Forty-nine Sermons upon Colossians, Part 2 · Sermon 23
The Twenty-third SERMON.
COL. CHAP. II. VER. XII.
XII. Being buried with Him through baptiſm, in which alſo you are raiſed again together, through the faith of the efficacy of GOD, who hath raiſed Him from the dead.
DEar Brethren, It is very true, that the ſolemnity of this great day, which hath been conſecrated by all Chriſtians to the reſurrection of the LORD JESUS, and ſanctifi'd by the Myſteries of his Table, at which we have communicated, doth require more than ordinary devotion and meditations of us: Yet I have not needed to ſeek a ſubject for the preſent exerciſe, any other where than in the ſeries of the ordinary Texts which I do, in this place, expound to you; the words I have read, which immediately ſucceed thoſe you heard laſt LORD's Day, excellently ſuiting each of thoſe duties to which this day is particularly dedicated: For they treat of our LORD's reſurrection, and of the fruits that redound to us thereby; as alſo of Baptiſm, wherein they are communicated to us, and which was wont, for this reaſon, to be ſolemnly adminiſtred heretofore in the ancient Church, on the night before Eaſter; and of that faith, by which we become poſſeſs'd of this Divine Reſurgent. Laſtly, They ſpeak of the intereſt we have in his burial, that ſequel of his precious death, the bleſſed commemoration whereof we have celebrated this morning. Subjects theſe, which are, as is plain to all, eminently meet for the devotion of this day. This then ſhall be, by the will of GOD, the matter of this action. Faithful Souls, afford it a vigorous and a deep attention, elevating your thoughts to JESUS CHRIST, the Prince of our ſalvation, and Author of our immortality, whiles we ſhall endeavour to repreſent to you what his Apoſtle here teacheth us about our communion in his burial and reſurrection.
You may remember, that to confound the impiety of certain Seducers, who would oblige Chriſtians to Moſaical Circumciſion, this holy man alledg'd, in the precedent Text, that we have in JESUS CHRIST that ſubſtance and truth whereof the Judaical Circumciſion was but the ſhadow and model; having in him put off the body of the ſins of the fleſh; ſo as having receiv'd, through the grace of JESUS, this myſtical and divine circumciſion, the other carnal and typical one is altogether uſeleſs to us, and cannot be deſired or practis'd by Chriſtians, without wronging their Saviour. He ſtill proſecutes that ſame intention; and to ſhew how rich that ſanctifying-grace is, which we have in JESUS CHRIST, he adds, that beſides our being circumciſed by the virtue of his word, and diveſted of the body of the ſins of the fleſh; we have moreover been buried with him through Baptiſm; and further, that we are therein riſen again with him, through the faith of the efficiency of GOD, who raiſed him from the dead:
For a right underſtanding of theſe words, we are to conſider, Firſt, The communion we have both in the burial and reſurrection of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. And ſecondly, The twofold means by which this communion is given us, to wit, Baptiſm, and the Faith of the efficiency of GOD, who hath raiſed our LORD from the dead. The Apoſtle expreſſeth the firſt point in theſe words, Being buried with him, in which alſo you are riſen again together. As for our burial with the LORD, you know, that having ſuffer'd on the Croſs that dolorous and accurſed death which we had merited; his ſacred body, looſned from that mournful tree, and wrap'd up in a ſheet, was by Joſeph of Arimathea laid in a new Sepulcher, where it remained three days without motion, without reſpiration, and without life, in this ſad ſtate, (the laſt of our infirmities) until the beginning of the third day, when he gloriouſly roſe again. The tranſcendent wiſdom of the Father, which ordered all the parts of this great work, proceeded thus here very fitly, to juſtifie the truth of his Son's death, by his ſtay in the grave. For if he had reſum'd his life immediately after he laid it down, and deſcended from the Croſs alive again, I confeſs ſuch a Miracle might have aſtoniſh'd and tranſported the minds of the Spectators, and demonſtrated, that this Divine crucified Perſon was more than man. But on the other hand, it would have rendred his death ſuſpicious, and without doubt made men imagine, that it had been but a feigned and falſe appearance, and no real ſeparation of his ſoul from his body; which opinion would evidently have ſhaken and overthrown our ſalvation, it being entirely founded on the death of the LORD JESUS. Whereas therefore it ſo highly concerns us to believe the ſame, GOD hath in ſuch ſort aſſured and certifi'd the truth, that we have not any ſhew of reaſon to call it in queſtion. For this cauſe, it was his will, that the LORD JESUS, having commended his ſpirit into his hands, ſhould be laid in the Sepulcher, and continue there three days; there remaining, after this, no more cauſe to doubt, but that he was truly dead, ſince he was ſo long a time in the ſtate of the dead. Moreover our conſolation required, that he ſhould enter into our Sepulchers, to take away for us the horror of them, and to aſſure us by His example, that they have not force enough to detain our bodies for ever, or to hinder them from riſing one day again. It's for theſe reaſons, and other ſuch, that JESUS CHRIST would go down into this, death's laſt entrenchment. The Apoſtle ſaith then, that true believers have been buried with him.
