unto a Living Stone disallowed indeed of Men but chosen of God as precious They disallowed the living stone chosen of God and precious upon whom as upon a Corner-stone the Church is built and that was their Unbelief they would not have him but laid him aside and threw him by He was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness but to them that believe Christ the wisdom and power of God The Believer approves what the Unbeliever disalloweth the one admireth what the other despiseth II. To have the Son is to have him highly in our Estimation it is to have him by a new spiritual convincing Evidence in our Minds and to think highly of him to esteem so highly of him as to honour the Son as we honour the Father John 5.23 Mark the place before quoted 1 Pet. 2.4 Certainly saith the Soul God cannot be mistaken in the choice of a Saviour a Rock of Salvation for one to build upon for eternal Life Christ is a Stone perfectly fitted for his Place he is a Living Stone that will put Life into all the Stones the Spiritual Building as the Church is called 1 Cor. 3.9 He is chosen of God and precious therefore the rightly informed and illuminated Soul esteems him highly as a living stone as chosen of God who perfectly knew his Excellency and precious But to you that believe he is precious 1 Pet. 2.7 Life is precious to him that hath been convicted and found himself condemned and lost and the Son that hath Life for him is most precious to him He can't prize him according to his Worth The greatest Honour he can do him is to believe what is testified of him O how base is every thing in comparison of his Saviour They that are called out of Darkness to Light do see the Wisdom and Power of God in him 1 Cor. 2.24 They admire him in all his Characters and Properties They glorifie him as the Son of the highest as the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth as the only Name under Heaven given among men whereby they shall be saved They fall down and worship him they cannot reach him with their highest Thoughts As his Name is wonderful so is he wonderful in his Person Emmanuel God-man the Holy one of God the fairest among ten thousand yea altogether lovely They esteem him for himself for his All-sufficiency for the greatest and hardest of all Works that of a Saviour They esteem him for his Singularity He is One and but one like the Sun in the Firmament one Sun for the whole World so he is one Sun of Righteousness with healing in his Wings for all that are wounded and fear the scorching burning Wrath of the just and holy God They esteem him as a Pearl of great Price all the goodly Pearls sought for by the Merchants will be given for him at any time by every wise understanding Heart They who have him count all things but Dung and Loss that they may win him There is nothing in him but unsearchable Riches They who have him have nothing but gains and winnings by him yea tho they should lose their Lives for him they can't lose them but shall have eternal Life Mat. 16.25 That I may win Christ said Paul O that the World could believe it Believers are made Partners with him in the Benefits of his Sufferings Victories Exaltation and Glory What things are these O think of him as he is that you may have him O labour to be acquainted with him that you may set up a Throne for him in your Hearts as for a Prince and Saviour that you may prize him 1. As he who is all and in all 2. That you may prize him according to your need of him and his fulness and freeness to supply Mean things are valued when we need them But Christ is one of incomprehensible Worth he hath in him the desirableness of all things necessary and of all things that are called incomparable 3. Esteem him as your Souls Alas who esteems them tho not to be exchanged for a World esteem him as your Life yea infinitely better than the longest and happiest Life upon Earth The highest and dearest thing you can reckon of is Life is eternal Life esteem Christ as that Life He gave his Life for it he hath it in his Gift and Power he brought Life to the Dead and Life from Death III. He that hath Christ for Life hath him in his Will and Heart He doth understandingly judiciously and heartily receive him He hath him so as to close with him with a voluntary intire gladsom Consent He hath him with the Approbation of his Mind and Judgment he hath overcome his Doubts and his Cavils if he had any he hath not a Word nor a Thought against him he is fully satisfied with him and therefore doth receive him into his Heart and with it No man hath the Son for Life except the Son hath his Heart that is the House in which Christ will dwell That Christ may dwell in your Hearts by Faith The Heart of Faith is wanting till Faith hath the possession of the Heart Holy Mr. Baxter in that Excellent Treatise Dir. and Perswasions to a sound Conversion p. 283. Ephes 3.17 That is the place of his Rest which he desires to dwell in who dwells not in Temples that are made with Hands Such was his Grace and Love that he came down from Heaven to cast out Devils fleshly and worldly Lusts out of thy Heart to make thee free to recover the possession of thy Heart for himself O give him thy Heart he best deserves it This is the Word of Faith which we Preach If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe with thy Heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved For with the Heart man believeth unto Righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto Salvation Rom. 10.8 9 10. He that believeth with his Heart that God raised Christ from the Dead for our Justification Rom. 5.24 is righteous and justified before God He and he alone who believeth with his Heart will have Courage and Boldness in dangerous Times to confess him before men and call upon him and he alone shall be saved and have Life through him Then Lidia had Christ and Salvation when the Lord opened her Heart Acts 16.14 Judas had Christ in his Head and upon his Tongue as a Preacher but he had not the Son for Life because he had him not in his Heart In the Gospel the Son is set forth in his Names and Properties which are admirable commending and inviting all that know him and believe the Testimonies concerning him And not only so but he is propounded and offered by his Embassadors yea he makes gracious Offers standing at the Door If any man hear my voice and open unto me I will come in to him c. The Covenant of Grace is a
