of it that he should pursue his delight to save us until his own soul was heavy and sorrowful unto death that he should relieve us in our sufferings by suffering the same things that we should have done But he was not in the least hereby deterred from undertaking this work of Love and Mercy for us Yea his love rose on this Proposal like the Waters of a mighty Stream against opposition For hereon he says Lo I come to do thy will O God it is my delight to do it Heb. 10. 5 6 7. Isa. 50. 4 5 6 7. 8. BEING thus enclined disposed and ready in the Eternal Love of his Divine Person to undertake the Office of Mediation and the work of our Redemption A body was prepared for him In this Body or Human Nature made his own he was to make this Love effectual in all its Inclinations and Actings It was provided for him unto this end and filled with all Grace in a way unmeasurable especially with Fervent Love unto Mankind And hereby it became a meet Instrument to actuate his Eternal Love in all the fruits of it 9. IT is hence evident that this Glorious Love of Christ doth not consist alone in the Eternal Actings of his divine Person or the Divine Nature in his Person such indeed is the Love of the Father namely his Eternal Purpose for the communication of Grace and Glory with his Acquiescency therein but there is more in the Love of Christ. For when he exercised this Love he was man also and not God only And in none of those Eternal Acts of Love could the Human Nature of Christ have any interest or concern yet is the Love of the Man Christ Jesus celebrated in the Scripture 10. WHEREFORE this Love of Christ which we enquire after is the Love of his Person that is which he in his own Person acts in and by his Distinct Natures according unto their Distinct Essential Properties And the acts of love in these distinct Natures are infinitely distinct and different yet are they all acts of one and the same Person So then whether that Act of Love in Christ which we would at any time consider be an Eternal Act of the Divine Nature in the Person of the Son of God or whether it be an act of the Human performed in time by the Gracious Faculties and Powers of that Nature it is still the Love of one and the self same Person Christ Jesus It was an Act of inexpressible Love in him that he assumed our Nature Heb. 2. 14 17. But it was an act in and of his Divine Nature only For it was antecedent unto the existence of his Human Nature which could not therefore concur therein His laying down his life for us was an act of inconceivable Love 1 John 8. 16. Yet was it only an act of the Human Nature wherein he offered himself and died But both the one and the other were Acts of his Divine Person whence it is said that God laid down his life for us and purchased the Church with his own Blood THIS is that Love of Christ wherein he is glorious and wherein we are by Faith to behold his Glory A great part of the Blessedness of the Saints in Heaven and their Triumph therein consists in their beholding of this Glory of Christ in their thankful contemplation of the Fruits of it see Rev. 5. 9 10. c. THE illustrious Brightness wherewith this Glory shines in Heaven the All satisfying Sweetness which the view of it gives unto the Souls of the Saints there Possessed of Glory are not by us conceivable nor to be expressed Here this love passeth knowledge there we shall comprehend the Dimensions of it Yet even here if we are not slothful and carnal we may have a refreshing prospect of it and where Comprehension fails let Admiration take place MY present Business is to exhort others unto the Contemplation of it though it be but a little a very little a small portion of it that I can conceive and less than that very little that I can express Yet may it be my duty to excite not only my self but others also unto due Enquiries after it unto which End I offer the things ensuing 1. LABOUR that your minds may continually be fitted and prepared for stch Heavenly Contemplations If they are carnal and sensual or filled with earthly things a due sense of this Love of Christ and its Glory will not abide in them Vertue and Vice in their highest Degrees are not more diametrically opposite and inconsistent in the same mind than are an habitual Course of sensual worldly Thoughts and a due Contemplation of the Glory of the Love of Christ Yea an earnestness of Spirit pregnant with a multitude of Thoughts about the lawful Occasions of Life is obstructive of all due Communion with the Lord Jesus Christ herein FEW there are whose Minds are prepared in a due Manner for this Duty The Actions and Communications of the most evidence what is the inward Frame of their Souls They rove up and down in their Thoughts which are continually lead by their Affections into the Corners of the Earth It is in vain to call such Persons unto Contemplations of the Glory of Christ in his Love An holy Composure of