this respect And therefore the Apostle having spoken of his Legislative power before he comes to this judiciary Power James 4.12 There is one Law-giver saith he And what can he but give the Law yes he can execute the Law too and therefore it is added presently Who is able both to save and to destroy to save those that are acquitted by the Law and to destroy those that are condemned by the Law Sometimes he executeth his sentence partly here The works of some men go before to judgement as the Apostle Paul speaks 1 Tim. 5.24 Christ punisheth the wicked and rewards the Godly in this present world but the full retribution of them both he keepeth and reserveth to the day of his appearing when both of them shall have their full reward Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me saith our Saviour He sends not his reward before him he leaves not his reward behind him but brings it with him to dispense it when he comes And then he will discover it to all the world that he hath power over all flesh for he will then dispose eternally of all flesh either in heaven or in hell John 17.2 As thou hast given him power over all Flesh Vse 1 NOw is it so that all mankind is under the authority of Jesus Christ under his Legislative power so as to give Law to them Then first of all they are severely to be censured who submit not to the authority of Jesus Christ who do not yield obedience to the Law he gives them let him lay what commands he will upon them they are at a point for that they will not be obedient to them they break the bonds of Christ in sunder and cast away his cords from them Now the Delinquents here are twofold according to the twofold Law which the authority of Jesus Christ imposeth on his Subjects I say there is a twofold Law which the authority of Jesus Christ imposeth upon men the Law of Faith and the Law of Love We read of both these my Brethren in the Gospel and of both as his Laws And so accordingly there are two sorts of men who stoop not to the Legislative power of Jesus Christ I shall proceed with them in order The first of them are unbelievers they violate the Law of faith and so submit not to the power which God hath given him over all flesh You must know that Jesus Christ requireth all men to believe You believe in God saith he to his Disciples believe also in me John 14.1 And therefore the Apostle tels us of the Law of faith and setteth it in opposition to the Law of works the Moral Law as you may see Rom. 3.27 Now the great thing which this Law of faith requires is the receiving of the Son of God upon the terms that he is offered in the Gospel as you have been often shewed And it requires it on the greatest penalty even everlasting condemnation which is as certain to the unbelievers as if it had already past upon them He that believeth not is condemned already John 3 18. And yet alas how many are there who submit not to this Law of faith who though Christ be proposed and tendred to them in the Gospel though he be even forced and pressed upon them though Christ command them to believe yet they will not be obedient Indeed if he had no authority to impose this Law upon them they had reason to stand out but God hath given him power to do this yea he himself requires the very same thing This is his Commandment that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 3.23 so that you see my Brethren this is the Commandment of the Father and this is the Commandment of the Son both joyn in this Law and therefore they are deeply to be censured who are refractory to so great a Law as this And that it may the better work and take upon them I shall shew them first the sin and secondly the danger of their disobedience That it is a sin not to believe in Jesus Christ is evident by that which hath been said because it is the violation of a Law the Law of faith But more then so it is a very great sin It is a sin of no ordinary size no my beloved it is a sinning sin it is abundantly and out of measure sinfull It is a sin indeed to violate the Law of works which the Apostle stileth Moses Law because it was delivered by the hand of Moses But it is a greater sin to violate the Law of faith and that both with relation to the Father and the Son First for the Father it is an horrible indignity to him it is the basest undervaluing and despising of his love that can be he gives his Son out of his bosom to suffer shame and death for poor Creatures and having done it he sends his Messengers to mind men of the danger they are in without Christ and to exhibite and propose him to them as the means the only means of their salvation and as endeavouring to overcome men with his goodness he doth in love and pity beg them and beseech them to accept of it And what is the event of this why my beloved when he hath abased himself so low and stooped so much below himself as to become a suitor to them to receive his Son they carry matters so as if he stood in need of them as if he came to make a motion to them for his own advantage as if he knew not what to do if they should refuse his Son Is not this good usage that when he hath descended so in ways of mercy they should shake him off and tell him in effect that his profered wares stink and that they do not need him nor his Son neither he may go offer him to them that have a mind to him Oh what abuse of love is this Oh what an high indignity what an unsufferable provocation even to incense the Lord so far as to cause him to resolve that he will never stoop so low again that he will never prostitute his Son again to the disdain and the refusal of a company of base unthankful men that he will make them rue the time that ever they contemned this mercy to them Then for the Son my Brethren in the second place it is an high affront to him and so in that respect a great sin It cost him dear to purchase and obtain remission and salvation for a company of lost creatures indeed his dearest life his dearest blood And is it not an horrible indignity to slight and to despise so great salvation to trample under foot the son of God to scorn such rich and precious mercy yet this all unbelievers do if not in their intention yet in the issue and event Truly their sin in this respect is greater then the sin of Devils whose nature Christ hath not assumed he took not on him
in election though yet they are not given to him by real union and incorporation And if they appertain to Jesus Christ though they be never so untoward and indisposed and averse depend upon it he hath power to give Eternal life to them I say to every one of you my brethren that hath such a wife or such a husband or such a child or such a friend as Christ to Martha when he had told her that he was the resurrection and the life that he could raise up any man though he were dead and make him live Iohn 11.26 Believest thou this It may be you will say as she Alas my Brother or my Father or my Child hath been dead so many dayes so many years he hath laid buried in his grave of sin a long while so that by this time he stinketh Why yet believe that Jesus Christ can raise him up and make him live the life of grace and glory He hath received power to give eternal life to all that are bestowed upon him If they belong to that number be they as dead as it is possible for men to be and as averse from being quickned the power of Jesus Christ shall master them and overcome them and raise them up out of their graves of sin that you shall say with admiration See what Iesus Christ can do upon a poor dead Creature And therefore when you look upon such souls as those and seem to have the question put you that the Prophet had when he saw the dry bones Ezek. 37.3 Can these dead souls live do you give the same answer O Lord God thou knowst If they belong to Iesus Christ he hath power enough to raise them and he will surely do it in his own time Use 2 Is it so that Iesus Christ hath power to give eternal life to all that c. This then should teach us two things First Not to be lifted up upon the contemplation of our high condition and Secondly Not to be cast down upon the contemplation of our low condition in the world You see the men who are to have this life from Christ are not described to be of such a quality of such a station or condition but only to be given to him by the Father So that let them be what they will in all considerations and respects besides if God have given them to Christ they shall assuredly have life from him He hath received power for this End that he should give c. So that it matters not in this respect whether we be high or low rich or poor bond or free we are not any whit the nearer to the life of Christ my brethren for the one nor any whit the further from it for the other Be not lifted up upon the contemplation of your high Condition in the world Admit that you be wealthy admit that you be noble learned honourable and the like admit that you be any way advanced and raised above your brethren you have no cause at all to swell with these prerogatives or to be proud of these things Indeed they have their use and worth and therefore are not utterly to be contemned but yet we must withal consider that be their excellency what it will they are of no avail at all to bring us to the life of grace and glory In that which is the point of highest consequence matter of life and death yea of eternal life and death they will not steed us in the least degree and therefore certainly there is no cause at all why they should be so magnified and admired as they are If outward wealth and pomp or dignity did further us if outward baseness did hinder us in this business how is it that the base things of this world and things that are despised are chosen and that the poor in purse as well as spirit do receive the word of life when yet not many mighty not many noble in the world are called 1 Cor. 1.25 If outward wisdom learning policy did further or weakness or unlearnedness did hinder us in point of having life from Christ how is it that the weak and foolish things are chosen many times and that the Law of God gives understanding to the simple that the unlearned rise and take the kingdom as it were by force that is with earnestness and with affection when yet not many wise not many learned men are called Why are we so exalted upon these outward priviledges and preferments in the world What is it that you stand upon What that which will promote or further you to life Eternal Alas they are of no avail in this respect All these prerogatives with which men swell even till they burst again are such as they may carry with them into Hell Let us not be cast down upon the contemplation of our low condition in the world You that are simple poor and mean that have not any outward thing to glory in no wealth no parts no honour or preferment any way be not dejected and disheartened for as external priviledges and advancements are of no avail to further you so outward means and abasure is of no avail to hinder you from receiving life from Christ He gives it to as many as God hath given him let them be of what condition or estate they will There is no other thing required in this respect but that they be bestowed upon him by the Father And he bestows upon him poor and weak men many times yea most times And therefore be not out of heart for hadst thou all the wealth and honour in the world thou wert not any whit the nearer to this life of Christ nor art thou any whit the further from it by thy low condition That will be no impediment but that he may give thee life the life of grace in this world and the life of glory in the world to come Is it so that Jesus Christ hath no authority to give Eternal life to any but those who are bestowed upon him by his Father They are mistaken then who Use 3 hold that he came into the world to give life to all men He came as you have heard to do his Fathers will and this is his Fathers will that he should give Eternal life to as many as he hath given him and not to a man more This he hath given him authority and power to do further then this his Commission doth not reach So that it is not in the power of Jesus Christ to quicken all and save all it is apparent that he cannot do it Indeed as God he can do all things but those that are impossible Either absolutely being such as are not to be done or else impossible upon condition by reason of a contrary Decree by which he hath confined-himself But as man and Mediator he can do no more then God will have him he can save no more then God hath given him and put into his hands to save And therefore you shall
