house of God with the voice of Ioy. This is that happy circle wherein the soul moves the more they love it the more they shall tast of this goodness and the more they taste the more they shall still love and desire it But observe if ye have tasted that the Lord is gratious then desire the milk of the Word This is the sweetness of the word that it hath in it the Lords graciousness gives us the knowledge of his love this they find in it that have Spiritual life and senses and those senses exercis'd to discern good and evil and this engages a Christian to further desire of the Word These are fantastical deluding tastes that draw Men from the writen Word and make them expect other Revelations This graciousness is first conveyed to us by the Word there we tast it and therefore there still we are to seek it to hang upon those breasts that cannot be drawn dry there the love of God in Christ streames forth in the several promises the heart that cleaves to the word of God and delights in it cannot but find in it daily new tastes of his goodness there it reads his love and by that stirs up his own to him and so growes loves every day more than the former and thus is tending from tastes to fulness 'T is but little we can receive some drops of joy that enter into us but there we shall enter into joy as vessels put into a Sea of happiness Verse 4 5. 4. To whom coming unto a living Stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and pretious 5. Ye also as lively Stones are built up a Spitual House an holy Priesthood to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ. THe spring of all the dignities of a Christian and therefore the great motives of all his duties is his near relation to Jesus Christ. Thence it is that the Apostle makes that the great subject of his Doctrine both to represent to his distress'd Brethren their Dignity in that and to press by it the necessary duties he exhorts unto Having spoke of their Spiritual life and growth in him under the resemblance of natural life he prosecutes it here by another comparison very frequent in the Scriptures and therefore makes use in it of some passages of those Scriptures that were Prophetical of Christ and his Church Though there be here two different similitudes yet they have so near Relation one to another and meet so well in the same subject that he joynes them together and then illustrates them severaly in the following Verses a Temple and a Priesthood comparing the Saints to both The former in these words of this Verse We have in it 1. The nature of the building 2. The materials of it 3. The structure or way of building it 1. The nature is a spiritual building Time and place we know receiv'd their being from God and he was Eternaly before both therefore stiled by the Prophet the high and lofty one that inhabiteth Eternity but having made the World he fills it though not as contain'd in it and so the whole frame of it is his Palace or Temple but after a more special manner the higher and statelier part of it the highest Heaven Therefore call'd his holy place and the habitation of his holiness and glory and on earth the houses of his Publick Worship are called his houses especially the Jewish Temple in its time having in it such a relative typical holiness which others have not but besides all these and beyond them all in excellency he hath a house wherein he dwells more peculiarly than in any of the rest even more than in Heaven taken for the place only and that is this spiritual building And this is most suitable to the nature of God as our Saviour sayes of the necessary conformity of his Worship to himself God is a spirit and therefore will be worshipped in spirit and in truth So it holds of his house he must have a Spiritual one because he is a spirit So Gods Temple is his People And for this purpose chiefly did he make the world the heaven and the earth That in it he might raise this spiritual building for himself to dwell in for ever to have a number of his reasonable creatures to enjoy him and glorifie him in eternity and from eternity he knew what the demensions and frame and materials of it should be The continuance of this present world as now it is is but for the service of this work like the scaffolding about it and therefore when this Spiritual building shall be fully compleated all the present frame of things in the world and in the Church it self shall be taken away and appear no more This building is as the particular designing of its materials will teach us the whole invisible Church of God and each good man is a stone of this building but as the nature of it is spiritual it hath this priviledge as they speak of the soul that ' it s tota in toto tota in quâlibet parte as the whole Church is the spouse of Christ and each believing soul hath the same title and dignity to be called so thus each of these stones is called a whole Temple Temples of the holy Ghost though taking the temple or building in a compleater sense they are but each one a part or a stone of it as here it is express'd The whole excellency of this building is compris'd in this that 't is called spiritual differencing it from all other buildings and preserving it to them and because he speaks immediately after of a Priesthood and sacrifices it seems to be call'd a spiritual building particularly in opposition to that material Temple wherein the Iews gloried which was now Null in regard of its former use and was wholly after destroyed But when it stood and the legal use of it stood in fullest vigour yet in this still it was inferiour that it was not a spiritual house made up of living stones as this but of a like matter with other earthly buildings The spiritual house is the palace of the great King of his temple The Hebrew word for palace and temple is one Gods temple is a palace and therefore must be full of the richest beauty and magnificence But such as agrees with the nature of it a spiritual beauty In that Psalm that wishes so many prosperities one is that their daughters may be as corner stones polished after the similitude of a palace thus is the Church that is called the Kings daughter Psa. 45. but her comliness is invisible to the World She is all glorious within through sorrowes and Persecutions she may be smoaky and black to the World's eye as the tents of Kedar but in regard of Spiritual beauty she is comely as the Curtains of Salomon and in this the Jewes Temple resemble it right which had most of its riches and beauty in the inside Holiness
is Gods ordinance and therefore for his sake submit your selves 1. God hath in general instituted Civil government for the good of humane society and still there is good in it tyranny is better than Anarchy 2. 'T is by his providence that Men are advanc'd to places of authority Psa. 75.6 7. Dan. 4.25 Iohn 19 11. 3 ly 'T is his command that obedience be yeelded to them Rom. 13.1 Tit. 3.1 c. And the consideration of this tyes a Christian to all Loyalty and due obedience which being still for the Lords sake cannot hold in any thing that 's against the Lords own command for Then Kings and Rulers leave their station Now the Subjection here is be subject to them as it were in your rank still in subordination to God but if they go out of that even line follow them not They that obey the unlawfull commands of Kings do it in regard to their God no question but that their God is their belly or their ambition or their avarice But not only ought the exercise of authority and submission to it be in things just and lawful in themselves but the very purpose of the heart both in command and obedience should be in the Lord and for his sake this is the only straight and only safe rule both for Rulers and for people to walk by Would Kings and the other powers of the world consider the supremacy and greatness of that King of whom they hold all their Crownes and dignities they would be no less carefull of their submission and homage to him than they are desirous of their Peoples submission unto them I will not speak at all of their civil obligations to their people and the Covenant of justice that with good reason is betwixt them in the fundamentall constitutions of all well ordered Kingdomes nor meddle with that point of the dependance that Humane Authority hath upon the Societies of Men over whom it is according to which it is here call'd Mans ordinance or creature This is a thing that the greatest and most absolute of Princes cannot deny that all their authority is dependent upon the great God both as the Author of it in the generall and the Soveraigne disposer of it to particular Men giving the kingdomes of the earth to whom he will and therefore he may most justly require obedience and fealty of them that they serve the Lord in fear and it they rejoyce in their dignities over Men yet do it with trembling in sense of their duty to God and that they throw down their Crownes at the feet of Christ the Lords anointed And to this they are the more oblig'd considering that Religion and the Gospel of Christ doth so much press the duty of their peoples obedience to them so that they wrong both it and themselves very far in mistaking it as an enemy to their authority when it doth not only not prejudge it but confirms it and pleads for it Sure they do most ingratefuly requite the Lord and his Christ When they say as Psal. 2. Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us Whereas the Lord binds the cords of Kings and their Authority fast upon their People not the cords of Tyrany indeed to bind the Subjects as Beasts to be Sacrifices to the Passion of their Rulers But the cords of just and due Obedience to their Kings and Governours The Lord doth as you see here bind it upon all that profess his Name and strengthens it by the respect his People carry to himself enjoyning them that for his sake they would obey their Rulers so that Kings need not fear true Religion that it will ever favour any thing that can be call'd Rebellion but on the contrary still urges Loyalty and Obedience so that as they ought in Duty they may in true Policy and Wisdom befriend true Religion as a special friend to their Authority and hate that Religion of Rome which is indeed Rebellion and that Mother of abominations that makes the Kings of the Earth drunk with her cup and makes them dream of increase of Authority while they are truly on the loosing hand But besides that they owe their Power to the advancement of Christs Kingdom so employing themselves by strengthening it and doing themselves good they confirm their own Thrones when they erect his as it was said of Cesar that by setting up Pompey's Statue he setled and fastened his own But it is an evil too natural to Men to forget the true end and use of any good the Lord conferr's on them And thus Kings and Rulers consider not readily for what they are exalted think 't is for themselves to honour and please themseves and not to honour God and benefit their People to encourage and reward the good as here it is and punish the wicked they are set on high for the good of those that are below them that they may be refresh'd with their light and influence as the Lights of Heaven are set there in the highest parts of the World for the use and benefit of the very lowest God set them in the Firmament of Heaven but to what end is added to give light upon the earth and the Mountains are rais'd above the rest of the earth not to be places of prey and robbery as sometimes they are turn'd to be but to send forth streams from their Springs into the Valleys and make them fertile the Mountains and Hills greater and lesser Rulers higher and lower are to send forth to the People the streams of Righteousness and Peace Psal. 72.3 But 't is the corruption and misery of Mans nature that he doth not know and can hardly be persuaded to learn either how to command aright or how to obey and no doubt many of those that can see and blame the Injustice of others in Authority Would be more guilty that way themselves if they had the same power 'T is the Pride and self-love of our Nature that begets disobedience in Inferiours and violence and inâ—ustice in Superiours That depraved humour that â—ies to every kind of Government a propension to a particular disease that makes Royalty easily degenerate into tyranny and Nobles Government into faction and popular into confusion As civil Authority and subjection to it is the institution of God so the peaceable correspondence of those two just Government and due obedience is the especial gift of Gods own hand and a prime blessing to States and Kingdomes and the troubling and interruption of their Course is one of the highest Publick Judgments by which the Lord punishes oftentimes the other sins both of Rulers and People And whatsoever be the cause and on which side soever be the justice of the cause it cannot be look'd upon but as a heavy Plague and the fruit of many and great provocations when Kings and their People that should be a mutual blessing and honour each to other are turn'd into scourges one to another or into a
Iesus Christ who hath begotten us again unto this lively Hope to this Inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away Verse 5. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time 'T Is no doubt a great Contentment to the Children of God to hear of the Excellencies of the life to come they are not readily weary of that subject yet there is one doubt that if it be not removed may dampt their Delight in hearing and considering of all the rest The Richer the Estate is it will the more kindle the Malice and Dilligence of their Enemies to deprive them of it and to cut them short of possessing it And this they know that those spiritual Powers that seek to ruin them do overmatch them far both in Craft and Force Against the fears of this the Apostle comforts the Heirs of Salvation assuring them that as the Estate they look for is Excellent so it is Certain and safe laid up there where it iâ— out of the reach of all adverse Powers Reserv'd in Heaven for you Besides that this is a further evidence of the worth and excellency of this Inheritance it makes it sure it confirms what was said of its Excellency for it must be a thing of greatest worth that is laid up in the highest and best place of the world namely in Heaven for you Where nothing that is impure once enters much less is laid up and kept Thus the Land where this Inheritance lyes makes good all that hath been spoken of the Dignity and Riches of it But further as it is a rich and pleasant Country where it lyeth it hath this priviledge to be the alone Land of Rest and Peace free from all possibility of Invasion There is no spoiling of it and laying it waste and defacing its Beauty by leading Armies into 't and making it the seat of war no noise of Drums nor Trumpets no Inundations of one People driving out another and sitting down in their Possessions In a word as there is nothing there subject to decay of it selfe so neither is it in danger of Fraud or Violence When our Saviour speaks of this same Happiness St. Mat. 6.20 in a like term what 's here called an Inheritance is there called a Treasure He expresses the permanency of it by these two that it hath neither Moth nor Rust in it selfe to corrupt it nor can Thieves break through and steal it There is a worm at the root of all our Enjoyments here Corrupting causes within themselves and besides that they are exposed to injury from without that may deprive us of them how many stately Pallaces that have been possibly divers years in building hath sire upon a very small beginning destroyed in a few hours What great hopes of gain by traffick hath one Tempest mocked and dissâ—pointed How many that have thought their Possessions very sure yet have lost them by some trick of Law and others as in time of war driven from them by the Sword nothing free from all danger but this Inheritance that is laid up in the hands of God and kept in Heaven for us The highest stations in the world namely the Estate of Kings they are but Mountains of prey one robbing and spoiling another but in that holy Mountain above there is none to hurt nor spoil nor offer violence What the Prophet speaks of the Church here 't is more perfectly and Eminently true of it above Isâ—i 