The Saints Qualification, Sermon 9 – Title page 3
THE NINTH SERMON VPONUPON THE NEW CREATVRE.
2 Cor. 5.17.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, let him be a new Creature.
THere is one motive that remaines,Mot. 5. If you be out of Christ, you are poore, and naked, and miserable. and that is this, which you shall finde, Revel. 3.17. For thou sayest, I am rich and encreased in goods, and hast need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poore, and blinde, and naked. Because we are moved much with sensible things, it pleaseth the Holy Ghost to expresse our spiritual misery, by that misery, which we are sensible of, which is outward; If you be out of Christ, you are poore, and naked, and miserable; If you come in to him, you shall have the contrary; we will pitch therefore upon these three particulars:
1Poore.First, if you be out of Christ, you are poore.
What that poverty is.What is that poverty?
It is the want of whatsoever may make the soule rich; for, you know, there is a double riches; Charge those that are rich in this world. where there is an intimation, that there are men that are rich in another world: And so Luke 12. So is he that is rich in this world, and is not rich towards God. And Revel. 2. I know thy poverty, but thou art rich: that is, thou art rich in grace, and in good works, though thou art poore otherwise, and therefore there is a poverty that concernes the soule, a spirituall poverty which is found in every man out of Christ. Poverty, you know, it is a thing that every man shuns, he would not be poore, and you shall find, that looke what reasons there are, why a man should not be poore in his outward estate, here is the same reason, why they should not be poore in their spirituall estate. For to what end serve riches? Riches serve but for this purpose, to procure things needfull for us, if we want bread, or wine, or houses, or any thing riches will procure them, and therefore we prize riches: And so likewise there are spirituall riches, that will procure things needfull for our soules, and, if we want them, we shall want that, that is profitable for us, we shall want that, that is necessary for our salvation. For riches doe but set men a worke, to doe us service; riches can doe no more, than men can doe: but these spirituall riches set God a worke, to doe us good; they are beyond the other, as much as the help of God goes beyond the helpe of man, when you need any thing. If you be rich in Christ, if you be rich in grace, if you be rich in good workes, it is but putting up your request, and you shall have it at the hand of God, if you want them, you shall have whatsoever he is able to doe for you: Now if you be out of Christ, saith the Text, you are poore, (that is) you want these spirituall riches, you have no ground to goe, and to make your suit to goe for any thing.
Againe, riches stand us in stead in the time of need; for, why doe men lay up treasures? that when dearth comes, when there comes a time of need, the riches that they have laid up, may serve their turne, they may have those ready for their use, when other men want them. Are not these riches for the same purpose? Will there not come a day of need, will there not come a time of spending, when there will be no leasure to gather at the day of death? Then all the seed sowen to the spirit, all the good workes that we have laid up, will be as a treasure, and at that time will do us good: And that is the difference between the death of a godly man, and another: when a wicked man comes to the time of need, he hath nothing to sustaine him, he hath no oile left in his lampe, he hath nothing to helpe him up; but the godly man hath a treasure, that he hath gathered, all his life was to lay up a treasure: And this, my Brethren, you shall finde to be a great comfort at that time, that when you come to die, all the faithfull prayers that you have made, all the good workes that you have done, all the sincerity that you have shewed in denying your selves, in passing by the things that worldly men catch at, in doing things, that it may be, hath brought trouble, and slander, and disgrace, and persecution on you, you shall then find it a treasure. Take two men, when they come to that day, the one rich in this world, another rich in good workes, and consider which of these two conditions you would choose; and therefore it is not a small matter to be rich: Now when you are in Christ, you are rich; out of him, you are poore, and have nothing to stand you in stead in the time of need.
Againe, this a man hath by riches, that he is independant, he needs not to serve others, and therefore you know the proverbe is, that a rich man, he can live by others, and without others, and that is it, they boast of: So it is with all the Saints, they may say to all the world, they can live without it, because they have God to be theirs, they have all his treasures open to them, they have enough in him, for he is all-sufficient, though they have but him alone for their portion, yet he is enough, as he saith to Abraham, I am all-sufficient; and why? there are but two things that a man can desire, to be free from evill, and to enjoy good, saith hee, I am thy Buckler, to keepe thee from evill, and thy exceeding great reward to give good to thee: that is, thou shalt have enough, if thou enjoy me. Now, if you be out of Christ, you shall be poore, that is, you shall want these riches, you want the riches of grace, and of good workes, that should stand you in stead in the time of need, which will fetch any thing in for you, when you want it, which will make you more independant, and stand upon your owne bottomes, which is that that every man desires.
