all debts and demands whatsoever he can make in order to us according to that of the Apostle Who shall his any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that justifieth who is he that condemnes it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God Rom. 8 33 34. Christ being risen and come before his father spotlesse as having done all things intrusted well his father is forced to justifie him and so all the elect in him hence when any layeth charge and challenge to us whether Satan sinne or conscience this obligation is upon God by Christs resurrection to stand up acquit and justifie us who is greater then all that can condemn us yea greater then our own conscience in his justification of us as he is greater then our owne concience in his condemnation of us and this is that which over beareth and over-ruleth all which would overbeare our spirit and our peace This is the life of that Scripture also 1 Cor. 15.7 If Christ be not risen your faith is vain ye are yet in your sinnes Which Scripture sheweth where sinners should take hold to justification in Christ as risen and justified in our person faith should particularly make application of this that I am justified in him and so all my sinnes done away in his acquittance and justification Christ being risen and justified I am justified in him this is the proper motion and exercise of faith in this point I know that my Redeemer lives Jeb takes particular hold of the resurrection of Christ i hold in his own behalfe that he should live also by him And this opens that difficult place of Scripture Rom. 10.9 If thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved i. that Christ is risen and acquitted as personating thee The words doe not mean a historicall faith the believing of such a history but an applicatory faith as I mentioned and he that doth thus believe is indeed saved and delivered from the bond and condemnation of his sinnes This will be better strengthened and evidenced by referring it to proper examples Abraham believed in God that quickned the dead saith the Apostle which points first at Isaac and in him to Christ Now what was Abrahams faith in God concerning Isaac meerly that God would raise him and put life againe into him c No his faith was that God would quicken him from the dead and give him again into his bosome to be his heire and his Isaac his laughter joy glory and crown of his family and this sheweth how he believed in Christ whom Isaac typisied that God would quicken him from the dead for him that he would raise Christ and give him into his bosome to be his heire his Isaac his laughter and joy that God would take Christ from the grave and acquit him and Abraham in him or else Abrahams faith in that mystery of Isaac would have been imputed to him for righteousnesse He against hope believed in hope so should we against all that sence Satan can say about our sinnes still believe in God that quickneth the dead that God hath raised and acquitted Christ and therefore me being personated in him And this was Iohs faith concerning Christs resurrection he was not meerly historicall in this point but evangelicall and applicatory as plainly appeareth by his words I know that my Redeemer lives that God quickneth my Isaac from the dead whom I shall see for my self As we are delivered from the guilt of sinne by this that Christ is risen so from the power of sinne Rom. 8.11 therefore is this point I am upon Canaan milke and honey to all the people of God He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortall bodies by his Spirit which dwels in us therefore are we debtors not to the flesh to fulsill the lusts thereof but to this quickning spirit by which the deeds of the body are mortified The rising of the Sunne of righteousnesse is in the little world as the rising of the naturall Sunne in the great world that which makes all rise open and revive with it infuseth vigor warmth spirit which makes all the creation renew and give forth fresh glory and verue still And this is the meaning and opening of the Prophet Malachy who useth this very metaphor To you which feare my name shall the Sunne of righteousnesse arise with healing in his wings and ye shall goe forth and grow up as calves of the stall That Christ is risen shall be to all you that feare Gods name to your diseased infirme ungrowing spirituall condition as the rising of the Sunne upon a debile body that which shall send forth a power spirit and vigor into your soules which shall heale all your diseases and make you full of spirit and springing abundantly Nature is excited by the rising of the Sunne and strengthened to bud blossome and beare Paul was well aware of the great benefit of this point I am now upon as appeareth by his high expression of this matter And what is the excellent greatnesse of his power to us ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him on his right hand Ephes 1.19 20. You which believe have advantage by the resurrection of Christ to pray for and expect such a power as is exceeding great to work in your soules for the subduing of your sinnes and quickning of you to all good as wrought in Christ when raised and then surely the power of God wrought in height in Christ if ever so farre forth as finite States are capable of the operation of such an infinite power and vertue which is a foundation of singular consolation in order to all our present weaknesse deadnesse and unheavenlinesse and all this vertue promised to be given to such as feare him Such a Sun-shine upon thee O poore Christian Christ being risen as thou art not aware of what glory and vertue healing and growth it will raise thee to Such a Sunne is risen upon thee which will make thee rise and shine every day more and more unto the perfect day which will make thee perfect to every good work to doe his will Now the God of peace which brought again from the dead our Lord Iesus make you perfect in every good work to doe his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight I may adde yet one thing more as consolatory Christ being risen the people of God are delivered not onely from sinne but also from the rigor of duty and obedience Christ being risen that body which he had here is changed and in that sense put away and Christ married to another to a glorisied body and the laying down of this tabernacle and betaking by his resurrection