65.25 This is indeed a necessary condition of our joy in the thoughts of this happy Estate that we have some perswasion of our Propriety that 't is ours that we do not speak and hear of it as Travellers passing by a pleasant place do behold and discourse of its fair structure the sweetness of the Seat the planting of the Gardens and Meadowes that are about it and so pass on having no further interest in it but when we hear of this glorious Inheritance this Treasure this Kingdom that is Pure and Rich and Lasting we may add it is so called and it is Mine it is reserved in Heaven and reserv'd for me I have received the Evidences and the Earnest of it and as it is kept safe for me so I shall likewise be preserv'd to it and that 's the other part of the Certainty that compleats the Comforts of it see Eph. 1.14 The salvation that Christ hath purchased is indeed laid up in Heaven but we that seek after it are on Earth Compassed about with Dangers and Tentations What avails it us that our Salvation is in Haven in the place of safety and quietness while we our selves are tossed upon the stormy Seas of this World amidst Rocks and shelves every hour in hazard of shipwrack our Inheritance is in a sure hand indeed our Enemies cannot come at it but they may overrun and destroy us at their pleasure for we are in the midst of them Thus might we think and complain and lose the sweetness of all our other thoughts concerning Heaven if there were not as firm a Promise for our own safety in the midst of our dangers as there is of the safety of our Inheritance that is out of Danger The assurance is full thus it is kept for us in Heaven and we kept on Earth for it as it is Reserved for us we are no less surely Preserv'd to it There is here 1. The Estate it selfe Salvation 2. The preservation or securing of those that expect it 3. The Time of full Possession In the last time Vnto Salvation Before it 's called an Inheritance here more particularly what meant by that namely Salvation This is more expressly sure being a deliverance from Misery and imports withal the Possession of perfect Happiness The first part of our Happiness is to be freed from those Miseries to which we are subject by our Guiltiness To be set free from the Curse of the Law and the wrath of God from everlasting death 2. From all kind of mortality or decaying 3. From all power and stain of Sin 4. From all Temptation 5. From all the Griefs and Afflictions of this Life To have the perfection of Grace to be full of Holiness and the perfection of Bliss full of joy in the continual Vision of God but how little are we able to say of this our Apostle here teacheth us that it is vailed to us only so much shines through as we are capable of here but the Revealed knowledge of it is only in the Possession 'T is to be revealed in the last time Then there is their Preservation Kept 2. The causes of it By the power of God through Faith the Inheritance is kept not only in safety but in quietness The Children of God for whom it is kept while they are here are kept safe indeed but not Unmollested and Unassaulted they have Enemies and such as are Stirring and Cunning and Powerful but in the midst of them they are Guarded and
this Fear is twofold 1. Their Relation to God 2. Their Relation to the world First To God as their Father as their Judge because you do call him father and profess your selves his Children begotten again by him for this looks back to that it becomes you as obedient Children to stand in awe and fear to offend him your father and a father so full of Goodness and tender love but as he is the best father so consider that he is withall the greatest and justest judge Iudges according to every mans work God allwayes sees and discerns Men and all their work and judgeth that is accounteth of them as they are and sometimes in this life declares this his judgement of them to their own Consciences and in some to the view of others in visible punshments and rewards but the most solemn judgement of all is reserv'd to that Great day which he hath appointed Wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by his son Iesus Act. 17 32. There is here The Soveraignty of this judge the universality of his Judgement and the Equity of it all must answer at his great Court he is supreme Judge of the world he made it and hath therefore unquestionable right to Judge it he judgeth everyman and 't is a most righteous Judgement which hath these two in it First an exact and perfect knowledge of all Mens works 2. impartiall judgement of them so known This Second is express'd negatively by removing the crooked Rule which mans judgement often follows ' its without Consideration of those personall differences that men eye so much And the first is according to the work it self Iob. 34.19 He accepteh not the person of princes nor regardeth the rich more than the poor and the reason is added therefore they are all the work of his hands He made all the persons and he makes all those differences himself as it pleaseth him therefore he doth not admire them as we do no nor at all regard them we find very great odds betwixt stately palaces and poor Cottages betwixt a Princes Robes and a Beggars Cloak but to God they are all one all these petty differences vanish in Comparison of his own greatness Men are great and small compar'd one with another but they all together amount to just nothing in respect of him We find high mountains and low valleys on this Earth but compar'd with the vast compass of the heavens 't is all but as a point and hath no sensible greatness at all Nor regards he any other differences to byasse his Judgement from the works of men to their persons You profess the true Religion and call him Father but if you live devoid of his fear and be disobedient Children he will not spare you because of that Relation but rather punish you the more severely because you pretended to be his Children and yet obeyed him not therefore you shall find him your Judge and an impartiall Judge of your works Remember therefore that your father is this Judge and fear to offend him But then indeed a Believer may look back to the other for comfort that abuses it not to a sinfull security He resolves thus willingly I will not sin because my father is this just Judge but for my frailties I will hope for mercy because the Judge is my father Their works comprehends all actions and words yea thoughts and each work intirely taken outside and inside together for he sees all alike and judgeth according to all together he looks on the wheels and paces within as well as on the handle without and therefore ought we to fear the least crookedness of our intentions in the best works for if we entertain any such and study not singleness of heart this will cast all though we pray and hear the word and preach it and live outwardly unblameably And in that great Judgement all secret things shall be manifest as they are alwayes open to the eye of this Judge so he shall then open them before Men and Angels therefore let the Remembrance and frequent Consideration of this all-seeing Judge and of that great Judgement wean our hearts and beget in us this fear 2 Cor. 5.10.11 If you would have confidence in that day and not fear it when it comes fear it now so as to avoid sin for they that now tremble at it shall then when it comes lift up their faces with joy and they that will not fear it now shall then be overwhelm'd with fears and terrour they shall have such a burden of fear then as that they shall account the hills and mountains lighter than it Pass the time of your Sojourning here in Fear In this I conceive is Implied another persuasive of this fear You are Sojurners and Strangers as here the word signifies and a warry circumspect carriage becomes strangers because they are most expos'd to wrongs and hard accidents You are encompassed with enemies and snares how can you be secure in the midst of them this is not your rest watchfull fear becomes this your sojurning Perfect peace and security is reserved for you at home and that 's the last term of this fear it continues all the time of this sojurning life dyes