Matth. 20.28 Oh! what an inestimable Ransom is that 3. The Nature of Christs Mediation His Work was not so easie and cheap as the Socicinians make it They make our Mediator to be a Messenger sent from God to make known his Will to the World Catech. Racov. de prophetico Christ munere or an Interpreter of his Mind But to what End doth the Apostle add this Who gave himself a Ransom for all if that was all But he who is that One and only Mediator between God and Man gave himself a Ransom for those who could never have redeemed their own Lives who lay under the Sentence of Death and Condemnation Let it not be tedious to you to read and ponder Heb. 9.14 15. How much more shall the Blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God The Offerer or Priest was Christ the Offering or Sacrifice was Himself Body and Soul even unto Death and Blood that which gave Efficiency and Power to the Offering was the eternal Spirit or Divine Nature he to whom it was offered was God who in Justice required and in Mercy accepted it for them who believe and repent to purge Conscience from Guilt and Pollution vers 15. And for this Cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament that by means of Death for the Redemption of the Transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called may receive the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance Here we have the Reason or Cause of Christ's Mediatory Office He is a middle Person dealing between both Parties God and Men and for both To God he gave himself a Ransom Nam ad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 officium non minus pertinent hominum vice apud Deum fungi quam Dei vice apud homines Grot. de Satisfactione Christi p. 172. which is a Satisfaction for Sin and sinful Men For them that are called he procured the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance the means by which he obtained Pardon for the sins of the Hebrews under the First Testament whereof Moses was a Typical Mediator and the eternal Inheritance for them who are called and believe was his Blood the Blood of Attonement And this great Work of Christ was performed by him as a Priest and so he is a Mediator in his Priestly Office and procures Peace and Reconciliation as a Priest and therefore as a Priest he is Mediator As a Priest he offered up himself to God in our sted and for our Good so he stood between us Sinners and the offended God and made Attonement and as Priest he appears for all that believe in him for he is an Advocate and makes intercession which he could not do if he were not the Propitiation for our sins 1 John 2.2 And so he is a Mediator between both for both for he is the Mediator of the New Testament having satisfied by his Death and Obedience for the Violation of the first Covenant made with Adam in the Guilt of which all Mankind are involved and for the sins of the Hebrews under the first Testament made with their Fathers which no Sacrifice could expiate or satisfie for All the Mercy and Goodness of God is conferred upon them that are called and brought to believe and obey him by a Testament or Covenant and all that Man is obliged to as Duty and Obedience is required in that Testament whereof Christ is Mediator And therefore some judicious Divines put this into the Description of the Office of Christ Mediator that Christ is the Person God-Man who doth confederate God and Man in the same Covenant of Grace Christianus Schotanus Disput 19. De Mediatore Thess prima Le Blanc Thess 1. An Christus sit Mediator secund utramque naturam p. 109. Tileni Syntagma de Incarnatione Fil. Dei Disput 1. Thess 4. and make them one again The whole Work of Christ as Mediator may be reduced to two Heads 1. To satisfie for the Breach of the first Covenant and redeem sinful Men from the Curse of it 2. To bring God and Man into another Covenant the Covenant of Grace and to make them one To this end it was necessary 1. That he should be a Mediator of Redemption and Reconciliation 2. That as God is one there should be one Mediator and so there is one and but one 1 Tim. 2.5 3. This one Mediator is said to be Man in this Text but not meer Man nor Mediator as Man only excluding the Divine Nature but the Man Christ Jesus He addeth to the Nature Man the Names Christ Jesus which contain the Nature and Person of the Son of God and signifie that wonderful Person Pet. Martyr administros Regn. Polonici L. Com. p. 1113. our Lord Jesus Christ The Words do not shew according to which Nature Christ is Mediator but that the Mediator is Man and that Jesus Christ is Man who bringeth us to God It is usual in Scripture to speak of the Person of our Mediator Jesus Christ by one of his Natures Genevenses Thes Theol. de Christo Med. Thes 27. p. 49. Centur. 1. not excluding the other from the Unity of the Person So by the Man Christ may be understood that Person who hath that Nature which is truly called Man and that for divers Reasons 1. That the Apostle would encourage us to put our Trust and Confidence in him Reverend Mr. J. Ball of the Covenant p. 269. as being our Elder Brother 2. To encourage us in the Duty of Prayer through the Mediator to which we are exhorted as knowing the greatness of that Power and Authority which Christ hath with his Father residing in our Nature 3. That it might appear that our Mediator was the same Christ or Messiah which was promised from the Beginning as the only Restorer of miserable Sinners the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.14 4. That no man to whom the Gospel is preached Nequis igitur se torqueat ubinam ille quaerendus Mediator aut qua via ad ipsum perveniendum hominem nominans propinquum imo contiguum nobis esse admonet quandoquidem caro nostra est Calvin Instit l. 2. c. 12. S. 1. 2. of any Condition or Quality whether in Authority or under Authority high or low rich or poor should be discouraged or terrified from seeking and accepting that Salvation which by the Gospel is proposed and offered to all Conditions of men seeing there is one Mediator for all as there is one God over all and good to all and that one Mediator is the man Christ Jesus who is near to us and bound not only by the bond of Nature as Man but by Office and Undertaking as Mediator Redeemer and Reconciler to save all that come unto him Now if you have cause to fear everlasting Destruction for want of a Mediator and Redeemer nor for want of Tenderness of Compassion or
Marriage Union and Relation John 3.29 1 Cor. 7.2 Mark 12.22 23. Luke 20.33 Of which afterwards II. To have the Son is so to have him as to have him for Eternal Life and so to have him as to have Life by him and from him To have him is unspeakably more than to have him as some think they have him To have the Son you shall hear is more than 1. To have him in your Eye by reading in your Ears by hearing in your Mouths by speaking you come to have him by means but many have means who have not him many have him in the Word and Ministry in the Church in the Creed who have him not in their Minds by spiritual and saving Knowledge nor in their Hearts by Love 2. To have him is much more than to have him in their Mouths and Profession Oh! how many hear him and have him standing at the Door knocking without and let him stand till he is weary of standing and knocking and they have no mind nor heart to listen rise and open having other Guests Friends Companions and things which they naturally and dearly love which they love better than him or that Life that true happy eternal Life which he comes to give to them that will have it Oh! How many have him as they who cried Lord Lord but did not the Will of God Or not as Thomas had him with Interest in and Affection to him My Lord and my God Oh! how many have him coming and going in the Word and Ministry that let him go as he came in at one Ear and out at another The Doors of the Heart are as open for him to go out as they were to let him in Oh! how many have him in their mouths as he is