Rejoicing in the Lord Jesus in All Cases and Conditions, Sermon 10
SERMON X.
Habakkuk 3.18.
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will Joy in the God of my Salvation.
I Propoſed ſeveral weighty Conſiderations, to encourage your ſpirits to be getting up into this Life of Faith; I have already gone through Ten, and ſhall now proceed.
11. Conſider; That to believe in the Lord Jeſus Chriſt without the leaſt encouragement of ſenſe, is the moſt noble exerciſe of Faith, and that which doth moſt pleaſe the Lord. To believe in the Lord Jeſus Chriſt when he is breaking of you, and when he is frowning upon you, and when you have nothing elſe to live upon, this is the moſt noble exerciſe of Faith in this life. To believe on the Lord Jeſus when your heads are lifted up in the world, and when your Table is ſpread, and when your Borders are enlarged, is no great difficulty; but now to live by Faith upon Chriſt when there is no encouragement in the creature, this is the moſt noble exerciſe of Faith: What! ſays Senſe, live by Faith upon Chriſt when he hath impoveriſht me, and emptied me of all creature-enjoyments? Ay, now is the time to exerciſe Faith, and this is the moſt noble exerciſe of Faith, and that which doth moſt of all pleaſe the Lord Such an exerciſe of Faith as this, was found in Job: When the Lord had taken away his eſtate, and taken away his Children, ſays Job, Job 1.21. Bleſſed be the Name of the Lord. There was a great exerciſe of Faith in that word; and ſuch an exerciſe of Faith was found in David, in the caſe of Ziklag; he had a little place given him in the enemies Country, where he might live alone, but he had it not long before enemies came and ſmote the place of his habitation, and take away his relation and his goods, and leave him nothing but ruines, that when he returned, he found nothing but emptineſs, a heap of Aſhes: What does David do then? he exerciſes Faith upon Jeſus Chriſt, and encouraged himſelf in the Lord his God. And this is the exerciſe of Faith that the Prophet ſpeaks of in our Text, and that which he is driving Believers up to: When the Figgtree ſhall not bloſſom, &c. What is here left? here is nothing for ſenſe to live upon; yet, ſays he, I will rejoyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my Salvation. Such a noble exerciſe of Faith was found in the Woman of Canaan, in the midſt of all diſcouragements; ſhe had diſcouragements from the Diſciples of Chriſt, they were not ſo kind to her as they might have been; but that was not all, but ſhe met with diſcouragements from the Lord Jeſus Chriſt himſelf, unto whom ſhe made her applications; he ſeems to give her a repulſe, and checks her forwardneſs, and yet ſhe goes over to the Lord Jeſus, and in a bold act, ventures upon him alone: Why Chriſtians, whatever are your diſcouragements from Senſe, yet in the face of all rebukes to caſt your ſelf upon the Lord Jeſus, and comfort your Souls in his All fulneſs, is the moſt noble act of Faith that you can put forth.
