that accursed death upon the Cross for our sins and 't was he and not they that rose again the third day and that afterwards ascended into Heaven and 't is he and not they that is the Mediator betwixt God and man 1 Tim. 2. 5. and divers such things must be appropriated to the Person of Christ 'T was he that was put into the Offices of a Prophet Priest and King and these things are everywhere in the Scripture kept so distinct from the other Persons as that Christ is the Doer and Executor of them So that our Freedom comes by him as I have already shewed upon this Fourth Branch of the Doctrine in a more eminent way than by the Father or the Holy Ghost tho they have all of them as I have said in some respects a very great hand in it And from that I would now desire you to take three Considerations All the three Persons are concerned in the Freedom that comes by Christ why then consider 1. That there was not a word spoken in Heaven against the recovering of poor Sinners out of their lost condition not a word against shewing Mercy to them You know there be many great things upon Earth that come to a Proposition but then they meet with an Opposition and such an Opposition that the thing propounded is dash'd all to pieces But it was not so in Heaven there every one was for it the Father was for it the Son was for it and the Holy Ghost was for it and yet every one might have been against it And Oh how much might have been said to have spoiled all there was enough might have been alledged to have turned all their hearts against us but every one was willing that the business of our Redemption should go forward all went on our side You may therefore be fully assured that tho there was none but the second Person that did visibly appear in the Work of our Redemption yet that they are all well-wishers to it Here 's no place left for doubting whether their hearts be as inclinable towards your Salvation as Christ did express by word of mouth that his heart was in the days of his Flesh for they do all by mutual consent unite together in this Design of doing your Souls good and the voice of one is the voice of all And when Christ did invite and call poor Sinners to come unto him and declared so much readiness to receive and imbrace all that were weary and heavy laden you must know that he did not only do this to show his own kindness and good-will to the Children of Men but also to shew what kindness and good will the other Persons had in their hearts towards them too And if you look into 1 Joh. 5. 7. you shall find them all joined together in this matter of Salvation by Christ compared with ver 11. What an ingagement then is it to us to accept of this Salvation when we have as I may say three such great Suitors seeking to us the Father sending his Son and the Son coming from the Father and now Christ by his Spirit knocking at the door of our Hearts for an entrance Oh that as they are all willing that we should be saved we were all willing to close with this Salvation 2. Since they all have a hand in it then in our labouring to get the benefit of Christ's Redemption we must look to all the three Persons 't is not only Christ in particular that we must have an eye to but also to the Father and to the Holy Ghost And we must look to them all two ways 1. In the way of Prayer 2. In the way of Thanksgiving As for Prayer why we must pray to the Father that he would draw us to his Son as Christ saith Joh. 6. 44. No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him We must pray to the Son that he would have mercy upon us and heal us and that he would help our Unbelief as you read they did in the Gospel when he was here in his bodily Presence We must pray to the Holy Ghost to inlighten our Minds in the saving understanding of Christ and the Gospel to sanctifie us and make us obedient to the word of Grace and effectually to apply to us the Redemption that comes by Christ and all the benefits of it But here we must take heed that when we do thus express our selves as sometimes we may in such kind of Petitions as are directed more particularly to one Person we don't think that the other Persons are at that time excluded And then we must look to all the three Persons in a way of Thanksgiving For if every one hath a hand in our Redemption then we are beholding to every one of them and so we may not only make an Acknowledgment of it to the whole Godhead jointly but also to each of the Persons particularly and so you shall see the People of God have sometimes done As for Thanksgiving to the Father see Eph. 1. 3. and for Thanksgiving to the Son Rev. 1. 5 6. And tho we have not as I remember any Scripture in which the Holy Ghost is given thanks to in this particular way of naming of him yet you must know that in those places in which Praise is rendred unto God he is there to be understood Well then as I said we should be admiring and praising every one of them for this Work and saying Oh blessed be the Father that sent his only begotten Son out of his Bosom to be a Saviour to Mankind And Oh blessed be Jesus Christ the Son of God who laid down his Life to be a Ransom for us And Oh blessed be the Holy Ghost which hath given to any of our Souls the application comfort and sealing up of this Redemption Blessed be that one God in three Persons for ever and ever Amen 3. If there be such a Three that join together to further the Saints Salvation then another Three that join together to hinder their Salvation shall not be able to do it There is a Three that would fain keep every Child of God out of Heaven the World the Flesh and the Devil and 't is true they are three great and mighty Enemies howbeit they attain not to the first Three 1 Chron. 11. 21. Oh! you that fear God when you think what Three there are against you and thereupon are ready to be disheartned why think what Three there are for you and then be comforted What are the Three below to the Three above The Saints do too little mind what great Friends and Helps are ingaged on their side It daunted all the Children of Israel to see that great Goliath coming against them because they looked no higher than themselves but little David went forth with Courage and Resolution to meet him because he knew that he had God on his side 1 Sam. 17. 45. Thou comest to me with
of God which is another Relation than that we are now speaking of yea and a far more inferior one than this of the Son of God If a Servant of God was to bring this Freedom how can it be by the Son of God You shall find the places in Isa 53. 11. Zech. 3. 8. and elsewhere Ans This is none other than the Son of God who is here spoken of only he is called by this name in reference to the great Work that he was to do and in reference to the mean and low condition in which he was to do it he took upon himself the form of a servant and in respect to his faithfulness in all that he undertook as the Scripture saith he was faithful to him that appointed him 2. This Freedom was to come by one that was to be God and Man together in one person He was to be such a wonderful One that the like was not to be found again either in Heaven or Earth In Heaven there was one that was God yea but he was not man and upon Earth there were many that were men yea but they were not God But here the two Natures the Divine and the Humane they must meet together in him that was to be the Redeemer and there was great reason for it the procuring of this Freedom did require both these to concur and each of them to lend their helping hand Now thus it was with Christ he was God for he saith I and my Father are one and he was man too for he saith The Father is greater than I. And therefore Christ was the wonderfullest Sight that ever was beheld upon Earth to see a person that was true God and true Man at once what a rare Sight was that Oh! What an astonishing thing is the Incarnation of Christ that God should take upon him humane Flesh and that humane Flesh should be united to the Godhead Yea this will make a considerable part of the Glory that shall be in Heaven to behold the Son of God in our Nature What an everlasting joy will it be to the Saints to see Christ in their Nature sitting down at the right hand of God! Well therefore surely Freedom comes by Christ since 't is he that is both God and man in one Person for ever 3. This Freedom was to come by one that was to be all his days upon Earth without sin he must lead as pure a spotless Life as the perfect Law did call for he must not do as we do the best of us perform Duties that have a great many flaws and fail in this and that and then repent no he must fulfill all righteousness to a tittle Why so did Christ and therefore Freedom comes by him 1 Pet. 2. 22. Who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth There was not a Transgression in the whole Life of Christ he was without blemish and without spot tho he spake much yet be never spake amiss tho he thought on many things yet he never thought amiss tho he did many things yet he never did any thing amiss he had not only sincerity but he had perfection not only holiness but all the degrees of it The People of God tho they have Grace yet they have need of grains of Allowance they don't so their Duty but that they stand in need of mercy tho God be glorified by that they do yet they don't look to be justified by what they do But now Christ he lived so as that he was justified by works yea so as to justifie all that believe in him by his works Rom. 5. 19. He lived so exactly as that we need not fear to follow his Example we are commanded to follow the Example of the Saints yea but we must take heed that we don't follow them in every thing for fear we should follow them in sin tho the general course of a child of Gods walking is holy and good yet he hath his particular miscarriages and there we must leave him but Christ's walking 't was all obedience and all conformity to the Will of God therefore he is a fit and a full Pattern for us in what is our Duty 4. This Freedom was to come by one who could make full satisfaction to the Justice of God for sin for so God was resolved that he that would be the Purchaser of it should without any abatement bring in such a Ransom as was able to recompence all the wrong that he had received And therefore he had need to be some mighty Vndertaker that should appear in this Work since he was to offer up a Sacrifice of such Value as might make an All-sufficient Expiation and Atonement to the highest Demands that could be propounded in a way of Satisfaction Now if all the Beasts of the Forest and all the Cattle upon a thousand Hills should have been gathered together and given in Sacrifice to God yea if all the lives of Men and Angels should have gone for it this would not have quieted the Justice of God The guilt of sin is another manner of thing than that it can be bought off or purged away by such means as these no there must one be found who could bring a more excellent Sacrifice than all Creatures or any mere Man could amount to Now this full Satisfaction Jesus Christ did make and therefore Freedom comes by him And that he did so appears in three things which you find in that Epistle to the Hebrews 1. In that after Christ had offered up himself all other Sacrifices ceased it abolished all the ceremonial Worship of the Old Testament then there was no more blood of bulls and of goats required to be shed nor the ashes of an heifer to sprinkle the unclean See Heb. 10. 5 6 7 8 9. Those Ministrations and Services were pleasing to God before as they did type out his Son that was to come but when he was come and had offered up that great Offering of Himself then mark the expression God hath no pleasure in them thou wouldst not have them saith ver 5. He had no pleasure in them saith ver 6. He takes them away saith ver 9. q. d. Away with them what should I do with these now He looks upon his Son in the flesh the Body that he had prepared the second sacrifice as 't is here called that is of another kind and nature than the first Sacrifices under the Law were and that is it that he is for and that he will now establish Now if Christ had not made full Satisfaction then these former Sacrifices should not have ceased there must have been the Old Testament Worship still But there is no need of that now nay it would be an abomination to God now to bring him such kind of things as these it would be as you read in another case Isa 66. 3. He that killeth an ox would be as if he slew a man he that sacrificeth a lamb as if he cut off
