Christ Jesus now do but consider this you may see that Christ is one your Souls may take comfort in consider the glory of his Person as he is Mediator and consider the graciousness of his nature as he is full of love and consider how he is the exhibiter and unfolder of the fulness of all the blessed and glorious Attributes of God in a saving way And whatsoever discouragement Christian thou hast here below look up to Jesus and thou mayest see encouragement have you men that are engaged against you look up to Jesus and you may see God in him engaged to be your God Gods power engaged for you Gods mercy Gods name and Gods glory all engaged for you Thus as to the first particular what Jesus Christ is 2. We shall now proceed to speak something to the second and that is what this Jesus hath you have seen what he is we will now consider what he hath and there are but two things that I shall glance upon under this head that may be relieving to us in our looking up to Jesus 1. He hath an irresistible power 2. He hath an unexhaustible treasure 1. Jesus in whom we should rejoyce at all times hath an irresistible power A power over all flesh over all Creatures over good Angels and over bad Angels a power over men a power over every creature in the whole Creation of God Col. 2.1 Ye are compleat in him which is the head of all principalities and powers and Mat. 28.18 All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Jesus Christ hath an absolute dominion over all Creatures as he is God and this is a dominion that he received not by gift from the Father but he hath it from the right of Creation as he is with the Father God over all blessed for evermore But there is a delegated power as I may so say a power that is committed to Christ Jesus by special grant from the Father as he is Mediator over the whole Creation of God Eph. 1.21 22. Far above all principalities and powers and might and dominions and every name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church Now Phil. 2.9 10 11. there you may see that he received this power from God Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name c. and 1 Cor. 15.27 For he hath put all things under his feet and Psal 8.6 Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of thine bands Christ hath an universal power as Mediator over the whole Creation of God Now that which is for thy comfort in it is in that this power is imployed and improved 1. For the overcoming of all thine enemies And 2. For the over-ruling and filling up of all thy wants 1. This great and universal power that Christ hath received over all creatures is improved and imployed
wicked and vile Nation as the Chaldeans were to prevail and prosper against his own inheritance though they were sinful and unworthy and he cannot rest neither can he give God any rest until he hear something further of his mind The Lord is pleased to condescend to him in the beginning of the second chapter and to make answer to the anxiousness and earnestness of his Spirit in this great affair at the second verse And the Lord answered me and said Write the Vision and make it plain upon Tables that he that runs may read it Verse 3. For the Vision is for an appointed time at the end it shall speak and shall not lie though it tarry wait for it because it will surely come and not tarry In short the Lord makes this Answer to him that though he did make use of the Caldeans as a Rod in his hand to scourge his own People with yet when he had done his work upon his Israel he would take his Rod and throw it into the fire that he would deal with all the Enemies of his People according to their desert Desolation might come for a while upon the Lord's People but they should be raised out of their ruins but utter desolation and destruction should come upon the Enemies of his People they should at length be brought down and suffered to rise no more In this third Chapter according to his name which signifies Wrestler he wrestles with God and is another Jacob that will not let the Lord alone until he bless him Habakkuk encompasseth God and in his prayer wrestling with him closed in upon him And he gathers up in this third Chapter the great Experiences that Israel had of God when he walked with them and led them by a strong hand n the wilderness and he urged those old Experiences that this People had of God upon God at this time how he had dried up the mighty waters and rode in Chariots of Salvation through the Sea for them and how he caused the Sun and the Moon to stand still until the Enemies of the Lord were cut off consumed And he gathers in upon God upon those Experiences waiting for the same power and the same wonderful appearances and actings for their deliverances out of the present and succeeding troubles that were or should come upon them as God had appeared for them and delivered them out of all their troubles of old And though he tells us that at the first sounding of the words of God's displeasure he was filled with shakings and with trembling and with quivering yet within a little time he recovered his Spirit and in the exercise of Faith upon God he glories rejoyces and triumphs in God alone in the midst of most sinking most discouraging Providences When indeed I heard saies he verse 16. my belly trembled my lips quivered at the voice rottenness entred into my bones But see what he saies in the 17th and 18th verses Although the Fig-tree shall not blossom c. yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation He saw shakings coming upon the whole Earth that did even put the Foundations as it were out of course he saw God's Besom in his hand ready to sweep away all their comforts an East-wind was rising that would blow upon their Spring and make all their Spring-buds to blow off Well saies he let it be so or as ill as can be supposed to be or as ill as the creature can be as to its state in this world yet I have God on my side and all is well I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation This verse is a most noble strain of a heavenly Spirit in the high and constraining exercise of Faith upon God in a most dismal day of darkness The Prophet gets upon the Ruins of the Creature and rejoyceth in his whole Christ He gets upon the Ashes of his house that was burnt here and sings of his Building that cannot be burnt in Heaven He gets into his withered Vineyard and into his barren Fields and there sings The Lines are fallen unto me in a pleasant place I have a goodly Heritage It seems a very strange speech that he should in the former part of his Prophecy be speaking of the sad dispensations of the Lord towards them and cap. 3.17 speak of great failures that were like to come upon them in reference to all their terrene comforts and enjoyments and yet speak of rejoycing and joying in the Lord It is a strange speech to talk of joy and rejoycing here where he had almost nothing in this world left him or supposed to be left him yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation We say of some men It is strange how they live their Trades fail and their Estates are gone and yet they bear up Why 't is a mystery how they live how they have wherewithal to defray their charges surely they have some secret friends that feed them and maintain them that their neighbours know not of Why after the same manner we may speak concerning the Lord's People They have enemies on every side and they are broken again and again and yet behold they live and their Joy