Againe,2Naked. Nakednesse, what. if you be out of Christ, you are naked. Nakednesse is a want of that which should adorne us, which should beautifie us, and that is the case of every man out of Christ, there is no beauty in him. It is the Lord only that cloaths us with beauty. As it is said of Saul, Weepe for Saul, yee Daughters of Ierusalem, for hee clothed you with Scarlet, and did hang ornaments of gold upon your apparell. It may be truly said of Christ, that he cloaths us with scarlet, and hangs ornaments of gold on our apparell, that is, it is he that makes us Priests to his Father: Now the Priests in the old Law, were but a type of us, we are the true Priests indeed; you know, they had Iewels, and embroidered garments; and so all the Saints have the shining graces of the Spirit, which adorne and beautifie them: when a man becomes so beautified, then his sight is comely, his voice is pleasant, and his prayers are acceptable. This benefit we have by being in Christ, that it makes us comely in the sight of the Lord, we shall be made beautifull; Indeed Salomon in all his Royalty was not so beautifull as one of the Saints. It is said, the Lilies are much better cloathed than he: And why? Because that was a cloathing of Gods own work; this is the clothing of Nature; but the cloathing of Grace goes beyond the clothing of Nature; If the clothing of Nature, be beyond that of Salomon, (as indeed it is for naturall excellencie) surely the cloathing of Grace goes beyond that, this you shall have by Christ: when you come to him, you come to a rich Wardrobe, where you may sute your selves from top to tooe, that you need want nothing; and by the way, that use you may make of it, when you come to him, where there are garments of all sorts, where there is change of rayment, why should you suffer your soules to be naked in any part, I know you reckon it undecent for a man to be unevenly cloathed, to have some garments rich and precious, and to have some v…le and base; and why will you suffer your soules then to goe so unequally clad? It may be, you have graces in one kind, but you want others, if you come in to him, it is he that cloaths you, you are naked without him, this benefit you shall have by him, you shall be cloathed and be made beautifull, you shall have that glorious attire, that will make you glorious within, which will make you comely in the sight of God, if not, you shall be naked, and therefore you shall be rejected, you shall want that beauty which God only accepts.
Againe,3Hungry. if you be out of Christ, you shall be hungry, you shall be wretched and miserable, for I pitch on that generall one, because that is one of the outward miseries, when a man is hungry, when he is starved, when he wants that which should strengthen him, and refresh him, and maintaine his life. This is the case of every man out of Christ, he wants that which should feed him, that which should strengthen him, for you must know, that the soule hath a meat as well as the body; otherwise, why doth Christ say, I have a meat to eat that you know not of? They wondred to see him neglect his dinner, when hee stood talking with the woman of Samaria, Iohn 4. Why, saith he, I have another meat to eat. And why doth David say, Thy Law is sweeter to mee than the honey, if there were not somewhat that his soule did feed on? And so, why is it said that Manna was Angels food? You know Manna was a materiall thing, such as a spirituall substance cannot feed on, but because by that Manna Christ was represented? You know he is said to be the true Manna, The true Bread that came down from heaven; the Angels they feed on this, and in that respect, it is called Angels food, they feed on the same spirituall meat, 1 Cor. 10. Your Fathers did eat that spirituall meat, that is, the corporall meat did typifie the spiritual meat, which is Angels food; therefore there is a food, th…t the soule feeds on, out of Christ, there is none of this, but your soules are starved, are miserable and wretched. For what is it that food doth? It maintains life in a man, take away food, and you die for it. Now it is Christ that gives that, His flesh is meat indeed, and his bloud is drinke indeed: that is, Whosoever beleeves not in him, whosoever partakes not of him, he dies for ever.
Againe, meat strengthneth, and so doth the Lord when we come to him, he gives spirituall strength, Without him we are able to doe nothing: As you have it, Ioh. 15. Without me you are able to bring forth no fruit: But as the Apostle speakes, Phil. 4. Through Christ I am able to do every thing: It is the Lord that giveth strength: If you will come in, you shall have strength given you, which is the property of meat.
Againe, meat refresheth and revives the spirits, so doth the Lord by his graces, by the joy of the Holy Ghost, by peace of conscience, by those things that he puts into the heart of every beleever, I say, they refresh the soule, more than flaggons of wine, and there is as evident refreshing: and therefore you know that metaphor is used often in Esay 26. I will make a feast of fined wines, and of fat things: And in Mat. 22. he cals them to come in, for his fatlings were prepared, and all things were ready.
What is the reason that the Lord resembleth spirituall things by a Feast, because they doe the same things as a Feast doth; a Feast is a refreshing to a man, a continuall feast is a continuall comfort, and this you shall have; if you will come in to the Lord: if you will not come in, you shall be starved, you shall be wretched and miserable. This you shall have by the Lord Iesus. Let this move you to come in.