thereof you read 1 John 3 8. that Christ was manifested for this purpose that he might destroy his works The Devil was hard at work when he brought in the Fall and all the sin and misery that followed upon it He never wrought harder in his life than he did at this time and at one more and that was when Jesus Christ was in the World and now come in person to restore liberty by the Gospel Then he wrought so hard to withstand the salvation of sinners by Christ that I may say after our manner of expressing things he sweat till he dropt again He was as it were all of a foam with rage And he shewed it sufficiently from the very Birth to the very Death of Christ And 't is observable for this what Christ saith in Luke 22. 53. when Judas and his company were come to take him that that time was the power of Darkness i. e Satan was then at work with all his might But to look back again to the Fall Oh how he was at work there And when he had prevailed with our first Parents in the Temptation no doubt but he thought that he had made strong and sure work of it that all was now his own for ever for he knew that man could never recover himself and he knew that all the Angels in Heaven were not able to do it and he knew that tho God in mercy could have pardoned them yet that must not be neither without satisfaction to his Justice and he little thought of any such way to be taken as for God to send his only begotten Son into the World that the World through him might be saved tho it was not long after but he had an incling of it Gen. 3. 15. Now Christ by this Freedom crushes and breaks the Devil's head i. e. spoils all the Master-peice of his malice and subtilty restores that Image of God of which he had robb'd us brings in a Covenant of Grace for a Covenant of Works broken and begins the World a-new as it were 3. By this Freedom Christ executes the three great Offices of a Prophet Priest and King God the Father appointed and anointed him to all these Offices and by this redeeming-work he does discharge them His Office of a Prophet is to teach his Church the things that are needful to their Salvation by this Freedom he discharges that therefore Joh. 15. 13. with vers 15. when he tells them that he had shewed his great love to them in laying down his life for them that is to make them free he adds this that he had made known all things to them which he had heard of his Father that is which his Father had sent him to teach them in for their spiritual and eternal good His Office of a Priest was to suffer and satisfie for them upon Earth and to intercede for them in Heaven and by this Freedom he discharges that Heb. 2. 17. His Office of a King is to rule in his Church by way of increasing preserving defending and ordering of it and by this Freedom he discharges that as in Isa 9. 6 7. you may see So that all that Christ doth it relates to this Freedom either 't is in order to the giving of it or else 't is the fruit and effect of his having given it we cannot name any thing that ever he did or yet doth or shall do as Mediator but it some way or other runs into this 4. By this Freedom Christ leaves matter of the highest Condemnation upon the refusers of the Gospel Sirs I beseech you consider this The Lord Jesus is resolved to make use of this Freedom one way or other with all of you either to save or damn you Where he can't make the one use that is to save sinners he will make the other use of it that is to sink sinners Where it doth not serve as an Engine to raise them 't will serve as an Engine to ruin them Doubt not of it Christ will have enough to say from this salvation of his when he hath offered it and you have despised it to leave you without excuse 'T will furnish him abundantly with Arguments to plead against you that will stop all your mouths at the last day when he shall tell you how he had prepared a Remedy that would have delivered you from all your misery and how he did most willingly shed that precious blood of his which would have washed away all your sins and if you had but come to him you might have been as safe and as blessed as others that believed in him but nothing would prevail with you to bring you in You either did not look after him at all or if you did it was not to purpose You could not find in your hearts to turn every sin out of doors there must be something of your Lusts that must be spared and something of his Terms that must be abated You were afraid of buying Christ too dear Well now what shall Christ do but make use of this Freedom and Gospel for a Witness against you and be sure of it he is resolved to do it That place doth intimate so much to you before-hand in John 3. 18 19. But I shall say no more of the Uses which Christ makes of this Freedom but shall come to shew the excellent Uses that Christians may make of it And in reference to them I shall lay down in Twelve things what this Freedom is good for 1. To make them from their hearts to pity Christless persons To do that in some measure which you read of Christ concerning Jerusalem which did not know the things of their peace in the day of their visitation when he came near the City he beheld it and wept over it So beloved this Freedom is good to make them that have it to weep over them that have it not and to say Ah poor sinners ah precious souls where are you what will become of you It will present unconverted men and women to the mind and thoughts of a Believer in Christ as the saddest spectacles that ever their eyes beheld Their Freedom now makes them sensible what 't is to be a sinner While they were in the Bondage themselves they saw not the danger that was in that condition but now they do and so they are prepared to pity every one that is left behind Indeed they see and 't is commonly to be seen that these Christless persons are secure and merry as if all were as well as could be But all this makes those that have this Freedom to pity them the more It would be some comfort to them to see them struck down with Convictions that things are not well within them and to hear them cry out as the Jaylor did to Paul and Silas Sirs what must I do to be saved c. But to see them in their sins and yet to be secure to see them under the Curse and yet to be
for tho all the Saints are Sons yet none of them is such a Son as Christ is He hath in all things the pre-eminence I cannot now stand upon this how far this Son goes beyond all the other Sons of God 1. In respect of the manner of his being the Son of God by an unconceivable eternal Generation The Saints are the Sons of God by Faith and by Grace and by Adoption but Christ by Nature 'T is the natural Priviledg of Christ to be the Son of God whereas we by nature were the Children of Wrath. 2. In respect of his whole carriage towards his Father He never grieved or displeased or disobeyed his Father v. 29th of this 8th of John I do always those things that please him But there are many wry treadings that the other Sons have cause to mourn for in their best walkings In many things we offend all There 's no child of God upon earth so good a traveller to Heaven but that he sometimes stumbles and falls tho through Grace he rises again by Repentance You have that description of a true child of God whereby he is differenced from the wicked tho he hath his sins and failings too Jer. 8. 4. 3. In respect of his equality with his Father according to his divine nature He is so the Son of God as that he is God equal to him Phil. 2. 6. The Saints are the children of God and partakers by Faith of the Divine Nature but yet there is an infinite distance between God and them they are Creatures still tho they be renewed Tho they are united to God yet they are not changed into God But this Son is as holy as glorious as great as his Father 2. You have here what this Son can do for poor sinful men And that is he can make them free set them at perfect liberty knock off all their chains and bolts wherewith they are bound and fettered If the Son shall make you free i. e. I can do it if you will but be willing 3. The nature of this Freedom that he can give to poor sinners i. e. Freedom indeed ye shall be free indeed or as the Greek word is you shall have a Freedom that is real that is a substantial Freedom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it shall not be an imaginary thing as that which you now think you have but it shall be a Freedom that hath Truth and Being in it to go as near as I can to the Original Language Well now the point is this That Doct. The Lord Jesus Christ doth offer a most excellent Freedom to sinners that are in Bondage and that 't is every ones duty to look after his particular share in it The Branches of this Point are Five in number all of them clearly arising from this Text as you may easily see The 1. Branch for order sake as to my handling of it is That sinners are in Bondage For to be made free doth suppose that sinners are not free Christ speaks to them as persons that were not yet free If the Son therefore shall make you free i. e. yet you are not made free for you commit sin and whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin 2. Branch That Jesus Christ doth offer Freedom to poor sinners that are in the house of Bondage If the Son shall make you free You see he speaks as one that offers it 3. That it is every ones duty to look after this Freedom that they be in the number of those that are brought into liberty And that is in these words you free You and you should labour to obtain it 4. That this Freedom comes by Christ 'T is Christ that gives it Whoever is made free is made free by Christ If the Son shall make c. 5. That the Freedom which Christ offers to sinners and gives to believers is a most excellent Freedom If the Son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed As no Bondage is like that Bondage so no Freedom is like this Freedom Of these Five Branches of the Doctrine I intend God willing to speak in their order The first Branch of the Doctrine is this Tbat sinners are in Bondage I shall labour to open this Bondage to you in some Particulars 1. 'T is a real Bondage 't is as sure as any thing in the World that sinners are in Bondage 'T is as true as the Word of God it self is true For the Word of God tells us so As the liberty that Believers have by Christ is a Freedom indeed so the Bondage that sinners are in is a Bondage indeed Mark how Peter speaks to Simon Magus who was one of these sinners Acts 8. 23. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity q. d. It may be thou dost not think that thou art there but there thou art Now that this Bondage is a real thing appears by Two things to name no more 1. By the description that the Scripture gives of the state of sinners Look into them and you shall see that they are said to be Captives 2 Tim. 2. 26. to be in Prison Isa 42. 7. to be under the power of darkness Col. 1. 13. to lie in wickedness 1 John 5. 19. to be all their life-time subject to bondage Heb. 2. 15. 2. By the wonderful awakened sense that those sinners have of their condition to whom it pleases God to shew mercy Oh how sensible they are and what a World of danger do they apprehend themselves to be in and what haste do they make to get out of it as a man that sees he stands upon a sinking ground that if he does not get off presently 't will swallow him up It sets them all on a trembling to see where they are Acts 16. 29 30. Now why have they such real deep apprehensions of their condition Why surely because they see 't is a real Bondage 2. This Bondage is a natural Bondage a slavery that we have by nature which is contracted by the Fall of our first Parents We were born in bondage The Fall of Adam was the beginning of this Bondage there he and we in him lost our Freedom viz. that holy image of God in which he made us Pray labour to lay this Fall to heart more for here was the inlet to all our misery Many are apt to think of the Fall of Adam and Eve as if there were little or nothing that concerned them in it Whereas alas in that very sin all our Freedom went away unless it were a freedom to sin that staid with us still And Beloved let me tell you you are not throughly humbled for sin if you be not humbled for this Original Sin this Bondage by nature Psal 51. 5. 3. 'T is an universal Bondage that includes all that are out of Christ over the whole World Not one unconverted sinner is a Freeman Now Beloved if any of you should go into a very large
