motus Anioâ—i est eontemplatio Dei Plato Timaeo That the healing of any thing consists in giving it its proper diet and motion and then he addes That the proper motion of the mind consists in the contemplation of God Does not this greatly evince and prove that the health of the soul consists in an intimate union and adherence to Christ For what more proper diet can the renewed soul have than Christ himself and is there any motion more decent and becoming the friends of Christ than a close and uninterrupted communion with Christ himself And the same Philosopher informes us Å¿ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Plato Repub. 4. fol. 444. That the right method of restoring health is to restore al the humors and parts of the bodie to their natural order for what is sicknes but some disorder c. And then he more particularly affirmes That the health of the soul consists in virtue Does not this infallibly demonstrate that the Health of the soul is maintained and improved by adherence to Christ for himself For what order what virtue can there be in the soul without this adherence So Mal. 4.2 With healing under his wings and Rev. 22.2 2. 2. Strength Another issue of life is Strength and stabilitie of parts which is a consequent of health and consists mostly in the Vigor and Activitie of the Spirits Hence we find both these joined together as the proper effect of the soul's adherence to God in Christ Prov. 3.7 Fear the Lord Prov. 3.7 8. and depart from evil i. e. Cleave to God in Christ for himself which according to the Old Testament phraseologie is expressed by fear and bid adieu to sin What then v. 8. It shal be health or medicine to thy Navel As if he had said look as the Navel administers nourishment and medicine to Infants lodged in their Mothers womb for the restauration and confirmation of al parts so this filial fear or obsequious adhesion of thy soul to God in Christ shal feed nourish confirme and restore al parts of thy spirit Whence it follows and marrow to thy bones or irrigation or watering to thy bones i. e. look as the marrow by the moisture it affords to the bones doth very much confirme and strengthen the same as Job 21.24 so in like manner doth the soul's adherence to God in Christ greatly confirme and strengthen it The Nerves though most flexible are judged the strongest part in the bodie because they are the vehicule of the Animal Spirits And how does this notion of bodily strength commend the soul's election of Christ which is the spiritual Nerve that conveigheth spirits and strength from Christ the Head unto the believing soul Again the strength of every thing is said to consist in its adherence to its first principles of Dependence the strength of the branch consists in its adherence to and communion with the stock and root And does not then the strength of Christ's friends consist in continued adherence to and dependence on him is not he the Vine and are not they the branches and can the branch get any strengch save by adhering to the Vine Was not this Christ's main errand into the world to bind up the broken-hearted Esa 61.1 The Philosopher could imforme us t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato Hippias fol. 375. That by how much the more righteous any soul is the stronger it is And are there any more truely righteous and holy than those who adhere most firmely to Christ for himself Does not the vigor and strength of Grace consist in this that it is as a pondus or weight to incline the whole soul to contemplate love and enjoy God in Christ for himself u Ordo sive Amor est pondus quo res omnis ad finem ut ad centrum quietem stabilitatem vergit Gib What is Divine Love but an impetus or strong impulse and bent of wil whereby it adheres to God for himself Is not al spiritual strength conveighed to the soul by this means 3. 3. Growth in Grace Another issue of life is augmentation or growth And what more effectually promotes the growth of the new creature than repeted Election of and Adherence unto Christ for himself The Improvement of Grace consists not merely in the Depuration of opposite principles nor yet in a greater Disposition of the subject but in the acquirement of a greater Latitude of spiritual life both intensive and extensive which ariseth from the soul 's firme Adhesion to and Dependence on Christ for himself For nothing doth more transforme the heart into the glorious Image of God than the fiducial intuition of the glorie of God in Christ 2 Cor. 3.18 And it is most certain that none arrive to higher raisures of Grace in this life than those that live most in actual Dependence on and communion with Christ for himself Does not the child thrive most when it adheres most unto and sucks the mother's Breasts And is not Christ the same to his friends as the Mother is to the child 1 Pet. 2.2 3 when is the branch more green and flourishing than at spring when it abides most in and receives most juice and sap from the Vine and is there not the same ressemblance between Christ and his friends Joh. 15.5 Who are they that go forth and grow up as Calves of the stal but Christ's friends who adhere to him and so lie under the warme beams of the Sun of Righteousnes who ariseth on them with healing under his wings Mal. 4.2 4. 4. Sense Another issue of life in the new Creature as wel as in the old is spiritual inward sense w Vitâ nihil sensibilius Life is of al things most sensible and the more spiritual and excellent the life is the more quick and lively are its senses x Quanto le cose sono piu materiali tanto è la lor ' insensibilita La Fisonomia Dela Belliere For by how much the more material any life is by so much the greater is its insensibilitie O then what a quick sense hath the friend of Christ so far and so long as by repeted acts of election he adheres to him as the fountain of his spiritual life It 's true peradventure he has not the grateful sense of the sweet Accidents of Christ's presence yet has he not the doleful sense of Christ's absence He has not the feeling sense of Christ's fulnes in him yet has he not a deep sense of his own emtines out of Christ He has not perhaps the refreshing sense of his Interest in Christ yet has he not a lively sense of the transcendent excellence of Christ and what a bitter thing the losse of Christ is According to the sweet sense we have of any Felicitie enjoyed such wil be our bitter sense of the losse thereof Now it is most certain that none have a more feeling bitter sense of the Absence or losse of