Marriage-Covenant between Christ and his Church Rev. 3.20 The only Son of the highest the Lord of Glory that one Mediator is tendred to you Will you have the Son of God If you will you shall live A Blessing which comprehends all manner of Blessings in it even the everlasting Inheritance You hear what is said your Answer is will or will not if you will not then that 's entred as in a Book of Remembrance And you will not come to me that you may have Life John 5.40 But if you will and consent and say you will have him for your Husband your Head and your Lord then there is a Covenant between you and you have Life setled upon you and you enter upon the First Fruits of it and have Communion with the Father and the Son which is Life indeed O what a Life is this beginning of Life Till the Soul say I will there is no full Answer given and while you suspend Consent your Life is in Suspense IV. He who hath the Son hath him in his Affection And except you have him by Faith in your Heart how can you affect him But if you have him in your Hearts the whole Houshold of the Affections entertain and come about him Love the first-born and strength of the Heart receives and hath him Desires run and go clogged as they are now with Infirmities towards him their Delights and Joys when they are themselves and free from the clutter of Strangers and worldly Lusts which quarter upon them are in him above all Persons and Things they ever saw or knew My Beloved is unto me a Bundle of Camphire of a refreshing vertue He is a Bundle and breaths out Grace and Life he shall lie all Night between my Breasts he shall be next my Heart most intimate with me I will make him a Bed in my very Heart I will not disturb him nor offend him nor make him weary of his Lodging and so offend him as to make him go away O happy I when I have him with me Cant. 1.13 He is altogether lovely or all desirous And this is my Beloved and this is my Friend O ye Daughters of Jerusalem Cant. 5. from ver 10. to 16. They who have him in their Hearts trust him with the dearest thing they have with the best of all yea their All that is their Life in whom ye trusted Ephes 1.13 And rejoyce in the hope of the Glory of God and Christ in them is that hope of Glory Col. 1.27 You cannot have Christ without spiritual strong affections towards him no more than a faithful chaste Wife can have an Husband God works upon these Powers of the Soul when you come first unto Christ to have him and by lively Affections you hold him and keep to him 5. To have the Son is by Faith to have him in our Aims We have him to live by him to live in Communion with him not as with an equal or ordinary Companion but to live to him and to make him the scope of our Lives as well as the lively Rule and Example That we should not live unto our selves but to him who died and rose again 2 Cor. 5.15 And so the Holy Apostle profess'd that to him to live is Christ Phil. 1.21 That Christ may be enjoy'd obey'd pleas'd and glorified in me and by me 6. They who have him thus have him as in their Eye to love him and to aim at him so they have him in their remembrance Can a Maid forget her Ornaments or a Bride her Attire Jer. 2.32 Can that Soul who hath the Son of God who hath taken him and given her self to him forget her Ornaments the Garments of Salvation wherewith he hath clothed her the Wedding Garment and best Robe Can a Bride forget her Attire If not her Attire can she forget her Bridegroom There is a particular great Ordinance appointed to this End that he should be remembred and the Church his Spouse must do as he hath commanded in remembrance of him 1 Cor. 11.25 7. They who have him in their Minds Hearts and Affections will have him in their Mouths with Honour Whom do Men say that I the Son of Man am Some say thou art John the Baptist But whom do ye say that I am And Simon Peter answered Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God Mat. 16.16 They that have the Son know what to call him and who he is Faith must know him distinctly and separately from all other Names and Persons and eminently above all I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Acts 8.37 If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved Rom. 10.9 What! A Wife and not speak of her absent Husband While we are present in the Body we are absent from the Lord. But not have him in our Mouths to remember and honour him How many Wonders have you to speak of concerning Christ How many great Actions wise Sayings Heavenly Doctrins holy Precepts and precious Promises and rich Tokens have you to speak of Have him have him more in your Hearts and more in your Mouths with pure Affection and great Praise as the Church had him Cant. 5. from the 10th verse Have him in your daily Prayers and Praises have him in your Closets in your Houses have him in your Communication as the Disciples had him as they walked by the way Luke 24. 8. They who have him have him in their Lives They cannot live but by having him I live yet not I but the Life that I live in the flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Gal. 2.20 You must have the Son or you cannot have Life He is our Life Col. 3.3 4. Have him in your Lives as the perfect Copy Exemplar and Pattern of Holy and Heavenly Living have him in your Lives as the Manna as the Meat you eat as the Garments you wear as the Air you breath in yea as the Life you live III. What is that Life which they have who have the Son By Life all manner of good things all manner of Blessings are understood and by Death all manner of Evil. Life and Good are set out together in opposition to Death and Evil Deut. 30.15 See I have set before thee this day Life and Good Death and Evil There is some shadow of Death in all manner of Afflictions Miseries and Sufferings and all the lesser Streams of Evil run at last into the endless Gulf of Death whose Spring-head is the Curse and Threatning of Death In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Gen. 3.36 That is the Wrath which abideth upon them who believe not And when we believe and are justified and pardoned we are said to pass from Death to Life John 3.36 John 5.24 I have shewed you before that the Son is here considered as
Marriage Union and Relation John 3.29 1 Cor. 7.2 Mark 12.22 23. Luke 20.33 Of which afterwards II. To have the Son is so to have him as to have him for Eternal Life and so to have him as to have Life by him and from him To have him is unspeakably more than to have him as some think they have him To have the Son you shall hear is more than 1. To have him in your Eye by reading in your Ears by hearing in your Mouths by speaking you come to have him by means but many have means who have not him many have him in the Word and Ministry in the Church in the Creed who have him not in their Minds by spiritual and saving Knowledge nor in their Hearts by Love 2. To have him is much more than to have him in their Mouths and Profession Oh! how many hear him and have him standing at the Door knocking without and let him stand till he is weary of standing and knocking and they have no mind nor heart to listen rise and open having other Guests Friends Companions and things which they naturally and dearly love which they love better than him or that Life that true happy eternal Life which he comes to give to them that will have it Oh! How many have him as they who cried Lord Lord but did not the Will of God Or not as Thomas had him with Interest in and Affection to him My Lord and my God Oh! how many have him coming and going in the Word and Ministry that let him go as he came in at one Ear and out at another The Doors of the Heart are as open for him to go out as they were to let him in Oh! how many have him in their mouths as he is in their Belief in the