they do what they can to make good their Fortifications against him to keep out such a Word from entring and such a Conviction from fastning and it sets up its own carnal plea's and excuses and delaies and self-righteousness c. and all to keep out Christ from setting up his Throne but all before he hath done tumbles like a Babel and crumbles into dust before him 'T is true there is a great deal of strength put out against him the sinner calls all his shifts together and the devil calls all his devices together to resist but Christ is resolved to have the day And therefore mark how he is described as one that goes forth with invincible Power in this Work Psal 45. 3 4 5. So Rev. 6. 2. He went forth conquering and to conquer Beloved we must offer this Freedom to you tho we of our selves have no power to prevail with you but he in whose Name we come he can break your gates of Brass and cut in sunder your bars of Iron Vse And now doth the Lord Jesus Christ offer this Libâ—â—â—â— you Oh then I beseech you let 〈…〉 â—â—cepted of you Oh Beloved 't is offâ—◠〈◊〉 to this end that it should be accepted 〈◊〉 â—ot that it should be made light of as if tâ—â—â—e were no great matter in it whether you had it or had it not I therefore urge that Scripture upon you now Heb. 12. 25. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven What shall Christ make such an offer to you and will you not close with it Will you that are in Bondage perish in your Bondage when you might be set free Is it such a good condition that you are in that you should desire to stay in it The prison and bondage of the Body tho it be nothing to this that your souls are in yet how glad are poor Creatures to hear that there is any hope or way for deliverance out of that Oh sirs let not Christ lose his love let him not lose his labour let him not lose his longing fain he would have you set at liberty And therefore don't hug your chains as if you were loth to part with them Lay this to your heart that Freedom is offered you how can you shift it but you must close with it now If it had not been offered there had been some excuse but will you put it off now it hath been offered yea when it hath been offered particularly to every one of you that there is none of you have been excluded from this gracious Invitation and when it hath been offered with a notwithstanding notwithstanding all the great and grievous sins which you have lived in as it was said to Judah Jer 3. 1 2. Thou hast played with many lovers yet return to me saith the Lord And when it hath been offered frequently not once or twice but often How often would I have gathered you saith Christ to Jerusalem God hath seen you neglect this Salvation such a Sermon and such a Sermon and yet he hath sent again and again and again to you And when it hath been offered with so much importunity and earnestness that you have never been pleaded with about any thing in this World as you have about getting this Freedom And when it hath been offered to you so freely that you shall be redeemed at anothers cost and not at your own you have sold your selves for nought and ye shall be redeemed without price I say when it hath been offered and thus offered why what 's your duty from all this but to close with it 1. Close with it thankfully What Is there yet Freedom for me for such a one as I Oh blessed be God! admired be his Mercy adored be his Name 2. Close with it throughly Take heed of doing it by halves take heed of parting with your sins but as Pharaoh would part with the children of Israel he would yield to this and that upon force but he never came up to Gods terms 3. Close with it quickly before your day of Grace be at an end before it be too late to look out for it Oh sirs stir stir for your souls for the Lords sake quickly quickly you may else be undone to all eternity Opportunities of grace are not long liv'd and when they are over you will wish you had improved them and then there will be no fetching them back I commend that awakening Scripture to you Heb. 12. 15 16 17. Look diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat fold his birth-right For ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears That may be lost in a little time that can never be recovered But because this closing with Christ is a great Subject and of so great importance and because I know there is a great deal of backwardness in the heart of man to close with Christ and for fear lest you should not have as mueh said to you as can well be spoken by man to perswade you to accept of this soul-delivering Jesus whom I preach unto you this day give me leave to carry on the Vse somewhat further by way of motive And tho many things might be insisted on to stir you up yet I will single out this one thing especially namely to beseech you to consider how guilty you will be if you don 't close with Christ and what grievous sinners you are and will be found to be at the great day of his appearing 1. You are guilty of Ignorance You 'll shew your ignorance of Christ that his worth and excellency was never seen by you that you never took him to be a Pearl of great Price for if you had to be sure the next thing would have been to make him yours Matth. 13. 45 46. Beloved there is none that ever refused Christ that knew him I don't mean that knew him after the flesh or that saw him with the eye of the body there were many that beheld him so and had no desire to him Joh. 1. 10 11. but none that ever knew him in a spiritual manner but fell in love with him He draws all the hearts and all the affections of them to whom he hath been revealed by the Holy Ghost It is therefore certain that you dwell in darkness to this day if you have no mind to close with Christ for if you were brought into the light you would follow him 2. You are guily of unthankfulness What! to make such a sad requital to Christ for all his kindness towards you as to prepare
comes by Christ 4. After what manner this Freedom is in Christ 5. I shall make Application To the 1. When this Freedom that is in Christ did begin to be of force I answer Immediately upon the fall of mankind It is a great mistake to think that this Freedom did not begin to be of force till Christ came in the flesh If that were so then all that died before that time would have died in their sins 'T is true when Christ came there were some things about this Freedom that were not before As 1. It was more clearly manifested They before us had it in shadows and types and figures the deliverance of the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt and then a long time after out of the bondage of Babylon did point at this and all the ceremonial Worship and Sacrifices did look this way signifying that there was one to come that should redeem them to God by his Blood and all the good and benefit of those things that were then observed in those Ministrations lay only in this that they did lead them to Christ who was held forth in them tho in a more dark and obscure manner Yea but when Christ came this Freedom was brought unto light for then he appeared who was the Substance of all and then when the substance came the shadows ceased 2. It was more largely extended Before this Freedom was kept within the bounds of the Jewish Nation Psal 147. 19 20. 'T was a great priviledge then to be one of that People because salvation was of the Jews and all the rest of the World were Strangers and Foreigners But when Christ came then the other Nations poor Heathen and Gentiles had this Salvation sent to them The Lord now makes his way to be known upon earth and his saving health among all nations But for all this you must know that this Freedom was in force ever since the fall for then God made the Promise of sending Jesus Christ viz. That the seed of the woman should bruise the serpents head Gen. 3. 15. and all that were saved were saved in the way of looking to that promised Seed though he was not to come into the World till the fulness of time I must needs desire you to take notice of four things from hence That this Freedom hath been of force since the Fall As 1. That persons not living in the days wherein Christ was upon Earth is no hindrance at all to their eternal Salvation for many are saved both before his coming in the Flesh and since his ascending into Heaven who never saw him in his bodily presence I confess it would have been a very desirable thing to have seen our dear and blessed Saviour here in our Nature and to have had the priviledge to have conversed with him about the things of the kingdom of God and to have heard him that spake as never man spake But we are hindred neither from Grace nor Glory for the want of this we may be sanctified without it and we may be saved without it As for sanctification many that did so see him did remain unsanctified and People were not converted by the Humane Nature of Christ but by the Divine Power and Spirit that dwelt in him Joh. 6. 63. And as to salvation that 's obtained not by beholding Christ with an eye of Flesh but with an eye of Faith and they who have that eye here 's their comfort Though they never saw Christ upon Earth they shall see him in Heaven If thou hadst seen him upon Earth thou wouldst have seen him in the form of a servant in a poor and mean condition for then he came to humble himself and to be of no reputation but 't will be another manner of sight to see him in Heaven to behold his glory there Joh. 17. 24. 2. That there were Believers and as great Believers in the days of the Old Testament as there are in the New Believing was the way to Salvation then as well as now Because this Freedom by Christ did not then begin when Christ came in the Flesh therefore you must think that Faith in Christ did not then begin neither Believing was the old and the only way to Heaven ever since the Covenant of Works was broken all in pieces by Adam's Transgression Indeed there have been more Believers since the times of the New Testament than formerly because the Gospel hath been propagated further but there were as true and as great Believers before as you may see Heb. 11. where the Faith of Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and the rest is recorded and propounded as an Example to us And if there were such eminent Believers then how shall we answer it if we be Unbelievers now who have greater helps for our Faith than they had It should much stir us up to believe to consider what times we live in how many things we have to help our Faith of that they had they had the Promises of Christ made but we have them fulfilled they were fain to spell out Christ in a heap of Ceremonies but we may read him in his own Story 3. Take notice of the wonderful Virtue that is in Christ such a Virtue as reaches from the beginning of the World to the end of it You see his Freedom was of force in the first Generation and so it shall be to the last You know that Christ said when the woman that had the bloody Issue touched him I perceive that virtue is gone out of me But Oh what a deal of virtue is there gone out from Christ in this respect that he hath been the Redeemer of Souls from the entrance of Time and will be so till Time shall be no more Things may be very precious when they are made and for a while after as cordial Waters and curious Ointments and costly Perfumes but they won't always keep their Virtue and especially if they stand open it will not be long before they be corrupted but Jesus Christ is such an excellent Cordial and such an excellent Ointment that tho he hath been so long standing open for the use of every comer to him yet he hath not lost any thing of his Virtue or Savour he is as refreshing and as sweet still as evet he was You find in Solomon's time in the Old Testament how he speaks in Cant. 1. 3. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth therefore do the virgins love thee What a savour Christ sent forth to the People of God then and in 1 Pet. 2. 7. in the times of the New Testament still Christ held his Virtue he was precious to them that believed and so he is still A Believer can be refreshed and comforted with Christ he is so full of Virtue still when he can be refreshed and comforted with nothing else 't is the present experience of the Saints in this Age as well as in the
