The Excellency of the Gospel Above the Law, Treatise · Part 6
As in a glasse.
The Gospell is the good Word of God, Heb. 6. It reveales the good God to us, and the good Christ, it is a sweete word: for Christ could doe us no good without the word, if there were not an obligation, a covenant made betweene God and us,Necessity of the Gospell. the foundation of which covenant, is the satisfaction of Christ, if there were not promises built upon the covenant of grace, whereby God hath made himselfe a debtor, what claime could a sinfull soule have to Christ, and to Gods mercy? but God hath bound himselfe in his word, therefore the grace of God shines in Christ, and all that is in Christ, is conveyed to us, by the word, by the promise. The Gospell then is a sweete word. You know that breeding promise of all others, Gen. 3. The seed of the woman, that repealed and conveyed the mercy of God in Christ to Adam: So the continuance of that and all the sweet and gracious promises, bud from that, all meete in Christ, as in a cen…er, all are made for him, and in him, he is the summe of all the promises, all the good things wee have, are parsels of Christ, Christ, he is the word of the Father, that discovers all from the bosome of his Father, therefore he is named the Word, the Gospell is the word frō him. Christ was discovered to the Apostles, and from the Apostles to us, to the end of the world by his Spirit accompanying the ordinance, so the Myrrour wherein, we see the glorious mercy of God, is first Christ, God shines in him, and then there is another glasse wherein Christ is discovered, the glasse of the Gospell, thus it pleaseth God to condiscend, to stoope to us poore sinners, to reveale his glory, the glory of his mercy, fitly, and sutable in a Saviour, God-man,God condescends in giving the Gospell. God incarnate, God our Brother, God our Kinsman, and to doe it all yet more familiarly to discover it in a word: and then to ordaine a Ministery, together with the Word, to lay open the riches of Christ, for it is not the Gospell, considered nakedly, but the Gospell unfolded by the Ministery.
Christ is he great Ordinance of God, for our Salvation, the Gospell is the great Ordinance of God, to lay open the unsearchable riches of Christ, the casket of this Iewell, the treasury of his treasure, the grace and love and mercy of God, are treasured in Christ, and Christ and all good things are treasured in the Gospell, that is the rich Myne, and the Ministery of the Gospell, layes open that Myne to the people. Nay God yet goes further, hee gives his holy Spirit with the Ministery, it is the Ministery of the Spirit, that howsoever there are many that are not called, and converted in the Gospell, yet the Spirit of God is before hand with them. There are none under the Gospell,Motions of the Spirit in men unconverted. but the Spirit gives them sweete motions, hee knockes at their hearts, he allures and perswades them, and if they yeeld not, it is because of the rebellion of their hearts, there is more grace of the Spirit offered, then is entertained so that the mouthes of men shall bee stopped, thus God descends, and Christ, and grace, the Gospell, the Ministery, the Spirit, all in way of love to us, that we may doe all in a way of love to God againe, it should therefore worke us to doe all with ingenious hearts to him againe.
The Gospel is the glasse, wherein wee see this glory. Christ indeed in some sort is the glasse, for wee cannot see God out of Christ, but he is a terrifying sight, but in the glasse Christ, wee can see God, as we see the Sunne in the water: If we cannot see the Sunne in his glory that is but a creature,God must be seene in some glasse. how can we see God himselfe, but in some glasse? therefore we must see him in Christ, and so his sight is comfortable.
And in the dispensing of the Gospell, especially in the Preaching and unfolding of the word, the riches of God in Christ are unfolded and not onelyonly unfolded, but the Spirit in unfolding, conveyes the sence, assurance, and perswasion thereof unto us.
There is such a connexion, betweene the Evangelicall truth of God, and Iesus Christ, that they have both one name, to insinuate to us that as wee wil be partakers of Christ, so it must bee of Christ, as hee is revealed in the Gospell, not in conceites of our owne, the Word is truth, and Christ is truth, they have the same name, for were there never so much mercy and love in God, if i…were concealed from us, that wee had nothing to plead, that wee had not some title to it by some discovery of it in his will, the Word and the seale of the Word, the Sacraments (for the Sacrament is but a visible Word, they make one entyre thing, the Word and Sacraments, the one is the evidence, the other the seale) what comfort could wee take in it? Now his will is in the promise,God hath ingaged himselfe by his promise. wherein there is not onelyonly a discovery of what he doth or will doe, but hee hath ingaged himselfe, If we beleeve wee shall not perish, but have life, and Come unto me, and bee refreshed saith Christ, every one that thirsts, come and be satisfied, and now wee may claime the performance of what hee hath spoken, and bind him by his owne word, he cannot deny himselfe, so now we see him comfortably in the glasse of the Word and Sacraments.
These three goe together,We cannot see Divine things but in a glasse. the glory of God, Christ the foundation of all grace, in the covenant of grace, and then the Gospell of grace, the Gospell of the Kingdome, the Gospell of life, that discovers the gracious face of God shining in Christ, we have Communion with God through Christ, with Christ through the Gospell, therefore in the Gospell we behold as in a glasse the glory of God.
This is sutable to our condition while we are here below, we cannot see divine things, otherwise than in a glasse, that sight of God that we shall have in heaven, immediately without the Word and Sacraments, that is of a higher nature, when our natures shall be perfect, but while we live here wee cannot see God but in Christ, and we cannot see him but in the Word and Sacraments, such is the imperfection of our sight, and such is the luster and glory of the object, the glory of God, that we cannot perfectly see it but in a glasse; God saith to Moses, None can see me and live, his meaning is none can see me as I am, none can see me immediatly and live, if we would see God, and the glory of God immediately without a glasse, we must see it in heaven, we must dye first, we must passe through death to see God face to face as he is then, not as he is, but more familiarly than we can now, then God will represent himselfe so as shall be for our happinesse, though not simply as he is, for he is infinite, and how should finite comprehend infinite, we shall apprehend him, but not comprehend him: while we are in earth therefore, we must bee content to see him in a glasse, which is the Gospell, especially unfolded.
