are blessed with this in Christ Jesus 6. Another Spiritual Blessing is this A reserved Inheritance of all full and Spiritual and comprehensive blessednesses My friends here we have to allude to the people of Israel in the wilderness it may be some few Cottages or Tabernacles that are transitory as those People had some moving resting-places Here is a little grace planted a little faith and a little love and this grows up pretty likelily and pretty promisingly but what is this to the inheritance where that which is in part shall be done way where there is no such thing as grace in part no such thing as love in part no such thing as joy in part no such thing as communion in part for that which is in part shall be done away I think the Apostle speaks fully to our purpose where he tells us of an inheritance reserved 1 Pet. 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ You see the Apostle mentions the same Relations that are here in the Text why what is the matter Blessed Peter Why says he the matter is this The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you verse 4. Why friends what is this inheritance Why there I shall inherit the Covenant in its fulness I shall not say that either I want any Law in my heart or in my Head in my inward or in my outward man I shall have no reason to complain that I want the least blessing of the least promise Why Christians this is your inheritance and are not here Spiritual Blessings that are the proper matter of this Inheritance Now the Apostle tells us that he hath blessed us with this in Christ verse 11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to â—he purpose of him that worketh all things after the Counsel of his own will How far Christ is concerned in this Spiritual blessing â—ou may easily observe if so be that you â—ither consider the type or the antitype as â—o the type which was Joshua or Jesus Moâ—â—s must not bring the people into their Inheritance indeed in Moses's Time they might have some Bunches of the Grapes of the good land but Moses must not bring them in it must be Joshua that must bring them in So I say my Friends it is not this or that or the other but the Lord Jesus alone that must bring his people into the possession of this reserved inheritance here is indeed a Cluster of Spiritual Blessings infinitely exceeding all the capacities of the Sons and Daughters of men though most of all inlightned by the Spirit to comprehend in whom says he we have obtained an Inheritance who is this whom It is the Lord Jesus Christ to gather together in one all things in Christ in whom we have obtained an Inheritance As much as if the Apostle had said as the Apostle doth in Christs own case we see not yet all thingâ— put under him So I may say you have noâ— yet obtained the Inheritance no more had Paul no more had these Ephesians but yeâ— he speaks as one having full assurance in whom we have obtained answerable to that of our Lord in Joh. 14.2 I go to preparâ— a place for you And the Apostle takeâ— it up and otherwise phrases it Heb. 6 2â— Whither the forerunner is for us entred speaking of the Inheritance that is above whither cur forerunner is for us entered so that this another Spiritual Blessing wherewith we are blessed in Christ Jesus 7. But another spiritual blessing wherewith we are blessed in Christ Jesus is this The Seal and Earnest of what is to come and the very Spirit is made the very matter of this Blessing wherewith he hath blessed us in Christ Jesus I pray do but cast your eyes upon verse 13. In whom ye also trusted still he continues his discourse and fixes Christ at the bottom of all in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth the Gospel of your Salvation in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise verse 14. which is the Earnest of our Inheritance until the Redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory Here is a comprehensive spiritual blessing indeed which is the Seal of the eternal Inheritance and the Earnest of it as if the Lord should say when he sends forth his Spirit go my holy Spirit go and seize upon such a heart and seal up such a Soul for the eternal Inheritance and as if he should say to his Son Lo my Son I have given my Spirit to such a one whom thou hast shed thy blood for and lo I send him as the Earnest of the Inheritance that thou hast purchased as the Earnest of my eternal love to thee as the Earnest of my eternal Communion with thee as the earnest of my answering of thy prayer and the import of all thy blood Lo I have sent him and lo he is to them an Earnest Now Sirs this is a great blessing a very glorious blessing indeed God might have designed and kept the design in his own breast or he might have divulged it yet have given us no earnest or pledge of it what needed all that between God and us Christ might have taken his word and we had good reason to rest upon any report that the Lord Christ makes of his confidence in the Father but the Lord Christ and the Father did concur together in this that we should have the Blessing notwithstanding all notwithstandings and that it should be sure to all the seed Yet for our further satisfaction says the Lord behold I give my promise and I give the promised Spirit and that Spirit shall be my Seal upon