they may be serviceable to the maine else not to performe them Herein consists the maine happines of a Christian that whether hee lives or dies hee is not his owne but hee is his that can dispose of him better then ever he could of himselfe for if wee had the disposing of our selves as Adam had what would become of us what became of Adam when he was master of himselfe he lost himselfe and all The second Adam hath bought us with his blood and life to rule us for ever will hee then suffer us to bee disposed off by our selves No whether wee live or dye wee are his if we yeeld our selves sweetely to his governement in life and death THE THIRD SERMON ON ROM 14. 9. For to this end Christ both dyed and rose and revived that he might be the Lord both of the dead and of the living IN these words as you heard heretofore at large the Apostle labours to stay the thoughts and affections of men concerning the things of indifferency that they should not be hasty to censure anothers Servant who stands or falls to his owne Master as you have it in Verse 4. The reason is because whatsoever they do they doe it to the Lord He that regards a day regards it to the Lord hee that regards not a day regards it not to the Lord. Some things are of that nature that the right aime puts a qualification upon the actions a good end cannot qualifie many actions but some actions are of that nature that a good aime doth not altogether justifie it but it frees the person from some censure he doth it to God some upon some conceite may abstaine from a thing for religious ends and are not to bee censured some againe performe it and are not to be censured because they doe it to the Lord that is out of religious respects How doth he prove that they doe it to the Lord he proves it more generally ver 7. None of us live to our selves nor none of us dye to our selves which I spake of before Then he proves that we are the Lords because it was the end of Christs dying and rising and reviving that hee might be Lord both of the dead and of the living and if he be the Lord then we ought to live to this Lord of the quicke and dead We see Saint Paul here makes use of a generall truth of a grand principle that we are the Lords and therefore live to him and dye to him and doe particular actions to him or not doe them to him to shew that wee should have in minde information of sound general truths that are the ground of all particular practise as we shall see after For to this end Christ both dyed rose and revived c. The words they are Christs universall government of the dead and of the living inferred from the end of his death reviving and rising againe a comfortable inference from a strong ground We considered the particulars Christs death rising and reviving Christ dyed as a second Adam as a publicke person in whom dying all dyed when other men dyed particular men dyed when Paul was dead Paul dyed and there was an end onely there was an exemplary good in his death but there is more then an exemplary good in the death of Christ Christ dyed alone and singular in this respect because in him dying all dyed that were his that the Father gave him to dye for for they goe parallell Gods gift and Christs death hee did all by commission and hee would not transgresse his commission and he dyed a violent and cursed death because otherwise hee could not have saved us that were under a curse so as a second Adam hee rose and as a publike person therefore wee see in the resurrection of Christ many rose it is like enough they dyed againe it was for a particular dispensation to shew that Christ rose as a publicke person and it is not strange to thinke so that to honour God they should be content to live a wâ—â—â—e when Christ himselfe that was God was content to bee man and to be abased to death that grand mystery makes all other things credible he rose therefore as a publicke person to give life to all that he dyed for So hee revived that is more than to rise againe never againe to lay downe his life as you have it excellently set downe among other places Revel 1. 18. I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I live for ever more amen and he seales it too I have the keyes of hell and of death that is the dominion of hell and death for indeâ—â—â—hrist is life it selfe and life cannot dye as God he could not dye and therefore he tooke upon him that nature wherein he might dye for us and now having done that dispensation that office there is a perpetuall influence of life from the fountaine of life his Godhead to his humanity so he never dyes any more then here followes the scope and end of all That he might be Lord of the dead and of the living The three offices of Christ they have this order in regard of manifestation First he was a Prophet to instruct and teach his in himselfe and likewise by his ministery And then a Priest to dye for those that are his to make intercession now for ever in heaven and then a King first a Prophet then a Priest and then a King He was all at once the very union invested him in all these but in regard of manifestation he was first a Prophet to in struct us of the end of his comming into the world and then a Priest to doe that grand office that we have most comfort by and then a King to rule us he could not be otherwise for if he had