Looking Unto Jesus, Book 4 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II.
SECT. I. Of knowing Jeſus as carrying on the great Work of our Salvation in his Birth.
WHat Looking] comprehends, you have heard before: And that we may have an inward experimental look on him whom our ſouls pant after, let us practiſe all theſe Particulars: As—
1. Let us know Jeſus, carrying on the great work of our Salvation in his Coming or Incarnation. Come let us learn what he did for us when he came amongſt us. There is not one Paſſage in his firſt appearing, but it is of mighty concernment unto us: Is it poſſible that the great God of Heaven and Earth ſhould ſo infinitely condeſcend (as we have heard) but on ſome great Deſign? And what Deſign could there be, but only his Glory, and the Creatures good? O my Soul! If thou haſt any intereſt in Chriſt, all this concerns thee; the Lord Jeſus in theſe very tranſactions had an eye to thee; he was Incarnate for thee, he was conceived, and born for thee; look not on theſe things as Notionals, or Generals; look not on the bare hiſtory of things; for that is but unprofitable; the main duty is in eying the end, the meaning, and intent of Chriſt; and eſpecially as it relates to thee, not to others, but to thy ſelf. Alas! what comfort were it to a poor priſoner, if he ſhould hear that the King or Prince, of his meer grace and love, viſited all the Priſoners in this and that Dungeon, and that he made a Goal-delivery, and ſet all free, but he never came near the Place where he poor wretch lies bound in Fetters and cold Irons? or ſuppoſe he gives a viſit to that very man, and offers him the tenders of Grace and Freedom, if he will but accept of it; and (becauſe of his waywardneſs) Perſwades, Intreats, Commands him to come out, and take his liberty; and yet he will not regard, or apply it to himſelf, what comfort can he have? what fruit, what benefit ſhall he receive? Dear ſoul, this is thy caſe, if thou art not in Chriſt, if thou hadſt not heard the Offer, and embraced and cloſed with it, then what is Chriſt's Incarnation, Conception, Nativity unto thee? Come! learn! not meerly as a Scholar, to gain ſome notional-knowledge; but as a Chriſtian, as one that feels virtue coming out of Chriſt in every of theſe reſpects: Study cloſe this great tranſaction in reference to thy ſelf. I know not how it happ…ns, whether out of the generality of ſome Preachers handling this Subject, or whether out of the Superſtition of the time wherein it uſually hath been handled, it either ſavours not with ſome Chriſtans, or it is ſeldom thought of by the moſt; O God forbid we throw out of the doors, ſuch a bleſſed neceſſary truth! If rightly applied, it is a Chriſtians joy; Behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy that ſhall be to all People; for unto you is born in the City of David, Luk. 2.10, 11.a Saviour, which is Chriſt the Lord. Sure the Birth of Chriſt is of mighty concernment unto thee;Iſa. 9.6. unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; there is not any piece of this tranſaction, but it is of ſpecial uſe and worth thy pains. How many break their brains, and waſte their Spirits in ſtudying Arts and Sciences, things in compariſon of no value; whereas Paul otherwiſe determined not to know any thing among you but Jeſus Chriſt? To know Jeſus Chriſt in every piece and point,1 Cor. 2.2. whether in Birth, or Life, or Death, it is ſaving knowledge. O ſtand not upon Coſt, whether Pains or Study, Tears or Prayers, Peace or Wealth, Goods or Name, Life or Liberty; ſell all for this Pearl. Chriſt is of that worth and uſe, that thou canſt never over-buy him, though thou gaveſt thy ſelf and all the World for him; the ſtudy of Chriſt is the ſtudy of ſtudies; the knowledge of Chriſt is the knowledge of every thing that is neceſſary, either for this World, or for the World to come. O ſtudy Chriſt in every of the foreſaid reſpects.
SECT. II. Conſidering Jeſus in that reſpect.
2. LEt us conſider Jeſus, carrying on this great work of our Salvation at his firſt Coming or Incarnation. It is not enough to ſtudy and know theſe great Myſteries; but according to the Meaſure of Knowledge we have, we muſt Muſe, Meditate, Ponder, and Conſider of them. Now this Conſideration brings Chriſt nearer and cloſer to the ſoul. Conſideration gathers up all the long fore-paſſed Acts and Monuments of Chriſt, and finds a deal of ſweetneſs and power to come flowing from them. Conſideration faſtens Chriſt more ſtrongly to the Soul, and as it were, rivets the Soul to Jeſus Chriſt, and faſtens him in the heart. A ſoul that truly conſiders and meditates of Chriſt, thinks and talkes of nothing elſe but Chriſt;Prov. 4.13. it takes hold, and will not let him go. I will keep to thee (ſaith the ſoul in meditation) for thou art my life. Why thus, O my Soul, conſider thou of Chriſt, and of what he did for thee when he was incarnate! and that thou maiſt not confound thy ſelf in thy meditations, conſider a part of theſe particulars. — As, —
1. Conſider Jeſus in his Fore-runner, and the bleſſed tidings of his coming in the fleſh; now the long-looked for time drew near, a glorious Angel is ſent from Heaven, and he comes with an Olive-branch of peace; firſt he preſents himſelf to Zachary, and then to Mary; to her he imparts the Meſſage on which God ſent him into this neather World; Behold thou ſhalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and ſhalt call his name Jeſus. Luke 1.31.Till now Humane Nature was leſs than that of Angels; but by the Incarnation of the Word, it was to be exalted above the Cherubims. What ſweet News? What bleſſed Tidings was this Meſſage? The Decree of old muſt now be accompliſhed, and an Angel proclaims it upon Earth; hear O ye Sons of Adam, this concerns you as much as the Virgin: Were ye not all undone in the Loins of your firſt Father? Was not my Soul, and thy Soul in danger of Hell-fire; was not this our caſe and condition; that after a little life upon Earth, we ſhould have been thrown into eternal torments, where had been nothing but Weeping, Wailing, and Gnaſhing of Teeth? And now that God and Chriſt ſhould bid an Angel tell the News, Ye ſhall not die; lo, here a Virgin ſhall conceive and bear a Son, and he ſhall be your Jeſus; he ſhall ſave you from this Hell, and Death, and Sin: he ſhall deliver your Souls, he ſhall ſave you to the utmoſt; his Name is Jeſus, and he ſhall not bear his Name for nought; believe in him, and ye ſhall live with him in Glory. O bleſſed news! Men may talk what they will of this and that news, every one gapes after it: but there is no news ſo welcome to one even now ready to periſh, as to hear of a Saviour; tell a man in his Sickneſs of one that will make him well again: tell a man in Captivity of one that will reſcue him, and ſet him free again; tell a man in Priſon, condemned to die, of one with a pardon, that will ſave his life; and every one of theſe will ſay, this is the beſt news that ever was heard: O then, if it be good tidings to hear of a Saviour, where is only a matter of loſs of life, or of this Earth; how much more when it comes to the loſs of Heaven, to the danger of Hell, when our Souls are at ſtake, and likely to be damned for evermore; what glad tidings would that be to hear of one that could ſave our ſouls from that deſtroyer? is not ſuch a Saviour worth the hearkning after? were not the birth of ſuch a one good news? O my ſoul, ponder on theſe words, as if an Angel, ſeeing thee ſtand on the brim of Hell, ſhould ſpeak to thee, even to thy ſoul.
2. Conſider Jeſus in his Conception; no ſooner the news heard, but Chriſt is conceived by the Holy Ghoſt in the Virgins Womb; this Conception is worthy our conſideration: what, that the great God of Heaven ſhould condeſcend ſo far as to take our Nature upon him, and to take it in the ſame way, and after the ſame manner as we do? the Womb of the Virgin was ſurely no ſuch place, but he might well have abhorred it; true, but he meant by this to ſanctifie our very Conceptions; and to that purpoſe, he is conceived in an holy manner, even by the holy Ghoſt; we muſt not be too curious to enquire after the manner of the holy Ghoſts operation, who therefore overſhadowed the Virgin; this is work for our hearts, and not meerly for our heads: humble Faith, and not curious inquiſition ſhall find the ſweetneſs of this Myſtery. It was Davids Complaint, Behold I was ſhapen in iniquity, and in ſin did my Mother conceive me. O my Soul, this was thy caſe in thy very firſt being or beginning,Pſal. 51.5. and hadſt thou died in that condition, the word is expreſs, that nothing defiled nor unclean ſhall enter into the City of Glory; but here's the remedy, thy ſinful Conception is ſanctified by Chriſts holy Conception: the holineſs of thy Jeſus ſerves as a Cover to hide thy Original pollutions from the eyes of God. O conſider this! Jeſus Chriſt was not conceived in vain; he was not idle, doing nothing whiles he was in his Mothers Womb; he that from all eternity began, he was then carrying on the great work of our ſalvation for us: O conſider this Conception thus, till thou bring'ſt it near and cloſe to thy ſoul; till thou feeleſt ſome ſweetneſs and power coming, and flowing from Jeſus in the Womb.
3. Conſider the duplicity of Natures in Jeſus Chriſt: The Word was made Fleſh; John 1.14.no ſooner was he conceived, but he was God-Man, Man-God; he was perfectly framed, and inſtantly united to the eternal Word: God ſent his Son, there's the Nature Divine; made of a Woman, there's the Nature Humane. Certainly great is this Myſtery, that the Word is made Fleſh; that the Son of God is made of a Woman;Gal. 4.4. that a Star gives Light to the Sun; that a Branch doth bear the Vine; that a Creature gives being to the Creator; that the Mother was younger than what ſhe bear, and a great deal leſſer than what ſhe contained. Admire O my Soul at this! but withal conſider, that all this was for us and our Salvation; he was Man, that he might die for us: and he was God, that his death might be ſufficient to ſave us: had he been Man alone, not God, he might have ſuffered, but he could never have ſatisfied for ſin; he could not have been Jeſus, a Saviour of Souls; and had he been God alone, not Man, he had not been of kin to our Nature offending; and ſo he could not have ſatisfied the Juſtice of God in the ſame Nature wherein it was offended; neither could he, as God alone, have died for Sin; and the Decree was out, that our Redeemer muſt die for Sin: for without ſhedding of Blood there is no Remiſſion: and no ſhedding of Blood,Heb. 9.22. no Paſſion could poſſibly befal the Godhead of Jeſus Chriſt. I ſhall not diſpute the power of God, whether he was able to lay down another kind of way of mans Redemption, than by the Incarnation of the Son of God: without controverſie this was the Will of God, and he appointed no other way, becauſe he would not. O my Soul, conſider of this in relation to thy ſelf, he is God-man, that he might ſuffer and ſatisfie for thy ſins: he is Godman, that he might be able and fit, moſt fully to finiſh the work of thy ſalvation; as God, he is able, and as man, he is fit to diſcharge the Office of Mediator; as God, he is able to bear the puniſhment of ſin; and as man, he is fit to ſuffer for ſin: O the wiſdom of God in this very way! Mans Nature can ſuffer Death, but not overcome it; the Divine Nature can overcome death and all things; but he cannot ſuffer it: and hence there is a duplicity of natures in Jeſus Chriſt: O muſe on this; it is a matter worthy of thy ſerious conſideration.
4. Conſider the real diſtinction of theſe two Natures in Chriſt. As the unapproachable light of the God-head was put into the dim and dark Lanthorn of humane fleſh, ſo theſe two natures remained entire, without any converſion, commixion, or confuſion; they were not as Wine and Water, that become one by mixing; there is no ſuch blending the divine and humane nature; they were not as Snow and Water, that become one by diſſolving of the Snow into the Water; there is no ſuch changing of the Humane Nature into the Divine, or of the Divine Nature into the Humane: Some ſay indeed, that the God-head was more plentifully communicated with the Manhood after his Reſurrection, than now at his Conception; but howſoever, it did not then ſwallow up the Truth of his Manhood, as a whole Sea would ſwallow up one drop of Oyl; look as at firſt moment of his Conception, he was God and man, ſo theſe two Natures continued ſtill, diſtinct in ſubſtance, properties, and actions. Why conſider this, O my ſoul, in reference to thy ſelf; O ther's comfort in this! by this meanes thou haſt now free acceſs unto the Throne of Grace, that thou mayeſt find help in thy neceſſities; and as thou haſt free acceſs, ſo thou mayeſt boldly draw near; his Deity indeed confounds, but his Humanity comforts faint and feeble Souls; his Divine Nature amazeth, but his Humane Nature incourageth us to come unto him; even after his Reſurrection he was pleaſed to ſend this comfortable meſſage to the ſons of men,Iohn. 20.17. Go to my Brethren, and ſay unto them, I aſcend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God; now as long as he is not aſhamed to call us Brethren,Heb. 11.16. God is not aſhamed to be called our God. O the ſweet fruit, that we may gather of this Tree, the real diſtinction of two Natures in Chriſt. As long as Chriſt is man as well as God, we have a motive ſtrong enough to appeaſe his Father, and to turn his favourable countenance towards us; here is our happineſs, that there is one Mediator between God and Man, 1 Tim. 1.5.the Man Chriſt Jeſus.