in their Belief in the Congregation as Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord who study not the meaning of what they say who shew nothing of him in their Conversation The Devil and rotten Communication may be oftner in their mouths than he except it be to tear his Wounds and prophane his Blood and to cause many to blaspheme that worthy Name by which they are called Oh! how many have him no further into their Souls than their minds and memories as a Stranger or Passenger that have him not in their Hearts as a Ruler or Dweller They have him as the Papists have the Crucifix hanging at their Necks and in their Bosoms that have him not within them by his Spirit for Life and Salvation And are they few who have him but as Judas had him and carnal and worldly Politicians have him for their private Ends to make merchandize of him And to say no more how many delay to have him till a convenient Season They say they intend to have him but they cannot yet determin when for he is held at too high a rate they cannot yet come up to the terms of Repentance and Self-denial When they cannot sin as they were wont they will repent and when they are upon a forced remove out of the World and must leave all then they will deny themselves This is plainly the Sense of them who do not flatly refuse to have him but are not resolved to have him as they must or not at all And that is as followeth Mark the Word it self He that hath the Son hath Life First the Son and then Life by him First Christ himself his Glorious Person full of Grace and Truth and then Life both or neither and both in this order and connexion of which a little more afterwards And then observe that to have the Son is all one as to believe in him John 3.15 16. And to believe on the Son with Trust and Reliance John 3.36 Or to receive him but to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe in his Name John 1.12 They who received first the Son had the Prerogative and Priviledge to become the Sons of God Upon our having the Son as invested in the Office of Mediator for which he put on our Nature we have Life the Benefit of his Redemption and Mediation To have him is to have him by the Application and Union of Faith There is a mutual Act between Christ and the Believer Christ exhibiteth himself unto us and we adhere and dwell in him B. Reynolds Life of Christ 4 to p. 461. saith one of our best Divines upon the Text. To have him is to believe and receive him as to have a Propriety in him and and after a sort a Possession of him as another of our Worthies doth express himself Mr. Ball of the Covenant p. 287. not by way of Dominion for so we are his 1 Cor. 6.19 but by way of Communion and Propriety To have him is to believe and receive him as he is made of God to us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 which are the Benefits of Christ as Mediator Worthy Mr. Firmin Real Christian Synopsis pur Theologiae de Officio Christi S. 38. and the gracious effects of his Offices as Prophet Priest and King For these things we need him and these things we have by him To have Christ is to act answerably to the Proposal offer of Christ and everlasting Life through him The matter will be more clear in Particulars I. To believe and to have the Son is to have him in our Understanding and Minds by a clear and unfeigned Assent to the Revelation and Proposal of Jesus Christ as Mediator and Redeemer The Understanding upon the convincing Evidence of what is reported concerning Christ and Life by him doth assent unto it and doth acknowledge the Wisdom and Grace of God in the way to Life Eternal That God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself 2 Cor. 5.19 That God set him forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood Rom. 3.25 is wonderfully approved of This is a faithful Saying that Jesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners and it is received and own'd as true and worthy to be believed When a Sinner is convinced of Sin and Death and that Life is out of his own reach and power and that he must receive it as a gift of Grace and Mercy and that the Author and Giver of Life hath set down this for a Law Rule That whoever would have Life must have Christ The Soul lays aside all Thoughts of coming to Life and Happiness any other way and subscribes to and approves of this wonderful Contrivance of giving eternal Life by Jesus Christ and of making it necessary to have Christ Much of the Nature and Work of Faith is seen in this Assent to and Approbation of this way of attaining Eternal Life And thus Faith may be understood to be an Approbation of the way to Life by its contrary unbelief express'd by a disallowance of God's prescribed way and means 1 Pet. 2.4 unto whom coming as
not the Knowledge of it and Wisdom in themselves to come to Christ And the Father draweth No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him John 6.44 2. The Son calls and puts out a mighty quickning Voice and raiseth the dead senseless Sinner to come to him for Life and he outwardly inviteth and draweth also Mat. 11.28 Come to me all ye that labour and are heavy laden c. He draweth objectively all Men to come unto him and all that come are drawn by him effectually John 12.32 And as all that the Father giveth him come unto him so he receiveth them and will in no wise cast off any that come unto him And then the Holy Ghost convincing the ignorant senseless lost miserable Sinner of Sin and Damnation and of Christ Righteousness and Salvation by him worketh Faith and the Heart to consent and receive and take Christ and so we come to have him The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Faith 2 Cor. 4.13 and the Cause of our Union For by one Spirit we are baptized into one Body and into Christ the Head of that one Body who puts Life and Spirit into every living member of it 1 Cor. 12.12 13. 3. The outward means of this Union are The Word of God and the Ministry of it I have espoused you unto one Husband that I may present you as a chaste Virgin to Christ 2 Cor. 11.2 If you desire to know yet further how you have Life The Answer is ready In or by having the Son Christ you have Life You have it in having him who hath received it and hath it for you You have it in him who is the Author Purchaser and Giver of Eternal Salvation He is our Life as the meritorious Cause as the Conservator and Fountain of it as the efficient Cause and Giver of it You have Life and Deliverance from Death Eternal by the Grant of Pardon and Righteousness You have the Life of Grace and Holiness by Union and Influence from him and there is a fulness of habitual Grace to supply you John 1.16 You have the Spirit in you Rom. 8.9 10. and you have the Life of Glory in the Bud Principle First-Fruits Promise and Hopes of it What shall I say You have Life in having Christ as a Branch in a Vine hath Sap and Vertue by being in the Vine as a Member of the Body from the Head as a Spouse hath all that she is endowed with by being espoused and married to the Husband All the incomparable Benefits of Christ come from Union with him As we have Christ now so we have Life now that is such Communications of Grace and Blessings as are convenient for our present state and in the Life to come a Crown of Life All All an incomprehensible All This Union doth not stand only in relation to Christ tho in every relalation there is some kind of Union but it is such an Union tho spiritual and mystical as these Terms are contradistinct to Corporal and Natural as a third one doth result from it But he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 That one Spirit which our Lord received not by measure that he might be the Head of his Body the Church The Mystery of our Union with Christ consisteth mainly in this That the self-same Spirit which is in him as in the Head is so derived from him into every one of his true Members that thereby they are animated and quickned to a spiritual Life The most reverend Ushers