none can take from them although they are numbered to sorrows and distresses every day Why my Text tells you the mystery of their living and of their living in joy and peace and comfort in the midst of all their losses troubles and discomfortures I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation Saies the Apostle 2 Cor. 6.10 As sorrowful yet alwaies rejoycing c. This verse doth open something of the mystery of the verse that we have chosen to be our present Text As sorrowful yet alwaies rejoycing and while they seem to be poor they make many rich they seem to have nothing but yet indeed they possess all things yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy inthe God of my Salvation I will rejoyce in the Lord. The word in the Hebrew is a very full word I will rejoyce exceedingly in the Lord Or My heart rises like the Sea with surges when 't is enforced with the wind Or My heart is like a boiling Pot when it seetheth Or how shall I express it I will rejoyce in the Lord I will magnifie my self in God or make my boast of God in all disasters and under all discouragements I will joy in the God of my Salvation I will joy That word also is very full and it signifies in its grammatical sense my heart shall leap or skip for joy My heart shall sally forth in my God and take heart in the Lord who never fails I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation One of the Antients speaking upon this Text saith Although saith he all the Elements should threaten us and conspire and swear
it as a part or the first fruits of the whole whereby the whole nature of the Elect of God are dedicated to the Lord and sanctified and made holy or way is made for the sanctifying of it I may allude unto that Scripture in Rom. 11.16 For if the first fruit be holy the lump is also holy and if the root be holy so are the branches I know this is not the meaning of this Text I only allude to it as the Apostle saies in that case so I say in this case if the first fruits be holy the lump is also holy and if Jesus the root be holy then all the branches are holy to be under a peculiar and special consecration to the Lord now here Christian is a ground of rejoycing for thee thou art born a child of wrath and thy nature is a sinful nature and there is by nature nothing but sin dwelling in thee ay but Jesus Christ he hath taken thy nature he hath worn it and he hath consecrated thy nature to God and made way for the sanctifying of it So as now way is made through Jesus Christs appearing in our flesh for the consecrating of thee unto God and making of thee holy so as thou mayest rejoice notwithstanding the remains of sin that are in thee notwithstanding all the impurity and defilements that are to be found in thy heart thou hast a stained polluted Soul thou lookest into thy self and thou seest thy self so spotted and defiled that thou art ashamed of thy self well but look upon Jesus Christ and consider how thy nature is sanctified in him he sits upon the Throne all holy and thy nature that he did assume is holy why Christian there is holiness in the root for thee there is holiness in Christ thy head for thee and because he is holy thou also shalt be holy because he hath sanctified thy nature therefore thy nature shall be sanctified for your sakes saies he I sanctify my self that you also may be holy I am holy and you also shall be holy Analogically that is in some proportion in your degree and measure you shall be in a suitableness to my holiness that you may be made meet for me Saies the Apostle in 1 Thes 5.23 The very God of peace sanctify you wholly ay it shall be so because Jesus Christ hath sanctified himself and your nature is sanctified in him and therefore you shall in due time be made holy and therefore rejoice though defiled and sinful for a season yet you shall be made holy and without spot and blameless Christ hath made way for this Fourthly Hereby way is made for our stability for an eternity and perpetuity for us in grace and in glory Jesus Christ he is a Mediator for ever he hath taken our Nature to wear it for ever he will never lay aside our Nature again no not to eternity well therefore we who are consecrated by him and reconciled to God by the blood of his Cross have a perpetual standing in his Grace and shall have an everlasting abiding in that state of Glory unto which we shall be advanced by him and through him all Enemies cannot unthrone Christ Ages cannot remove Christ off from his Throne in Heaven but there he is and there he shall ever Rule and Sit. Now because he Sits there thence is your state in Grace sure Why if he keep our Nature in conjunction with his own Divine Nature then he abides alwaies full and powerful in reference unto the Concerns that he is to manage and the work that he is to do for you full of strength and powerful therein able to make all effectual he Sits there in Heaven to that end This makes him so much concerned about the bringing in and gathering home of those that he did appear for in our flesh Joh. 10.16 See how Christ doth concern himself for all those for whom he was a Mediator There are others says he that are not of this fold I have some among the Jews and among the Gentiles I have some of all Nations these I must gather home Christ will not lose any And those that are brought home he will maintain in his Grace because he is an ever-living and an everlasting Mediator and a powerful Mediator Why under all your temptations Christians in your way that you meet withall to cast away your confidence and to renounce your hope in the Grace of God Do you glory and triumph in Christ Jesus that is our standing Mediator in Heaven comfort your selves in him for as long as he abides in our Nature he will concern himself for us and as he hath his Eye alwaies upon the Glory of God so upon the good of sinners and being a Mediator he is carried on with unbiassed ends and aims to act impartially and indifferently between both Parties therefore whilst Jesus Christ is Mediator your state in Grace is certain whilst Jesus Christ hath God's Glory to care for your Salvation is sure for while he concerns himself for the Glory of God he must concern himself for the Salvation of his People These two Interests are made one by Jesus Christ the Mediator And then Fifthly In the 5th and last place Hereby we have familiarity and communion with God Jesus Christ having as Mediator made peace for us now behold he lets Believers into a comfortable enjoyment of God Now we may look towards Heaven and see God the Father in the face of Jesus Christ He therefore that hath seen the Son saith Christ hath seen the Father also Joh. 14.9 What Do you say Shew us the Father What Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me Do you not know that I have reconciled both together and made way for communion that you now in and through me may converse with the Father as your God and Father Jesus as our Mediator hath given us boldness with God and let us into the enjoyment of communion with God and hath given us blessed familiarity with God that now we shall enioy him in a Gospel way here and and have certain hopes of enjoying of him in a glorious way in Heaven ever to be in his presence and to behold his glory all this comes in by Jesus Christ the Mediator and by the way there is no state and condition into which a Soul may be brought while he is under Grace on this side Heaven but in that state and condition he may hold fellowship and communion with God The three Children did so in the fiery Furnace Daniel did so in the Lion's Den. Jonah did so in the Whale's belly when he went down into the great deep yet there he enjoyed communion with God So as whatsoever your discouragements be here in the flesh yet glory in this that having peace with God through the blood of Jesus you may go to him and say Father You may say My Lord and my God You may converse with him in the way of the