5. conſider the Union of the two natures of Chriſt in one and the ſame Perſon; as he was the branch of the Lord, and the fruit of the Earth, ſo theſe two natures were tied with ſuch a Gordian knot, as ſin, hell, and the grave were never able to untie; yea, though in the death of Chriſt there was a ſeparation of the ſoul from the body; yet in that ſeparation, the hypoſtatical Union remained firm, unſhaken and indiſſoluble: in this Meditation thou haſt great cauſe, O my Soul, to admire and adore; wonderful things are ſpoken of thee, O Chriſt! he is God in a Perſon of a God-head, ſo as neither the Father, nor the Holy Ghoſt were made fleſh; and he is man in the nature of man, not properly the Perſon, the humane nature of Chriſt never having any Perſonal ſubſiſtence out of the God-head; this is a myſtery, that no Angel, much leſs man is able to comprehend: we have not another example of ſuch an Union (as you have heard) only the neareſt ſimilitude, or reſemblance we can find, is that of the Branch and Tree into which it is ingraffed; we ſee one Tree may be ſet into another, and it groweth in the Stock thereof, and becometh one and the ſame Tree, though there be two natures or kinds of fruit ſtill remaining therein; ſo in the Son of God made man, though there be two natures, yet both being united into one Perſon, there is but one Son of God and one Jeſus Chriſt. If thou wilt conſider this great myſtery of Godlineſs any further, review what hath been ſaid in the object propounded, where this union is ſet forth more largely and particularly; but eſpecially conſider the bleſſed effects of this union in reference to thy ſelf; as our nature in the perſon of Chriſt, is united to the God-head, ſo our perſons in and by this Union of Chriſt, are brought nigh to God. Hence it is that God doth ſet his Sanctuary and Tabernacle among us; and that he dwells with us; and which is more, that he makes us houſes and habitations, wherein he himſelf is pleaſed to dwell by his holy Spirit. Ye are the Temple of the Living God, as God hath ſaid I will dewll in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, John. 17 20, 21, 22, 23.and they ſhall be my People, 2. Cor. 6.16. Was not this Chriſts Prayer in our behalf? I pray not for theſe alone, but for them alſo which ſhall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they alſo may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou haſt ſent me, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou haſt ſent me, and haſt loved them as thou haſt loved me. By reaſon of this hypoſtatical union of Chriſt,Gal. 4.6. the Spirit of Chriſt is given to us in the very moment of our regeneration. And becauſe ye are Sons, God hath ſent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father; and hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, becauſe he hath given us of his Spirit. As the members of the Body howſoever diſtinct amongſt themſelves, and all differing from the head, yet by reaſon of one ſoul informing both the head and members, they all make one compoſitum, or man; ſo all believers in Chriſt, howſoever diſtinct Perſons amongſt themſelves, and all diſtinct from the Perſon of Chriſt, and eſpecially from the Godhead which is incommunicable, yet by one and the ſame ſpirit abiding in Chriſt,Eph. 4.4. 1 Cor. 6.17. and all his Members, they become one, there is one body, and one ſpirit: he that is joyned to the Lord, is one Spirit. O my Soul, conſider of this; and in conſidering, believe thy part in this, and the rather, becauſe the means of this union on thy part is a true and lively faith; faith is the firſt effect and inſtrument of the Spirit of Chriſt, diſpoſing and enabling thy ſoul to cleave unto Chriſt, and for this cauſe I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt —that Chriſt may dwell in your hearts by Faith.Eph. 3.14, 17.
6. Conſider the birth of Chriſt, this man-God, God-man, who in his divine generation was the Son of God, in his humane generation was born in a ſtable, for the ſaving of the Children of men, who were as the oxe and mule having no underſtanding. It were a fruitful meditation to conſider over and over that ſweet reſemblance of Chriſt being a Vine; me-thinks I hear the Voice of my beloved,Cant. 2.10, 13. riſe up my love—the fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vine with the tender grapes gives a good ſmell; ariſe my love, my fair one, and come away; if Chriſt knocks at the door, who will not awake, and ariſe? if Chriſt comes in view, who will not look unto Jeſus? if Chriſt the Vine calls us to come ſee the vine with the tender grape, who will not taſte the goodneſs, ſmell the ſweetneſs? and after a little taſte of that goodneſs, and ſweetneſs that is in him, who would not long after more, till we come from the firſt fruits to the laſt-fruits of the Spirit, even to thoſe viſions and fruitions of Chriſt in Glory? Conſider, O my ſoul, of this Vine, till thou haſt brought Chriſt near and cloſe unto thy ſelf. Suppoſe thy heart, the Garden wherein this Vine was planted, wherein it budded, bloſſomed, and bare fruit, ſuppoſe the holy Ghoſt to come upon thee, and to form and faſhion in thee Jeſus Chriſt; (thus Paul beſpeaks the Galathians, my little Children, of whom I travel in Birth again untill Chriſt be formed in you,) would not this affect? would not the whole ſoul be taken up with this? come, receive Chriſt into thy ſoul, or if that work be done, if Chriſt be formed in thee, O Cheriſh him! (I ſpeak of the Spiritual birth) O keep him in thy heart! let him there bud, and bloſſome, and bear fruit; let him fill thy ſoul, with his Divine Graces; O that thou couldſt ſay it feelingly, I live, yet not I, but Chriſt liveth in me: Gal. 2.20.O that this were the Iſſue of thy meditation on Chriſts Birth! even whiles thou art going with the ſhepherds to Bethelem, and there findeſt thy Saviour lying in a Cratch, that thou wouldſt bring him thence, and make thy heart to be his Cradle! I would not give a farthing for a meditation meerly on the Hiſtory of Chriſt's Birth; either draw vertue from him, by feeling him within, or thy meditation will be fruitleſs.—
7. Conſider thoſe few conſequents after Chriſts Birth; every action of Chriſt is our inſtruction; here are many particulars, but none in vain; Chriſt is conſidered under much variety of notion, but he is ſtill ſweet under all. Is it poſſible, O my ſoul, that thou ſhouldſt tyre thy ſelf in the contemplations of Jeſus Chriſt? if one flower yield thee not pleaſure, or delight, go to a ſecond, a third; obſerve how the Bees gather honey, after a while that they have ſucked one flower, they go to another; ſo for a while obſerve the circumciſion of Jeſus Chriſt, and ſuck there, and gather ſome honey out of that flower; Chriſt had never been, Circumciſed but that the ſame might be done to our ſouls, that was done to his Body, O that the ſame Chriſt would do that in us, that was done to him for us. Again, obſerve Chriſts preſentation in the Temple, this was the Law of thoſe that firſt opened the womb; now Chriſt was the firſtborn of Mary, and indeed the firſt-born of all Creatures; and he was conſecrate unto God, that by him we might be conſecrate, and made holy; and that by him we might be accepted, when we are offered unto the Lord. Again, obſerve Chriſts flight into Egypt; though the infancy is uſually moſt quiet, and devoyd of trouble, yet here life and toyle, began together; and ſee how ſpeedily this comes after Chriſts dedication unto God: Alas! Alas! We are no ſooner born again, then we are perſecuted; if the Church travel, and bring forth a Male, ſhe is in danger of the Dragons ſtreams. Again, obſerve Chriſt's return into Judea, Mat. 15.25.he was not ſent but to the loſt Sheep of the Houſe of Iſrael; with them alone he was perſonally to converſe in his Miniſtry, in which reſpect he was called a Miniſter of Circumciſion. Rom. 15.8.And where ſhould he be trained, and ſhew himſelf, but amongſt them to whom God had ſent him? The Goſpel firſt began there, and as a preparation to it, Chriſt now in his Childhood returns thither. Again, obſerve Chriſt Diſputing with the Doctors in the Temple; in his very non-age Chriſt gives a taſte of his future proof, ſee how early his divine graces put forth themſelves, In Him were hid (ſaith the Apoſtle) all the Treaſures of Wiſdom and Knowledge; Col. 2.3.all the treaſures were hid in him, and yet ſome of thoſe treaſures appeared very early betimes: his wiſdom in his very infancy is admired at, nor is it without our profit, for of God he is made wiſdom unto us. 1 Cor. 1.38.Again, obſerve how he ſpent the remainder of his Youth, in all his examples he meant our Inſtructions, He went down with his Parents, and was ſubject to them; Lam. 3.27.he was not idely bred, but ſerves his Generation in the poor way of a Carpenter; It is every way good for a Man to bear God's Yoke even from his Infancy. Chriſt is enured betimes to the hardſhip of life, and to the ſtrict obſervation of the Law, both of God and Nature.
See, O my Soul, what a world of matter is before thee to conſider of, here is Jeſus under many a Nation, here's the annuntiation of Jeſus, the conception of Jeſus, the duplicity of natures in Jeſus, the real diſtinction, the wonderful union, the nativity of Jeſus, together with ſome conſequents after it. Go over theſe with often and frequent thoughts, give not over till thou feeleſt thy Heart begin to warm; true Meditation is as the bellows of the Soul that doth kindle, and inflame holy affections, and by renewed, and more forcible thoughts, as by renewed, and ſtronger blaſts it doth renew, and increaſe the flame.
SECT. III. Of Deſiring after Jeſus in that Reſpect.
3. LEt us deſire after Jeſus, carrying on the great work of our Salvation at his firſt coming, or incarnation. It is not enough to know, and conſider, but we muſt deſire. Now, What is deſire, but a certain Motion of the Appetite, by which the Soul darts it ſelf towards the abſent good, purpoſely to draw near, and to unite it ſelf thereunto? The incarnation of Chriſt according to the Letter, was the deſire of Nations; ſo the Prophet,Hag. 2.7. I will ſhake all Nations, and the Deſire of all Nations ſhall come. O how they that lived before Chriſt, Deſired after this coming of Chriſt! Abraham Deſired to ſee that day, Two Thouſand Years and more before it came: it was the expectation of all the Patriarchs, O when will that day come? And ſurely the incarnation of Chriſt in the fruit, or efficacy, or application is, or ſhould be the Deſire of all Chriſtians. There is merit, and vertue in Jeſus Chriſt, in every paſſage of Chriſt, in his conception, incarnation; in his birth, and in thoſe conſequents after his birth; now to make theſe ours, that we may have our ſhare, and part, and intereſt in them, we muſt here begin; O my ſoul do thou deſire, do thou ſeek to poſſeſs thy ſelf of Chriſt, ſet thy deſire (as the Needle point) aright, and all the reſt will follow: never will union be with the abſent good, but the Soul by Deſire, muſt firſt dart it ſelf towards it. True it is, and pity it is, Millions of Souls ſtand at a diſtance from Jeſus Chriſt, and why? they have no deſire towards him: but, O that my ſoul, and thy ſoul (whoſoever thou art that readeſt) would Deſire! O that we could Deſire, and long after him until we languiſh, and be compelled to cry out with the ſpouſe,Cant. 2.5. Stay me with flaggons, and comfort me with Apples, for I am Sick of Love.
Is there not good reaſon for it? What is there in Chriſt that is not Deſirable? view over all thoſe excellencies of his conception; of his two natures, really diſtinguiſhed, and yet wonderfully united; of his birth; of thoſe few conſequents after his birth: but above all, ſee the fruit of all; he was conceived that our conceptions might be ſanctified: he was the Son of man that he might ſuffer for us, and the Son of God that he might ſatisfie divine juſtice: he was God▪ and Man in one perſon, that we might be one with him, Members of his Body, and of his Fleſh, and of his Bones; Eph. 5.30.he was born of the Virgin, that there might be a ſpiritual conception and birth of Chriſt in our Virgin-hearts; or he was conceived, and born that we might conceive the grace of Chriſt in our hearts, and bring it forth in our lives; What? Are not theſe deſirable things? Never tell me of thy preſent enjoyments, for never was Chriſt ſo enjoyed in this life, but thou haſt cauſe to deſire yet more of Chriſt; It is worth thy obſervation, that Spiritual deſires after Chriſt, do neither load, nor cloy the heart, but rather open, and enlarge it for more and more; Who was better acquainted with God than Moſes? Exod. 33.18. Phil. 1.23.and yet, Who was more importunate to know him better? I beſeech thee ſhew me thy glory: And, Who was more acquainted with Chriſt than Paul? and yet who was more importunate to be with him nearer? I deſire to be diſſolved, and to be with Chriſt. Further and further union with Chriſt, and communion with Chriſt, are moſt deſirable things, and are not theſe the fruits of his incarnation? the effects of his hypoſtatical, perſonal union? more and more peace, and love, and reconciliation betwixt God and us are deſirable things; and are not theſe the fruits of Chriſts birth, the effects of his budding out of the earth, was it not then That Righteouſneſs looked down from Heaven? That Mercy and Truth met together, and Righteouſneſs and Peace kiſſed each other? an higher degree of holineſs, ſanctification, likeneſs to God and Chriſt are deſirable things; and are not theſe the fruits of his circumciſion, and preſentation to the Lord? the effects of all thoſe conſequents that follow after his birth? Come, Soul, and ſtir up thy deſires; true deſires are not wavering and dull, but reſolute and full of quickneſs; obſerve how the nature of true deſires in Scripture is ſet forth by the moſt pathetical and ſtrong ſimilitudes of Hunger and Thirſt, and thoſe not common neither, but by The panting of a tyred Hart after the rivers of waters, and by the gaping of dry ground after ſome ſeaſonable ſhowers. O then! How is it that the paſſages of thy deſires are ſo narrow, and almoſt ſhut up? Nay, How is it that thy veſſels are ſo full of contrary qualities, that there is ſcarce any room in thy Soul for Chriſt, and all his Train? Will not the deſires of the Patriarchs witneſs againſt thee? How cryed they after Chriſts coming in the Fleſh, Bow the Heavens O Lord, and come down, Pſal. 144.5.Pſal. 144.5. Oh that Thou wouldeſt rent the Heavens, that Thou wouldeſt come down, Iſa. 64.1.Iſa. 64.1. Drop down ye Heavens from above, and let the Skies pour down Righteouſneſs, let the Earth open, and bring forth Salvation, Iſa. 45.8.Iſa. 45.8. Is it poſſible that their deſires ſhould be more vehement after Chriſt than ours? They lived on the dark-ſide of the cloud, but we on the bright-ſide; the vail was upon their hearts, which vail is done away in Chriſt; they ſaw Chriſt afar off, and their ſight was very dim, and dark; But we all with open face, as in a glaſs, behold the glory of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3.18.One would think, the leſs any thing is known, the leſs it ſhould be deſired; O my ſoul, either thou art more ignorant of Chriſt, than the Patriarchs of old, or thy heart is more out of frame than theirs; ſuſpect the latter, and blame thy heart, it may be thy turpid and ſluggiſh nature hath layed thy deſires aſleep; if an hungry man will ſleep, his hunger will ſleep with him: But, O ſtir up, and awake thy deſires! Preſent before them that glorious object, the incarnation of Jeſus Chriſt; it is an object which the very Angels deſire to look into; and, Art not thou more concern'd in it than the Angels? is not the fruit of the incarnation thine, more eſpecially thine? Come then, ſtir up thoſe motions of thy appetite, by which the ſoul darts it ſelf towards the abſent good; draw nearer and nearer till thou comeſt to union and enjoyment, cry after Chriſt,Judg. 5.28. Why is his Chariot ſo long in coming? Why tarry the Wheeles of his Chariots?
SECT. IV. Of Hoping in Jeſus in that Reſpect.