How ſo (you will ſay), ſeeing that they, being living perſons, were never laid in the grave; and ſurely not in our LORD's, that was ſituate on Mount Calvary, nigh to Jeruſalem, places very far diſtant from our abode?
Dear Brethren, there is no man ſo groſs, but doth plainly ſee, that theſe words are not to be taken according to the letter, but figuratively; and that they ſignifie not a natural but a myſtical Sepulcher. And in ſuch a ſenſe it may be ſaid two manner of ways; That we have been buried in CHRIST, or with CHRIST. Firſt, in regard of our juſtification, that is, the remiſſion of our ſins. And ſecondly, in regard of our ſanctification, and the mortifying of the old man. For as concerning the firſt, it is evident that JESUS CHRIST was not buried, as neither was he crucified and put to death, but for us only. Burial is nothing elſe but a conſequent of death. It's the ſad and diſmal ſtate to which it reduceth men ever ſince they became guilty; that is to ſay, it makes up a part of the puniſhment of ſin. As indeed it's a hideous thing, and full of horror, to ſee ſo noble and excellent a Creature, in whom the Image of GOD did ſhine forth, and who had been formed for immortal glory, to be brought down to the grave, under the power of Worms and putrefaction. JESUS CHRIST therefore having undergone this ignominious Infirmity for us, and for our Salvation, that he might leave none of our penalties unſatisfied for, it's evident that when he was buried, we were buried in him, and with him; ſince it was properly for us, that he did deſcend into the Sepulcher. He bore us upon the Croſs. He bore us in the grave. We all were in him, foraſmuch as he, in all this work, acted but for us. We did and ſuffered theſe things, ſince we are the cauſe that he did and ſuffered them. We were buried in him, foraſmuch as His being buried hath diſcharged this part of our puniſhment, and ſo changed the nature of our graves, that inſtead of being priſons, and places of execution, they are now ſo many beds and dormitories, wherein our bodies do repoſe until the reſurrection. Thus his burial hath freed ours from the curſe, which is naturally upon it; and this benefit makes up a part of that juſtification which he hath merited for us, it comprehending an exemption from all the penalties that are due to our ſins.