12. The great improbabilities of relief and ſuccour after grace, whatever your caſe is, are not anſwerable to the improbabilities that your Souls were in before grace, and Chriſt Jeſus helped you then. Chriſt came thorow them all, and with eaſe removed them to do your Souls good. Do but conſider, you that ſit down with your hearts full of diſcouragement, upon the loſs of a creature, or upon the emptyings of providence; do but conſider how unlikely and improbable your condition was of help and ſuccour before you did believe on Chriſt; you were then covered over with the ſhadow of death; you were then in a hopeleſs condition; Who had then any hope of you? When you were ſeen marching in the fury of your ſpirits againſt the Lord? Who would have thought that there were hope in the Lord for you? You were at the very brink of Death, and at the very brink of Hell; there was (as it were) but a hairs breadth between you and Hell, and who would have thought that you ſhould have been recovered? And then the Lord Jeſus he broke thorough all the improbabilities of your ſtate to ſave you, and do you think that he cannot break thorough all the improbabilities of your preſent ſtate to comfort you? He came leaping over greater mountains of oppoſition and diſcouragement and impoſſibility (I mean as to other help;) I ſay, he came leaping over greater mountains of impoſſibility in his firſt dealings with you, than there are for him to come thorough in his afterdealings with you, Cant. 2.8. The voice of my Beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon the hills. Theſe mountains, and theſe hills did lye between Chriſt and you, that were the improbabilities, (or I may call them the impoſſibilities of your ſtate as to help and relief in a rational conſideration and apprehenſion. Now Jeſus Chriſt he skipt over this mountain, and the other mountain, that lay in his way, and he came unto your Souls to do you good; and if Jeſus Chriſt hath done this, do you think that he will not do the leſſer? When you were without grace, did he bring grace into your Souls? and do you think that he cannot comfort you now when you want comfort? Do you think that he cannot bleſs you with the annexed bleſſings of your ſtate, when he hath brought in the great fundamental bleſsings of your ſtate? Chriſtians, you ſhould reaſon thus, I was once ready to die, and the Lord Jeſus came and ſaved me; I was in a Soul-undone ſtate, and Jeſus Chriſt hath ſet me up; and what, hath he ſet up my Soul, and cannot he ſet up my Body? Hath he made up the great breach that was upon my ſpiritual condition? and cannot he make up the breaches that are in my outward condition? Jeſus Chriſt came and pluckt me out of the fire when I was burning, and the fire was ſo hot, that none could take me out but Jeſus Chriſt; he came and ſnatcht me out of the paw of the Lion and the Bear, and none could reſcue me but he; and he that came over all theſe impoſſibilities to ſave you, do you think that he cannot make up a breach in the loſs of a relation? or make up a diſtreſs in your outward condition? the Lord that hath done the greater, can eaſily do the leſſer.
13. Again; To rejoyce only in viſibles and ſenſibles, is to go no further than thoſe may go that have no intereſt in Chriſt. I pray conſider it; To have your ſpirits born up only by ſenſible ſupports, is not to exceed thoſe that are ſtrangers to Jeſus Chriſt, that have not an intereſt in Jeſus Chriſt as you have: For your ſpirits to riſe and fall only as the creature ebbs and flows, this is to do no more than a carnal man doth; Is this living upon Chriſt? Is this to make Chriſt your Joy? and Chriſt the Peace and the Comfort of your Life? Says Chriſt in another caſe, To love thoſe that love you, and to do good to thoſe that do good to you; if you do no more, Publicans and Sinners do this. The Chriſtian is under peculiar and diſtinguiſhing bleſſings, and it is expected that he ſhould peculiarly and diſtinguiſhingly live under the diſtinguiſhing bleſſings of his ſtate, Matth. 6.31, 32. Wherefore take no thought, ſaying, What ſhall we eat? or what ſhall we drink? or wherewith ſhall we be clothed? for after all theſe things do the Gentiles ſeek. Why, ſays Chriſt, to be ſo thoughtful about our outward condition as others are, is to place our ſelves in common with them: Says he, After theſe things do the Gentiles ſeek. It is the caſe of a Gentile to ſay, when his outward comforts are gone, O now muſt I die! now there is no further help for me, I muſt now periſh; this is the language of a Gentile, that hath no intereſt in Jeſus Chriſt. O you that have intereſt in Jeſus Chriſt! what! will you take up the language of a Gentile? O no! having a God to go to, you muſt live upon that God that you have given up your ſelves to. God doth expect a diſtinguiſhing acting under the diſtinguiſhing bleſſings that he hath brought into your condition; therefore know, that to rejoyce only in viſibles, is to ſet your ſelves in common with thoſe that have no intereſt in Chriſt; and is not this to diſhonour your intereſt, and to reflect upon the Lord of your intereſt, to live in joy when the Creatures are about you, and to ſit down diſcouraged, when Creatures are taken from you?