their hearts and my seal upon their understandings so that look into your hearts and into your understandings and upon this inquiry whose are you Do but make a reflection whose Seal whose Image whose Superscription is this You shall find that the Spirit of the Lord is as it were Gods assuring Seal Ay but it may be you will say this is a great while to come It may be Ten or Twenty or Thirty or Forty years to come Well if those do not satisfy you that you are sealed the Spirit also shall be an Earnest of the Inheritance an Earnest of the future personal blessedness and glory which God hath blessed you with in Christ It is not only Heaven but the personal condition and state of Saints in Heaven that is the glory of their Inheritance and this is another thing 8. But then in the 8th place another Spiritual blessing wherewith the God and Father of Jesus Christ does bless Christians is this Practical experiences of the power of Gods grace
they would not yield up their members as instruments of unrighteousness unto Sin why so because the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in your mortal bodies and therefore says he don't yield your members don't yield your hands and don 't yield your tongues and don 't yield your ears nor don 't yield any of your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto Sin because the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in your mortal bodies and thus now I have taken notice of these diverse Spiritual blessings which the Apostle doth here instance in by way of illustration of this great Gospel mystery of grace and that is that God hath blessed every Christian with all Spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus I will wave the reasons and I will also wave the resolve of other inquiries that might be made and wrap up all in these three or four inferences VSE 1 First Is it so my friends that Christians are blessed with all Spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus Then Christians should be always Spiritual in Christ Jesus Shew me your blessings Sirs let it appear that your blessings are not like the blessings of the men of this world Nay nor only confined to the blessings that the hypocrites of this world have received from God don't shew me your gifts in prayer but let your graces be discovered in your praying Christians you should be Spiritual in all manner of conversation why because God hath blessed you in Christ Jesus with all Spiritual blessings for a man that pretends to this blessedness for such a one to be carnal for such a one to be earthly minded for such a one to be proud for such a one to be debauched in his Spirit and Principles and Practices how unbecoming is this to so great a pretence as you all make If I should come to you one by one and say to you friend don't you hope that God hath blessed you with all Spiritual blessings in Christ what means then this formality in duty this is not to be Spiritual What means this anger passion upon every provocation this does not argue that you are blessed with a Spirit of meekness why my friends if you be blessed with all Spiritual blessings then I pray let all your Spiritual blessings appear more or less in your whole conversation for a professor that pretends to be so blessed for him to be formal in his Prayer and for him to be dead and dull in Duty for him to be light and vain and frothy in his Conversation this is not like one that is blessed with all Spiritual blessings Christians the inference is natural if you be blessed with all Spiritual blessings then shew forth all your Spiritual blessings in all your duties be Spiritual in every thing The Apostle has a parallel expression to this wherein he gives us an account of his conversation in the 3 Phil. 20. For our conversation is in heaven from whence we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ that is the first inference VSE 2 The 2d is this Has God blessed us with all Spiritual blessings in Christ Then let those that pretend to a being thus blessed by the God and Father of Jesus Christ glorify the God Father of Jesus Christ with all their blessings Glorify him not only with what you have received but also upon the whole of the blessings that are to be received Christians you may rejoyce in what is in the hand of Christ for you as well as in what is in your own hearts I am persuaded that Adam was as perfect as God can make a creature out of Christ and yet you see no sooner doth the Woman come and tell him that the fruit is pleasant and fair but he takes it eats and so destroys all surely Christians you may rejoice in that little you have but you may more rejoice in that great deal that Christ hath for you you have received a little from and by Christ ay but Christ hath received a great deal more for you and therefore balance all your secular wants and secular troubles with this that you are blessed with unseen blessings It was Christs advice to his disciples to lay up treasure in Heaven it is the practice of the grace of God the grace of God hath done that which Jesus Christ advised his disciples and hearers to do What has he done Why he hath laid up treasure where neither moth can corrupt nor Thieves break through and steal And therefore rejoice glorify God for and in the view under