for a Christian the blood of Jesus is said to be a pleading blood Heb. 12.24 And to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things then the blood of Abel It is a pleading blood and it saies Father Remember the merits of the Sacrifice of my death remember the satisfaction that thou hast received and do thou continue to love and continue to bless and continue to delight in and to acknowledge these poor ones though they fail and though they provoke thee The believer it may be is so ashamed of himself upon an overcome that he hath not one word to say for himself he can give no reason why a decree of justice should not come out against him but the blood of Jesus that is alwaies speaking and alwaies interceeding whereby we are kept in that justified peace-state with God that in our first coming over to God we are stated in and this may satisfie the Christian under all the disquiets troubles turmoils and unsettlements that he meets withal in this world Secondly Jesus Christ is a powerful Intercessor in Heaven daily urging the merits of his Death and improving the Interest that he hath with God for the compleating of the work begun in the hearts of Believers whereby they are growing up to perfection Jesus Christ is not only an Advocate with the Father silencing and answering all accusations and charges and so maintaining of the Believer in his justified Peace-state with God but as a lively and living Intercessor he is alwaies urging the merits of his Death and improving the Interest that he hath with God for the compleating of the good work of his Grace that is begun Jesus Christ hath not only a Fountain of all Grace for your constant supply but he acts the part of an Intercessor and improves the merits of his Death for the managing of the work of Grace that is begun in your Souls This you have Heb. 9.24 Jesus Christ is gone into Heaven to appear in the presence of God for us And he is not there to appear only as an Advocate or an Attorney but he is there as a mighty Intercessor pleading with God in the strength of the merits of his own Death improving all his Interest with the Father for you Rev. 5.6 In the midst of the Elders stood a Lamb as it had been slain having seven Horns c. This Lamb is Christ Now Christ Jesus he is in Heaven advanced upon a Throne for you He is in the midst of the Throne near unto his Father and how doth he sit or how doth he appear Why says he he appears as a Lamb as it had been slain that is Christ he bears the marks of his Death before his Father upon the Throne he is there to make a fresh commemoration of his sufferings presenting his bloody death and his bloody Sacrifice before his Father As Jesus Christ after he was risen said unto Thomas Come says he behold my wounds and see the print of the Nails in my hands and in my feet So Jesus Christ saies as it were to his Father Father behold these wounds behold how I was pierced behold how I was wounded for these people and as one says so many wounds so many cries Every wound hath a crying mouth that is daily pleading with God for the Believer Jesus alwaies stands as a Lamb as it were slain urging his death urging his agony urging the greatness of his sufferings when justice had him under the lash when he trode the Wine-press of his Fathers wrath alone and he is urging the value of his death for the succeeding of the work of grace begun for the encreasing of strength for the carrying on of your Souls unto perfection Jesus Christ lives upon the Throne carrying on this work and for this great end he considers the Christians state in all his dangers and in all his weakness and under all his wants and he is improving his death for more grace and for an increase of spiritual blessings he knows your dangers by reason of your temptations in the world and he is praying for you there and improving his interest with his Father on that account John 17.15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil O Father saies he they cannot stand against the temptations of the world in their trades and concerns in the world not alone let thy grace be sufficient and let thy strength be sufficient to secure them in their dangers he sees that your grace is yet but small and will hardly stand against a small encounter and therefore he prays that it may be encreased as Luke 22.31 32. I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not as if he had said I know that thy grace will be sorely tryed and will meet with great opposition but I have prayed that it may not fail he pleads with the Father for a more plentiful effusion of the Spirit upon the hearts of his people John 14.16 17. And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth c. And when Jesus Christ does pray for the Spirit he prays that he may come in the royalties of his office into your hearts bringing in the fruits of grace of peace and of joy and of spiritual comfort And thus he in Heaven looks after the work that is begun and upon that account he is called not only the Author but the Finisher of our Faith Heb. 12.2 The intercessory work of Christ is not only at your first coming over to God to give you favour with God peace with God but it is a continued act over your whole state till you come in glory Heb. 7.25 He is able to save to the uttermost or to carry on salvation work till he hath compleated it Why because he ever liveth to make intercession for us Jesus Christ by his intercession does deliver out of one streight to day and he will continue in the same work and if a new streight does appear to morrow he will aid through that also and he will go on so until he hath setled thy Soul in a compleat salvation state Jesus Christ does daily exhibit and urge and present the merits of his death for the carrying on and managing of the work that he hâ—th begun And here take notice by the way that when we say Jesus Christ continueth to interceed you must know that he doth not interceed in a way of free Grace as we do at the throne of Grace he doth not interceed in a precarious way as believers do but he interceeds in the merit of his own sufferings his interceeding is an authoritative act he doth not only pray the Father for Grace and for acceptance for us but he urges the Father upon the account of the infinite price of his own sufferings that