Mind by virtue of spiritual principles an Inclination to seek after Refreshment in Heavenly Things and to bath the Soul in the Fountain of them with constant Apprehensions of the Excellency of this Divine Glory are required hereunto 2. BE not satisfied with General Notions concerning the Love of Christ which represent no Glory unto the Mind wherewith many deceive themselves All who believe his divine Person profess a Valuation of his Love and think them not Christians who are otherwise minded But they have only General Notions and not any distinct Conceptions of it and really know not what it is To deliver us from this Snare peculiar Meditations on its principal Concerns are required of us As 1. WHOSE Love it is namely of the divine Person of the Son of God He is expresly called God with respect unto the Exercise of this Love that we may always consider whose it is 1 Job 3. 16. Hereby we perceive the Love of God because he laid down his Life for us 2. BY what Ways and Means this wonderful Love of the Son of God doth act it self namely in the divine Nature by Eternal Acts of Wisdom Goodness and Grace proper thereunto and in the humane by Temporary Acts of Pity or Compassion with all the Fruits of them in doing and suffering for us see Ephes. 3. 19. Heb. 2. 14 15. Rev. 1. 5. 3. WHAT is the Freedom of it as unto any desert on our Part 1 Joh. 4. 10. It was Hatred not Love that we in our selves deserved which is a Consideration suited to fill the Soul with self-abasement the best of Frames in the contemplation of the Glory of Christ. 4. WHAT is the Efficacy of it in
in him Col. 1. 17 18 19. And this was the first Egress of divine Wisdom for the Manifestation of the Glory of God in these holy Properties of his Nature For 3. THIS Communication was made unto him as a Repository and Treasury of all that Goodness Grace Life Light Power and Mercy which were necessary for the Constitution and Preservation of the New Creation They were to be laid up in him to be hid in him to dwell in him and from him to be communicated unto the whole Mystical Body designed unto him that is the Church And this is the first Emanation of divine Power and Wisdom for the Manifestation of his Glory in the New Creation This Constitution of Christ as the Head of it and the Treasuring up in him all that was necessary for its Production and Preservation wherein the Church is chosen and preordained in him unto Grace and Glory is the Spring and Fountain of divine Glory in the Communications that ensue thereon 4. THIS Communication unto Christ is 1. Unto his Person and then 2. With respect unto this Office It is in the Person of Christ that all Fulness doth originally dwell On the Assumption of human Nature into personal Union with the Son of God all Fulness dwells in him bodily Col. 2. 9. And thereon receiving the Spirit in all Fulness and not by Measure all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge were hid in him Col. 2. 3. and he was filled with the unsearchable Riches of Divine Grace Ephes. 3. 8 9 10 11. And the Office of Christ is nothing but the way appointed in the Wisdom of God for the Communication of the Treasures of Grace which were communicated unto his Person This is the end of the whole Office of Christ in all the parts of it as he is a Priest a Prophet and a King They are I say nothing but the Ways appointed by infinite Wisdom for the Communication of the Grace laid up in his Person unto the Church The transcendent Glory hereof we have in some weak measure enquired into 5. THE Decree of Election prepared if I may so say the Mass of the New Creation In the old Creation God first prepared and created the Mass or Matter of the whole which afterwards by the Power of the holy Spirit was formed into all the distinct Beings whereof the whole Creation was to consist and animated according to their distinct Kinds AND in order unto the Production and Perfecting of the Work of the new Creation God did from Eternity in the holy purpose of his Will prepare and in design set apart unto himself that Portion of Mankind whereof it was to consist Hereby they were only the peculiar Matter that was to be wrought upon by the Holy Ghost and the glorious Fabrick of the Church erected out of it What was said it may be of the Natural Body by the Psalmist is true of the Mystical Body of Christ which is principally intended Psal. 139. 15 16. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect and in thy Book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them The substance of the Church whereof it was to be formed was under the Eye of God as proposed in the Decree of Election yet was it as such imperfect It was not formed or shaped into Members of the Mystical Body But they were all written in the Book of Life And in pursuance of the Purpose of God there they are by the holy Spirit in the whole course and continuance of time in their several Generations fashioned into the Shape designed for them 6. THIS therefore is herein the glorious Order of divine Communications From the infinite eternal Spring of Wisdom Grace Goodness and Love in the Father all the Effects whereof unto his end were treasured up in the Person and Mediation of the Son the holy Spirit unto whom the actual Application of them is committed communicates Life Light Power Grace and Mercy unto all that are designed parts of the New Creation Hereon doth God glorifie both the essential Properties of his Nature his infinite Wisdom Power Goodness and Grace as the only eternal Spring of all these things and also his ineffable glorious Existence in three Persons by the Order of the Communication of these things unto the Church which are originally from his Nature And herein is the glorious Truth of the Blessed Trinity which by some is opposed by some neglected by most looked on as that which is so much above them as that it doth not belong unto them made precious unto them that believe and becomes the Foundation of their Faith and Hope In a View of the glorious Order of those divine Communications we are in a steady Contemplation of the ineffable Glory of the Existence of the Nature of God in the Three distinct Persons of Father Son and Holy Ghost 7. ACCORDING unto this Divine Order the Elect in all Ages are by the holy Spirit moving and acting on that Mass of the New Creation formed and animated with spiritual Life Light Grace and Power unto the Glory of God They are not called accidentally according unto the external Occasions and Causes of their Conversion unto God but in every Age at his own Time and Season the holy Spirit communicates these things unto them in the Order declared unto the Glory of God 8. AND in the same manner is the whole New Creation preserved every Day every moment there is vital Power and Strength Mercy and Grace communicated in this Divine Order to all Believers in the World There is a continual Influence from the Fountain from the Head into all the Members whereby they all consist in him are acted by him who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure and the Apostle declares that the whole Constitution of Church-order is suited as an external Instrument to promote these Divine Communications unto all the Members of the Church it self Eph. 4. 13 14 15 16. THIS in general is the Order of Divine Communications which is for the Substance of it continued in Heaven and shall be so unto Eternity For God is and ever will be all and in all But at present it is invisible unto Eyes of Flesh yea the Reason of Men. Hence it is by the most despised they see no Glory in it But let us consider the Prayer of the Apostle that it may be otherwise with us Ephes. 1. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23. For the Revelation made of the Glory of God in the old Creation is exceeding inferior to that which he makes of himself in the New HAVING premised these things in general concerning the Glory of Divine Communications I shall proceed to declare in particular the Grounds and Way whereby the Lord Christ communicates himself and therewithal
promises of the present reward in these spiritual Priviledges And how shall we be thought to believe them when we do not endeavour after an experience of the things themselves in our own souls but are even contented without them But herein men deceive themselves They would very desirously have evangelical Joy Peace and Assurance to countenance them in their evil frames and careless walking And some have attempted to reconcile these things unto the ruin of their souls But it will not be Without the diligent exercise of the Grace of Obedience we shall never enjoy the Grace of Consolation But we must speak somewhat of these things afterwards IT is peculiarly in the view of the Glory of Christ in in his approaches unto us and abiding with us that we are made Partakers of Evangelical Peace Consolation Joy and Assurance These are a part of the Royal Train of his Graces of the Reward wherewith he is accompanied His reward is with him Wherever he is graciously present with any these things are never wanting in a due measure and degree unless it be by their own fault or for their trial In these things doth he give the Church of his loves Cant. 7. 12. For if any man saith he loveth me I will love him and manifest my self unto him Joh. 14. 21. Yea I and the Father will come unto him and make our abode with him v. 23. and that so as to sup with him Rev. 3. 20. which on his part can be only by the Communication of those spiritual refreshments The only enquiry is by what way and means we do receive them Now I say this is in and by our beholding of the Glory of Christ by Faith 1 Pet. 1. 