not before us we and it shall expire together Blessed is he that feareth alwayes says Salomon in secret and in society in his own house and in Gods we must hear the word with fear and preach it with fear affraid to miscarry in our Intentions and Manners Serve the Lord with fear yea in times of inward comfort and joy yet rejoyce with trembling Psa. 2.11 Not onely when he feels most his own weakness but when he finds himself strongest None so high advanc'd in Grace here below as to be out of need of this Grace but when their sojourning shall be done and they are come home to their fathers house above then no more fearing No entry for dangers there and therefore no fear A holy Reverence of the Majesty of God they shall indeed have then most of all as the Angels still have because they shall see him most clearly and the more he is known the more Revernc'd but this Fear that relates to danger shall then vanish For there there is neither sin nor sorrow for sin nor tentation to sin no more Conflicts but after a full and finall victory an Eternall peace an Everlasting Triumph Not onely fear but faith and hope do imply some Imperfection not consistent with that blessed Estate and therefore all of them having obtained their End shall end Faith in sight and Hope in possession and fear in perfect safety and Everlasting Love and delight shall fill the whole soul in the vision of God Verse 18. For as much as ye know that ye were not Redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold from your vain Conversation received by tradition from your fathers IT is Impossible for a Christian to give himself to conforme with the world's ungodliness unless first
no estate so low as to be shut out from that and a right inform'd and right affected conscience towards God shews a Man that way and causes him to walk in it As the Astrologers say that the same Stars that made Cyrus to be chosen King amongst the Armies of Men when he came to be a Man made him to be chosen King amongst the Shepherds Children when he was a Child Thus grace will have its proper operation in every estate In this Men readily deceive themselves they can do any thing well in imagination better than the real task that is in their hands They presume that they could do God good service in some place of command that serve him not as becomes in that which is by far the easier the place of obeying wherein he hath set them They think if they had the ability and opportunities that some Men have they would do much more for Religion and for God than they do and yet do nothing but spoile a far lower part than that which is their own and is given them to study and act aright in but our folly and self ignorance abuses us 't is not our part to chuse what we should be but to be what we are to to his glory that gives us to be such Be thy condition never so mean yet thy conscience towards God if it be within thee will find it self work in that If it be litle that is concredited to thee in regard of thy outward condition or any other way be thou faithfull in that litle as our Saviour speaks and thy reward shall not be litle he shall make the ruler over much 3. As a corrupt mind debaseth the best and excellentest Callings and Actions so the lowest are rais'd above themselves and ennobl'd by a Spiritual mind A Magistrate or Minister though their calling and employments be high may have low intentions and draw down their high calling to these low intentions they may seek themselves and self ends and neglect God And a sincere Christian may elevate his low Calling by this Conscience of God observing his will and intending his Glory in it An Eagle may fly high and yet have its eye down upon some carrion on the earth and a Man may be standing on the earth and that on some low part of it and yet have his eye upon Heaven and be contemplating it That which one Man cannot at all see in another is the very thing most considerable in their actions namely the principle whence they flow and the end to which they tend This is the form and life of actions that by which they are earthly or Heavenly Whatsoever be the matter of them the Spiritual mind hath that Alchimy indeed of turning base Mettals into Gold Earthly employments into Heavenly The handy work of an Artisan or Servant that regards God and eyes him even in that work is much holier than the prayer of an Hypocrite and a Servants enduring the private wrongs and harshness of a froword Master bearing it patiently for the Conscience of God is more acceptable to God than the sufferings of some such as may endure much for a publick good cause without a good and upright heart This habitude and posture of the heart towards God the Apostle S. Paul prâ—sses much in this very Subject Eph. 6. as being very needful to allay the hard labour and harsh usage of many of them this is the way to make them easy to undergo them for God no pill so bitter but respect and love to God will sweeten it And this is a very great refreshment and comfort to a Christian in the mean estate of a Servant or other labouring Men that they may offer up their hardship and bodily labour as a sacrifice to God and say Lord this is the station wherein thou hast set me in the world and I desire to serve thee in it what I do is for thee and what I suffer I desire to bear patiently and cheerfully for thy sake in submission and obedience to thy will For Conscience In this there is 1. A reverent complyance with Gods disposal both in allotting to them that condition of Life and particularly chusing their Master for them though possibly not the mildest and pleasantest yet the fittest for their good there is much in the firm believing of this and hearty submitting to it For we would naturally rather carve for our selves and shape our own estate to our mind which is a most foolish yea an impious presumption as if we were wiser that he that hath done it and as if there were not as much and it may be more possibility of true contentment in a mean than in a far higher condition the Masters mind is often more toyl'd than the Servants body And if our condition be appointed us at least we would have a voyce in some qualifications and circumstances of it as in this if a Man must serve he would wish willingly that God would allot him a meek gentle Master and so we in other things if we must be sick we would be well accommodate and not want helps but to have sickness and want means and friends for our help this we cannot think of without horror But this submission to God is never right till all be given up into his hand that concernes us to do with it and every Article and circumstance of it as seems good in his eyes 2. In this Conscience is a Religious and observant respect to the rule God hath set men to walk by in that condition so that their obedience depends not upon any external inducement and so falls when that fails But flows from an inward impression of the Law of God upon the heart thus a Servant's obedience and patience will not be pinn'd to the goodness and equity of his Master but when that failes will subsist upon its own inward ground and generally in all estates This is the thing that makes sure and constant walking makes a Man step even in the ways of God When a Man's obedience Springs from that unfailing unchanging reason the command of God 't is a natural motion and therefore keeps on and rather growes than abates but they that are moved by things outward must often fail because these things are not constant in their moving as a People that are much acted by the Spirit of their rulers as the Jews when they had good Kings 3. In this is a tender care of the glory of God and the adornment of Religion which the Apostle premis'd before these particular duties as a thing to be specially regarded in them the honour of our Lords name is that we should set up as the mark and to aim all our actions at either we think not on it or our hearts slip out and start from their aim like bowes of deceit as the Word is 4. There is the comfortable perswasion of Gods approbation and acceptance as is express'd in the following Verse of which somewhat