But now a man will be ready to object,Object. 1. you tell us of these things, and indeed these are goodly things, if they were present, if they were reall, if they were not Imaginary things onelyonly, that consisted in notion, and in speculation; if they were things that were sensible, but they are not so; these things are future things, they are remote things, they are things but in Imagination, they are things that we have no feeling of, they are things that if we looke after them, we shall lose other things in this life?
This objection all the world makes against such motives as these;Answ. and therefore I will answer these briefly, and proceed:
First, whereas men say, they are things that are farre off, (and indeed such things move not much:) I say, they are already present, they are a great part present, we have the first fruits present, though the harvest be deferred, and wee may boldly say to you, that those very gleanings, for the present, are beyond the vintage that the children of this world enjoy, the peace of conscience, the joy of the Spirit, boldnesse in death, security and freedome from all deaths, and dangers, familiarity and acquaintance with God, to enjoy his favour with all that hee can doe, the grace the prevent us, the blessing that followes us in all our actions, the comforts of the Saints, whose hearts are made glad with the light of Gods countenance; these things, I say, are beyond the wine and oile, beyond the dainties and honours which they have, who have their portion in this life; therefore you have something for the present: indeed the outside of these things are but base, but the inside is precious. This is the difference betweene heavenly things and earthly; in heavenly the worst is first, the best is last: In outward things it is true, the beginning is sweet, but the latter end is bitterest: but let that be one answer to it, that you have much of it for the present.
And besides this, remember though you have it not present, yet you shall have it after; and what great matter is it to want a little, to enjoy more for the future? Are we not content to buy great reversions with the losse of a little money for the present, for we say it will come in? Are we not content to endure an Apprentiship of seven or eight yeares, for our greater advantage? Doe not men willingly serve a Master, or a Mistresse, a long time, for hopes hereafter? Now what folly, yea, what Atheisme, and unbeliefe is it for a man in things that concerne salvation, not to be content to want a little for the present, to enjoy happinesse for ever? If a man should be put to his choise, whether he would have five shillings to day, or many thousands to morrow, a man, no question would have it to morrow. You know, this life is not so much to eternitie, as to day is to the next day; why should we not be content to want a little, that we may have the more afterwards.
And besides, if you consider what men are, men are reasonable, and to what end is reason given you, but to looke on things past and future? That is the part of a Beast only to look on present things, you should doe more than the Beasts doe, you should looke to things that are future, and should order your lives according to that; And what have you faith for? For faith is that which distinguisheth a Christian from another man, as reason distinguisheth a man from a beast, surely this should teach you to goe beyond reason, reason teacheth you to goe beyond that which is present, and faith carries you beyond that, and therefore you should have an eye to things future, to things to come, and not be occupied in things present; and therefore, though you have not those things for the present, you shal have them, and you should be content to want a little, that you may enioy the more for the future, you should consider things future and not present, if reason teacheth you to doe so, much more will faith.
But it will be objected againe,Object. 2. It is true; but these things that you tell us of, they are not reall things, they are things that consist but in notion and speculation?
It is not so,Answ. you must know that these spirituall Priviledges are reall; All that are in Christ, are as truely Kings and Priests, they are as truly Sonnes and Heires apparant, and have all the promises of God intailed upon them and theirs, (as any Princes in this world) and there is no regenerate man that knowes this, that will change that glory that is reserved for him in heaven, for any earthly kingdome.
Object. 3.But we have no feeling of these things?
Answ.We answer againe, that there is a sense of them, as quicke a sense and apprehension of them, as there is of any other; for what is it that makes men sensible of these outward riches, and kingdomes, and honours? nothing but this, because the understanding magnifieth such things, and the affection loves and desires such things, when you enjoy them, then you are refreshed with them; for pleasure is nothing else, but the suting of a mans desires whatsoever they be: No man would take pleasure in any outward things, but because, first he desire; them, and the satisfying of that, is that that breeds a pleasure: now when you come home to Christ, you must know that you shall have other desires, as you have it in this Text, You shall be made New Creatures, you shall have other affections than you had before, and when these are satisfied, you shal have as true Pleasure and rejoycing, as ever you had in the other; for, if that be a true definition of Peasure and rejoycing,Pleasure, what. that it is a satisfying of the desire, a satisfying of the appetite, whatsoever it is, when that is changed; Why should you doubt, that you shall not have as much sense, and as quicke an apprehension, yea, why may we not say, you shall have more? For this I will be bold to affirme, that the object is greater, and the faculty is more capacious and apprehensive.