Congregation as Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord who study not the meaning of what they say who shew nothing of him in their Conversation The Devil and rotten Communication may be oftner in their mouths than he except it be to tear his Wounds and prophane his Blood and to cause many to blaspheme that worthy Name by which they are called Oh! how many have him no further into their Souls than their minds and memories as a Stranger or Passenger that have him not in their Hearts as a Ruler or Dweller They have him as the Papists have the Crucifix hanging at their Necks and in their Bosoms that have him not within them by his Spirit for Life and Salvation And are they few who have him but as Judas had him and carnal and worldly Politicians have him for their private Ends to make merchandize of him And to say no more how many delay to have him till a convenient Season They say they intend to have him but they cannot yet determin when for he is held at too high a rate they cannot yet come up to the terms of Repentance and Self-denial When they cannot sin as they were wont they will repent and when they are upon a forced remove out of the World and must leave all then they will deny themselves This is plainly the Sense of them who do not flatly refuse to have him but are not resolved to have him as they must or not at all And that is as followeth Mark the Word it self He that hath the Son hath Life First the Son and then Life by him First Christ himself his Glorious Person full of Grace and Truth and then Life both or neither and both in this order and connexion of which a little more afterwards And then observe that to have the Son is all one as to believe in him John 3.15 16. And to believe on the Son with Trust and Reliance John 3.36 Or to receive him but to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe in his Name John 1.12 They who received first the Son had the Prerogative and Priviledge to become the Sons of God Upon our having the Son as invested in the Office of Mediator for which he put on our Nature we have Life the Benefit of his Redemption and Mediation To have him is to have him by the Application and Union of Faith There is a mutual Act between Christ and the Believer Christ exhibiteth himself unto us and we adhere and dwell in him B. Reynolds Life of Christ 4 to p. 461. saith one of our best Divines upon the Text. To have him is to believe and receive him as to have a Propriety in him and and after a sort a Possession of him as another of our Worthies doth express himself Mr. Ball of the Covenant p. 287. not by way of Dominion for so we are his 1 Cor. 6.19 but by way of Communion and Propriety To have him is to believe and receive him as he is made of God to us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 which are the Benefits of Christ as Mediator Worthy Mr. Firmin Real Christian Synopsis pur Theologiae de Officio Christi S. 38. and the gracious effects of his Offices as Prophet Priest and King For these things we need him and these things we have by him To have Christ is to act answerably to the Proposal offer of Christ and everlasting Life through him The matter will be more clear in Particulars I. To believe and to have the Son is to have him in our Understanding and Minds by a clear and unfeigned Assent to the Revelation and Proposal of Jesus Christ as Mediator and Redeemer The Understanding upon the convincing Evidence of what is reported concerning Christ and Life by him doth assent unto it and doth acknowledge the Wisdom and Grace of God in the way to Life Eternal That God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself 2 Cor. 5.19 That God set him forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood Rom. 3.25 is wonderfully approved of This is a faithful Saying that Jesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners and it is received and own'd as true and worthy to be believed When a Sinner is convinced of Sin and Death and that Life is out of his own reach and power and that he must receive it as a gift of Grace and Mercy and that the Author and Giver of Life hath set down this for a Law Rule That whoever would have Life must have Christ The Soul lays aside all Thoughts of coming to Life and Happiness any other way and subscribes to and approves of this wonderful Contrivance of giving eternal Life by Jesus Christ and of making it necessary to have Christ Much of the Nature and Work of Faith is seen in this Assent to and Approbation of this way of attaining Eternal Life And thus Faith may be understood to be an Approbation of the way to Life by its contrary unbelief express'd by a disallowance of God's prescribed way and means 1 Pet. 2.4 unto whom coming as
reckon you your selves to be dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord John 15.4 Abide in me and I in you As the Branch cannot bear Fruit of it self except it abide in the Vine no more can ye except ye abide in me vers 5. I am the Vine ye are the Branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit For without me ye can do nothing Phil. 1.11 Being filled with the fruit of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ mark that unto the glory and praise of God All Sanctifying Grace comes from Jesus Christ and power to bring forth Fruit See Rom. 8.10 11 12 13. And if Christ be in you the Body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is Life because of righteousness But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you c. 3. He that hath the Son hath a Life of Joy and Gladness He was a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with Griefs for our sakes his Griefs and Sorrows were a strong Composition of Sorrows prepared for a Man of Sorrows He was sorrowful unto Death Mark 14.33 As a man cast out from among men that hath none to comfort him nor as much as to speak kindly to him or to make his Complaint to But his Sorrows were turned into Joy He told his Disciples that they should have Sorrow but I will see you again and your Heart shall reioyce and the sight of Christ risen from the Dead should be as joyful to them as the Birth of a Son to a Woman after Travel and your Joy no man taketh from you John 16.21 22. He is the Author and Fountain of a Christian's Joy he is the matter and object of our Joy his Birth was a time of Joy in Heaven and Earth his first Preaching was with Joy Luke 4.18 out of Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me he hath anoynted me to preach the Gospel to the poor glad Tidings to the poor to the broken-hearted to the captive to the blind to the bruised and the acceptable year of the Lord the year of Jubilee or Release The foresight of his Resurrection was joyful to him going to his Death and to see him risen from the Dead made his Disciples glad John 20.20 He hath provided for them plentifully that their Joy might be full John 15.11 And all that believe have the matter and cause tho not always the sense joy and peace in believing Rom. 15.13 1 Pet. 1.8 And he is still a flowing Spring of Joy Rejoyce in the Lord Phil. 3.1 Verse 3. Rejoyce in