to our thoughts then this is Ah my Beloved were there nothing in the world but this alone to quicken us and egge us on to purity and a holy conversation no peace of conscience waiting on it no inward joy and comfort of the Holy Ghost no fruit of sanctity no reward of it neither in the present life nor in that which is to come whereas it hath the promises of both I say my Brethren were there nothing else to move us this of it self were sufficient to perswade viz. That Christ in all those torments those abasures those agonies and horrors which he suffered when he sanctified himself and set himself apart to be a sacrifice to God the Father aimed at this that he might sanctifie us to himself that we for whom he suffered might be holy And shall we now like base unthankful and unworthy wretches endeavour to the utmost of our power to thwart and cross him in his purpose to frustrate and make void his end Hath he laid down his life to this end that we might be pure and shall we notwithstanding be prophane Hath he shed his pretious blood to this end that we might be holy and shall we notwithstanding be unclean Is this the reckoning that we make of all those exquisite and those unutterable pangs and tortures which our Saviour suffered when not his body only but his soul was made an offering for sin that we regard not though he suffer them in vain I say to you my Brethren as the Church Lament 1.12 Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by Shall all those wounds those stripes those horrors he endured those streams of pretious blood be shed in vain Oh think upon it you that rot away in your corruptions and that by weltring in the goar of your abominable sins and though you have been frequently advised intreated besought to wash you and to make you clean yet are resolved to be filthy still For you make the Son of God as much as in you lies to suffer to die in vain you spill this pretious blood and tread it under foot And be assured of this your sin is infinitely great and your damnation will be heavy in the world to come And therefore as King David once when his three Worthies had adventured to fetch him water from the Well of Bethel with the apparent and extreamest hazard of their lives refused utterly to drink it or to taste of it Be it far from me saith he for is not this the blood of these men 2 Sam. 23.17 Even so say you when you are tempted and enticed by Satan or your lusts to any fin to be drunken or unclean or to defraud or over-reach your brother or the like Oh be it far from me to do this thing for is not this the blood of Jesus Christ He shed his blood to purifie me and to make me clean from such sins as these are Is it so that Christ c. Oh how should this astonish all prophane Vse 3 and graceless persons Me thinks the thought of this should even break their hearts amidst their greatest earthly pleasures and contentments For what do they imagine that Christ will fail of his intention or that he will attain but half his purpose That since he sanctified himself to be a sacrifice to God the Father for his people that they might be sanctified he will ever justifie and save them whom he never sanctifieth That he will fall short of that which was his scope and aim in this business Oh foolish fancie and absurd imagination Nay Jesus Christ himself hath said yea he hath sworn the contrary and if you will not take his word I hope you will believe his Oath This the is oath that he hath sworn that all they that are saved by him from the guilt and from the punishment of all their sins shall serve him too in holiness So that if any filthy and unsanctified person should be saved Jesus Christ must be forsworn which were blasphemous to imagine And thus we have at length dispatched the first part of our Saviours prayer for the Church and are arrived at the Second In the first place he prays as I have shewed you for his Apostles and Disciples then about him the members of the Church that then was who were already called and sanctified whom God had given him out of the world I pray for them saith he I pray not for the world and this part of the prayer he shuts up with the verse which we have even now ended And now my Brethren in the second place he comes to pray for those who were after to be called by their preaching or their writing who were to be the members of the Church that was to come Neither pray I for these alone but for them also that shall believe on me through their word And here we have in general these two main things to be considered 1. Christs description of the persons for whom he now becomes a Suitor to his Father them which shall believe on me through their word 2. The matter of the prayer which he makes for these persons That they may all be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee and so on At this time we shall enter on the first of these and that is Christs description of the persons for whom he now becomes a suitor to his Father and they in general are true believers who are described three ways First by the time of their faith they are not such as did believe when Christ put up his Supplication to his Father but such as should believe in after-times Secondly by the object of their Faith they should believe in Jesus Christ Thirdly by the instrumental means of this faith they should believe in Christ through the Apostles word I shall speak a word or two of the circumstance of time by which our Saviour here describeth those for whom he prays they are not such as did believe when Christ put up this supplication to his Father but such as should believe in after-times Neither pray I for these only for my Apostles and Disciples who believe in me already but for them also who shall believe on me through their word So that you see DOCTRINE Our Saviours Intercession is not confined to those who believe but it extends to those who shall believe though for the present they have no faith at all in them It reaches to believers by Election to all that are appointed to believe to the end of the world I pray saith Christ for them also for all them which shall believe on me through their word And as God loves believers by Election though for the present they be unbelievers as I have shewed you very lately so Christ prays for all such Indeed he died for all such for all such as shall believe and not for such alone as do believe and therefore he must needs pray for all such For both the branches of
and so they make the Son of God as much as in them lies to suffer and to die in vain they spill his precious blood upon the ground as if it were of no value Christ shed his blood to this end that his people might be holy and they will be impure still and wallow in their lusts still They care not what become of it let it be shed in vain for them they reckon not Oh what a high contempt is this to Jesus Christ These men as the Apostle speaks tread underfoot the Son of God they trample on him in Disdain and put him to the greatest shame that can be They that despise and slight the spirit of Christ dishonour Christ himself the Comforter the holy Spirit is the messenger of Christ he is instead of Christ to his people he represents him absent to the soul And therefore he is said in Scripture to be with them in that his holy Spirit is with them Behold I am with you alwayes viz. by my Spirit to the end of the world Mat. 28. ult I will not leave you comfortless saith Christ to his Disciple I will come to you Iohn 14.18 he meaneth not by himself but by his Spirit So that when the Spirit comes Christ comes and therefore it is added presently At that time you shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you So that if this sweet Messenger of Jesus Christ who is to us instead of Christ be ill-entreated by us it is apparently a very great indignity to Christ himself And yet how often do we damp the holy motions of this Spirit in our hearts When good desires and gracious purposes are raised and kindled there how often do we smother them and put them out again how frequently do we misuse him who comes with counsel and with comfort and with grace from such a choise and pretious friend as Christ is How do we slight the seasonable caveats that the spirit gives us either for our information or else for our consolation and what is this upon the matter but to despise and slight Christ They that despise and slight the Messengers and the Embassadors of Christ they dishonour Christ himself He is in this respect at the same hand that Princes are the wrongs and the indignities that are done to those they send they take as offered to themselves and truly so doth Jesus Christ His Ministers the Preachers and Dispensers of his Gospel are his Embassadors to men they are instead of Christ as the Apostle Pauls expression is 2 Cor. 5.20 Now then we are Embassadors for Christ we pray you in Christs stead and they that injure or dishonour those that are for Christ and that are in Christs stead must needs dishonour Christ himself Our Saviour is express and plain for this to his Apostles Luke 10.16 He that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me q. d. My Father sent me and therefore he that despiseth me despiseth him And I send you and therefore he that despiseth you despiseth me I shall say little of this Argument for fear of misconstruction I shall but leave it to your selves to judge whether Christ be in this respect despised and dishonoured yea or no. Whether he be abused in those whom he hath sent whose labours he hath blessed and to whom he hath given the seals of their Ministry I hope they will not much complain to any but to Christ that sent them and if he be resolved to bear it I make no question he will give them grace and strength to bear it too and to profit much by it They that fall away from Christ after some acquaintance with him they dishonour and disgrace him For in deserting him they seem to tell the world that there is nothing in him why we should desire him They have tried him and they find him by experience to be such a one as is not worth the keeping any longer And therefore the Apostle speaking of Apostates saith that they put Christ to open shame for that is his expression Heb. 6.9 if they fall away saith he they crucifie the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame A servant looks upon it as a shame and a disparagement if he be put away So if a Servant leave his Master if the reason be not known it is some disgrace to him Men are very apt to think that he is a hard Master that he is faulty in some kind or other and that he deals not well with those that serve him And so when men forsake the service of the Lord Christ they make the world believe that he is an ill Master that there is better wages and more content and satisfaction to be had in the service of sin then the service of Christ And is not this a great dishonour to him And yet how many are there in these latter times who bring disparagement to Jesus Christ by this means and make his service despicable in the eyes of others How many have withdrawn from Jesus Christ of late given over waiting on his holy Ordinances and left performing of those duties to him which they were wont exactly and constantly and duly to discharge They talk of Christian Liberty and this they take to be from the service of Christ whereas it is indeed from the service of sin And so they are more loose and careless and remiss and negligent then they have been in former times These men disgrace Christ whom God hath set himself to honour and so they cross him in his great design Now I beseech you think upon it you that dishonour Christ in any of the ways forementioned or in any other way let it be what it will Remember that it is the purpose and design of God to glorifie his Son Christ and what then will become of you who thwart with him who seek as much as lies in you to hinder him from execution of that which he is so intent upon Will he take it at your hands Nay if he send his Son among you and say as in the Parable Luke 20.13 They will reverence my Son and you upon the other side neglect him and contemn him and abase him every way he will be out of patience with you to be thus crossed by wretched men he will certainly destroy you he will make you know the price of slighting and despising him whose honour is as dear and tender to him as his own Is it so that it hath been the design c Then be we all exhorted to Vse 2 comply with God in this great design of his and to promote it to the utmost of our power Let us endeavour every way to help him in that which he is so intent upon the glorifying of his Son Christ It s true God needs not any of our help he can do his own work and bring his own design and purposes to pass without us he can glorifie his
