That every faithfull one is one of Christs friends 2. That every friend of Christ is a friend of those also that are Christs 3. That Christs friends dye as well as others 4. That death to such especially is but as a sâ—â—epe 5. That this their friendship never faileth it surceasâ—th not in death but surviveth their decease And of these in order as God shall enable and the streights of time permit First then * Every faithfull soule is a friend of Christ Every true Christian is one of Christs Favourites It is the usuall style of Abraham d the Father of the faithfull Gods friend e To Abraham thy friend saith Iehoshaphat to God And f ye seed of Abraham my friend saith God to his people And g Abraham saith S. Iames believed God and he was called Gods friend So here of Lazarus a Sonne of Abraham Christs friend Our friend Lazarus saith our Saviour And to his Disciples elsewhere in generall h I tell you my friends And i ye are my friends k No more servants but friends This will more cleerely appeare unto us if we shall consider what the common nature of friendship or amity is Friendship is defined l A mutuall love manifested or more largely A mutuall love and affection betweene party and party manifested by some means from either to other And such is there betweene Christ and the faithfull 1. There is m a mutuall love and affection required unto friendship And such there is betweene Christ and the faithfull For n Christ loveth them and they love him He loveth them o Christ loved his Church saith the Apostle S. Paul And p to him that loved us saith S. Iohn and they love him q My Father saith he loveth you because you love me and r we love him saith S. Iohn because he hath loved us And againe s I love them saith he that love me and t if any man love me the Father will love him and I will love him too So that u there is no love lost betweene Christ and his x He loveth them first and they love him because he loveth them and againe he loveth them the rather because they love him Sweetly therefore Bernard y Let no man whose heart can truly testifie for him that he loveth Christ make any doubt but that Christ loveth him For how can he choose but love thee when thou lovest him z who loved thee then when thou loved'st not him 2. Unto friendship is required that this mutuall love and affection betweene party and party be manifested from either to other And so is it also betweene Christ and the faithfull the love and affection they beare either to other is by them mutually made manifest from either to other a I know mine saith our Saviour and am knowne of mineâ— I know them and they know me I know their love to me b Lord saith Saint Peter to our Saviour thou knowest that I love thee And c they know my love to them d He loved me saith the Apostle and we know saith Saint Iohn the love that God beareth to us And e that with all the Saints ye may know the love of Christ saith S. Paul againe Yea he hath manifested his f matchlesse love to them by what he hath done and endured for them by giving himselfe for them g He loved me saith the Apostle and gave himselfe â—or me And h Christ loved his Church and gave himselfe for it and making a bath of his own heart-blood to bath their soules in for the curing and healing of them i He loved us saith S. Iohn and washed us from our sinnes in his blood Besides that hee hath given them his Spirit for this very end to k seale up his love to them and l to make them know what out of his love to them hee both hath done and will further do for them And they manifest and testifie their though farre meaner love to him by their diligent observance of him and dutifull obedience to him by m keeping his Commandements and n doing whatsoever he enjoyneth them Againe there is a solemne league of amity betweene Christ and the faithfull Just such as that betweene Ionathan and David For as they o to confirme that league of amity mutually betweene them changed apparell one with other Ionathan took Davids raiment and put it on him selfe he took his own garments and put them upon David So our blessed Saviour Christ hath changed apparell with us a p sorry change indeed to him selfe though advantagious to us hath taken and put on himselfe our garments not q our nature alone but even the sorry rags of it r our infirmities by participation and s our iniquities also by imputation and he hath taken his owne raiment and put it upon us t the rich roabe of his merits and the royall roabes of his holinesse and righteousnesse u by imputation unto justification the one and x by participation for our sanctification the other In a word y he hath bestowed himselfe upon them and z they have given up themselves unto him So that a he is not more his own now then he is theirs b nor are they now more their own then they are his And what neerer or more intimate amity can there be then this Now the Vse hereof may first be for information to informe us of the most high and honourable estate and condition of every faithfull soule of every true Christian he is a friend of God he is a favoâ—rite of Christ It is noted as a speciall yea a singular honour in Zabud the Sonne of Nathan the Prophet that he was the Kings to wit King Solomons friend But behold d a greater then Solomon here and a greater honour therefore then King Solomons favour was able to afford Every true hearted Christian be he never so meane be he never so contemptible in the eyes of the world for e this dignity of theirs worldly men cannot see the world is not aware of is f not a servant only and yet were that honour enough it is that the Apostle prefixeth before divers of his Epistles as a matter of no small credit to him g Paul a servant of Iesus Christ but a friend and favourite of him who is King of Kings and l Lord of Heaven and Earth then which what estate can be more high or more honourable A second Vse may be for exhortation to incite every one of us to labour to be of the number of those whom this dignity belongeth unto k Many yea l every one saith Solomon seeketh the face * that is the favour of the Prince of the Ruler And indeed what will not men