the sense and apprehension of what you are blessed with in Christ I will freely say this one thing if I would choose of the two what to rejoice in I had rather rejoice in what I am blessed with in Christ Jesus then in all the gifts and graces that I have in my own heart and I think 't is safest to do so But then VSE 3 Thirdly Has God blessed you with all Spiritual Blessings in Christ Jesus Then never confine and limit your expectations from God or from Jesus Christ This naturally follows for why should a Christian that hath liberty to expect all content himself with less Christians should say upon every receipt Lord here is not all and be at him for more wait still upon Christ for more Cry still unto Christ for more and say Lord here is not all This is not all of the Spiritual Blessings that the Father have blessed me withal in thy self This is not all and therefore under your fullest receipts still Christians wait for more has the grace of God been so abundant as to bless you with all and will you shew so little grace as to be contented with a little I do not like neither I am perswaded does God like the tempers of most Professors which is a modest I call it a modest because 't is so generally apprehended but it is a sinful modest contentedness with a little if God give you any thing bless God for a little but never be satisfied with a little but ever and anon come to the Throne of grace and say Father here is not all in my heart that thou hast blessed me withal in Christ Come to the Lord Christ and say Lord here is not all the Father trusted thee withal for my Soul here is not all the faith all the love all the meekness c. But I am blessed with all Spiritual Blessings I say Christians having received a little be still pressing after more But then VSE 4 Fourthly and lastly Hath God blessed you with all Spiritual blessings in Christ Then Christians in the midst of all your wants and in the midst of all your straits be you still pressing after a more true and genuine improvement of all your Spiritual blessings If God hath blessed you with all Spiritual blessings in Christ then labour you under Christ to be Spiritual blessings unto others have you not
God doth not deal so with his people but he takes them into all Relations at one and the same time A Christian that hath the least degree of grace stands in the highest Relations to God God doth not make him first a Servant and then a Steward and afterwards adopt him and afterward state all his Glory and Kingdom upon him but at one and the same time when grace is first wrought then all the Relations of the Gospel lye open together to the least degree of grace If a Son then an Heir The Apostle concludes that and that is right Gospel arguing and that upon the least degree of grace if a Servant then a Friend if a Friend then a Son and if a Son then an Heir a joint Heir with Jesus Christ Gospel Relations bear not proportion to the graces of the Relation they are not more or less as grace in us is more or less No but one manat the same time that hath theleast degree of grace all the Relations of the Gospel lye open before him Though you have not as much grace as others yet there are as many Relations and as great Relations between God and you as others yea as there are between God and the best Christian in the world and let me tell you the meanest Christian in our days hath all the Relations of the Gospel lying open to him as well as the best Disciples that ever Jesus Christ had either in or after his daies and if so my friends then no wonder why God is so concerned about a little grace Yet saies he shall not the least grain fall upon the Earth 5. The least degree of grace bears an essential likeness to Christ as well as the greatest degree of grace doth I say there is an essential resemblance in the least degree of grace unto Christ as well as in the greatest every spark of fire is true fire as well as the greatest fire in your Chimney I tell you Christians the least grace is Christ within you there is the whole Image of Christ there is the love of Christ and there is the holiness of Christ and there is the meekness of Christ and there is the lowliness of Christ there is in that little an Essential Resemblance of Christ therefore no wonder that God takes so much care for and about a little grace Appl. Is it so That for these reasons God doth look after the least grace in the least Christian Then O do you make much of a little duty God makes a great account of a little grace do you make a great account of a little duty If you have but little breathings of heart after God and Christ Jesus in your heart do not deny it do not say It is not likely that these should be regarded why because they are but some weak faint breathings You see that God looks after a little grace in your hearts and maketh a great account of it Therefore I beseech you having received a little from God make you great account of that little I will but urge this with these two considerations 1. Seeing God makes a great account of that little that thou hast Let me only ask you this Question Whether it be not better for you to follow the example of God than to follow the Devils example The devil would have you to make nothing of a little God and Jesus Christ would have you to