in Paradise no we are branches of such a Vine as never withers we are members of such a head as never dies So that undoubtedly the life of Jesus in us although it be not priviledged from abatements and temptations yet it hath nothing in it that tends to utter dissolution Secondly the life which Jesus Christ bestows upon his people as it hath no inward principles of dissolution in it self so neither is there any outward force that can prevail against it to destroy it Christ will preserve and maintain it in us in spite of any opposition The world may set upon us and endeavour to extinguish this life of holiness and grace in us she may assault us with her violent tentations every way with promises and sweet insinuations on the one side with threats and bloody persecutions on the other But this we may relie upon the world shall never overcome us for Christ hath overcome the world And we must know that Christ hath overcome the world not for himself alone but for his members And as he overcame it for us so he doth overcome it in us too by his grace as the Apostle intimates 1 John 5.5 This is the victory that overcomes the world even your faith The Devil is a far more subtile and pernitious adversary then the world but yet he cannot overthrow this life of grace in any of the Saints The gates of Hell cannot so far prevail against them The Serpent can but bruise the heel of Christ and those that appertain to Christ he cannot touch the head or breast he cannot wound us in the vital parts or take away our life from us The flesh is the worst enemy of all in this respect because it is an inward Enemy and a mortal enemy Either that must die or we as the Apostle Paul insinuates Rom. 8.13 But here 's our Comfort now the the flesh shall die and we shall live Christ will destroy the flesh in us and he will put the Spirit into us and maintain the Spirit in us And by this Spirit we shall live and this life shall be eternal We shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting Gal. 6.8 So that the point you see is fully cleered The life which Jesus Christ bestowes c. For first it hath no inward principles of frailty in it self And secondly there is no outward force that can prevail against it to destroy it But here it may be you will interpose those words of the Apostle Jude in the 12th v. of his Epistle where he speaks of some Revolters who were twice dead for that is his expression there they are trees whose fruit withereth Object twice dead plucked up by the roots And how were they twice dead They were not dead at all in regard of their outward and natural life for they were then alive and working mischief in the Church and therefore out of question his intention must be this First they were dead in trespasses and sins Then for a while in some respect or sence they lived the life of Grace And afterwards they died again and so they were twice dead and how then is the Doctrine true The life which Christ c. For resolution of the Scruple you must know my brethren that a man may live the life of grace either in deed and truth or else in shew and appearance only The Church of Sardis lived in shew she had a name Answ our Saviour tells her that she was alive but she was dead Rev. 3.1 There was but a name of life she had a name that she did live but there was the reality of Death she was dead Now they that live in name only who have the shew and the appearance of the life of Christ may die in shew and in appearance too And therefore the Apostle speaking according to the common apprehension and conceit of men saith they were twice dead Once indeed and really before they gave so much as any outward evidence of life And then again in shew and in appearance when they lost that life of grace which both to others and themselves they seemed to enjoy Now is it so that the life which Jesus Christ c. This then should stay Vse 1 us and support us against the fear of those tentations which threaten us with the destruction of the life of grace It is a great affliction to the Saints sometimes when they are mightily assaulted by Satan and their own corruptions and even ready to be overcome they cry out with relation to their spiritual as Job with respect to his natural life What is my strength that I should hope What grace have I that I should hold out against such violent Encounters as these are How should I hope to live when my life is thus assaulted with such fiery darts without with such distempers noxious humours and such lusts within Oh but remember my beloved Christ gives eternal life to his people a life that is not subject to destruction either by inward weakness or outward violence If ever once you have it from him you can never lose it He that once lives the life of Christ can never die death hath no more dominion over him Is it so my brethren that the life of c. This then may clear and Vse 2 comfort us against the frailty and dissolution of the life of nature It 's true my brethren that is subject to decay it is a perishable life but this is an eternal life That may and will be lost indeed but this endures to all eternity And why then are we so afraid of death why doth it terrifie us and affright us so when it hath done its utmost we shall live for ever Why are we grieved and troubled when they die the death of nature who have the life of Christ in them Truly my brethren we may say of such as our Saviour of the Damsell they are not dead As Christ to Martha when she bewailed the loss of her dear brother Lazarus John 11.26 Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die He shall never die the death that overthrows the life of Christ the life of Grace for so you must conceive him there in that place q. d. Lazarus is a believer and therefore whatsoever thou maist apprehend he is not dead He is not dead in reference to that which is a Christians life indeed no true believer is capable of dying so whosoever liveth and believeth in me can never die It 's true my brethren such may lose the life of nature but that alas is but an image and a shadow and a shew of life The life of grace and holiness is life indeed he that liveth in sin is dead while he lives he that lives in holiness is alive when he dies and if the life of nature be not worth the name of life then certainly the death that overthrows no other but the life of nature deserveth not the name of death And hence the death of
with the error of the world and so fall from your own stedfastness if you be carried down with the swinge and with the current of the times and of the places where you live do not deceive your selves you are yet of this world I must confess it is a very strong temptation when the stream runs in a wrong course and often shakes the holiest Saints But yet in such a case they that belong to Jesus Christ must consider with themselves that they are of another world and therefore are not much to eye the fashion and the wayes of this They must behave themselves according to the fashion of their own Country They must conclude with holy Joshua 24.15 If it seem evil to other men to serve the Lord if they will forsake God and forsake his worship let them serve whom they will for me as for my own part I am at a point for that I and my house will serve the Lord. And they must say in such a case as David did Away from me ye wicked I am not for your company because I am not for your courses away from me ye wicked I will keep the Commandements of my God If you be now no longer of this world but of the other your language is not of this world but of the other You speake the language of the world and of the Country you belong to You are full of good discourse your heart boyles with good matter as the expression of the Prophet is Psal 45.1 It is like a boyling pot for that is the similitude that is alluded to it is alwayes bubling up and running over and then it speaks of good things as it is added there in that place The heart within boyles and the tongue without speakes and as the boyling Pot runs over with the self same matter which it hath within it so it fares with such an heart It bubleth up with good matter the matter which it hath conceived and meditated touching Christ this is that which is so readily and freely uttered with the tongue My heart is enditing of a good matter I speak of the things which I have made touching the King Such are the hearts and tongues of those that are of the other world their speech is gracious and either tends to glorifie their God or to edifie their Brethren this is the language of their Country What think we then of those whose language is alwayes vain and frivolous it doth not benefit the hearers it ministreth no grace for there is no grace in it or which is worse it is wicked and pernitious Their speech is rotten and corrupt there is no salt to season it and make it wholesom and hence their throat is likened to an open Sepulchre Rom. 3.13 which breathes and steames up nothing else but odious smells and loathsom exhalations or else at best their speeches and discourses are of nothing else but earth and earthly things Talk with them while you will you hear of nothing else but worldly matters from them Of what Country do you think are these men The Apostle John tells you 1 John 4.5 They are of the world and they speak of â—he world Shibboleth never descryed so many Ephraimites as this doth worldly wrerches They are of Galilee they are of this world for their speech bewrayeth them Shall I believe they are Inhabitants of the Celestial Canaan who cannot speak almost without an oath whose tongues are alwayes dipping in that blood which alone can cleanse them from all sin Shall I say that such a man or woman is of heaven whose tongue is set on fire of hell Brethren do not deceive your selves if you cannot spake the language you belong not to that Country If you be now no longer of this world but of the other you have a dear affection to your Contrymen to those that are given up to Christ out of the world as you are If travailers and strangers meet with any of their Country-men in a remote and forreign Land how lovingly do they embrace them what kindness do they shew them how are they knit together in a bond of love Just so it is with those who are of the other world If they light any time on any of that same world which they themselves belong to they are extreamly taken up with joy although they never saw them nor had acquaintance with them in their lives before and presently their hearts and their affections do wonderfully close together And therefore they are gross dissemblers who would be thought to be given up to Christ out of the world and