14. Faith exerciſed upon the Lord Jeſus will have an univerſal influence upon all other graces in your hearts: Chriſtians do but once exerciſe faith upon the Lord Jeſus Chriſt under a ſinking, diſcouraging providence, and you will immediately ſee and find a ſtrange alteration in your hearts, you will find thoſe graces that are weak begin to gather ſtrength, and you will find thoſe graces to ariſe, and appear, and ſhine forth, that you could ſcarce diſcern; faith exerciſed upon the Lord Jeſus Chriſt will have a mighty influence upon your love, to raiſe that when the Soul is got into Chriſt, and can improve his intereſt in Chriſt; O how will his Soul be enlarged, and his heart burn in love to him who is the Lord of his intereſt, and of his comforts; faith exerciſed upon the Lord Jeſus, will have a mighty influence upon your hopes, that were even juſt giving up the Ghoſt to your apprehenſions; faith exerciſed upon the Lord Jeſus will have a mighty influence upon your patience, to ſtrengthen and quicken that, when a frowning providence comes that would royl your Spirits, and put you beſides your ſelves, and drive you out of a Chriſtian frame; faith will raiſe up your patience, and learn you to be quiet under the hand of the Lord; faith exerciſed upon Chriſt will have an influence upon your joy, it will cauſe a mighty and wonderful rejoycing in your Souls, that you have ſuch a full Jeſus, to live upon; faith exerciſed upon the Lord Jeſus will have an influence upon your zeal, and will wonderfully excite you, and ſtir you up unto all duties of ſerving and following the Lord; ſo as Chriſtians, do but lay theſe conſiderations together, and you will ſee what great encouragement you have to glory in the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, whatſoever your outward condition is, and you will ſee the way of living by faith upon Chriſt to be clear, and to be the only way that the Chriſtian ſhould walk in.
Well, having premiſed theſe things, we ſhall now come to give you ſome particular directions, how you may get up your faith, and your Spirits in the exerciſe of faith unto a glorying and rejoycing in the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, whatſoever your ſaddening outward providences are. And here,
1. If you would come to live upon Chriſt Jeſus alone in the ſaddeſt providences of your ſtate, then entertain and keep up low thoughts of the great things of this world: Truly Chriſtians you may think of it what you will, but while you have hearts that are magnifying and adoring of the things of the world, and the enjoyments of the world, and counting theſe great things, you will never come goſpelly to live upon the Lord Jeſus, your thoughts muſt be altered in and about the comforts of this life, and you muſt poſſeſs your hearts with this, that they are the ſmalleſt comforts of your ſtate, and the bleſſings of this life they are the leaſt bleſſings that the Lord hath given you; you muſt have very low thoughts of the world, and of the comforts of it; if you would come to live by faith upon Chriſt Jeſus alone, whileſt you have vaſt thoughts o… your creature enjoyments, and creature comforts, and creature conditions, and ſuppoſe your comforts to lye here, and your comforts to lye there ſhort of Chriſt; alas, you will be driven out of all the exerciſe of faith in an emptying providence. I will give you two inſtances for this in the eleventh Chapter of the Hebrews; the firſt is that of Father Abraham, in the 8 and 9 verſes. By Faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he ſhould after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and went out, not knowing whither he went; by faith he ſojourned in the land of promiſe, as in a ſtrange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Iſaac, &c. Here Abraham was called to leave the poſſeſſions of his natural place, the poſſeſſion that he was born to, and to follow Chriſt whither he would lead him, and to accept of that condition that Chriſt would place him in, and to ſtand to the allowance of God let it be more or leſs; this Abraham was called to. Now it is ſaid Abraham by Faith did obey this command, and call of God, and went out; why, how did faith help him here? doubtleſs by ſhewing of him Chriſt Jeſus, for faith in every exerciſe hath to do with Chriſt, and therefore his faith carried him up to Chriſt, and when he was once got up to Chriſt, then behold how low were theſe things to him; my Countrey Lord; ſaies he? what is my Country to thee? I will leave my Countrey to follow thee; and my Friends are nothing to me, and my poſſeſſions