enemies and false friends of Christ to a thorough-out closure with him as their friend is taken from the condition of their Souls 1. It s Origine 1. a This Divine Origine of the soul was by some Judaick Tradition wel known to the Pagan Philosophers Whence Plato cals the soul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Divine particle of God and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Divine Nature And Aristotle cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most akin to the Gods Of which see Court of the Gentiles P. 1. B 3. C. 4. S. 4. Is not thy soul of a celestial origine Was it not Inspired and Infused immediately by God as Gen. 2.7 Is it not thence termed the Off-spring of God Act. 17.28 i.e. of al this inferior World most akin to God Is it not then a disgrace and Reproche for Human Nature to contract friendship with any but God in Christ Hath the soul such a physick or natural cognation with God Is it not then a monstrous prodigious curse that it should prefer friendship with Idol-friends composed of clay before Amitie with the great God from whom it descended and with whom it hath such a natural though not moral Ressemblance Oh! What an infinite Disparagement and Dishonor is this for Human Nature to enter into a strict Amitie with sensible Inferior Goods and to reject or neglect friendship with its Creator who gave it Being and stil continues to be its most Laudable Honorable and Happy Being that to which it is most akin 2. 2. It s Nature Consider the Nature of thy soul Is it not Immaterial Spiritual and simple And can any other Good but God in Christ feed and nourish a spiritual Nature Is there any proportion or suitablenes between carnal objects and an Immaterial facultie Is it not an absurd incongruous ignoble thing for such a simple sublime and elevated Spirit as the human soul is to mingle with a dirtie polluting world and mean while neglect Christ who is such a spiritual noble good d Quanto forma est nobilior tanto in suo esse semper excedit materiam Unde forma cujus operatio excedit conditionem materiae ipsa secundum dignitatem sui esse superexcedit materiam Aquinas contra Gent. l. 2. c. 68. By how much the more noble any Forme is by so much the more predominant it is over the matter and by how much the more it is predominant over the matter by so much the more must its operation excede and surpasse the condition of the matter This demonstrates the immaterial spiritual condition of the human soul its excellence and preference beyond al material beings and how much it is debased and disgraced by mingling with material sensible good or any thing inferior to God in Christ Farther the Immaterialitie of the soul may be demonstrated from its Indivisibilitie Intellectualitie Reflexibilitie Activitie and separate state Al which sufficiently demonstrate that nothing but God in Christ is an object adequate and commensurate to the soul 3. 3. It s Capacitie Remember of what an Infinite Capacitie thy soul is e Quanto potentia est altior tanto respicit objectun universalius Aquin. Has it not a vast Intellect or Apprehensive Facultie radically apt were it but morally disposed to take in the Glorious Ideas of God the first Truth and Beautie Is it not also invested with a boundlesse wil and Infinite Desires which can never be terminated or satisfied but by the Fruition of God in Christ the best Good Is there not in every Creature an Appetite of Vnion and Communion with its choicest good and best friend How then comes it to passe that the wil of man should be so averse from union and friendship with Christ 4. 4. It s Activitie Consider the Activitie of thy soul As it is a spirit of an Infinite capacitie so also of an unwearied Activitie and therefore must have some friend for continual conversation with al. For by how much the more simple and noble any Forme is by so much the more vigorous and active it is Now the human soul being the most simple and noble of al inferior formes it must needs also be the most active Thus much the f Plato Phaedr fol. 246. poor blind Philosopher could by his midnight Philosophie discover whence he attributes to the soul ' Wings or a winged Chariot whereby she pursues after the supreme Beautie or First Truth and never finds Rest or Satisfaction til she come to the contemplation thereof ' Such is the soul's Activitie And is it not much better to spend the vigor and Activitie of thy soul on Christ the best friend that ever was than on Idol-friends Is it not a great degradation debasement and defilement to human Nature to spend its Activitie in conversation with sensible goods which are so far beneath it but neglect friendship and communion with Christ Oh! what vexation shame torment and bondage follows such an adulterous heart 5. 5. It s Immotarlitie Remember thy soul is is an e Plato makes the soul to be as God incomposite incorruptible and immortal whence being disloged from the bodie he saith it roturnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to God that original Idea to whom it is akin Plato Phaedo fol. 55 56. Immortal Spirit and therefore must subsist when thy bodie is loged in the Grave and al the Beautie Glorie and Sweets of this eye-pleasing world burnt to a black cole or reduced to its primitive Nothing And what wilt thou do when thy soul is disloged from thy bodie and stript maked of al those Idol-friends to which it is now chained Doest thou now prefer friendship with this whorish world before Amitie with Christ Ay but what wilt thou say or think when al these Idol-Gods are rent from thee What wilt thou do for a friend to al Eternitie for thine Immortal soul if thou make not Christ thy friend Perhaps thou can't now as thou conceitest live wel enough without Christ and friendship with him But is there not a time coming when Time and the friend of Time shal be no more What wil thine Immortal soul do for a friend then if Christ be not thy friend But on the contrarie if thou make Christ thy friend now he wil be so unto al Eternitie f Aniâ—â—a est creata in corfinio aeâ—â—rnitatis temporis nam actio ejus secundum quam conâ—â—ngitur superioribus quae sunt supra tempus aeternâ—atem participat c. Aquin. contr Gent. l. 3. c. 61. Yea by adhering unto Christ who is an eternal good thy soul wil participate in its mesure of Eternitie it self For an act is specified by its object wherefore the soul sou'ls action whereby it is conjoined with Christ an Eternal Object doth in a sort partake of his Eternitie as those acts whereby the soul adheres to temporal objects are said to be temporal And oh what invincible engagements doth this lay on thine immortal soul
more friendly and actively useful wil such be in al Relations and Capacities Hence it appears that the Saints Amitie or friendship with Christ God-man whether we consider it objectively in regard of Christ or subjectively in regard of the Saints is the most perfect Idea exemplar or patterne of al human friendship Yea we may be bold to say that there is no real and cordial Amitie among men but what has its Foundation in No true Amitie but what is founded on Amitie with Christ and Derivation from this Divine Amitie or friendship 'twixt Christ and his friends He that is not a friend to God in Christ is not truly a friend to any other no nor yet to himself We must therefore have recourse to this Divine Amitie with Christ not only as the right patterne but as also the spring of al Amitie amongst our selves The Designe therefore of this Treatise is to explicate and demonstrate what are the Laws and Privileges of the Saints friendship with Christ which wil also give us the best Idea Foundation and expedients for friendship amongst our selves under al Relations States and Conditions both as men and Christians SECT 2. The Paraphrase and Explication of the Text John 15.14 AS for the Foundation of this Discourse we shall fixe it on part of our Lords farewel-Sermon Joh. 15.14 Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you These words as to the letter of them The mind of the words Joh 15.14 are plain and familiar Their mind and sense you may take in the following paraphrase and explication Friends are best known at parting Christ is now at parting-point with his Disciples they seem to condole his departure and hang about him as loth to part especially seeing his departure was like to prove so prejudicial both to him and them But our blessed Lord to solace their spirits and revive their faith