Sermon before the House of Commons 1620. p. 20. Lyford's Senses exercised 127. The same Spirit which was the immediate Conveyor of Grace to the Humane Nature of Christ is so to us Mr. Charnock 2 Vol. p. 134. is that one and same Spirit which teacheth guideth ruleth in and sanctifieth all and every one that by Faith are joyned to the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God To be one Spirit is to be united in the highest degree of Union The Union of one Believer to another is very near and close as of one Member of the same Body to another And this Union of every single Believer to the Body of the Catholick or Universal Church is by the Grace and Operation of the holy Spirit quickning and regenerating and all these living Members make one Body in Christ Christ the Head of the whole Body and the Head of Influence from whom they all receive spiritual life and growth and they who are joyned to him are one Spirit and from that one Spirit we have Grace to consent with Christ to will the same and to love and hate the same things to aim at the same End the Glory of the Father and to be govern'd by him against all Distractions and Oppositions that hinder us It was an entire and comfortable happy Union of the Primitive Church an Example to all succeeding Churches Acts 4.32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one Heart and one Soul neither said any of them that ought of the things he possessed was his own but they had all things common They were all of one Heart aimed all at one common Good in one common Action without any private Ends. This was a close Union of Hearts but the Expression of this Conjunction comes far short of that Spiritual real tho not essential Union between Christ and his gracious regenerate sanctified Members made One Spirit It was much to be of one Heart and Soul but it is more to be one Spirit This is the closest Union of all except the Essential Union of the Persons in the Godhead or the Hypostatical or Personal of the Second Person with the Humane Nature For one Believer doth not derive his Spiritual Life and Being from another nor depend upon one another for it but all receive it from their Head Christ and depend upon him for it although their being knit together is a means of their Growth Col. 2.19 And not holding the Head from which all the Body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God Our Union with Christ the Head is the closest because from him we all receive our Life and have nourishment ministred that we may increase with the increase of God And because our Union with Christ is most inward and strict therefore it is shadowed out under the Similitude of the streightest natural Union Cum itaque nostra cum Christo unio sit arctissima ea propter in Scriptura sub figura utriusque illius unionis nobis quasi adumbratur c. Cameronis Myrothec in Evang. Jo. 6.56 p. 149. of both See the excellent B. Reynolds Life of Christ and Mr. Polhil's Answer to Dr. S. of the Knowledg of Christ c. 4. s 1. p. 162. c. and his Treatise of Spiritual Union There is no stricter Union in the World than that of Christ to Believers 't is therefore compared to all kind
Christian are knit together our very Persons Soul and Body are coupled to the Person of Christ by the same Holy Ghost which dwelleth in him and in us 1 Joh. 4.13 Worthy Lyford p. 116. Hoornb Theol. practic l. 7. de Spirituali nostri cum Christo unione Zanch. in Ep. ad Ephes c. 3. De Spirituali Connubio A. B. Arm. Serm. before cited p. 19 20 21. And by him the Protestant Schoolman as a learned Person calls him Zanc. in c. 5. Ep. ad Ephes Q. 3. Thess 4. l. 3. Spiritualis connubii It was an high Dishonour that some did to Christ and injury to Souls that exposed the having acquaintance with the Person of Christ to the pleasure of vain ignorant Men or disgusted Palates at the Doctrin of God our Saviour We must not only know but have the Person of the Son as sent into the World to save Sinners as Mediator in the Execution of that Office as Prophet Priest and King as was said before But if any will ask How is it possible for us upon Earth to have the Son who is now ascended above all Heavens This Question or Objection was answered long ago by the renowned Vsher The Conjunction is Spiritual and Supernatural no Local Presence no Physical or Mathematical Continuity or Contiguity is requisite thereunto It is sufficient for the making of a real Union in this kind that Christ and we tho never so far distant in place each from other be knit together by those Spiritual Ligatures the quickning Spirit and a lively Faith wrought by the same Spirit A Wife is a Wife joyned in Marriage to her Husbands Person tho separate in divers Countries Subjects are related to the Person of their King and Politically united and enjoy the Benefit of his Government and pay Duty to him tho they never saw him But tho the Body of our glorious Redeemer be in Heaven his Person and his Spirit are in all that believe and with them whom having not seen yet believing ye live 1 Pet. 1.8 3. Every particular Believer who hath the Son hath Life and hath the Son for himself and by his own particular Faith as really and truly as the Catholick Church hath which is made up of all Believers What is the Universal Church but the Whole existing in Particulars The Text speaks in particular and not in general He that hath the Son hath Life Camero de Eccles p. 226. Itaque nullum est membrum corporis Christi ne vilissimo quidem judicio humamano quod non aeque Christum contingat atque illa quae sunt nobilissima c. quia Christus totius Ecclesiae singulorum Ecclesiaâ— membrorum Sponsus est and this having is an immediate having of him by every particular Believer for himself He that believeth shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned Mark 16.16 By this therefore let this Truth enter into your Hearts That every one of you not one excepted must have Christ for your own particular Life and Salvation Except we are living Stones living Members we are not Members of the Catholick Church The wise Virgins might as well have given of their Oyl to the foolish Virgins All Believers are immediately joyn'd to Christ one is not more united than another in the Body every Member is not proximly joyn'd to the Head but in Christ the meanest and weakest Believer is immediately joyned to him Rev. Mr. Burgess on 17 of John p. 589. as the Catholick Church give Life to any particular Member of it Christ is the Fountain of Life and except we have Life from him we are not Members of his Body the Catholick Church nor have Spiritual Communion with it Do not think of entring into Life by any new-invented Door or round about by which you shall not speed but come to him that hath Life and calleth you to come to him himself Make haste then for it is for Life 4. If he who hath the Son hath Life O what a Prize have they who have him They have him who is all Worth and Excellency A Pearl and nothing but Pearl There is no dross at all cleaving to him whose Head is of the most fine Gold Cant. 5.11 Yea he is altogether lovely all Desires Most desirable and most desirable for this that he is good to make a Man that is dead to live O what a Prize have all that have him They have Life What an Immense Loss was that of Adam's losing Life and Goods God and Creatures Soul and Body But now behold all that was lost is recovered All was sunk in the Sea of Perdition Man and his whole Estate of Happiness but now all regained and brought to Light he hath brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel Is there any thing to be given in exchange for a Soul Here is now a Jewel more valuable than a World Here 's Life with the Lord Jesus Christ Such a Life as none should live without but those miserable condemned ones who cannot have it The loss of it will be lamented for ever How joyful should the Souls be that have it Let us make merry saith the Prodigal's Father for this my Son was lost but is found was dead but is