it shall appear in its full brightnesâ— at the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The peculiar treasure of a Christian being the Grace that he receives from Heaven and particularly that Soveraign Grace of Faith whatsoever he can be assur'd will better him any way in this he will not only bear it patiently but gladly imbrace it Rom. 5.3 Therefore the Apostle sets this before his Brethren in those words of this verse where is 1. The Worth and Excellency of Faith 2. The usefulness of Temptations in relation to it The trial of Faith is call'd more precious a work of more worth then the tryal of Gold because Faith it selfe is of more value then Gold the Apostle chuses this comparison as fitting his purpose for both for the Illustration of the worth of Faith and likewise the use of Temptations representing the one by Gold and the other by the trying of Gold in the Fire The worth of Gold is 1. Real the purest and preciousest of all mettals having many excellent properties beyond them as they that write of the nature of Gold observe 2. Far greater in the Esteem and Opinion of Men. See how Men hurry up and down over Sea and Land unwearied in their pursuit with hazard of life and often with the loss of Uprightness and a good Conscience and not only thus Esteem it in it self but make it the Rule of their Esteem one of another valuing Men less or more as they are more or less furnish't with it and we see at what a height that is for things we would commend much we borrow its name to them viz. Golden Mediocrity and that Age which they would call the best of all they name it the Golden Age and as Seneca observes describing heavenly things as Ovid the Suns Pallace and Chariot still Gold is the word for all And the Holy Scriptures descending to our reach do set forth the Riches of the new Ierusalem by it Rev. 21. And the Excellency of Christ. Cant. 5.11.14 And here the preciousness of Faith whereof Christ is the Object is said to be more precious then Gold I will not insist in the parallel of Faith with Gold in the other Qualities of it as that it is pure and sollid as Gold And that ' it s most ductile and malleable as gold beyond all other mettals it plies any way with the Will of God But then Faith truly Enriches the soul And as Gold Answers all things so Faith gives the Soul propriety to all the rich Consolations of the Gospel to all the promises of Life and salvation to all needful Blessings it draws vertue from Christ to strengthen it self and all other Graces And thus 't is not onely precious as Gold but goes far above the Comparison 't is more precious yea much more precious 1. in its Originall the other is dig'd out of the bowels of the Earth but the Mine of this Gold is above it comes from Heaven 2. In its Nature answerable to its Originall it is Immateriall Spirituall and pure we refine Gold and make it purer but when we receive Faith pure of it self we mix dross with it and make it Impure by the allay of Unbelief 3. in its Endurance flowing from the former it perisheth not Gold is a thing in it selfe Corruptible and perishing and to particular owners it perisheth in their loss of it being depriv'd of it any way Other Graces are likewise tryed in the same Furnace but Faith is named as the Root of all the rest Sharp afflictions give a Christian a tryal of his Love to God whether it be single and for himself or not for then it will be the same when he strikes as when he Embraces and in the fire of affliction will rather grow the hotter and be more taken off from the world and set upon him Again the Grace of Paâ—ience is put particularly upon triall in distresses but both these spring from Faith for Love rises from a right and strong belief of the Goodness of God and patience from a persuasion of the Wisdom and Love of God and the truth of his promises He hath said I will not fail thee And that we shall not be tempted above our strength and he will give the Issue Now the belief of those Causes patience The triall of faith worketh Patience Iam. â— 3 For therefore doth the Christian resigne up himselfe and all that concerns him his triall the measure and length of them all unto Gods dispose because he knowes that he is in the hands of a wise and loving Father Thus the trial of those and other particular Graces doe still resolve into this and are compris'd under it the triall of Faith This tryal as 〈◊〉 of Gold may be for a 〈◊〉 â—old end 1 for Experiment of the truth and pâ—reness of a Christians faith 2. for râ—fining it yeâ— more and to raise it to a higher pitch or degree of pâ—reness 1. The furnace of Affliction shows upright â—eal Faith to be such indeed remaining stâ—ll the same even in the fire the same thaâ— it was undiminished as good Gold 〈◊〉 none of its quantity in the fire Doubtless many are deceiv'd in time of ease and prosperity with imaginary Faith and Fortitude so that there may be still some doubt while a Man is under set with outward helps as Riches Friends Esteem c. whether he leanes upon those or upon God who is an Invisible support though stronger then all that are visible and is the peculiar and alone stay of Faith in all Conditions But when all these outward props are pluckt away from a Man then it will manifest whether something else upholds him or not for if there be nothing else then â—e falls but if his mind stand firm and unremoved as before then 't is evident he laid not his weight upon these things he had them about him but was built upon a foundation though not seen which is able alone to stay him although he be not only frustrated of all other supports but beatâ—n upon with stormes and tempests as our Saviour sayes the house fell not because it was founded upon a rock Mat. 7.25 This testified the truth of Davids Faith who found it staying him upon God when there was nothing else near that could do 't I had fainted unless I had believ'd Psa. 27.13 So in his strait 1. Sam. 30.6 Where it s said that David was greatly distressed but he encouraged himself in the Lord his God Thus Psa. 73.26 My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and portion for ever The Hearts naturall strength of spirit and Resolution may beaâ— up under outward weakness or the failing of the flesh but when the Heart it self fails that is the strength of the flesh what shall strengthen it nothing but God who is the strength of the heart and its portion for ever Thus Faith worketh alone when the Case suites that of the Prophets Haback â— 17 Although the fig
here our Apostles great intent to ballast the souls of his Brethren with this firm belief that they might sail even and steady in those Seas of trouble Wherefore sayes he if these things we have spoken be thus if there iâ— indeed truth in them and you believe it so what remains then but to resolve for it upon any terms to fit for the journey whatsoever be the difficulties and in them all to keep up the soul by that certain hope that will not dissappoint us What he hath said before is as it were showing them some fruits some clusters of grapes of that promised Land and this Exhortation is answerable to Caleb's word there Num. 13. Seeing 't is so good a Land let us go up and possess it though there be fleshly objects Sons of Anak Giants of tentations and afflictions and sins to be overcome ere it be ours yet 't is well worth all our labour and our God hath ascertain'd us of the victory and given us by his own word undoubted hope of possessing it That which he principally exhorts in this Verse is the right placing and firm continuing of our hope When we Consider how much of our Life is taken up this way in hoping for things we have not and that even they who have most of what others are desiring and pursuing yet are still hoping for somewhat further and when Men have attained one thing though it be something they promis'd themselves to rest contented withal yet presently upon obtaining it Hope begins to find out some new matter for it selfe I say considering the uncessant working of this passion throughout our life 't is of very much concernment for us to give it a right object and not still to be living in vanity and uncertainty Here is then that for our