But it is not in this ſenſe that the Apoſtle ſaith we have been buried with JESUS CHRIST. For he ſpeaks here of the firſt part of our ſanctification, which is nothing elſe but the mortifying of the body of ſin, or old man in us, and its burial, that is, the bringing it to nought. It's therefore properly in this reſpect S. Paul ſays, that we have been buried with JESUS CHRIST, even in as much as by the virtue of his death and burial, our old man hath been deſtroy'd, and ſuffer'd a death and burial ſemblable and analogical to JESUS CHRIST's. For as his fleſh, after it was depriv'd of life, was laid in a grave; in like manner the old man of true believers, having been ſtain, is interred and brought to nought. And as the LORD JESUS left in the Sepulcher his Funeral linnen clothes, together with all the infirmity and mortality he had, and came forth veſted with a nature and a life fully refined from all that weakneſs of the firſt Adam which appeared in him during the days of his fleſh; even ſo the faithful do put off for ever that body of ſin wherewith their firſt Parent had enwrapped them, and leave it in their myſtical Sepulcher, to be reſum'd no more; but that they may henceforth lead a life free, and exempt from all its filthineſs and turpitude. Laſtly, As the burial of our Saviour was properly but a progreſſion and continuation of his death; ſo likewiſe that of our old man is but a proſecuting of his deſtruction; 'tis the eſtate this puts him in, and under it he abides for ever, without riſing any more. S. Paul does elſe where clearly ſhew us, that it is thus we muſt underſtand his words; as when he ſaith, in the ſixth to the Romans, that we are buried with CHRIST by baptiſm into his death, Rom. 6.4, 5.that as he was raiſed from the dead by the glory of the Father; ſo we ſhould likewiſe walk in newneſs of life: and immediately after he ſaith, that we have been made one ſelf-ſame plant with him, by the conformity of his death and reſurrection. To which muſt be alſo added, that it is in him, and with him, we have been buried in this ſort; for that in his death and burial the principles and cauſes of ours were contained. His death hath deſtroyed our old man, and his burial hath interred him; it being evident, that if our LORD had not ſuffered both the one and the other for our ſalvation, ſin would ſtill live and reign in us. For it is the love of GOD, and his peace, and the hope of glory, the true effect of our Saviour's death and burial, that gives the deaths-wound to our old man, and that doth aboliſh and bury his whole life.
See then how we are buried with him; not that, to ſpeak properly, our bodies do really enter into the grave, in Joſeph of Arimathea's garden, where his abode three days (away with ſo childiſh a conceit): but for that the virtue of his death and holy Sepulcher doth derive into us an image and a copy of his burial, deſtroying and burying our old man by his efficacy, and bringing on him a myſtical death and burial conform to his own real and myſtical one. This now, which the Apoſtle addeth, that we are alſo riſen again, together with him; muſt alſo be underſtood after the ſame manner. As our death and burial with him is myſtical and ſpiritual, ſo is likewiſe our reſurrection; theſe words ſignifying no other thing, but that he, by the virtue of his reſurrection, doth work and produce one in us, which hath reſemblance and analogy with his own. And this reſurrection of the faithful, in conſequence, and by the efficacy of JESUS CHRIST's, is their being renewed unto an holy, ſpiritual, and Evangelical life. For even as the LORD, having put off on the Croſs, and left in the grave, that earthy, infirm, and natural life which he had led here below, during the days of his fleſh; did put on a new one, that was glorious, ſpiritual, and immortal, riſing from the grave a man heavenly, and living to eternity by the ſole ſtrength of a quickning ſpirit; ſo likewiſe all his true members having quitted their old man, as deſtroyed and aboliſhed by the virtue of his death, do put on the new, which is formed in righteouſneſs and holineſs; and inſtead of that vile and wretched life which they led aforetime in the turpitude and fifth of ſin, they take up another wholly new one, which is quickned by the Spirit from on high, upheld by his power, and ſhineth all over with the glorious lights of his ſanctity, charity, and purity. But beſides this conform …y between the new nature, which we receive in JESUS CHRIST, and that ſame which he put on at his coming forth of the grave: we are ſaid to riſe again with him, becauſe it is the virtue of his reſurrection that produceth all this change in us. His reſurrection is the cauſe of ours; without it we ſhould lye dead ſtill, and in bondage to ſin. This will appear, if you afford ever ſo little attention to conſider it. For that which formeth the new man in us, and gives us the courage to renounce the world, that we may live pure and holy, is, as every one knows, the perſwaſion of the love of GOD, and of the remiſſion of our ſins, and the hope of bliſsful and glorious immortality. Now it is the reſurrection of JESUS CHRIST, that gives us all this aſſurance, putting in our hand a firm proof of the ſatisfaction of Divine Juſtice, from the deliverance of our Surety; and of our immortality, from his having taken poſſeſſion of the ſame for himſelf and us; ſo as our ſouls, being certifi'd of the tranſcendent goodneſs of GOD, and of their own happineſs, do ardently embrace his Diſcipline, and the endeavouring of a new life. Beſides, that faith which purifies our …, and by which, as we ſhall hear anon, we are riſen again in JESUS CHRIST, could not take place in us, if he were not riſen from the dead; Rom. 1.4, 1 Pet. 1.3.