now alive O how glad should we be of having this Life For it was lost and is now found and shall never more be lost O value value Christ and what is to be had with him He is infinitely better than your selves and by him you have the best of the best of things Life is more precious than all things but this Life is the Crown of Life 4. You who have Christ owe more to him than to all the World Parents have done nothing for you in comparison of Christ they were Instruments of giving Life to you but they were also unhappy Instruments of Sin and of bringing Death upon you and when they had made you miserable and brought you into a World of Misery and Danger of Sin of every Sin and of Temptation They never sweat drops of Blood nor shed their Blood to save you They reckon they have done much in nursing and bringing you up and giving you a Portion of such perishing things poor stuff as they have But the Son of God who never did you harm and whom you never obliged to do you good sorrowed pray'd wept sweat drops of Blood yea died a cursed Death to save you from everlasting Death and to procure everlasting Life What have Physicians done for you or can they do but give some ease and some relief and for a few days prolong your natural Life Did they ever bear your Sorrows or raise your Dead or make your recovered Lives the happier But the Son hath born our Griefs and by his Stripes we are healed There 's a way of healing and all the happiness of life he provided for you What can Kings and Princes do for you VVe acknowledge the Blessing of Peace and Protection under
them Thousands yea Millions of Lives are lost in their Quarrels and Wars But here is the Son who saves his Subjects Lives raiseth their dead Bodies to Life he is the Prince of Peace and Life and he that believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting Life O what love and thanks shall be render'd to the Father of Mercy for his Son and to the Son for Life 5. Then here is good News to Sinners that are sensible of sin that know somewhat of the Death which they deserved and that fear it that desire Life and long for it but fear and doubt if not despair of Life O Souls here 's good News for you for Christ and Life are both to be had If you would have Life you must have Christ and if you have Christ you have Life both Christ and Life are to be had Life may be had O! if the Soul cry out and say How how is Life the Life of my Soul to be had The Spirit of God hath told you and his Servant John He that hath the Son hath Life the way to have Life is to have Christ Have him and you have Life that is most certain If the Soul pant and faint and pine for Life and cry out O when shall I be so happy as to live The Answer is ready As soon as you have Christ so soon you shall have Life Long long for Christ then make haste and come he will receive the Soul whom necessity drives 6. The way of having life is very wonderful and high yet attainable It is by Christ and by having Christ God gives life eternal life to his beloved ones but not one of them is fit to keep it for himself much less for others it is in his Son The Son comes down from Heaven in our Natures and he must die or we cannot have it We are dead and love Death in loving the way of Death and we are under the power of Murderers and Destroyers nay more we are under a Law of Sin and Death under the Curse of God Christ could cast out Devils with a Word and destroy the Destroyers without pain or shedding one drop of Blood but he could not deliver us from Death under the Sentence and Curse of the Law but by Blood The life of pardon by forgiving Sin was by precious Blood for without the shedding of Blood there is no remission of Sin Heb. 9.22 Behold how costly a life is our life Whence comes it From Heaven By whom by the Son By the imputation of his merit infusion and communion of his Spirit Per imputationem sc quae faciunt ad justificationem partim per participationem quae pro nostra sanctificatione gloria So those great Divines agree Bp. Reynold 's Life of Chr. and Hoornbeck as before p. 801. How by the Son By his Death and Life Passion and Resurrection From what O wonder at it it is life fetcht out of the Fire out of Death and Hell pluckt out of the Jaws of Devils and secured from all Dangers and Hazards but then he who hath it hath the Son 7. Then he who hath Christ is happier in having Christ than all other Persons in the World for he and he alone hath life when and while all other Persons are dead dead in Law dead in Sin dead to God and dead to their own Souls Good 8. Then the only sure and ready way to escape Death and to be sure of Life is to have Christ to come to him to believe in him and make him your own You know the ordinary way is that of the rich Man Good Master what good thing shall I do that I may inherit life Mat. 19.16 Memorable is the Relation of blessed Bilney's Conversion As the Woman in the Gospel had consumed all she had upon Physicians and yet was still worse and worse till she came to Christ c. Before I came to Christ I had likewise spent all I had upon ignorant Physicians they appointed me Fastings Watchings buying of Pardons and Masses c. But at last I heard speak of Jesus even then when the N. Testament was put forth by Erasmus At first I was allured to read rather for the Latin than for the Word of God At the first reading I hit upon the Sentence of St. Paul O most comfortable Sentence to my Soul It is a faithful Saying c. 1 Tim. 1.15 This did so exhilerate my Heart wounded with the guilt of my Sins insomuch that my bruised Bones leapt for joy And then I learnt that all my Travels all my Fasting and Watches all the Redemption by Masses and Pardons without Faith in Christ were but an hasty and swift running out of the way or like sowing Fig-leaves c. Neither could I be relieved or eased of the sharp stingings of my sins before I was taught of God that as Moses lift up the Serpent in the Wilderness c. That whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting Life c. B. of Martyrs 2 Vol. Letter to Tonstale The way he approved of was hard and he went a great way in it but there was a harder way and he could not find in his Heart to take it Souls Souls the way is but one and it is very fair save your pains of Pilgrimages and Cords and all the devised ways of human Reason and Superstition The way you know and me you know said our Saviour So say I because his Word saith so Have Christ and you shall live 2. Use of Exhortation to you all to have the Son O that I could perswade you to have Christ and to have him for Life and so to have him as to have Life by him Oh! how many have but Notions of him Some know not as much as the meaning of his Names and Office and such as their Faith is such their Life is A Notional Faith can have but a conceited Life an imaginary Life such as will last no longer but while they neglect their Salvation and receive the Grace of God in vain O have him as you have been taught what it is to have him I beseech you go along with me and set Consideration on work while I perswade you and then I will answer what you desire to know Arguments drawn from necessity and that extream and from advantage and gain and loss and both the greatest are very prevailing Let the greatest Wit in the World think if he can what is more necessary or equally necessary What Gain comparable to the gain of Life eternal Or what loss can come into a comparison with a loss of Life Who can number the Reasons to perswade you to have the Son for your Saviour and if you weigh them all other things are lighter than Vanity being put in the Ballance with them This one Reason should perswade us to have Christ because our life and all those good great and glorious things contained in life is first in Christ and
