Of Growth in Grace, Sermon 16
SERM. XVI.
I Shall now acquaint you with another great priviledge; and that is,
A freedom from the Law: But understand it in a sound sense: There is a sense given, according to which, Beleevers are not freed from the Law, nor is it their priviledge. I remember what the Apostle speaks, 1 Cor. 9. saith he, To them that were under the Law, as under the Law; and to them that are without Law, as without Law; as without Law, as under the Law: there are Mysteryes in these passages worthy the searching into: As under the Law, and yet not under the Law; as without Law, and yet not without Law; not without Law to God, but under the Law to Christ. So that in a sound sense, it is a duty, I, and a priviledge too, to be under the Law, under the Law to Christ: 'tis a priviledge not to be under the Law, according to what the Apostle speaks, in Rom. 6. saith he, We are not under the Law, but under Grace: as the being under the Law, doth stand in opposition, (consider that, and that will give some light to the matter in hand,) as a state under the Law, doth stand in opposition to a state in Grace, to a souls being under Grace: So it is the priviledge of every Beleever, every Saint in Christ, not to be under the Law. These things we should be well acquainted with, and studied in; especially, considering the time that we have had for improvement in the knowledge of Christ. They are under the Law to Christ, and yet from under the Law, as such a state imports an opposition to a state in Grace, that's one of the great priviledges which comes over to Believers by our Lord Jesus Christ, that they are not under the Law.
And the comfort of this priviledge is very much advanc'd by a well improved Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we come to know, and to know to some purpose (as it's fit we should) what the state was that our Lord Jesus Christ was put into; he was in a legal state, he was made under the Law, and so stood under strongest obligations, to perform most perfect obedience to the whole Law; he was a debtor to the whole Law by voluntary subjection (you must understand it so) to fulfil it to the utmost tittle of it: Not only to fulfil the duty and obedience which the Law required, but to satisfie and to answer the penalty; not only to bear the burden of Duty, but to bear the burden of the Curse, and that in the behalf, and for the sakes of those which were given him of the Father. This is a great Point, and worthy to be well studied in, and for every one that would approve himself to God, and promote his own comfort, to be well acquainted withal.—Christ was thus made under the Law, so his state was a legal state; and by vertue of his thus being made under the Law, upon this account the Saints of God, and Believers, they come to have their freedom: He was made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law; this priviledge comes over to us by Christ. Now, when this comes to be well known concerning Christ, by such as believe in him, O what a sweet injoyment may they have of themselves in peace and comfort, when they shall come to know what the Law requires, and what are the vigorous exactings of it, what are the pressing burdens that it layes upon a soul, which are most heavy to be born: Nay, they are indeed unsupportable by any strength that is now in the creature; what dreadful curses the Law pronounces upon the transgressors of it. Now when a soul shall come to understand this; and yet withal, understands that Jesus Christ, he was under the Law; and being so constituted, he hath fulfilled it to the utmost tittle; he hath answered all the requiries, and he hath undergon all the penalties, and the Law hath nothing to say against him, nothing to charge upon him. Now, when a Believing soul comes to know this concerning the Lord Jesus, that he was made under the Law, that the soul might be delivered from the curse of the Law; this is that that makes the comfort to flow in like streams from Lebanon; these are the great things of the Gospel, which concerns us exceedingly to be well instructed in. This I propound now, as one of the priviledges of the Gospel, the comfort whereof comes over to us by a well improved Knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Consider further, What reason there is that Believers, Christians, should endeavour to advance a growth in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, upon this account, That by this Knowledge well improved, we shall come to be very much advantaged for suffering, suffering with comfort, and with boldness and courage; and that's a great matter for us to consider of: For it is not so much the suffering, as the comfortable suffering, and the confident suffering, and the couragious suffering of a Christian that God is glorified by. Mark you, 'Tis not barely the suffering; the damned in Hell, they suffer, and shall suffer eternally; but what Glory hath God from their suffering? Only thus far, he hath the glory of his Justice, in the inflicting of deserved punishment upon them; he hath that glory: but otherwise, there is nothing of glory that's given to God by them in their sufferings; there's Glory that God fetches and forces out of them, and he will do so out of every damned wretch, he will force a Glory to himself out of their sufferings; but there is no Glory that doth result to God out of the sufferings of the damned, as a Glory which they do actually give up to God. But now, God expects that his People should be active in a way of glorifying him, when they are under their sufferings; and then is God glorified, when his People suffer with courage, and with confidence, and with comfort and rejoycing, and are not of despondent spirits, do not fall under that.