hope to apply it self to after which it needs not change nor can change without the greatest loss Hope for the Grace that is coming at the Revelation of Jesus Christ bestow all your hope on this and recal it not Hope perfectly and to the end The other part of the Exhortation relates to this as the main end and in the Original runs in this form wherefore girding up the loines of your mind being sober hope and to the end hope may be the more perfect and endure to the end and more like it selfe heavenly your minds must be freed from the Earth that they may set for heaven and this is expressed in two several words but both meaning much the same thing that temper of sobriety and posture of being girt are no other but the same removal of earthly mindedness and incumbring cares and desires of earthly things Gird up the loynes The custom of those Countries was that wearing long garments they trussed them up for work or journey Chastity is indeed a Christian grace and a great part of the souls freedom and spiritualness and fits it much for Divine things yet I think it is not so particularly and only intended in this expression as St Ierom and others take it for though the girding of the loynes seem to them to favour that sense 't is only in allusion to the manner of girding up used and besides the Apostle here makes it clear he meant somewhat else for he sayes the Loynes of your minds gather up your affections that they hang not down to hinder you in your Race and so in your Hopes of obtaining and do not only gather them up but tye them up that they fall not down again or if they do be sure to gird them straiter then before thus be still as men for your journey tending to another place This is not our home nor the place of our rest therefore our loines must be still girt up our affections kept from training and dragging down upon the Earth Men that are altogether earthly and profane are so far from girding up the loines of their mind that they set them whole downwards the very highest part of their soul is glued to the Earth and they are daily partakers of the Serpents curse they go on their Belly and eat the dust they mind earthly things Now this disposition is inconsistent with Grace but they that are in some measure truly godly though they grovel not so yet may be somewhat guilty of suffering their affections to fall too low that is too much conversant with vanity and further engaged than is meet to some things that are worldly and by this means abate of their heavenly hopes and make them less perfect less clear and sensible to their souls And because they are most subject to take this Liberty in the fair and calm weather of porsperity God doth often and wisely and mercifully cause rough blasts of afflâ—ction to arise upon them to make them gather their loose garments nearer to them and gird them closer Let us then remember our way and where we are and keep our garments girt up for we walk amidst thornes and briers that if we let them down will entangle and stop us and possibly tear our garments we walk through a world where there is much mire of sinfull pollutions and therefore cannot but defile them and the croud we are among will be ready to â—read on them yea our own feet may be entangled in them and so make us stumble and possibly fall Our onely safest way is to gird up our affections wholly This perfect hope is inforced by the whole strain of iâ— for well may we fixe our Hope on that happiness to which we are appointed in the Eternall Election of God Ver. 2. and born to it by our new birth Ver. 3 4. and preserv'd to it by his almighty power Ver. 5. and cannot be cut short of it by all the afflictons and oppositions in the way no nor so much as depriv'd by them of our present Joy and comfort in the assurance of it Ver. 6 7 8 9. And then being taught the Greatness and Excellency of that blessed Salvation by the doctrine of the prophets and Apostles and the admiration of Angels all these conspire to confirme our Hope to make it perfect and persevering to the End And we may also Learn by the foregoing doctrine that this is the place of our triall and conflict but the place of our rest is above we must here have our Loynes girt but when we come there we may wear our long white Robes at their full length without disturbance for there is nothing there but peace and without danger of defilement for no unclean thing is there yea the streets of that new Jerusalem arâ— pav'd with pure gold to him then that hath prepared that City for us let us ever give praise Verses 14.15 16. Verses 14. As obedient Children not fashioning your selves according to the former Lusts in your Ignorance Verse 15. But as he who hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of Conversation Verse 16. Because it is written be ye holy for I am holy THy
to receive that life from him Now these stones come unto their foundation which imports the moving of the soul to Christ being moved by his spirit and that the will acts and willingly for it cannot act otherwise But as being acted and drawn by the father Ioh. 6. No man can come to me Except the father draw him And the outward means of drawing is by the word 't is the sound of that harp that brings the stones of this spiritual building together and then being united to Christ they are built up That is as S. Paul expresses it Eph. 2.21 They grow up unto a holy temple in the Lord. In times of peace the Church may dilate more and build as it were into bredth But in trouble it arises more in hight is built upwards as in cities where men are straitned they build usually higher than in the country Notwithstanding of the Churches afflictions yet still the building is going forward 't is built as Daniel speaks of Ierusalem in troubleous times And 't is this which the Apostle intends as suiting with his forgoing Exhortation this may be read exhortatively too but taking it rather as asserting their condition 't is for this end that they may remember to be like it and grow up For this end he expresly calls them living stones an adjunct not usual for stones but here inseperable And therefore though the Apostle changes the similitude from Infants to stones yet he will not let go this quality of living as making chiefly for his purpose To teach us the necessity of growth in Believers they are therefore much compar'd to things that grow to Trees planted in fruitful growing places as by the River of waters to Cedars in Lebanon where they are tallest To the morning light to Infants on the brest and here where the word seems to refuse it to stones yet it must and well doth admit this unwonted Epithete they are called living and growing stones If then you would have the comfortable perswasion of that union with Christ see whether you find your souls establish'd upon Jesus Christ finding him as your strong foundation not resting on your selves nor on any other thing either within you or without you but supported by him alone drawing life from him by vertue of that union as from a living foundation so as to say with the Apostle I live by faith in the son of God who both loved me and given himself for me As these stones are built on Christ by faith so they are cemented one to another by love and therefore where that is not 't is but a delusion to think themselves parts of this building As it is knit to him 't is knit together in it self through him and if dead stones in a building support and strengthen mutually one another how much more ought living stones in an acttive lively way to do so the stones of this building keep their place the lower rise not up to be in the place of the higher as the Apostle speaks of the parts of the body so the stones of this building in humility and love keep their station and grow up in it edifying in love Eph. 4.16 The Apostle importing that the want of this much prejudges edification These stones because living therefore they grow in the life of grace and spiritualness being a Spirittual building so that if we find not this but our hearts are still carnal and glued to the earth minding earthly things wiser in those than in Spirituals this evidences strongly