manifested himselfe a King and a Lord in his glory where had beene his abasement if they had knowne him to be the Lord of glory they would never have curcified him onely some sparkles of his God head and Lordship and Kingdome and royalty over all flesh brake out in his miracles yea in his greatest abasement there were some sparkles I say even when he lay in the manger Kings came to adore him when he payd tribute he had it out of a fish by a command by majesty when he was on the crosse hee converted the good theese so somewhat brake out of him that he was a person more than ordinary but that was for speciall ends ordinarily hee went on in a course of abasement and all that he might performe the great worke of redemption therefore hee made a stoppe of his glory and Kingly office that hee might not manifest himselfe in that relation and office that he might doe the office of a Priest to dye for us therefore you have it here in the due order Christ dyed and rose againe as the high Priest of his Church that hee might he Lord of the dead and of the living he was
so before but he was not manifest before therefore he is sayd to be manifest to be God by the resurrection Rom. 1. 4. he was God from ēternity but he was borne then This day have I begotten thee it is spoken of the resurrection so you see here Christs offices the state and condition of his humiliation and of his exaltation and the use and end of all That he might be Lord of the dead and of the living And if we be any thing offended with that abasement that God should dye looke to his rising and reviving and Lordship over all both quicke and dead and if we bee dazelled with his glory looke backe againe to God in our flesh and God in our flesh abased even to the death of the crosse oh it is a sweete meditation beloved to thinke that our flesh is now in heaven at the right hand of God and that flesh that was borne of the Virgin that was layd in the manger that went up and downe doing good that was made a curse for us and humbled to death and lay under the bondage of death three dayes that this flesh is now glorious in heaven that this person is Lord over the living and the dead it is an excellent booke to studdy this beloved studdy Christ in the state of humiliation and exaltation That he might be Lord of the dead c. How is Christ Lord He is Lord of the dead those that dyed before he was borne and of the living those that are since he is yesterday that is to those that were before he was and to day that is when he was and to morrow and for ever the same therefore he saith of the dead and of the living of the dead that is in reference to former times Christ is the Lambe of God slaine from the beginning of the world By what title is hee Lord By a title beloved not as God but by a title of conquest as a redeemer for he dyed that he might be Lord we are a bloody spouse to Christ we are the price of his blood he dyed that he might bee Lord he must winne us before he could have us thereupon dying and purchasing us now hee is Lord of his Church and Children by marriage before he could marry us he must bee borne in our nature for the husband and wife must be of one nature and being in bondage to a contrary King to Sathan hee must redeeme and purchase us out of Sathans hands so he is a Lord by conquest and then he is a Lord in a nearer relation hee is a Lord as a husband He is Lord both of the dead and of the living But the point is sweetest in the use of it onely know for a ground that Christ is Lord of the dead and of the living as mediator God-man not as God but as God man God in our nature and hereupon wee have diverse sweete comforts as for example First of all it shewes what we may expect from Christ what Christ will doe to us and what wee ought to returne to him againe for relations are bonds especially when they are so founded as this of Christs is to bee Lord over us both in life and death it is founded upon redemption and upon our Spirituall marriage relations are bonds and therefore they tye on his part to shew what wee may expect from him he is Lord of the living and of the dead wee may expect on his part all that a gracious Lord should doe to provide for his Church and children we may expect that from him that wee can from none else that hee should not onely be Lord over us but that he should make us subject that hee should flow in to us by his holy Spirit for here is the prerogative of Christ that he is such a head as quickeneth dead members he is such a husband as makes his spouse beautifull he puts glory upon her no other husband can doe it Moses married a blacke woman but hee could not alter her hue much lesse her disposition it is not in the power of any man a King cannot alter his subjects but he is such a King as alters the nature of his subjects he makes them subject he takes them out of a contrary kingdome as being not borne his subjects but borne anew by the Spirit he doth all provision protection the changing of our natures the beginning of a good worke and where this Lord begins a good work hee finisheth it to his owne day for beloved know this for a ground that now in the second covenant we are not left as Adam was in the hands of our owne free will to stand or fall but now in the second covenant that is founded upon Christs death and satisfaction