17. 4. I have finished the work he means this Work of our Redemption And in Joh. 19. 30. you read that these words It is finished were the last words that Christ spake before he died as if he should have said Though I am a dying yet the work of my Life is done I do not go off the World like a Bungler that went about what he was not able to effect All that believe in me will find that I have not been a half but a whole Saviour to them the business hath not miscarried in my hands that they should wish I had never medled with it You know the Apostle tells the Colossians chap. 2. 10. that they were compleat in him and in Heb. 9. 12. 't is said that Christ hath obtained eternal Redemption for us he did not only endeavour to obtain it but he hath obtained it The Greek word is he hath found it he did not do as a man doth sometimes when a thing is lost he seeks it but then he comes back again and saith he cannot find it Isa 53. 10. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand that is he shall be sure to carry it through 'T is true he met with many difficulties in his way as it was the highest Work that ever was gone about so 't was the hardest Work if it had not been Christ that had been about it it would never have been brought to pass but because 't was he that had it in his hand therefore he brought it to a blessed period And in this Christ is an Example to us not only to begin good things but to hold out to the finishing of them whatever hardship we must undergo Beloved difficulty doth attend all Duty and great difficulties do attend some Duties but for all that we must see the end of them God loves such a frame of spirit as to have Christians to be crowding and pressing to Heaven through many things that stand in their way 'T is no great matter you know to get to a place when one hath Elbow room enough but when the way is thronged up and there is this to hinder him and that to hinder him and yet the man will not give over till he comes where he should it speaks that he was resolved to get thither And remember this Note That the going on in our Duty notwithstanding difficulty is an evident sign of our Sincerity There was a great deal of difficulty in Abraham's way when he was to offer up his only Son at the Command of God but because he would not stick at that see what is said to him Gen. 22. 12. Now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not with-held thy son thine only son from me As if he should have said Now thou hast given a proof it to purpose You may judge of the Sincerity or Hypocrisie of your Hearts in this case You begin many things that are good it may be ay but do you carry them on to perfection Don't you fly back again when you find 't is hard It may be thou beginnest to deny thy self in this and that Sin or Lust yea but as thou art a doing of it thou findest that Self-denial is a very hard thing and so thou returnest with the dog to his vomit and with the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire Oh! this is a bad sign that thy heart is not right in the sight of God One that is sincere will desire to stir himself up the more now because he finds 't is hard and he will be thinking What shall I be worsted and let alone because my way is not smooth and easie for the Flesh to walk in And tho he finds it difficult yet he doth not think it impossible he believes through Grace such a strong Corruption may be subdued and such a Temptation may be overcome and such a great Affliction may be born with a patient spirit and therefore he will go to God for power tho he hath none of his own and go to God to make things easie tho they are so hard to him and then he finds he can go on Col. 4. 13. To the Third How doth it appear that this Freedom comes by Christ Ans For this I shall give you two sorts of Arguments 1. Some that prove it more directly 2. Others that prove it more remotely being drawn from such considerations as are not immediately about Christ himself Those Arguments that prove it more directly which do more nearly relate to Christ himself are these 1. This Freedom was to come by one that was the only begotten Son of God who could call God Father and whom God could call his Son after such a manner as none else could they must have such a Relation one to another as could not upon some accounts be communicated to any other For tho 't is true God doth in his rich mercy enter into the Relation of a Father with Believers and gives them power to become the Sons of God Joh. 1. 12. Yet as I have formerly hinted to them God is a Father by Grace Covenant and Promise and they are children to him by Faith see 2 Cor. 6. ult Gal. 3. 26. But this was not enough for him that was to bring in this Freedom he must not be one that was made the Son of God so as to be none before but he was to have this Relation to him from all eternity We cannot express the manner of it it is such a glorious Mystery Well now who can this be but Christ The Saints they do not claim their Sonship this way tho they are called Sons and wonder at it that they should 1 Joh. 3. 1. Yet they acknowledge that they were not the Sons of God by nature no but children of wrath Eph. 2. 3. They 'll quickly tell you 't was not their natural due to be the Children of God but to be fire-brands in Hell for so this Scripture last quoted doth intimate And the glorious Angels in Heaven they don't claim their Sonship this way neither they acknowledge that they are Sons by Creation and they all of them praise and bless the Lord for this and shout as it were for joy in singing together to his Name Job 38. 7. But Christ he hath this Sonship by eternal Generation this is the only begotten of the Father as he is often called and therefore Freedom must come by him And in my Text you may observe that when Christ speaks of this Freedom he puts in this Relation of his to God he useth the word Son If the Son c. To teach them that it must needs come by him since he was the eternal Son of God for such a one he must be who was to give this Freedom There is one Objection before I can go on that I would take notice of Obj. But it is said in Scripture that this Freedom and the Works about it were to be by a Servant
and I am the way and the truth and the life Yea it would cast a lie upon God himself for he said this was his beloved Son and owned him by a Voice from Heaven 2. If Freedom doth not come by Christ then all the Saints hope is lost They have all placed their hope in him 1 Tim. 1. 2. They hope that they shall have eternal life by believing in him they hope that it won't be long now before he will come again and receive them to himself according to his Promise that where he is there they may be also They are described there in Tit. 2. 13. to be a People looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ And oh how many breathings and longings of Soul have they and do they send forth to him and having the first fruits of the Spirit they groan within themselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of the body Rom. 8. 23. And what shall all this be lost 3. If Freedom did not come by Christ certainly the Devil would not keep such a do to hinder Souls from coming to him He makes this his great business to blind the minds of them that believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them 2 Cor. 4. 4. But they might come and come to Christ and he would put forth no power nor use no subtilty to hinder them at all if there were no Freedom to be found in him The Devil knows 't is otherwise and therefore he sets all his devices a work to block up that way 4. If Freedom did not come by Christ then no Soul that comes to him could find rest in him But every Soul that comes to him finds rest in him Heb. 4. 3. Yea they find a glorious rest in him as God promised they should Isa 11. 10. Obj. Why but there are many that come to Christ and yet are much disturb'd and full of disquieting thoughts Ans Yea that 's true and yet notwithstanding they do find rest in Christ for ask such a person in the midst of all his fears It is thus and thus with you ay but would you change Would you place your hope in another Oh! no here he desires to pitch for ever Well then he finds rest here as to the Objection and all his trouble is not that he fears whether there be rest in Christ but whether he be truly come to him To the Fourth After what manner this Freedom is in Christ I answer 1. 'T is in Christ personally i. e. Jesus Christ who is the Second Person in the Godhead is he who is our Deliverer and Redeemer When a poor Creature is delivered by some one out of his Slavery certainly he must needs desire to know who was the person that did it Now the Lord Jesus Christ is the very person that hath done this great Work for us as he said to the woman of Samaria Joh. 4. 26. when she spake of the Messias or Redeemer that was to come I that speak unto thee am he Now the reason why I mention this that our Freedom is in the person of Christ is in order to the answering of one Question that may profitably be propounded here which is this Quest Whether our Redemption be so to be appropriated to Christ the Second Person in the Godhead as that the other Persons namely the Father and the Holy Ghost had nothing or have nothing to do in it Answ 1. Our Freedom comes in some respects from the Father and the Holy Ghost as well as from the Son or from all the three Persons jointly 2. In other respects it comes from Christ personally and peculiarly so as that in some sense he is and must be looked upon as more immediately our Redeemer I will open these two things a little 1. Our Freedom comes from all the three Persons That it comes from Christ you know that 's the whole business of this 4th Branch of the Doctrine and much hath been spoken to it already But now for the Father and the Holy Ghost they are also concerned in this Freedom For the Father see that place Col. 1. 12 23. Giving thanks unto the Father who hath delivered us from the power of darkness c. And for the Holy Ghost you read 2 Cor. 3. 17. that where he comes into the heart he brings Liberty with him So that the giving of this Freedom is in some respects the joint work of all the Persons I shall shew you what you are to gather from this by and by that they all have a hand in it But first I will shew you what hand the Father and the Holy Ghost have in conjunction with Jesus Christ about this Freedom and then how Christ as I said is more personally and peculiarly concerned in it For God the Father I shall give you five things for his having a hand in this Work 1. He did appoint design and choose the Son to be our Redeemer he did in his infinite Wisdom and Goodness contrive the way for the bringing of those that should believe out of the misery that they were fallen into by sin Gal. 4. 4 5. So that our Redemption was from the Father as the Original and Fountain of it He broke as it were this Business to his Son and by his own consent he pitched upon him to be the Saviour and Mediator You may observe in many places of the Old Testament that the Father is brought in speaking to Christ as one that he had called and chosen to this Work Isa 42. 6 7. and 49. 8 9. and 55. 4 5. and 61. 1. Zech. 9. 11. By these places you may see that the Father and the Son did as it were agree together from all Eternity about this thing and took as I may say a delight to confer together in Heaven about it There were many wonderful things done between them even there there this admirable Design was laid and there Christ as it were ingaged and entred into Covenant with his Father that he would undertake and faithfully perform this great Work and there the Father past his promise to the Son that those whom he should redeem should have eternal Life Tit. 1. 2. And there the Father did as it were give in to the Son the Number List or Roll of all the persons that were to be redeemed Joh. 17. 6. So that when Christ came into the World he knew for whom he was to die and for whom he was to make intercession that it was not for all the World but for them whom the Father had given him and he knew who they were as he saith Joh. 10. when he speaks that he was to lay down his Life for the Sheep ver 15. I know my sheep ver 14. he must needs know them for he stood charged with every one of them Joh. 6. 39. So that Christ was a long