to Christ like Doves to their windowes some and that a considerable number of these people even then when Jesus Christ shall appeare to make this glorious resurrection wil notwithstanding all the glory that Christ shall come with to make his own welcome stand stil in their unbeliefe and rejection of him which then wil bring a dreadfull curse and separation upon them from that glorious Church for no unclean thing shall abide in this cleare and Cristal Church and this curse shall be as Cains curse and separation from that communion and Church wherein he was and whereof such a visible member and by this as Cain shall these wretches then be marked and distinguished manifestly amongst men to their everlasting shame and contempt To strengthen this take another Scripture Revel 21.3 4. c. compared with the eighth chapter speakes of the glorious state of the Iewes which God wil hasten in his time And I Iohn saw the holy City new Ierusalem comming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband And I heard a great noise out of Heaven saying behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and be will dwell therein and they shall be his people and God himselfe shall be with them and be their God and he that sate upon the Throne said Behold I make all things new c. he that overcommeth shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my sonne but the fearfull and unbelieving and the abominable and murtherers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Mr. Brightmans judgement upon this place is according to what I have said that even then when the glorious state of the Iewes shall be wil some of them be found in these lusts here mentioned and so be cursed and separated as I have said from fellowship with them Wherefore that expression all Israel shall he saved and so this expression in my Text to turne every one of you notes onely the great abundance which shal then be brought in a great multitude as the word is used and concerning this very matter Revel 19.6 And I heard as it wer the voyce of a great multitude and aâ— the voycâ— of many waters and as the voyce of mighty thunderings saying Hallelujah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord God omnipoten◠〈◊〉 â—ethâ—leâ— uâ— be glad and rejoyce and give honour to him for the marriage of the Lambe is come and his wife hath made her selfe ready c. If this Text as applied to the time of the Jewes second call til the time of their fullest income and turning to God cannot mean all surely it cannot mean every one as applied to their first call to which I thinke my Text doth properly belong Christ was not sent to turn every one of this people for he saith expressely to them in his ministery that he came not to call the righteous to be a Physitian to those were well but came to call the poor blinde halt maymed some of the meanest outwardly and inwardly poore lost self-condemned creatures which is the meaning of that place Isa 59.20 And the Redeemer shall come to Sion to them which turn from transgression in Jacob saith the Lord. To them which turne from transgression leshabei ad redeuntes saith the originall the redeemer shall come to turne them which are turning There is a generation of sinners which confesse they are what they are dogges divels viler then any in bonds and chaines as the Prophet speakes of some that should come after Christ in chaines Isa 45.14 I am a Publican a harlot a covetous wretch one that hath many devils in one a lost creature if Christ doe not looke upon me why these are redeuntes sinners turning and these is Christ come to turn and save these are sinners others are righteous these are sick and diseased and so would prize a Physitian Lord if thou canst doe any thing help me for I can doe nothing here doth Christ lend a hand and a heart and this is the visible instituted order of his way for the salvation of man Every one is not here taken distributively singula generuns but collectively genera singulorum some of every kinde and of every ranke c. Christ healed every disease saith the Scripture i. diseases of every sort All men are lyars saith the Prophet and every man is an hypocrite saith another Prophet i. all ranks of men high and low not simply and individually for then he that said so had been a liar and an hypocrite to And Aristotle himselfe in his Polit. lib. 2. cap. 2. shews the use of universall termes that they are not sometimes in a strict sence universally to be taken as you may see in the beginning of that Chapter where speaking of the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he saith that sometimes it doth mean every one individually and sometimes not The like may be said of this universall terme in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so it must be carried here or otherwise this Scripture would contradict others The Scriptures which would be otherwise oppugned are these Matth. 1.21 shall save his people which surely notes some restriction Isa 52.15 So shall he sprinkle many Nations he doth not say all And Isa 53.11 By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justifie many who these many be see Iohn 6.37 All that the father giveth me shall come to me and he that commeth to me I will in no wise cast out Christ is said to save such as come to him for salvation redeuntes as I said erewhile but all doe not come to Christ nor never wil but onely such as the father hath given to Christ As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternall life to as many as thou hast given him Iohn 17.20 Conversion is an actuall life and this Christ is said to give to those onely which the father hath given to him i. to the elect And whereas it is said That as in Adam we all die so in Christ we shall all be made alive and so consequently that Christ is sent to make all alive and to turne every one to God the Apostle answereth himselfe writing to the Galatians shewing that his meaning is not that the efficacy of each to wit the first and second Adam is in the same manner necessarily extensive but saith that the efficacy of the one indeed is necessarily extensive but the efficacy of the other extensive onely of free grace through faith to them to whom Christ shall give this But the Scripture hath concluded all under sinne that the promise by the faith of Jesus might be given to them which believe Gal. 3.22 All by Adam die not that all by Christ should as necessarily be made alive but that the free grace and promise of life may be given to those whom he