for us Christ gives grace he gives his holy Spirit to bring us within the compasse and performes both our part and his too he makes good his owne to be a gracious Saviour to us and he performes our part too or else the second covenant the covenant of grace should be frustrate as the first was if it were left to our freedome therefore that is that that we may expect from this Lordship of Christ the performance of the covenant of grace in writing his law in our hearts other Kings give lawes and write them in tables but they cannot write them in the hearts of their subjects but hee is such a Law giver as writes his owne will in the heart he teacheth the very heart obedience we are taught of God to love one another I will write my law in their bowels and in their inward parts that is they shall not onely know what they should doe but they shall know the doing the affecting and performing of the things they shall be able to doe the things so Christ is a Lord over us not onely teaching us what we should do and injoyning us in a kinde of superiority this is your duty and not this but inabling us to doe that that he commands he gives us the very doing the affections and loving he teacheth our hearts to love I say this we may expect from him in the use of meanes and subjecting to his ordinances which is a wondrous prerogative to those that will submit to his law We may expect againe from this Lord advancement he is such a Lord as makes all his subjects kings the meanest man that is a subject to Christ that hath the Spirit of Christ is a King Now he is a King over that that all others are slaves to that are not Christians they rule over others but they are in thraldome to their owne lusts but he is a spirituall King a King over hell and death and those things that the very greatest of men are afrayd off as who feares death most and hell most those that deserve it most by reason of their great place sinke most in sin and rebellion against God and contract more guilt than other men that that they are afraid
rising therefore a new Sabbath Saint Iohn saith I was in the Spirit upon the Lords day If a man be ever in the Spirit it is upon the Lords day when the Lord of the day doth honour his people giving them to enjoy his Ordinances and joyning effectually with them maketh them full of the Spirit and raiseth up our dead hearts after him And revived Why is this added to rising againe Hee revived To shew that hee rose never to dye againe and that indeede hee never meant to lay aside that body againe as once he had to dye for us Consonant hereunto is that Revel 1. 18. Behold I was dead and am alive and I live for evermore I have the keyes of death and of hell Hee lives for evermore as Heb. 7. Hee sits for evermore at the right hand of God there making intercession for us He dies no more Againe this revived is added to shew the kind of his life differing from that life hee lived before that life he lived before he dyed was supported with meate and drinke and refreshings even as our poore lives are It was a life subject to death that he dyed in but after his Resurrection except it were for a particular dispensation to confirme the faith of his Disciples he needed no more to eate or drinke or sleepe or any naturall supports and helpes for he was enlivened immediately by the Spirit of God which flowed into him he was full of the Spirit and that did supply all other things whatsoever Even as in heaven God shall be all in all that is hee shall be so immediately to us to supply all as we shall neither eate nor drinke nor sleepe nor have magistrates nor ministers but the Spirit of God will be all in all so it was with this life of our blessed Saviour when he revived the Spirit supplyed the absence of all other supports whatsoever that he used before he dyed And indeed our Saviour Christ came to bestow that life upon us that he lived after his Resurrection not this naturall life of ours that needes meate and drinke and refreshing this is not that life that Christ specially aimed at when he came to dye but that spirituall and eternall life that he lived after the Resurrection a life not subject to death a spirituall life not needing any created support whatsoever You see the grounds the inference from these grounds follow in these words That he might bee Lord both of the dead and of the living The ground hath three branches death resurrection and reviving how all these doe flow and give strength to this inference I will touch in the particulars First then Christ dyed that hee might be Lord of the dead and of the living Christ dyed 1 Pet. 3. to offer himselfe a sacrifice to redeeme us by his precious blood wee are not redeemed with Gold or Silver but with the blood of Christ hee could not be our Lord till hee had bought us now his death was the price of our redemption I say redemption not emption a thing may be bought that was never sold away before now we were sold to Sathan and under a contrary government now Christ satisfying divine justice redeemes us he buyes us againe wee had subjected our selves to the devill and put our selves under his regiment till we were ransomed by Christ now Christ shall have no right to us till the price be paid to divine justice for mercy must have justice satisfied the attributes of God must not fight one