4. LEt us Hope in Jeſus, carrying on the great Work of our Salvation at his firſt coming, or incarnation. Only here remember, I ſpeak not of every hope, but only of ſuch an hope as is grounded on ſome certainty and knowledge. This is the main queſtion, whether Chriſts incarnation belongs unto me? the Prophet tells us, that Ʋnto us a Child is born, and unto us a Son is given. Iſa. 9.6.But how may I Hope that this Child is born to me? and that this Son is given to me? what ground for that? Out of theſe words of the Prophet, I ſhall draw a double Evidence, which may be inſtead of all: our firſt Evidence from the former words, Ʋnto us a Child is born; our ſecond Evidence from the latter words, unto us a Son is given. 1. From the former words I lay down this poſition, unto us a Child is born, if we are new born; the ſureſt way to know our intereſt in the birth of Chriſt, it is to know Chriſt born in us, or formed in us, Gal. 4.19.as the Apoſtle ſpeaks. The new birth is the effect of Chriſts birth, and a ſure ſign that Chriſt is born to us. Say then, O my ſoul, Art thou born anew? is there in thee a new nature, a new principle? is the Image of God, and of Chriſt in thy ſoul? ſo the Apoſtle ſtiles it,1 Cor. 15.59. the bearing of the Image of the heavenly; why then was Chriſt incarnate for thee; if thy new birth be not clear enough, thou may'ſt try it further by theſe following rules?
1. Where this new birth is, there is new deſires, new comforts, new contentments. Sometimes with the prodigal thou waſt content with husks, but now nothing will ſatisfie thee, but thy Fathers manſion, and thy Fathers feaſts; ſometimes thou mindeſt only earthly things, but now the favour of God, the light of his countenance, ſociety with him, and enjoying of him, are thy chief deſires; This is a good ſign! David's heart and fleſh,Pſal. 84.2. and all breathed after God; My ſoul longeth; yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord, my heart and my fleſh cryeth out for the living God. Men truly regenerate, do not judge it ſo happy to be wealthy, great, and honoured in the world, as to have the light of Gods favour ſhine upon them; O my ſoul, doſt thou ſee the glory of the world, and thou falleſt down to worſhip it? doſt thou ſay in the increaſe of worldly comfort, it is good to be here? Then fear thy ſelf; but if theſe things compared with Chriſt, are vain, and light, and of poor and mean eſteem, then hope well, and be aſſured that thou art born again, and that Chriſt is formed in thee.
2. Where this new birth is, there is new words, new works, new affections, a new converſation,2 Cor. 5.17. Acts 9.11. 1 Cor. 6.11. Old things are paſſed away, behold, all things are become new. Paul once a perſecutor, but Behold now he prayeth. And Such were ſome of you, but now ye are waſhed, now ye are ſanctified, now ye are juſtified in the Name of the Lord Jeſus, and by the Spirit of our God; As every man is, ſo is he affected, ſo he ſpeaks, and ſo he lives; if thy life be ſupernatural, ſo is thy affections, ſo is thy words, ſo is thy converſation; Paul lived a life once of a bloody perſecutor, he breathed out threatenings againſt all the Profeſſors of the Lord Jeſus, but now it is otherwiſe; The life which I now live in the fleſh, Gal. 2.20.I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himſelf for me. O my ſoul, Haſt thou the old converſation, the old affections, the old diſcourſe, the old paſſions thou uſed to have? What? Is thy heart a den of luſts, a cage of unclean imaginations? Then fear thy ſelf, there cannot from a ſweet fountain come forth bitter ſtreams; there cannot from a refined ſpirit, as refined, come forth corrupted actions or imaginations; a Thorn cannot ſend forth Grapes, ſaith Chriſt; ſo neither can a Vine ſend forth Thornes, ſay we. I know there is in the beſt, ſomething of fleſh, as well as of the ſpirit; but if thou art new born, then thou canſt not but ſtrive againſt it, and wilt endeavour to conquer it.
1 Pet. 3.4. 2 Pet. 1.4. Rom. 7.22. 2 Cor. 5.17.3. Where this new birth is, there is a new nature, a new principle; Peter calls it the hidden man of the heart, the divine nature. Paul calls it the inward man; the new creature, it is compared to a root, to a fountain, to a foundation, and for want of this foundation, we ſee now in theſe ſad times ſo much inconſtancy, and unſetledneſs in ſome profeſſors themſelves, many have gotten new and ſtrange notions, but they have not new natures, new principles of grace; if grace were but rooted in their hearts, though the winds did blow, and ſtorms ariſe, they would continue firm and ſtable, as being founded upon a Rock. Never tell me of profeſſion, ſhew, outward action, outward converſation, outward duties of Religion; all this may be, and yet no new creature; you have ſome bruits that can act many things like men, but becauſe they have not an humane nature, they are ſtill brutiſh; ſo many things may be done in a way of holineſs, which yet come not from this inward principle of renovation, and therefore it is but copper, and not gold; miſtake not O my ſoul in this, which is thy beſt and ſureſt evidence: though I call the new birth a new creature, my meaning is not as if a new faculty were infuſed into him that is new born; a man when he is regenerate, hath no more faculties in his ſoul than he had before his regeneration; only in the work of regeneration, thoſe ablities which the man had before, are now improved, and made ſpiritual; and ſo they work now ſpiritually, which before wrought naturally. As in the reſurrection from the dead, our bodies ſhall have no more, nor other parts and members than they had before, only thoſe parts and members which now are natural, ſhall then by the power of God be made ſpiritual,1 Cor. 15.44. It is ſown a natural body, it is raiſed a ſpiritual body; there is a natural body, and there is a ſpiritual body; ſo the ſame faculties, and the ſame abilities which before regeneration were but natural, are now ſpiritual, and work ſpiritually, they are all brought under the government of the Spirit of Chriſt; a lively reſemblance of this change in the faculties of the ſoul, we may diſcern in thoſe natural and ſenſitive faculties, which we have common with beaſts; as to live, to move, to deſire, to feel, the beaſts having no higher principle than ſenſe, uſe them ſenſually; but a man enjoying the ſame faculties under the command of a reaſonable ſoul, he uſeth them rationally: ſo is it in a regenerate man; his underſtanding, will, and affections, when they had no other command but reaſon, he only uſed them rationally, but now being under the guiding of the Spirit of Chriſt, they work ſpiritually, and he uſeth them ſpiritually; and hence it is that a regenerate man is every where in Scripture,Rom. 8.1. Gal. 5.18, 25. ſaid to Walk after the Spirit; to be led by the Spirit, to walk in the Spirit; the Spirit (by way of infuſing or ſhedding) gives power, an ability, a ſeed, a principle of ſpiritual life, which the ſoul had not before; and from this principle of ſpiritual life planted in the Soul, flows or ſprings thoſe ſpiritual motions and operations (as the Spirit leads them out) according to the habit, or principle of the new creature, the divine nature, the ſpiritual life infuſed. Come then, look to it O my ſoul, What is thy principle within? conſider not ſo much the outward actions, the outward duties of Religion, as, that root from whence they grow, that principle from whence they come: they are fixed ones, ſetled ones by way of life in thee? Clocks have their motions, but they are not motions of life, becauſe they have no principles of life within. Is there life within? then art thou born again, yea even unto thee a Child is born. This is one evidence.
2. From the latter words, I lay down this poſition; unto us a Son is given, if we are Gods Sons. The beſt way to know our Intereſt in the Son of God, it is to know our ſelves to be Gods Sons by grace, as Chriſt was Gods Son by nature: Chriſtians to whom Chriſt is given, are coheirs with Chriſt, only Chriſt is the firſt-born, and hath the preheminence in all things; our ſonſhip is an effect of Chriſts ſonſhip, and a ſure ſign that unto us a Son is given. Say then, O my ſoul, Art thou a Son of God? Doſt thou reſemble God (according to thy capacity) being holy, even as he is holy? Why then? Chriſt was incarnate for thee, he was given to thee. If thy ſonſhip be not clear enough, thou mayſt try it further by theſe following Rules.
1. The Sons of God, Fear God, If I be a Father, Where is my Honour? Mal. 1.6.(ſaith God) if I be a Maſter, Where is my Fear? If I be a Son of God, there will be an holy Fear and Trembling upon me in all my approaches unto God. I know there is a ſervile mercinary Fear, and that is unworthy, and unbeſeeming the Son of God; but there is a filial Fear, and that is an excellent check, and bridle to all our wantonneſs: What Son will not Fear the frowns and anger of his loving Father?1 Pet. 1.17. I dare not do this (will he ſay) my Father will be offended; and I, whether ſhall I go? Agreeable to this is the Apoſtles advice, If ye call on the Father, paſs your ſojourning here with Fear.
2. The Sons of God Love God, and Obey God out of a principle of Love. Suppoſe there were no Heaven, or Glory to beſtow upon a regenerate perſon, yet would he Obey God out of a principle of Love; not that it is unlawful for the Child of God to have an Eye unto the recompence of reward;Heb. 11.26. Moſes reaſon of eſteeming the reproach of Chriſt greater riches than the treaſure of Egypt, was, for that he had reſpect unto the recompence of reward: he had reſpect, in the original, he had a fixed intent Eye; there was in him a Love of the reward, and yet withal a Love of God, and therefore his Love of the reward was not mercinary: but this, I ſay, though there were no reward at all, a Child of God hath ſuch a principle of Love within him, that for Loves ſake he would Obey his God; he is led by the Spirit, and therefore he Obeys; now the Spirit that leads him, is a Spirit of Love; and as many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the Sons of God.Rom. 8.14.
3. The Sons of God imitate God in his Love and Goodneſs to all Men. Our Saviour amplifies this excellent property of God, He cauſeth his Sun to ſhine upon good and bad; and thence he concludeth, Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mat. 5.48.Goodneſs to bad men is the higheſt degree of Grace, and as it were the perfection of all: O my Soul, Canſt thou imitate God in this? Conſider how thy Father bears it; though the wicked provoke him day by day, yet for all that he doth not quickly revenge; vengeance indeed is only his, and he may in juſtice do what he will that way; and 'tis the opinion of ſome, that if the moſt patient man in the world ſhould but ſit in Gods Throne one day, and ſee, and obſerve the doings, and miſcarriges of the Sons of Men, he would quickly ſet all the World on Fire; yet God ſeeth all, and for all that He doth not make the Earth preſently to gape, and devour us; He puts not out the glorious Light of the Sun, He doth not diſſolve the Work of Creation, He doth not for Mans Sin preſently blaſt every thing into Duſt: What an excellent pattern is this for thee to Write after? Canſt thou but forgive thy Enemies? Do well to them that do evil to thee? O this is a ſure ſign of Grace and Sonſhip! It is ſtoryed of ſome Heathens, who beating a Chriſtian almoſt to Death, asked him, What great matter Chriſt did ever do for him? Even this (ſaid the Chriſtian) That I can forgive you, though you uſe me thus cruelly; here was a Child of God indeed: It is a ſweet reſemblance of our Father, and of our Saviour Jeſus Chriſt, to Love our Enemies, to Bleſs them that Curſe us, to do Good unto them that Hate us, to Pray for them that Deſpitefully uſe us, and Perſecute us. O my Soul look to this,5.44. conſult this ground of Hope; if this Law be written in thy Heart, write it down amongſt thy Evidences, that thou art Gods Son, yea that even unto thee a Son is given.
To Review the Grounds: What? is a Child born to me? and a Son given to me? What? am I indeed new born? am I indeed Gods Son, or Daughter? do I upon the ſearch find in my Soul new deſires, new comforts, new contentments? What? are my words, my works, and affections, and converſation new? is there in me a new nature, a new principle? hath the Spirit by way of infuſing or ſhedding, given me a new Power, a new Ability, a Seed of Spiritual Life, which I had not before? do I upon the ſearch find that I fear God, and love God, and imitate God in ſome good meaſure in his love and goodneſs towards all Men? can I indeed, and really forgive an Enemy, and according to opportunity and my ability, do good unto them that do evil unto me? Why ſhould I not then confidently and comfortably hope, that I have my ſhare and intereſt in the birth of Chriſt, in the bleſſed incarnation, and conception of Jeſus Chriſt? Away, away all deſpair, and dejections, and deſpondencies of Spirit! If theſe be my grounds of Hope, it is time to hold up head, and heart, and hands, and all with cheerfulneſs and confidence, and to ſay with the Spouſe, I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine.
SECT. V. Of Believing in Jeſus in that Reſpect.
5. LEt us Believe on Jeſus, carrying on the great work of our Salvation at his firſt coming or incarnation. I know many ſtaggerings are oft in Chriſtians, What, is it likely that Chriſt ſhould be incarnate for me? That ſuch a God ſhould do ſuch a thing, for ſuch a ſinful, woful, abominable wretch as I am? Ah my Soul, put thy propriety in Chriſts incarnation out of diſpute, that thou mayſt be able to ſay, As God was manifeſt in the fleſh, and I may not doubt it; ſo God is manifeſt in me, and I dare not deny it.
But to help the Soul in this choice Duty, I ſhall firſt propoſe the hinderances of Faith. 2. The helps of Faith in this Reſpect. 3. The manner how to act our Faith. 4. The encouragements to bring on the ſoul to believe its part in this bleſſed incarnation of Jeſus Chriſt.
For the firſt, there are but three things that can hinder Faith; As —
1. The exceeding unworthineſs of the ſoul; and to this purpoſe are thoſe complaints, What? Chriſt incarnate for me? for ſuch a dead Dog as I am? What King would dethrone himſelf, and become a Toad to ſave Toades? and am not I at a greater diſtance from God, than a Toad is from me? hath not ſin made my ſoul more ugly in Gods Eye, than any loathſome Toad can be in my Eye? O I am leſs than the leaſt of all Gods Mercies, I am fitter for Hell and Devils, than for Ʋnion and Communion with God and Chriſt, I dare not, I cannot Believe.
2. The infinite exactneſs of divine juſtice which muſt be ſatisfied; a ſoul deeply and ſeriouſly conſidering of this, it ſtartles thereat, and cries, O what will become of my ſoul? one of the leaſt ſins that I ſtand Guilty of, deſerves Death, and eternal Wrath, The wages of ſin is death: and I cannot ſatisfie; though I have treſpaſſed to many millions of talents, I have not one mite of mine own to pay; O then how ſhould I believe? What thoughts can I entertain of Gods Mercy and Love to me-ward? God's Law condemns me, my own Conſcience accuſeth me, and Juſtice will have its due.
3. The want of a Mediator, or ſome ſuitable Perſon, which may ſtand between the Sinner and God. If on my part there be unworthineſs, and on Gods part exact and ſtrict, and ſevere Juſtice; and withall I ſee no Mediator, which I may go unto, and firſt cloſe withall before I deal with the infinite glory of God himſelf, how ſhould I but deſpair, and cry out? O wretched man that I am! O that I had never been! or if I muſt needs have a being; Oh that I had been a toad, or ſerpent, or any venomous creature rather than a man; for when they dye they periſh, and there's an end of them; but the end of a reprobate ſinner is torments without end: O wo and alas! I cannot believe, there's no room for faith in this caſe! theſe are the hinderances.