make great account of a little Satans design is when he cannot hinder the work to ecclypse the glory of the work that is wrought and to abate and allay the beauty of the work that is wrought that is Satans business and design I pray friends consider you hear it is Gods way to make much of a little Now whether will you fall in with God or with Satan He would make little of a great deal of grace yea he would make nothing of it but God he makes a great deal of a little grace O Sirs do you therefore in imitation of God Christ Jesus do you also make much of it you see God hath made so much of it that he hath made it the peculiar special matter of a distinguishing promise well says he though I will command and sift the House of Israel and I will turn them out of one sieve into another yet saies he shall not the least grain fall to the earth I will not lose the least grain no not for all the Assyrians for all the Babylonians no not for all the Devils in Hell I will not lose the least grain God hath other manner of thoughts of the least work of grace thou hast than I am perswaded most Christians have of the greatest works of grace 2. Truly you do not know how soon this little may grow up to a great deal It is the hypothesis of our Lords arguing says he since thou hast not been faithful in a little who will trust thee with more So I say on the other hand if thou beest faithful with a little if thou admire the condescension of the grace of God to work a little grace in thy heart how dost thou know but God may the next Sermon work a great deal more Jesus Christ may come the next opportunity with a full hand and empty his hand into thy heart thou dost not know how soon this little may be made a great deal If you be faithful in the improvement of a little if you be thankful for a little if you do make great account as God doth of a little then grace will soon add more You know not how suddenly you may be surprised with more I am verily perswaded that one great reason why men grow no more in grace is because they despise their little so much One great reason why God gives no more grace is because they despise their little grace so much Christians I beseech you if you have but a little O make great account of that little if there be but a grain It is one of Gods grains cast in by Jesus Christ and the Spirit of Jesus Christ into thy heart make much of it because thou doest not know how soon more may come Says Christ Take the Talent from him that did not use it give it to him that had five even so the Lord may come and say here is a poor creature his heart leapt within him for Joy because I have given him a little grace this Soul is always blessing me for a little I will give him more Truly Christians a high esteem of a little grace is much becoming the best Christians if God hath given you but a little I am sure that little is more than you deserve the smallest things of the Gospel should be spent with a crying grace grace Therefore my friends in observance of God and in imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray set your eye and your heart upon that little let there be a great value and esteem put upon your little grace because
what then Saies the Apostle that I think had his share in Sufferings These light afflictions work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory Now upon this account it is that God looks after the least grain I shall pass to the improvement and deliver my sense as to the improveableness of it in these five or six practical Conclusions Vse 1 And the first is this Will God in the siftings of Israel take care that the least grain do not fall to the Earth Then let every one look upon themselves as greatly concerned to be made Gods grains My meaning is to get grace though it be never so little Satan hath two designs by way of dilemma upon you if you escape the one a thousand to one but you fall into the other and what are these designs of Satan truly the design lyes here What shouldest thou be content with so little when others that have been more sinful have more despise and slight the little because it is not likely thou shouldest ever attain to much and how does he manage it Thou art old he saies to one and therefore it is not likely thou shouldest live long and therefore canst not expect to grow if thou hadst begun betimes it had been something like And to those that are young all in good time yet See but such a one that liv'd a long time in the enjoyment of his pleasure and God look't upon him and see how he grew up to a great deal of grace in a little time here 's the dilemma now between the one and the other My friends I beseech you therefore fix upon a little grace I will open this in two Branches 1. In the midst of his severest dispensations God will find out a little grace It may be you will say will God look upon me If I were as David may the poor Soul say and may another say if I were as the Angel of the Lord the Lord would find me out nay stay proud Soul it is enough if thou beest but weak let grace take it 's own time to make thee as David the weak shall be as David and David as the Angel of the Lord. Friends I would beg of you that you would not live without a little grace and that you would live chearfully with a little grace until God