9 10. Let that Glory be rightly stated as before laid down the Glory of his Person his Office his Condescention Exaltation Love and Grace let Faith be fixed in a view and contemplation of it mix it self with it as represented in the Glass of the Gospel meditate upon it embrace it and virtue will proceed from Christ communicating spiritual supernatural refreshment and joy unto our souls Yea in ordinary cases it is impossible that believers should have a real prospect of this Glory at any time but that it will in some measure affect their hearts with a sense of his love which is the spring of all consolation in them In the exercise of Faith on the discoveries of the Glory of Christ made unto us in the Gospel no man shall ever totally want such intimations of his Love yea such effusions of it in his heart as shall be a living spring of those spiritual refreshments Joh. 4. 14. Rom. 5. 5. When therefore we lose these things as unto a sense of them in our souls it is evident that the Lord Christ is withdrawn and that we do not behold his Glory BUT I cannot here avoid another short digression There are those by whom all these things are derided as distempered fancies and imaginations Yea such things have been spoken and written of them as contain a virtual renunciation of the Gospel the powers of the World to come and the whole work of the Holy Ghost as the comforter of the Church And hereby all real entercourse between the Person of Christ and the souls of them that do believe is utterly overthrown reducing all Religion to an outward shew and a pageantry fitter for a stage than that Temple of God which is in the minds of men According unto the sentiments of these prophane scoffers there is no such thing as the shedding abroad of the love of God in our hearts by the Holy Ghost nor as the witnessing of the spirit of God with our spirits that we are the Children of God from which these spiritual joys and refreshments are inseparable as their necessary effects No such thing as the lifting up of the Light of Gods countenance upon us which will put gladness into our hearts that gladness which comprizeth all the things mentioned No such thing as rejoycing upon Believing with joy unspeakable and full of Glory no such thing as Christs shewing and manifesting himself unto us supping with us and giving us of his loves that the divine promises of a feast of fat things and Wine well refined in Gospel-Mercies are empty and insignificant words that all those ravishing joys and exultations of spirit that multitudes of faithful Martyrs of old and in later ages have enjoyed by a view of the Glory of God in Christ and a sense of his love whereunto they gave testimony unto their last moments in the midst of their torments were but fancies and Imaginations But it is the height of impudence in these profane scoffers that they proclaim their own Ignorance of those things which are the real powers of our Religion OTHERS there are who will not deny the truth of these things They dare not rise up in contradiction unto those express Testimonies of the Scripture wherewith they are confirmed And they do suppose that some are partakers of them at least they were so formerly but as for their parts they have no experience of them nor do judge it their duty to endeavour after it They can make a shift to live on hopes of Heaven and future Glory As unto what is present they desire no more but to be found in the performance of some duties in answer unto their convictions which gives them that sorry peace which they do enjoy So do many countenance themselves in their spiritual sloth and unbelief keeping themselves at liberty to seek for refreshment and satisfaction in other things whilst those of the Gospel are despised And these things are inconsistent While men look for their chief refreshment and satisfaction in temporal things it is impossible they should seek after those that are spiritual in a due manner And it must be confessed that when we have a due regard unto spiritual evangelical Consolations and Joys it will abate and take off our affections unto and satisfaction in present enjoyments Phil. 3 8 9. BUT there is no more sacred truth than this That where Christ is present with Believers where he is not withdrawn for a season from them where they live in the view of his Glory by faith as it is proposed unto them in the Gospel he will give unto them at his own seasons such intimations of his love such supplies of his spirit such holy joys and rejoycings such repose of soul in assurance as shall refresh their souls fill them with joy satisfie them with spiritual delight and quicken them unto all acts of holy Communion with himself LET no such dishonour be reflected on the Gospel that whereas the faith of it and obedience unto it are usually accompanied with outward Troubles Afflictions Persecution and Reproaches as we are foretold they should be that it doth not by its inward consolations and divine refreshments outballance all those evils which we may undergo upon the account of it So to suppose is expresly