2. The helps of faith in this ſad condition are theſe.
1. A conſideration that God is pleaſed to paſs by, and to overlook the unworthineſs of his poor creatures; this we ſee plain in the very act of his incarnation; himſelf diſdains not to be as his poor creatures, to wear their own fleſh, to take upon him humane nature; and in all things to become like unto man, ſin only excepted.
2. A conſideration that God ſatisfies Juſtice, by ſetting up Chriſt who is Juſtice it ſelf; now was it that mercy and truth met together, and righteouſneſs and peace kiſſed each other; now was it that free grace and merit, that fulneſs and nothingneſs were made one; now was it that all things became nothing, and nothing all things; our nature which lay in rags, was enriched with the unſearchable treaſures of glory; now was it that God was made fleſh; and ſo that fleſh which was ſo weak, as not able to ſave its own life, was now enabled to ſave millions of ſouls, and to bring forth the greateſt deſigns of God; now was it that truth ran to mercy, and embraced her, and righteouſneſs to peace, and kiſſed her, in Chriſt they meet, yea in him was the infinite exactneſs of God's Juſtice ſatisfied.
3. A conſideration that God hath ſet up Chriſt as a Mediator: that he was incarnate in order to reconciliation, and ſalvation of ſouls, but for the accompliſhment of this deſign Chriſt had never been incarnate; the very end of his uniting fleſh unto him, was in order to the reconciliation of us poor ſouls, alas we had ſinned, and by ſin deſerved everlaſting damnation, but to ſave us, and to ſatisfie himſelf, God takes our nature and joyns it to his Son, and calls that Chriſt a Saviour: This is the Goſpel-notion of Chriſt, for what is Chriſt, but God himſelf in our nature, tranſacting our peace? In this Chriſt is that fulneſs, and righteouſneſs, and love, and bowels to receive the firſt acts of our faith; and to have immediate union and communion with us; indeed we pitch not our faith firſt or immediately on God himſelf; yet at laſt we come to him, and our faith lives in God (as one ſaith ſweetly) before it is aware, through the ſweet intervention of that perſon which is God himſelf, only called by another name, the Lord Jeſus Chriſt; and theſe are the helps of faith in reference to our unworthineſs, Gods juſtice, and the want of a Mediator betwixt God and us.
3. The manner how to act our faith on Chriſt incarnate, is this—
1. Faith muſt directly go to Chriſt: we find indeed in the Bible ſome particular promiſes of this and that grace: and in proper ſpeaking the way to live by faith, it is to live upon the promiſes in the want of the thing, or to apprehend the thing it ſelf contained in the promiſe: but the promiſes are not given to the elect immediately without Chriſt; no, no, firſt Chriſt, and then all other things, Encline your ears, and come unto me; 1. Come unto Chriſt, and then, I will make an everlaſting Covenant, (which contains all the promiſes) even the ſure Mercies of David. As in marriage, the woman firſt conſents to have the man, and then all the benefits that neceſſarily follow; ſo the ſoul by faith, firſt pitcheth upon Chriſt himſelf, and then on the priviledges that flow from Chriſt. Say Soul, doſt thou want any temporal Bleſſing? ſuppoſe it be the payment of Debts, thy dayly Bread, Health, &c. Why? look now through the Scripture for promiſes of theſe things, and let thy faith act thus, If God hath given me Chriſt, the greateſt bleſſing, then certainly he will give me all theſe things ſo far as they may be for my good: in the twenty thirſt Pſalm we find a bundle of promiſes, but he begins thus, The Lord is my Shepherd, ſaith David, and what then? Therefore I ſhall not want; the believing Patriarchs through faith ſubdued Kingdoms, wrought righteouſneſs, obtained promiſes, ſtoped the mouths of Lyons, did wonders in the world; but what did they chiefly look to in this their Faith? Surely to the promiſe to come, and to that better thing, Chriſt himſelf; and therefore the Apoſtle concludes, having ſuch a cloud of witneſſes, that thus lived and died by faith, let us look unto Jeſus, the Author and finiſher of our Faith.
2. Faith muſt directly go to Chriſt as God in our fleſh; ſome think it a carnal apprehenſion of Jeſus Chriſt, to know him as in fleſh; I confeſs to know him only ſo, and abſolutely ſo; to conſider Jeſus no other way, but as having fleſh, and going up and down in weakneſs; it is no better than a carnal apprehenſion; but to conſider Chriſt as God in fleſh, and to conſider that fleſh as acted by God, and filled with God, it is not a carnal, but a true and ſpiritual apprehenſion of Jeſus Chriſt; and hither is faith to be directed immediately, and in the firſt place; ſuppoſe a caſe of danger by ſome enemies, and I find a promiſe of protection from my enemies, I look on that; but in the firſt place thus I argue, if the Lord hath given me Chriſt (God in the fleſh) to ſave me from Hell, then much more will he ſave me from theſe fleſhly enemies. Thus Juda had a promiſe, that Syria ſhould not prevail againſt Judah, they doubted of this,Iſa. 7.14. but how doth the Lord ſeek to aſſure them? why thus, a Virgin ſhall conceive and bear a Son, and his name ſhall be Immanuel: this ſeems a ſtrong reaſon to fleſh and blood; I knew one turn Infidel, and to deny Jeſus Chriſt upon this very argument. Ah (thought he) what a grand impoſture is this, that Chriſt's conception, and Chriſt's birth many years after, ſhould be a preſent ſign of ruin of Rezin King of Aram, and of the preſervation of Ahaz King of Judah? alas poor ſoul, he was not acquainted with this art of living by faith; he might have ſeen the very ſame reaſon elſewhere, the yoke of their burthen, Iſa. 9.4, 6.and the ſtuff of their ſhoulder, and the rod of their oppreſſor ſhall be broken—for unto us a child is born, and unto us a Son is given; if their faith had not firſt reſpected Chriſt incarnate, they could never have expected any temporal deliverance by that promiſe of deliverance, firſt laid down; But in this way they might, and ſo may we.—You will ſay what's this to us? they looked for Chriſt to come in the fleſh, but now he is come, and that time and deſign is gone and paſt many a year ſince; I anſwer no, the time is gone, but the deſign is not; Chriſt remains God in the fleſh to this very day; he came not as once to manifeſt himſelf in fleſh, to ſatisfie Gods juſtice in the fleſh for ſin, and ſo to lay it down again; that fleſh remains, and ſhall remain; nor is it without uſe, for all the ſpirit and life which the Saints now have, or which the Saints ſhall have unto the end of the World, it is to be conveyed through that fleſh, yea the Spirit it ſelf dwells in it, and is conveyed through it, and therefore if they had ſo much Goſpel-Spirit in the time of the Old Teſtament (which indeed was rare) how much more ſhould we go to Chriſt as God in the fleſh, and look upon it as a ſtanding Ordinance, and believe perfectly on it?
3. Faith muſt go and lye at the feet of Chriſt; faith muſt fix and faſten it ſelf on this God in our fleſh: ſome go to Chriſt, and look on Jeſus with looſe and tranſient glances, they bring in but flaſhy, ſecondary, ordinary actings of faith, they have but courſe and common apprehenſions of Jeſus Chriſt. Oh but we ſhould come to Chriſt with ſolemn ſerious ſpirits; we ſhould look on Jeſus piercingly, till we ſee him as God is in him, and as ſuch a perſon thus and thus qualified from Heaven; we ſhould labour to apprehend what is the riches of this glorious myſtery of Chriſt's Incarnation; we ſhould dive into the depths of his glorious actings; we ſhould ſtudy this myſtery above all other ſtudies; nothing is ſo pleaſant, and nothing is more deep; that one perſon ſhould be God and Man, that God ſhould be man in our nature, and yet not aſſume the perſon of a man; that bleſſedneſs ſhould be made a curſe, that Heaven ſhould be let down into Hell, that the God of the world would ſhut himſelf up (as it were) in a body; that the inviſible God ſhould be made viſible to ſenſe; that all things ſhould become nothing, and make it ſelf of no reputation; that God ſhould make our nature, which had ſinned againſt him, to be the great Ordinance of Reconciling us unto himſelf, that God ſhould take our fleſh, and dwell in it with all his fulneſs, and make that fleſh more Glorious than the Angels, and advance that fleſh into oneneſs with himſelf, and through that fleſh open all his councels and rich diſcoveries of love and free-grace unto the Sons of men; that this Man-God, God-Man ſhould be our Saviour, Redeemer, Reconciler, Father, Friend; Oh what myſteries are theſe! no wonder if when Chriſt was born,John 1.14. the Apoſtle cryes, we ſaw his glory, as of the only begotten Son of God; noting out, that at firſt ſight of him, ſo much glory ſparkled from him as could appear from none, but a God walking up and down the world. O my ſoul, let not ſuch a treaſury be unlookt into; ſet faith on work with a redoubled ſtrength; ſurely we live not like men under this great deſign, if our eye of faith be not firmly and ſtedfaſtly ſet on this. O that we were but inſighted into theſe glories! that we were but acquainted with theſe lively diſcoveries?Gal. 2.20. how bleſſedly might we live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved us, and gave himſelf for us?
4. Faith muſt look principally to the end and meaning of Chriſt as God coming in the Fleſh. Now what was the deſign and meaning of Chriſt in this? The Apoſtle anſwers, Rom. 8.3.Rom. 8.3. God ſent his Son in the likeneſs of ſinful Fleſh, to condemn ſin in the Fleſh, (i.e.) God the Father ſent into the World his eternal and only begotten Son, whom in his eternal counſel he had deſigned to the Office of a Mediator, to take away or aboliſh in the firſt place Original Sin. Mark theſe two words, he condemned Sin in the Fleſh; the firſt word condemned] is by a Metonymy put for that which follows Condemnation, namely for the aboliſhing of ſin; as condemned perſons uſed to be cut off, and to be taken out of the World, that they may be no more; ſo Chriſt hath condemned or aboliſhed this Sin. For the ſecond word, in the Fleſh] is meant that Humane Nature which Chriſt aſſumed: he aboliſhed ſin altogether in his own nature; and that Fleſh of his being perfectly holy, and the holineſs of it being imputed unto us, it takes away our guilt in reſpect of the impureneſs of our Nature alſo. Some may object, if this were ſo, then were we without Original ſin? I anſwer, the Fleſh or the Nature which Chriſt took upon him, was altogether without ſin; and by imputation of it we are in proportion freed from ſin; Chriſt had not the leaſt ſpot of Original ſin; and if we are Chriſts, then is this ſin in ſome meaſure aboliſhed and taken out of our hearts. But howſoever the filth of this ſin may remain in part, yet the guilt is removed: in this reſpect the purity of Chriſts Humane Nature is no leſs reckoned to us for the curing of our defiled Nature, than the ſufferings of Chriſt are reckoned to us, for the remiſſion of our actual Sins. O my Soul, look to this end of Chriſt as God in the Fleſh; if thou conſider him as made Fleſh and Blood, and laid in a Manger, think withal, that his meaning was to condemn ſin in our Fleſh; there flows from the Holineſs of Chriſts Nature ſuch a power, as countermands the power of our Original ſin, and acquits and diſcharges from the condemnation of the ſame Sin: not only the Death, and Life, but alſo the Conception and Birth of Chriſt hath its influence into our Juſtification. Oh the ſweet that a lively Faith may draw from this Head!
4. The Encouragements to bring on Souls to believe on Chriſt Incarnate, we may draw—
1. From the excellency of this Object. This very Incarnation of Chriſt is the Foundation of all other actings of God for us; it is the very Hinge or Pole on which all turn; it is the Cabinet wherein all the Deſigns of God do lie; Election, Redemption, Juſtification, Adoption, Glorification, are all wrapt up in it; it is the higheſt pitch of the Declaration of Gods Wiſdom, Goodneſs, Power and Glory; Oh what a ſweet Object of Faith is this! I know there are ſome other things in in Chriſt which are moſt proper for ſome Acts of Faith; as Chriſt dying is moſt proper for the pardon of actual ſin; and Chriſt riſing from the dead is moſt proper for the evidencing of our Juſtification; but the ſtrongeſt pureſt Acts of Faith are thoſe which take in Chriſt as ſuch a Perſon, laid out in all this Glory. Chriſts Incarnation is more general than Chriſts Paſſion, or Chriſts Reſurrection, and (as ſome would have it) includes all; Chriſts Incarnation holds forth in ſome ſort Chriſt in his fulneſs, and ſo it is the full and compleat ſubject of our Faith; or if it be only more comprehenſive, why then it requires more comprehenſive Acts of Faith, and by conſequence we have more enjoyments of Chriſt this way, than any other way: Come poor Soul, I feel, I feel thy eyes are running to and fro the World, to find comforts and happineſs on Earth: O come, caſt thy eyes back, and ſee Heaven and Earth in one Object! look fixedly on Chriſt Incarnate! there is more in this, than in all the variety of this World, or of that World to come. Here is an Object of Faith, and Love, and Joy, and Delight; here is a Compendium of all Glories; here is one for a heart to be taken with to all Eternity. O lay thy mouth to this Fountain; ſuck and be ſatisfied with the breſts of his Conſolation; Iſa. 66.11.Milk out and be delighted with the brightneſs of his Glory.