gives them to understand they should be no losers by his absence for Ye are my friends As if he had said t is true I leave you in a persecuting temting dirty world yet be not overmuch concerned about mine absence Be assured I have such a bleeding sense of your condition such a fire of Affection such tendernesses of compassion such warme bowels an heart so large so gracious so sympathetick towards you as that I may as soon forget my self as forget you Know that I am now going to bleed to die for you that you may live and reign with me I go to take up my logement for three dayes in a cold grave that shadow of darknes for you that so you may loge with me for ever in mansions of Glorie and after that I shal ascend up to Heaven for you and yet leave mine heart with you on earth It s true I shal not then any more sigh or weep or bleed for you yet shal I not be without a deep sense of your sighing weeping and bleeding for and after me Know that distance of place shal make no distance in mine Amitie and friendship towards you Remember in al your straits you have a friend in Heaven who is not unmindful of you on earth albeit the world may lode you with disgrace reproches and a world of il-wil yet I shal nevertheles own you as my friends yea I shal then own you most when the world and perhaps your worldly friends do most scorne and reject you You may expect most of my friendly regards affectionate care and gracious vouchsafements even then when you are most despised persecuted and hated by the World In brief assure your selves you shall find me alwaies your best friend and sometimes your only friend for believe me you are my friends Only with this Proviso if ye do whatsoever I command you i.e. If you approve your selves friends to me by observing al my commands both particular such as I have newly mentioned and more general as it becometh friends Or else we may understand the words thus Ye are my friends i. e. Ye shal approve your selves to be my friends it being usual with some pen-men especially this Evangelist to expresse the notification or manifestation of a thing by a verb that signifies its essence or being so Joh. 15.8 So shal ye be i. e. manifest your selves to be my Disciples To obviate a mistake here we are to consider that in this conditionate proposition and promise whereas there seems as some wil have it to be a causal connexion between the Antecedent and Consequent as if Christs friendship with us had a dependence on our obedience to him as the moral cause thereof Christ intends no such thing hereby for he addes v. 16. Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you c. i. e. my friendship to you depends not on your friendship to me as the productive meritorious moral cause thereof but on the contrary your Friendship and obedience towards me depends on my election of you Whence it is evident that the conditional connexive particle If in our text doth not connote 1. Any general decree or universal Intention immanent in Christ of friendship towards al. 2. Nor yet any power in corrupt Nature to performe such an obedience to Christs commandements as may entitle men to this privilege of being the friends of Christ 3. Nor yet any causal Dependence or suspension of Christs friendship on our obedience But Christ useth here as elsewhere this conditionate mode of proposing the termes of his friendship 1. As a way most convenient and agreable to human Nature 2. To shew the connexion between mans Dutie and his favor as also how pleasing obedience is to him 3. As an Instrument in and by which he conveigheth the condition required Thus we see the words contain two parts 1. A gracious vouchsafement or privilege on Christs part Ye are my friends 2. A duty required if ye do whatsoever I command you The proposition I collect hence and lay as the Foundation of the following Discourse is this That there are certain universal and commun Laws of friendship even amongst men which being duely observed by Believers towards Christ he is not ashamed to own them as friends and vouchsafe to them al such privileges as correspond therewith For the more ful explication of this Proposition we shal resolve it into these two Questions 1. What are those universal Laws of friendship among men which Believers ought to observe towards Christ 2. What are those gracious vouchsafements or privileges which Christ confers on his friends SECT 3. The first Law of friendship in Election AS for the Laws of friendship amongst men they are either fundamental and essential The Laws of friendship such as tend to the constitution and Being of friendship or they are perfective such as conduce though not to the very Being yet to the Improvement and Perfection of friendship We shal begin with the essential and fundamental Laws of friendship The first universal fundamental Law of Amitie or friendship among men
to us not only by addition of something to him but also by substraction or diminution of something from him As we may not therefore adde either sin or self or world or Law to Christ so neither may we substract or withdraw any thing from Christ A divided as wel as a compound Christ is but an imaginary friend or rather real enemie to us Wherefore he that will really make Christ his friend must elect him completely as wel as singly Now to chuse Christ completely imports two things 1. To chuse whole Christ And 2. To chuse whole Christ for himself Of these in their order First 1. The friends of Christ must elect a whole Christ Those who will contract an Amitie with Christ must elect or chuse whole Christ Though I cannot as yet satisfie mine own thoughts with that persuasion which supposeth justifying faith as such and under that reduplication to regard Christ as Lord and King as wel as Priest because this is as I conceive with submission to confound the differing formes of faith as justifying and as sanctifying whereof the former speaks a relation to Christ as Priest the latter to Christ as King chiefly Besides I have not as yet any sufficient reason which might persuade me to quit that received opinion That faith justifies as an Instrument not physick but moral or rather federal depending wholly on the institution of God and hence not as an Active but Passive or Receptive and Applicative Instrument whereby the Righteousnes of Christ is received and made ours Though I cannot I say for these and such like considerations force my mind to assent that justifying faith as such regardeth Christ as Lord and King yet I easily grant yea shal demonstrate that sanctifying faith which is one great ligament or essential bond of the souls friendship with Christ closeth with whole Christ as wel Prophet and King as Priest c. SECT 2. The friends of Christ must Elect him as their King 1. 