against us that we are not of this building How few of us have that spiritualness that becomes the Temples of the holy Ghost or the stones of it base lusts and those still lodging and ruling within us and so hearts as Cages of unclean Birds and filthy spirits Consider this as our happiness and the unsolidness of other comforts and priviledges if some have called those stones happy that were taken for the building of Temples or altars beyond those in common houses how true is it here happy indeed the stones that God chuses to be living stones in this Spiritual Temple though they be hammer'd and hewed to be polish'd for it by afflictions and the inward work of mortification and repentance 't is worth the enduring all to be fitted for this building happy they beyond all the rest of men though they be set in never so great honours as prime parts of politick buildings states and Kingdomes in the Courts of Kings yea or Kings themselves For all other buildings and all the parts of them shall be demolish'd and come to nothing from the foundation to the cope stone all your houses both cottages and palaces the elements shall melt away and the earth with all the works in it shall be consum'd as our Apostle hath it but this Spiritual building shall grow up to Heaven and being come to perfection shall abide for ever in perfection of beauty and glory in it shall be found no unclean thing nor unclean person But only they that are written in the Lambs book of Life An holy priesthood As the worship and Ceremonies of the Jewish Church were all shadowes of Jesus Christ and have their accomplishment in him not only after a singular manner in his owne Person but in a deriv'd way in his mystical body his Church The Priesthood of the Law represented him as the great high priest that offered up himself for our sins and that is altogether incommunicable neither is there any peculiar Office of Priesthood for offering Sacrifice in the Christian Church but his alone who is head of it but this Dignity that is here mention'd of a Spiritual Priesthood offering Spiritual Sacrifice is common to all those that are in Christ as they are living stones built on him into a Spiritual Temple so they are Priests of that same Temple made by him Reve. 1.6 As he was after a transcendent manner Temple and Priest and Sacrifice so in their kind are Christians all these three through him and by his Spirit that is in them their Offerings through him are made acceptable We have here 1. The Office 2. The service of that Office 3. The success of that Service The death of Jesus Christ as being every way powerful for reconcilement and union did not only break the partition wall of guiltiness that stood betwixt God and Man but the wall of ceremonies that stood betwixt the Jews and Gentiles made all that believe one with God and made of both one as the Apostle speaks united them one to another the way of salvation made known not to one Nation only but to all people that whereas the knowledge of God was confin'd to one little corner ' it s now diffus'd through the Nations and whereas the dignity of their Priesthood stayed in a few Persons all they that believe are now thus dignified to be Priests unto God the father and this was signified by the rending the vail of the Temple at his
himself down amongst the Beasts and the consolations of the Spirit and Communion with God raises him above himself and associates him with the Angels But let us speak to the Apostles own disuasives from these lusts 1. From the Condition of Christians 2. From the Condition of those lusts As Strangers These Dispersed Jews were Strangers scatter'd in divers Countries as Chap. 1. V. 1 but here that is not intended they are called Strangers in that Spiritual sense that agrees in common to all the Saints possibly in calling them thus he alludes to their outward dispersion but means their Spiritual alienation from the World and Interest in the New Ierusalem And this he uses as a very pertinent enforcement of his Exhortation Whatsoever others do the serving of the flesh and love of the World is most incongruous and unseemly in your Person Consider what you are If you were Citizens of this World then you might drive the same trade with them follow the same lusts but seeing you are chosen and called out of this World and invested into a new Society made free of another City and are therefore here but Travellers passing through to your Countrey 't is very reasonable that there be this difference betwixt you and the World that while they live as at home Let your carriage be such as fits Strangers not glutting your selves with these kind of pleasures surfeiting upon their delcious fruits as some unwary Travellers do abroad but as wise Strangers living warily and soberly and still minding most of all your journey homewards suspecting dangers and snares in your way and so walking with holy fear as the Hebrew word for a Stranger imports There is indeed a miserable party even within a Christian the remainder of corruption that is no Stranger here and therefore keeps friendship and correspondence with the World and will readily betray him if he watch not the more so that he is not only to fly the Pollutions of the World that are round about him and to chuse his steps that he be not ensnared from without but he is to be upon a continual guard against the Lusts and Corruption that is yet within himself to curb and control his own lusts and give them resolute and flat refusals when they sollicit him and to stop up their Essayes and opportunities of intercourse with the World and such things as nourish them and so to do what he can to starve them out of the holds they keep within him and to strengthen that new nature which is in him to live and act according to it tho so he shall be sure to live as a Stranger here and a despis'd mock'd and hated Stranger And 't is not the worse that it be so if Men in Forraign Countreys be subject to forget their own at any time 't is sure then when they are kindlyest us'd abroad and are most at their ease and thus a Christian may be in some danger when he is best accommodate and hath most of the smiles and caresses of the World that though he can never wholly forget his Home that is above yet his thoughts of it will be less frequent and his desires of it less earnest and it may be he may insensibly slide into Customes and habitudes as men will do that are well seated in some other Country But by the troubles and unfriendliness of the World he gains this that when they abound most upon him he then feels himself a Sranger and remembers to behave himself so and thinks often with much delight and strong desires on his own Country and the rich and sure Inheritance that lyes there and the ease and rest he shall have when he comes thither And this will persuade him strongly to fly all polluted ways and lusts as fast as the World followes them it will make him abhorr the pleasures of sin and use the allowable injoyments of this earth warily and moderately never engaging his heart to them as Worldlings do but alwayes keeping that free free from that earnest desire in the pursuit of worldly things and that deep delight in the obtaining of them which the Men of the earth bestow upon them There is a diligence in his Calling and prudent regard of his affairs not only permitted to a Christian but requir'd of him But yet in comparison of his great and High Calling as the Apostle calls it he followes all his other businesses with a kind of coldness and indifferency as not accounting very much which way they go his heart is elsewhere The Traveller provides himself as he can of entertainment and lodging where he comes if it be commodious 't is well but if not 't is no great matter if he find but necessaries he can abate delicacies very well for where he finds them in his way he neither can nor if he could would chuse to stay there though his Inn were dressed with the richest hangings and furniture yet 't is not his home he must and would leave it That 's the character of ungodly Men they mind earthly things Phil. 3. they are drown'd in them over head and ears as we say If