2. From the ſutableneſs of this Object. Chriſt Incarnate is moſt ſutable for our Faith to act upon. We are indeed to believe on God; but God eſſentially is the utmoſt Object of Faith; we cannot come to God, but in and through Chriſt; alas, God is offended, and therefore we cannot find ground immediately to go to God; hence you heard that Faith muſt directly go to Chriſt as God in our Fleſh. O the infinite condeſcentions of God in Chriſt! God takes up our Nature, and joins it to himſelf as one perſon, and layes out that before our Faith; ſo that here is God, and God ſuited to the particular ſtate and condition of the ſinner. Oh now with what boldneſs may our ſouls draw nigh to God? Why art thou ſtrange poor ſoul? Why ſtandeſt thou afar off, as if it were death to draw nigh? Of whom art thou affraid? Is God come down amongſt men, and canſt thou not ſee him, leſt thou die and periſh? Oh look once more, and be not diſcouraged! See, God is not come down in fire, God is not deſcended in the Armour of Juſtice and everlaſting burnings; No, no, he is cloathed with the Garments of Fleſh, he ſweetly deſires to converſe with thee after thine own form; he is come down to beſeech thee, to ſee with thine own eyes thy eternal happineſs. q. d. Come poor Soul, come, put in thy hands, and feel my heart how it beats in love towards thee. O the wonder of Heaven! it is the cry of ſome poor ſouls. Oh that I might ſee God! loe here God is come down in the likeneſs of man, he walks in our own ſhape amongſt us; it is the cry oft others, O that I might have my heart united to God! Why he is come down on this very purpoſe, and hath united our nature unto himſelf. Surely God hath left all the World without excuſe: Oh that ever there ſhould be an heart of unbelief, after theſe ſenſible demonſtrations of Divine Glory and Love? Why ſoul, wilt thou now ſtand off? Tell me, what wouldſt thou have God do more? Can he manifeſt himſelf in a more taking, alluring, ſutable way to thy condition? Is there any thing below fleſh wherein the great God can humble himſelf for thy good? Come, think of another, and a better way, or elſe for ever believe. Methinks it is ſad to ſee Believers ſhy in their approaches to God, or doubtful of their acceptance with God, when God himſelf ſtoops firſt, and is ſo in love with our acquaintance, that he will be of the ſome nature that we are. O let not ſuch a Rock of ſtrength be ſlighted, but every day entertain ſweet and precious thoughts of Chriſt being incarnate; enure thy heart to a way of believing on this Jeſus, as he carries on the great Work of thy Slavation at his firſt Coming or Incarnation.
3. From the Goſpel-tenders and offers of this bleſſed Object to our Souls. As Chriſt is come in our natue to ſatisfie, ſo he comes in the Goſpel freely and fully to offer thee terms of Love; therein are ſet out the moſt rich and alluring expreſſions that poſſibly can be; therein is ſet out that this Incarnation of Chriſt was Gods own acting, out of his own Love and Grace, and Glory; therein is ſet out the Birth, and Life, and Death of Chriſt; and this he could not do, but he muſt be Incarnate: God takes our Fleſh, and he uſeth that as an Organ, or Inſtrument whereby to Act; he was Fleſh to ſuffer, as he was Spirit to ſatisfie for our ſins. Methinks I might challenge Unbelief, and bid it come forth; let it appear if it dare before this Conſideration: What is not God Incarnate enough to ſatisfie thy Conſcience? Come nigh poor Soul! hear the Voice of Chriſt inviting,Mat. 11.28. Come unto me all ye that are weary, and heavy laden with Sin; and O let theſe rich and glorious openings of the heart of Chriſt overcome thy heart: Suppoſe the caſe thus; what if God ſhould have done no more than this? Had he only looked down from Heaven, and hearing ſinners cry out, O wo, wo unto us for ever! we have broke Gods Law, incurr'd the penalty, damned our own ſouls; O who ſhould deliver us? Who will ſave us from the Wrath to Come? Who will keep us out of Hell, our deſerved Dungeon, where the fury of the great Judge burns in a fiery Brimſtone, and his revenge boyls in a fiery Torrent limitleſs and unquenchable. In this caſe, if God hearing ſinners thus crying out; had he, I ſay, only looked down and told them in ſweet Language, Poor ſouls, I will pardon your Sins by my own Prerogative, I made the Law, and I will diſpenſe with it; fear not, I have the Keyes of Life and Death, and upon my word you ſhall not periſh; What ſoul would not have been raiſed up even from the bottom of Hell at this very voice? I know a poor ſoul would have ſcrupled at this, and have ſaid, What then ſhould become of infinite Juſtice? ſhall that be diſhonoured to ſave my Soul? This would have been a ſcruple indeed, eſpecially conſidering that great controverſie (as we have heard) of Mercy and Truth, and Righteouſneſs and Peace: but to remove all controverſies, God hath not only ſpoken from Heaven by himſelf, but he himſelf is come down from Heaven to Earth to ſpeak unto us: O ſee this Miracle of Mercy! God is come down in Fleſh, he is come as a price; he himſelf will pay himſelf according to all the demands of his Juſtice and Righteouſneſs before our eyes; and all this done, now he offers and tenders himſelf unto thy ſoul. Oh my ſoul, why ſhouldeſt thou fear to caſt thy ſelf upon thy God? I know thy Objection of vileneſs; notwithſtanding all thy vileneſs, God himſelf offers himſelf to lead thee by the hand; and to remove all doubts, God himſelf hath put a price ſufficient in the hands of Juſtice to ſtop her Mouth: or if yet thou feareſt to come to God, why come then to thy own Fleſh, go to Chriſt, as having thy own nature; it is he that calls thee: How? Go to Fleſh? Go to thy own Nature? What can be ſaid more to draw on thy trembling heart? If God himſelf, and God ſo fitted and qualified (as I may ſay) will not allure, muſt not men die and periſh in unbelief? What, O my ſoul! (give me leave to chide thee) Is God come down ſo low to thee? and doſt thou now ſtand queſtioning whether thou ſhouldſt go, or come to him? What is this but to ſay, all that God is, or does, or ſayes, is too little to perſwade me into Faith? I cannot tell, but one would think that unbelief ſhould be ſtrangled, quite ſlain upon this conſideration; all this, O my ſoul, thou heareſt in the Goſpel; there is Chriſt incarnate ſet forth to the life; there is Chriſt ſuing thy Loves, and offering himſelf as thy beloved in thy own naure; there it is written that God is come down in fleſh, with an Olive-branch of eternal peace in his hand, and bids you all be witneſs, he is not come to deſtroy, but to ſave. Oh that this encouragement might be of force to improve Chriſts glorious deſign to the ſupplying of all thy wants, and to the making up of all thy loſſes! believe, Oh believe thy part in Chriſt incarnate!
SECT. VI. Of loving Jeſus in that reſpect.
LEt us love Jeſus, as carrying on the great work of our Salvation at his firſt Coming or Incarnation. Now what is Love but an expanſion or egreſs of the heart and ſpirits to the Object loved; or to the Object whereby it is drawn or attracted? Mark O my ſoul, whatſoever hath an attractive power, it is in that reſpect an Object, or general cauſe of Love; and canſt thou poſſibly light on any Object more attractive than the Incarnation of Jeſus Chriſt? If Love be the Load-ſtone of Love, what an attractive is this before thee? methinks the very ſight of Chriſt incarnate is enough to raviſh thee with the apprehenſion of his infinite goodneſs: ſee how he calls out, or (as it were) draws out the ſoul to Union, Viſion, and Participation of his Glory! O come, and yield up thy ſelf unto him; give him thy ſelf, and conform all thy Affections and Actions to his Will: O love him, not with a divided, but with all thy heart.
But to excite this Love, I ſhall only propound the Object, which will be Argument enough. Love cauſeth Love; now as Gods firſt Love to man was in making man like himſelf; ſo his ſecond great Love was in making himſelf like to man; ſtay then a while upon this Love; for (I take it) this is the greater Love of the two: Nay, if I muſt ſpeak freely, I believe this was the fulleſt viſible demonſtration of Gods Love that ever was: The Evangeliſt expreſſeth it thus, God ſo loved the World, John 3.16.that he gave his only begotten Son; he gave him to be incarnate, to be made fleſh, and to ſuffer Death; but the extention of his Love lies in that expreſſion, he ſo loved] So! how? Why, ſo fully, ſo fatherly, ſo freely, as no Tongue can tell, no heart can think: In this Love God did not only let out a mercy, give out a bare grace in ſelf, but he took our nature upon him. It is uſually ſaid, that it is a greater love of God to ſave a ſoul, than to make a World; and I think it was a greater Love of God to take our nature, than ſimply to ſave our ſouls; for a King to diſpenſe with the Law, and by his own prerogative to ſave a Murderer from the Gallows, is not ſuch an Act of Love and Mercy as to take the Murderers Cloaths, and to wear them as their Richeſt Livery? Why, God in taking our nature hath done thus, and more than thus; he would not ſave us by his meer Prerogative; but he takes our Cloaths, our Fleſh, and in that Fleſh he perſonates us, and in that Fleſh he will die for us, that we might not die, but live through him for evermore. Surely this was Love, that God will be no more God (as it were) ſimply, but he will take up another nature, rather than the brightneſs of his Glory ſhall undo our ſouls.
It will not be amiſs (whil'ſt I am endeavouring to draw a Line of Gods love in Chriſt, from firſt to laſt in ſaving Souls) that here we look back a little, and ſummarily contract the paſſages of Love from that eternity before all Worlds, unto this preſent. 1. God had an eternal deſign to diſcover his infinite love to ſome beſides himſelf; O the wonder of this! was there any need or neceſſity of ſuch a diſcovery? Though God was one,Deus unus licet ſolus non ſolitarius. and in that reſpect alone (as we may imagine) yet God was not ſolitary; in that eternity within his own proper eſſence or ſubſtance, there were three Divine Perſons, and betwixt them there was a bleſſed Communication of Love; Chriſt on Earth could ſay, I am not alone, becauſe the Father is with me: and then before the Earth was, might the Father ſay, I am not alone, for the Son is with me; and the Son might ſay, I am not alone, John 16.32.for the Father is with me; and the Holy Ghoſt might ſay, I am not alone, for both the Father and the Son are with me; though in that eternity there was no Creature to whom theſe three Perſons ſhould communicate their Love; yet was there a glorious communication, and breaking out of Love from one to another; before there was a World, the Father,John 17.15. Son, and Holy Ghoſt did infinitely glorifie themſelves, Joh. 17.5. Surely they loved one another, and they rejoyced in the fruition of one another, Prov. 8.30.Prov. 8.30. What need then was there of the diſcovery of Gods love to any one beſides himſelf? O my ſoul, I know no neceſſity for it, only thus was the pleaſure of God; Even ſo Father, for ſo it ſeemed good in thy ſight: ſuch was the love of God, that it would not contain it ſelf within that infinite Ocean of himſelf, but it would needs have Rivers and Channels, into which it might run and overflow.
2. God in proſecution of his deſign, creates a World of Creatures; ſome rational, and only capable of Love; others irrational, and ſerviceable to that one Creature, which he makes the top of the whole Creation; then it was that he ſet up one man Adam, as a common perſon, to repreſent the reſt; to him he gives abundance of glorious qualifications, and him he ſets over all the work of his hands, as if he were the very Darling of Love; if we ſhould view the excellency of this Creature either in the outward, or the inner man, who would not wonder? his body had its excellency, which made the Pſalmiſt ſay, I will praiſe thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,—and curiouſly wrought in the loweſt part of the Earth. Pſal. 139.14, 15.It is a ſpeech borrowed from thoſe who work Arras-work; the body of man is a piece of curious Tapeſtry, or Arras-work, conſiſting of Skin, Bones, Muſcles, Sinews, and the like; what a goodly thing the body of man was before the Fall, may be gueſſed by the excellent gifts found in the bodies of ſome men ſince the Fall; as the Complection of David, 1 Sam. 16.12. the ſwiftneſs of Hazael, 2 Sam. 2.18. the beauty of Abſolom, 2 Sam. 14.25. If all theſe were but joyned in one, as certainly, they were in Adam, what a rare Body would ſuch a one be? but what was this body in compariſon of that ſoul? the ſoul was it, that was eſpecially made after the Image of God; the ſoul was it, that was tempered in the ſame Mortar with the Heavenly Spirits; the ſoul was Gods ſparkle, a beam of his divine Glory, a ray, or emanation of God himſelf; as man was the principal part of the Creation, ſo the Soul was the principal part of man: here was it that Gods Love and Glory were centred for the time; here was it that Gods love ſet and fixt it ſelf in a ſpecial man, whence flowed that Communion of God with Adam, and that familiarity of Adam with God.
3. Within a while, this man, the object of Gods Love, fell away from God, and as he fell, ſo all that were in him; even the whole World fell together with him; and hereupon Gods Face was hid; not a ſight of him but in flaming fire, ready to ſeize on the Sons of Men. And yet Gods Love would not thus leave the Object; he had yet a further reach of Love, and out of this dark Cloud he lets fall ſome glimpſes of another diſcovery: Theſe glimpſes were ſweet: but alas, they were ſo dark that very few could ſpell them, or make any ſenſe, or comfortable application of them: but by degrees God hints it out more; he points it out with the Finger by Types and Shadows, he makes ſome models of it in outward Ceremonies, and yet ſo hid and dark, that in four thouſand years, men were but gueſſing, and hoping through promiſes, for a manifeſtation of Gods Love; this is the meaning of the Apoſtle, who tells us of the Myſtery that was hid from Ages, and from Generations, but now is made manifeſt to his Saints: Col. 1.26.This Love of God was hid in the breaſt of God from the Sons of Men for an Age, ſo that they knew not what to make of this great Deſign: I ſpeak of the generality of men; for in reſpect of ſome Particulars, as to Adam, and Abraham, and Moſes, and David, and the Patriarchs, you have heard the Lord made his Loves clear to them in a Covenant-Way; and ſtill the nearer to Chriſt, the clearer and clearer was the Covenant of Grace.
4. At laſt God fully opens himſelf; in the fulneſs of time God takes the fleſh of thoſe poor ſinners which he had ſo loved, and joins it to himſelf, and calls it Chriſt, a Saviour: O! now was it that God deſcended, and lay in the Womb of a Virgin; now was it that he is born as we are born; now was it that he joined our Fleſh ſo nigh to himſelf, as that there is a Communication of properties betwixt them both, that being attributed to God which is proper to Fleſh, as to be born, to ſuffer; and that being attributed to fleſh which is proper to God, as to create, to redeem: who can chuſe but wonder when he thinks of this phraſe, that a piece of Fleſh ſhould be called God? and that God ſhould be made fleſh and dwell amongſt us? that fleſh ſhould infinitely provoke God, and yet God in the ſame fleſh ſhould be infinitely pleaſed? that God ſhould veile himſelf and darken his Glory with our fleſh, and yet unveile at the ſame time the deepeſt and darkeſt of his deſigns in a comfortable way to our ſouls? O my ſoul, how ſhouldſt thou contain thy ſelf within thy ſelf? how ſhouldſt thou but leap out of thy ſelf (if I may ſo ſpeak) as one that is loſt in the admiration of this Love? Surely God never manifeſted himſelf in ſuch a ſtrain of Love as this before; herein was love manifeſted and commended indeed, that God would come down in our nature to us. One obſerves ſweetly, that God did ſo love the very Nature of his Elect, that though for the preſent he had them not all with him in Heaven, yet he muſt have their Picture in his Son to ſee them in, and love them in; in this reſpect I may call Chriſt incarnate, a Statue and Monument of Gods own infinite Love unto his Elect for ever.