he gave him in and so does in an authoritative way challenge and demand the blessings of his purchase or of his death for the believer he demands of his Father the Grace that he pleads for and he in his interceeding act does will it into the Souls of his People I will Father saies he that those that thou hast given me be with me where I am and God the Father does alwaies hear his Son he never denies his Son any Petition that he offers to him John 11.42 And I knew saies he that thou hearest me alwaies and Psal 2.8 Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance saies the Father ask and you shall have so as Christs intercession is a prevailing intercession it is a powerful intercession it is alwaies a speeding intercession now Christians do but consider what a ground of joy and comfort this is for you in your present low condition It may be thou hast met with many losses in thy outward estate it may be thou hast met with many breakings there emptyings there that thy outward comforts they are many of them gone thou seest others very uncertain ay but here is Jesus Christ he is interceeding with the Father for more Grace for more spiritual blessings so as though thou art poor in temporals thou art growing rich in spirituals though thou hast but a little of the Creature yet thou hast Grace that is thriving in thy heart that Christ will see shall be alwaies encreasing growing be not discouraged therefore though thou hast but a little Grace but a little strength who knows how much Grace the prayer of Christ may bring into thy heart Christian who knows how much strength the prayer of Christ may bring in upon thy weak condition to cloath thee with be not therefore discouraged though thou see thy Bottle empty and thy outward store growing low seeing Jesus Christ is carrying on the work of Grace in thy Soul and enriching of thee with the high and sacred blessings of Heaven verily Sirs if any of you had a Friend at Court that did alwaies sit at the right hand of the King and that had his ear and a grant of all his Petitions that he made to him and if you knew that he would be alwaies moving the King on your behalf and pleading with him for some new favours and new advantages and places of â—rust and dignity and the like how would your hearts rise in the remembrance thereof and you would promise your selves great things in a little while Why Jesus Christ he is your friend in the Court of Heaven that hath alwaies the Ear of God and verily it is not a vain notion he is alwaies interceeding with the Father on your behalf pleading for some new blessings for some further discoveries of his love and manifestations of his favour for thy further proficiency in grace that thou mayest be carried on unto perfection Jesus Christ is alwaies pleading this with his Father so as though you be very low as to your outward condition yet you may rejoyce that your spiritual comforts they are alwaies thriving they are growing comforts and your strength in grace is alwaies an encreasing strength Christ prays for it and makes it so by his daily Intercession Thirdly Jesus Christ perfumes all your Spiritual Offerings and presents them unto God as grateful and acceptable through whom they alwaies remain as a sweet memorial in his presence notwithstanding the weakness and imperfection of them as they come from us My Brethren the liquor of our spiritual services hath a tang of the Vessel through which they pass there is an ill favour in all our duties as they come from us there is a great deal of sin a great deal of self a great deal of corruption that doth mingle with them and doth defile them and give them an ill savour But now Jesus Christ he alwaies stands between God and us and receives our Offerings and refines them and purifies them and cleanseth them and perfumeth them and so makes them a sweet odour and then offers them up unto God and hence comes our Prayers to be prevalent hence come they to be heard and to have returns of Grace made unto them It was Jesus Christ that made Noah's Sacrifice so sweet and odoriferous Gen. 8.20 21. And Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and he took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt Offerings on the Altar and the Lord smelled a sweet savour c. Christ Jesus was in his Sacrifice and that made it pleasant and sweet and fragrant before the Lord. This was typed out of Old by the High Priests bearing the iniquities of the holy things of God's People away Exod. 28.36 37 38. He shall bear their iniquities that is he shall bear them away he shall receive the iniquities of their holy things and shall bear them away whereby all shall be hallowed and this shall be says he upon his forehead that they may be accepted before the Lord or that they may be for an acceptableness before the Lord Why Jesus Christ is the Gospel of this type he told his Church of old that there must be a Priest and an Intercessor for the sins of their holy things now Jesus Christ is this Priest that takes the iniquity of our holy things away and so he presents our spiritual offerings unto God refined and purified that no dross that no matter of sin may be found in them when they are presented before God Cant. 3.6 Here the Church of God is spoken of as coming out of a dry barren wilderness condition now she comes like pillars of smoke she comes praying she comes pleading with God now her prayers are like pillars of smoke that is say some to set forth the darkness to set forth the corruption or weakness of them Our prayers as they come from us are more smoke than fire they are more sin than grace there is a great deal of corruption upon them that does defile them and that does besmear them they go up like pillars of smoke but they are perfumed with Myrrhe and Frankincense and with all Powders of the Merchant that is Jesus Christ he sweetens them he scents them and makes them offerings of a sweet smelling savour as any thing is perfumed by sweet Spices or odoriferous Powders that are mixed with them Or Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke that is say some others like the smoke of Incense the Prayers of God's People they do ascend like the smoke of Incense Jesus Christ he perfumes them with his Incense and so they go up through Jesus Christ as the smoke of Incense of old went up to Heaven and this perfumes them as that which is perfumed by Frankincense and by Myrrhe and by sweet Powders and the like It comes all to one reckoning in which sense soever we take it Iâ— sets forth thus
rich are soon made poor and as to your relations that you at present take comfort in now they are and anon they are not Parents Children Friends Comforters Counsellors they die away from us and we see them and we know them no more for ever and which of you that are here in the Lord's presence that may not sit down weep over your broken pitchers and say This once I had and that once I had but now I have it not once I was full but now I am empty once I was lifted up on high but now I am brought down very low once I was a lender but now I am a borrower once I had most comfortable relations none happier than I in a tender Father in a loving Yoke-fellow in a desirable Child in a faithful Friend but now it is quite otherwise they are all like Jonah's Gourd that grew up and withered on a sudden This you may see in the verse before the Text the Figg tree that blossoms not the fruit of the Vine and the labour of the Olive they fail and the Fields yield no meat the Flocks are cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stall The Lord you see hath given us but a weak tenure to all these outward enjoyments and he maintains a Soveraignty over every comfort that he is pleased to bestow upon us that so we shall hold all that we have in this world at great uncertainties and must day by day stand to the allowance of the great disposer of Heaven who will sometimes give and will sometimes take what he hath given Secondly The Lord Jesus Christ is and hath whatsoever the Scripture hath said and much more than we are able to conceive of him in our largest and utmost apprehensions He is and he hath according unto all Old Testament Prophecies and Predictions in the utmost Exposition that can be made of them in