the Lord and again I say rejoyce Phil. 4.4 Rejoyce ever more 1 Thess 5.12 4. He that hath the Son hath Life hath everlasting Life that endless Life of perfect Happiness in Heaven It is an everlasting Life pure Life next for excellency to the Life of God himself who liveth for ever and ever A Life of likeness to God We shall be like him 1 John 3.2 We shall be satisfied with his likeness Psal 17. ver ult A Life of the nearest Union with our glorified Head and therefore a Life of Gladness and fitting Communion and therefore most blessed This Life is the Gift of God Rom. 6.23 trusted in the hands of the only begotten Son the Son of God's Love to be kept for and to be given to all that sincerely believe and love him It is in a faithful powerful hand and he hath promised to give it over and over The Heavens and Earth shall pass away but his Promise shall be like the Waters of Noah as they shall never drown the World again so this Life shall certainly come Look for it it is better tho yet to come than that Life which you now live This Life is in his 1 John 5.11 O how rare and transcendent a Life is this And what a way is this of giving it of laying it up for us and deriving it unto us IV. And so I come to the Fourth Particular Why or how it comes to pass that he that hath the Son hath Life This follows necessarily upon the former Words last repeated And this is the Record that God hath given to us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath Life These Words have the Force of an Inference or Conclusion from the other This Life is 1. Given to us who are called of God who believe who turn to him love and obey him The Donor is God the Father who is the Fountain of Life It is the Fathers Gift of Free-grace and Love 2. He appointed his Son O raise up your Thoughts into an holy admiration of this effect of infinite Wisdom and Grace for the Salvation of undone Sinners to be Mediator to do what was for the Glory of God and then to be the Trustee and Conservator of this Life the greatest Trust that could be put into his Hands wherein the Glory of God is more concerned than in all his Works and all that is most precious the Treasure of eternal Life the All of the Chosen Ones of God Our happiness was once put into the hands of Adam he fail'd and broke and we were all ruin'd in him But now it is put into the keeping of Jesus Christ our Lord the Son of God and there it is safe 3. The Son of God undertook the Charge and Trust His Father shall not lose the Glory intended nor his chosen and called ones the Blessing and Benefit of this Grant intended by his Father for them 4. It was concluded and decreed in the Eternal Counsel of the Father the Word and Spirit those in Heaven which declare and testifie these things that all and every one that is to have this Life eternal must have the Son For this is the Decree or Order consented to and declared to us He that hath the Son hath Life The Son as Mediator received Life for all that have him they therefore who have him have Life But if you desire to be yet informed How we come to have Life then know 1. We have the Son by a Spiritual Union with him as a Bride hath a Bridegroom a Similitude often attended to Or as a Wife hath an Husband As all the Blessings and Benefits of a Matrimonial State do by agreement follow upon the Marriage-Union with the Person so by the Covenant of Grace that vast Blessing of Eternal Life which comprehends all in it doth become the Inheritance and Estate of every one that by Faith joyns himself to the Lord the Son of the most High God Union is the appointed means of Communication of Life 2. Vnitio communis est Patri Fil. Sp. Sacto unio propria est Filio Camer de Ecclesia p. 223. This Union is the wonderful Work of the holy Trinity observing the order of Operation every person is the cause of it All that come to Christ are taught of God they have
of Unions c. The Apostle doth mix both these Unions of Husband and Wife Head and Members Ephes 5.28 29 30. The Elaborate and Judicious Mr. Charnock's Disc Weak Grace victorious p. 1339. as between Head and Members and the closest political Union as between Husband and Wife Not that our Union with Christ is wrought after a natural manner but is like unto it in respect of the closeness and effect of it the Bonds of our Union with Christ is of all the streightest and indissoluble Death will separate and untie all our Joynts and Bands of Nature and Marriage-ties but he who hath the Son hath Life and that eternal and Death is so far from keeping us from it that it is made an open Door and Passage into it The Bands of our Spiritual Union with Christ are such as convey unto us Life and Nourishment from him and without such an Union as this by vertue of which we receive Spiritual Life and Power to obey his Commandments and live under his Government he might in vain call for Service and Obedience which is due to him whether we can pay it or not or we ever expect the Reward of our Obedience Christ is an Head for Government but if our Union with him were only as to a King Political Head and Governor we should be related to him only in respect of his Kingly Office and that only as to the outward administration of that his Kingly Office and Policy But the Nature of our Union with him is best understood by the effect of it If we have Life by having him we so have him as to have Life in him and with him and by him and without the Spirit of Life and Faith we can never obey him as he requires Christ infinitely excels all those things to which he is compared and our Union with him by the Spirit and Faith hath those things singular in it which cannot be comprehended in any one of those Unions to which it is compared it excels the natural Union of Head and Members A. B. Vsher's Sermon before quoted p. 19. c. Immuel added to his Sum. p 438. Sum. and Subst p. 154. Lyford 118. Mr. T. Hooker Serm. Soul's Exaltation p. 25. c. Cameron Praelect de Ecclesia for it is spiritual and everlasting it excels the political Union between a King and his Subjects by Compacts and Laws for Subjects pay Obedience and Tribute of their own but we are made a willing People by the Power of Grace and having nothing of our own we have all in having Christ The Political Union by Marriage doth more fully express it but not fully Hold to this then that to have Christ is so to have him as to have Life given us and maintained by our Union with him The Wife hath the Benefit of Counsel Direction Haec Vnionis exempla adumbrant tantum non satis exprimunt Vnionem nostri cum Christo c. Cameron Praelec de Ecclesia 225. p. Government Protection Maintenance from her Husband but not Life and she doth not live because her Husband lives But a Believer hath Life as well as Counsel Protection and Maintenance from Christ and he is our Life the Cause of our Life It is hid or laid up for us in him Col. 3.3 4. And because I live said Christ ye shall live also John 14.19 There is a distinction between Christ and his Members they are not what he is nor he what they are notwithstanding this Spiritual Union but he is said rather to