a sword and with a spear and with a shield but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts and so he prevailed This is the Cordial that true Christians must take along with them in their journey to Heaven to keep them from fainting That Father Son and Spirit are all ingaged in the matters of their Salvation And 't is certain that they would not be so fearful and so weak in their work as they are apt to be if they did but know their strength And so this is the first thing that shews After what manner this Freedom is in Christ 'T is in him Personally 2. This Freedom is in Christ abundantly So Paul found it when the Lord had mercy on him 1 Tim. 1. 14. You know the manner of men is when they give others of their good things to give but a little of them it may be rhey have not such a store of their own as to be able to part with much But 't is not so with Christ this Freedom is stor'd up in him he hath Treasures of it 't is much that Christ can do for Souls that place is very full for it Heb. 7. 25. He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him The word in the Greek is as if you should read it He is able to save to the finishing or perfecting of all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whatever is in Christ 't is in him abundantly Consider four things and you 'll see 't is thus with him in respect of this Freedom 't is in him plentifully 1. He can save more than ever shall be saved The reason why such multitudes do post and flock to Hell is not because there was not enough in Christ to keep them from it but because they will not be ruled by him they do not follow this Physicians Prescriptions Here upon Earth though the Patient makes the best use that can be of the Physician and follows his Prescriptions and Advice to a tittle and doth all things to the exactest obedience yet many times the Patient dies notwithstanding or he is never the more delivered from the pain and danger of his Disease as it was with the Woman that had the bloody Issue Mark 5. 25 26. And the Disease is so inveterate and malignant that all the skill of the Doctors is not able to cure them or preserve them But here no Soul is lost for want of Skill or Power in the Physician but 't is because they would not do as he would have them they would not submit to his Cure nor accept of his Help they should have found him a Healer if he had found them obedient Psal 81. 11 12. Obj. But you may say If Christ hath such a Power he could have made them obedient if he pleased Ans That 's true he could have done so and so he doth to some he doth make them obedient and willing that he will not only give Advice but they shall take Advice and give up themselves to be wholly at Christ's direction and counsel and where-ever this is wrought in the Soul it is the free Grace and distinguishing Love of God The overcoming of the Will to close with Christ is indeed the breaking forth of God's eternal Election and he will do this in all whom he hath chosen but when God sees that tho men cannot of themselves receive Christ yet they do wickedly and wilfully resist the offers of his Grace and through the pride of their Hearts will not cry to him to make them willing and to bring down the stubbornness and rebellion of their spirits who will dare to blame 〈…〉 if he leave them to themselves 〈…〉 sure as 't is unspeakable Mercy in God to draw some to willingness So 't is a very righteous thing in him to leave others to their wilfulness God is not bound to save any man against his will and whom he pleases he may make willing and whom he pleases he may let alone in their rebellion and so they don't perish because Christ could not save them but because they would not be saved and they manifested that they would not because they always resisted the Holy Ghost Acts 7. 51. Obj. But how doth this consist with that great willingness that is in Christ to save Sinners of which we are so often told that so many Sinners should perish and yet Christ could save them Ans 1. The willingness that is in Christ to save Sinners must especially and principally as I conceive be understood of those kind of Sinners who seek to him out of a sense of their need of his Salvation and of their undone condition without him as appears from Matth. 11. 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest As the Lord Jesus in the days of his Flesh did upon all occasions of the coming of the diseased persons to him manifest his great readiness to cure them and he turned away none that offered themselves to him by them he would be prevailed with and by them he would be touched and as many as touched him were made perfectly whole of whatever Disease they had So whoever they be whatever spiritual Plagues they have that do humbly and sensibly offer themselves to Christ as the Physician of their Souls and cry to him Lord Jesus be intreated to cure me of a blind Mind of a hard Heart of the strong Possession that the Devil hath taken hold of me by such a sin and such a sin 't is certain that Jesus Christ doth as I may say stand prepared to help such a Soul and to have mercy upon him and heal him And therefore you must know that Jesus Christ requires this at your hands that you who would have Mercy and Salvation from him should repair to him and come and spread as it were your Wounds before him and implore his help You must not stay away from Christ and keep at a distance from him but go and tell him the misery that your Souls are in and beseech him to shew his skill upon you and this will be the way to get him to be moved with compassion towards you Then you 'll find that he hath a willingness in his heart to do you good and the more importunate you are with him the more hopes you will have to speed with him yea you need not doubt or fear if you do sincerely make out to him for his help but you shall have it you are to believe that you shall And if you do not thus look out for help in Christ but neglect coming to him that is appointed of God to save you as you will certainly perish so tho you shall yet your destruction doth not proceed from a want of willingness in Christ to save you tho I confess this willingness that is in Christ to save even them that shall never be saved is not the same with that which is in him
heart of Boaz inclined to her first he highly commends her for her pitching upon him that she would be satisfied with none but him v. 10. and then he promises her that he would grant her all her request v. 11. and then in the next chap. he doth solemnly Marry her So the Lord Jesus is inclinable and willing to Marry you Go and try if he be not Lye you at his feet beg earnestly that he would spread his Skirt over you see if he do not can you think that he is not willing when instead of your coming to woo Christ as Ruth here did Boaz Christ comes to woo you he would fain be your Saviour be your Husband he tells you so and all that when you have him you may have Rest and that it may be well with you which it never will till you have him Again Another Name by which this Freedom by Christ is set forth to shew the excellency of it is Health or Healing Isa 53. 5. With his stripes we are healed we get Health by them 't is all one with this Freedom here And Psal 67. 2. where this is prayed for that it might be manifested to the World and that the knowledg of Salvation by Christ might be spread all over the Earth as it was to be in the days of the Gospel 't is called Saving Health That thy way may be known upon earth thy saving health among all nations Now you all know what an excellent thing Health is some by the enjoying of it and some by the want of it this is such a mercy that whatever one hath besides yet if there be no Health with it all is imbittered it makes life it self burdensom and uncomfortable and tho ones condition in the World be but poor in other respects yet sometimes you shall hear people say but thanks be to God they have their Health tho and as long as they have that they may make the better shift Health beloved is more then a single mercy 't is a double treble yea a tenfold yea a hundredfold mercy because it helps us to take the comfort and taste the sweetness of all else what is all the World to a man that is very Sick or near to Death Health is such an excellent thing that no body can tell what to do without it 'T is an usual expression or cry with persons that have it not and are Sick and are in pain oh what shall I do and you know how they will be enquiring of this Neighbour and that which comes to visit them whether they can tell what they should take and they 'l send to the Physician and he must come and see them and tho he prescribes sharp or loathsom things yet they 'l take them they 'l Purge they 'l Vomit they 'l Bleed they 'l Sweat and all to have their Health again Well now this is the nature of this Freedom by Christ 't is Health if a man be Sick at his very heart 't will recover him if he be never so like to dye I mean by it if he be never so like to be damned which is the Second and the worst Death If he never so much faint away in his Spirits through the Anguish and Terror of a wounded Conscience yet this Freedom by Christ if he believes in it will fetch him again if he hath never so many sores this will bind him up There are some very observable things about Christs manner of healing while he was here upon Earth I would desire you to take much notice of them because the thing that we are to gather from it is what this same bealing Freedom by Christ will do 1. Observe That Christs manner of healing persons that were diseased was by touching he touched them and they touched him See Matth. 8. 3 15. There Christ touched them and in Mark 6. 56. There you find that they touched Christ now there is much to be learnt by this If you would have healing by Christ he must touch you by the finger of his Spirit for 't is spiritual healing that we are now speaking of and therefore the touch must be spiritual now both in him and you and you must touch him by the finger of Faith for you must have Faith to be healed See what a Question Christ put to the Blind men Matth. 9. vers 27. Two blind men followed him crying and saying Thou Son of David have mercy on us then v. 28. you have his Question Believe ye that I am able to do this And their Answer They said unto him Yea Lord. And what followed upon it you read afterwards vers 29 30. Then touched he their eyes saying According to your faith be it unto you And their eyes were opened So you have such and such spiritual diseases you have inward blindness and inward deafness and inward hardness but do you believe that Christ can heal you Doth not unbelief keep off the cure in you Do you touch him by Faith Christ and you as I said but now must touch one another that you may be healed He by his Spirit and you by your Faith Beloved this finger of the Spirit is such a thing that by it Christ can touch you tho you be upon Earth and on the other side this finger of Fath is such a thing that by it you can touch Christ tho he be in Heaven If Christ doth but send his Spirit to you it will tell you where you are it will find you out and it will give you such a touch as you 'l never forget and when Christ hath thus touched you he will help you to touch him he will work Faith in you by his Spirit Oh! look after these touches and don't think you are healed if Christ hath not touched you and you have not touched him 2. Observe that as they must touch him that would be healed so they were healed if they did but touch him Matth. 9. 20 21. Here is a great deal of comfort for weak believers Many a poor Soul is ready to think that because they have not Faith in that strength and growth and full assurance that some have therefore alas they shall get nothing from Christ do no good at all with that poor sorry staggering Faith of theirs Truly poor Soul I wish thy Faith were stronger but I tell thee if thou hast but a grain of true Faith tho it be never so weak if it be but true 't will bring thee a cure for 't will touch Christ if it be true tho never so small 3. Observe that as many as touched him were healed Mark 6. last words of the chapt He did not turn away one that did it he accepted of the weakest Faith there is not one that comes to Christ shall be refused 4. Observe that they who touched him were not almost healed by him but they were healed perfectly Matth. 14. 36. You that are the people of God you have yet a great many weaknesses and