from him in all that have him Life is first in God So often the great Evangelical Dr. Sibs Expos on the 4 c. 2 Ep. to the Corinth So in the Excellency of the Gospel above the Law p. 418. c. then in Christ Mediator and then in us who believe All our Mercies Blessings Comforts of all kinds and degrees from Election to Glorification are first in Christ and from him to us Therefore in having him you have all as in a Fountain as large as an Ocean running in a full stream to Eternity O what a thing is this life It is everlasting life begun in Faith in Christ and Regeneration running up hill a marvellous cross and hard passage against mighty and unwearied opposition of Satan and the VVorld and our indwelling Corruption labouring to choak it at the very mouth of it in our Sanctification till it run into the vastness of immeasurable Eternity Mark what it is called It is Life it is a life of Sentence as the Reverend Dr. Sibs often calls it or Absolution from the Sentence of the Law and Death It is a life of Grace from Christ by his Spirit kindled in a dead Nature and this is the Spring of Heavenly Glory The least Beam of the light and life of Grace has more Glory in it than all the VVorld on this side Heaven can shew It is for the Excellency of it called The life of God Ephes 4.18 And the life of Jesus 2 Cor. 4.10 11. For we which live are alway delivered unto unto Death for Jesus sake that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal Flesh Nature teacheth Men to prize life above all things therefore life whether of Sense or Reason is the best thing in Nature's Orb But for the life of Grace and Glory Grace teacheth Faith which is called a wise Grace by that named Divine teacheth a gracious Man who is the best of Men to lose his life for Grace and eternal life For we which live are always delevered unto Death for Jesus sake c. And will not this move you to have Christ the Son and life with him VVhat do you stick at Do you know that if you have the Son he must have you and that you must forsake your Sins and all the World at his Call And will you stick at these things O what an Act of Grace Mercy Pity and love is it in Christ to receive and have you If Christ have you not the Devil will and your Enemies shall and will have you What should I speak of Sin and the pleasures of Sin and all the Vanities under the Sun Will you stick at these And not part with them at the first word that you may have Christ and Life I will only say to you if every Hair of your Head were a life of Pleasure Wit Mirth Diversion Riches and Honour you should part with them all for this life of Grace and Glory Christ paid more for your Redemption for life than all the lives in the whole World are worth If you will not forsake Sin your loathsom Disease for life and spiritual Health If you will not deny your selves in your Vanities for Christ and the hopes of Glory how many drops of Blood would you have shed for your own Redemption if such a price had been set upon your own Souls Now Christ and Life are offered you for having how cruel and merciless are you to your precious Souls that will not have them And O! how happy for ever shall you be if you have life and that more abundant more abundant in duration and confluence of all things to make you fully and for ever happy Hearken again That which is to be had is life eternal it is the life of life who can describe it This life is but a Vapour which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away James 4.14 It fleeth as it were a shadow Job 14.2 The natural life is sustained by corruptible earthly matter The spiritual life is a noble Heaven-born life but encumbred with a mixture of much evil while upon Earth A life rooted in Christ or it could not continue a life of continual Contention and Warfare much clouded and distracted with vain Thoughts Doubts Fears Unbelief Cares for the body for the Morrow and things of this life It hath its good days and times foresights and foretastes of Heaven in Communion with God and Christ by the Spirit in Ordinances it hath its Victories Peace Increase Comforts and Supports by the way But when Time is run out into Eternity and the new Man grown into a perfect Man then life will appear to be life indeed That life is a life all of Grace and Holiness without one dark or vain thought or indwelling Sin A life like God's in conformity to him a life of Vision perfect Union and Communion A life free from any thing that shall cause Trouble and Repentance A life without Care for what we shall eat or wherewith we shall be clothed Immortality and Glory shall be our Clothing and the living God that is a full infinite Fountain shall be our life A life full of God Goodness Holiness Light Peace Joy and satisfaction for ever It is happy now to walk with God and to be under Grace O what will it be to be for ever with the Lord When Adam took his Death by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil he would have made his way to the Tree of Life but that he was kept off by a Flaming Sword But all that have Christ shall live upon him as upon a Tree of life which will yield all manner of Fruit and satisfie every blessed one with blessedness Have Christ and you shall have eternal life immediately upon your believing in Christ your Head Your Soul shall enter into eternal life upon your Dissolution and Body as well as Soul shall have eternal life at the Resurrection Q. But some may desire to know How they may come at this Eternal Life A. The Text is your Direction for that Have the Son and you have Life Q. But how shall I come to have the Son 1. A. The original and first Cause of our having the Son and so the first way by which we have him is by God's gracious Act of giving us his Son As he gave him for us to be a Saviour so he gives him to every Soul prepared by Grace and that is the Work of the Holy Ghost and so we have him The Spirit of Grace gives to every one that hath Christ understanding to know him and a heart to receive him and when we receive him Whatsoever is wrought in Man it is by the Spirit all comes from the Father as the Fountain and through the Son as Mediator but whatsoever is wrought it is by the Holy Ghost in us Excel Dr. Sibs as before p. 579. Grace is in the Father as a Fountain in Christ as Treasurer in the Spirit as
Son seeing that is no less than to put off the having of Life Who would run his Life upon such an Hazard seeing their are so many Enemies that seek our Damnation and work it by gaining the time of our delaying Can any Business or Pleasures in the World be thought of that Consequence as for them to venture the loss of eternal Life Many Men given much to the Pleasures and Vanities of Life have cast them off and fallen to the study of the Law or to follow their Business when but some Branch of their Estates have been in Question much more when the whole was in Danger Oh! how diligent and wise for the World and careless for a World to come are Men Put on Consideration and know for certain that the greatest matters of care and diligence meet in this one Life for this Life comprehends in it the whole of a Man's Estate He who hath not Life hath lost all in one and both these inestimable things and both these inestimable things an everlasting Kingdom an Heavenly Treasure a Crown of Life and Glory and that Life in the possession whereof the blessed Saints shall rejoyce for ever and in the privation of which the miserable and damned shall weep and lament for ever And this Punishment of Privation of Life will be the more intolerable when it shall come upon the Unbeliever for this Cause of his not having the Son For not having the Son who is the Son of God's love infinitely amiable and dear to all that love their own Nature for he is the Son in our Nature and now in our Nature glorified All Men think themselves honoured in the Honour of their Blood and Kindred and esteem the Person that is advanced But such is the Nature of Unbelief that it moves to no Estimation or Love to our Lord in Glory who hath promised Glory to all that believe and follow him and can see no excellency in him who is highly exalted and hath a Name that is above every Name The not having of the