are nothing to me, I will leave all to follow thee; what a low eſteem had he of theſe things? And the other inſtance is that of Moſes in verſ. 24, 25, 26, 27. By faith Moſes when he was come to years, refuſed to be called the Son of Pharaohs Daughter, chooſing rather to ſuffer affliction with the people of God, then to enjoy the pleaſures of ſin for a ſeaſon, eſteeming the reproaches of Chriſt greater riches than the treaſures of Egypt, for he had reſpect to the recompence of reward. Here are great things that Moſes left for the ſake of Chriſt, he left the Court, yea, he probably left the Crown of Egypt, and all the glories thereof; now he did this by faith, the Creature was of a low eſteem with him. O alaſs what is it to be called the Son of Pharaohs Daughter, and what is it to be an heir of an earthly Crown, and to be King of Egypt? I had rather be afflicted, and ſpoyled, and deſtitute in my outward condition with Chriſt, then to enjoy all theſe things without him; Chriſtians you muſt get mortified affections to all enjoyments on this ſide Chriſt, if you would come to live upon, and glory in Chriſt alone.
2. Acquaint your ſelves more with the royalties of Chriſt, and the greatneſs of his Goſpelglory, as he is propoſed the object of your ſaith, if you would come to glory in him alone, and live upon him in an empty condition: One great reaſon why we can take no more comfort in Chriſt in an empty condition is, becauſe we are ſuch ſtrangers to the fulneſs of Chriſt Jeſus; we don't know what is in Chriſt, we know not what Chriſt can do, what is in his heart and hand to give forth to you; Chriſtians if you would live more by faith upon Chriſt, then view Chriſt in his royalties of Grace. Look into the length of Chriſt, and into the breadth of Chriſt, and ſee what he is the owner and poſſeſſour of, what the Father hath betruſted him with; view the extent of his Offices, and conſider the largeneſs of his power, and what he is able to do for you; ſtudy and acquaint your ſelves with the royalties of Chriſt, as he is propoſed an object for your faith to fix upon; there is no condition but he can comfort you in it, let the condition be never ſo comfortleſs in its ſelf, ſtudy the fulneſs of the Lord Jeſus.
3. Get by faith upon the all ſufficiency of Chriſt, and there take a proſpect of your loſſes, and of your troubles, and then you will ſee them to be but ſmall. You go (Chriſtians) and ſtand below Chriſt, and there you look upon your troubles and afflictions, and then indeed they ſeem very great; ay, but get upon the all-ſufficiency of Chriſt, and then view them, get but upon the mount, and look down upon all your loſſes and croſſes, and they will ſeem little things then. What is this loſs that I have ſuſtained, to what I have in the Lord Jeſus Chriſt? what is my poor empty veſſel to the great fulneſs that is in the Ocean of the Lord Jeſus? If you did ſtand upon the all-ſufficiency of Chriſt, and look upon the diſaſters of your outward condition, they would ſeem to be but like a little Veſſel brought to the great Sea, that is preſently filled, and yet there is no leſſening of the water in the Ocean, but the Sea is as full as ever.
4. Alwaies keep the inviſibles of Chriſts Grace, and of Chriſts glory in your Eye: It is ſomething a ſtrange thing, but tis the myſtery of faith; I ſay keep inviſibles in your eye, faith knows the meaning of it, faith will eſpy an inviſible thing, that which ſenſe can diſcern nothing of, faith will eſpy and keep ſight of; now this was one way that Moſes had to get up into a living upon the Lord Jeſus by faith, he kept inviſibles in his Eye, he ſaw him that was inviſible, Heb. 11.27. he endured, as ſeeing him that was inviſible; and what is the deſcription that the Apoſtle gives of faith in a Goſpel exerciſe that we are ſpeaking of, but that which I have told you, the diſcerning of inviſibles? Heb. 11.1. Now faith is the ſubſtance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not ſeen: Faith in its exerciſe will ranſack among the promiſes, the promiſes both of grace and glory, and there will eſpy a great treaſure, and ſhew the Soul this, as that which is his, and belongs to him; now Chriſtian view the promiſes of grace, and the promiſes of glory that are in the hands of Jeſus Chriſt, and ſee the inviſible graces, and the inviſible comforts, and the inviſible bleſſings that are contained in them, and never loſe the ſight of theſe inviſibles, but keep them alwaies in your eye, and then you will ſee a glorious Jeſus, that your Souls will love to dwell upon, and you won't dwell from him.