Christians would consider how litle and for how litle a while they are concern'd in any thing that 's here they would go through any estate and any changes of estate either to the better or the worse with very composed equal minds always moderate in their necessary cares and never taking any care at all for the flesh to fulfill the lusts of it Let them that have no better home than this world to lay claim to live here as at home and serve their lusts they that have all their portion in this life no more good to look for than what they can catch here Let them take their time of the poor profits and pleasures that are here But you that have your whole estate all your riches and pleasures laid up in Heaven and reserv'd there for you let your hearts be there and your conversation there this is not the place of your rest nor your delights unless you would be willing to change and to have your good things here as some foolish Travellers that spend the estate they should live on at home in a litle whiles braving it abroad amongst strangers will you with profane Esau sell your birthright for a messe of pottage Sell eternity for a moment and such pleasures as a moment of them is more worth than an eternity of the other It were quarrel enough against fleshly lusts which war against the Soul That they are so far below the Soul that they cannot content no not at all reach the Soul they are not a sutable much less a satisfying good to it Although sin hath unspeakably abus'd the Soul of Man yet its excellent nature and original does still cause a vast disproportion betwixt it and all those gross base things of the earth that concern the flesh and go no further But this is not all these fleshly lusts
said to be dead in it otherwayes it could not but press us and press out complaints O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me A Prophane secure sinner thinks it nothing to break the holy Law of God to please his flesh or the World counts sin a light matter makes a mock of it as Salomon sayes but a stirring Conscience is of another mind Mine iniquities is gone over my head c. Psal. 38.4 Sin is such a burden as makes the very frame of Heaven and Earth that is not guilty of it yea the whole Creation to crack and groan 't is the Apostles Doctrine Rom. 8. and yet the impenitent heart whose guiltiness it is not moved groaneth not for your accustomed groaning is no such matter Yea to consider in the present subject where we may best read what it is it was a heavy load to Jesus Christ Ps. 40. Where the Psalmist speaks in the Person of Christ he complains heavily innumerable evils have compassed me about Mine iniquities not his as done by him but yet his by reckoning to pay for them they have taken hold of me so that I am not able to look up they are more then the hairs of my head therefore my heart faileth me And sure that which press'd him so sore that upholds Heaven and Earth no other in Heaven or in Earth could have sustained and surmounted but would have sunk and and perish'd under it Was it think you the pain of that common outside of his Death though very painful that drew such a word from him My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Or was it the fear of it before hand that press'd a sweat of Blood from him No it was this burden of sin the first of which was committed in the Garden that then begun to be laid upon him and fasten'd on his shoulders in the Garden ten thousand times heavier than the Cross which he was caus'd to bear that might be a while turn'd over to another but this could not This was the cup he so trembled at that Gall and Vinegar after to be offer'd him by his Crucifiers or any other part of his External sufferings 'T was the bitter Cup of wrath due to sin that his Father put into his hand and caus'd him drink the very same thing that is here called the bearing our sins on his body And consider that the very smallest sins went in to make up this load and made it so much the heavier and therefore though sins be comparatively lesser and greater yet learn thence to account no sin in it sell small that offends the great God and lay heavy upon your great Redeemer in the day of his Sufferings At his apprehending besides the Souldiers that invisâ—ble crowd of the sins he was to suffer for came about him for it was they that laid strongest hold on him he could easily have shak'd of all the rest as appears But our sins laid the arrest on him being accounted his as 't is in that forcited place Psa. 40. Now amongst these were even those sins we call small they were of the number that took him and they were amongst those instruments of his bloodshed If the greater were as the spear that pierc'd his side the less were as the nails that pierc'd his Hands and his Feet and the very least as the Thornes that were set on his precious Head And the multitude of them made up what was wanting in their magnitude though they were small they were many 2. They were transferr'd upon him by vertue of that Covenant we spoke of They became his debt and he responsable for all they câ—me to Seeing you have accepted of this business according to my will may we conceive the Father saying to his Son you must go through with it you are engaged in it but it is no other than what you understood perfectly before you knew what it would cost you and yet out of joynt love with me to those I nam'd to be saved by you you were as willing as I to the whole undertaking now therefore the time is come that I must lay upon you the sins of all those persons and you must bear them the sins of all those Believers that lived before and all that are to come after to the end of the world The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all sayes the Prophet took it off from us and chargd it on him made it to meet on him or to fall in together as the word is the sins of all in all ages before and after that were to be saved all their guiltiness reencountered and met together on his back upon the Crosse and whosoever of all that Number had least sin yet had â—o small Burden to cast on him and to give accession to the whole Weight Every man hath had his own way of wandering as the Prophet there expresseth it and he pay'd for all all fell on him And as in Testimony of his meekness and patience so in this regard likewise was he so silent in his Sufferings in regard that though his Enemies dealt most unjustly with him yet he stood as convicted before the Justice Seat of his Father under the imputed guilt of all our Sins and so eyeing him and accounting his business chiefly with him he did patiently bear the due punishment of all our sins at his Fathers hand and suited that of the Psalmist I was as dumb and opened not my mouth because thou didst iâ— Therefore the Prophet immediately subjoynes that of his silent carriage Isay 53. To that which he had spoken off the confluence of our iniquities upon him And if this our Sins were accounted his then in the same way and for that very reason of necessity his sufferings and satisfaction must be accounted ours as he said for his disciples to the Men that came to take him if it be me ye seek then let these go free So he said for all Believers to his father his wrath then siezing on him if on me you will lay hold then let these go free And thus the agreement was 2. Cor. 5. ult So then there is an union betwixt Believers and Jesus Christ by which this interchange is made he charg'd with their sins and they cloath'd with his satisfaction and righteousness and that union is first in Gods decree of election running this way that they should live in Christ and so chuse the head and the whole mystical body as one and reckoning their debt as his in his purpose that he might receive satisfaction and they salvation in their heâ—d Christ The execution of that purpose and union begun in Christ's incarnation being for them though the nature be more common he is said not to take on the Angels but the seed of Abraham the company of Believers he became Man for their sakes because they are Men that he is of the same nature with unbelieving Men that perish is but by accident â—s â—t were there is no