the largest extent and he is and he hath according to the utmost word of the revelation that is made of him in the New Testament and you are not able to conceive and apprehend what he is and what he hath in the considering of the Scripture expressions that are made use of to set him forth unto you You cannot measure Christ by your thoughts and imaginations but when you have conceived all that you can Christ is more and Christ hath more than you are able to apprehend of him The Scripture tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ hath a fulness of grace in him now you are not able to apprehend what this fulness of grace is it is an infinite fulness and you are not able to comprehend it in your finite thoughts how comprehensive soever they are The Gospel tells you of the outgoings of Christ's heart unto sinners but you are not able to apprehend nor to measure what is the love of the heart of Christ to poor sinners but when you have conceived never so much of his love there is more still than you are able to grapple The Scripture tells you of a great power that is in Christ conceive never so much of his power what it is that he is able to do for you in a strait and how wonderfully he is able to work there is yet a greater extent in the power of Christ than your apprehensions can reach The Gospel tells you of an All-fulness or an Allness that is in the Lord Jesus Christ Sum up all that you can think of and all that the Scripture can help you to conceive of to add unto this Allness of Christ and yet behold you are not able to tell what his All is you may soon tell what your All is or you may tell what anothers All is what a great man 's All is or what a Prince's All is or what a Kingdom 's All is but you cannot tell what Christ's All is but when you have thought and conceived when you have dived and reached until you are weary still the grace the power the love the fulness of the Lord Jesus is above your reach and there is more than ever entered into your hearts to conceive of him This you have Isa 55.8.9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your waies my waies saith the Lord for as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are my waies higher than your waies and my thoughts than your thoughts See how the Lord tells us that he is advanced above all our imaginations of him Now the thoughts of Christ's heart are alwaies towards us and alwaies proportioned unto the fulness that he hath received Now says he My thoughts are not like to your thoughts you thought that I could relieve only in such a case or I could help only in such a strait you thought I could do thus and that I could do thus and do no more but alas says Christ you are mistaken there is as great a distance between my thoughts and your thoughts as there is between Heaven and Earth so as the fulness of Christ Jesus is a most glorious and blessed fulness enough for all your Soul's relief and to spare Thirdly Christ's fulness of grace is alwaies subjectively and objectively the same First It is alwaies subjectively the same Christ's Spring is not a rising and a falling Spring but the waters of it are alwaies of the same depth the waters of this Fountain do not admit of an ebb and of a flow but they are alwaies at one and the same height Christ hath not a more and a less his fulness will not admit of an augmentation and a diminution but notwithstanding all the overflowings of the fountain still it is a fountain-fulness notwithstanding all the streams that have run from it still it is as full as ever notwithstanding all the thousands of Souls that Jesus hath relieved and empty hearts that Jesus hath filled still he is as full of grace as ever as full of mercy as ever There is no less in this fountain as it is subjectively considered upon all that he hath given and dispensed but he is as rich in grace and there is as great a plenty in him as there was when he first opened his fountain unto sinners Col. 1.19 For it hath pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell There it doth alwaies abide and the same fulness without change the same fulness without diminution That fulness that God placed in his Son there it doth abide in the glory of its utmost height Heb. 13.8 Jesus is the same yesterday to day and for ever This is that that is said of your Jesus his fulness was a great fulness at first why he is the same to day spend Christians what you will and draw out of the fountain what you can it will be as full to morrow as it is to day Yesterday to day and the same for ever Secondly Christs fulness is alwaies objectively the same unto all those that do possess it the Soul that
reason suggested to them under some providence or other that disquieted their spirits it was through the suggestion of sense and reason that Zachartas questioned the truth of the Word of God sent to him by the Angel about having a Son Luk 1.18 And Zacharias said to the Angel whereby shall I know this for I am an old man and my Wife well stricken in years It was from the instigation of sense and reason that that unbelieving Lord did question that great plenty that the Prophet told him should be the next day 2 King 7.1 2 Thus saith the Lord To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flower be sold for a shekel c. Then a Lord on whose hand the King leaned answered the man of God and said If the Lord should make windows in Heaven might this thing be He only argued upon the Prophecy in his own reason and in his own sense and this made him so unbelieving as to reject the Prophecy of the Prophet This sense and reason made the Disciples themselves to question the intention of the Lord about feeding so great a multitude as there was with such small provision as they had Mark 8.1 2. In those daies the multitude being very great c. At the 14th verse his Disciples said unto him From whence shall we buy bread that these may eat So that if you would get into this life of Faith keep down sense and reason and cast out their suggestions which will not bring you near to but set you further off from the Lord. Do not say upon a new difficulty here is no way to escape or upon a loss this or that is gone and can never be made up to me again but throw out the reasonings of sense if the discouraging suggestions of sense be resisted and set by Faith will then get up and speak in the heart 9. Look through and beyond the discouragements of second Causes unto the encouragements of the first Cause that is alwaies absolute and independent and there fix your eye in a strait Second Causes they are failable but so is not the first Cause that is the efficient of all and the Lord who is the first Cause and efficient of all oftentimes dries up all creature streams and causes visible humane help to fail that we may see how great the first Cause is Though the Lord doth ordinarily make use of second Causes yet the Lord will so walk towards us to discover to us that he is not tyed to means that he is not tyed to second Causes and he oft-times causeth visible helps to fail that our eyes may be upon him as the first absolute independent Cause of all I will give you an instance for this and it is that of Israel Israel was in the way of the Lord marching towards the Land of Promise and as soon as ever they were come into the way of the Lord that they were entered into the wilderness they were brought to the mouth of the Red Sea Now all second Causes failed for help there was not a Ship nor a Boat to be got to carry