give more 2. The Second is this That a little in being is as much as all in reversion Art thou but a small grain Pray who made thee a small grain Hath not he also the residue of the Spirit Cannot he make the dry Tree to grow out of the dry ground Cannot he make a little one a Nation Surely he hath the residue of the Spirit Let me tell you God never begins with great things in the most remarkable proceeds of grace that are by past and that are to come but he alwayes begins with a little and so glorifies both his grace and his power in making that little greater than all Therefore pray Sirs let me perswade you you that are young and you that are old if you canhope for a great deal give God no rest till he give you a little till he make you a little Christian give him no rest Oh bring your Children and cry Lord a little grace for this Child Oh bring your Servants cry Lord a little grace for this Servant Oh cast your hearts at the Footstool of the Throne and say Lord a little grace for this graceless heart if it be but a little Lord. As thy Soul liveth saies the Woman to the Prophet I have but a little meal in the barrel and a little oyl in the cruse What then says the Prophet come make me a Cake So I say my friends as the Lord liveth if he hath created a little grace he will create more and therefore my Friends bless God for a little and be not contented without a little Vse 2 Will not the Lord suffer the least grain to fall to the Earth in all the siftings Then you may see the vast differences that are between the righteous and the wicked and that in God's providential proceedings I will throw says he the Tribes of Israel into the Sieve of the Nations and what then let the Chaff go let the Chaff go let the heads that have not grain in them fall to the Earth Oh says he but the least grain shall not fall to the Earth you have God's Word for it The great difference that God makes in his general Judgments between the righteous and the wicked I will open this in two Branches 1. There is more that God likes in the least grain than there is in heaps of the Chaff of the wicked there is more that God likes in the heart of the poorest Christian than God can discover in a whole Nation of Hypocrites put together No there is not so much as a poor Christian hath that hath but a little grace cast them into the ballance and they are altogether lighter than vanity When it came to the pinch indeed saies God I gave Ethiopia for thee and Seba for thee So I tell you my Friends that God makes no account of the chaff though it be never so bulky but he makes much of a little grain the least grain shall not fall to the Earth let the chaff go whither it will burn it with unquenchable fire saies the Lord the least grain shall not fall away but the bulky chaff shall be burnt with unquenchable fire 2. That little that a Christian hath can do more with God and for God than all that others have can do It may be such a one hath great parts well and what does he do for God and another he hath a great bulk of gifts what can he do for God What can he do Truly all he can do is only this to dissemble with God and to dishonour God The times have been wherein gifts have been magnified above grace and not long since by many but what is come of it See the providences of God how they are wheel'd about And now grace is the only thing that will stand us instead in our day and all the gifts that all the professors of England had cannot do so much as a little grace it may be you have a name to live and profess much but where is your grace One saies I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos and what then Where 's the Image of Christ you may be of Paul while you live and go to Hell when you die You may be of Apollos when you are in the Body and when you die for ought I know you may be haled to judgement by the Divels in Hell Such a one you say he prayes he is a mighty man in Prayer Sirs I tell you I value no more my own Prayers that are Prayers of gifts and there is no more in them and God is no more glorified in them than an empty sound But a few sighs
squander among the People and here were two or three and there was another two or three or it may be more in a company that skulkt away from his force and cruelty into by ways and by places endeavouring to shift for themselves and save their lives I pray do but observe now how the Lord comes upon Edom that was the Off-spring of Esau Jacobs Brother in the 10. v. of that prophecy for thy violence against thy Brother Jacob shame hath covered thee and thou shalt be cut off for ever Lord might Edom say didst not thou say thou wouldst utterly destroy this People from the Earth and I will hiss for the Assyrian and Lord hast thou not said that Assyria is the rod of thine anger in thy hand well my Friends notwithstanding all that could be objected in a way of reason see how God treats with Edom v. 1.4 neither shouldst thou have stood in the cross way to cut off those of his that did escape c. This I only produce to discover to you the severity of Gods threatning against those that offer disturbance and discouragement to his People in their weakest capacities and conditions The like you may observe in the Revelations and in the other passages of the New Testament but I will not