yet their bosom friends and their Companions are all of them of this world These are the men which they converse withall and which they take delight in Nay which is worse then this they hate the men whom Jesus Christ hath called and chosen out of the world They persecute them with the hand and with the tongue and do them all the spight and all the mischief that they can Suppose thou wert in Italy or Spain or any other forreign Land and there shouldst meet an Englishman wouldest thou mock and scoff at him wouldest thou deride and jear at the fashion of his cloaths the manner of his complement his gate and carriage and the like wouldest thou procure him to be taken up imprisoned put to death thy Earthly Country would not own thee if thou shouldst be so unworthy And truly heaven will not own the men who deal thus basely and injuriously with the Inhabitants of that Country Use 3 Are there some certain men whom God the Father gives to Jesus Christ out of the world so that however they were once the worlds now they are of the world no longer You then that find you are given up to Jesus Christ think it not much if you have but ill usage and untoward entertainment in the world Truly my Brethren if you consider whence you are and to what Country you belong there can no other be expected by you if you were of the world the world would love her own but because you are not of the world but Christ hath chosen you out of the world therefore the world hates you And it shall be your wisedom to look out and to provide for such usage If Turks or Spaniards walk along the streets every one will gaze upon them they will wonder at their gate and at their habit and the like Every one will be ready to abuse them and to put them to the worst for they are friendless being in a strange Country And are not you my Brethren of another Country yea of another world are you not men of singularity are not your wayes and fashions diverse from the fashions of this world No marvel then though you be men of wonder as the Prophet speakes though you be pointed at and though you be made spectacles and gazing stocks Though every one presume to injure you and wrong you and deal unworthily and basely with you
feared the words of the God of Israel That is his threatning words as appears by that which follows because of their transgression Nay the Apostle James affirmeth of the very Devils that even they belive and tremble Jam. 2.19 They believe the Comminations and they quake and tremble at them And verily the same effect would they produce in men if they did but believe them as the Devils do But alas how many are there who have no such thing in them who though they hear the wrath of God denounced and though they see his vengeance executed on ungodly men before their eyes in a very dreadful manner yet are not moved or troubled at it in any measure or degree by which it is apparent that they have no faith in them 2. Secondly if you believe the threatnings you will take some course or other to avert the evil threatned It is observed of the Ninvites that they believed God believed him in the threatning message he sent them by the Prophet Jonah 3.5 And what followed They proclaimed a Fast and put on Sack-cloth and turned every one from his evil way from the violence that was in his hands They that are never troubled for the sins which God threatens never endeavour reformation but continue as they were wicked and unclean still do not believe his Comminations they look upon them but as bruta fulmina and empty Scare crows which though they may fright others so as to drive them out of their beloved sins they are resolved they shall never scare them so as to work the smallest change or the least amendment in them There are a third sort yet behind and they are such as do not believe the promises of God They do not act their faith upon them They do not keep them in their hearts by beleiving And truly there are multitudes that fail in this particular as is apparent by these symptomes following viz. 1. Because they are so full of fears they walk so sadly and dijectedly Faith in the promises will fill the heart with joy and comfort in the worst of times and the sharpest of sufferings Believing we rejoyce with the Apostle and that with joy unspeakable and glorious 1 Pet. 1.8 You cannot think of any trial any trouble whether inward in the soul or outward in the body name estate but there is a promise for it to clear and comfort and support the soul in it And if the promise be believed the soul cannot be void of comfort It will revive the saddest heart It is for want of faith that men are so oppressed with grief and sorrow 2. It is too evident that men do not believe the promises of God because they are so full of doubts and fears so full of endless cares and troubles and distractions Brethren there is no end of the cares and fears of men of their questions and debates untill they come to pitch upon the promises Till they come to rest on this God hath said it I have God in bond for it he hath undertaken it who lives for ever in whom is everlasting strength the soul will never be at quiet it will be shaken as the trees in the Forrest as Isa 7.2 Oh thinks a poor wretch if I should live till I be blind till I be impotent till I have spent all what should I do What shall my wife and children do What if I lose such a friend or such a comfort So rich men have as much trouble What if the times should frown upon me what if malicious men should swear against me what if the Enemy break in upon me and plunder me c. and a thousand of these doubts and fears men have And whence are all these truly they are not so much from the greatness of their danger as from the smallness of their faith O you of little faith wherefore do you doubt whence are your doubtings troubles and perplexities but because you do not keep the word of promise in your hearts by believing You do not act your faith upon that Word of God that he will never fail you nor forsake you Beloved let a man look where he will there is a greater power against him then there can be for him out of God And all these outward things are so contingent they lie so doubtful and uncertain that a man can never be secure in them And therefore if you would be setled and secured for the future build on God and on the Promise Say not I have such a Parent such a Friend and he will provide for me he will see I shall not want I have such Income by the year such a Trade such an Estate such a power on my side The conclusion will not hold but say rather I have such a God and such a promise God hath said that he will feed me and therefore I shall be fed God hath said that he will keep me and therefore I shall be kept God hath said that he will pardon me and therefore I shall be forgiven 3. It is apparent that men do not believe the promise because they are inconstant and uncertain in their ways They knew not what to do nor where to live nor what side to stick to They are tossed to and fro they are on and off again And what is the cause of this truly it is for want of faith upon the promise for that would settle them and root them but on the other side saith God and bindes it with a strong asseveration too If ye will not believe surely ye shall not be established Isa 7.9 You will be thus unstable still and fickle still unless you pitch by faith upon the promise 4. It is apparent that men do not believe the promise because they will suffer nothing for it They will not part with any thing their liberty their ease their profit for the promise sake whereas faith if it were acted would have an admirable operation on them And therefore the Apostle makes this the ground of the strange patience of the Saints When they were tortured tryed with mockeries scornings bonds imprisonment when they were stoned sawn asunder what made them able to endure such things and not to accept deliverance when it was offered if they would have yeelded and complyed a little It was their faith as you may see Heb. 11.33 37. by faith upon the promise they attained to this strength that they could not be overcome nor made to yeeld to adversaries when they endured such torments as were impossible for flesh and blood to suffer but became Conquerors in them all yea more then Conquerors as the Apostle Paul speaks Rom. 8.37 So when it is affirmed of the holy Martyrs Apoc. 12.11 that they overcame the Dragon in all the persecutions that he raised against them it is withall observed that they did it by the blood of the Lamb the faith they had in the blood of Jesus Christ enabled them to bear and overcome so bitter torments as they
this particular I shall in a word or two direct you how to judge of this business 1. You may judge a little by his entrance if he be sent of God he comes in by the door and not by the window The door which Christ sets open to him and not which he himself unlocks and opens with a false Key So that if any question grow in this particular he is able to appeal to all the people as the Apostle sometimes did 2 Thess 2.1 You know our entrance It was not in a clandestine and surreptitious way you of the Church you know it what it was whether it were according to the rule and as be seems a Minister of Christ I leave it to your selves to judge I appeal to your verdict You may discover somewhat whether a Minister be sent of God by his enablement to that Office Whom God sends he qualifies he sends not his message by the hand of a fool When Christ ascended up on high he gave gifts unto men for the work of the Ministry Ephes 4.12 God makes able Ministers of the New Testament 2 Cor. 3.6 As he makes them so he makes them able too indues them in a measure with ability of knowledge and utterance gives them wisdom and a mouth If they be competently able both ways it is an evidence that they are of Gods making and of Gods sending You may judge a little as by their ability so by their propensity to do the Office of a Minister And this is that which the Apostle calls a ready mind to feed the flock 1 Pet. 5.2 A good will to deal out to the people the Gospel of Christ 1 Thess 2.8 Indeed my Brethren when a Minister that hath a Competency both of knowledge and of utterance regardeth not at all to stir up the gift of of God that is in him or to use his abilities for the good of the Church but is idle and remiss prefers his pleasure and his ease before the good and the salvation of the peoples souls you have great reason to suspect him that he is not come from God But if he be content to spend himself and to be spent if he be like a burning and shining light as it is said of John the Baptist burning in his zealous Doctrine shining in his holy life and wasting while he shines to others if it be his meat and drink to do the work that God hath put into his hands such a Minister as this so coming in so qualified so employed beware how you suspect that he is not sent of God JOHN 17.9 I pray for them and I pray not for the world WE have not yet dispatched the Preface or the preparation to our Saviours Prayer in the behalf of his Apostles and Disciples some think indeed that he begins his Prayer for them in the following verse which we are now about to enter on I pray for them I pray not for the world But if you mark it there is nothing in it either of Confession or Petition or Thanksgiving only our Saviour Christ lays down some leading Considerations which induce him to present this Supplication for them to his Father And they are taken either from their relation or from their condition The first is drawn from their relation to his Father and himself I pray for them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine And all mine are thine and thine are mine by means whereof it comes to pass that I am glorified in them the next is drawn from the condition they were in and were likely to be in they were at present in the world and they were likely to be in it out of hand without Christ I mean without his visible and corporal and