1. The friends of Christ must elect him as King THE true friend of Christ doth espouse him not only as Jesus a Savior but also as Christ an anointed King he elects Christ not only as a Priest to deliver him from Hel but also as a King to deliver him from his lusts To take Christ only to save us from wrath and not to save us from sin is a black character of a rotten heart and false friend Joh. 1.11 So Joh. 1.11 He came unto his own and his own received him not He came unto his own i. e. Christ came to the Jews who pretended great friendship to the Messias and therefore when they heard he was come oh how were they overjoyed at so good news how do they rejoyce and sport themselves in the light of his Gospel as Joh. 5.35 what Hosanna's and Songs of deliverance do they sing Mat. 21.9.15 Joh. 12.13 How greedy are they to make him their King Joh. 6.15 How is it said then that they received him not why they received him not as k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non receperunt illum ut Dominum Grot. in locum Lord and King to rule over them and destroy their lusts They could be content to receive him as a Savior to deliver them from their enemies the Romans as also from the wrath of a sin-revenging God such tidings were very joyous to them but when Christ comes to convince them of and rebuke them for their unbelief hypocrisie pride formalitie and other great Abominations O then they would hear no more of him away with him he was not for their turne Thus they received him not as Lord and King But then he addes v. 12. But as many as received him to them he gave power to become the sons of God i. e. Those who received whole Christ as Lord and King as wel as Savior those he dignified with the title of sons and friends The friends of Christ must bespeak him in this or such like language Lord here is an inflexible stiffe hard perverse stubborne obstinate stout proud heart wilt thou bend melt meeken soften stoop and humble it by thy royal Sceptre and Soveraign Grace shal it be made flexible pliable and conformable to thy royal wil and pleasure Again Lord here are inordinate tumultuous rebellious Affections which love what they should hate and hate what they should love which hope what they should fear and fear what they should hope c. Now good Lord wilt thou subdue these thy lawlesse enemies shall they by the power of thy Grace have a sweet Harmonie Vniformitie and Order infused into them may it please thee to enable me to love what thou lovest to hate what thou hatest c Farther Lord here are many spiritual refined lusts here is an Hel of Atheisme unbelief presumption carnal-securitie self-love spiritual pride carnal confidence formalitie hypocrisie c. Wilt thou dear Lord wash thy feet in the blood of these thine Adversaries Shal thy garments be died red in their bloud Lastly O Lord thou seest here is a wretched cursed old man a bodie of sin a root of bitternes a tyrannick lawlesse Law of rebellion an envenomed poisoned fountain of sin a corrupt nature dwelling in me may it now please thee to nail it to thy crosse to pierce it thorough with the spear of thy Spirit that so its heart-blood may issue forth as it sometime made thine to gush forth Thus the friends of Christ must elect him to be Lord and King over their lusts as wel as persons As for those who pretend to be friends of Christ but yet are not willing to have their lusts slain by him Christ pronounceth an heavy doom against such Luk. 19.27 But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them Plutarch in the Life of â—yâ—â—rgus bring hither and slay them before me The Soveraigntie and Interest of a Prince consists chiefly in his wisdome and sufficience to governe for the faithful obedience of the subjects depends much upon the wisdome and sufficience of their Prince he that governs wel is usually wel obeyed As the Art of a good Rider is to make his horse flexible and tractable even so the Wisdome of a good King consists in teaching his subjects to obey This King-craft or Regal-wisdome is transcendently and incomparably in Christ and hence it is that his subjects and friends so willingly and chearfully elect him for their King Psal 110.3 Thy people shal be willing or willingnesses c. SECT 3. Christ's friends elect him as their Priest 2. 2. Christ's friends chuse him for their Priest CHrist's friends elect him as their Priest They own no other purgatorie of sins guilt but the bloud of Christ no other Intercessor at the Throne of Grace but the Lamb of God l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato Conviv fol. 188. The blind Philosopher could see and acknowlege thus much that al Sacrifices were to conciliate or breed Reconciliation Amitie
the Father having Treasures of free-grace by him from al Eternitie not for himself but for sinners he was not content to have them loge to al eternitie within his own heart and bowels but found out this admirable way so far above Nature of rich and condescendent Love and Grace for the conveighing of his Grace through his Son incarnate or God-man who is as an Vniversal living Glasse on which al the Beams of Divine Grace immediately shine and from whence they are reflected unto the hearts of sinners for the illuminating animating and transforming of them as 2 Cor. 3.18 of which more anon z Whether the Grace of Christ received any Augmentation See Janes against Hammond We shal not enter on that Schole-Dispute Whether this Graee of Christ after its first Infusion into the human Nature received any intension or Augmentation but content our selves with the received commun Persuasion not only of Protestants but also of the Popish Scholes a Haec Gratia Christi de lege ordinar a augeri non potuit absolutè tamen potuit St. Joseph Thes 44. That the Grace of Christ albeit it received gradual extension as to fresh objects and Acts in which regard Christ is said to grow in Grace c. yet it received not any gradual intension or Augmentation as to the principles or habits thereof but was at the first moment of the Hypostatick Union perfect not absolutely for so only God is perfect but so far as it was according to God's Divine ordination requisite for the Human Nature to be invested with Grace in order to Christ's being a perfect mediator Thus we have shewn how Christ as Mediator was by God the Father made the Receptacle or Ocean of al Grace to be conveighed to the Elect which indeed renders him surpassing glorious and eligible for himself SECT 3. How al Divine perfections dwel in Christ the Mediator as in a Temple Col. 2.9 BUT yet to penetrate How the Deitie and Divine Perfections dwel in Christ as Mediator or dive more deeply into this great Evangelick Mysterie and wonder of Angels and men we are to consider how that not only the Grace of God in a Divine plenitude according to moral estimation infinite was communicated to the human nature of Christ but also the whole Deitie and al the Divine Attributes perfections and excellences of God by virtue of the Hypostatick Vnion dwel therein which renders Christ as Mediator Infinitely Glorious and desirable for himself See Amâ—s Medul Theol. l. 1. c. 17. For Christ the second Person of the Trinitie although he has but one subsistence yet has he a double manner of subsisting one in the Divine Nature from eternitie the other in the Human Nature upon his Incarnation which latter manner of subsisting agrees to the Son of God by reason of the Vnion which he has with the Human Nature assumed by and inseparably subsisting in the Divine Person yet without any commixtion or confusion of the Deitie in Christ with the Humanitie or of the Humanitie with the Deitie So Mat. 1.23 Emmanuel God with us and Job 1.14 b Ex hac unione sequitur persenalis communicatie proprietatum quae non est realic transfusio sed est communio vel concursus ad easdem operationes Hinc fit quod omnes Actiones Passiones Christi referuntuy propriè ad ejus personam tanquam ad terminum corum proprium Ames Medul Theol. l. 2. c. 17. Thes 21.22 Hence follows a communication of proprieties so that whatsoever belongs to either Nature may be attributed to and predicated of the Divine Person Thus he who is the eternal son of God is said to be borne in time he who was