Well, hitherto we have followed the paſſages of his Love; and now we ſee it in the Spring, or at full Sea; If any thing will beget our love to God, ſurely Chriſt incarnate will do it: Come then, O my Soul, I cannot but call on thee to love thy Jeſus; and to provoke thy Love, O fix thy eye on this lovely Object; come, put thy Candle to this Flame; what? doth not thy heart yet burn within thee? doſt thou not at leaſt begin to warm? why, draw yet a little nearer; conſider, what an heart of Love is in this Deſign: God is in thy own nature, to take upon him all the miſeries of thy Nature; mark it well, this is none other than Gods heart leaping out of it ſelf into our boſoms; q. d. Poor ſouls, I cannot keep from you, I love your very Nature; I will be nothing, ſo you may be ſomething; my Glory ſhall not hinder me, but I will vail it rather than it ſhall hurt you; ſo I may but ſhew my ſelf kind and tender unto you, and ſo I may but have Communion with you, and you with me, I care not if I become one with you, and live with you in your very fleſh. Oh my heart, art thou yet cold in thy Loves to Jeſus Chriſt? canſt thou love him but a little, who hath loved thee ſo much? how ſhould I then but complain of thee to Chriſt? and for thy ſake beg hard of God, Oh thou ſweet Jeſus, that cloatheſt thy ſelf with the Clouds as with a garment, and as now thou cloatheſt thy ſelf with the Nature of a man: O thou that wouldeſt inflame my Spirit with a Love of thee, that nothing but thy ſelf might be dear unto me, becauſe it ſo pleaſed thee to vilifie thy ſelf, thine own ſelf for my ſake.
SECT. VII. Of joying in Jeſus in that reſpect.
7. LEt us joy in Jeſus, as carrying on the great work of our Salvation for us at his Coming or Incarnation. If it be ſo that by our Deſire, and Hope, and Faith, and Love, we have indeed and truth reached the Object which our ſouls pant after, how then ſhould we but joy and delight therein? the end of our motion is to attain quiet and reſt; now what is joy, but a ſweet and delightfull Tranquility of mind, reſting in the fruition and poſſeſſion of ſome good? what! haſt thou in ſome meaſure attained the preſence and fruition of Chriſt (as God incarnate) in thy Soul? it is then time to joy in Jeſus; it is then time to keep a Sabbath of thy thoughts, and to be quiet and calm in thy Spirit: But you will ſay, how ſhould this be before we come to Heaven? I anſwer, there is not indeed any perfection of joy whileſt we are here, becauſe there is no perfection of Union on this ſide Heaven; but ſo far as Union is, our joy muſt be; examine the grounds of thy Hope, and the actings of thy Faith, and if thou art but ſatisfied in them, why then lead up thy joy, and bring it up to this Bleſſed Object; here is matter for it to work upon; if thou canſt poſſibly rejoyce in any thing at all, O rejoyce in the Lord, and again I ſay rejoyce.
Is there not cauſe? read and ſpell what's the meaning of the Goſpel of Chriſt? what is Goſpel, but Good ſpell, or good tidings? and wherein lies the good ridings according to its emency? is it not in the glorious incarnation of the Son of God?Luke 2.10.11. behold I bring you a Goſpel, ſo it is in the Original, or, behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which ſhall be to all People; for unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour, which is Chriſt the Lord. The Birth of Chriſt to them that have but touched hearts, is the comfort of comforts, and the ſweeteſt balm and confection that ever was. Oh my Soul what ailes thee? Why art thou caſt down and diſquieted within me? Is it becauſe thou art a ſinner? why, unto thee is born a Saviour; his Name is Saviour, and therefore Saviour, becauſe he will ſave his people from their ſins. Come then, and bring out thy Sins, and weigh them to the utmoſt aggravation of them, and take in every Circumſtance both of Law and Goſpel, and ſet but this in the other Scale, that unto thee is born a Saviour, ſurely all thy iniquities will ſeem lighter than vanity, yea they will be as nothing in compariſon thereof; My Soul doth Magnifie the Lord (ſaid Mary) and my ſpirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour. Luke 1.46.47.Her ſoul and her ſpirit within her rejoyced at this Birth of Chriſt; there is cauſe that every Soul, and every Spirit ſhould rejoyce, that hath any intereſt in this Birth of Chriſt: O my ſoul, how ſhouldeſt thou but rejoyce if thou wilt conſider theſe particulars.
1. God himſelf is come down into the World; becauſe it was impoſſible for thee to come to him, he is come to thee; this conſideration made the Prophet cry out, Rejoyce greatly O thou Daughter of Zion, Z…ch. 9.9.ſhout O Daughter of Jeruſalem, behold thy King cometh unto thee; he is called a King, and therefore he is able; and he is thy King, and therefore he is willing; but in that thy King cometh unto thee, here is the marvilous love and mercy of God in Chriſt; Kings do not uſually come to viſit and wait upon their Subjects; it is well if poor Subjects may come to them, and be admitted into their Preſence to wait on them: O but ſee the great King of Heaven & Earth, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords ſtooping, and bowing the heavens to come down to thee; ſurely this is good tidings of great joy, and therefore rejoyce greatly O Daughter of Zion. A little joy is too ſcant and narrow for this news; hearts ſhould be enlarged, the doors and gates ſhould be ſet wide open for this King of Glory to come in: as Balaam ſaid of Iſrael, God is with him and the ſhout of a King is amongſt them? Num. 23.21.ſo now may we ſay, God is with us, and the ſhout of a King is amongſt us; Rejoyce Zion, Shout O Daughter of Jeruſalem.
2. God is come down in fleſh; he hath laid aſide, as it were, his own Glory, whileſt he converſeth with thee; when God manifeſted himſelf, as on Mount Sinai, he came down in Thunder and Lightning; and if now he had appeared in Thunder and Lightning, if now he had been guarded with an innumerable Company of Angels, all having their Swords of vengeance and juſtice drawn, well might poor ſouls have trembled, and have run into corners; for who could ever be able to endure his coming in this way? but lo poor Soul, God is come down in fleſh, he hath made his appearance as a man, as one of us, and there is not in this regard the leaſt diſtance betwixt him and us. Surely this is fewel for joy to feed upon: O why ſhould God come down ſo ſutably, ſo lowly, as in our nature, if he would have thy poor ſoul to be afraid of him? doth not this very deſign intend conſolation to thy ſoul? O gather up thy Spirit, anoint thy heart with the Oyl of gladneſs; ſee God himſelf is come down in fleſh to live amongſt us, he profeſſeth he will have no other life but amongſt the Sons of men; ſee what a ſweet way of familiarity and entercourſe is made betwixt God and us, now he is come down in humane frailty.
3. God hath took on him our Nature as a vaſt pipe to his Godhead, that it may flow out in all manner of ſweetneſs upon our hearts; if God had come down in fleſh, only to have been ſeen of us,Exod. 33.12. it had been a wonderful condeſcention, and a great mercy: if I have found favour in thy eyes (ſaid Moſes) ſhew me thy way that I may know thee; but to come down in fleſh, and to come down in fleſh, not only to be ſeen, but to diſpatch the great buſineſs of our ſouls Salvation, here's comfort indeed: with what joy ſhould we draw water out of this well of ſalvation? Surely the great reaſon of the ſhallowneſs of our Comforts, ſhortneſs of our Hopes, the faintneſs of our ſpirits, the lowneſs of our Graces, is from the not knowing, or the not heeding of this particular; Chriſt in fleſh ſtands not for a Cypher, but it is an Organ of life and grace unto us; it is a fountain of comfort that can never run dry. In this fleſh there is laid in on purpoſe ſuch a fulneſs of the Godhead, that of his fulneſs we might receive in our meaſure grace for grace. O my ſoul, thou art daily buſy in eying this and that; but above all, know that all the fulneſs God lies in Chriſt incarnate, to be emptied upon thee: this was the meaning of Chriſt taking on him fleſh, that through his fleſh he might convey to thee whatſoever is in himſelf as God. As for inſtance, God in himſelf is Good, and Gracious, and Powerful, and All-ſufficient, and Merciful, and what not? Now by his being in fleſh, he ſuites all this, and conveyes all this to thee; obſerve this for thy eternal comfort, God in and through the fleſh makes all his Attributes and Glory ſerviceable to thy ſoul.
4. God in our Nature hath laid out the Model and Draught of what he will do unto all his Saints for ever; humane nature was never ſo advanced before; what? to be glorified above the Angels? to be united in a Perſonal union with the ſecond perſon of the Godhead? ſurely hence may be expected great matters; here's a fair ſtep for the bringing of our Perſons up to the enjoyment of God; if God be come down in the likeneſs of man, why, then he will bring us up into the likeneſs of God; look what was done to our nature in Chriſt, the very ſame (as far as we are capable) ſhall be done to our perſons in Heaven. Think of it, O my ſoul, why hath God made fleſh ſo glorious, but to ſhew that he will by that make thee glorious alſo? Chriſt is the great Epitome of all the deſigns of God, ſo that in him thou mayeſt ſee what thou art deſigned unto, and how high and rich thou ſhalt be in the other world. Beloved, now are we the Sons of God, 1 John 3.2.and it doth not yet appear what we ſhall be, but we know when he ſhall appear, we ſhall be like him; he is now like us, but then (ſaith the Apoſtle) we ſhall be like unto him;Phil. 3.21. he will change our vile body, that it may be faſhioned like unto his Glorious body. Oh conſider what a frame of eternal comfort may we raiſe up from this ground of Chriſt incarnate, God in the fleſh?
5. God in the fleſh is the firſt opening of his eternal plot to do us good; the Seed of the woman was the firſt word of comfort that ever was heard in the world after man was fallen; the Plot was of old, but the execution was not till after the Creation, and then was a dim diſcovery of it, even in the beginning of time, though no clear manifeſtation till the fulneſs of time. Well, take it as we pleaſe, whether in the beginning of time, or in the fulneſs of time; whether in the promiſe, or in performance, this diſcovering of Chriſt incarnate is the firſt opening of all Gods heart and Glory unto the Sons of men; and from this we may raiſe a world of comfort; for if God in the execution of his Decrees, begins ſo gloriouſly, how will he end? if God be ſo full of love, as to come down in fleſh now in this world, Oh what matter of hope is laid up before us, of what God will be to us in that world to come? if the Glory of God be let out to our ſouls ſo fully at firſt, what Glorious openings of all the Glory of God will be let out to our ſouls at laſt? Chriſtians! what do you think will God do with us, or bring us unto, when we ſhall be with him in heaven? you ſee now he is manifeſted in fleſh, and he hath laid out a world of Glory in that: but the Apoſtle tells us of another manifeſtation, for we ſhall ſee him as he is; he ſhall at laſt be manifeſt in himſelf;1 John 3.2. now we ſee through a glaſs darkly, but then face to face; now we know in part, but then we ſhall know even as alſo we are known. To what an height of knowledg or manifeſtation this doth ariſe, I am now to ſeek, and ſo I muſt be whilſt I am on this ſide Heaven; but this I believe, the manifeſtation of God and Chriſt is more in Heaven, than is, or ever hath been, or ever ſhall be upon earth; thine eyes ſhall ſee the King in his Beauty, Iſa. 33.17.or in his Glory ſaith Eſay: there is a great deal of difference betwixt ſeeing the King in his ordinary, and ſeeing him in his Robes, and upon his Throne, with his Crown on his head, and his Scepter in his hand, and his Nobles about him in all his Glory: the firſt openings of Chriſt are glorious; but O, what will it be to ſee him in his greateſt Glory that ever he will manifeſt himſelf in? we uſually ſay that workmen do their meaneſt work at firſt, and if the Glorious incarnation of Chriſt be but the beginning of Gods works, in reference to our ſouls ſalvation, what are thoſe laſt works?
O my ſoul, weigh all theſe paſſages, and make an application of them to thy ſelf; and then tell me if yet thou haſt not matter enough to raiſe up thy heart, and to fill it with joy unſpeakable and full of Glory;Mat. 2.10. when the wiſe men ſaw but the Star of Chriſt, they rejoyced with an exceeding great joy; how much more when they ſaw Chriſt himſelf? Your Father Abraham (ſaid Chriſt to the Jews) rejoyced to ſee my day, John 8.5….and he ſaw it, and was glad; he ſaw it indeed, but afar of, with the eyes of Faith; they afore Chriſt, had the promiſe, but we ſee the performance; how then ſhould we rejoyce? how glad ſhouldſt thou be, O my Soul, at the ſight and effect of Chriſts Incarnation? if John the Baptiſt could leap for joy in his Mothers belly, when Chriſt was but yet in the womb, how ſhould thy heart leap for joy, who canſt ſay with the Prophet,Luke 2.28. unto me a Child is born, and unto me a Son is given? if Simeon waiting for the conſolation of Iſrael, took him up in his arms for joy, and bleſſed God; how ſhouldſt thou with joy embrace him with both arms, who knoweſt his coming in the fleſh, and who haſt heard him come in the Goſpel, in the richeſt and moſt alluring expreſſions of his Love? If the Angels of God, yea, if multitudes of Angels could ſing for joy at his Birth,Luke 2.14. Glory to God in the higheſt, and on earth peace, and good will towards men; how much more ſhouldeſt thou, whom it concerns more than the Angels, join with them in conſort, and ſing for joy this joyful ſong of good will towards men? Awake, awake O my Soul, awake, awake, uttter a Song! tell over theſe paſſages, that God is come down into the world, that God is come down in fleſh, that God is come down in fleſh in order to thy reconciliation; that God is come down in the likeneſs of man, that he may bring thee up into the likeneſs of God; and that all theſe are but the firſt openings of the Grace, and goodneſs, and Glory of God in Chriſt unto thy Soul; and Oh what work will theſe make in thy Soul, if the Spirit come in, who is the comforter.
SECT. VIII. Of Calling on Jeſus in that Reſpect.