Why now consider, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, and will approve themselves in their godliness, they must reckon upon sufferings; there is no coming to heaven by leaping over the brook; Christ himself is said to drink of the brook in the way: There is a brook, and it runs with black and bitter streams, and we must not think to leap over the brook, you must drink of it, and be plunged into it: Why all that will live godly in Christ, shall suffer.—What shall they suffer? what must they reckon upon to suffer? Suffer from God, suffer from men, suffer from Devils, suffer sometimes through their own default, from their own Consciences. Wherein now must they reckon to suffer?
Suffer in their souls by divine desertions;—suffer in their souls by dreadful temptations;—suffer in their Consciences by astonishing apprehensions; I, and sometimes there's their own default from their Consciences; that's a suffering that Jesus Christ is a meer stranger to, (take notice of that by the way:) Christ never suffered from his Conscience. And I do not know whether it may not be peremptorily asserted, that he never suffered in his Conscience: to be sure, never from his Conscience, his Conscience never put him to any suffering; his Conscience was alwaies his friend, and his comforter: He was not knowing to himself of any thing should cause and create the least trouble to him: Godly men are subject, through their own default, to suffer in their Consciences, and from their Consciences;—to suffer in their liberty;—in their estates;—in their names and reputations, by reproaches, and scorns, and contempts of the World:—To suffer in their estates, by losses, and sad breaches upon them:—subject to suffer to the very loss of their lives, by fiery tryals, and sharpest persecutions.
I, but now, whereas the great matter (as I said before) is to know how a Beleever may suffer, and to suffer comfortably, to suffer couragiously, and not sink under sufferings: Though he drink of the brook in the way, yet that he may not be drown'd in the way; though he drink of it, yet he doth not sink to the bottom of it, but he keeps his head aloft: this is a great matter for us to study, and to be well acquainted withal. Now consider, O the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, it doth contribute most largely to such a purpose: if so be that Christians, Beleevers in Christ, had but a well-improved knowledge of Christ, well digested, (I do not speak as I have told you, and shall further tell you) of a notional knowledge; to get a head full of notions, and yet in the mean time, the heart altogether unedified. We can babble over the Creed, as many do, that place their Religion and such things in it. Though, I do not speak, but that there may be good use to be made of those old principles. But this is the misery, that people rest in words and forms; if they can patter over such and such a form, and say, He was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; thus they can say, but in the mean time, know nothing in the World to any purpose: But I speak of a heartknowledge, a well-digested knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: and this knowledge will contribute very largely to the promoting of a Christians comfortable undergoing his sufferings, and keeps him up from sinking under them: and it will appear thus, by considering:
First of all, by knowing this concerning Christ; that this Lord Jesus Christ, was himself a sufferer; there's very much in this, that he was in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God; He that was the brightness of his Fathers Glory, and the express Image of his Person; He was pleased to put himself into such a condition and state, as that he might be capable of suffering: As he was the second person, it was impossible for him to suffer; but he took a body with much complacency and delight, upon this very account, that he might be in a capacity to suffer, and suffer he did; never Man nor Angel the like; He suffered to the astonishing of the whole Creation;—He suffered from God,—He suffered from men,—He suffered from Devils: O the dreadful sufferings of Jesus Christ! As I said before, so I say it again; He did not suffer from his Conscience, his heart did not reproach him; His heart within was clear, he had no terrors, his Conscience, it raised up no terrors in him; that kind of suffering he was a stranger to. Now consider this; was Christ Jesus a sufferer, and so deep and dreadful a sufferer? why then a Beleever may comfort himself whatsoever sufferings he falls under: why, blessed be God▪ my Lord Jesus Christ was a sufferer before me, he hath been in a suffering state, and I have no reason to startle at it, that my condition is a suffering condition: I am but now in a way to have conformity to Christ, and that's a blessed comfort. You must consider a little, what should the Apostle mean, when he professes, in 1 Cor. 2. that he determined to know nothing but Iesus Christ, and him crucified: a suffering Christ; Christ, and a suffering Christ! what should he mean by this, but that he was well and duly apprehensive of the benefit and comfort, and succour and support, that would spring up to him from the consideration of a suffering Christ: why, this is by my conformity to Christ, I account all things (saith he) but loss and dung, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Iesus my Lord. There you have the very point in hand held forth: He speaks concerning the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; I account all things but loss and dung, for the excellency of this knowledge.