ſince it's by that he was declar'd the Son of GOD with power, according to the ſpirit of holineſs. Therefore S Peter ſaith, it's by the reſurrection of JESUS CHRIST from the dead, that GOD hath begotten us again unto a lively hope. And S. Paul, for this very reaſon, 1 Cor. 15.17.proteſteth, that if CHRIST were not riſen, our faith would be vain, and we ſhould be ſtill in our ſins. It muſt then be concluded, that in riſing again, he raiſed up us alſo by the ſame means; foraſmuch as by riſing, he gave being and clearneſs to the principles and cauſes of our myſtical reſurrection. Opening his own tomb, he by that means opened ours. He broke in pieces the doors and bar…s of our Sepulchers, by quitting his own; and raiſing himſelf from the duſt, he drew us up out of the earth, and brought us forth from the abode of death; that glorious life alſo wherewith he then veſted himſelf, hath inſpired into us all the ſpiritual life, motions, and ſentiments, that we have. O holy and bleſſed Communion! O divine and incorruptible fruits of the Sepulcher of JESUS CHRIST! The death of the firſt man did kill us; and the death of the ſecond maketh us alive. The one's Sepulcher is our priſon, the other our liberty. In the former do appear horror and malediction, the ſigns of our guilt, and of the juſt wrath of GOD; but from the latter, peace and life do bud out, glory and immortality ſhoot forth. The grave of Adam did extinguiſh, and ſhut up for ever in a ſtate of exinanition all the beauty, ſtrength, and life of our nature. The Sepulcher of JESUS CHRIST hath deſtroyed nothing but our ſin; it hath ſhut up, and kept in only our old man, that is, the loathſomneſs and miſery of our lives; and inſtead of this abominable body of ſin and death, whereof it hath diveſted us, hath, as it were, teemed with, and brought forth a celeſtial and immortal nature, which it puts on us, together with our Saviour. And thus you ſee what are the fruits of our communion with JESUS CHRIST, namely, the deſtruction of our old man, and the creation of the new, ſignified by the Apoſtle in theſe words, we are buried, and riſen again with him.
Let us now conſider the two fold means, here intimated by the Apoſtle, by which GOD doth make us partakers of them. The firſt is Baptiſm, being buried (ſaith he) with CHRIST by baptiſm, wherein alſo you are rais'd again together with him: For ſo do I take theſe words; rendring, wherein, not, in whom, and referring this term, not to JESUS CHRIST, but to Baptiſm; as it it had been ſaid, In which Baptiſm you are alſo raiſed again together with the LORD; this conſtruction being more natural, and more convenient than the other; as they that underſtand the original Language, wherein the Apoſtle wroſe, with eaſily perceive, if they take the p…ns to conſider this Text there; though it the bottom it make no difference which of theſe two ways be taken, the whole amounting to the ſame ſenſe, whether you ſay, that we are riſen again in Baptiſm, or in JESUS CHRIST.
In truth, all the means which GOD makes uſe of in Religion, have no other tendency but to communicate JESUS CHRIST to us, as dead, buried, and riſen again for us, to the deſtruction of our old man, and the vivification of the new. Nor do they ever fail to produce theſe two effects, in any of thoſe that receive them as they ought. Therefore the holy Apoſtles frequently aſcribe them to the word of the Goſpel, which is the firſt and principal means that GOD makes uſe of to ſave us; Rom. 1.15. Heb. 4.12.by reaſon whereof it is called, his power to ſalvation. As for the deſtroying of the old man, the Epiſtle to the Hebrews attributes to the Word, the virtue that operateth and effecteth it in us, ſaying, that it is quick and powerful, 2 Cor. 10.4, 5ſharper than any two-edged ſword, piercing even to the dividing aſunder of ſoul and ſpirit, and of the joints and marrow: and S. Paul elſewhere calleth it, a weapon mighty, to the pulling down of ſtrong holds, to the overthrowing of imaginations, and every heighth, that exalteth it ſelf againſt the knowledg of GOD, and for the bringing of every thought into captivity to the obedience of CHRIST. And as to the life of the new man, 1 Pet. 1.23, 25you know S. Peter teacheth us, that the Goſpel which is preached us, is the ſeed of this life; telling us, that it is thereby we are born again. That holy Supper, of which we have participated this morning, hath alſo the ſame effects. For ſince it communicateth to us the body of JESUS CHRIST dead and buried, and riſen again for us, we need not doubt but i… gives us alſo the virtue which it hath, and is inſuparably adherent to it, for the putting to death the old Adam, and making the new to live in us, by its be-dewing our Conſciences with his blood, and feeding our ſouls with his fleſh.