his care to finde out wherein he might faile and to amend what he â—ound amisse But may some say you told us ere while among other things that those that are Christs friends must shew their love to Christ in loving those that he loves in being friendly and doing good unto those that are his Why this was one of the principall flowers in that Garland of graces wherewith it pleased God to crowne and adorne this our Brother In other things he excelled others a in this even himselfe What faithfull minister of Christ did he not entirely b love and affect What faithfull member of Christ though never so meane did he not c honour and respect Neither was this his love and respect d verball or e complementall but active and reall ready largely and liberally to manifest it selfe at all occasions upon the least intimation and signification made to him as my selfe at diverse times have had experience and that even there * where no motion at all hath beene made to him for them but he had come occaâ—ionally to understand of their wants and necessities At his first effectuall call among other things he then resolved upon this was one to set apart every yeare a tenth of his gaine for the reliefe of the poore and that besides his tithe to God And will you know the reasons that induced him thereunto you shall have them out of his own memorials and most in his own words First to shew his love and his thankefulnesse unto God as f for raising him from a meane condition having lesse then fifty pounds to begin withall at first to that wealth that then he had so more especially for g his spirituall goodnesse to him in electing him redeeming him reclaiming him h remitting his sinnes and receiving him to grace and favour in Christ Secondly because he conceived that this distribution of almes would be an excellent meanes of keeping him from being proud and high-minded i a vice that usually followeth wealth for when in the exercise of this gift he should behold so many lamentable creatures some blinde some lame some sore some diseased some hunger-starved having death in their faces either through famine or other wayes it would minister him occasion of these and the like thoughts k Why am not I as this lamentable creature Or why is not this lamentable creature as I am l What makes the difference betweene me and him but the mercy of God only more in this kinde to me then to him Thirdly it would m occasion many to blesse God and to pierce the Heavens with their prayers and indeed in giving to any his word was usually n Praise God or when he sent to others as to my selfe sometime any summe to be distributed among poore people his manner was to adde in his lines accompanying it will them to praise God for it Fourthly he conceived he should be no small gainer by such gift And shall I tell you from himselfe what the gaine he meant was He considered he saith what o comfort would accrue to such poore ones by his gift and what a joy must it needs then be unto him yea and no small p honour it is indeed if it be rightly conceived to be an instrument of such comfort to any member of Christ I might well adde and to q Christ in them This therefore r he constantly set apart and out of this treasury it was that upon the forenamed occasions he so liberally dispensed That which being cast up amounteth to many hundreds a greater summe then for some considerations I think meet to expresse and yet what beside he freely bestowed upon his kindred and allies is deemed to amount to as great yea a greater summe then it Nor do I reckon what over above all this also went out of his poores purse which he never carried out empty that he might s ever be doing good that which he much desired and most t delighted in blessing and praising God in his remembrances that had u given him ability and opportunity so to do it being one branch also of his daily prayer that as God increased him in wealth so he would be pleased withall to encrease in him wisdome humility and thankefulnesse together with a constant and comfortable perseverance in that lovely grace of charity Yea but what got he or gained he may some of you say by this his beneficence or what was the fruit and effect of it I answer He esteemed it a gaine enough to do any good and b Gods acceptance of this his service to be recompence sufficient But yet it pleased God abundantly to recompence this his beneficence unto him both with outward and inward blessings True it is indeed that for some space of time some three or foure yeares after that his resolution of setting a tenth apart for such purposes he thrived not he found no increase nor came forward in the world as formerly he had done Yet was he not thereby discouraged nor did he forbeare to be bountifull as opportunity was offered and the necessity of poore people required it but he gave still with cheerefulnesse and comfort out of love unto God I give you his own words freely leaving prosperity in temporall things to God his fathers good pleasure and conceiving so he saith that God in wisdome and goodnesse prospered him not thereby to try his sincerity to him and his charity to othersâ— yea and that c he himselfe might thereby have experience of his love unto God his faith patience and constancy nor would he forgoe those evidences hereof that thereby he gained for ten thousand times ten thousand times more then they cost him So that albeit he prospered not in his wordly estate yet even then also he thrived much in his spirituall estate and in the fruits and comforts of it But from that time forward God abundantly advanced his estate You heare him againe speaking to you in his own language so that he found experimentally those gracious promises of God true and he citeth the places of his blessing of him that disperseth and dispenseth to the poore of the repayment of that with interest that is so lent to the Lord of the finding againe after many dayes with increase the bread or a bread-corne that is cast upon the face of the waters or b on the land neare thereunto though it seeme cast away for the present But that which is above all and beyond all it pleased God withall to afford him such evidences and assurances of his favour love towards him as whoâ—oever would buy from him by offer of the whole world and all the soveraignty thereof he professeth he would refuse a thousand such worlds in exchange for them By meanes whereof as he led c an heavenly course of