fleshly presence And now I am no more in the world but they are in the world and I come to thee as if he should have added and I must leave them behind me The greater need they had to be recommended by him in his prayers which were the last he was to make with them in this world These are the things that move him to become an earnest suitor to his Father for his Apostles and Disciples in a special manner as he hints in the beginning I pray for them I pray not for the world Now this he speaks exclusively you see as it is very manifest even in the letter of the Text. A man would think it might have been sufficient for our Saviour to have said I pray for them For had he said but so he had implyed that other men were not at all remembred by him in his prayers But he will be express and clear in such a business of such high importance he will shut out the world from having any share at all in this incomparable priviledge in down-right language and in plain terms from being once so much as mentioned in his prayers I pray for them I pray not for the world So that the point to be observed is plain DOCTRINE Christ is an Intercessor to his Father for none but his own people He prays for them and none but them the world are utterly excluded from having share at all in our Saviours Intercession He intercedes for none that are without the pale that he sets up in this Text he doth not speak one word to God for them I pray not for the world saith he I meddle not with them at all in that business But if he pray not for the world who are they for whom he prays I pray for them saith Christ For them for whom why for them whom thou hast given me So that they who are Christ's you see have a peculiar priviledge in this regard for all the Intercession of the Son of God the great High Priest is spent upon them If any sin we have an Advocate with God the Father saith the Evangelist 1 Joh. 2.1 He speaks it there exclusively we have and no others And therefore it is very much to be observed that he saith not If any sin he hath an Advocate for there are many sinners in the world that have no Advocate with God the Father But if any sin we have an Advocate we that believe have Christ to intercede for us And he may have an advocate if he believe if he be one of us let the man be what be will and let his sin be what it will Christ will be an Advocate and Intercessor to his Father for him He ever lives saith the Apostle speaking of our Saviour to make intercession for them Heb. 7.25 Them whom why them who come to God by him as you may see if you reflect upon the former parcel of the verse He is able to save them to the utmost who come to God by him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them Still you see his intercession is confined to a selected company of men and not extended to the whole world He appears in Heaven
1.9 Receiving the end saith he Conceive it the perfection or the reward of your faith even the salvation of your souls Salvation then you see my brethren is the end Christ is the object of our faith Use 1 Is Christ the Object of a true believers faith Then do not satisfie your selves my brethren with a general assent to sacred Revelation neither do you rest in this that you believe the word of God in gross Alas how many men that have been throughly convinced of the truth of all the Scripture are notwithstanding under everlasting Chains and darkness the Devils themselves believe and tremble They believe the word historically you must understand it and because it makes against them the greater their faith is the greater is their fear As therefore you desire to be absolved and acquitted from the guilt of all your sins which else will sink you down into the pit of Hell for ever to be invested with the righteousness of Christ without which you can never have admittance to the marriage of the Lamb nor to those joyes and pleasures at the Lords right hand for evermore lay hold on Jesus Christ and clasp the arms of faith about him Men and brethren to you is this salvation sent and we declare unto you glad tydings preaching through Christ the forgiveness of sins and that by him all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not have been justified by the Law of Moses We offer and exhibit Christ unto you and we beseech you to accept him that you may be saved We stand and cry Ho every one that thirsteth came to this water Now as you tender the salvation of your pretious souls let faith make out to Jesus Christ that comes towards her let her fasten on her object And that you may the better know what I perswade you to I shall shew you very briefly that there are four acts of the soul in reference to Jesus Christ wherein the essence and the being of justifying faith consists Whereof the former two are of the understanding and the two latter of the will I shall but only touch at them 1. Well then the first thing you are to do you must endeavour to know Christ aright distinct explicite knowledge of him in a measure is necessary to the being of this justifying faith And therefore knowledge is sometimes put for faith in Scripture by his knowledge or the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justifie many saith the Father of the Son Isa 53.11 And here to be a little more distinct you must know that Christ is a compleat and al-sufficient Saviour to free you from the wrath of God and to bring you to eternal life That he is offered by the Lord to you as well as any other for so the messengers of God have their Commission to make an universal tender of him to all to whom they preach without exception Go preach the Gospel to every creature Mark 16.15 And what is it to preach the Gospel to them but to say as the Angel to the Shepherds Luke 2.10 11. I bring you good tydings of great joy which shall be to all people for unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord And as Peter to the Jews Acts 2.39 The promise is to you and to your children yea and to all that are afar off as many as the Lord our God shall call Yea you must know that Christ is offered to you so that you are peremptorily commanded and required to believe in him Come to me saith our Saviour Mat. 11.28 i. e. Believe in me for so himself expounds the phrase as you may see John 6.35 all you that labour and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest This is the first thing requisite to justifying faith of which Christ is the proper Object 2. The second act is the Assent and Credit of the mind to this that Christ is such a one indeed and that God offers him indeed in such a way as hath been said And that in this his gracious offer he intendeth as he saith That Christ and all his merits will be yours if you accept him This you must consent to you must say with the Apostle 1 Tim. 1.15 This is a faithfull saying and in relation to this act it is that faith is called believing John 3.36 and elsewhere often in the Scripture 3. The third act is the yeelding of the Will to this external exhibition of the Son of God this blessed offer of him in the Gospel not only for the certain truth but the incomparable excellency of it when the heart accepteth of it and embraceth it and saith with the Apostle in the fore-alledged Scripture 1 Tim. 1.15 This saying as it is a faithfull one so it is worthy of all acceptation It is a faithfull saying saith the Understanding and therefore I will give assent to it It is a saying worthy of all acceptation saith the will and therefore I will close with it So the faith of the Fathers is described Heb. 11.13 in which all the three acts which we have mentioned are wrapt up together They saw the promises conceive it with the understandings eye they knew them and they understood them They were perswaded of them they gave assent to them and they received them and embraced them for both these terms are there used not the words and surface of them but Christ in them In which respect this act of faith is sometimes called receiving of Christ as see John 1.12 To as many as received him c. So that believing and receiving are all one this is the third act 4. The fourth and last act is a resting a relying and recumbency on Christ for mercy and salvation this is the great act of the soul in faith A roling of it self on Jesus Christ expecting life and happiness no other way and by no other mean but him only And this is that which is so often called believing in the Son of God believing in his name trusting in him as the Apostle Pauls expression is Ephes 1.12 or trusting to him for all the good that we expect or look for These are the four great acts of faith and Christ you see is the immediate and proper object of them all So that you easily perceive what I intend when I perswade you and exhort you to fasten on this object and to believe in Jesus Christ Object But you will say perhaps as that is now a great Objection the Creature is not able to believe it is an impotent and dead thing what can the Creature do And why do you perswade it to believe Sol. True my beloved it can do nothing and you would have it to do nothing by this Rule Keep away the means from it and when will it attain the end It hath no faith it is not able to believe but faith comes by this means by the perswasions and intreaties
of the Gospel Faith comes by hearing Rom. 10.17 When the Apostles perswaded sinners to believe as that was very usual with them might not a man have said to them What do you speak to them They cannot do what you perswade them to and yet you know what multitudes sometimes were brought to believe by one Sermon So that the word is not in vain though men be dead and unable to believe because when God is pleased to work with it it quickens them and begetteth faith in them Use 2 Is Christ the Object of a true believers faith Are we justified by faith as it layes hold on Christ and on the Righteousness of Christ This then discovers the defect and imperfection of inherent righteousness This laying hold upon the Lord Jesus this going forth out of our selves to fetch Righteousness abroad to justifie us in the sight of God implies an emptiness and want of it at home T is true indeed had we continued in our first integrity had we remained in that uprighteness and perfection which was at first bestowed upon us there had been then no need at all of justifying faith But when our own inherent righteousness was lost in Adams fall so that there was an utter failing of it an absolute deficiency in our selves Faith was provided to supply us and to furnish us again by fetching in the righteousness of Christ so that this laying hold upon imputed apparently implyes the absence of inherent righteousness And therefore when we shall be raised again to that perfection which we once enjoyed in Adam in the state of Innocency which shall be done you know my brethren in the other Paradise in heaven in the state of glory this justifying faith shall cease at least with reference to the receiving of Jesus the Lord our Righteousness because we shall have righteousness enough in heaven of our own And this is that which the Apostle meaneth in that memorable place 1 Cor. 13. ult And now abideth faith hope and charity Now they abide conceive it in the present life they all continue for that is his intention there but the chiefest of these is charity the chiefest in regard of permanency and duration because that never faileth as he affirmeth in the eighth verse of that Chapter No not in heaven in the state of blessedness where justifying faith and hope shall fail and be taken both away Is Christ the Object of a true believers faith This then as it discovers Use 3 the defect and imperfection of inherent righteousness so the perfection of imputed righteousness as the defect of sanctification so the perfection of justification It is the righteousness of Christ which we fetch in by faith and that you know is absolute and accomplisht righteousness And this administers incomparable sweet and pretious comfort to the Saints