But although theſe two effects be common to all the means which GOD hath inſtituted, and … uſe of in Religion; yet the Apoſtle ſpeaks here but of Baptiſm, … Becauſe … the firſt ſeal we receive of our Saviour, and the proper Sacrament of our rege…eration, which containeth the initials and beginning of our ſpiritual … in the Houſe of God; whence it comes, that treating of the ſame ſubject elſewhere, Rom. 6.3, 4.he makes mention of Baptiſm in like manner. Know you not (ſaith he) that we all, who have been baptiz'd into JESƲS CHRIST, have been baptiz'd into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by Baptiſm. Secoudly, He ſo doth, that he might, with ſo much the more clearneſs, confute the erro… he here combareth; even by oppoſing, to that circumciſion which the ſeducers did preſs, that Baptiſm which we have receiv'd in JESUS CHRIST; whereby hath been fully communicated to us all that theſe people pretended to draw from the uſe of circumciſion. Their folly was therefore ſo much the more inſupportable, for that they would not only retain a ſhadow, whereof JESUS CHRIST hath given us the true body; but alſo withſtood one of the old Sacraments of Moſes its giving place, to one of thoſe which JESUS inſtituted. If queſtion be of the ſubſtance, and very effect of circumciſion, we have that truth and fulneſs in JESUS CHRIST, whereof it had but ſome part ſhadow'd out by its figure. If the matter be the Sacrament it ſelf, the LORD hath given us one highly excelling, to wit, Baptiſm. So as which way ſoever it be taken, there is no reaſon at all that any man ſhould deſire ſtill to retain circumciſion. But to proceed; it is not here only that the Apoſtle attributes ſo great an effect unto Baptiſm. He ſpeaks thus of it conſtantly; as for example, when he ſaith, that CHRIST ſanctifieth the Church, Eph. 5.26. Gal. 3.7.cleanſing it with the waſhing of water by the word; and elſewhere, that we all who were baptized, have put on CHRIST; and in another place again, 1 Cor. 12.13.that we have all been baptized into one ſpirit, to be one body. For the Sacraments of CHRIST are not vain and hollow pictures, wherein the benefits of his death and reſurrection are nakedly pourtray'd as in a piece of Art, that feeds us barely with an unprofitable view of what it repreſents. They are effectual means, which He accompanieth with his virtue, and filleth with his grace, effectively accompliſhing thoſe things in us by his heavenly power, which are ſet before us in the Sacrament, when we receive it as we ought. He inwardly nouriſheth, by the virtue of his fleſh and blood, the ſoul of him that duly takes his Bread and his Cup. He waſheth and regenerateth that man within, who is rightly conſecrated by Baptiſm. And if the infirmity of age do hinder, that the effect does not at the inſtant appear in Infants baptized; yet his virtue doth not fail to accompany his inſtitution, and conſerve its ſelf in them, and bring forth its fruits upon them, in their ſeaſon, when their nature is capable of the operations of underſtanding and will. Heretofore in the primitive Church, this double effect of Baptiſm was more clearly repreſented in the external action of the Sacrament, than it is at this day. For the greater part of thoſe that were baptized, being perſons of age, who came over to Chriſtianity from Judaiſm or Paganiſm, they were uncloth'd, and then plunged into the water, whence they immediately came forth, and ſo were baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoſt; whereby they teſtifi'd, that they did put off the body of ſin, the habit of the firſt Adam, and buried it in the ſaving-waters of JESUS CHRIST, as in its myſtical grave, and came forth thence riſen up to a new life; for a ſymbol whereof they took up a white habit, and wore it an whole week. Now though the water wherewith we baptize, doth not carry ſo expreſs a figure of this myſtical Sepul cher and Reſurrection, as that of the Ancients did, ſince this ceremony cannot be practis'd towards Infants without very great inconvenience, and even danger of their lives, in ſo tender an age, and eſpecially in ſuch cold Countreys as ours; nevertheleſs, the virtue of holy Baptiſm is ſtill the ſame; that JESUS, whom in it we did put on, communicating to us, by the virtue of his Spirit, the myſtical image of his Burial and Reſurrection; that is, as we have ſhewed, the annihilation of the old man, and