the Creator of al the World becomes a creature he who was David's Lord becomes a son of David as Luk. 20.44 which puzled al the Jewish Doctors he who was the immortal Lord dies on the Crosse 1 Cor. 2.8 Al this is said of the Divine person though not of the Divine Nature And oh what a wonder of wonders is here that the Divine and Human Nature which were at such an infinite distance should be reconciled in Emmanuel God with us What Does the same person who is God become man yea God and man bypostatically united Is our Emmanuel as verily God as man and as verily man as God Oh! what a great mysterie of Godlines is this God manifested in the flesh 1 Tim. 3.16 How much does this our Emmanuel deserve to be Elected for himself Hence it is said Col. 2.9 Colos 2.9 For in him dwelleth al the fulnes of the Godhead bodily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecumen in loc V. T. Deus in Templo Hierosol Et super Acca soederis in propitiatorio habitabat sed tantummodo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at postquam venit pleaitudo temporis toto pleaitutudo Deitatis non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verè modo eminentissimo personaliter in Christi natura humana inhabitat Glass Philolog S. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. 1. Really in opposition to al Types and Shadows The God-head dwelt also in the Temple at Jerusalem but it was only as in a Type of Christ's human and Mystick bodie So v. 17. the Ceremonial rites are called shadows of things to come but the bodie is of Christ i. e. Christ is the truth and substance of al those Ceremonial Types Thus also Joh. 1.14 ful of Grace and Truth and Joh. 4.24 in Spirit and in Truth where truth seems to be opposed to the ceremonial Shadows and Types 2. Bodily i. e. Essentially and Substantially in opposition to men or Angels Thus the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used to signifie essence according to the notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is used for essence as wel as bodie 'T is true the Deitie dwels essentially in every creature in some regard and graciously in the Saints Christ's mystick bodie ay but he dwels in the human bodie of Christ in a far more essential substantial and glorious manner the Saints are not Godded or made essentially and substantially one with God neither are they espoused and maried to God by an hypostatick Vnion as the Human Nature of Christ is Whence 3. By Bodily we may understand personally For so frequently both in sacred and Profane Authors Bodie signifies a Person Thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 12.1 imports persons Then he saies that al the plenitude of the Deitie dwelleth This seems to be an allusion to the Divine Shekinah or Inhabitation of the Deitie before mentioned Joh. 1.14 Look as God once had a visible glorious residence in the Holy of Holies as in a Type of Christ's human nature so he now dwelleth in the Antitype really essentially and personally For al the fulnes of the Deitie dwelleth in Christ's human Nature not only essentially but also personally by virtue of the Hypostatick Vnion And oh what a
Christ withal Mat. 25.1 Was not Jehu seemingly filled with zele for the Worship of Christ against Baal's Priests and Idols Did not Saul and Ahab mourne under the Displeasure and curse of God Oh! what serious spirit trembles not at this 6 Prop. 6. As to Union with Christ A false friend of Christ may come unto some seeming union with Christ Doth not Christ make mention of some dead branches which yet have a seeming implantation into and union with him Joh. 15.2 Joh. 15.2 every branch in me that beareth not fruit c. It 's true they have not a Physick or Hyper-Physick supernatural and real union of continuitie or spiritual Inhesion in Christ yet they have a mathematick superficial and seeming union of contiguitie with or Adhesion to Christ they touch Christ and adhere to him as a dead fruitles branch to the Vine Although they are not under the Gracious and special Inhabitation of the Spirit yet may they not be under some commun Illapses and Irradiations of the Spirit So Heb. 6.4 and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost 7 Prop. 7. As to Christ's Image A false friend of Christ may have some sleight touches and strokes of the Spirit of Sanctification some first lines superficial Impresses or stampes of commun Grace on his heart We may not say or conceit as some that a false friend of Christ may have true saving Grace no this destroyes God's 〈◊〉 the Covenant of Grace c. Yet we may lately conclude that he may and oft doth attain unto a great mesure of commun Graces which have a mightie Ressemblance with saving Graces and therefore can very hardly by human estimation be distinguished there-from Is it not said that God gave Saul another heart though not a new heart 1 Sam. 10.9 Do not many begin in the Spirit and yet end in the Flesh as Gal. 3.3 8 Prop. 8. As to Active obedience A false friend of Christ may give a partial hypocritick subjection and conformitie to the Laws of Christ Do we not read of some 2 Tim. 3.1 5. who in these last dayes should arrive unto a visible forme of Godlines and yet denie the power or truth thereof yea continue stil under the power of lust Have we not had dreadful Instances of this in these last perillous dayes How many are there who have sometimes shone like Stars of the first magnitude in the Firmament of the Church and yet now like Meteors or blazing Comets lye buried in the ashes of their burnt profession O tremble tremble at this ye English Professors 9 Prop. 9. As to Passive obedience A false friend of Christ may yield not only Hypocritick Active Obedience to Christ's Laws but also some passive obedience to his Crosse and that in a very considerable degree Doth not Paul Mat. 13.22 1 Cor. 13.3 suppose that a false friend of Christ may give his bodie to be burnt or die a Martyr for Christ and yet want Divine Charitie or true Amitie for Christ How far a false friend of Christ may with courage suffer persecution for Christ seems lively illustrated Mat. 13.22 by the thorny Ground which is more generous than the stony ground in that it bears a scorching day of persecution and yet after al the thornes or cares of the World choke the Corne when it comes near to Harvest Have we not had sad exemples of this also in this our Age How many Professors have passed thorow a bitter Winter of persecution with courage and yet after al been blasted with a Sun-shine day of prosperitie or worldly cares and comforts 10 Prop. 10. As to Dependence an Christ A false friend of Christ may be brought to a considerable mesure of seeming Dependence on Christ both for Providential Ministerial and gracious Influences Did not Saul consult and wait on the Divine Oracle 1 Sam. 13.9 13 Is it not said of some false friends of Christ Esa 48.2 Esa 48.2 that they stayed themselves on the God of Israel i. e. they presumed and gloried much in their dependence on Christ though they really depended on nothing but their own Phantasies and carnal confidences they conceit they depend on Christ but really depend on this their own fond conceit And is not this the case of a world of false friends of Christ O that it were not 11 Prop. 11. As to Assistances and Services A false friend of Christ may receive great Assistances from Christ and do great Services for him Was not this the case of Judas Did he not do many Miracles and perhaps awaken if not convert some souls Oh! what Assistances and Enlargements in duties What Divine Benedictions on their Labors have many Ministers who yet never were real friends of Christ received from him 12. 