Now in this word glasse in which we see the glory of God, is implyed both,
A Perfection,
And some Imperfection.
Perfection, because it is as a cleare Christall glasse in regard of the glasse that was before, for those under the law saw Christ, in a glasse of Ceremonies, and as I sayd before, there is difference betweene ones seeing his face in water, and in a Christall glasse, so then this implies perfection in regard of the former state.
Againe in regard of heaven it implyes imperfection, for there we shall not see in a glasse, sight in a glasse is imperfect though it be more perfect than that in water: for we know out of the principles of learning and experience that reflections weaken, and the more reflections, the more weake, when wee see a thing by reflection, we see it weakly, and when we see it by a second reflection, from that we see it more weakely, when we see the sunne on the wall,Sight, weak here, perfect in heaven. or any thing that is light, it is weaker than the light of the sunne it selfe, when a man seeth his face in a glasse, it is a weaker representation, than to see face to face, but when we see the sunne upon the wall, reflexing upon another wall, the third reflexion is weaker than the first, the more reflections the more weake, so here all sight by glasses is not so powerfull, as that sight and knowledge which is face to face, in heaven; that is the reason that S. Iames saith, that hee that seeth his face in a glasse is subject to forget, what is the reason that a man cannot remember himselfe, when he seeth his face in a glasse so well as he can remember another mans face when he seeth it? because he seeth himselfe onelyonly by reflection, therefore it is a weaker presentation to him, and the memory and apprehension of it is weaker, when he seeth another face to face, hee remembers him longer, because there is a more lively representation, it is not a reflection, but face to face. So there is imperfection in this sight that wee have of God, while wee are here as in a glasse, it is nothing to that when we shall see face to face without the Word and Sacraments or any other Medium, which sight what it is, we shall know better when we are there, we cannot now discover it, it is a part of heaven to know what apprehensions we shall have of God there, but sure it is more excellent than that that is here, therefore this implyes imperfection.
We consist of body and soule in this world,Our soules helped by our sences. and our soules, are much confined and tyed to our sences, imagination propounds to the soule greater things than the sences, so God helpes the soule by outward things that worke upon the sences, sence upon the imagination, and so things passe into the soule.
God frames his manner of dealing sutable to the nature he hath created us in, therefore he useth the Word, and Sacraments and such things whereby hee makes impressions, upon the very soule it selfe.
And this indeed (by the way) makes Spirituall things so difficult as they are oft times,What makes spirituall things difficult. because wee are too much inthralled to imagination and sence, and cannot abstract and raise our minds from outward sensible things to spirituall things: therefore you have some, all the dayes of their life spend their time in the barke of the Scriptures, and they are better than some others that are all for notion, and out side, such things as frame to the imagination, and never come to know the Spirit of the Scriptures, but rest in outward things in languages and tongues, and such like, whereas these things leade further, or else they come not to their perfection, the Scripture is but a glasse, to see some other excellencies in it,Vse of a glasse. We see as in a glasse.
Now the use of a glasse among us, especially is two fold:
It is either to helpe weakenesse of sight,To helpe weake sight. against the excellencie of the object, when there is a weake sight, and an over excellent object, then a glasse is used, or some polite and cleare body, as we cannot see the sunne in it selfe, the eye is weake, and the sunne is glorious, these two meeting; therefore together we helpe it by seeing the Sunne in water as in an eclipse, if a man would judge of an eclipse, he must not looke on the sunne, but see it in water, and there behold and discerne these things, so to see the glory of God in himselfe, it is too glorious an object, our eyes are too weake, how doth God helpe it, he helpes it by a glasse, by God manifest in the flesh, and by the Word, and Sacraments whereby we come to have Communion with Christ: to apply this more particularly.
Now that we are to receive the Sacrament,Sacraments glasses. conceive the Sacraments are glasses, wherein wee see the glory of the love, and mercy of God in Christ: for take the bread alone, as it doth not represent, and figure better things, and what is it? and take the wine alone, as it doth not represent better things, and what is the wine? but an ordinary poore creature; Oh but take them as they are galsses, as things that convey to the soule, and represent things more excellent than themselves, so they are glorious ordinances, take a glasse, as a glasse it is a poore thing, but take the glasse as it represents a more excellent thing than it selfe, so they are of excellent use, so bread and wine must not be taken as naked elements, but as they represent and convey a more excellent thing than themselves, that is Christ and all his benefits, the love, and mercy, and grace of God in Christ, and so they are excellent glasses: therefore I beseech you now when you are to receive the Sacrament let your mindes be more occupied than your sences, when you take the bread thinke of the body of Christ broken, and when you thinke of uniting the bread into one substance, thinke of Christ and you made one, when the wine is powred out, thinke of the blood of Christ powred out for sinne, when you thinke of the refreshing by the wine, thinke of the refreshing of your spirits, and soules by the love of God in Christ, and of the love of Christ, that did not spare his blood for your soules good, how doth Christ crucified, and shedding his blood, refresh the guilty soule, as wine refresheth the weake Spirits, thus consider them as glasses, where better things are presented, and let your mindes bee occupied as well as your sences, and then you shall be fit receivers, as in a glasse.