Son is upon Refusal and Contempt in Deeds if not in Words And because this Privation of Life is for Unbelief and Refusal the loss will be the greater for the Punishment of Unbelief must needs be great because Unbelief is a great sin and we need not go further than this Text to prove it Unbelief and not having is the undervaluing neglecting and refusing the only two things that cannot be valued the Son of God and everlasting Life O that I could say something that may enter and stick to the Heart Hath God been pleased to make manifest the Mystery of Redemption by Jesus Christ which hath been hid from Ages Col. 1.26 and now will ye not look into it but reject the Counsel of God as the Lawyers did against themselves Luke 7.30 Hath God so loved the World that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish and now he is sent to you who have as much need of him as any in the World will you not have him Is there Salvation in no other and will you not have him Do you no more value the Grace and Love of God in his Son Christ Nor the love of Christ in humbling himself unto Death even the Death of the Cross for you And now he is at the Right Hand of God in possession of his Kingdom and is able to save all that come to God by him and will you not have him and Life by him Oh then you must perish Then you must have no part in the Tokens of God's everlasting Love no Saving Benefit of all the Cost our Lord hath been at to redeem you no Joy or Consolation by the Spirit no Communion with Saints in Glory nor Light Rest Peace in your own Souls for ever No pardon of Sin or Peace and Comfort by it nor any other Blessing of Grace Obj. But some may say If I have not Life then I shall die A. So you shall But you hope you shall be extinct and be no more but that shall not be eternal Death will not be like the blowing out of a Candle which shall never be lighted again No if you are Unbelievers and Atheists of that sort the everlasting Pain and Torment shall convince you of your wicked Error and of the loss of not having Life And this should be a 2. A Second effectual Motive to have Christ and Life for else you shall not have Life but enough of Death the first moment Oh! how bitter and dreadful will it be to Eternity All they that hate me love Death Prov. 8. vers ult They love the way and the sins which deserve it This shall be the Punishment of all Unbelievers Oh! who would make light of Christ and Life that shall be condemned if they have him not to Death Eternal Death A word containing innumerable and endless Evils The loss of God and Heaven will be a Death The sight of Hell and Devils with Millions of Workers of Iniquity under Condemnation will be Death Death not an End of the Sinner but of his Happiness If the Flames shall never be quenched as they shall not as Christ hath declared whose word is true Mat. 25.41 And this everlasting Fire is called everlasting Punishment vers 46. If the Punishment shall be everlasting it will follow that they who are punished must live in it and endure it for ever And Men may as well say that the blessed of the Father shall not go into everlasting Life as that the wicked shall not go into everlasting Punishment As long as the Punishment shall endure they shall endure that have deserved it and shall be condemned to it Oh! what a cursed Death will this be Oh! how miserable will an immortal Body be with an immortal Soul All the Miseries of the Damned are set forth by the Name of Death Every drop of the Rivers of Brimstone every Spark of the unquenchable Fire every Tear that the Damned shall drop every Gnash of their Teeth every Bite of the Worm will be a Death O Death How full of Stings This Death will be a Death of Separation from God and Good When Christ shall bid the wicked depart from him then all presumptuous Thoughts all fond Imaginations all vain Hopes all carnal Confidences and all that ever they deceived themselves withal shall depart from them and under this Death they shall weep and roar for ever Now if the Life everlasting with God in Heaven were no better than a Prisoners Life upon Earth or of a Persecuted Protestant kept from Sleep and tortured by Dragoons the Devils black Regiments and bare-fac'd Wolves the Consideration of this fearful Death should make all Men that have any Consideration desire and prefer the Son's Grace before the whole World But when the Life that is entail'd upon Believers is a Son's Life in the Kingdom of God an Heirs of Life what desperate Folly and Madness is it for any
Christ alone our Life THE GREAT CASE Of Every Man's LIFE and DEATH Determin'd by the Sentence of God In 1 John 5.12 Opened and applied in a SERMON Preach'd in the Sessions-House at Northampton Sept. 9th 1690. to some Prisoners the Day before their Execution And now Published with Enlargements for the further Benefit and Service of Souls With a Narrative of the Behaviour of the Prisoners By EDWARD PIERCE M.A. Rector of Cottesbrook in Northamptonshire LONDON Printed for Jonathan Robinson and are to be Sold by Thomas Pasham Bookseller in Northampton 1691. To the Honourable Sir James Langham Kt and Baronet my most Honoured Patron Sir William Langham of Walgrave John Thornton of Brockhole Esq Grace and Eternal Life Most Honoured Sirs THE Reasons for the Honour and Service which I owe to every of your Persons are more than I shall declare or than you desire should be declared I should not have grac'd these few Sheets with your Names but that I hope to make some advantage of them for those that shall be in such unhappy Circumstances of the Prisoners who were the occasion of my preaching upon this Argument by proposing you as Examples to Gentlemen of Quality and Goodness who shall bear the Office of High-Sheriffs as you have done The first of you considering the Charge committed to you by the Law of the Bodies of Prisoners and the Power you had over the Prison judged it to be a great Duty to take care of their precious Souls as if they had been a part of your Houshold Having a large room in the Hearts of able good Ministers you made use of it and easily obtained their pains of Preaching Weekly in the Prison They were all Licensed Preachers and of Eminency in the Country beside the Reverend Dr. Ford then Minister in the Town But before your Year expired this Light in the dark place was put out by one who should rather have set up Light in it if you had not It could not be for not reading the Liturgy which all did nor for want of a Liturgy for the Goaler had got A.B. Laud's which was sent into Scotland and put that Kingdom into a Flame This Sir you so tenderly resented that had it not been so near the end of your Shrievalty you would have tried his Power in that House which was as your own for that year But then as about three years before and after it was the Policy of Rulers to countenance no more preaching than would consist with the Design then subtily covered but afterwards revealed Great care was taken that Zeal in Religion should not disturb the Quiet of the State and they were made use of to put out the Candles who were of all men most obliged to keep them burning in Conscience to God and Love to Souls There was then in the Goal a large Room next the great Parlour which look'd to the Street and a Pulpit in it with a Gallery above Stairs at one end of it as I remember and other Conveniences for the Prisoners and others tho then it was hard for any of the Town to get admittance except they were Friends or could make acquaintance in the House and there was Six Pound per Annum paid to a Preacher for preaching once a Month as I remember given by Sir Francis Nicholas and your old Acquaintance in Em. Col. And my sincere Religious Friend Mr. William Holms received it many years for Preaching there But since the dreadful Fire there is a very fair House built that stands in good Air open to the Fields on one side which make a pleasant prospect well contrived for all Offices and Vses but there is no Room proper nor