who are so far dejected with the sense and feeling of their wants as to conclude they are not justified in the sight of God they are so full of imperfections and defects Oh they come so far short their graces are so small and weak and their obedience is so slender that they resolve the Lord will not accept and justifie such wretched creatures as they are Indeed my brethren if our being justified and accepted with the Lord depended on the highth and the perfection of inherent righteousness we had cause to be discouraged But seeing we are justified by faith in Christ by laying hold on the Lord our righteousness by fetching in the righteousness of Christ and not by perfecting our own if we have taken him we are compleat in him as the Apostle speaks amidst our many unallowed imperfections and defects And though we should be humbled for our failings with refererence to sanctification yet we should not doubt our selves and our estates with reference to justification for having once received Christ by faith we are compleat in him though imperfect in our selves If all the Righteousness which is in Christ will make us righteous we are righteous for he is made to us righteousness 1 Cor. 1.30 Oh how should this support their drooping spirits who pine away in endless sorrow for their failings and defects If they be sure they have laid hold on Christ by faith they may conclude his righteousness is theirs and that is perfect though their own be weak and wanting And though they be discouraged in themselves they may encourage and cheer up themselves in Christs And certainly in doing so they honour Christ and advance his fulness JOHN 17.20 But for them also that shall believe on me through their word VVE are at length arrived at the third particular considered in the words viz. The instrumental means of their believing whom our Saviour prayes for in my Text Neither pray I for these alone but for them also that shall believe on me through their word There hath been noted as you may remember the time of their believing not the present but the future time they shall believe The Object of it Jesus Christ The instrumental means of it through their word Through their word through whose word why through the Apostles word for whom our Saviour is a Suitor to his Father in the foregoing parcell of his prayer and addeth in my Text Neither pray I for these only but for them also that shall believe on me through their word Their word as the Publishers and Pen-men of it not their word as the Authors of it For the Apostles were the Preachers and the Writers though not the Authors of the Gospel This word our Saviour makes the instrument of faith in this place Mark it not the Prophets word but the Apostles word Their word Them that shall believe on me through their word So that you see DOCTRINE It is the Gospel word that maks believers the Gospel is the instrumental means of faith If faith be wrought in any soul it is by the Apostles word the word of the New Testament not of the Old Of the New Covenant not of the Old In brief not of the Law but of the Gospel And this is that which the Apostle shews expresly Rom. 10.15 16 17. How beautifull are the feet of them saith he that preach the Gospel But they have not believed the Gospel For Isaiah said Who hath believed our Report So then faith comes by hearing viz. by hearing of the Gospel And hence the Gospel is said to be the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth Rom. 1.16 Q. But what then hath the Law no hand at all in the working faith A. No hand in working it but only in preparing to the work Indeed it shews a man his sin and his transgression it empties him of all opin on of himself it humbles him and layes him low and so it makes him fit to close with Jesus Christ by faith as the Apostle shews Gal. 3.24 The Law was our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith John Baptists rough
us up as far as it is possible to cleanse our selves from sin when we are making our approaches to him For sin my Brethren is against the righteousness of God yea in directest opposition And therefore it is set out by the name of unrighteousness in Scripture Not only all injustice is unrighteousness but sin is generally so The wrath of God saith the Apostle is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men Rom. 1.18 against every kind of sin especially that violates the second Table And so all unrighteousness is sin saith the Evangelist 1 Joh. 5.17 And I may say as well all sin is unrighteousness And hence it is my Brethren that it is so infinitely odious to the righteous God And truly did we seriously consider this my Brethren when we come to pray before him we should be deeply humbled for it and ashamed of it we should strive exceedingly to quit and rid our selves of it which is so contrary to this attribute of his and consequently is so detestable to him Oh we would shake and quiver every joynt to think of coming to the righteous God in our unrighteousness unhumbled for and unreformed We would consider with our selves What will the Lord say to me when he sees me in his presence How will he look on such a wicked and unrighteous wretch as I am how is it possible but he should hide his eyes from me how can he choose but hate me and abhor me Do I expect to find favour in his eyes and come before him with that which he so abhors as if I meant to vex him and provoke him And therefore if we ever look to speed with God in prayer let us consider what a righteous God he is and let us labour to cleanse our selves from our unrighteousness that is as far as it is possible from every sin and he will receive us as his own expression is 2 Cor. 6.17 or otherwise he will not 2. The meditation of the righteousness of God will strengthen and confirm our faith in all the pretious promises of God when we are pouring out our prayers to him Because indeed his righteousness and justice lies at stake for the performance of his promises by reason of his Covenant and Engagement to us It is true before he made the Covenant he was free he might have done according to his own pleasure But having made it he is bound he is held to it and may not vary Now he must forgive our sins ours that believe or else he is unrighteous as the Apostle John insinuates 1 Joh. 1.19 He is faithful and just to forgive our sins Now he must reward our labour or else he is unrighteous as the Apostle speaks Heb. 6.10 The Lord is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour He doth not say the Lord is not unmerciful but the Lord is not unrighteous Now he must give us everlasting rest and render everlasting trouble to our enemies or else he is unrighteous And therefore saith the same Apostle 2 Thess 1.6 It is a righteous thing with God to render tribulation to them that trouble you and to you who are troubled rest with us And therefore when we pray for the pardon of our sins the acceptance of our labours or any other good thing comprehended in the Covenant from the beginning of it to the end Let us fix our serious thoughts not only on the mercy but also on the justice and the righteousness of God and we shall find it will exceedingly confirm our wavering faith while we consider that his righteousness is bound for the performance of his promises and that as sure as God is righteous he will with-hold no good thing from us JOHN 17.25 The world hath not known thee OUR Saviour having ended the petitionary part is at length come to the conclusion of his prayer In which he shews the Father reason why he should be heard in all that he hath been a Suitor for in the behalf of true believers viz Because himself and they were inwardly acquainted with him whereas all the world besides were strangers to him as I have noted heretofore In this conclusion of our Saviours prayer have been considered two things To whom he speaks and What he speaks First To whom he speaks and this you see my brethren is to God whom he stileth Righteous Father Secondly then in the next place What he speaks and here is something that he speaks against the world and something that he speaks for himself and true believers 1. Here is something that he speaks against the world the world hath not known thee 2. Then here is something that he speaks for himself and true believers but I have known thee and these have known that thou hast sent me To whom our Saviour speaks as he is set forth by his title and his attribute hath been considered heretofore The thing which we have now in hand is what he speaks and more particularly what he speaks against the world Oh Righteous Father the world hath not known thee We have observed heretofore out of the ninth verse of this Chapter that he speaks not for the world No it is utterly excluded from having any share at all in our Saviours intercession let their case be what it will let their necessities be what they will Christ even leaves them to themselves and never interposes for them to the Father Nay which is worse he speaks against them He speaks against the world as you hear him in my text You see he cannot end his prayer but he must have a parting blow at them Oh righteous Father the world hath not known thee to kindle and exasperate his wrath against them It hath not known thee with a knowledge of affection they have not known thee so as to love thee and obey thee They are strangers yea they are enemies to thee Let justice have its course against them let it be executed on them to the utmost This I have glanced at only from the general that Christ speaks against the world Proceed we more particularly to consider what he speaks against the world Oh Righteous Father the world hath not known thee And here I shall unfold the terms and come to a more special observation Two things we have to be enquired and resolved 1. Whom our Saviour means by world 2. What he intendeth when he affirmeth of the world that it doth not know God As for the first of these The world imports not here the frame and frabrique of the world as it doth sometimes in Scripture but the people of the world And yet not all the people of the world neither for Jesus Christ immediately excepts himself and true believers The world hath not known thee but I have known thee and these have known thee The world you see is set in opposition here to Christ and his Disciples So that our Saviour by the world intends all the people in the world besides himself and