live in Believers than they to live Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the Life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who gave himself for me So much of the first Doctrin attend to the Application of it I must be short upon many Heads or else too long for a short Discourse I. Use of Information in many Particulars 1. Hence you may learn the true way and method of having eternal Life Observe the Words He that hath the Son hath Life The Son first and then Life and all those Benefits and Blessings which are comprehended in that sweet and precious Word Life We cannot have any Promises nor Priviledges without Christ nor before we have him by Faith For as none can be made Partakers of the Vertue of the Bread and Wine to his bodily sustenance unless he do first receive the substance of those Creatures so neither can any participate in the benefits arising from Christ to his spiritual relief except he first have Communion with Christ himself We must have the Son before we have Life Most Reverend Usher 's Serm. before H. of C. p. 17. His 18 Sermons p. 421. not the pardon of Sin nor Peace nor Hope nor any access to God but by having Christ and him first in order though at the same instant and time of having Christ we have some Benefits for the present and a Right and Title to all the rest in due time Whoever shall eat of the Marriage-Feast must have a Wedding-garment and be married to the Son by Faith first In vain do all those hope for great things that care not for the Knowledg of Christ or having of him The having of the Son makes Faith effectual lively and working because it hath Life and Faith without Life from Christ can never be but a dead Faith And this is also the trial of our sincere Love to Christ when we receive him and close with him as he is proposed to us as altogether lovely Then do we like those who marry for Love to the Person and not for Wealth as too many do See the clearly judicious and holy Dr. Preston's Treatise of Faith p. 11 And of Effectual Faith p. 12 13. And Mr. Baxter's Dir. and Perswas to a sound Conversion p. 286. who care not for the Person so they have the Wealth Hypocrites would have Mercy to pardon them yea Heaven that Kingdom who care not for having Christ as a Saviour to save them from their Sins These can forsake him deny him be Traitors to him in a time of Danger and Temptation 2. Hence learn That if every one that hath the Son hath Life then our Faith and our Love are set upon the most holy and glorious Person of the Son of God but then as invested in the Office of Mediator for as such he hath received Life from his Father for us Doth the Word Son here in this Text denote and signifie the Person of our Redeemer Was it the Person of our Saviour that was given us when it was said To us a Child is born to us a Son is given Isa 9.6 If it was the Person that was born and given to us then it is the Person that they have who have Life as able to give them Life It is a spiritual and real Union whereby Christ and a
Dispenser Excellent Charn made known and offered to us then we have him God shines in our hearts 2 Cor. 4.6 The God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory giveth the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him Ephes 1.17 Every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me John 6.45 This is the way by which we come to the Son and have him 2. But the meaning of the Question may be What must I do What means may I use Or what manner of Man must I be that I may have the Son And then I answer in this general Sentence or Rule Then a man may have the Son when he is made heartily glad to have him on any Terms that is according to the Son 's own Proposals Here mark We do not mean by the Word Terms Condition Propositions any Bargain or Exchange Price or Commodity of our own We receive all from Christ being nothing to him in consideration whereof we have Christ We find in him all fulness riches and honours But what have we of our own but Baseness Poverty and Misery This Misery contracted by sin is the Dowry Cameron as above-cited in Myrothecio The Son as the Son of God gets nothing by us nor doth our Union which he affecteth bring any gain or happiness to him but by much loss and many Sufferings he obtained it But respectu nostri omnia candida we receive from him nothing but good and magnificent and only such things Hoornb ubi supra p. 797. which we bring to our Husband Christ I say again then are you prepared to have Christ when you would gladly have him with all your Soul with all that he requireth of you He hath set down the Terms your Hearts consent you subscribe to them all as the VVritings are drawn by the Spirit in the Gospel you desire no new Articles nor abatement of any but stand to his Mercy and Grace And well you may for he is VVisdom and Love Goodness Mercy and Compassion and will enable you to do and suffer all that you bind your self unto Q. But when is the Sinner made glad to have him A. Then when he seeth there is but one way for him if he have him not that is when he is under actual strong Apprehensions and Convictions that he must perish and die for ever a Death of Privation of the enjoyment of God in Heaven yea and in Earth also when he is humbled and poor in his own Sense when he feels himself sinking into the bottomless Pit under the Burden of his Sin and Guilt 2. VVhen he finds all Creatures Helps and Confidences in the Flesh fail him Phil. 3.4 When he looks upon his right hand and upon his left hand and there is no Helper nor Intercessor that can save him when he believes for certain there is Salvation in any other Acts 4.12 Oh how formidable and terrible doth Hell look with its Flames and utter Darkness How wonderful doth Salvation appear to such a Soul 3. When he cannot think of being damned without Horror and not of being saved without Wonder and Astonishment And then when he hears of the Grace of God in Christ and of the graciousness of Jesus Christ his Fulness his Fitness his Compassions his Kindness his willingness to save every one that comes unto him O how glad is the miserable humbled Soul to hear of his Offers his Invitations to come to him and his Promises to them that come and have him Those Jews who were pricked in their Hearts gladly or willingly received the Word of Advice and Grace in their extremity and soreness of heart And they who gladly received the Word of Salvation were baptized They by Baptism a sign of their having him put on Christ and had him They who are sick will gladly have the Physician and the Soul that is poor desolate lost a Syrian ready to perish will most gladly have Christ for a Covering of their Eyes for their Head and Husband when they hear the Record and Testimonies those high Characters and Reports that are given of him Mark a condemned Prisoner When we behold our selves in our Blood O how comfortable is that word of Grace and Mercy Live that fears the Execution and lies under the terror of Death will most gladly receive his Life at the hands of his Gracious Prince and serve him as his Prince with the hazard