The Sinners Sanctuary, Sermon 27
SERMON XXVII.
Rom. 8.10.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, &c.
THis is the high excellency of Christian Religion, that it contains the most absolute precepts for an holy life; and the greatest comforts in death: for from the…e two, the truth and excellency of Religion is to be measured: if it have the highest and perfectest rule of walking, and the chiefest comfort withall. Now, the perfection of Christianity you saw in the rule, how spiritual it is? how reasonable? how divine? how free from all corrupt mixture? how transcending all the most exqui…ite precepts and laws of men, deriving a holy conver…ation from the highest fountain, the Spirit of Christ, and conforming it to the highest pattern, the will of God. And indeed in the first word of this vers. there is something of the excellent nature of Christianity holden out, If Christ be in you, which is the true description of a Christian, one in whom Christ is, which imports The divine principle, and the spiritual subject of Chri…tianity. The principle is Christ in a man, Christ by His Spirit dwelling in him. This great Apost…e knew thi… well in his own experience, and therefore he can speak best in this style, I live, yet not I, bu… Christ in me, Gal. 2.20. Importing that Christ and His Spirit is to the soul, what the soul is to the body: that there is a living influence from Heaven, that acts and moves the soul of a Christian as powerfully, yet as sweetly and pleasantly, as if it were the natural motion of the soul: and truly it is the natural motion of the soul, its that primitive life which was most connatural to the soul of man, which sin did deprive us of: all the powerful constraint and violence that Christ uses in drawing the souls of men to him, and after him, is as kindly unto them, and perfects them as much, as that impulse by which the soul moves and turns the body: a sweet compu…ion, and blessed violence! Now this should make Christians often to reflect upon another principle of their life then themselves, that by looking on Him who is the resurrection and the life, who is the true Vine, and abiding in Him by faith, their life may be continued and inc…eased. It is certainly much reflection on Him who is all in all; and lesse upon our selv…s, that maintains this life: and therefore, the most part of men being wholly strangers to this, whether in their purposes, or practices, or judgings of both, unacquainted with any higher look in Religion, then they use in their natural and civil actings, it doth give ground to assure us that they are strangers, alienated from the life of God, without God and without Christ in the world.
But then, the spiritual subject of Christianity is here: Christ in you, not Christ without you, in ordinances, in profession, in some civil …arriage; but Christ within the heart of a man, th…t as a Christian: It is the receiving of Ch…ist into the soul, and putting Him on upon the inner man, and renewing it, that makes a Christian; not being externally cloathed with him, or compassed about with him in the administration of the Ordinances: It fears me, most part of us who bear that name of Christianity, have no character of it within, if we were looked and searched. Many are like the sepulchres Christ speaks of, without painted and fair, within nothing but rottennesse and dead bones. What have many of you more o… Christ, then what a blind man hath of light? it is round about him, but not within him. The light hath shined in darknesse, but your darknesse cannot comprehend it: You are environed with the outward appearances of Christ in his Word and Ordinances, and that is all; but neither within you, nor upon many of you, is there any thing either of his light or life? not so much as any outward profession or behaviour, suitable to the revelation of Christ about you: as if you were ashamed to be Christians, you maintain grosse ignorance, and practise manifest …ebellion against his known will, in the very light of the Gospel. How few have so much tincture of Christ, so much as to colour the external man, or to cloath it with any blamelessness of walking, or form of Religion? How few so much as Christians in the Letter? for you are not acquainted either with Letter or Spirit, either with knowledge, or affection, or practice. But suppose that some have put on Christ on their outward man, and colour over themselves with some performances of religious duties, and smooth themselves with civility in carriage; yet alas! How few are they who are renewed in the spirit of …heir mind, and have put Christ on their inward man, who have opened the secrets of their hearts, and received him to ly all night between their breasts? How …ew are busied about their hearts, to have any new impression and dye upon their affections, to mould them after a new manner, to kill the love of this world, and the lusts of it, and cast out the rottenness and superfluity of naughtiness which …bides within? But some there are, who are pe…swaded thus to do, to give up their spirits to Religion, and all their business and care is, To have Christ within, as well as without. Now, if the …est of you will not be perswaded to be of this number, consider what you pre-judge your selves of, of all the comfort of Religion; and then Religion is no Religion, and to no purpose, if you have no benefit by it. And certainly, except Christ be in you, as a King to rule you, and a Prophet to teach you, to subdue your lusts, and to dispel your darknesse, when he appears he cannot appear to your comfort and salvation: You are deprived of this great cordial against death, death must seise upon all that is within you, soul and body, since Christ the Spirit of life is not within you. Happiness without you, will not make you happy: salvation round about you, will not save you: If you would be saved, there must be a near and immediat union with happinesse, Christ in the heart, and salvation cometh with him. A Christian is not only Christ without, not imputing his sins to him, clothing him with His righteousnesse; but Christ within too, cleansing the heart from the love of sin, perfecting holinesse in the fear of God. Do not think you have any share in Christ without you, except you receive Christ within you; because Christ is one within, and without, and His gifts are undivided. Therefore true …aith receives whole Christ, as a compleat Saviour; even as He is intirely offered, so He is undividedly received: as He is without, saving us, and within, sanctifying us, Christ without, delivering from wrath, and Christ within, redeeming from all iniquity, these cannot be parted more then His coat that had no seam. It is a heavy and weighty word of this Apostles, 2 Cor. 13.5. examine your selves, whether ye be in the faith: know ye not your selves, that Christ is in you, except you be reprobates? I wish ye would lay it to heart, who have never yet returned to your hearts: If Christ be not formed in you, as Gal. 4.19. You are as yet among the refuse, dr…sse, and that which must be burnt with fire: you cannot but be cast away in the day when he makes up his jewels. Where Christ is, He is the hope of glory, he is an immortal seed of glory. How can you hope for Christ, who have nothing of Him within you?