the Hosts of Israel over the water but the first Cause was not at a strait and therefore says Moses from the Lord Israel stand still and see the Salvation of God Now let not your eyes be upon the second Cause but upon the first Cause and you shall see what a deliverance God can make for you and he carried all the Host of Israel men women and children through the drowning Sea and not a man woman nor child was lost in the passage and yet there was neither Ship nor Boat to aid them over And so afterwards when they came at Jordan the waters were before them there was no Boat to swift them over the waters but the Lord he commands Israel to go on and the waters made a lane for them they run on heaps on both sides and Israel hath a path made in the great deep for them And I will give you an instance now of a good man a man of great Faith and that was Moses Moses in a considerable strait fixes his eye upon the second Cause and pored upon the discouragements of that and was lost in his spirit by not looking beyond unto the first Cause and the encouragements that the first Cause did administer It is Numb 11.19 20.21 and so on The people in the preceding verses they murmured against Moses because they had no flesh they were come from their full Tables in Egypt and they had not now their dainties to live upon and they did not know now how to be content why says God you shall not eat one day nor two but even a whole month Now see what Moses said at the 21th verse The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen and thou hast said I will give them flesh that they may eat a whole month Shall the Flocks and the Herds be slain for them to suffice them or shall all the Fishes of the Sea be gathered together for them to suffice them c. Here is the relation God tells this whole Congregation that they should have Flesh to eat for a month they should eat their bellies full they should eat till they could eat no more Moses had his eye fixed upon second Causes and not upon the first Cause and he questions this Lord says he how can this be So many hundred thousands of us and what shall we all have flesh to eat Now on the other hand we read of Asa when a mighty Host came out against him 2 Chron. 14.11 An Host of a thousand thousand that came out against him he lookt beyond the discouragements of second Causes unto the encouragements of the first Cause that is absolute and independent and see how his spirit held up And Asa cryed unto the Lord his God and said Lord it is nothing with thee to save whether with many or with those that have no might help us O Lord our God for we rest on thee and in thy Name we go against this multitude c. He looks unto God the first Cause of all and he saw there the Power of God was enough to charge this whole Army and to engage against this great multitude that came out against him And this was the Prophet's Spirit and the course that he took here in the Text all second Causes failed and frowned and administred only discouragement The Figg-tree that blossomed not there was no fruit in the Vine the labour of the Olive failed the Fields yielded no meat the Flocks were cut off from the fold and there was no herd in the stall Here was a failure of all second Causes now saith he I will look unto the first Cause I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation Christians let me tell you that if you lay the weight of your case upon second Causes you will never come to rejoyce in Christ Jesus
that heavenly state the Saints are all advanced unto a heavenly stature even unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Eph. 3 13. till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ And Eph. 5.27 That says he he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish There will be no weakness no imperfection in the new man but you shall be in your full grown state in Heaven immediately upon your translation and therefore the Souls of Just men entring into Heaven are said to be in a perfect state Heb. 12.23 To the general Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of Just men made perfect Here you are glad to receive now a little and then a little and to be adding by degrees But there grace shall be so compleat as there shall be no room for a further degree nor for a higher improvement 2. The Saints have a hope laid up in Heaven of the glorification of these vile bodies Our bodies are now full of corruption they are earthly bodies and they are a great clog and a hinderance unto a spiritualized Soul but there shall come a change upon them 1 Cor. 15.42 43. So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown in corruption it is raised in incorruption It is sown in dishonour it is raised in glory Ver. 44. It is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body It is sown in corruption Many are the coâ—â—upting diseases that our flesh is exposable to whilst we live and such infections sometimes seize upon the body as do separate Lovers and acquaintance far from them but to be sure at death corruption that seizes the body and makes it so loathsom that near relations cannot bear one another Abraham cries out O! Bury my dead out of my sight and yet she was the Wife of his bosom that was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh to whom he wanted no love yet says he Bury my dead out of my sight It is sown in dishonour and indeed it lives so for much of the glory and beauty and fairness of the body of man that was at first bestowed upon him is lost But all the scarrs and all the blemishes and all the disfigurements of our bodies even all the effects of sin shall at once be done away that that which is sown in dishonour shall be raised in glory and that which is sown in weakness shall be raised in power and that which is sown a natural body shall be raised a spiritual body it shall be spiritual in its temperature constitution and complexion it shall be spiritual in all its operations It shall be raised to glory and all the robes of mortality and all the raggs of its vileness they shall be left behind Lazarus when he rose out of the grave he arose with all his grave-cloths about him and he came with them out of his grave because he was to return again Joh. 11.44 And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave-cloths Jesus saith to them Loose him and let him go The grave had not done with him This was not the blessed Resurrection that was under promise but he came out of the grave to return again but now Jesus Christ when he arose out of the grave he arose to return no more and he left all his grave-cloths behind him Joh. 20.6 7. Then cometh Simon Peter and went into the Sepulchre and seeth the Linnen-cloths and the Napkin that was about his head The Grave-cloths the Napkin and all that he had about him was all left behind because he was to return no more Now Jesus he arose as the first fruits of the Saints 1 Cor. 15.20 But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept So as you may see in the Resurrection of Christ what shall be unto the Saints in their Resurrection They shall leave all the cloths of their dishonour and of corruption and mortality behind them And Phil. 3.20 21. These vile bodies of ours shall be changed and made like to the glorious body of Christ Who shall change our vile bodies bodies full of corruption full of weakness bodies in so much dishonour they shall be changed and shall be fashioned like to the glorious body of Christ And Rom. 8.23 And not only they