that he could lay down a Ransome that was sufficient to Free so many why how many you 'l say that place in Joh. 17. 2. will tell you to as many as the Father gave him and they be not a few considered by themselves tho they are but a small number compared with them that perish Heb. 2. 10. Oh beloved there be many that will be the better for Christ to all eternity Oh that we may be some of them that others may not be made rich by him and we abide poor that others may not have Freedom by him and we remain in Bondage What a worthy person must he needs be that can help and pardon and sanctifie and save more than you or any Arithmetician in the World is able to take the sum of them Rev. 7. You have Gods redeemed people spoken of and mark they are look'd upon under a twofold consideration First as among the Jews the people of God under the Old Testament and there indeed you have their number brought in v. 4. One hundred forty four Thousand which you are not to take as if it were exactly no more but it is to shew that in the days of the Old-Testament there were not as indeed it could not be expected so very many saved because the people of God were then confined to one Nation But afterwards in v. 9. When the Gospel is supposed to spread among the Gentiles then their number is so great that it cannot be taken by any man alive And therefore you that fear God you shall not want good company in Heaven upon Earth you may because perhaps the Saints may now live at such a distance from you that you can have but little of their Society But in Heaven you 'l be all together 'T is very true if there were none but God there you would do well enough he will be all in all and immediate communion with him will make up a perfect blessedness tho you were there with him alone but you shall have God and Angels too and God and all the Saints too the whole Host of the redeemed Ones by Christ shall meet in one general Assembly and there you shall see better than now you do what an excellent Person Christ is even upon this Account that he hath made so many holy and so many happy and that he hath freed poor sinners by thousands and thousands of thousands 10. See the excellency of his Person further In that he did all alone he discharged this great work and bare this heavy burthen without the help or hand of any Creature in Heaven or Earth Isa 63. 3. I have trodden the wine-press alone and of the people there was none to help me Heb. 1. 3. he did all by himself the truth is there was no Creature above or below that could strike one stroak in it the work was of such a nature that if the best of them all had but medled in it they had spoiled it Angels in Heaven have a great deal of Skill and Wisdom and Power one of those glorious Spirits can do more then a whole World of men but if they had all joyned their skill and their Power together their Wisdom would have proved but foolishness and their Power but weakness in this matter 't was a business too great for any but the Son of God to be the Saviour of one Soul but when he comes to it his own arm brought Salvation And as for any help from man surely if any body were like to lend him any Assistance it must have been some of the good people that lived in that Generation when he was in the days of his flesh but you know what the Scripture saith expresly about that that when he was in the very heat and brunt of his work then all his Disciples forsook him and fled Matth. 26. 56. That which I would commend to you from hence is this That you would let Christ be all alone still I mean in the point of your Justification he was so in the work of your Redemption Now as none was joyned with him there so joyn nothing with him here Sirs whom do you look to for your Acceptance with God Why you 'l say to Christ but is it Christ alone Have you set him by himself in this thing Some there be that hope for mercy from God but they do not look to Christ at all they have this and that of their own which they hope will do such honest and such blameless and such righteous persons as they are must out of all question be in a good condition this will prove a Rock to split you on one side to dream of Salvation without Christ Gal. 3. 10. Others there be that look to Christ but not to Christ alone Some thing must be mingled with him they 'l do something and Christ must make up the rest this will prove a Rock to split you on the other side I tell you your Faith will never be counted for righteousness if you make these wretched mixtures in the business of your Justification 'T is to him that worketh not but believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly that faith is counted for righteousness Rom. 4. 5. 11. Again In that he did it at once Heb. 10. 10. Once for all when he went about it he did it and there was an end of it he did not come into the World twice for it He is counted a worthy person that can accomplish a business of great concernment tho he makes many a journey to the place where he is to do it but Christ made but one journey from Heaven to Earth about this work and he finished it and therefore he gave up the Ghost with those words in his mouth It is finished as if he should say there 's nothing left for another time Learn from hence what great things Christ can do in a little while and wait upon him in the Faith of it One thing that doth much help to cast us and keep us down in our Spirits when we have this and that trouble upon us is our forgetting how quickly Christ can speak to our condition what a great work was it when there arose such a mighty Tempest in the Sea and the Ship that the Disciples were in was covered with Waves and they were all in danger to sink presently to bring down these high Winds and to lay those hugh Waves but Christ did it in a trice Matth. 8. 24 25 26. Poor Christian hast thou a great corruption to be subdued hast thou a strong temptation to be removed hast thou a great strait to be delivered out of Remember Christ can do it at once it may be thou hast been hacking and hewing at such a sin or temptation a hundred and a hundred times and trying many means and all wont do Why but at once Christ can do it look to him better then thou dost if he strike but one stroak at a lust down 't will come
ws never done in any before nor never shall be in any for the time to come What is said there in Joel 1. 2 3. of a great Judgment which the Lord threatens I may say of this great Redemption Hear this ye old men Hath this been in your days or even in the days of your fathers c. And what God speaks to the Children of Israel about their Freedom out of Egypt I may well apply to this Freedom Deut. 4. 32. For ask now of the days that are past which were before thee since the day that God created man upon earth and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is or hath been heard like it Consider Three things here and you will see that this is an incomparable Freedom 1. The other greatest deliverances that you read of which God gave to his people they were but the types and shadows and forerunners of this Freedom Particularly see it in that deliverance out of Egypt you that are acquainted with the story of it know what a great deliverance that was 'T is seldom spoken of in the Scripture but there is a glance upon the greatness and famousness of it 'T was so great that they were charged never to forget it Deut. 8. 14. And to that end the Lord appointed that they should begin their reckoning of the Months of the Year with that Month in which this deliverance came Exod 12. 1 2. And on the 4th day of that Month in the Evening of it which was the very day on which the Lord brought them out of their Bondage they were to keep the Passover every year throughout their Generations for a Memorial of it ver 6. 14. compared And it was such a great deliverance that Moses and all the children of Israel sung together unto the Lord in solemn praises and thanksgivings for it admiring the riches of his mercy towards them in it as you may see in Exod. 15. 1 c. And it was so great that it put the wicked Nations of the Earth into a trembling to hear of it ver 14 15 16. And again it was so great a deliverance that the Lord made use of it as the great and strong tie to bind them to himself in the strictest obedience And therefore when he gave them the Ten Commandments he set this engaging Preface before them I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage And then he gives them the Moral Law and in them to us by whom the aforesaid Preface is now to be understood spiritually of his bringing us out of the spiritual Egypt and the spiritual Bondage And therefore we are to be obedient unto him But now beloved tho this deliverance was such a great and glorious work as you must needs say it was to bring a matter of Six hundred thousand Men besides Women and Children with all their Herds and Flocks out of the Iron Furnace in Egypt where they had been strangers and slaves for Four hundred and Thirty years together and that with such a mighty hand and stretched-out arm as brought destruction to their enemies and redemption to his chosen people yet I say this was but a type of this Freedom by Christ This and all else that Moses did as Gods instrument among them was but to hold forth better things that were afterwards to be done by Christ See Heb. 3. 5. The like might be said of their deliverance out of their Seventy years Captivity in Babylon but I would only instance further in one great Freedom that was among the Jews by the appointment of God himself and that was That every 50th year which was called the year of Jubilee of which you read Levit. 25. there was to be a general Release and Liberty was to be proclaimed throughout all the Land so that they who had sold or mortgaged their land or possessions were then every one to return to them again and every Hebrew Servant was then to have his Freedom So that this year was a great and a famous year amongst them and 't was welcomed with a great deal of joy insomuch that it was called by them the Acceptable year Why this also was to point out this Freedom by Christ you shall find it alluded to in Isa 61. 1 2. where the same expressions are used by Christ in his setting forth his Redemption as were spoken of that year of Jubilee He saith he was sent to proclaim liberty to the Captives and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. So that other Deliverances and other Freedoms were but to usher in this They were but the Harbingers of this great salvation and in the reading of them you must have your thoughts upon this not only to read them as stories that did but concern that people but as shadowing out the great Gospel-redemption 2. Again 't is an incomparable Freedom thus In that no misery is like that misery which this Freedom brings us from If ever there were a Wretch indeed he is one that lies in that condition out of which Christ was sent to deliver us 't is such a condition that if one were truly sensible of it he would not be in it one day for the whole World I mean our natural condition which is such a miserable state that if God bears everlasting love to any person to be sure he brings him out of it and if he intends everlasting wrath to any then he leaves them in it 3. Again In that no mercy is like to that mercy which this Freedom brings us to as they shall have misery enough and enough that continue in the Bondage so they shall have mercy enough and enough that partake of this Freedom they shall have mercy in abundance they shall be monuments of mercy for ever and therefore God gives them this Freedom by his Son that he may convey to them such riches of Grace and Mercy as that all the common goodness which is bestowed upon the whole World in general is as nothing in respect of that mercy which one single redeemed person hath and shall have bestowed upon him But what this mercy is we shall hear particularly when we come to speak of the Priviledges of this Freedom Property 2d This Freedom is an unconceivable Freedom that is 't is an unknown thing Here take notice 1. What I do not mean by this 2. What I do mean by it I do not mean by this as if the Saints knew nothing of it Oh! yes blessed be God they do see 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redemed with corruptible things c. but with the precious blood of Christ So Colos 1. 26 27. The mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations but now is made manifest unto his Saints Mark those words 't is now made manifest to his Saints and God