12. As to Praises A false friend of Christ may returne unto him some acknowlegement for Divine Assistances or other mercies received So Luk. 5.26 And they were al amazed and glorified God i. e. for what they had seen of his omnipotence in the Miracle wrought 13. 13. As to communion of Saints Exo. 12 38. A false friend of Christ may adhere very close to the more pure Ordinances Administrations and members of Christ Thus Exod. 12.38 We find mention of a mixed people who went up with the Israelites out of Egypt and indured some difficulties to have communion with them and yet at last they fel off as leaves in Autumne and returned back again to Egypt as Numb 11.4 This is a terrible contemplation for the Professors of this Age Thus the foolish Virgins consociate with the wise Mat. 25.1 14. 14. As to communion with Christ Luke 13.26 27. Yea a false friend of Christ may arrive to some mesure of communion with Christ in his Ordinances This seems the case of those presumtuous Confidents Luk. 13.26 We have eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our Streets Eating and drinking together denoteth familiar conversation and friendly communion They had oft' eaten and drunk with Christ at his communion Table and this makes them mightie confident of their Amitie with Christ But yet Christ rejects them as workers of Iniquitie v. 27. Should not this consideration make every vein in our hearts to Tremble 15. 15. As to prelibations of Glorie A false friend of Christ may arrive unto some labial sips some superficial tasts of the Celestial Gift and of the powers of the Kingdome to come This seems couched in that supposition Heb. 6.4 5. and have tasted of the Heavenly Gift c. There may be some labial prelibations of coming Glorie arising from some commun Illuminations of the Spirit without the least tast of those spiritual suavities and satisfying sweetnesses which the real friends of Christ find in the Injoyment of himself and whereby their lusts after other things are quenched as Joh. 4.14 whereas the false friends of Christ never drink a ful draught but have only some sips of Divine Suavities
constitution of a sincere Amitie with Christ Are there so many who by their profession seem good friends of Christ but yet in their Affection are real enemies to him Wil so much of that which now passeth for Friendship with Christ be one day found to be no better than enmitie against him And is it so sinful so foolish so dangerous a thing for any to delude themselves with false Ideas Pictures and Shadows of Amitie with Christ O then how greatly doth it concerne us al to examine narrowly every vein of our friendship with Christ Are we not told in the Sacred Writ that few are saved yea that the Righteous shal scarcely be saved Doth it not then much concerne us to take al the heed that may be that we be not left out of that smal number Oh! how sad is it to have any fundamental error yea any loose pin in this great work of friendship with Christ And the more effectually to provoke our spirits Motives to examine our friendship with Christ to a more thorough Inquisition into and examination of our Friendship with Christ Consider 1. 1. From the Difficulties that attend it How many difficulties attend a true and sacred Friendship with Christ Is it not extreme difficult to part with right eyes and hands beloved Idols and darling lusts which are professed enemies to Christ Is it not very hard to offer violence to corrupt Nature to disloge sin and self from the Bent of the heart that so Christ may loge and inhabit there O! how difficult yea impossible without omnipotent Grace is it to win an inch of ground on self-wisdome self-wil self-humor self-strength and self-righteousnes What a painful death is it to die to that adulterous cursed Idol Self that so we may live to Christ Whoever overcame sin and self without a world of Difficulties And how can we ever hope for friendship with Christ til we have our hearts rent from these his professed enemies It is an easy matter to become a false bypocritick friend of Christ but O! how hard is it to be really such there is no great pain or difficultie in attaining to a Name and profession of Friendship with Christ but what a world of pain and labor is there required to obtain the Thing it self He that is not sensible of the difficulties it 's a black signe he knows not what the thing it self means Now then if it be so difficult a thing to arrive unto a sincere Amitie with Christ doth it not greatly concerne us al to examine wel whether that which we professe be of the right make Doth not the difficultie of gaining real friendship with Christ lay an essential obligation on al Professors to make a narrow Scrutinie and Inquisition into their hearts touching the sinceritie of that which they professe 2 Cor. 13.5 know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be Reprobates 2. 2. From the facilitie of being mistaken about the truth of our friendship with Christ Consider how easie a thing it is to be mistaken in our perfuasions about the sinceritie of our friendship with Christ As the thing it self is most difficult so our mistake about the truth of it is most easie Though the distance 'twixt true Amitie with Christ and false be vast and in a sense infinite yet the latter doth so much ressemble the former as that it is very easy to mistake therein Alas how much watered brasse is there that passeth for pure gold How many Idol-Christs are there which passe for the true Christ Is there not much bastard spurious knowlege that passeth for true saving light Are there not many adulterous whorish Affections which passe for true conjugal Affections to Christ How fearfully are thousands of awakened Professors deluded with the shadow or dream of friendship with Christ when as they are indeed at heart real enemies to him Have we not cause then to sift our hearts to the very bran to shake our selves out of our selves and to demand of our selves such questions as these What aâ—t thou as to Friendship with Christ How doth thy soul stand disposed and framed towards him It 's true thou hast professed long and much Amitie to him ay but doest thou really and strongly intend what thou pretendest to be Thou doest pretend to give him thy heart but is there no Image of Jelousie no darling lust loged there in the room of Christ Thou hast arrived to some partial superficial conformitie unto Christ but yet is there not an inward Difformitie and disagreement from him Oh! how much should this verisimilitude or Ressemblance betwixt counterfeit and sincere friendship with Christ awaken and excite our spirits to a serious and accurate scrutinie into our own hearts and states as to this particular 3. 