of Life What will not a Man do for Life How much for eternal Life Q. But how may I be brought to this to be made glad and willing to have the Son for my Saviour 1. You must awake out of your Sleep and Dreams And will not the Alarum of Death and Wrath hastning towards you awake you Will not a Cry at Midnight rouze you The last Enemy and the last Trump stir you The Drowsiness of this Generation is a fearful Sign and Forerunner of a Spirit of Slumber and a dead Sleep You then that have Ears to hear hear and then we shall shew you how you may have Life Eternal 2. Hear read and ponder upon the Word of God The more you know and seriously consider of these things the better it will be I say ponder the things and the drift of them and do not lay them up as Notions and Historical Passages in a careless Head 1. Understand how the case of Mankind stood before the Fall 2. How it is with all Mankind under the ruins of that Fall how we are under Guilt Sin Satan and the Curse how great our Darkness is how we are all out of the way what our Enmity is against God and true Holiness what our Impotency is to turn to God as without Strength to help or recover our selves 3. How we must be restored by Jesus Christ alone Rom. 5.8 9 10 12. c. 4. What the Gospel declares to be our Duty Knowledge Faith Repentance Love Obedience Active and Passive Obedience and Self-denial when our Lord calls for us to forsake all and suffer for him 5. None of these things are called for as a price or Mony as the Prophet speaks Isa 55.1 2. The great main thing that is required of you is your rational deliberate free Consent Will you have me That 's the great Question say understandingly and sincerely you will and you have him who is infinitely worth your having 6. Study the invaluable worth of your precious Souls and of your great Saviour the Son of God and the Life of your Souls Know that one thing needful Luke 10.42 and the first thing to be sought Mat. 6.33 And tho the Gate be strait you will enter because it is unto Life 7. Think not much of the way of Salvation but submit to be led into every step of it It is the Invention of infinite Wisdom out of Grace and Mercy 8. No Man is excluded from Eternal Life but he that will not believe and have the Son John 6.37.9 Understand
you were sure of it 4. As you have him for life so make use of him for life not for Notions for Talk for Shews for worldly Advantages Interest in Parties and Hypocritical Ends but for Life to live to God and to live with God for ever Consider I beseech you what encouragements you have to have Life that great thing that one thing needful Life Life Life Eternal For 1. As Great as Glorious as Holy as the Son is yet you who are poor and humble may have him you that are so poor that you know not how to live except he will relieve you and keep you alive may have him I counsel thee to buy of me that is to have of me at the lowest rate yea nothing of worth Gold tried in the Fire that thou mayest be rich c. Rev. 3.18 2. And this you will believe if you believe as you may and ought what his gracious and merciful Design and End was in becoming our Mediator and Redeemer and what the Fathers gracious End and Purpose was in giving and sending him John 3.16 God so loved the World with a love of Benevolence and Compassion that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting Life 1 John 4.9 In this was manifested the love of God towards us because he sent his only begotten Son into the World that we might live through him 3. If you consider his nearness to us in Nature and Blood tho he be the Son of God God over all blessed for evermore yet he is the Son in our Nature and he loveth our Nature tho he hate our Sin and the hatefulness of our Sins and Corruption doth not hinder his Love nor his Compassions Heb. 2.14 15 16 17. 4. If you consider the nearness of his Relation Mediator and Redeemer include and comprehend all Relations and those Relations are for Union and that Union is for Life and Communion He is as near as a Brother Heb. 2.11 For which cause he is not asham'd to call them Brethren c. yea as a Father Vers 13. And again Behold I and the Children which God hath given me Yea he is a Beloved and a Husband a Bridegroom always in the Fervors of his wonderful pure Love Christ so loved his Church as to give himself for it Ephes 5.25.32 2 Cor. 11.2 O! then take encouragement and come directly to him O have him before you go to Bed this Night And now let me direct my Speech to you who are the occasion of this Assembly in this place I have opened the Case plainly to you that you may know where to find Life and Salvation before you die I am under some Discouragement and Temptation because you have lived so long without Christ and know so little of him and have no time to live to express your Thankfulness by holy walking for that unspeakable Gift Christ and Life by him But as late as it is I know what God can do and what you must have before the End or Noon of another Day or you must die in your Sins in those for which you are condemned to die and more than the Hairs of your Head beside even your Thoughts Words Deeds your Omissions and Commissions besides those you know how earnestly you beg'd for life and that for God's sake for Chists sake and that but for an uncertain short beggarly kind of Life with Shame and many other Evils How welcom would the hopes of Life be if I had any to give you Would you not receive the King's Pardon if I brought it to you Would you not have it and never ask one hour to deliberate or demur upon it O that you would have what I have to offer to you upon this one condition of having it and that if you had a longer Life to shew it you would manifest that you have it I come to you in the Name of God and his Son Jesus the Prince of Life and make you a free Offer of everlasting life the life of Justification and Pardon a discharge from Condemnation O! the Patience of God that hath let you live so long O! the Mercy of God that hath let you live to this hour to hear of life of this life and that upon this condition of having his Son Jesus Christ Had you now had him you had never have come to that place in that Condition VVill you have him before you die that you may not die ternally There is but this one way left you need not make Friends and Interests nor make Sums of Mony for this Pardon and Life Have the Son and have life this hour and life for ever O what an Act of Grace is Justification and the pardon of Sin Rom. 3.24 Being justified freely by his Grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ That which cost Christ his Blood is free to all that are justified Here a free Offer upon acceptance and methinks one of you should acknowledge the difference between this free Offer which will be made good Three were imprisoned for Murder and 200 l. was promised to one to procure a Pardon 100 l. was paid and the other was to be paid whenever the Pardon should come The two Men were executed this Woman's Husband and his Brother-in-law who both agreed that the whole Sum should be paid if her Pardon could be obtained if