some that so walk and of professed Christians he speaketh that they are enemies to Christs Crosse and to Christ himselfe consequently If thou beest a Lazarus one that makest t God not the World thine aide and thy stay If thou beest an Abraham or u a childe at least of Abraham one that x walkest in the steps of the faith of Abraham y who is the father of all the faithfull But these things you will say are too generall We will descend therefore to some particular notes in our ensuing discourse And so passe we to the sixth and last Vse of this Point which shall be for Admonition to admonish us of the duties required of all those that professe or pretend to be in friendship and amity with Christ x He that hath a friend saith Solomon must carry himselfe friendly If thou wilt therefore have a friend of Christ thou must be Christs friend for friend and friend are Correlatives thou must carry thy selfe as a friend unto Christ How is that you will say First thou must be faithfull and loyall to Christ For y faithfulnesse is especially required of friends and regarded in friendship z Be thou faithfull saith he unto death Nor speaketh he of the faith that we * repose and put in him but of the faith that we * yeeld and performe unto him But when are we faithfull unto Christ I answer First when we keep our heart and affections loyall and true to him not suffering a this wicked world or any sinfull lust for these be the b Absoloms that filch our hearts from this our David to sway in our soules nor our affections to be so set upon any outward thing even such as we may lawfully love c father or mother husband or wife childe friend or acquaintance or ought else whatsoever that it should either d withdraw our affection from Christ or minish our love unto Christ or e that we should not be willing to relinquish it for Christ if either f it shall stand betweene Christ and us or he shall be pleased to require it from us Secondly then are we faithfull to Christ when we are affected as he is when we love what he loveth and hate what he hateth For g what is true friendship but when men will and nill the same things h Ye that love the Lord saith the Psalmist hate that that is evill Whereupon Augustine i Doest thou love the Lord thou must hate what he hateth So art thou or wouldest thou be Christs friend thou must love what he loveth and hate what he hateth And what loveth he k He loveth piety purity mercy charity humility sobriety upright dealing and the like And on the other side l he hateth prophanenesse uncleannesse unmercifulnesse uncharitablenesse haughtinesse drunkennesse intemperance falshood unjust dealing and the like If then thou m lovest affectest and labourest in the former not so much because they conduce and are consentaneous to humane society for so one may do that is no friend to Christ or Christianity as because Christ n liketh and loveth them and they make thee o like unto him and p hatest the latter not so much because they are contrary to civill society as because Christ q hateth them and they make unlike unto him r whom thou desirest to please and to approve thy selfe unto yea whom thou endeavourest s to imitate and strivest to be t like unto knowing that u likenesse breedeth further liking and love thou art then a true friend to Christ indeed But on the other side if thou canst not brook or abide but hatest the former which he loveth and lovest and delightest in the latter which he hateth and abhorreth it is certaine there is u no friendship betweene Christ and thee whatsoever thou maist professe or pretend to the contrary Secondly if thou wilt shew thy selfe a friend to Christ thou must diligently observe him Friends we see are carefull to observe either other Especially if a meaner person have some great man to friend how carefull and sedulous will he be to observe and attend upon such an one And it is expected he should so do So we finde in story that it was the manner of those among the Romans that enjoyed the favour of any great ones a to repaire to them every morning that was b the first work they did and c strived who should first do it attend upon them so soone as they came forth and tender themselves and their service unto them In like manner doest thou desire to maintaine friendship with Christ thou must diligently and constantly attend upon him in his ordinances in publick in private d repaire frequently to his house attend at his threshold e he is a blessed man that so doth f invite him oft to thine house g he is not dainty of repaire to the meanest of his h he is willing to be entertained of us and i delighteth in such invitements especially take heed how when k he knocks at the door of thine heart by the ministery of his Word or the motions of his Spirit thou either refuse or neglect to open unto him l Such an oversight the Spouse committed and she smarted for it it cost her full deere And m such unkindnesses oft make shrewd breaches betweene friends Yea take heed of intermitting and letting fall thine usuall and wonted resorts n Intermission of entercourse breedeth strangenesse betweene friends And such intermission of spirituall entercourse may though not cut off all amity yet breed no small strangenesse between Christ and thy soule Thirdly our friendship with Christ must appeare as by our diligent observance of him so by our constant obedience to him o If a man love me saith our Saviour hee will shew his love to mee by keeping my Commandements And p you are then my friends and manifest your selves so to be when you do what I enjoyne you Yea then indeed do we shew our selves to esteeme Christ our friend and carry our selves towards him as towards a friend q when his Commandements seeme not harsh and grievous unto us when r with heart and goodwill we serve the Lord Iesus either in that we do for him or for others at his request That which a man doth lumpishly and heavily for a meere stranger the same yet he doth readily and s cheerefully for a friend And that is it that maketh t Christs yoake seeme so easie and his loade so light to his that u seeme so unweldy and so unsupportable to others Lastly it must appeare as in matter of Obedience so in matter of Patience as in constant doing so in patient enduring any thing whatsoever for him even a to losse of liberty limme livelyhood and life