come to it already and to make it sure that not one of his redeemed ones shall miss of it he intends to come himself and bring them all thither Joh. 14. 3. So that not only Christ hath a Crown but they shall have one too a Crown of life a Crown of Righteousness because I live saith he ye shall live also and he doth not count himself fully glorified till he hath got every particular Saint into Heaven And not only have the people of God upon Earth great longings after Christ oh that we might be with him but surely Christ hath greater longings after them oh that they might be with me Priviledg 8. The indwelling of the Spirit is another Priviledg bought by this Freedom Christ having freed them the Holy Ghost takes possession of them now their Bodies must be his Temples and their Hearts his Throne Rom. 8. 11. and oh the great things that his Spirit doth in them and for them which I might set down as distinct Priviledges But I must hasten By this they are enlightned by this they are sanctified by this they are quickned strengthned comforted guided the Spirit that dwelt in them before led them into dark and dangerous paths gave them evil counsel was always a provoking of them to be worse and worse but here 's one that will be checking and reproving of them when they walk disorderly and that will be grieved at their sins and that will countenance and encourage them in way of duty which is a great benefit Priviledg 9. This Freedom brings a right to all the Promises Gal. 3. ult And there is more riches in one Promise than in a thousand Worlds I know not what portion some of you may desire or where you would have your lot to fall if you could have your wish very like you would desire some huge things in this World that you might have so great an estate as such a man hath c. and then perhaps you would think if it were but so you had wished your selves into a very good condition But oh beloved the Promises the Promises they are the Priviledges indeed when you have them you have God in Covenant with you If you consider who 't is that promises and what 't is that is promised and the certainty that there cannot but be of the faithful and full performance of them you must needs say 't is an high Priviledg to be interested in them Priviledg 10. It brings Peace of conscience Rom 5. 1. Heb. 9. 14. This is such a thing that the having of it is a kind of Heaven upon Earth and the want of it is a kind of Hell upon Earth If a mans conscience fly in his Face and the Sence of Guilt and the Horror of spirit seizes on him let him enjoy the World if he can 't will bring down the stoutest heart that is to have but one sound gripe of it but these redeemed ones are in the way of Peace Christ is to them the Prince of Peace God is to them the God of Peace the Word is to them the Word of Peace When we come amongst you in our preaching and denounce the Wrath and Judgments of God they are not these persons that we mean we have another message for them and we must in effect say to them in our Sermons as Paul doth to them in the beginning of his Epistles Grace be to you and Peace c. As amongst the Children of Israel there were two Mountains Gerizim and Eball one to pronouce the blessings upon and the other for the curses So beloved tho when we would give you that are out of Christ your portion we must do that as it were from the Mount of curses yet when we speak to these we must get up on the Mount of blessings Priviledg 11. Is Preservance in holiness Hypocrites may fall away because they were never well on Joh. 15. 7. there may come something or other that will dash their profession to pieces but these are well rooted and nothing will be able to pluck them up you shall not see them turn Saints in the beginning and turn Devils in the end as Judas did 1 Pet. 1. 6 you read that they had manifold temptations there were divers ways of suffering invented for them to beat them off from Christ and ver 7. their faith was tried with fire and yet it would be found unto praise at the appearing of Jesus Christ and vers 9. for all that they went through and should receive the end of their faith the salvation of their souls they should persevere still Priviledg 12. Is Access to the Throne of Grace Heb. 4. ult Oh! what a Priviledg would it be counted upon Earth that when the King is set down upon his Throne tho he be in the posture of Majesty to have free admission to him about a business of great concernment You know how Esther the Queen was afraid to come into the Kings presence and what a favour 't was to her when the King was upon his Throne that he would reach out his golden Scepter to her that she might speak freely and ask what she would and it should be given to her But beloved here 's the Throne of the gracious God may be come to in and through Christ by these redeemed ones They may pour out their very hearts before him and while they are a praying he will be hearing he will bow down his ear and attend to the voice of their cry He will not bid them go out of his presence but they shall have audience in Heaven And if the Lord sees them afraid or unable to utter their desires to him his Spirit shall encourage them and help their Infirmities Priviledg 13. Hence follows another Priviledg That they shall have supply to all their wants If God withhold any thing from them to be sure tho it be good for others yet 't is not good for them in particular or not good for them at that time when they would have it and so they have good reason either to wait for it till it comes or to be contented without it if it should not come at all Now that this is their Priviledg see Phil. 4. 19. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus And God's children should live as those that believe this And they should be careful for nothing and take no thought for their life nor for their meat nor their drink nor their cloathing I don't say you must not use means for these things God doth not now provide for us as he did for the children of Israel in the Wilderness by raining down bread from Heaven No if you will eat you must work but you must work without perplexity the Cares of the Wotld must not fret your hearts If they do either you do not belong to God or you forget your Priviledg which indeed is a very great one That having given you his Son
and he can dye he can love his Enemies he can gain by losses he can prevail with God c. 10. That a poor creature should come to know what thoughts God had of him before the World began and what he intends to do with him to all eternity Why many will be ready to say how is it ever possible that such a thing should be Why now 't is one of the Wonders of this Freedom that by the having of it a man may come to know this if you look backward from all eternity he may be sure that God hath chosen him if you look forward to all eternity he may be sure that God will receive him into Glory See how Paul speaks about this 1 Thes 5. 9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ Many there be who are in this Freedom that are assured of this and such as are in it tho they be not sure as yet of it yet they are in the way to it You see something of the Wonders of this Freedom and now is it not an excellent Freedom also upon this account I will only add this That the Scripture holds forth to us that Gods wonderful works must have five Duties performed about them and so must this wonderful Freedom 1. They must be talked of Psal 105. 2. So now oh speak of this wonderful Freedom one to another as you sit in the house and as you walk by the way declare what God hath done for his people by Jesus Christ 2. They must be considered pondered upon Joh. 37. 13. So this wonderful Freedom you must observe the Wonders in it have deep and serious thoughts of it Search into it by Meditation Mysteries cannot be understood by a superficial looking upon them but they must be dived into 3. They must be remembred Psal 105. 4 6. So take heed of forgetting this wonderful Freedom 't is a mercy never to be forgotten 4. God must be praised for them yea praised and praised again Psal 136. 1 2 3 4. So highly bless God for this wonderful Freedom see in two Psalms which are made about it Psal 72. and he closes up all with this vers 18. 19. Blessed be the Lord God the God of Israel who only doth wondrous things And blessed be his glorious name for ever and let the whole earth be filled with his glory Amen and amen And Psal 98. read the whole Psalm 5. They must be believed Psal 78. 32. So you must believe this report about this wonderful Freedom you must close with it by faith you must not continue in your sins as if all this were a lye that we tell about Salvation by Christ I will end this Seventh thing of the Wonders of this Freedom with that Scripture Acts 13. 38 to 42. Be it known unto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgivness of sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses Beware therefore lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish for I work a work in your days a work which you shall in no wise believe tho a man declare it unto you Do you Wonder at the things you have heard Oh! take heed that you don't Wonder and perish for want of believing of them CHAP. XII The Application of this fifth Branch of the Doctrine AND now is this Freedom of Christ such an excellent Freedom as you have heard it is Then I shall finish this fifth Branch and so this whole Text with seven Uses 1. Of Information 2. of Admiration 3. of Lamentation 4. of Examination 5. of Expostulation 6. of Exhortation 7. of Consolation Use I. Of Information It informs of four things 1. That the remedy that is prepared for sinners misery is beyond all exception their misery is their Bondage by sin their remedy is Freedom by Christ and 't is beyond all exception for 't is excellent Freedom The Lord Jesus cares not who looks upon his redeeming-work 't is done so well it wants nothing to make it sufficient and all-sufficient for the ends and purposes to which it was intended we are sure therefore that if we can but use this soveraign Plaister as we ought it will without question heal our wound There is that in Christ that will do our work do but make trial and you 'l find 't is true for in this case trial is all in all Christ desires to be put to the proof whether he cannot do all things for a poor Soul that it hath need should be done for it If you 'l but venture your Souls he will venture his Salvation what would you desire more to manifest that a receit for a disease is the best that can be got than that every one that hath made use of it should give their approving-testimony that they have been cured by it Now this is the witness that all believers will give of Christ If you should go up and down for their hands they will be all ready to sign and seal to the great cures that they have by him Isa 53. 5. 't is as it were the general voice of all that have made use of Christ We are healed Again it informs us 2. That there is something that is much better than that which the men of the World do spend their time and thoughts about The truth is they follow this World as if it were the best thing that ever was or ever shall be But ah Sirs you whose life and labour is thus laid out are mistaken There is an excellent Freedom by Christ that is better than all that you cark and care and rap and rend for Would I could but tell what to say to you to bring you out of love with this World you that are so much in love with it What do you see or find in it that you should set your hearts upon it you run after that and that runs from you and that so fast that some of you cannot overtake it for your lives I may say that the World looks upon some persons as if it were afraid to come near them they would fain lay hands upon it and God wont let them he bids the things of this World run away from them and this surely is in much mercy to some for God sees that if they should gain the World they would lose their Souls and if he bears a love to them he had rather they should miss of Earth than Heaven Well but it may be God suffers some of you to overtake this World you make such haste after it and when you have got it what have you got I don't speak to lessen thankfulness for any of these outward mercies but my drift is to set the World in its place and this Freedom in its place but what have you gotten