The Father loves believers as he doth Christ Reas For he loves them 1. In Christ 2. Through Christ 1. Vse Depend on him 1. Without doubting 2. By real love 3. Vse Comfort to all true believers In that 1. He will uphold them as he did Christ 2. Assist us in his service 3. Reward his own work in us 4. Hear us 5. Provide for us 3. Doctr. Christs will is even a Law with the Father Reas 1. Being the only Son 2. The Beloved 3. Never asks amiss 4. Sueth for nothing but what he deserver p. 491. Vse How to make Christ our Advocate Ver. 24 Direct 1. To prepare their hearts they must be 1. Purged 2. Humbled 3. Fixed 4. Awakened Then 2. For Matter of prayer search the promises p. 496. Manner Pray without wrath 2. Doubting 3. With much zeal 2. If we pray acted by Christs Spirit 1. There will be zeal 2. Desires spiritual 3. For spiritual things chiefly Not to be spent on lusts 4. We shall pray constantly 2. Doct. It is Christs will that they who are given him should be in heaven Reas He loves them with a love 1. Of benevolence 2. Of Complacency 3. To see his glory 3. Doct. God hath loved Christ from all Eternity Reas Being like him both as God and Man Vse Wo to them that hate Christ They hate Christ 1. Who willingly obey sin 2. Who love and hate that which Christ doth not 3. Who are friends to the Enemies of Christ Contra p. 513. 2. Vse God therefore loveth them that love Christ Christ is amiable and worthy of our love 1. In respect of his perfections p. 515. 2. In respect of our Interest and propriety in him 3. Of his great love to us 4. Of that he hath done for us 3. Vse Admire that he should so use him as he did for our sakes 1. Giving him up to the hands of sinful men and to his own wrath 2. So using him for such as we are p. 517. 4. Vse Comforts to those that belong to Christ that they are loved from everlasting 4. Doct. God is a very just and righteous God Confirmed 1. From the largeness of his Jurisdiction 2. The Immensity of his presence 3. From his inward propensity and disposition 1. Vse This should settle our minds amidst the confusions and disorders of the world 2. Vse Comfort to those that are abused and oppressed 3. Vse Come into him and become his subjects 4. Vse Terror to the ungodly 5. Vse Comfort to the righteous even in Gods Justice 6. Vse Admonition to Magistrates Perswasions to execute Justice 1. It will settle the land 2. Be amiable to God 3. Beneficial to your selves p. 526 7. Vse Meditate on Gods righteousness It will 1. help us against sin 2. Strengthen our faith in prayer p. 528. Ver. 25 Doct. Unbelievers and unsanctified persons know not God in such manner as they ought p. 531. 1. Know him not so as to delight in him 2. Nor so as to serve and obey him 3. Nor so as to know him in Christ Reason 1. Unbelieving Heathens want the means of knowledge 2. Unbelieving Christians want the Spirit to unveil 1. The understanding 2. The Gospel 3. In every unbeliever there 's something 1. Redundant to repell divine Truth 2. Wanting to receive it viz. The Spirit of God 4. They are unwilling to know God p. 535. 1. Vse The misery of unsanctified unbelievers 2. Vse Admire Gods mercy in vouchsafing us the means of knowledge p 537. 2. Doct. That Christ alone knows God immediately and others by his means p. 539. Vse None saved by his own natural knowledge 3. Doct. The most saving knowledge hath defects and imperfections standing in need of farther declaration p. 541. Reason Christ doth not shew them all at once 1. Because they are not capable 2. That he may keep them humble 1. Vse Be not proud of your knowledge 2. Vse Comforts to the humble 1. A sign that thy knowledge is right and sound 2. It 's the measure which Christ hath alloted thee 3. The time is coming when these thy defects shall be supplyed 4. We shall be rewarded according to our practice not our knowledge Ver. 26 Doct. Christ will be making farther declarations of his Fathers Name to the worlds end p. 546. 1. By his written Word and Ministers in all ages 2. By his holy Spirit p. 548. 1. Vse Believe what he hath spoken 2. Expect the execution of his promise 3. Thereunto strive with Christ in prayer p. 549. 2. Doct. The Love which is in true believers comes from God Reason For it cannot be Originally in of or from our selves yet not without means Vse If we want it have recourse to God Love is the chiefest thing 1. That comes from God p. 554. 2. That conformeth us to God p. 554. 3. Doct. Declaration of the Fathers Name is a special means to work love in them Reason 1. Beauty is a part of his Name 2. Goodness 3. Mercy 4. Love p. 557. 4. Doct. Where Love is there Christ is Reason 1. For where Love there the Spirit 2. Faith 3. God is p. 560. 1. Vse Misery of those that love not God and his children 2. Comforts to those that have love in them They have Christ and therefore 1. Have intimate Communion with him 2. Have free access to him 3. Have the confluence of all Accommodations 4. Are secure 2. Let Christ live quiet in your hearts Excellency of Christs prayer An Alphabetical Table of the Chief Heads contained In this TREATISE A ADopted children page 15 Admire the love of God and of Christ page 20 98 146 161 361 455 537 Affections of the heart testified by outward gesture page 11 Affliction should not dismay us See Tribulation page 104 195 290 291 367 Abilities of Christ page 145 Active Obedience of Christ page 157 Our Advancement in Christ page 174 The Apostle and Messenger of God is Christ 142 149 234 235 other Apostles page 407 our Affections are to keep Christs word page 204 213 Apostates from Christ page 41 210 Application of Christ page 158 441 Assurance Means and benefit thereof page 22 our Active and Passive obedience page 203 Authority grace and power of Christs words page 7. 473 Authority of Christ over all men 52 144. for the benefit and Salvation of his people page 72 73 Agreement with God and Christ necessary page 465 Agreement See Unity The benefits thereof page 303 304 All things revealed by Christ in what sense page 236 Aimiableness of Christ page 514 515 Adding to the work of Christ page 168 word of Christ page 241 Absence of Christ from the Father page 265 Ascension of Christ 266. End fruit and benefits thereof page 267 B PArtial Believers page 208 â—99 Belief See Faith Wrought by the Gospel page 443 444 Believers not free from the Law page 61 62 Believe the Trinity page 130 132 the Scriptures page 133 399 in Christ page 149 150 441 Christs word 204. 559
not all that is so called page 211 Believers priviledges page 256 379 450 451. 479 480 561 Their sins more hainous page 257 Have many enemies and why page 360 363 458 Object of Believers faith Christ page 439 The Word God Heaven and Salvation page 440 Believers loved as Christ page 478 479 Body of Christ Natural and Mystical page 167 Bodily outward worship not to be neglected page 12 Rules and directions for it page 13 C Certainty of salvation page 80 314 315 Christ the Fathers Son and Wisdom page 5 16 Our great Prophet and Preacher ib. 339 Glorified by the Father page 32 Author of all good to the Church page 34. 72 123 124 To be glorified by us and how page 42 44 One with the Father page 48 Came not to quicken and save all men page 105 Must be known page 119 120 123 Comforts to the sons of God in Christ page 17 22 Comforts to the godly page 17 22 70 253 257 342 452 518 Against injuries of the world page 194 258 352 To the distressed page 290 291 365 524 Our Conscience and Faith not subject to men page 65 Conference page 206 Sons by Creation page 15 19 By Creation all the world is the Fathers page 98 199 Knowledge of our Creation page 119 Christ the Fathers Creature page 160 Curiosity condemned page 183 445 Sinfulness thereof page 184 D. DEath not to be prayed for page 366 c. Believers Dead to the world page 190 Comforts against Death page 89 93 387 Desire good things page 49 Dishonourers of Christ page 38 39 c. 262 Disobedient condemned page 59 70 162 164. 404 Despair not of those that are dead in sin page 103 185 255 438 Disorderly walkers page 162 163 Divine glory communicated to Christ page 173 Discovery of the Father See Manifestation Doubtful are unbelievers page 210 212 Disobedience to the word whence it proceeds page 229 Discord the causes thereof page 296 Evils and inconveniencies thereof page 467 E. WHo the Elect page 192 197 Elect cannot perish page 99 312 End of all is Gods glory page 43 154 Eternal God 129. Eternal love of God page 509 Eternal life from Christ page 86 What it is page 87 To be sought after and how page 90 Christs free gift page 90 Unbought unsought untaught page 92 93 How it consists in knowledge and begun therein page 108 Enemies outward and inward page 353 360 363 Evil. How Christ preserveth from all Evil page 371 372 c. Excellency of Christs people above others page 257 Of the Gospel above other Truths page 397 F FAith page 90 120 129 133 See Belief Father God to be apprehended under that notion page 15 21 The Father glorified by Christ page 46 Fears of failing page 88 185 God must be feared page 117 140 Fearful are unbelievers page 211 Father essentially taken page 198 Free love and mercy of God and Christ page 91 92 147 Faithfulness of Christ and his Ministers 244 246. Signs page 247 Christs word to be kept by Faith page 207 208 226 To be heard with Fear page 225 G. GIft of Christ wonderful page 98 516 517 Some given to Christ in special manner page 97 189 Outward fitting Gestures in prayers requisite page 12 13 Gifts of Christ 35. See Qualification page 412 413 Glory of Christ page 32 33 170 472 Gospel the subject of Christs words page 6 8 To be attended 90. 114. The Instrument of life page 109 398 Means to Sanctification page 389 The Truth page 396 God not slack page 30 Glorifieth Christ page 32 Only true God page 126 Godhead of the Trinity page 128 They that have made choice of God happy page 141 They must glorifie God here who will be glorified hereafter page 152 Vain expecters of future Glory page 153 How God is to be glorified here page 154 The Glory that Christ prayed for page 170 171 Christ Glorified in those that are his page 261 472 H. HAters of Christ page 512 513 Hearers how they may profit by the Word page 395 396 Hearing necessary page 392 445 Heathen people in dangerous state page 121 251 534 Heavenly conversation alliance kindred 190 191. Marks thereof page 385 Honour of God to be aimed at page 49 50 154 Honour from honouring Christ page 44 Hour of God page 28 29 30 Hope of Heaven page 174 Hinderances to obedience page 223 We must be Humble as Christ was page 162 Humiliation of Christ page 161 Hypocritical gestures in prayer page 13 Humility commended page 542 543 Holiness of God page 280 Knowledge thereof very profitable page 281 282 Holiness to be laboured for page 435 I. IDols not to be served 136. Causes of Ignorance page 531 533 Ignorance an impediment to life page 109 Ignorant persons sad condition 113 444 inexcusable page 182 533 534 For the Instruction of others page 115 122 Incarnation of Christ page 178 Impatient are unbelievers page 209 210 Intercession of Christ page 250 252 253 267 340 352 438 Judging and censuring others unlawful page 65. 248 Judgements sent not so much for the destruction of enemies as preservation of friends page 77 How to Judge of true Ministers page 248 249 411 412 Imperfections of the Saints page 296 374 441 541 Joy Christ the Author and Original page 338 None to those that are out of Christ page 341 Means and matter of Joy page 343 348 Marks of spiritual Joy page 350 False Joy page 351 Justification page 442 Justice commended page 526 Justice and righteousness of God page 519 520 to be meditated page 528 A comfort to the righteous page 523 524 K. CHrist Keepeth those that are given him page 201 Word of Christ how Kept in the memory heart page 204 Power of God Keepeth those that belong to Christ page 285 How they are Kept and why page 286 287 312 313 Knowledge to be laboured for page 90 108 109 to 114 The beginning of eternal life page 108 109 Knowledge of God and Christ too necessary page 116 536 537 Knowledge of the Father without the knowledge of Christ is but vain and insufficient page 117 118 The most perfect Knowledge here imperfect page 541 543 L. LAnguage suitable for Christians page 193 385 Law none free from it page 60 Believers under the binding power of the Law page 61 62 How given to the righteous page 63 Law-giver none but Christ page 64 Life from Christ page 82 Life of Sanctification and Justication page 83 Christ our Lord by Creation Redemption Covenant page 19 Life not be valued 89 93 a mercy page 367 Come to Christ for Life page 93 Love towards God how to get and increase it page 460 461 552 553 Love of God and Christ to be admired 20. See Admire Love unto the Word 213. Marks thereof page 214 216 Loveliness of Christ page 515 516 Lusts of our own or others not to be obeyed page 139 Where Love is there is Christ page 558 559 Misery of those that have no