8. LEt us call on Jeſus, or on God the Father in and through Jeſus. Now this calling on Jeſus contains Prayer and Praiſe. 1. We muſt pray that all theſe tranſactions of Jeſus at his firſt coming or incarnation may be ours; and is not here encouragement for our Prayers? If we obſerve it, this very point of Chriſts Incarnation opens a door of rich entrance into the preſence of God; we may call it a bleſſed Portal into Heaven,b. 10. 20. not of Iron, or Braſs, but of our own fleſh; this is that new and living way which he hath conſecrated for us, through the Vail, that is to ſay, his fleſh; with what boldneſs and freeneſs may we now enter into the Holieſt, and draw near unto the Throne of Grace? why, Chriſt is incarnate, God is come down in the fleſh; though his Deity may confound us (if we ſhould immediately and ſolely apply our ſelves unto it) yet his humanity comforts our faint and feeble ſouls, God in his humility animates our ſouls to come unto him, and to ſeek of him whatſoever is needful for us. Go then to Chriſt; away, away O my ſoul, to Jeſus, or to God the Father, in and through Jeſus; and O deſire that the effect, the fruit, the benefit of his Conception, Birth, and of the wonderful union of the two natures of Chriſt may be all thine. What? doſt thou hope in Jeſus, and believe thy part in this Incarnation of Chriſt? why then pray in hope, and pray in Faith; what is prayer, but the ſtream and river of Faith, an iſſue of the deſire of that which I joyfully believe?2 Sam. 7.27. Thou, O Lord God of Hoſts, God of Iſrael, haſt revealed to thy Servant, ſaying, I will build thee an houſe, therefore hath thy ſervant found in his heart, to pray this Prayer unto thee.
2. We muſt praiſe. This was the ſpecial duty practiſed by all Saints and Angels at Chriſts Birth,Luke 1.46. Luke 1.68. My Soul doth magnifie the Lord (ſaith Mary) and my Spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour. And bleſſed be the Lord God of Iſrael (ſaid Zachary) for he hath viſited and redeemed his People; and Glory to God in the higheſt, ſaid the Heavenly Hoſt; only one Angel had before brought the News,Luke 2.11. unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour, which is Chriſt the Lord: but immediately after there were many to ſing praiſes; not only ſix Cherubims as Iſaiah ſaw; nor only four and twenty Elders, as John ſaw; but a multitude of Heavenly Angels like Armies, that by their Heavenly Hallelujahs gave Glory to God. O my ſoul, do thou endeavour to keep conſort with thoſe many Angels: O ſing Praiſes, ſing Praiſes unto God, ſing Praiſes. Never was like caſe ſince the firſt Creation: never was the wiſdom, truth, juſtice, mercy, and goodneſs of God ſo manifeſt before; I ſhall never forget that laſt ſpeech of a dying Saint upon the ſtage, Bleſſed be God for Jeſus Chriſt. O my ſoul, living and dying let this be thought on: What? Chriſt incarnate for me? why bleſs the Lord, O my ſoul, and all that is within me bleſs his holy Name.
SECT. IX. Of conforming to Jeſus in that reſpect.
9. LEt us conform to Jeſus in reference to this great tranſaction of his Incarnation. Looking to Jeſus contains this, and is the cauſe of this; the ſight of God will make us like to God; and the ſight of Chriſt will make us like to Chriſt; for as a Looking-Glaſs cannot be expoſed to the Sun, but it will ſhine like the ſame; ſo God receives none to contemplate his face, but he transforms them into his own likeneſs by the irradiation of his light; and Chriſt hath none that dive into theſe depths of his glorious and bleſſed Incarnation, but they carry along with them ſweet impreſſions of an abiding and tranſforming nature. Come then, let us once more look on Jeſus in his Incarnation, that we may conform, and be like to Jeſus in that reſpect.
But wherein lies this conformity or likeneſs to Jeſus? I anſwer, in theſe and the like particulars.—
1. Chriſt was conceived in Mary by the Holy Ghoſt; ſo muſt Chriſt be conceived in us by the ſame holy Ghoſt. To this purpoſe is the ſeed of the Word caſt in, and principles of Grace are by the Holy Ghoſt infuſed; he hath begotten us by the Word, ſaith the Apoſtle, Jam. 1.18.James 1.18. How Mean, Contemptible, or Impotent Men may eſteem it, yet God hath appointed no other means to convey ſupernatural life, but after this manner: Where no Viſion is, the People periſh: where no preaching is, there is a worſe judgment than that of Egypt, when there was one dead in every Family. By the Word and Spirit the Seeds of all Grace are ſown in the heart at once, and the heart cloſing with it, immediatly Chriſt is conceived in the heart.
Concerning this ſpiritual Conception or Reception of Chriſt in us, there is a great queſtion, Whether it be poſſible for any man to diſcern how it is wrought? But for the Negative are theſe Texts, Our Life is hid with Chriſt in God, Col. 3.3. and the Wind bloweth where it liſteth, and thou heareſt the ſound thereof, but canſt not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth, Joh. 3.8. It is a wonderful, hidden and ſecret Conception. The holy Ghoſt ſets out that ſtate of unregeneracy, in which Chriſt finds us, by the name of Death, Eph. 2.1. So that it muſt needs be as impoſſible for us to diſcover how it is wrought, as it is impoſſible for one to know how he receives his own life. Some ſay, the firſt act of infuſing or receiving Chriſt or Grace (they are all one) is wrought in an inſtant, and not by degrees; and therefore it is impoſſible to diſcern the manner: And yet we grant that we may diſcern both the preparations to Grace, and the firſt operations of Grace. 1. The preparations to Grace are diſcernable; ſuch are thoſe terrours and ſpiritual agonies, which are often before the work of Regeneration; they may be reſembled to the heating of metals before they melt, and are caſt into the Mold to be faſhioned; now by the help of Natural Reaſon one may diſcern theſe. 2. Much more may the firſt Motion and Operations of Grace be diſcerned by one truly regenerate, becauſe that in them his Spirit works together with the Spirit of Chriſt; ſuch are ſorrow for ſin as ſin, and ſeek rightly for comfort, an hungring deſire after Chriſt and his Merits; neither do I think it impoſſible for a regenerate man to feel the very firſt illapſe of the Spirit into the Soul; for it may bring that ſenſe with it ſelf, as to be eaſily diſcerned, although it doth not alwayes ſee, nor perhaps uſually ſee; it is true that the giving of Spiritual Life, and the giving of the ſenſe of it, are two diſtinct acts of the Spirit; yet who can deny, but that both theſe acts may go together; though alwayes they do not go together? Howſoever it is, yet even in ſuch Perſons as in the inſtant of Regeneration may feel themſelves in a regenerate eſtate: this Concluſion ſtands firm, viz. They may know what is wrought in them, but how it is wrought, they cannot know, nor underſtand; we feel the Wind, and perceive it in the motions, and operations thereof; but the Originals of it we are not able exactly to deſcribe: ſome think the beginnings of Winds are from the flux of the Air, others from the exhalations of the Earth; but there is no certainty: ſo it is in the manner of this Conception, or paſſive Reception of Chriſt and Grace into our hearts; we know not how it is wrought, but it nearly concerns us to know that it is wrought; look we to his conformity, that as Chriſt was conceived in Mary by the Holy Ghoſt; ſo, that Chriſt be conceived in us, in a ſpiritual ſenſe, by the ſame Holy Ghoſt.
2. Chriſt was ſanctified in the Virgins Womb; ſo muſt we be ſanctified in our ſelves, following the Commandment of God; Be ye holy as I am holy: Souls regenerate muſt be ſanctified; Every man (ſaith the Apoſtle) that hath this hope in him, 1 John 3.3.purifieth himſelf even as he is pure. I know our hearts are (as it were) Seas of corruptions, yet we muſt daily cleanſe our ſelves of them by little and little: Chriſt could not have been a fit Saviour for us, unleſs firſt he had been ſanctified; neither can we be fit Members unto him, unleſs we be in ſome meaſure purged from our ſins, and ſanctified by his Spirit. To this purpoſe is that of the Apoſtle; I beſeech you Brethren, by the Mercies of God, that ye preſent your Bodyes a living Sacrifice, Holy, acceptable unto God. Rom. 12.1.In the Old Teſtament they did after a corporal manner ſlay and kill Beaſts, preſenting them, and offering them unto the Lord; but now we are in a ſpiritual manner to crucify and mortifie the fleſh with the affections and luſts, all our inordinate paſſions, all our evil affections of anger, love, joy, hatred, are to be crucified; and all that is ours muſt be given up to God; there muſt be no love in us but of God; and in reference to God; no Joy in us, but in God, and in reference to God; no fear in us, but of God, and in reference to God; and thus of all other the like paſſions. O that we would look to Jeſus, and be like unto Jeſus in this thing! if there be any Honour, any Happineſs, any Excellency, it is in this, even in this; we are not fit for any holy duty, or any religious approach unto God without ſanctification;1 Theſ. 4.5. this is the Will of God (ſaith the Apoſtle) even your Sanctification. All the commands of God tend to this; and for the comfort of us Chriſtians, we have under the Goſpel, promiſes of ſanctification to be in a larger meaſure made out unto us:Zech. 14.20, 21. In that day there ſhall be upon the Bells of the Horſes Holineſs unto the Lord;—yea every pot in Jeruſalem and Judah ſhall be Holineſs unto the Lord; every Veſſel under Chriſt and the Goſpel, muſt have written upon it Holineſs to the Lord; thus our ſpiritual ſervices, figured by the Ancient Ceremonial ſervices, are ſet out by a larger meaſure of holineſs than was in old time: it is a ſweet reſemblance of Chriſt to be holy;Acts 4.27. for ſo he is ſtiled, the holy Child Jeſus: he was ſanctified from the womb, and ſanctified in the womb for our imitation: for their ſakes I ſanctifie my ſelf, (ſaith Chriſt) that they alſo might be ſanctified.John 17.19.
3. Chriſt the ſon of man is by nature the ſon of God; ſo we poor ſons of men muſt by Grace become the ſons of God; even of the ſame God and Father of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt;Gal. 4.4, 5, 7. for this very end God ſent his own Son made of a woman, that we might receive the Adoption of Sons,—wherefore thou art no more a ſervant, but a ſon; and if a Son, then an heir of God through Chriſt. This intimates that what relation Chriſt hath unto the Father by nature, we ſhould have the ſame by Grace; by nature he is the only begotten Son of the Father, and as many as received him (ſaith John John 1.14. V. 12.) to them he gave power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on his Name. It is true, Chriſt reſerves to himſelf the preheminence;Rom. 8.29. he is in a peculiar manner the first born among many Brethren; yet in him, and for him all the reſt of the brethren are accounted as firſt borns:Exod. 4.22, 23. So God bids Moſes ſay unto Pharoah, Iſrael is my ſon, even my firſt born; And I ſay unto thee, let my Son go, that he may ſerve me; and if thou refuſe to let him go, behold I will ſlay thy Son, even thy firſt-born, And the whole Church of God, conſiſting of Jew and Gentile, is in the ſame ſort deſcribed by the Apoſtle to be the General Aſſembly and Church of the firſt-born enrolled in Heaven; Heb. 12.23. Rom. 8.17.by the ſame reaſon that we are ſons, we are firſt-borns; if we are Children, then are we heirs, heirs of God, and joynt-heirs with Chriſt. O who would not endeavour after this priviledg? who would not conform to Chriſt in this reſpect?
4. Chriſt the Son of God, was yet the Son of Man; there was yet in him a duplicity of Natures really diſtinguiſhed; and in this reſpect, the greateſt Majeſty, and the greateſt humility that ever was, are found in Chriſt; ſo we, though ſons of God, muſt remember our ſelves to be but ſons of men; our priviledges are not ſo high, but our poor conditions, frailties, infirmities, ſins, may make us low: who was higher than the Son of God? and who was lower than the ſon of man? as he is God, he is in the boſom of his Father; as he is man, he is in the Womb of his Mother; as he is God, his Throne is in Heaven; and he fills all things by his emmenſity; as he is man, he is circumſcribed in a cradle, I mean a Manger, a moſt uneaſy Cradle ſure; as he is God, he is cloathed in a robe of Glory; as he is man, he is wrapped in a few courſe ſwadling bands; as he is God, he is encircled with millions of bright Angels; as he man, he is in company of Joſeph and Mary, and the Beaſts; as he is God, he is the eternal Word of the Father, all-ſufficient, and without need; as he is man, he ſubmits himſelf to a condition imperfect, inglorious, indigent, and neceſſitous: well, let this mind be in you, which was alſo in Chriſt Jeſus,Phil. 2.5, 6, 7, 8. who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but he made himſelf of no Reputation, and took upon him the form of a Servant, and was made in the likeneſs of men, and being founded in faſhion as a man, he humble himſelf: he that thought it no robbery to be equal with God, humbled himſelf to become man; we ſhould have found it no robbery to be equal with Devils, and are we too proud to learn of God? what an intolerable diſproportion is this, to behold an humble God, and a proud man? who can endure to ſee a Prince on foot, and his Vaſſal mounted! ſhall the Son of God be thus humble for us, and ſhall not we be humble for our ſelves? I ſay for our ſelves, that deſerve to be caſt down amongſt the loweſt Worms, the damnedſt Creatures? What are we in our beſt condition here on earth; had we the beſt natures, pureſt converſations, happieſt indowments that accompany the Saints, pride overthrows all; it thruſt proud Nebuchadnezzer out of Babel, proud Haman out of the Court, proud Saul out of his Kingdom, proud Lucifer out of Heaven; poor man how ill it becomes thee to be proud, when God himſelf is become thus humble? O learn of me (ſaith Chriſt) for I am meek, and humble, and lowly in ſpirit, Math. 11.29.and you ſhall find reſt unto your ſouls.
5. The two natures of Chriſt, though really diſtinguiſhed, yet were they inſeparably joyned, and made not two, but one perſon; ſo muſt our natures and perſons though at greateſt diſtance from God, be inſeparably joyned and united to Chriſt, and thereby alſo to God.John 17.21. I Pray (ſaith Chriſt) that they all may be one as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they alſo may be one in us. That union of Chriſts two natures we call a perſonal hypoſtatical union, and this union of Chriſt with us, we call a myſtical and Spiritual union; yet though it be myſtical and Spiritual, this hinders not but that it is a true, real, eſſential, ſubſtantial union, whereby the perſon of the believer is indiſſolubly united to the glorious perſon of the Son of God. For our better underſtanding we may conſider (if you pleaſe) of a threefold unity, either of perſons of one nature, or of natures in one perſon, or of natures and Perſons in one ſpirit; in the firſt is one God; in the ſecond is one Chriſt; in the third is one Church with Chriſt; our union unto Chriſt is the laſt of theſe, whereby he and we are all ſpiritually united to the making up of one myſtical body, O what a priviledge is this! a poor believer, be he never ſo mean or miſerable in the eye of the world, yet he is one with Chriſt, as Chriſt is one with the Father; our fellowſhip is with the Father, 1 John 1.3.and with his Son Jeſus Chriſt: every Saint is Chriſts fellow; there is a kind of analogical proportion between Chriſt and his Saints in every thing; if we take a view of all Chriſt, what he is in his Perſon, in his Glory, in his Spirit, in his Graces, in his Fathers Love, and in the acceſs he hath to the Father, in all theſe we are in a ſort fellows with Chriſt; only with this difference, that Chriſt hath the preheminence in all things; all comes from the Father firſt to Chriſt, and all we have is by Marriage with Jeſus Chriſt; Chriſt by his union hath all good things without meaſure, but we by our union have them only in meaſure, as it pleaſeth him to diſtribute. But herein if we reſemble Chriſt, whether in his union with the Father, or in his union of the two natures in one Perſon of a Mediator; if by looking on Chriſt, we come to this likeneſs, to be one with Jeſus Chriſt, Oh what a priviledg is this! had we not good warrant for ſo high a challeng, it could be no leſs than a Blaſphemous arrogance to lay claim to the Royal blood of Heaven; but the Lord is pleaſed to dignifie a poor worm, that every believer may truly ſay, I am one with Jeſus Chriſt, and Jeſus Chriſt is one with me.