against another Christ therefore is Lord of us because by death he gave full content to divine justice so that now notwithstanding justice yet we are Christs and are saved nay now the justice of God helpes us the most terrible attribute justice is a ground of comfort for it stands not with justice to have the same debt paid twice For God is just and faithfull saith the Apostle so then you see there is a ground from death why wee are the Lords we are Christs because we cost him deare hee hath paid a price for us that is worth more then the whole world Now God shewed his love in nothing more then in this that he parted with that that is next himselfe the greatest his Sonne who being God yet dyed in that nature that could dye to redeeme us and hereupon becommeth Lord. Secondly Hee rose againe therefore he is Lord of the quicke and dead First because his rising againe was a manifestation that his death was a ful satisfaction to divine justice or else our sinnes should have kept him in the grave still hee being our surety but our surety being out of prison it is a signe hee hath fully discharged all our debt and the price is paid If the surety and the creditor be agreed we know the debt is paid Secondly in that hee rose againe he is Lord because in rising againe he entred into the possession and exercise of that Lordship that he had purchased The right is one thing and the use and possession of the right is another Christ was Lord of us before he dyed he was Lord of us when he dyed but hee did not enter into possession of this Lordship till he rose againe Therefore he saith All power is given to me both in heaven and earth when hee was ready to goe up to heaven to shew that by his resurrection the right hee had by death was manifest Lastly because his rising againe shewed that the father was fully pacified he obtained the gift of the Spirit which next Christ himselfe is the greatest gift God gave his Sonne first and then the Spirit that comes from the Father and the Sonne The Spirit was not given till his resurrection and ascension as it is Iohn 7. Why because till all enemies were fully subdued by his death and witnessed to be subdued by his resurrection the Spirit could not be so fully given the Spirit being a declaration of the good will of God that sent it Now when the enemies of Christ were tryumphed over and God had shewed by the raising of his Sonne againe that he was fully satisfied Then the Spirit comes as the Son of Gods favour which Spirit doth enable us to be subject to Christ and makes us come under Christs Kingdome which is a spirituall government Wherefore because he obtained the Spirit for his members upon his resurrection thereupon is the inference good he rose againe therefore he is Lord of the quicke and of the dead Thirdly Hee revived therefore he is Lord of the quicke and of the dead reviving and taking such a life as is not subject to death any more hee is now in heaven to make good that he purchased on earth He revived I say to be a King Priest and Prophet at the right hand of God for ever there to rule his Church and to overrule all the enemies of it till he hath subdued all till hee hath gathered all the Elect and brought his Church out of the
of this subject at large heretofore I only desire you to raise up your thoughts to consider whom you have to deale with with him that is Lord of the quicke and of the dead we have to deale with the mighty Monarch of heaven and earth Christ therefore come as with faith because he hath ordained these things to strengthen faith so come with reverence knowing with whom wee are to feast and to deale consider of these things and then I hope that God will vouchsafe a blessing answerable to the intendment of his ordinance THE SECOND SERMON ON ROM 14. 9. For to this end Christ both dyed and rose and revived that he might be the Lord both of the dead and of the living I Shewed the dependance in the forenoone a Christian by the Spirit of God in him hee hath a blessed aime at all times howsoever hee may faile in particulars yet his ayme is right This doubt rose from difference of aymes whether he should please God or man his doubt rose in pleasing of God what might please him most and because hee sees not alwaies what might please him therefore he carries this honesty that whatsoever he doth he will doe it to the Lord and whatsoever he doth not he will not doe it to the Lord his ayme is for good at all times Now this is proved from the generall disposition of Christians they live and dye to the Lord therefore their particular actions must be to the Lord if their whole life and death bee to the Lord their actions must bee to him Now hee proves their whole life and death are to the Lord because they are the Lords how doth he prove that they are the Lords that is Iesus Christs because the Text saith here For this end Christ both dyed and revived that he might bee Lord both of the dead and of the living And surely he is Lord he will not misse of his end God never misseth of his end because hee can remove all impediments betweene him and his end Now it being Christs end to be Lord of the quicke and of the dead hee is Lord if he be Lord then those that are under him and led by his Spirit aime both in life and death to glorifie him in all things This in a word be spoken