and endeavour for this he prayes sighes groans and in this heavenly industry continueth runnes and is not weary that if by any meanes he might attaine the resurrection from the dead and this in Gods acceptation is a heart as Gods own and holy as he is holy and turned and separated from sinne as he If this be properly Christs work to turne you from your sinne Vse know upon whose shoulders God hath placed your hardest work ye that are the people of God and expect that he will goe thorough with it The hardest worke of a Christian is to turn from his sinne and beares more upon him then any thing 't is true that many things goe ill but this goeth most to my heart that sinne cleaves so fast unto me saith a good soule Why Christ will doe that wherein thy difficulty lies he will subdue thine iniquities and east thy sinne into the depth of the Sea Mica 7.19 he will break every bond and remove every weight which presseth down greater is he that is in you then the greatest corruption that is in you the grace of Christ is sufficient to withstand what intices and to destroy what intices for this cause is Christ manifested to withstand yea to destroy the works of the Divell Christ doth turn us from corruption to destroy it The covenant is that Christ shall set in our heart as a resiner and purifier of Silver and shall purifie thee as they doe those mettles that thou mayst offer an offering in righteousnesse a pleasant offering and this being the covenant every thing shall conduce to this fruit the turning thy heart from thy sinne i. the purging and refining of it instructions corrections I will turn mine hand upon thee and purely purge away thy drosse saith the Lord therefore surely this hard worke will be down Goliah will be slaine and a little thing shall doe it If Christ be long ere he doe a necessary work it is probable that he will doe it very remarkably with some pibble of the brook with some Jaw-bone thrown by will he smite to death at once heaps upon heaps all that hath smote to death the peace and comfort of thy soule so long not by might or by strength doth Christ doe this that thine eye may be much sixed upon but by a still blow within by his Spirit shall be the death of that which hath been the death of thy life hitherto If Christ worke all our workes in us surely this work which is all the turning of the heart from sinne he will not leave undone he will purely purge thy soule renew a right spirit within thee and thy very fall shall conduce unto such a resurrection If this be the work of Christ to turn sinner from their sinnes then when Christ is about this work doe not hinder him he stands at the doore and knocks yea more calls To you O men I call whoso is simple let him turn in hither yea points this is the way walk in it nay and blocks up all other waies sometimes crosses and punishes the man in other courses hedges him up that he cannot finde his way convinces salts the soule with fire makes the mans own heart condemne him all this speakes Christ about his worke to turn thee from thy sinne and indeed if thou sinde these things Christ is at his worke hard O take heed of opposing and contradicting his glorious worke T is ordinary with men when conscience begins to awake and to smite when the Spirit begins to stirre to quench and stisle those things with more excesse of sinning to stop their eares when the call of Christ begins to sound loud in their conscience and so pâ—â—cke and pierce and bring sinne to remembrance why thou that thus doest art in league with sinne and death thou wilt not be turned from thy sinne therefore thou shalt die â—…rein and thou shalt know in death that 〈◊〉 was nigh thee and this will aggravate thy doom that the kingdom of God came so nigh thee I was travelling with thee Christ will say and thou couldst not beare the pangs of the birth I was lancing thy wound and thou couldst not endure it I would have healed thee and then thine iniquity broke out then thou ragedst when I set thy sinnes in order before thee and hadst rather be kild thy self then that I should kill thy sin If this be the work of Christ to turn sinners from their sinnes let not Christ want worke present your conditions unto him and desire him to undertake them Labour not for the meat which perisheth but for that which endures to eve lasting life which the sonne of man shall give unto you for him hath the Father sealed Joh. 6.22 That this is Christs work should be made a ground of faith to us in going to him for he is under the Law of his place faithfull in all things to him that appointed him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non non ejiciam saith the original and sealed him therefore he saith He that comes to him be will in no wise cast out Joh. 6.37 And hence that of the Apostle This is a faithfull saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ came to save sinners the chiefe of sinners Let this point be of all acceptation unto you you that have slaine Christ and your own soules yet think what Christ is made unto you he is made to make you to new make you who have marred your selves and waites thus to be gracious his meat and drinke is to be pulling such brands out of the fire and to quench them before they be quite burnt Christ is able to subdue all things to himself as willing You have done thus thus saith God yet be not desperate I Sam. 12 20. so say I to you great sinners Finally when I say this is the proper worke of Christ to turn people from their sinnes it is not to be understood as if we should not be instrumentall in his hand the effecting of this worke is indeed upon one but the means in and by which he doth this beares upon many shoulders Magistrates Ministers yea every one that is turned is by the law of that very condition as converted to labour to convert others and as advantages are more so to be more instrumentall this way generall calling and particular calling both sometimes engage this way Offices in government have this scope to beare up God and to beat down that and be a terror to that which would deface him God hath a double power by which he doth his great workes in this world one secret and invisible in which he alone is of which see Gen. 1.4 And God saw the Light that it was good and God divided between the light and between the darknesse Since this act of separation light will not have communion with darknesse being parted they constantly keepe apart oppose and continually conflict and expell each other and this is by a secret power