you have Christ and that costly Pardon which was mightily laboured for and could not be obtained Have you not told us that to use your own words Tenscore Pound was promised to obtain your Pardon and two died without it and you alone was to have the benefit of it and missed of it Now here is Life offered again and that Life indeed more worth than the World yea than a World of Worlds O do not refuse but have it And what I say to you I say to all present before God for you must all die tho not as these Persons are condemned to die and die eternally if you have not Christ but if you have him your Souls shall live for ever and though after your Skin Worms destroy these Bodies yet in your Flesh shall you see God O have the Son and you shall have Life but if not you shall not have Life And so I come to the Second Doctrin or Proposition He that hath not the Son of God hath not Life These Words carry in them a clear and full Determination of the final Case of all And every man that hath not the Son of God As the Word declares so it shall be with every one that hath not the Son Unbelief makes Sinners unfit for and uncapable of everlasting Life The words are clear and decisive there is no darkness nor ambiguity in them Men may think they have many things which make them presume and hope that they shall not die but live But had they all that ever Pretenders had and have not Christ this is a ruled
some fashion or way or other O! shall the short and uncertain life that fadeth away be more the Care and Concern of all Men than the life of Jesus That incomprehensible Gift of God which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord unto all them but to none but them who have his Son Labour not for the meat that perisheth but for the meat which indureth unto eternal Life which the Son of Man shall give you John 6.27 Yea count it better to enter into life halt or maimed or blind to avoid Sin the cause of Death than having two Hands two Feet two Eyes to be cast into Hell-fire Mat. 18.8 9. yea if it comes not only to the loss of Limbs but of Life it self spare not any thing to secure the Son and Life to thy Soul The having of him is safe without assurance but the assurance of it is comfortable for then the greatest danger is over and the everlasting Treasure and Inheritance secured and known to be so by the Testimony of the Spirit both from the Word and Conscience also 2 Vse Of Exhortation and Persuasion to believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God so as to have him altogether Person and Offices for all Uses Necessities Benefits and Purposes with all your Soul Mind and Strength What can be said more to persuade you than what is contained in these two short Sentences in the Text Be not content with any thing below the real and saving having of the Son of God Deceive not your own precious Souls try what you have whether what you have and put confidence in doth cause a spiritual Life of Holiness and true Joy and Peace in believing and be in you the hope of Glory all which they have who have Jesus Christ indeed That you may not be deceived in so great a matter I will shew you what some have had and you may have and yet come short of having the Son to Salvation and what they have who have him 1. You may read that the Jews thought they had enough when they could say they had Abraham to their Father John 8.38 But if God had been their Father they would have loved his Son v. 42. And by their Relation to Abraham they had the sign of Circumcision and other outward Privileges which many did build much upon But the Apostle did often overthrow their deceitful Building often telling them that Circumcision availed nothing no more than Uncircumcision but Christ was all in all Col. 3.11 But Faith working by Love Gal. 5.6 And a new Creature Gal. 6.15 2. They may not oly build upon their relation to Abraham and have nothing in themselves but they had a Form of Knowledge and Truth of the Law and think they can be Teachers of others Rom. 2.20 21. c. 3. And not only a Form of Knowledge a Religion in the Head but also a Form of Godliness in their Lives in opposition to the power of it 2 Tim. 3.5 which is rooted in the Heart and from the Heart springs forth and grows out in the Life dying to Sin and the World and living unto God 4. They may think they have and seem to have but they are mistaken in their thinking and but seem to have Luke 8.18 They may seem to have a Root of Faith when the Seed of the Gospel comes up in a green Blade but it withereth and is choaked by the heat of Sufferings and worldly Affections And they may say they have Faith James 2.14 These may have knowledg of Christ and his Word and be so far convinced of his being the Son of God as to be able to answer Questions concerning Christ and make an acknowledgment of him As the Devils confessed Christ Thou art Christ the Son of God Luke 4.41 And he suffered them not to speak for they knew that he was Christ Which was almost as much as Peter's Confession Mat. 16.16 and more than the ordinary Jews and Pharisees could say The one was the sincere Confession of a Friend the other of an Enemy There is an Assent to this Truth as to a Proposition or a true Doctrin and an Assent that is lively practical and cordial in order to have Christ the Son of God as a Person to be trusted to and relied upon for Life This is the Assent of a true Faith 5. Men have some Desires after Christ for the good they may get as the Scribe expressed Master I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest And Jesus saith unto him The Foxes have Holes and the Birds of the Air have Nests but the Son of Man hath no where to lay his Head Mat. 8.19 20. This was a trial of his sincere Faith if he would be as poor and destitute as the Master was If you had all things that can be named and have not Christ you have not Life Take heed therefore where you pitch and settle what you count your Treasure and upon what you build your Confidences Give me leave to hold you a little longer and to shew upon what Sand careless Builders who look not to the things that are eternal do lay their hopes of Life Suppose you had all things that are common to the sincere Believer and to the Pretender all will not amount to the Happiness of Life You say you are born of Christian Parents and not only of professing Christians but holy Parents So had the Jews as was noted but now Abraham the Father of the Faithful to their Father but not his Faith in Christ Say you have the best Church in the World for your Mother to what purpose except you are a living new-born Child of God Know you not that the Children of the Kingdom such as they were should be cast out Mat. 8.12 You have Baptism Had not Simon Magus that Token upon him Acts 8.13 You have the Ministry of the best Scholars and bless'd Men Had not they who had not Life this to say to Christ himself Thou hast taught in our Streets Luke 13.25 Yea but you have a Society of Saints you have Fellowship with Virgins and wise Virgins and had not and have not foolish Virgins the same Mat. 25. Shew what you have with your Lamps and what Oyl your Lamps are furnished with Have you Faith So had Simon Magus Acts 8.12 so have Devils Have you Christ indeed Have you Love unfeigned burning fruitful Love You have perhaps a Name to live a Name of Renown and Eminency so had they who were dead Rev. 3.1 All these things will make rather against you than for you if by all outward means you have not the Son himself 2. But some may say How shall I be certain that I have Christ the Son truly and indeed Let me ask you a Question or two and answer them to your self 1. How came you to seek after him and to have him Have you understood and felt your own Case and do you still know and feel when you look into your self a dead miserable