any further proceed upon that so that you see I have opened a further reason of the Lords special care and tender regard that he hath over his own People 4. The greatest promises lay hold upon those that are in the meanest condition upon those that are in the poorest weakest unlikeliest condition Be not discouraged Christian at the unlikeliness that is upon thy Soul as to the grouth of grace though your grace be little and your discouragements great yet let me tell you there are greater promises in the word proportionally considered made to you than to others I pray observe what the Psalmist say's in the 72. Psa 16. v. There shall be a handful of Corn in the Earth upon the top of the Mountain the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon and they of the City shall flourish like the Grass of the Earth They are in a prosperous condition shall flourish like the Grass of the Earth those that prosper in seculars or in temporals they shall not lose their blessing but shall flourish like the Grass of the Earth but says he there shall be at that time when these things shall be there shall be a People that shall be cast into the World as a handful of Corn that is cast upon the top of the Mountain alas what can you expect from a handful of Corn that is cast upon the top of a mountain but that it should be withered and dried up why because there want Earth and Soil to nourish it and the spirit of the Earth to maintain it therefore it cannot be expected that it should come to any maturity Yet says the Lord when they of the City shall flourish like the Grass then the handful of Corn that is upon the top of the Mountain that is exposed to wind and weather the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon they shall grow like the Cedars in Lebanon so that you see my Friends those that are unlikely those that are meanest that are but as a handful of Corn cast upon the Mountains yet I tell you you are under as great a promise as any under their greatest external flourishing they of the City shall flourish as the Grass of the Earth but those that are cast upon the Mountain shall shake like Lebanon Appl. And there are three Inferences that I shall desire to manage and so conclude the first shall be in relation to those that are the least Christians the second shall have relation to those of a bigger size and the third Inference shall have relation to those that are neither great nor little Christians but no Christians at all VSE 1 to those that are least they are grains but they are the least grain my meaning plainly is this and I think it is the meaning of the Holy Ghost those that have least grace and those that have least gifts those that have done least for God and those that have enjoyed least of God those that have observed least of Gods goings in his Sanctuary that have experienced least of Gods workings upon their Spirits my design Christians is principally upon you and therfore I shall say three or four things particularly to you and the first is this be not discouraged at your littleness of grace if there be but truth of grace There were many when the second Temple was built and they saw it did not amount to the glory of the first Temple they fell a weeping and were greatly discouraged and God was fain to raise them up a Prophet on purpose to bear up their spirits O there was not that Gold there was not that outward Glory and Splendor that there was upon the first Temple that was destroyed and God raised them up a Prophet and what says the Prophet to them says he You saw the Glory of the former Temple and I tell you says he that the Glory of the latter Temple shall be greater than the Glory of the former They were discouraged at the plainness and meanness of the building and of the furniture and adorning of the Temple nay says God if that be the thing do not trouble your selves about it So I say my Friends you may take an estimate of others Hearts and compare others Hearts with yours and you fall a murmuring and discouragement seizes upon you nay but let me say to you in the name of the Lord if there be but a little grace be not discouraged at the littleness of it you have reason to be humbled that it is no more that is very true but yet you have no reason to be discouraged because there is a little and the Lord hath commanded me to tell you that it lay in his power and within the reach of his grace to make the glory of that little grace that is in your Heart far exceed the Glory of that great deal that you observe to break forth in the Hearts of others and therefore be not discouraged I shall urge this under these two considerations 1. Thou seest it may be what is in thy heart but thou doest not know what is in Christs hand for thy heart Thou seest what comes out of Christs hand to thy heart but thou doest not see what remains in Christs hand for thee therefore be not discouraged because it is little I pray do but observe a passage in Zach. 12.8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem And he that is feeble among them That is he that hath little Courage little spirit little strength the word signifies he that is so feeble that he is faln amongst them faln among the Croud by reason of his feebleness he that is feeble among them At that day shall be as David