creation of the new. If we meet with any baptized perſons, as there are but too many ſuch, in whom the old man is ſo far from being buried, that he lives and reigns with abſolute power, and the new man hath neither life nor action at all; it may not be imputed unto JESUS CHRIST, who always accompanieth his Sacraments with his ſaving virtue; but unto the perſons own unbelief, who doth wretchedly repell the operationof the grace of CHRIST, and deprive it of all the effect which it would have aſſur…dly produced in them, if their unworthineſs had not fruſtrated its efficacy towards them. For I acknowledg, that neither Baptiſm, nor the Word, do work in any, but ſuch as receive them with faith. And in this, as in all other things, the admirable wiſdom of our LORD doth appear. For the ſubject being Man, a reaſonable Creature, he dealeth with him in a way proper and ſuitable to his nature. The means he uſeth for his ſalvation, do not operate in him, as drugs and ſimples, by a Phyſical action, and ſuch as takes its effect, whatever otherwiſe be the mind of the man that takes them. But the operation of the Word and Sacraments doth depend upon the preparation of their hearts to whom they are adminiſtred. They work, when they are receiv'd with faith; they produce nothing, when they are receiv'd with unbelief. And thus it is meet, that the underſtanding, which is the Guide and Ruler of all our moral actions, be firſt perſwaded of the truth of GOD, and then our wills and affections take impreſſion, and be changed by the efficacy of his power.
This very thing the Apoſtle here doth ſhew us with much clearneſs, by adding, beſides Baptiſm, that we are buried and raiſed again with CHRIST by faith; an evident token, that the Sacrament doth mortifie ſin in us, and raiſe us up unto ſanctity, according to the faith it meets with in us. It left the heart of Simon Magus in the bonds of iniquity, and in the gall of bitterneſs; becauſe it found in it no faith at all, but a naughtineſs hardned in unbelief, and full of Hypocriſie. But as for Lydia, and all thoſe that have a true faith, it doth aſſuredly mortifie ſin in them, and makes the new man live in them unto righteouſneſs and holineſs. For it is not poſſible, but that the perſon who is firmly perſwaded of the truth of the Goſpel, ſhould renounce ſin, the venom and horror whereof this Divine Doctrine doth ſo clearly diſcover; and on the contrary, embrace that holineſs, whoſe beauty and bleſſedneſs it doth ſo magnificently ſet before us; man naturally flying from what he believes mortal, and pernicio…s to him; and ad…ering with like neceſſity to what he judgeth healthful and advantageous. But the Apoſtle, who does every where exalt the grace of GOD, and caſt down the … of man, leſt any one ſhould imagine, that this …th, upon which … doth depend, were a production of our own will; doth by the way advertiſe us, that it is a gift of our LORD's, when he nameth it the faith of the efficacy, or of the operation of GOD; that is to ſay, which the efficacy of his hand produceth in us. Whereby their error is refuted, who hold, that GOD, for the producing of faith in us, doth meerly ſet before us, either outwardly by his Word, or inwardly by his Spirit, the object of truth, leaving it to the liberty of our will, to believe it, or reject it. By this account, faith ſhould not be the faith of the efficacy of GOD; ſince that, according to this ſuppoſition, he ſhould exert none at all upon us. But the Apoſtle ſtileth it, the faith of the efficacy, or operation of GOD. We muſt conclude therefore, that for the giving of us faith, he operateth in us, powerfully forming our hearts, and opening them by the might of his Spirit, that they may receive his truth; yea, that he doth imprint and engrave it on them himſelf by a moſt efficacious action. The term Energy (for ſuch is the Original, and 'tis that which we have render'd efficacy), deſerves great conſideration; properly ſignifying, in the ſtile of the Book of GOD, a powerful operation, which ſurely accompliſheth its deſign, and infallibly produceth its intention; ſuch as is the action by which GOD created the World; an evident ſign, that the operation by which he produceth faith in us, is ſo ſtrong, as that it bears down all contradiction; ſo as none of thoſe upon whom he vouchſafes to put it forth, can reſiſt it, or hinder their underſtanding from believing.