3. From the danger of mistakes herein Consider how dangerous a mistake about our friendship with Christ is Is not friendship with Christ the most fundamental part of Christianitie Is not then the least error or flaw herein fundamental Of what use is a false persuasion of true friendship with Christ but to make you steal quietly to Hel in a sweet sleep or golden dream of carnal securitie For what serves the Name and Notion of a friend without the thing but to make thee a more cunning and effectual enemie to Christ and thine own soul Alas Alas a Name is but a Name or shadow of a thing and unlesse thou hast the Thing it self the Name of being a friend to Christ wil but serve as a vizard or disguise to concele a rotten heart and sink thee deeper into the Abysse of sin and miserie Doth it not then nearly concerne us al to examine thoroughly what our friendship with Christ is O that the professed friends of Christ would be very serious and punctual in this particular and never desist til they have brought this grand Question or rather Controversie to some Head and Conclusion of this or the like import Am I or am I not a real friend of Christ Have I elected him for himself or have I not Is mine heart strongly bent for him or is it not Now to come to a ful Resolution of this Question Distinctive Characters of Christ's false and true friends I shal lay down some criterial notes or distinctive Characters of Christ's false and real friends 1. 1 In point of Essimation The true friend of Christ estimes nothing worse than sin and nothing better than Christ and friendship with him he fears and feels no worse Hel than sin that deprives him of Christ he hopes for and desires no better Heaven than Christ and the Injoyment of him Psal 73.25 whom have I in Heaven but thee c. Christ's Presence makes up his Heaven and Christ's Absence makes up his Hel. But now is it thus with the false friend of Christ Hath he not some thing better than Christ and something worse than sin Do not some notwithstanding al their pretensions to Amitie
hereto Then take the following Directions First In general Lay a good Foundation look wel to the Beginnings of thy friendship be sure thou lay a good Foundation Take this for an Infallible eternal Truth The progresse and perfection of your Amitie with Christ wil be proportionable to its Foundation and beginning Wherefore a good Beginning is more than half your work and on the contrarie a bad Beginning is worse than none at al. Let thy Conscience be never so deeply wounded by the Spirit of Bondage yea cast down to Hel under Despairing thoughts and Hellish Terrors yet if there be not a fiducial closing with Christ thou wilt prove at best but a conquered Enemie or slave not a faithful friend of Christ Again Let thine Heart be lift up to Heaven in spiritual Illuminations and Raptures of Joy yet if the inward Pondus or Weight i. e. the more prevalent Inclination and Bent thereof be not towards Christ thou wilt remain but an Apparent Hypocritick friend and real enemie of him Lastly let thy Profession and Conversation be gilded over with never so many Splendid Titles Artificial Formes and Habits of legal Mortification pretended Evangelick Sanctitie Puritie and Pietie seemingly Angelick yet if thine Heart be not sound and sincere al thy Glorious Titles and Formes of Godlines and Friendship with Christ are but begun in Hypocrisie and wil unavoidably end in Apostasie Therefore thou seest how greatly it doth concerne thee to look wel to the Foundations and Beginnings of thine Amitie with Christ For if it begin il it can never end wel Loose worke or any fundamental error in thy first Election of Christ wil cause a crack in the whole Structure of thy friendship with him If thou begin but a seeming Hypocritick friend thou wilt and a real and open enemie of Christ Oh then of what infinite concernement is it to use al manner of Caution Circumspection and Diligence in laying a good Foundation for a sound and lasting friendship with Christ O beware beware of false superficial or rotten foundations If thou wilt build a lasting Structure of Amitie with Christ such as may reach up to Heaven thou must lay the Foundation almost as low as Hel namely thou must dig deep not only into sin but also into self and never leave digging til thou come to an holy and humble self-despair which is a kind of felt Hel yet the Gate of Heaven and friendship with Christ For self-despair is a door to Faith and Hope in Christ But we descend to particulars As in man's Bodie there are two great and principal parts the Head which is the Fountain of Animal Spirits and thence the seat of Sense and Judgement as also the Heart which is the Fountain of vital Spirits and so the seat of Life and Affections b The life of Friendship consists in Freedome tempered with Wisdome and Faithfulnes The main Foundations of Friendship with Christ 1. A prudent Head So in like manner in al Friendship there are two great principal parts and Foundations 1. A prudent Head 2. A vital loyal or Faithful Heart Now proportionable hereto there are two main and principal parts and Foundations of our Amitie with Christ 1. A prudent sanctified Head or Judgement 2. A vital loyal Faithful or Honest Heart 1. One principal part and main Foundation of Amitie with Christ consists in a sanctified prudent Head or a wel-principled awakened and serious Judgement As the Head is the top of the bodie the seat of Animal Spirits and therefore the Guide of a man so spiritual Judgement is the Guide of a friend of Christ Saving Light and Sanctified Wisdome is the very life and Soul not only of our first closures with Christ but also of al the following parts of Christianitie And this is to me a great maxime in Divinitie That according to the Nature and mesure of our Light and Judgement touching Christ and his concernes such wil be the Nature and mesure of our Amitie with him If our Light be as Joh. 8.12 The light of life i. e. a real spiritual clear distinct certain feeling and Active Light or Judgement then wil our Election of him as our friend be single cordial complete and firme So also as to the mesure if our Light be intense strong growing and noon-tide then wil our friendship with Christ be exceding warme flourishing glorious and operative Such an intimate Connexion is there between saving Light or sanctified Wisdome and friendship with Christ But oh how rare is it to meet with such a sanctified Head such a saving Light of Life or Judgement Are there not a world of seeming friends of Christ who have their Heads stuffed and cram'd with airy Notions fine spun Ideas or curious speculations of Christ and Evangelick Truths who yet never had any one beam or spark of this true Light of life or sanctified Judgement A Sanctified prudent head Which implies 1. An Head wel principled with Habitual Notions of Christ Wherefore it is necessary that we give the true character the exact Idea or Just mesure of this sanctified Prudent Head which is so Fundamental to the constitution of a sincere Amitie with Christ 1. It must be an Head wel-principled or indued with a stock of sanctified habitual Ideas or Notions touching Christ and his evangelick concernes especially such as refer to friendship with him This is essential and fundamental to the constitution of a Divine Amitie with Christ For if there be not a considerable mesure of Habitual Light or Sanctified Evangelick Notions touching Christ his Excellences Laws and the Benefits we receive by him how can the soul fal in love with him Who ever judiciously loved that whereof he never had any right Notion or conception In brief if thou wilt become a good friend of Christ get a true Idea or right notion of Christ's Relative and Absolute perfections How ful of Grace and Truth he is what an Infinite plenitude of Life dwels in him How willing and readie he is to fil every emtie heart to enrich every poor soul to refresh every wearie and heavy laden sinner to heal every wounded soul to revive every dead and drooping spirit to justifie every self-condemned sinner that comes unto him Get also a right Notion of al the Absolute perfections of Christ touching those ravishing Beauties and Transcendent excellences that shine in his person as he is the Son of God and expresse Image of his Person Farther thou must have right Ideas of thine own sin and miserie and thence of thine absolute necessitie and need of Christ as also of the covenant of Grace and the Termes on which Christ is offered to thee 2. 2. An awakened Head It sufficeth not that thou hast an head wèl-principled with Habitual notions of Christ but thou must also have an awakened Head or an actual feeling Judgement of Christ and his Affairs Habitual Notions without an actual feeling consideration of things is but a sleepy and dreaming