—Why? That I might know the fellowship of his sufferings, and be made conformable unto his death: I tell you Beloved, it's no matter what condition soever a person come into, if it be but such a condition as wherein Christ hath been before him; only so, as wherein Christ hath been as one that hath gone before us, and made it a way for us to walk in. Indeed, the way of his mediation, the way of his meritorious sacrificing, that's not a way that ever he walk'd in, so as to constitute it a way for his people to walk in; they are never able to live in that way: But the way wherein Christ hath been before us, and the condition which he hath been brought into, as a condition in which he would lead his people into: this is that that will comfort us in any such condition; let the condition be what it will, Christ hath been in this condition before us: so that now here's the comfort to a Beleever, a Saint in Christ; I suffer thus and thus, as the Apostle speaks, I suffer as an evil doer,—so did Christ; Christ was before me: I suffer as an evil doer, unto bonds, I am persecuted, so was Christ my Lord:——I am reproach'd, and scorn'd, and revil'd in the World, so was my Lord Jesus Christ:——I am cast into Prison, so was my Lord Jesus:—I am brought to the place of execution, Christ was hanged as a malefactor. There's much to support the soul in this condition. And then,
Secondly, consider this, This is the comfort that slowes out from the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to support in a suffering state. Christ suffered, nay, but more than this, we are to consider further, that he suffered penal sufferings, legal sufferings: O this, this hath added to the other, that we are to know concerning Jesus Christ; that he suffered in a legal way: His obedience was legal obedience, not evangelical obedience, as ours should be: so his sufferings were legal sufferings; why he suffered upon the account of Divine Justice; he suffered according to what the strict Justice of God did and could inflict upon him for sin and transgression; and here was the bitterness of the cup; a thing that would be seriously weighed, and considered of by us: He suffered for sinners; he put himself (as it were) into the state and condition of a sinner, of a malefactor. The guilt of the sins of his people was set over to him: Thus it was, and upon this account, you must conceive, that there was not that rejoycing on Christ's part in his sufferings, as that which sometimes discovers it self even in Beleevers, who have rejoyced at the stake, and kist the stake, and bid it welcome; and have been as full of joy and rejoycings as their hearts could hold; why there was reason for it: It was not so with Christ, but he was in an agony, and cryes out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why Brethren, there was reason for it: Alas, Beleevers do not sip one drop of that cup, and that's their mercy, and that's it that gives them comfort upon the consideration of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus; because the cup that was tempered unto him to drink of, it was a legal cup; it was a cup that the hand of Divine Justice temper'd up for him: Son, thou hast put thy self into the place of sinners, and cursed malefactors, that have deserved to drink of the wine of my wrath to all eternity: I'll temper a cup for thee; forasmuch as thou hast undertaken to appear on their behalf, thou shalt have a cup to drink off in their steads; and the hand of Justice tempers up this cup. Now, one drop of this legal cup, would have made all the Nations drunk, and have been made to spew, and fall; to fall down to Hell; one drop of this cup of Justice: but Christ must drink it up; He must make, by suffering, satisfaction to the Infinite Justice of a provoked Majesty. Here's the business now: and alas, we are apt to pass over these things slightly, and not consider what the greatness of the love of Christ is, in undergoing such a task, in drinking such a cup! But judicious Christians will weigh these things, and endeavour to understand concerning what was undergone by Jesus Christ. 'Tis an astonishing consideration, that it should be thus ordered out concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now here's the comfort to poor beleeving souls under all their sufferings; blessed be God, I suffer not in a legal way; I suffer not from the hand of Divine Justice; I suffer not in order to satisfaction; that's done to my hand: Here's my comfort, As I am not called out to pay debts with duties, I am not called out to pay debts with sufferings: Here's the comfort of a Beleever, which flows out from the well-improved knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; that whatsoever his sufferings be, they are not satisfactory sufferings; they are not sufferings upon a legal account; but they are sufferings in a way of fellowship with Christ, as one that did suffer; but not as a sufferer in order to satisfaction to God's Justice. So that now, upon the account of the suffering of our Lord Jesus, as a legal sufferer, and as one that took the cup from the hand of Divine Justice, which was tempered up by that hand; upon this account the poyson is taken out of sufferings; the terror of the bitterness of death is past; the bitterness of suffering is taken out; the sting of the suffering is plucked out: what's the sting of the suffering? The sting of death is sin; the sting of a suffering is sin. There's nothing that makes suffering so bitter to a sensible soul, an understanding Christian; there's nothing that makes it so bitter, as the consideration of guilt: I, but the guilt is taken away, and so the sting is taken out; the venom of the suffering is gone: The cup may be bitter, but it's a wholsome cup. This is now a second thing to consider; whereby you may come to understand, how much a well-improved knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, doth contribute to the promoting a Christians comfortable, and bold, and confident suffering; and you will never be able to quit your selves in a suffering day, in a suffering state, as becomes the Gospel, if so be that these considerations concerning Christ, be not well digested.