The Apoſtle addeth, that GOD hath raiſed JESUS CHRIST from the dead, either to determine the object of our faith, which is principally JESUS raiſed from the dead by the glory of the Father; or (which I think to be more pertinent) to compare our myſtical Reſurrection with JESUS CHRIST's. For ſeeing it is GOD, who by his efficacious action giveth us that faith by which we riſe again in CHRIST; and ſeeing it is He again who hath raiſed our LORD from the dead; it is evident, that both the one and the other of theſe two works, hath the ſelf-ſame principle, to wit, the Almighty Power of GOD. Chriſtians, judg with what Power He worketh in his faithful ones, ſince that he exerteth the ſame virtue to give them faith, by which he raiſed his own Son from the dead, as the Apoſtle informeth us yet more clearly in another place, Eph. 1.10, 20.where he prayeth, that we may know what is the exceeding greatneſs of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he ſhewed in CHRIST, when he raiſed him from the dead. Neither let his ſaying, that the Father raiſed him, diſquiet you, as if this did croſs the Scripture's aſſerting elſewhere, that the LORD JESUS himſelf rais'd up the Temple of his Body when the Jews had overthrown it. Joh. 2.19.It is true, that he raiſed up himſelf; but ſince his Power is the Power of the Father, as being one only, and the ſame GOD with him; 'tis evident, it may be truly ſaid, that the Father raiſed him up; the working of one of theſe two Perſons being the working of the other, as our Saviour declareth in S. John, Joh. 5.19.that whatſoever the Father doth, the Son doth in like manner alſo. Whence it comes, that the Scripture attributes the Creation of the world indifferently to the one and to the other.
Dear Brethren, This is that which the holy Apoſtle, the great Miniſter of GOD, doth tell us in this Text. Oh how happy ſhould we be, if we had theſe Divine Inſtructions written in the bottom of our hearts, and engraven in Capital Letters upon all the parts of our lives! If our actions did juſtifie, as our words profeſs, That we are buried and riſen again with JESUS CHRIST by Baptiſm, and by the faith of the operation of GOD, who raiſed him from the dead! But alas! it muſt be confeſſed to our ſhame, there appears in the lives of moſt of us, no print of the burial, and leaſt of all of the reſurrection of JESUS. The fleſh lives, and exerciſeth as horrible tyranny in them, as it doth in the lives of the men of the world. It hath all its ſentiments, and all its motions at liberty. The new man, that breathes nothing but Heaven, and loves nothing but Holineſs, hath no place in them; it is ſo far from reigning there, that it's baniſh'd thence, and acts no more than a dead body faſt ſhut up in the grave. Yet if nothing depended on the matter, ſave our ſhame, impudency would bear it out. But the worſt is, our ſalvation, and our eternal damnation doth depend upon it: for JESUS CHRIST ſaves none but his Members, ſuch as are made conform to him, and have been buried and raiſed again with him. Awake we therefore from this mortal Lethargy, which hath benummed our ſenſes to this day. Labour we day and night in prayer, with ſighs and tears, and not ceaſe, until we feel the old man dye, and the new live in our hearts. As for the former, both Nature and Experience do ſufficiently ſhew us the extravagancy of its deſires, and the vanity of all its motions. For, I beſeech you, what profit does the fleſh receiv… from all the trouble that either its ſelf takes, or that it gives to others? What benefit hath it from the turmoiling of its avarice, or the burning of its ambition, or the ſhamefulneſs of its pleaſures, or the ſweetneſs of its revenges? It torments its ſelf, it toils its ſelf, it embraceth wind and ſmoak, and then periſheth, oftentimes ſhortning its own duration by the violence of its agitations. It hath but a little body (which daily weakens) to lodg, and ſe…d, and clothe for ſome years; yet it travels, and diſquiets its ſelf as much, as if it had a million to maintain for the ſpace of many ages. Was there ever a greater folly? Certainly, ſhould a man of compoſed mind behold our buſie employments in the earth, with the motives and deſigns of ſo many motions and troubles as we conſume our ſelves in, I make little queſtion but he would take well-nigh all men for frantick or fooliſh, and cry out, not ſimply with the Wiſe man, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity; but yet louder, and in a tone more tragical, O madneſs! O phrenſie! All the World is but a company of ſenſ…eſs men!