The object is greater, for it is durable riches, it is durable honour, a durable kingdome, greater than any kingdome upon the earth. Looke on all things that God propounds to the sons of men, and they are far beyond the things that are here below: To be the son of God is more than to be the son of any King, to be an heire of heaven, to be an heire of all things, is more than to be an heire apparant to a Crowne; whatsoever is propounded, I say it is beyond it, therefore the object is greater. Then come to the faculties, they are more capacious, they have a more quicke and lively sense and apprehension, as the rationall faculties, the understanding, and the will, their apprehensions are deeper than those of phansie, of sense, or sensuall appetite; and therefore you see the griefe of the reasonable part is more than that of the senses, and hence it is, that the misery of those that are in hell, goes beyond the miseries of any in this life; and so the joyes of those that are in heaven, is beyond the joy of any in this life: Man, as he is more happy, so he is more miserable than the Beast, and why so? because the faculty is larger, and therefore a man that is heavenly minded, a man that lives by faith, that is, in Christ, hee hath greater things to enjoy, than a worldly man hath, or can have.
Againe, the thoughts, the faculties that are taken up about them, they are of a larger apprehension, and have a more deepe and quick sense than the others have; and therefore in matter of sense, we cannot yeeld that these things are not sensible, For it is Peace of Conscience that passeth all understanding, it is joy unspeakable and glorious. It is said so of no outward thing, and therefore these are farre beyond them; that shall serve to answer that objection.
And so we have gone thorow three of them, that they are things absent, that they are things that are not reall, that consist in notion and speculation, that they are things not sensible.
Object. 4.Now there is a fourth objection, but I must lose present things for them; if we might have him and enjoy our pleasures, if we could have him, and enjoy riches and honour, we would be content, but we must be at a losse?
Answ.But to this we answer, that you shall be no losers, no not for this life, you shall but make an exchange, and change for the better; What is it that Christ requires of you? it is but to do some thing for his sake, and to suffer something; if you doe, it is but seed sowen to the Spirit, and as in other seeds, every seed bringeth forth more abundantly, it riseth with a greater plenty; so every good worke you doe, it wil doe you good at one time or other, you shall be sure to have present wages for it, and for that you suffer, Mark. 10. You shal have an hundred fold in this life, and set aside eternall life, for every thing that you lose for Christs sake, you shal have an hundred fold: Many particulars there he reckons up, if you lose friends or goods, whatsoever you lose, you shall have an hundred fold in this life with persecution; for there is the objection.
O but we see they are persecuted, they are beneath and not above, they are trampled on, they are miserable.
Why though they be, yet with persecution you shall have an hundred fold, that is, you shall have an hundred fold more comfort: As, I will give you but this instance.
Take Paul, he was persecuted and afflicted, had not he an hundred fold? Take a man that lives in abundance, and in plenty of all things, compare his condition with that Apostles, and see whether he have not more joy of heart, more comfort in those afflictions, when he went from Prison to Prison, from affliction to affliction, than Nero had in his Palace, or that men have that enjoy outward things in abundance, for they are not outward things that will comfort us, them a man may have in plenty, and yet want the comfort of them, as many thousands have had. So much shall serve for the answering of these objections. Therefore, since there are so many motives to move you to come into Christ, the impediments which you finde in the way, the objections of the flesh, and the objections that come from Satan are but delusions. Why should you not come in? He is the ground of all comfort; have him, and have all; want him, and want all things: 1 Iohn 5. He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son, the wrath of God abides upon him: That is, he that hath the Son, hath life, and all things that pertaine to life; that is it that makes a man happie, as you know every thing is said then to be happie, when it hath that which is agreeable to that being, agreeable to that life that it leads. A man that leads the life of nature, is happie for this world, according to his condition, when he hath every thing that belongs to this life, when hee hath wealth, when he hath houses, when he hath all conveniences. Now, when a man hath the Son, he hath spirituall life, and all things pertaining to it, there is nothing wanting to make him happie; when he hath not that, The wrath of God abides on him; that is, the Lord is his Enemie, that is the Governour of the world, and he is not his enemie for a fit, but the wrath of God abides on him for ever. And therefore, since the Lord is the cause of all our comfort he is the ground of all Salvation, both of all the graces, and of all the Priviledges that follow upon it, this should move us to come in, and to take him; those two arguments, I say, the misery that you are in out of him, and the happinesse you shall have by him, but I will urge this no further, so much shall serve for this Text.
FINIS.
THE CVPPE OF BLESSING: DELIVERED IN three Sermons, upon 1 COR. 10.16. By the late faithfull and worthy Minister of IESUS CHRIST, IOHN PRESTON, D. in Divinity, Chaplaine in ordinary to his Majestie, Master of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge, and sometimes Preacher of Lincolns INNE.
LONDON, Printed by R. B. for NICHOLAS BOURNE, and are to be sold at his shop at the Royall Exchange. 1633.