3. Yet further; Christians are subject to suffer, and it's your duty to suffer as Christians, and to bear up with courage and confidence: but how shall that be, but by the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? For mark you, This belongs to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus; that the sufferings of his people, for his Name, and Truth, and Gospel; those sufferings are by Jesus Christ, made their great priviledges. When a man suffers as an evil doer, as a murtherer, or a thief, or as a busy-body in other mens matters; these kind of sufferings of persons as evil doers, when they are indeed deservedly inflicted; these sufferings, they reflect shame and dishonour upon those that undergo them. The two Theeves upon the Cross, that were crucified together with Christ, and He in the midst of them; you have the acknowledgement that one of them makes; This man is upon the Cross with us, He suffers as we suffer, (as to the matter of suffering,) He is hanged, and so are we; we are here nail'd upon the Cross, and so is He: I, but for all that, here's the difference; we indeed are justly here; for we suffer the reward of our own evil deeds; so that it's our dishonour to be hanged up upon the Cross: but this man is hanged indeed as a malefactor, but he hath done nothing worthy of such a death: so it's no dishonour to a Christian; it's a dishonour to an evil doer to suffer, when he suffers for his evil deeds; but it's no dishonour to a Christian, when he suffers as a Christian, and there's no just cause for his sufferings; it's no dishonour, but it's rather an honour to him; saith the Apostle, If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed: Ashamed! he hath no cause in the World why he should be ashamed; let men deal how they will with him, if he suffer as a Christian: though others seek to put him to shame, he may despise the shame, as our Saviour did; He indur'd the Cross, but He despised the shame: Men would cast shame upon Him; I, but Christ shames the shame; He despiseth the shame; He puts the shame to shame. Thus did Christ: so a Christian, he suffering as a Christian, for the sake of Christ, he hath reason so to do; to shame the shame, to despise the shame, to scorn the shame, and the scorns that are cast upon him; saith he, If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorifie God in that behalf, for the spirit of God, and of Glory, rests upon him. And so did the Disciples, in Acts 5. it's said, They went away from the Counsel, where they had been beaten, and reproached; They went away rejoycing, that they were accounted worthy to suffer shame for the Name of the Lord Jesus; so that by Jesus Christ, it becomes a matter of priviledge and honour to suffer. This Comfort flowes out of the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And take notice of that remarkable passage, in 1 Phil. To you it is given; given as a gift: To you it is given;—what is given?—Not only to believe on his Name, but to suffer for his sake. To you it is given; I, one would say; a goodly gift indeed, to have suffering given us:—A goodly gift; O, that's a wretched spirit, to undervalue this gift: To you it is given, not only to believe: is it a priviledge to have it given us to believe, to beleeve unto eternal life and salvation? I, but, saith he, To you it is given, not only to beleeve, but also to suffer: This is the gift of God, which he hath granted unto you as a priviledge; that you should be sufferers for Christ, and ingaged to appear in his Cause, and for his Name, in opposition to an evil and an adulterous Generation.
Again, by a well-improved knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall come to understand to the comforting, and the imboldening of the hearts that Christ is knowing of all the sufferings that his servants undergo: Knowing of them, is that all? Nay, so knowing of them, as that he is sensible of them, and reckons them his own sufferings; He hath a deep sense: There is a sympathizing with his people in all their sufferings; if the foot on Earth be trod upon, the Head in Heaven complains; Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? who art thou Lord? I am Jesus. True it is, thou canst not reach my person, me as the head; but thou reachest me in my members; Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?
And then consider this withal, That by a wellimproved knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall come to understand, that the sufferings of Christ, they make way for Glory; having conformity to him in suffering, we may assure our selves, there shall be conformity to him in Glory: If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him; as the Apostle speaks; And the sufferings of this present time, is not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall follow. So that now, all this being laid together, we may well conclude upon it, that the knowledge of Jesus Christ, is worthy to be endeavoured after, and that there may be a growth in it; because it doth conduce so much to a comfortable, confident, couragious, and bold suffering on the behalf of Jesus Christ.