similitude or likenes and the more like men are in virtuous Qualities the better friends they make I interpose virtuous Qualities as the foundation of this similitude and friendship because there is no genuine similitude or friendship but what hath its rise from Virtue Al vicious persons are difforme and dissonant not only from virtuous men but also among themselves Sin is but a Chaos or masse of Confusion difformitie and disagreement al lusts are irregular turbulent factious dissonant and jarring among themselves as wel as with Virtues Therefore vicious men whatever their pretensions may be can never attain to any sincere solid Amitie because they can never have any virtuous Vniformitie or Ressemblance It is the serious virtuous person only that may lay claim to true Vniformitie and friendship as Plato and other Philosophers have long since determined Now then this being the true Idea of al Amitie whether Divine or human that it be founded on some virtuous Vniformitie and Conformitie hence it necessarily follows that the more Vniforme with and Conforme to Christ his friends are the more they live and walk and Act up to the Dignitie of their Relation to him as friends 1. 1. Interne Uniformitie with Christ The friends of Christ should labor after the nearest interne Vniformitie with Christ their Spirits should rise up to the highest Ressemblance of Christ They should endeavor to have the Image of Christ drawen in more lively characters on their hearts Undoutedly the more the friends of Christ participate with him in the Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 the more lively Impresses and Stampes of his Image they receive upon their souls the better friends they are Thus much is contained in that excellent Admonition and Advice of Paul Rom. 12.1 2. Rom. 12.1 2. v. 1. he exhorts them to present their bodies or whole persons a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God c. i e. to approve themselves what they professed real and loyal friends of Christ But how might they attain to this That he expresseth v. 2. And be not conformed unto this world i. e. Let not your hearts be shaped moulded or formed according to the Humors lusts fashions or any other deceitful Ideas of this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds i. e. Let your minds be stript of their old corrupt Forme received from the first Adam and be clothed with the new Divine Forme or Image of Christ the second Adam as Ephes 4.22 23. whence it follows that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect wil of God i. e. that ye may approve your selves Loyal friends of Christ The more the friends of Christ are transformed by the renewing of their minds into the Image of Christ the more they wil come to have one and the same Mind and Spirit with Christ the more they wil mind affect and delight in what Christ minds affects and delights in most Doth not the poor o Eadem velle ac eadem nolle ea demum vera Amicitia Heathen teach us that this is true friendship to wil and nil the same things What makes men better friends than an Vnitie or Similitude of Wils Must not then the friends of Christ Studie and affect a similitude yea Vnitie of Wil with Christ What makes a greater Schisme on friendship with Christ than Pluralitie of Wils Identitie or Samenes of Wil with Christ prevents a world of sin and is the Life of Grace A friend of Christ should have his wil broken to pieces that it may be made one With the Wil of Christ to mind and intend the same things with Christ Yea is not this one of the highest degrees of true Amitie with Christ Doth Christ mind and intend the Glorie of his Father most And shal not the friends of Christ endeavor after the same mind with Christ herein O what Strong Intention what pure aimes should they have at the Glorie of God How should al the concernes of self be quite melted into and swallowed up in the Concernes of God and his Glorie Again doth Christ Love and Affect Grace more than the whole Creation besides And shal not the friends of Christ love and affect Grace more than al things else Farther doth Christ delight in nothing so much as in doing and suffering his Father's Wil Was it his meat and drink to do and suffer the same O then how much should the friends of Christ delight in doing and suffering God's wil What complacence should they take in Active and Passive obedience Thus the friends of Christ should studie and affect a greater Latitude of interne Vniformitie with Christ in Mind Wil and Affection And without al peradventure the more they partake of one and the same Divine Nature and heart with Christ the more faithful and complete friends are they 2. 2. Externe Conformitie to Christ The friends of Christ must studie and endeavor not only Interne Vniformitie with but also externe Conformitie to Christ They must not only mind and affect but also Talk and Act and Live as Christ True friendship even among men requires not only Habitual and inward Ressemblance in Nature dispositions Principles and Affections but also actual and outward Conformitie in Conversation and Actions So here Divine Amitie with Christ implies not only interne habitual Assimilation to him but also externe actual Imitation of him and the greater Latitude of degrees the friends of Christ attain herein the more real and visible yea glorious wil their Amitie appear to be This was Paul's greatest Ambition to be an Imiâ—ator of Christ which he commends also to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 11.1 1 Cor. 11.1 Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ So Ephes 5.1 Be ye therefore followers of God Ephes 5.1 as dear Children It is the Ambition of pious Children to imitate their Parents in what is good As they partake with them in one and the same Nature and likenes so would they fain conforme to them by one and the same Actions and Mode of life Parents Exemples are usually more forcible and binding than their precepts to their Children And this ariseth from that natural friendship or Vniformitie of Nature which is betwixt Parents and Children Such should the Exemple of Christ be to his Children and friends by Grace as they have his Divine Nature communicated to them and thereby an Vniformitie of Spirits so also should they studie and affect a conformitie to or Imitation of him in al their Actions and Conversation Did Christ break thorow al Tentations and Difficulties to do and suffer his Father's Pleasure Should not then his friends arme themselves with the same mind in doing and suffering the wil of God Is it not greatly unbecoming a friend of Christ to be thrust off from a dutie either by the Frowns or Smiles of this lower world Was David that Noble friend of Christ scoffed off from his dutie by Michal Doth he not rather