fit for preaching I presume the Salary is paid but it is more than I know that there is as much as one Sermon in a year preached for it After the Fire the Goal was removed into a strait House and since that more good may have been done in the Prison than I can tell of by private Visits especially by the Excellent Dr. Conant who was much taken up in those private Exercises of his Ministry but the Office of Salvation as Martyr Latimer calleth the preaching of the Word hath been shut up there And I wish that some like to your self may open it again and others keep it open The Second of you in few years succeeded your Elder Brother and there being no extraordinary Goal in your Year there was no extraordinary pains to be taken especially remembring how that compassionate Act of your Brothers was check'd and controul'd and you must needs have undergone a Contest with the same Power which was so lately exerted against the ordinary great means of Salvation then in the same person whom you at a publick Table heard speak contemptibly of Preaching and therefore could not expect the favour of a Connivance from him But Sir be pleased to take a share in this little Present because of the Encouragement you have given me speaking very kindly of my Performances in this kind when you have heard first from others and then took a particular Account of them from my self The Third of you succeeded the Second the very next year if I am not much mistaken and when you saw your time revived the Exercise and set up most of the same Lights which had been taken down before in the same place to shew the involuntary Inhabitants of it a way to prevent and escape their greatest Dangers And you met with no Interruption It is happy when poor Prisoners fall under the Care and Custody of such Men as know that there are immortal sinful Souls in those Bodies of which they must give an account by their Place The greatest of their Miseries is That they are shut up from the publick Light and means of Salvation therefore mercy on their Souls is the greatest mercy that can be shewed unto them And when all Acts of Charity shall come in remembrance even this to the Souls of men upon which commonly least Cost is bestow'd will be found the greatest The Lord God of Grace put it into the Hearts of Gentlemen to be thus merciful to Souls in Bonds whether in Prison or out of Prison And Honoured Sirs whatsoever you have done or have procured the doing of in this excellent kind will turn to your best account The Objects of all other Charities are mortal Bodies but the Objects of this are immortal Souls and to help to ransom them from the power of Devils is a nobler Work than to ransom Slaves from Heathens whose greatest misery is that they are in the hands of the Enemies of Christ Yet tho outward Charities must by no means be neglected nor intermitted for there is a Charge to be laid upon rich Men to be rich in good works 1 Tim. 6.17 18. And upon all and every man 2 Cor. 8.7 Every man according as he hath purposed in his heart so let him give c. yea even he who laboureth with
largeness of Heart towards you as well as Power to save you Your Destruction is of your selves your Ignorance of him your Unbelief and neglect of great Salvation None of you doubt of the All-sufficiency of Jesus Christ to save you because he is but one one Mediator and one Man And how can one save miriads of men so many as are past number from their sins which are numberless and infinite in respect of the Object against whom they are committed If that Antichristian Cavil of Socinus should come by the Suggestion of Satan Johan Maccovii Anti-Socinus c. 2. to be a doubt in the Heart of any To help you against that Temptation and to answer the Cavil of that Man that hath mudded and and disquieted the pure Water of Life flowing from Jesus Christ take these Considerations 1. It must be acknowledged that all the men in the World cannot satisfie for the Sins of any one man or redeem any one Soul much less can any one meer man give a Ransom for all But the man Christ Jesus our Lord is such a man as gave himself a Ransom and it was accepted for all therefore it was all-sufficient It deserved not to be called a Ransom if it were not sufficient nor accepted But it is called a Ransom for all in common all that shall be saved are saved by vertue of the same Mediator and the same Ransom therefore it was sufficient If the Ransom had not been sufficient Christ could not have been Mediator and Saviour but he is Mediator and Saviour therefore his Ransom was sufficient for all 2. The man Christ is not a particular Person an Individual as humane Persons are but the Son of God took the Humane Nature existing in that one Soul and Body unto Union with his own Divine Person and taking the entire humane Nature he is not a particular man subsisting himself but truly the Seed of the Woman Gen. 3.15 and so an Head of all that shall be saved as Adam was the Head of all that died in him 3. The singular Humane Nature of Jesus Christ was never alone and separated from the Infinite Person of the Son of God but was assumed into Personal Union with him in the instant of his Conception and Creation and so he was always the Son of God and the Son of God paid the Ransom and it was of infinite Value equal to the Offence of man and the Justice that required it 4. Mark that the Apostle saith there is one God and one Mediator as certain as there is one God so certain there is one Mediator between God and man and this said long after the Mediator had paid the Ransom and offered himself without Spot to God and had obtained the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance If he had failed in his Undertaking and not performed all things required for our Redemption he had been no Mediator and by consequence there had been no Covenant of Grace between God and man nor had there been any Advocate with the Father nor any Promise of the eternal Inheritance and it must have been as the Apostle argues If Christ be not risen our preaching is vain and our Faith vain and we had been still in our sins But there is a Mediator a Covenant of Grace an Advocate with the Father even Jesus Christ the Righteous who is the Propitiation for our sins therefore the ransom which he paid was satisfactory for all that are saved and by consequence tho Christ be but one Mediator he is sufficient for all These things being thus explained I shall draw up the rest into a little room I. The Son of God whom you must have that you may live is by Nature God and man two distinct Natures infinitely distant one from another in themselves are united in one Person to perform the Office of a Mediator and Redeemer that by his Mediation and Redemption he may be a Saviour As the Son of God he is a middle Person in the Trinity being the Second As the Son of God in the Flesh he is a middle Person appointed by God and by his own voluntary Consent transacting between God and sinful man for the Glory of God and Salvation of them that believe Thus he is wonderfully sitted for that wonderful work In him the Godhead and Manhood are one by personal Union As God he is concerned to repair the Honour of God as Man he is concerned for men for all that are given him by the Father to be saved He is distant from both from man as he is God from God as he is man Reverend and judicious Ball of the Covenant and yet with both by the Personal Union of the Divine and Humane Nature He is Emmanuel God with us God-man There is no other Mediator but him for there is none fit for the Work but him What was inconsistent with the infinite Perfection of God he did and suffered for God's Glory and in man's stead and for his good in the Humane Nature what was above the ability of the Humane Nature to perform and obtain he was enabled to do as God The Son of God carried him as man and as Son of man through all the Difficulties of his Work 2. The Son of God performed his Office of Mediator or Redeemer in a threefold Capacity