but our selves also who have the first-fruits of the Spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the redemption of our bodies So that this is another part of the hope that is laid up in Heaven for the Saints the glorification of their vile bodies We shall have part of that glory and honour upon our bodies that the Father did bestow upon that body which he prepared for his Son when he took our nature And truly the body of Jesus Christ in Heaven is the most glorious creature that is there and it is a glory which the Saints shall admire for ever they shall not only admire it in Christ but admire it in themselves as they also shall be made partakers of it 3. The Saints have a Hope laid up for them of an everlasting Rest Here is no Rest in this world it is full of troubles and tossings to and fro like a Ship that is at Sea in a storm but now in Heaven there is Rest Rest from all the troubles of men Rest from all the troubles of Satan Rest from all the troubles of sin sorrow shall flee from them All tears shall be wiped from their eyes Rev. 21.4 I shall not here tell you how far the Saints may be made partakers of this that is here promised on this side Heaven but to be sure 't is true of Heaven it self Glad would a Saint be to get into a corner where he might sit down and be at rest but if he take up in this condition he is presently disturbed if he go into another condition he finds his troubles follow him his quarters are continually broken up he can never be at rest but one disquiet follows another and one trouble takes another by the heels But in Heaven there the Saints shall be taken into an everlasting Rest 2 Thes 1.7 And to you who are troubled rest with us He cheers up these Thessalonians to whom he writes under all the troubles that they met withal from men and Devils and all their enemies in their way that were continually disquieting of their spirits Well says he Cheer up to you who are troubled rest with us He was abundant in labours and abundant in sorrows and sufferings but he comforted himself with this that there was a Rest that remained for him and
his People where they should dwell Jesus the fore-runner that is entered into Heaven he is gone before to search out a place to choose out a place and to prepare a place for you John 14 2. I go saith he to prepare a place for you and this place that Christ is gone to prepare 't is in the Fathers House there shall the Saints abode and dwelling be for ever and there is none that shall ever turn them out of that House but to eternity they shall peaceably possess it 6. In Heaven shall be the consummation of the Marriage between Christ and the believer here the Marriage is entered upon Christ and the believing Soul they are betrothed together as Hosea 2.19 20. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever but the betrothment here is like a young man when he betroths a Virgin they live asunder after they are betrothed so Christ and your Souls live asunder you are betrothed here by grace and you come together now and then in an ordinance and now and then Christ lets out of his heart unto you and now and then you let out of your heart to Christ and now and then Christ sends you a token of his love and a letter of his love wherein he gives a manifestation of his love but still you are asunder but in Heaven the Marriage shall be consummated 2 Cor. 5.6 While we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord and we live asunder but saies he when we come to depart we shall be with Christ Phil. 1.23 and we shall ever be with the Lord 1 Thes 4.17 This is a blessed day indeed that will bring Jesus Christ and your Souls together never more to be separated never more to be at a distance never to be out of the presence of one another more Communion with God it is sweet now and when Jesus Christ lets out but a little of himself O the Soul he cries out evermore give me of this Bread O saies he that I were to go down no more but this communion is clouded and the sense of it lost but when we come to be dissolved and to enter into Heaven then saies he we shall be with the Lord. 7. Again The Saints have a hope laid up for them in Heaven of enjoying fellowship and society with all sanctified ones in Christ Jesus Heaven will bring all the Saints together and keep them in an eternal communion There are two things that have respect to the Saints in Heaven 1. They shall have a full knowledge one of another And 2. They shall have communion one with another 1. They shall have knowledge one of another There shall be no strangers in Heaven indeed it is questioned by some whether the Saints shall know one another in Heaven but truly it is out of question with me for the Saints shall be all of one Society they shall be all of one Company they shall be all of one intire body and surely it is inconsistent with the glory of that state for one member to have no knowledge of another if that you be of a company here upon earth let the company be 40 50 100 or 500 by abode together and by converse and by residence together and meeting together you come to have a knowledge one of another and can it be thought that an eternal abode together in Heaven won't give you the knowledge one of another but the Scripture seems very plain and clear in this case in Mat. 17.3 4. Jesus there taketh Peter James and John and goes up into an high mountain and there he was transfigured before them and indeed it was a little corner of Heaven that he carried them into there and he brings down Moses and Elias and Peter presently knew them and he said unto Jesus Lord it is good for us to be here if thou wilt let us make here three Tabernacles one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias Peter had never seen Moses and Elias for they were dead many years before he was born and yet as soon as ever they did appear with Christ Peter knew them this is Moses and this is Elias Sirs the knowledge of the Saints won't be decreased but heightned in Heaven some of you it may be lye under mourning of Spirit for some of your relations that are gone to Heaven well wait but a little while and you shall know them again But let me tell you you shall not know them after a carnal manner but after a spiritual manner according to that state 2 Cor. 5.16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh Christ shall not be known hereafter after the flesh and when you come in Heaven you won't know one another after the flesh yet in a spiritual manner you shall know one another Parents shall know their Children and Children shall know their Parents in a spiritual manner you shall know those Servants of God that have taken pains with you here and helped your Souls on to Heaven Some of you often think it may be of Reverend Mr. Armitage that laboured with you in the Lord and some of you remember Reverend Mr Allen that was the Lords mouth unto you many years you that have a hope laid up in Heaven for you you shall follow them in your time and in your order and know them again and all the Servants of the Lord from one end of the world unto the other you shall know those that you have known and you shall know those that you have not known you shall know Moses and Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Patriarchs And then 2. You shall know them so as to have communion with them you shall sit down which is a note of communion Mat. 8.11 with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven indeed all your knowledge of the Saints and all your fellowship with the Saints it shall all be resolved into the glorifying of God so as God shall be uppermost in all and you shall see God through all and you shall triumph in God and sing praises to God through all yet as glorified Saints together and as members of the same body so there will be a fellowship and communion together in the enjoyment of God and communion with him 8. There is a hope which you have laid up for you in Heaven of Gods being all in all to you in 1 Cor. 15.18 And when all things shall be subdued to him then shall the Son also himself be subject to him that put all things under him that God may be all in all The dispensation that Christ hath now in his hand in that he is the Lord of the world and the government of it shall be laid down when the whole body of believers shall be brought home and all the election of Gods grace brought in yet then shall Christ be glorious in the eyes of the Saints but God then shall be all in all that is all