Son seeing that is no less than to put off the having of Life Who would run his Life upon such an Hazard seeing their are so many Enemies that seek our Damnation and work it by gaining the time of our delaying Can any Business or Pleasures in the World be thought of that Consequence as for them to venture the loss of eternal Life Many Men given much to the Pleasures and Vanities of Life have cast them off and fallen to the study of the Law or to follow their Business when but some Branch of their Estates have been in Question much more when the whole was in Danger Oh! how diligent and wise for the World and careless for a World to come are Men Put on Consideration and know for certain that the greatest matters of care and diligence meet in this one Life for this Life comprehends in it the whole of a Man's Estate He who hath not Life hath lost all in one and both these inestimable things and both these inestimable things an everlasting Kingdom an Heavenly Treasure a Crown of Life and Glory and that Life in the possession whereof the blessed Saints shall rejoyce for ever and in the privation of which the miserable and damned shall weep and lament for ever And this Punishment of Privation of Life will be the more intolerable when it shall come upon the Unbeliever for this Cause of his not having the Son For not having the Son who is the Son of God's love infinitely amiable and dear to all that love their own Nature for he is the Son in our Nature and now in our Nature glorified All Men think themselves honoured in the Honour of their Blood and Kindred and esteem the Person that is advanced But such is the Nature of Unbelief that it moves to no Estimation or Love to our Lord in Glory who hath promised Glory to all that believe and follow him and can see no excellency in him who is highly exalted and hath a Name that is above every Name The not having of the Son is upon Refusal and Contempt in Deeds if not in Words And because this Privation of Life is for Unbelief and Refusal the loss will be the greater for the Punishment of Unbelief must needs be great because Unbelief is a great sin and we need not go further than this Text to prove it Unbelief and not having is the undervaluing neglecting and refusing the only two things that cannot be valued the Son of God and everlasting Life O that I could say something that may enter and stick to the Heart Hath God been pleased to make manifest the Mystery of Redemption by Jesus Christ which hath been hid from Ages Col. 1.26 and now will ye not look into it but reject the Counsel of God as the Lawyers did against themselves Luke 7.30 Hath God so loved the World that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish and now he is sent to you who have as much need of him as any in the World will you not have him Is there Salvation in no other and will you not have him Do you no more value the Grace and Love of God in his Son Christ Nor the love of Christ in humbling himself unto Death even the Death of the Cross for you And now he is at the Right Hand of God in possession of his Kingdom and is able to save all that come to God by him and will you not have him and Life by him Oh then you must perish Then you must have no part in the Tokens of God's everlasting Love no Saving Benefit of all the Cost our Lord hath been at to redeem you no Joy or Consolation by the Spirit no Communion with Saints in Glory nor Light Rest Peace in your own Souls for ever No pardon of Sin or Peace and Comfort by it nor any other Blessing of Grace Obj. But some may say If I have not Life then I shall die A. So you shall But you hope you shall be extinct and be no more but that shall not be eternal Death will not be like the blowing out of a Candle which shall never be lighted again No if you are Unbelievers and Atheists of that sort the everlasting Pain and Torment shall convince you of your wicked Error and of the loss of not having Life And this should be a 2. A Second effectual Motive to have Christ and Life for else you shall not have Life but enough of Death the first moment Oh! how bitter and dreadful will it be to Eternity All they that hate me love Death Prov. 8. vers ult They love the way and the sins which deserve it This shall be the Punishment of all Unbelievers Oh! who would make light of Christ and Life that shall be condemned if they have him not to Death Eternal Death A word containing innumerable and endless Evils The loss of God and Heaven will be a Death The sight of Hell and Devils with Millions of Workers of Iniquity under Condemnation will be Death Death not an End of the Sinner but of his Happiness If the Flames shall never be quenched as they shall not as Christ hath declared whose word is true Mat. 25.41 And this everlasting Fire is called everlasting Punishment vers 46. If the Punishment shall be everlasting it will follow that they who are punished must live in it and endure it for ever And Men may as well say that the blessed of the Father shall not go into everlasting Life as that the wicked shall not go into everlasting Punishment As long as the Punishment shall endure they shall endure that have deserved it and shall be condemned to it Oh! what a cursed Death will this be Oh! how miserable will an immortal Body be with an immortal Soul All the Miseries of the Damned are set forth by the Name of Death Every drop of the Rivers of Brimstone every Spark of the unquenchable Fire every Tear that the Damned shall drop every Gnash of their Teeth every Bite of the Worm will be a Death O Death How full of Stings This Death will be a Death of Separation from God and Good When Christ shall bid the wicked depart from him then all presumptuous Thoughts all fond Imaginations all vain Hopes all carnal Confidences and all that ever they deceived themselves withal shall depart from them and under this Death they shall weep and roar for ever Now if the Life everlasting with God in Heaven were no better than a Prisoners Life upon Earth or of a Persecuted Protestant kept from Sleep and tortured by Dragoons the Devils black Regiments and bare-fac'd Wolves the Consideration of this fearful Death should make all Men that have any Consideration desire and prefer the Son's Grace before the whole World But when the Life that is entail'd upon Believers is a Son's Life in the Kingdom of God an Heirs of Life what desperate Folly and Madness is it for any