or he executed his great and general Office in a three-fold Office of Prophet Priest and King and in each of these he acted and acteth as Mediator between God and man and for both And from these particular Offices he is called Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is his Name is as a Saviour Mat. 1.21 Christ as the Messiah anoynted by the Holy Ghost fitting ting him for his Offices that he might save his People and Lord as he is our supream King Ruler and Defender as Prophet he reveals to us the Will of God by his Word and Spirit and so he saves us from our Ignorance and Folly As Priest he made Attonement satisfied the Justice of God and delivered all that believe from the Curse and makes continual Intercession and so we are saved from the guilt of Sin and Condemnation and obtain the remission of Sin by him As King we are subdued and converted to the Obedience of God governed and preserved to his everlasting Kingdom and so we are saved from the power of Sin and the hand of all Enemies In short we are taught and perswaded effectually to come to God we are reconciled justified and accepted we are converted and subdued preserved governed and kept by him through Faith to Salvation The necessity of knowing him the Excellency of this Knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord and the Honour due to his Name who hath a Name above every Name hath kept me thus long upon this Branch of this Excellent Subject and yet I leave out many things This is the Son Now followeth the next Particular What it is to have the Son This Word to have is often used to express
thou any Sense left Any desire of Happiness and Heaven or fear of Hell O then take up the serious Thoughts of the Life of the World to come of Glory and Immortality and apply thy self to Jesus Christ not slightly and ineffectually but betimes and earnestly Thou shalt find no Discouragement from him but most gracious Inclinations and assurance of being received into his Bosom and Arms as a Saviour of them that believe And know for certain that if thou come short of Eternal Life Quamvis fides non fit nisi ex Dei dono hominis voluntate infidelitas tamen non est nisi ex sola hominis voluntate Prosp Responsa ad Cap. Gallorum p. 330. it is thy own Sin and Fault and the remembrance of that thy Sin of making light of Christ will lie heavy upon thee to Eternity as the main Cause of thy Damnation 6. In what Honour and Reputation should the Son of God be had in the World seeing as was Prophesied of him by Simeon to the Mother of our Lord that should be for the fall and rising again of many in Israel Luke 2.33 He will raise up all that are humble and poor and broken in Heart that come unto him that they may have Life but he will be by his Justice and Power the fall of all them that refuse him If Christ be so high and great that the eternal Life and eternal Death of all be in his Hand O! what seeking should there be unto him for Life and Mercy What crowding to his Doors What knocking and lifting up of Eyes Hands Voices Hearts to the Throne of Grace for Life And how would Christ be reverenc'd and fear'd admir'd and magnify'd sought unto and lov'd if Men would believe that he is the Prince of Life and the Author of eternal Salvation Heb. 5.9 O how would it be said Happy is that Man that hath him first It is the Will of his Father that all Men should honour the Son as they honour the Father but how true is that that they who believe not honour neither the Father nor the Son no tho he have Life and Death in his Power How will Petitioners for Pardons from a King gratifie even Door-keepers and Friends that can make way for them How will the proudest Knee come down to the King himself 7. Then hence be satisfied in the true cause of the Damnation of Sinners Sinful Man takes himself to be wise in shifting off the true Cause of his Miseries and Sufferings which come upon him from himself upon others The Woman that thou gavest me c. Gen. 3.12 Adam doth not only cast the Blame upon the Woman but upon God himself Which thou gavest me If thou hadst not given me the Woman I had never eaten But now this Text is of great use to carry us to the proper Cause of Perdition the true reason why Sinners die is because they have not the Son And if this be the Cause of Perdition then as you love Life and hate Death do all that God commands you to prevent your Damnation in the Cause of it The means of Grace are the open and beaten way of Life O! keep that way with care and diligence 8. Then how inexcusable will all Unbelievers be before God's Tribunal that have not Life They shall then know what a Life what a Pearl they have lost And the more inexcusable the greater will the shame of their being placed on the left Hand be and the more their shame the more grievous will their Torment be They should have had Christ and he was made known and offer'd as the Author of Eternal Salvation and Salvation and Damnation were set out before them but they neglected the Son of God and lost Eternal Life by wilful neglect The Cause of the Death of Sinners is slighting of Christ Mat. 22.5 Neglecting of great Salvation Heb. 2.3 Refusing to hear Christ Heb. 12.25 Scriptures quoted but little before But Soul to whom I speak what think you Is a Saviour to be neglected when there is but one and no other Is the Salvation of Soul and Body to be neglected when thou hast but one of a kind one Body and one Soul Is Life Eternal to be neglected when there is but one day of Salvation and when that is once gone not one moment to be added to it They who in the Parable of the Wedding-Feast are said to make light of Christ are the good Husbands and Men of Business in the World who could spare no time from their careful Occasions to spend in seeking nay in accepting the Grace and Favour of God and Communion with him who had made great preparation for them We should let all things lie rather than neglect the momentous Affairs of a better and more enduring Life Oh! then how do they neglect it and make light of Christ who are Men of Pleasure and Diversion who have so much time lying upon their hands that they are glad of such Persons and Occasions as will help them to consume it And how can they who throw away this Life save that which is to come And with what Shame and Confusion will they go out of the World and come out of their Graves to be judged by the Judge of the whole World who offered them a dearly purchased Pardon and Life What a Mad-man would you account him to be who hath no more life to spend than what runs between Condemnation in Law and execution in Judgment that would spend that precious time in stead of securing his precious Life upon his Hair his Cloaths in reading Plays in Drollery Songs Racing Gaming the News of the Town fruitless Disputations Contentions Quarrelling and Fighting Oh! What time have we but the time of Patience and long-suffering which we should count Salvation 2 Pet. 3.15 That is a time for us to take hold of eternal life All are condemned already that do not believe John 3.18 But if Judgment be not speedily executed shall we live after the Flesh this time Then we must die Rom. 8.13 How bitter will Death be after a Life of Pleasure and when this shall be a continual Aggravation to make it the more bitter that eternal life was lost through neglect How mad are worldly Men with themselves if they lose a Fortune as they speak or a Place of Profit or Honour by being out of the way at a convenient season Oh! how will they rave when they go to Hell for the loss of life by negligence and folly 9. One Inference more and so to other Uses Hence you may plainly see what is the great Duty and Interest of all Men whatsoever to whom the Word of Salvation is sent it is to have and to secure to themselves the having of Jesus Christ for have Christ have life and all spiritual Blessings all kind of promises of all kind of good but no Christ no Life What is every natural Man's business in the World but to live in