for the inference of the words To this end Christ both dyed and rose and revived Here you have a ground and an inference An argument and a reasoning from it The argument or ground is Christ dyed and rose and revived That that riseth thence is that he might be Lord both of the dead of of the living In thē ground it selfe I told you how Christ dyed as a publicke person as the second Adam c. and now here you are to take notice likewise that hee rose againe as a publicke person as the second Adam c. And likewise hee rēvived not to dye againe as in his first life when hee beganne to live hee beganne to dye but when hee revived he did not dye againe he lives for ever to make intercession for us in heaven Christ never dyes againe Rom. 6. he rose to a life that shall never end for the divine nature doth flow into his humane nature and doth immediately inspire such a spirituall life into it as it lives for ever by vertue of the Spirit of Christ actuating and stirring and moving him as his naturall life did here when hee was upon the earth Christ dyed and rose and revived To what end is all this what is grounded hence that Christ therefore is Lord of quicke and dead this is inferred from all three Christ dyed that hee might reconcile us to God by his death satisfying justice and so justice being fully satisfyed hee might have his end in being Lord of his Church hee had a minde to marry us but he could not till hee had rescued us therefore to rescue us out of divine justice and from the tyranny of Sathan Gods gaoler he made satisfaction to divine justice As for Sathan hee brought us out of his kingdome by strong hand and so doth continually by the power of his Spirit Now hereupon it must needes bee that hee must be Lord of that hee paid so deare a price for And then he rose againe for this end that he might be Lord because howsoever hee had a title to be Lord of the Church by the union of the humane nature with the divine he was Lord alway yet in regard of the exercise of his Lordship it was deferred till his glorious resurrection and ascention then that that lay hid before Christs divine power majesty and Lordship that appeared and manifested it selfe as it is Rom. 1. He was mightily declared to be the Sonne of God by the resurrection from the dead he was the Sonne of God before but then it was a kinde of begetting because it was then manifest things are sayd in Scripture and Divinity to be when they are apparent to be so this day of the resurrection Christ was begotten because it was apparent then by raising himselfe from the dead that he was the onely begotten Sonne of God now that made way for his Lordship for after his resurrection God gave him power over all things in heaven and earth and then upon the resurrection he had the Spirit in more aboundance having conquered all enemies betweene God and us therefore he was fit to be Lord by that because he could give the Spirit to them over whom hee meant to rule But then in his owne person he rising triumphed over all opposite enemies whatsoever over death the last enemie and over Sathan sinne and the Law having cancelled all surely he hath over-ruled all for himselfe he will over-rule all for his Church and people and therefore hee rose againe to bee Lord of quicke and dead and he may well be because he is Lord of quicke and dead in his owne person hee is Lord over all in his owne person and therefore he is Lord over the Church and all the enemies of the Church so farre as the enemies seized upon his person so farre hee overcame them all he hath as much care of his misticall person the Church as he had on his owne body and more too for he gave that for the other And then he revived to be Lord over all that is he lives for ever to make good what hee hath gotten by his death hee will not lose the price of his owne blood he is in heaven to appeare before God and sits at the right hand of God and rules there till he have made all his enemies his footestoole till he draw his Church home to heaven to himselfe he lives for ever as the Apostle saith to make intercession hereupon it must needes bee that by living for ever he is fitly qualified to bee Lord over all the quicke now I proceede That he might be Lord both of quicke and dead Christ is Lord both of the dead and of the
living you see upon what ground he is Lord of all as well as of his Church he is an eternall Lord over the dead and the living he is a transcendent Lord above all other Lords whatsoever and he is independant he is not obnoxious to any all have power from him and in some sort indeed Christ hath redeemed even all other creatures they are Christs and in some sort even proud wicked men that live in the Church that have perhaps some parts which are the occasion of their damnation because of and by them they are proud and insolent they are redeemed by Christ thus farre to be serviceable to his Church to use their parts to his owne ends they goe a great way in salvation that so by their parts they may be fit to doe service to the Church so he is Lord not onely over the Church but of others for the service of the Church Now this point that Christ is Lord of the dead and of the living it yeelds many comfortable uses I spake of some things in generall and then wee came to some particulars as First seeing Christ is