you meet with many temptations here and you meet with many afflictions here trial upon trial one following another well under all comfort your selves with the Hope that is laid up in Heaven for you and ballance all your trials and temptations with the Hope that is in Heaven And Use 5. In the last place You that have a Hope laid up in Heaven for you see that you walk answerable to your Hope This is expected of you as the A postle tells you 1 Thes 2.12 That ye would walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his Kingdom and glory See that you walk worthy of the Hope that you have received Have you a Hope laid up in Heaven for you of such great things as we have mentioned a Hope ever to be with the Lord then carry it in a way correspondent to these Hopes in raised frames breathings and longings of heart after God The Hopes of an eternal enjoyment of God in the world to come should fill us with desires after the enjoyment of God here in those means and according to those waies in which he hath promised to let out of himself to his People You should be continually pressing after the enjoyment of God mediately who have the Hopes of the eternal enjoyment of God immediately And says the Apostle 1 Joh. 3.3 He that hath this Hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure If you have such a Hope then testifie it by laying siege to corruption and by seeking to mortifie the body of sin and death that you bear about you and correspond with your Hopes in pressing after holiness and a growth in all grace for he that hath this Hope and he that hath the Promise of these things will be perfecting Holiness in the fear of God Make it your business therefore to grow in grace and to advance in all Holiness that so you may abound and that yet more and more in the work of the Lord. Christians Freedom FROM Condemnation in Christ Romans 8.1 There is therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit THIS Chapter is as one calls it the Magazine of a Christian's comfort it is the Cabinet where many Jewels are lockt up the Ship where much of his Treasure is imbarqued The Apostle gives out comfort upon comfort unto Believers here 1. In the first part of the Chapter he endeavours to comfort them under the afflictive and discouraging sense that they had of the remaining corruption that did annoy and pester them every day shewing that it was pardoned and done away out of the sight of God 2. He endeavours to comfort them under all their trials tribulations and afflictions that were many and to be many in this world and shews them that there was a weight of glory in reserve that would more than ballance them all 3. He also endeavours to comfort them against their fears of falling away or of God's casting them off shewing of them that nothing shall separate them from the love of Christ And in the close of the Chapter Faith breaks out into an high act and he is able to triumph over all in this world and all the Principalities of Hell and Darkness that were engaged against him shewing that in Christ Jesus he was and all those in his state and condition were more than Conquerors through him that had loved them In the first verse you have a heart-reviving Proposition laid down There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus In the following verses you have the confirmation of this Proposition For says he the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death In ver 9. he makes application of all unto those in Christ Jesus to whom he had written But ye says he are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be the Spirit of God dwelleth in you All you that have the Spirit of God you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit and therefore there is no condemnation to you and he proposes it in such general terms as that all who have the Spirit may take it up and make application of the comfort thereof to their own Souls The Assertion that he lays down in the Text is no condemination to them that are in Christ Jesus Or a Conclusion that is drawn from the whole Doctrine of our Justification in and by the Righteousness of Jesus Christ of which he had treated in the preceeding Chapters of the Epistle Now this he concludes from it that being accepted in Christs righteousness and being in that justified before God there is now no condemnation for us so as you have in the words 1. This assertion laid down that there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus 2. A Mark and Character given whereby we may come to know whether we are these to whom there is no condemnation that is such saies he walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit In the Proposition or assertion you may take notice 1. Of the Subjects and they are such as are in Christ 2. Of the Predicate and that is there is no Condemnation to them Some there are that make our being in Christ Jesus our vocation and they construe our Non-condemnation our justification and our walking not after the flesh but after the spirit to set forth our sanctification Condemnation it is the doom or sentence of a just and righteous Judge against an offender Now Non-condemnation it is the contrary hereunto that is to be acquitted to be discharged to have the sentence of death revoked and taken off and this is that that God doth for all those that are in Christ Jesus he revokes the sentence that was gone our against them There is in the Gospel a cancelling of our law obligation to die the Gospel that brings in life and removes the death that the law threatned and denounced against us and so the Proposition from the first part of the verse is this Doct. That all those that are in Christ they are acquitted absolved and discharged by God There is now saies he no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus No condemnation from God no condemnation in Heaven for them God the Father that is in Christ a Father of Mercies and a Father of Forgivenesses he comes and forgives and discharges them There are 3 Courts as I may so say there is the Court of Heaven there is the Court of Conscience and there are the Courts of Men. Now a Child of God may be sentenced in the two latter and yet acquitted and cleared in the former he may be condemning himself he may be drawing up charges against himself he may write nothing but bitterness against himself when he is acquitted before God he may be accused and condemned by Men Jesus Christ was so counted a Sinner numbred amongst Transgressours and yet the