5. Never ground your faith & your hope upon your experiences, but upon the promiſes, which is alwaies attended with a wonderful working power; If that you ground your faith and your hope upon your experiences, if your ſecond trial be greater then your firſt, your faith will be poſed, and you will ſit down under diſcouragement; indeed there is a holy and Chriſtian uſe that is to be made of your experiences, but you muſt never ground your faith and hope upon them; for God is alwaies an out-doing God, he will out-do his own act, he will go further in one act then he will do in another; if you ground your faith upon your experiences, when you come into a new ſtreight that you never came into before, your faith will fail; do but conſider this in the Iſraelites, if they had gone no further then their experiences, what a loſs had they been in? nay upon this account they were at a great loſs, they only conſidered what God had done for them, and did not conſider what he could do, and what a boundleſs power was working through the promiſe for them, and therefore though they were delivered through the Red Sea; yet ſay they, can God ſpread a Table in the Wilderneſs? Moſes, what, haſt thou brought us into the Wilderneſs to deſtroy us? there is no Bread here, there is no Water here, how can we ſubſiſt? They never had experience of the wonders of Gods power in thoſe particular caſes, and therefore their experiences could not carry them through, but they were to exerciſe faith upon the promiſe, that had a boundleſs power working with it, and that would have told them, that God can ſpread a Table in the Wilderneſs, and can command a rock to give out water for the Iſraelites neceſſity; and that can tell you that there is no ſtreight too great for Jeſus to deliver you out of. Faith in the promiſe will tell you that you never experienced, you never ſaw to the utmoſt end of Chriſts power yet; you never ſaw into the midſt of his treaſures of grace; you have ſeen but a little way; Faith in the Promiſe will tell you this; therefore never ground your Faith and Hope upon your Experiences, though they have been large, but upon the Promiſes, that have alwaies a boundleſs power working with them.
Sixthly; And then conſider, That it is your duty to come and claim the grace of Chriſt, and put in upon your Intereſt according to your exigency. I ſay, if you would live by Faith upon the Lord Jeſus, then claim the grace of your Intereſt according to the exigency of your ſtate. Sirs, are you intereſted in Jeſus? then Jeſus is yours, all Jeſus is yours, all that he is, is yours for you, and all that he hath is yours, and for you. Now, if you would live by Faith upon him, then come and put in, bring your claim, and ſay, the power of Jeſus Chriſt is mine, and the grace of Jeſus Chriſt is mine; 'tis for me, 'tis under ſpecial promiſe to me, and 'tis under peculiar engagement to me; it is mine to live upon; I will lean upon the Arm of the Lord's ſtrength, & I will glory in his fulneſs in my own emptineſs. There muſt be in the exerciſe of Faith a peculiar claim that the Soul muſt lay unto Chriſt, and a peculiar improving, of the fulneſs of his Intereſt, according to the emptineſs of your ſtate. And thus Chriſtians you may be ſupported, whatever you meet withal in this world. Suppoſe you ſuſtain a loſs, why, in a freſh application to Chriſt you will have it made up in him; and if a great failure and diſappointment come in upon you, in a renewed act of Faith upon the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, applying ſomething of his fulneſs and ſweetneſs, you will have your condition filled; & ſo as it is emptied in the creature, it will be filled with grace, and with Chriſt.