To ſweeten this union to our thoughts I ſhall acquaint you with the priviledg flowing from it, and let the ſame ſtir you up to conform.
Hence it is that Chriſt lives in us, and that Chriſt both gives life, and is our life. When Chriſt which is our life ſhall appear, Chriſt is to me to live, and I live, yet not I, Col. 3.4. Phil. 2.21. Gal. 2.20.but Chriſt liveth in me. There is a ſpiritual and natural life; for the natural life what is it but a bubble, a vapour, a ſhaddow, a dream, a nothing? but this Spiritual life is an excellent life, it is wrought in us by the Spirit of Chriſt; there is a world of difference betwixt the natural and the ſpiritual life, and that makes the difference betwixt what I do as a man, and what I do as a Chriſtian; as a man I have eyes, ears, motions, affections, underſtandings, naturally as my own; but as a Chriſtian I have all theſe from him with whom I am ſpiritually one, the Lord Jeſus Chriſt; as a man I have bodily eyes, and I behold bodily and material things; but as a Chriſtian I have ſpiritual eyes, and I ſee inviſible and eternal things, as it is ſaid of Moſes, that he endured, Heb. 11 27.as ſeeing him who is inviſible; as a man I have outward ears, and I hear outward ſounds of all ſorts whether articulate, or inarticulate; but as a Chriſtian I have inward ears, and ſo I hear the voice of Chriſt, and of Gods Spirit, ſpeaking to my ſoul; as a man I have bodily feet, and by them I move in my own ſecular wayes; but as a Chriſtian I have ſpiritual feet, and on them I walk with God in all the wayes of his Commandments; as a man I have natural affections, and ſo I love beauty, and fear pain, and hate an enemy, and I rejoyce in outward proſperity, or the like; but as a Chriſtian I have renewed affections, and ſo I loved goodneſs, and hate nothing but ſin; and I fear above all the diſpleaſure of my God, and I rejoyce in Gods favour, which is better than life. Surely this is a bleſſed life; and as ſoon as ever I am united to Chriſt, why then I live, yet not I, but Chriſt liveth in me. Firſt, Chriſt is conceived, and then Chriſt is formed, and then Chriſt is born, and then grows in me to a bleſſed fulneſs:Gal. 4.19. My little Children of whom I travail in birth again until Chriſt be formed in you; formation follows conception, and travail implies a birth: then after this we are babes in Chriſt, 1 Cor. 3.1. 1 John 2.14. Eph. 4.13.or Chriſt is as a babe in us; from thence we grow up to ſtrength of youth. I have written unto you young men becauſe ye are ſtrong; and at laſt we come to Goſpel perfection even towards the meaſure of the ſtature of the fulneſs of Chriſt. Is this all? nay, if my union be firm, and Chriſt live in me, why then I go on,Rom. 6.8. Rom. 6.4, 1. Col 3 1. Rom. 8.17. and in this condition I am dead with Chriſt, and I am buried with Chriſt, and I am alive again unto God through Chriſt, and I am riſen with Chriſt, and I am glorified with Chriſt. Nay, yet more, my ſufferings are Chriſts, Col. 1.24. and Chriſts ſufferings are mine, Rom. 8.17. I am in Chriſt an …eir of Glory, Rom. 8.17. and Chriſt is in me the hope of Glory, Col. 12 7. O my Chriſt, my life, what am I, or what is my Fathers houſe that thou ſhouldeſt come down into me, that thou ſhouldeſt be conceived in the womb of my poor ſinful heart, that thou ſhouldeſt give my ſoul a new and ſpiritual life, a life begun in Grace and ending in eternal Glory? I ſhall not reckon up any more priviledges of this union, me-thinks I ſhould not need; if I tell you of Grace and Glory, what can I more? Glory is the higheſt pitch, and Chriſt tells you concerning it, the Glory whic… thou gaveſt me, John 17.22.I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. Ah my brethren! to be ſo like Chriſt as to be one with Chriſt, it is near indeed: O let us conform to Chriſt in this; he is one with our nature in an hypoſtatical, perſonal union; let us be one with him in a ſpiritual, holy and a myſtical union; if God be not in our perſons as truely, though not as fully as in our nature, we have no particular comfort from this deſign of his perſonal, hypoſtatical, and wonderful union.
6. Chriſt was born, ſo muſt we be new-born; to this I have ſpoken when I laid it down as an evidence that unto us a Child is born, and unto us a ſon is given; only one word more, we muſt be new born; as once born by nature, ſo new born by Grace; there muſt be ſome reſemblances in us of Chriſt born amongſt us. As 1. Chriſt born, had a Father in Heaven, and a Mother on Earth; ſo in our new Birth we muſt look on God as our Father in Heaven, and on the Church as our Mother on Earth; it was uſually ſaid, out of the Church no ſalvation; and to this the Apoſtle alludes, Jeruſalem which is above is free, Gal. 4.26.which is the Mother of us all: indeed out of the Church there is no means of Salvation, no Word to teach, no Sacraments to confirm, nothing at all to hold forth Chriſt to a ſoul, and without Chriſt how ſhould there be the Salvation of ſouls? …o that we muſt look on the Church as our Mother, and on God as our Father; not that we deny ſome to be as ſpiritual Fathers unto others. Paul tells the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 4.15.that he was their Father, though yea have ten thouſand inſtructers in Chriſt, yet have ye not many Fathers, for in Chriſt Jeſus I have begotten you through the Goſpel; but al…s, ſuch Fathers are but miniſterial Fathers; and therefore Paul ſeems to correct himſelf,1 Cor. 3.7. who is …aul? and who is Apollo? but Miniſters by whom yea believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? it is God only is our Father principally, originally, ſupreamly; God only puts Grace and vertue into the womb of the Soul; it is not poſſible that any creature ſhould be a Creator of the new Creature. O then let us look up to Heaven and ſay, O Lord n…w make me, n…w Create me, O be thou my Father.
2. When Chriſt was born all Jeruſalem was troubled; ſo when this new birth is, we muſt look for it, that much commotion, and much diviſion of heart will be; the Devi… could not be caſt out of the profeſſed perſon, but he would exc…edingly fear and …orment, and vex the poſſ…ſſed perſon; the truth is, we cannot expect that Chriſt ſhould expel Satan from thoſe holds and dominions he hath over us, but he will be ſure to put us to great fear and terror in heart. Beſides, not only the evil Spirit, but Gods Spirit is for a while a Spirit of Bondage, to make every thing as a mighty burden unto us; there are many pr…tenders to the grace of God in Chriſt, but they cannot abide to hear of any pains or pangs in this new Birth; O this is legal, but I pray thee tell me, doſt thou ever know any woman bring forth in her ſleep, or in a dream, without feeling any pain? and how then ſhould the heart of man be thus new changed and moulded without ſeveral pangs? look as it is in the natural birth, there are many pangs and troubles, in in ſorrow ſhalt thou bring forth Children; ſo it is, and muſt be in our ſpiritual birth; there is uſually (I will not ſay alwayes to ſuch or ſuch a degree) many pangs and troubles, there's many a throb, and many an heart-ach ere Chriſt can be formed in us.
3. When Chriſt was born, there was a diſcovery of many of the Glorious attributes of God; then Mercy and Truth met together, and righteouſneſs and peace kiſſed each other; then eſpecially was a diſcovery of the Goodneſs, and Power, and Wiſdom, and Holineſs of God. So when this New Birth is, we muſt look upon it as a glorious diſcovery of thoſe lovely Attributes. As, 1. Of his Mercy, Goodneſs, Love; how often is this called his Grace, and the riches of his Grace? Chriſtians! you that know what the New Birth means, do you not ſay, The Goodneſs of God appears in this? ſurely it was Gods Goodneſs to make a World, but this is the riches of his Goodneſs to create a New Heart in you; when Man by his ſin was fallen, he might have been thrown away as refuſe, fit fuel only, for everlaſting flames; it might have been with mankind as it was with Devils, in their deluge God did not provide an Ark to ſave ſo many as eight perſons, not one Angel that fell was the Object of Gods Grace; And that God ſhould paſs by all thoſe Angels, and many thouſands of the Sons Men, and yet that he ſhould look upon you in your Blood, and bid you Live: O the goodneſs of God!
2. As of the Goodneſs, ſo in this New Birth there's a diſcovery of Gods power: and hence it is called a New Creature. The very ſame Power that framed the World,Gal. 6.15. is the framer of this New Creature; the work of Converſion is ſet forth by the Work of Creation; God only creates Man, and God only converts Man; in the Creation God ſaid, Let there be Light, and there was Light; in our converſion God ſaith, Let there be Light; and preſently the ſame God ſhines in our hearts; Nay, this Power of converſion in ſome ſenſe far paſſeth the Creation, To whom is the Arm of the Lo…d revealed? Iſa. 53.1.the Lord puts to his Arm, his Power, his Strength indeed in Converſion of Souls; when he made the World, he met with nothing to reſiſt him, he only ſpake the word and it was do…e; but in the converſion of a ſinner, God meets with the whole frame of all creatures oppoſing and reſiſting him; the Devil and the World without, and ſin and corruption within; here then muſt needs be a Power againſt all Power.
3. As of the Goodneſs and Power of God, ſo in this New Birth there's a diſcovery of the Wiſdom of God. I might inſtance in many particulars; As, 1. In that the regenerate are moſt-what of the meaneſt and contemptibleſt perſons; not many wiſe, 1 Cor. 1.27.not many noble, &c. 2. In that many times God takes the worſt Weeds and makes them the ſweeteſt Flowers; thus Paul, Zacheus, the Publicans, and Harlots. 3. In that the regenerate are of the feweſt, and leaſt number; many are called, but few are choſen. 4. In that God chooſeth ſuch a time to be his time of love, wherein he uſually diſcovers many concurrences of ſtrange love meeting together; read Ezek. 16.4, 5, 6, 8, 9. in all theſe particulars is his Wiſdom wonderful.
4. As of the Goodneſs, Power, and Wiſdom of God, ſo in this New Birth there's a diſcovery of the holineſs of God. If a clod of Earth, or a piece of Muck ſhould be made a glorious Star in Heaven, it is not more wonderful, than for a ſinner to be made like an Angel, doing the Will of God; it argues the Holineſs of God, and his love of Holineſs to make man holy; He tells us that without Holineſs, none ſhall ſee God; and therefore fi…ſt he will make us holy, and then he will bring us to himſelf; O here's a bleſſed Conformity! as Chriſt was Born, let us be New Born.
7. Chriſt after his Birth did and ſuffered many things in his Childhood, (I ſhould be too large to ſpea… to every particular) ſo ſhould we learn to bear Gods Yoak even in our Youth. It is good to imitate Chriſt even betimes,Lam. 3.27. Eccleſ. 12.1. Rememb…r now thy Creator in the dayes of thy Youth, while the evil dayes come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou ſhalt ſay▪ I have no pleaſure in them. Do ye not ſee by experience what a bleſſed thing a gracious and an holy education is? Train up a Child in the way he ſhould go, Prov. 22.6.and when he is old he will not depart from it. O ye Parents, that ye ſhould do your duties, and in that reſpect imitate Joſeph and Mary in their care and nature of the Holy Child Jeſus; and O ye Children, that you would do your duties, and imitate Jeſus, the Bleſſedſt pattern that ever was, that as you grow in Stature, Luke 2.52.you alſo might grow in favour with God and Man. Obſerve him in the Temple when he was but twelve years Old, ſee Him in the midſt of the Doctors, both hearing them, and asking them Queſtions; Children whiles little (if but capable of inſtruction) ſhould with their Parents wait on God in the midſt of our aſſemblies;Exod. 10.9. Moſ…s told Pharoah they muſt have their young ones with them to the ſolemn Worſhip; and when Joſhua read the Law of God to the Congregation of Iſrael, Joſh. 8.35.they had their little ones with them in that ſolemn aſſembly. Obſerve Chriſt alſo in Nazareth, where during his minority he was ever ſubject to his Parents; ſo Children obey your Parents in the Lord, Eph. 6.1, 2.for this is right: not only the Law of God, but the Goſpel of Chriſt makes mention of this, Honour thy father and Mother, which is the firſt Commandment with Promiſe; I know the ſubjection of Chriſts extends to his particular calling, and this alſo is for your imitaion; in obedience to his ſuppoſed Father the Holy Child would have a particular employment, ſomething muſt be done for the ſupport of that holy Family wherein Jeſus lived, and to that purpoſe he puts to his own hands, and works in the trade of a Carpenter; ſuch as will live idle, and without a calling, that ſerve for no other uſe but to devour Gods Creatures, and to make a dearth, O how unlike are they to Jeſus Chriſt? It is noted for a grievous ſin, and a chief part of the corruption of our nature to be unprofitable to the Generation with whom we live; They are altogether become unprofitable, Rom. 3.12.there is none that doth good; Religion and Grace where ever it prevaileth, makes Men profitable; and in this reſpect the pooreſt Servant and drudge may have more comfort in his eſtate, than the greateſt Gentleman that hath nothing to do but to Eat, and Drink, and Play.
Thus far we have looked on Jeſus as our Jeſus in his Incarnation, or his firſt coming in the Fleſh. Our next work is to look on Jeſus carrying on the great work of Mans Salvation during his life, from John's Baptiſm, until his ſuffering and dying on the Croſs.