Lord of the quicke and of the dead wee may comfort our selves under the Soveraignty of Christ To be Solomons servant was accounted a great happynesse those that did observe the governement of Solomon did thinke so as the Queene of Sheba Alas what shall we thinke of those that are under Christ who is greater then Solomon A most great a most wise a most loving a most gracious and powerfull Lord over all therefore it is a most comfortable condition here in this life to adde a little to that point however it be service it is against the nature of man to serve a man yet not to serve a more noble to serve God is to reigne Besides while we live here such is our disposition such is the weakenesse of base sinners that they must be ruled by another and indeede our happinesse and security consists in being ruled by another higher than our selves we are not fit to bee our owne governours S. Paul saith to the Galatians an heire in his none-age differeth little from a servant so it is with Christians till they be in heaven they differ little from servants and therefore they must bee under tutors and government And as it is a comfortable so it is an honourable condition for Christs Servants are so many Kings Christ is served of none but Kings and such Kings as doe not rule over slaves but such Kings as in Christ rule over the greatest and terriblest enemies of all a Christian can thinke with comfort and incouragement upon those enemies that make the greatest tyrants of the world to quake he can thinke of death of sinne of damnation of judgement of the Law of all these things Christs Kingdome is another manner of Kingdome than the Kingdomes of the world they are poore Kingdomes their Monarchs heads must lye as low as the basest subject they have they know not how soone and perhaps have a more terrible account to give than any other under them it is not so in Christs Kingdome Therefore those Christians that are afraid of death they forget their dignity they forget him on whom they depend for Christ is Lord both of the quick and of the dead if so be Christ be their Lord when they dye what neede they feare to dye and therefore let us comfort our selves when God calls for us he is our Lord as well when wee dye as while we live and more too for then our soules have more immediate communion with him can there bee more comfort than this that we have a Lord ever that dyed for us that rose for us and lives for ever and doth immortalize his subjects too joyne these together an ever-living Lord and ever-living subjects coexistent I meane for the time to come we indeed have a beginning Christ had none as God but we have an eternall state to be for ever and an eternall Lord to rule us for ever and to make us happy forever what comfort is more than this that howsoever there be varietie of conditions in this world wee live wee dye we are in prosperity we are in misery yet there is no varietie in the state of Salvation Christ is not a Lord to day and none to morrow but yesterday to day and the same for ever Againe as it is a point of comfort so it is also of duty if Christ be our Lord in life and death our duty is to looke to him in life and death to live and dye to him for our ayme must answere his ayme if we ever intend to come to heaven for we are understanding creatures and have a communion with him in a poore measure therefore what he will make his end must be our end his end was that whether we live or dye hee might rule over us our end should be in life and death to bee ruled by him How shall we live to Christ We live to Christ this is a ground of all other duties that follow when we know and acknowledge Christ hath a full interest in us by being our head by being our husband by being our King our elder brother he hath all the sweete interest to us that any relation can inright him to for all other relations among men are but shaddowes of that grand relation there onely is the realty of things he is a true head a true King a true elder brother a true husband of his Church all ours are but poore representations of those glorious things then know and acknowledge so much that is the ground of all living to him Vpon knowing and acknowledging issues all other obedience in our life to Christ those that thus acknowledge Christ they must be directed by his will and not their owne as a servant as farre as he is a servant and a wife so farre as she is a wife they have no will of their owne so he that lives to Christ and acknowledgeth him to be a Lord he must have no will of his owne but hee must live according to the will of Christ as you have it excellently set downe 1 Pet. 4. Christ suffered for us in the flesh let us arme our selves therefore with the same mind for he that suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sinne that he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God It is a comment upon this place Christ dyed and rose and revived that he might be Lord of the quicke and of the dead that is that we might live according to his will and not after our owne doe you thinke our Saviour Christ would so farre deny himselfe to leave heaven to take upon him our base nature and be so farre abased in it to let us live as wee list oh no we must live the rest of our dayes not according to the lusts of men or our owne lusts but