Fellowship with God, Sermon 9
SERMON IX·
1 Joh. 1.5.
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, &c.
THe great design of the Gospel is to make up the breach of mans joy, and open up the way to the fulnesse of it: and therefore it is the good news and glad …dings of great joy, the only best message that ever came to the world. Now it shews unto us the channel, that this river of gladnesse and joy runs into; it discovers what is the way of the conveyance of it to the soul, and what are the banks it runs between, and that is, fellowship with the Father and the Son. In this channel that river of delight runs, between the banks of the love of God to us, and our love to him. Herein a soul is happy, and accounts it self happy; and truly, in so much do we profite by the Word, and answer the design of the Gospel, by how much we estimat our happiness from this alone, from the communication of God to u…. Whensoever the Gospel take… hold of your hearts, it will undoub…edly frame them to this, to a measu…ing of all blessednesse from God alone: and this will carry the heart to an undervaluing of all other things, as being too low, and unworthy for this end; and so to a forsaking of any thing for the closser enjoyment …f God. I fea… many believers are little acquainted with this joy, because they draw not their joy singly out of the pure fountain of delight; but turn aside to other external comf…ts, and drown their souls in them. Now indeed, these two cannot well consist …ogether, if we …ake in any thing else to make up our happinesse and comfort, so much we lose of God and that which is …ruly spiritual; and therefore our hearts would be more purified from carnal delights, if we would have experience of this joy: we must hang only upon his countenance and company, el…e we lose the swe…tnesse of it.
Now the Apostle prosecutes this further, to discover what confo…mity must be betwee… them that should keep this fellowship; …nd wh…t likenesse of n…ture and qualities is nec…ssary for them who would be happy in Gods society. This is the message we have heard (saith he) …nd which we declare unto you, that God is light, &c. T…ke this joyntly, with that which went before; This we declare, that ye may have fellowship with the Father, and the Son. And to the end this fellowship may hold, and yeeld you fulnesse of joy, it is necessary that the nature of God be laid down, a… the patte…n to which ye must be conform. God is light, and therefore you must be light too, if ye would have fellowship with that pure light. Now this, I say is the full message of the Gospel, that which was sent down from Heaven, with the Son of God, the M…ssenger of the Covenant, and which the Apostles heard from him; Indeed the very manner of the proposal of these things might stir up our hearts to attention, and make us more serious then commonly we are, That there is one, and such an one sent from Heaven, with such an embassage as this is, to invite us to society with God again, one whose interest lyes in this, to make us happy; and this he declares unto us, that he hath no other design, but to fulfill our joy. O how powerful might this be on our hearts, to conquer them, to make them willingly hearken to him? Any mess…ge that comes from Heaven, should be received with great reverence and respect of mortal men; because it comes from the Court and Palace of the Great King. But when this i… the substance of it, to make us happy in himself, to advance us to this incomparable dignity of society with himself, in which society there is a fulnesse of joy; then how should we receive it with open hea…ts, and intertain it gladly? If we could take it alwayes thus, as a message from Heaven, and look upon it, and hear it in that notion, I think the fruit would be incomparably greater; for what i… it that makes it dead and ineffectual in mens hearts, but that the apprehension of it degene…ats and falls down from God to creatu…e…, beca…e it is not taken so as his wo…d, carrying the s…amp of his divine authority: We bring it forth, n…t as a mes…age …rom him, but as f…om our selves; and you receive it not as from him, but from us; an… thus it is adulte…ated and corrupted on both hands. My beloved, let us joyntly mind this, that whatsoever we have to declare, it is a message from God to mortal men; and therefore let us so compose our selves in his sight, as if he were speaking to us. The conscience of a very Heathen was awaked, when Ebu… told him he had a message from G…d to him: E…lon arose out of his se…t, that he might hear it reverently, Iudg. 3.20. though it was a bloody message, as it proved in the event; yet so much the common dictats of reason might teach you, that ye should a…ise, and compose your selves to …eve…ent and awful attention to what the Lord God will speak. But when moreover we know that the sum of the message is, to make us blessed, and raise us up to communion with him in his joy and happinesse; we are not only called to reverence, a… to God, but to ardent af…ection and desi…e, as to him who by all means seeks ou… happinesse. O how happy were he that could fi…st hear, and receive this message f…om him, and then decla…e it to others. But however, though we should fail in that, this doth not c…ange either the authority, or nature of the mess…ge it self; and therefo…e, i… men should be so far des…itute o… God, as not to bring it from him immediatly, yet do not you …orsake your own mercy too; but receive it as that which is come forth f…om God; receive it for it sel…, as carrying in its bosome a fulnesse of joy to you; and receive it fo… his sake who moved this embassage first after sinners, and his sake who car…ied it to sinners, that is, for the Father, and the Son; to whose fellowship you are here invited. Let us then hear the m…ssage:
This then is the mess…ge, that God is light, &c. The ground o… communion o… persons, is their union in nature, or likenesse one to another. There is some general society between all mankind, as being conjoyned in one common nature; but the contracting of that in a narrower bounds of affinity and consanguinity, doth inlarge the affection the mo…e: you see it is natural for those who are joyned by such relations of blood one to another, to love one another more then others out of these bonds. But true friendship draws the c…rcle yet narrower, and contracts the love that is scattered abroad to mankind in a strange channel, to run towards one, or a few; and the foundation of this is some peculiar and particular si…ilitude, and likeness in manners, and sympathy of disposition, which makes the souls of men to melt one into another, after some conve…se and acquaintance together; this is the bond that knits this near society; some conformity necessarily presuppo…ed to communion and fellowship. Now th…t which holds so in the communion of man with man, must be much mo…e need…ul in man; communion with God: for all the societies, combinations, and conj…nctions of the creatures, are but shadows of this higher communicati…n of the spirit of man, with God the Father of spirits. And indeed we may find some rude dra…ghts and resemblances of this divine s…ciety, and of the rule according to which it must be modell'd, in all the friendly or near conjunctions of creatures; for every thing is best preserved, and agreeth best with things of its own nature: see the disposition of the parts of the world; things contiguous, and nearest other, are also likest in nature one to another, so it is …mong men, the several agreements, and symbolizing… of mens spirits in different qualities and tempers, makes several sorts of men, and parts them into so many companies: Pares paribus congregantur, simile simili gaudet.
Now, my beloved, this same supernatural and divine soc…ety that we speak of, must be constituted according to this fundamental rule, that is, It is necessary, to the end that God and man may have fellowship together, that they come nearer in likenesse one to another: now for God, you know he cannot be liker us, for he is unchangeably holy and good: That were most absurd, to bring down his Majesty to parta…e of our wretched inf…mities of sin and darknesse. Indeed in this he hath come as far as his own nature and our good would permit, to communicat in our nature, and all the sinless infi…mities of it: It i… imp…ssible then that he should make up the distance by any change of himself, but we must be changed, and some way raised up to partake of the pu…ity of his nature, and be transformed into some likenesse to him, and then is the foundation of society and fellowship laid down: This is the Apostles meaning, in declaring to us what God is, that according to that pattern, and in that glasse, we may see what to con…orm our selves to, and may have a particular determination of the great qualification of these who pretend to fellowship with God: God is light, and in him i… no darknesse. Now take the just opposition, man is da…knesse, and in him is no light. Now what communion then can light have with da…knesse? either the light must become darknesse, or the darknesse become light; either the light must leave its glorious purity, and fors…ke its nature, which cannot be admitted, or else the darknesse of mens souls must be wiped off, and abolished by the brightnesse of God… light; and then there may be a comm…nion between the primitive light, and the derivative light, between the o…iginal light, and that which flows out from the original. But take darknesse, remaining darknesse, and light, remaining light, and they cannot compone together; for t…e fi…st great separation that was m…de in the world, was between light and darknesse: And God saw that light was go…d, and God divided between the light and the darkness, Gen 1 4. And so it is imp…ssible f…r men that live in the d…knesse of their minds, in ignorance, and in the da…knesse of sinfull lusts, that they can have any fellowship with God, who is a fountain of pure light, and undefiled …ancti…y. Wh…t hast thou to do to take my Covenant in thy mouth, &c. and this God saith to the wicked. It is an incongruous and unsuitable thing, for men to pretend nearnesse and interest in this God, and yet be buried in da…knesse and hatred of the light of personal reformation, as a Gold Ring in a Swines nose, that …ather deforms the Jewel, then beautifies the Beast: So are the pretensions of ignorant and wicked men, to this divine society, &c.