Now the other touch-stone of true Religion, is, the great comfort it furnishes to the soul: And of all comforts the greatest is that which is a cordial to the heart, against the greatest fears and evils. Now, certainly the matter of greatest fear is death, not so much because of it self, but chiefly because of that eternity of unchangeable misery, that naturally it transmitts them unto. Now, it is only Christian Religion possessing the heart, that a…mes a man compleatly against the fear either of death it self, or the consequents of it: it giveth the most powerful consolation, that not only overcometh the bitternesse, and taketh out the sting of death, but changeth the nature of it, so far as to make it the matter of triumph and gloriation.
There is something here supposed, the worst that can befall a Christian, it is the death of a part of him, and that the worst and ignoblest part only, the body is dead because of sin. Then, that w…ich is opposed by way o… comfort to counterballance it, is, the life of his better and more noble part. And besides we have the founta…ns both of that death and this life, mans sin the cause of bodily death, Christs righteousnesse the fountain of spiritual life.
Of death many have had sweet meditations, even among these that the light of the Word hath not shined upon: and indeed they m…y make us ashamed who prosesse Christianity, and so the hope of the resurrection from the dead, that they have accounted it only true wisdom and sound Philosophy, To meditat often on death; and made it the very principal point of living well, To be alwayes learning to die; and have applyed their whole studies that way, neglecting present things that are in the by, have given themselves to search out some comfort against death, or from death. Yea, some have so profited in this, that they have accounted death the greatest good that can befall man, and perswaded others to think so. Now, what may we think of our selves, who scarce apprehend mortality, especially considering that we have the true fountain of it revealed to us, and the true nature and consequents of it.
All men must needs know that death is the most universal King in the world, that it reigns over all ages, sexes, conditions, nations, and times: though few be willing to entertain thoughts of it; yet sooner or later they must be constrained to give it lodging upon their eye lids, and suffer it to storm the very strongest tower, the heart, and ba…er it down, and break the strings of it, having no way either to flee from it, or resist it. Now, the consideration of the general inundation of death over all mankind, an… the certain appro…ching of it to every particular mans door, hath made many serious thoughts among the wise men of the world. But being destitute of this heavenly light that …hineth to us, they could not attain to the original of it; but have conceived that it was a common tribute of nature, and an universal Law imposed upon all mankind by nature, having the same reason that other m…tations and changes among the creatures here below have; and …o have thought it no more strange thing then to see other things dissolved in their elements. Now indeed, seeing they could apprehend no other bitter ingredient in it, it was no wonder that the wisest of them could not fear it, but rather wait and expect it as a rest from their labours, as the end of all their miseries.
But the Lord hath revealed unto us in his Word, the true cause of it, and so the true nature of it. The true cause of it is sin, sin entred into the world, and death past upon all, for that, all have sinned, Rom. 5.12. Man was created for another purpose, and upon other conditions, and a Law of perpetual life and eternal happinesse was past in his …avours, he abiding in the favour, and obeying the will, of Him that gave him life and being. Now, sin inte…posing, and separating between man and God, loosing that blessed knot of union and communion, it was this other law that succeeded, as a suitable recompence, Thou shall die: It is resolved in the Council of Heaven, That the union of man shall be dissolved, his soul and body separated, in just recompence of the breaking the bond of union with God. This is it that hath opened the sluce, to let in an inundation of misery on mankind: this was the just occasion of that righteous, but terrible appointment, It is appointed that all men once should die, and after death cometh to Iudgment, Heb. 9.27. That since the body had inticed the soul, and suggested unto it such unnatural and rebellious motions of withdrawing from the blessed fountain of life, to satisfie its pleasure, the body should be under a sentence of deprivement and …orfeitour of that great benefite and priviledge of life it had by the souls indwelling, and condemned to return to its first base original, the dust, and to be made a feast of worms, to lodge in the grave, and be a subject of the greatest corruption and rottennesse; because it became the instrument, yea, the incitement of the soul to sin against that God that had from Heaven breathed a spirit into it, and exalted it above all the dust or clay in the world. Now, my beloved, do we not get many remembrances of our sin? Is not every day presenting our primitive departure from God, our fi…st separation from the fountain of life by sin, to our view, and in such sad and woeful effects pointing out the hainousnesse of sin? Do you not see mens bodies every day dissolved, the tabernacle of earth taken down, and the soul constrained to remove out of it? But what influence hath it upon …s, what do the multiplied funeralls work upon us? It may b…, sorrow for our friends, but little or no apprehension of our own mortality, and base impression of sin, that separats our souls from God. Who is made sadly to reflect upon his original, or to mind seriously that statute and appointment of Heaven, in that day thou shalt die? It is strange that all of us fear death, and few are afraid of sin that carrieth death in its bosome. That we are so unwilling to re…p corruption in our bodies, and yet we …re so earnest and l…borious in sowing to the flesh. Be not deceived, for you are dayly reaping what you have sowen: And O that it were all the harvest! but death is only the putting in of the sickle of vengea…ce, the first cut of it: But O to think on what follows, would certainly restrain men, and cool them in their fervent pursuits after sin!