But the ſeeing of the vanity of the fleſh is not ſufficient for the conceiving of a due horror at it. Chriſtian, enter into the Sepulcher of your Saviour, and you ſhall perceive there, that beſides vanity, the life of the old man is all full of venom and wretchedneſs. This ſacred Body, which you ſee lying in that Tomb in ſo pitiful an eſtate, was pierced with nails, potion'd with gall, crowned with thorns, cover'd with the reproach of men, and the curſe of GOD, ſeparated from its Soul, and brought down to the duſt, to divert from you the puniſhments juſtly prepared for the diſorders of your fleſh. Think what Hells it deſerved, ſince it was neceſſary that the LORD of Glory ſhould ſuffer ſuch ſtrange uſage to redeem it from them. Having once diſcerned, by ſuch ſenſible evidences, the vanity and malignity of the old man, and the perdition into which he leads his Vaſſals, how can you have the heart to let him live within you? Beloved Brethren, crucifie him, and out him of the world. He is unworthy to live. Pierce him through with the thorns and nails of your JESUS. Give him his gall to drink. Put him to death with him, and bury him in his Sepulcher, to come forth no more. Let his Avarice, and Ambitions, and all his Concupiſcences, remain eternally extinct in the duſt of that ſalvifique grave, that there appear no more henceforth any track of him in your whole courſe. And inſtead of that infernal vigorouſneſs wherewith he inſpired heretofore, and diſturbed your whole life, put on that new man, whom JESUS hath on this day made to come forth out of his Sepulcher. Drink in his Spirit, fill your veins with his Blood, and your arteries with his fire. Receive his Sentiments, and deck your ſelves with his Lights. Lead henceforth a life worthy of his Reſurrection, and of his Baptiſm, and of that immortal Food which you have taken at his Table. Let your actions aim at nothing but Heaven. 'Tis there your Treaſure is. Chriſtian, what do you yet ſeek on Earth? Your LORD is no longer here. This day ſaw him come up thence, to go fit down on high at the right hand of GOD, and carry up your hearts with him, giving them all his motions, that where he is, ye may be alſo. And if his will do oblige you, to tarry yet a while on earth, ſpend the whole time in the ſame manner that he ſpent his forty days after his reſurrection in a continual meditation of heavenly things, in the company of Apoſtles, in the entertainment of Saints, in the exerciſe of an ardent charity, in the preparatives of your aſcenſion to his …ingdom, wholly managing this ſhort ſpace to his glory, and to the inſtruction and edification of men. This is that we owe, dear Bretthren, to the Burial and Reſurrection of our LORD. There is no need to run to Paleſtine, nor to go up Mount Calvary, for to enter into his S…pulcher. You are entred into it, and buried with him, if you, by the faith of his Goſpel do mortifie and deſtroy ſin, according to the intention of your Baptiſm. Nor is it a whit more neceſſary for the having of part in his reſurrection, to go and kiſs the laſt print of his ſeet upon Mount Olivet. You are riſen again with him, if affected with the glory he brought out of his Tomb, and perſwaded of the truth of the diſcoveries he made of bleſſed immortality, you live according to the form of his Goſpel, in purity and ſanctification.
GOD, who raiſeth the dead by his glorious power, pleaſe to reveal the ſame might upon our hearts, and form ſo lively a faith in them, as may be the true workmanſhip of his hand, and the faith of his efficacy, that we may thereby be buried, and raiſed up with CHRIST; and after theſe firſtfruits of his holineſs, be one day transform'd into a perfect reſemblance of his glory, for the eternal poſſeſſing of that great and bleſſed Heavenly Kingdom with Him, which he hath purchas'd for us by the merit of his death, and enſured to us by the virtue of his reſurrection. So be it.