have a day to live And thus far of the end of the authority of Jesus Christ for which he is invested with it by his Father considered in the lump and in the gross Proceed we now to take it into parts It is in general as you have heard that he may be enabled to dispence to his people that which is for their everlasting welfare and salvation that he may give eternal life to as many as God hath given him Particularly we have here to be considered First the thing it self to be dispenced by vertue of this power and this authority of Jesus Christ and that is life yea life eternal Secondly the manner or the way of dispensation it is to be dispenced as a gift in the nature of a gift in a way of free donation that he should give eternal life Thirdly the objects of this dispensation or the persons to whom this life here mentioned is to be dispenced and that is not to all men but to as many as the Father hath bestowed on Jesus Christ As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him Begin we with the thing it self to be dispenced by vertue of this power and this authority of Jesus Christ And here let us take notice of the nature of it and of the adjunct of it First of the nature of it it is life Then of the adjunct of it it is life eternal As for the first of these my Brethren you must know that naturally and originally we are all dead men We are all dead born we came into the world my Brethren in a state of death and condemnation And in this sad condition we continue of our selves we are not able to put life into our selves No we can no more raise our selves to the life of grace then a dead man can raise himself to the life of nature And therefore God because he would have such a number quickened as he hath resolved upon hath given power to Jesus Christ to this end and to this purpose that he may give life to those who of themselves are utterly void of it and no way able to attain it And that his mercy may be full he hath appointed him to give them such a life as is uncapable of dissolution The life that Adam in the state of innocency enjoyed the life of righteousness and the life of holiness you know was perishable in it self and so accordingly was left of God His state in this condition was mutable and accordingly he fell from it from a state of grace and life to a state of sin and death But now God hath invested Jesus Christ with power to give his people such a life as shall be durable as shall in this respect transcend the life that Adam had even in the state of innocency it self that he may give eternal life to as many as God hath given him The points to be observed are two First They that are Christs have life from Christ and secondly The life which they have from him is eternal DOCTRINE They that are Christs have life from Christ He giveth life to as many as God hath given him The life which they enjoy they have from him they have it not originally in themselves he is the author and the fountain of it And therefore he is said to be a quickning Spirit 1 Cor. 15.45 because he quickneth and enliveneth all his members And he is called our life very often in the Scripture I am the way the truth and the life saith our Saviour of himself John 14.6 When Christ who is our life saith the Apostle shall appear then shall we appear with him in glory Col. 3.4 When Christ who is our life that is the author the efficient of our life And hence saith the Evangelist he that hath the Son hath life 1 John 5.20 This may serve to prove the point They that are Christs have life from Christ Now to open it a little before we come to application there is a two-fold life which all Christs people have from Christ according to the two-fold death which they are under out of Christ For as there is a two-fold death in sin The death in sin with relation to the raign and dominion of it the death in sin with relation to the guilt and obligation of it to damnation So on the other side there is a two-fold life of grace opposed to these the life of grace inherent and the life of grace imputed The life of holiness and the life of righteousness The life of Sanctification and the life of Justification And both of these they that are Christs receive from him he gives his people both these First Christs people have from him the life of holiness or the life of Sanctification which is opposed to the dominion and the raign of sin before they are revived by him they are under this dominion and so in that respect are dead as the Apostle Paul intimates to the Romans Rom. 6.12 ye are alive to God saith he through Jesus Christ our Lord. And what doth he infer upon it Let not sin raign in your mortal bodies by which he intimates expresly that while sin raigns in any man so that he voluntarily resigns and yields himself up to the rule and the dominion of it as Subjects to their Soveraign and annointed Prince he is not alive to God he is indeed a dead man he hath no life of holiness or grace in him But when the raign of sin is once abolished and dissolved within him so that he doth no longer willingly obey it in the lusts thereof but yieldeth up himself to God then he is alive to God then he lives the life of God the life of holiness and grace And this life he hath from Christ And therefore it is added presently ye are alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord And of this life it is that the Apostle speaks Gal. 2.20 and makes Christ the Fountain of it I live saith he that is I live the life of grace and yet not I but Christ liveth in me and this life which I live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved c. Secondly Christs people have from him the life of righteousness or the life of Justification which stands in opposition to the death in sin with relation to the guilt While the guilt of sin remains upon a man so long that person is a dead man so long he is dead in Law as we express it commonly he is bound over to eternal death and condemnation And thus it is with every man while he continues in the state of nature He is condemned to die and so in that respect is dead in the sentence of the Law although the sentence be not executed on him as our Saviour speaks John 3.18 He that believes not is condemned already But when a man is justified absolved and acquitted from the guilt
of all his sins he is no longer dead in Law but as a Malefactor that is pardoned his life is given him as we use to say And therefore it is stiled in Scripture the justification of life because it brings life to the person justified viz. that life that is opposed to condemnation the sentence or the doom of death For of that speaks the Apostle Rom. 5.18 the free gift came upon all to justification of life And this is made the gift of Christ and he is said to be the author and the fountain of this life in that place As by the offence of one that is of Adam judgement came upon all men to condemnation so by the righteousness of one that is of Christ the second Adam the free gift came upon all to justification of life Now is it so my Brethren that they that are Christs have life from Use 1 Christ here then examine in the first place whether you be Christs or no. If you belong to him I mean by real calling and incorporation you have received life from him You hear he hath received power from God the Father to this very end that he may give eternal life to as many as God hath given him And out of question he is not unfaithful in the administration of this power and the discharge of this trust Well then if you be his he hath given you this life he hath quickened you and raised you with himself you are partakers of his resurrection And therefore I beseech you search a little whether it be thus with you or no. It is a thing which may be known in some degree if you be diligent for the Apostle knew that the Ephesians and the Romans were alive that they were quickned from the death of sin And this he did by outward evidence and by the signs of life which he observed in them And we may much more know our own Condition and estate in this respect if we be not very wanting to our selves And therefore prove your selves my brethren whether you have the life of Christ in you and you may do it by these symptoms following First if you have received life from Christ you are strangely altered men some little alteration there may be in some respects and yet a man may scarcely note it or observe it in himself But when so great a change as this shall pass upon him it is impossible almost but he should feel it There be many alterations that may happen to a man in the passage of his life as custom and experience make a change and honour and preferment make a change a great change in some men especially in weak spirits and age and time and place and many other things do make a change But this infusion of the life of Christ into a person that was dead before is the greatest change of all It makes a man a new creature and that in all respects too which is a very great matter Old things are done away all things are become new 2 Cor. 5.17 He hath new thoughts and new affections new pleasures and delights studies desires ends purposes companions and acquaintance So that he is not now the same man that he was before When his old lusts his old temptations his old companions and acquaintance come to call upon him and think to find him as they did in former times he may answer them and say You are deceived for I am altered I am another man another creature I am not in the temper nor of the disposition that I was before Secondly If you have received life from Christ you have within you sharp desires after the food by which this life is nourished and preserved The word of God my brethren is the milk that feeds it which every child of God delights to suck 1 Pet. 2.2 And have you quick and stirring appetites to this milk do you as new born babes desire it do you thirst and long for it do you hunger after it so that you cannot be content without it is it pleasing to your palate delicious to your taste to feed upon it is an evidence of life But if there be no stomack to this kind of food if you be well content without it if you be never hungry if you find no taste at all in the good word of God but say of this as Israel of the Manna once Our souls loaths this light bread there is no weight no substance in it it is a sign you have not yet this light of Christ in you Thirdly If you have received life from Christ you are moved you are acted by the principles of that life Every kind of life my brethren hath principles agreeable to it inclining it to turn to that which suites with it and on the other side to turn from that which is destructive and contrary to it So hath the vegetative life the life of plants so hath the sensitive the life of beasts so hath the reasonable life the life of men and so hath the life of Christ the life of Saints Now this life of Christ my brethren hath principles exceedingly above the principles of any of those other sorts of life And so accordingly they that have this life from Christ do live by higher principles I will not say then those of plants or those of beasts but then those of men too those who are meerly men and no more who are not holy sanctified men Some men there are you know who live like beasts who melt away in sensual and voluptuous pleasures and delights who eat and drink and sleep and lust and satisfie their lusts and there is all And therefore they are said in Scripture to be brutish because the brute part in them over-powers the rational because they live and walk by brutish principles by the principles of beasts They do just as beasts do and many of them worse too as if they were to have the same end that beasts have And some of late have vented such doctrine as if the souls of men did perish with their bodies as the souls of beasts do Others there are who live like men indeed but it is like meer men as the Apostle speaks of the Corinthians 1 Cor. 3.3 Are ye not carnal and walk as men They live at best no higher then the principles of reason carry them and that is but a litt e way They bring them at the very utmost no further then the young man which our Saviour speaks of to be not far from the Kingdom of heaven or not so far as many others are but they can never bring them home But they that have received life from Christ my brethren live by nobler and diviner principles then these are such as are full of light and beauty such as carry on the soul to supernatural and spiritual things for the attaining and enjoying of the highest good They know what it is to live above the principles of beasts above the principles of men