Why I will cast it up for you and the whole sum amounts to this You have got that that you must lose all this getting 't is in order to losing you have it but you cannot hold it when you have got the World you have got Vanity you have got vexation of spirit Eccl. 1. 2. and will you spend your whole time and thoughts for this I will throw some Scripture-Water upon the Fire of this Love to the World to see if it will put it out Consider seriously these three Text 1 Joh. 2. 15. Jam. 4. 4. Luk. 12. 20 21. Again this imforms us 3. That this Freedom by Christ is highly worth the pains that any Soul which hath it hath taken to obtain it or that any Soul is now taking to get it oh it will quit the cost and bear the charges for 't is excellent Freedom It is a great encouragement to a man to lay out his labour upon a thing when he is sure he shall not lose his labour convince him that he shall be a gainer and a great gainer and you have done enough to set him a work If you had but told him of a probability and a hope of advantage you should have seen him stir but if he can be sure that it will be a profitable business he thinks long ere he is at it Now I assure you from the sure word of God That take what pains you will to get this Freedom it shall be like that seed that was sown in the ground it will be encreased thirty sixty yea an hundredfold you 'l find it the best employment that ever you were about there never was any Child of God that wished Would I had not medled with this Freedom by Christ nor ever will Christ scorns that any that trade with him should be losers As they shall not want for work so they shall not want for wages 'T is true he doth expect that they who will have his Freedom should take great pains for it but he will graciously reward their great pains with great gains If they will fell all that they have to get the Pearl they shall find that the Pearl when they have it is a Pearl of great price I would put you in mind here of some Verses in the 2. and 3. chapters of Rev. which I would allude to read cap. 2. 7. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradice of God Vers 11. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death Vers 17. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hiden manna and will give him a white-stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving be that receiveth it And chap. 3. v. 5. He that overcometh the same shall be cloathed in white raiment and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels Vers 12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the name of God and the name of the city of my God which is new Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my God and I will write upon him my new name Vers 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne That which I say to you from hence is this There are difficulties and great difficulties in the way of obtaining this Freedom but will you not be daunted at them but labour so as to overcome will you resolve through the help of God let there be what pain there will I 'll overcome them Why then you see how every verse that I have read to you carries its gains with it Again this informs us 4. That the people of God are an excellent people they must needs be so for they are gotten into this excellent Freedom This is the company that no company in the World can compare with I know that the people of God don't desire to commend or speak honourably of themselves But beloved I have here a very fair occasion to commend them to you very like some of you may have low and mean thoughts of them and the rather because you see them so contemptible in their outward appearance it may be some of your cloathes are better than theirs and some of your estates are greater than theirs and some of your food is finer than theirs and some of your kindred may be richer than theirs Well I grant this may be true one way but I am sure if you be out of Christ 't is false another way Be you what you will in wordly respects upon the account of the condition that this excellent Freedom hath brought them into you that are out of Christ never wore such cloathes as they do for they have put on the new man the Lord Jesus Christ and they go every day of the week in robes see Rev. 7. 9 13 14 15. And for Estate that which you have in the World is nothing to what they have in Christ for they are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Rom. 8. 17. and the Promises are theirs and the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs and all things are theirs and for food you never in all your lives tasted any thing so sweet as that which they feed upon they eat of the bread which came down from God they eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man whose flesh is meat indeed and whose blood is drink indeed and for hindred why all your carnal Relations are no better than beggars in comparison of them that they are a kin to Christ is not ashamed to call them brethren Heb. 2. 11. And God is not ashamed to be called their God cap. 11. 16. Obj. Why then sure if they have all this excellency by their Freedom their Freedom will make them proud Ans No beloved for all this they were never so humble and never had such mean thoughts of themselves as since they got into this Freedom they never loathed themselves till now they were more lifted up in their misery than now they are in their excellency Now they desire to give God all the Glory and to take nothing to themselves but shame tho God hath made them great yet they do not count themselves good Rom. 7. 18. Vse 2. Of Admiration That ever such an excellent Freedom should be bestowed upon the Sons of men There are two things in this that may raise our Admiration 1. That ever it should be given to men that the Lord should pass by Angels with a purpose never to recover them when they were fallen and that we should be those to whom he would send redemption He might have let us all alone Angels to perish and
mankind to perish and if he would have saved any he might have bid his Son go take the nature of Angels and redeem the Devils but that it would not consist with his everlasting purpose and have left Adam and all his posterity under the curse but that he should pitch upon us to be the subjects that should be capable of this Freedom how is free Grace to be admired that God should overlook those that stood nearer to him by their creation then we did to look upon us The spirits of darkness are left in dispair while we are under hope they and we were all miserable creatures by the fall first of one and then of the other but their misery was irrecoverable ours is a recoverable misery 2 Tim. 2. 26. God hath an Election amongst us but he hath none among the Devils and therefore the door of mercy is shut against them never to be opened 2 Pet. 2. 4. Jude vers 6. Oh how are we beholding to God that he would reserve Mercy for us when he reserves Wrath for the fallen Angels there he made quick work they fell into Condemnation and God sealed up their Condemnation there is not so much as a possibility that God will ever be reconciled to them but with us he was willing to renew a better Covenant than that was which we brake there is pity and pardon and peace for us in Christ Now have not we cause to admire this and to say as Heb. 2. 6. What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him 2. That not only men but some of the worst of men should have the benefit of this Freedom I mean not only a temporal benefit for so all have but the saving everlasting benefit of it You read in the Scripture of some of the very worst of men that have been made free by Christ When this Freedom came to them at first it found some of them amongst the Thieves and others amongst the Drunkards and others amongst the Whoremongers and others amongst the Idolaters as it did the Corinthians and others amongst the Persecutors and the Blasphemers as it did Paul and others amongst the Crucifiers of Christ as it did the Jews and have you not heard sometimes of some notorious sinner or other that became a new man and through grace was afterwards as much for God as before he was the for Devil that to ones thinking was come even to the height of wickedness and yet brought home Beloved God will have this Freedom by Christ and the exceeding riches of it glorified even in this World and therefore he gives it sometimes to the very dregs of sinners And who indeed is there of those that have obtained a fellowship in this great Salvation but hath cause to admire that ever it should be given to him And to say Oh! God had mercy upon a grievous sinner when he had mercy upon me It is certain that the loving-kindness of God in Jesus Christ will be admired by every Soul upon whom it lights and such a one is ready to think That never was there any sinner that did more need mercy or less deserve it and the Reason of this is because where this Freedom comes it works such a sense of ones vileness upon the heart that tho indeed there may in some respects be greater sinners than ones self yet one cannot but look upon ones self as one of the greatest Wonders of Mercy that ever was as Paul did 1 Tim. 1. 15 16. And when God shall have gathered all his Children to glory Oh beloved what a wonderful company there will be I don't mean so much for multitude tho that will be innumerable as to think what sinners these were and especially some of them Oh! the stories that might be told of them in Heaven to raise matter of everlasting Admiration that one who had been formerly such a grievous sinner on Earth should prove notwithstanding a glorious Saint in Heaven Oh wonderful Vse 3. Is this Freedom by Christ such an excellent Freedom then here is something for Lamentation and Mourning Beloved we have often through Gods Mercy met together Oh! that we could now mourn together And you that cannot weep with your eyes oh that you would mourn in your hearts Why but you may say What is there here to mouth for This excellent Freedom is cause of rejoycing Yea indeed so 't is â—is glad tidings of great joy if all things about it were well with us but alas the Lord knows they are not I pray therefore consider four things for the piercing of your hearts in this Use of Lamentation 1. That ever we should be the cause of putting the Lord Jesus Christ who purchased this Freedom for us to so much pain and grief as he underwent in the doing of it Oh! what bitter mourning should we make for our sins that laid such a load upon Christ that we could never have had this excellent Freedom if he had not suffered beyond expression We may say those of us that are made free by Christ he hath put us into a good condition but oh into what a bad condition did our sins put him he hath brought us joy but we brought him sorrow he hath brought us rest but we brought him travel of Soul he hath brought us life but we brought him death he hath brought us blessing but we brought him a curse he helped us to a great deal of Mercy but we helped him to a great deal of misery in respect of his sufferings he was the miserablest man that ever lived Now friends this was your sins and my sins that brought him to this that made Jesus Christ to have a very Hell upon Earth and shall we not mourn for this Oh! that the Lord would perform that promise to us this day Zech. 12. 10. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first born 2. That God hath no more Glory from us for all this grace that he hath bestowed upon us This Freedom is actually given to some of us and those Scriptures through the tender Mercy of God may be applied I doubt not to some of you Col. 1. 21. Gal. 4. 13. Eph. 2. 13 19. But will you not say your selves I know you will that you do fall exceeding short of such a walking as this excellent Freedom engages you to Beloved I am glad to see any of you that are in Christ so good but truly the best of us have cause to mourn that we are no better Oh what a people should we be for whom the Lord Jesus Christ laid down his precious Life and shed his precious Blood You do God some