Sweet and Soul-Persuading Inducements Leading Unto Christ, Chapter 14
CHAP. XIV. Diſcovering the vanity of carnall mans applauding and pleaſing himſelfe with being borne within the Church.
The vanity of ſinfull mans boaſting of being within the Church.HEre may we likewiſe ſee, how vaine, nay how dangerous it is for man to applaud and pleaſe himſelfe in being borne within the pale of the Church, and having the externall uſe of Gods Ordinances, continuing under the power of ſinfull luſts, becauſe remaining under the command and power of ſinne, he is an alien to the Church, even whiles he lives within the Church; bleſſe not therefore your ſelves in this, build not your ſalvation upon ſuch ſandy ground. There was in Abrahams houſe a childe of the bond-woman as well as of the free, they are not all mRom. 9.children (ſaith Saint Paul) becauſe they are Abrahams ſeed. There are within the houſe of the viſible Church, children of Hagar as well as of Sarah; they who are the bondmen of corruption, as well as they who are the Lords free-men. Mans outward participation of Gods Ordinances is no aſſured evidence of his inward participation of Chriſt Jeſus: The hearts of Ezekiels hearers went after their nEzek. 33.31covetouſneſſe; Herod lived in oMar. 6.inceſt when he attended the miniſtery of the Baptiſt; the Sadduces were a very generation of pMat. 3.vipers, when they came to the Baptiſme of Iohn; the very City of Jeruſalem, even whiles it had the glorious name and title of Gods Church, was become an qIſa 1.harlot, her ſilver was become droſſe, and her wine mixt with water. It is an eaſier thing to wait on Gods Ordinances, then it is to lay aſide our corruptions. Mens outward profeſſion is not alwayes ſeconded with a ſpirituall change and reformation. Iether had a rIudg. 8.22.ſword, but he had no ſtrength, no courage to draw it, to ſlay Zeba and Zalmunna with it. Many have the Word and Sacrament, the Oracles of God, the Sword of the Spirit; but they have no heart to uſe them, they doe not apply them to the mortification of their corruptions. It is not the having, but the gracious working of the word of God, which proves a man to be the childe of God. The lame man lay many yeares at ſIohn 5.4, 5.Bethesda, his lameſhip not cured; many live many yeares within the pale of the Church, under the powerfull miniſtery of the word, and yet no ſpirituall cure wrought upon their ſoules; the diſeaſe of ſinne ſtill continues and increaſes upon them: Doe not therefore boaſt and glory that you are the children of the Church, as the Phariſees ſometimes boaſted, that they were the tIohn 8.children of Abraham; for as Chriſt ſaid to them, if you were the children of Abraham you would doe the workes of Abraham: Thus if you were the genuine and naturall children of the Church, you would doe the works of them, that are the Church and children of God; and be aſſured of this, though thou live within the pale of the Church, yet if thou live under the power of any prophane luſt, thou art,
1. Carnall man living within the Church, is 1. An unbeliever.1. An unbeleever, thou receiveſt not Chriſt into thy ſoule, thou buildeſt not upon the rocke, but upon the ſand, and thou wilt ſinke at the laſt; for faith where it is, is victorious, it overcomes Satan, the world, and every luſt, it purifies the heart, and makes man a holy Temple to the Lord, it overturnes all the holds of ſinne, it drives all baſe luſts out of the heart, as Chriſt overturned the Tables, and drove the buyers and ſellers out of his Fathers houſe.
2. An hypocrite2. Thou art a very hypocrite, a curſed counterfeit, a whited ſepulchre, full of dead mens bones within, like the Locuſts which had the face of a man, and the haire of a woman without, but the teeth of a Lyon within, and the taile of a Scorpion behind: Thus though thou haſt the face of a Chriſtian without, yet thou haſt the rapine of a Lyon, and the poiſon of a Scorpion, the venome of all ſinne within, and wilt have the portion of an hypocrite at laſt.
3. A defiler of ſacred things.3. Thou art a defiler of things ſacred, an abuſer of Gods Ordinances, one that turneſt the meanes of life into an occaſion of death; the evill herbe turned the Prophets pot into a pot of death; the evill of ſinne ſwaying in thy ſoule, turnes the word of life into the ſavour of death; Like the ſpider, thou ſuckeſt poiſon out of the flower of that Word and Sacrament, which in it ſelfe is ſweeter then the honey, or the honey-combe.
4. A ſcandall to the Church.4. Thou art a ſcandall to the Church of Chriſt where thou liveſt; thou art a blemiſh to the Chriſtian name, as an ulcer to the face, as a dead member to the body; for through ſuch, as the Apoſtle ſaith, is the name of God blaſphemed; miſliving Chriſtians are of all perſons the greateſt diſhonour to Chriſt Jeſus.
5. Greateſt condemnation.Laſtly, be aſſured thy condemnation will be greateſt, thy torment the ſevereſt; They that come neareſt to Heaven by their outward calling and profeſſion, and yet are ſtrangers to the life and power of godlineſſe, ſhall ſinke loweſt into hell, and drinke deepeſt of the cup of Gods vengeance; To ſuch therefore our Saviour ſaith, it ſhall be eaſier for Sodome and Gomorrah in the day of iudgement then for them.
4. Exhortation to the putting away of ſin.4. Are all prophane men aliens to the Church of Chriſt, though they live within the pale thereof? Then let all ſuch as live within the Church, learne by this, to purge out, and put away all prophaneneſſe, to ſearch and ſeeke for, and furniſh themſelves with all ſaving gifts and graces, the proper characters of the living members of the true Church of Chriſt, knowing as the Apoſtle ſaith, that he is not a Iew who is one outwardly, neither is that Circumciſion which is outward in the fleſh; but he is a Iew which is one inwardly, whoſe Circumciſion is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the Letter, whoſe praiſe is not of men, but of God. It is not mans naked profeſſion of Chriſt, but his inward ſanctification that makes him a true Chriſtian, and holineſſe is the honourable and inſeparable Adiunct of Chriſts Church, called by the Apoſtle a Church u1 Cor. 14.33.of Saints; becauſe Chriſt who is the head of this Church is holy, and makes them partakers of his holineſſe, ſeparates them from the world by a holy calling, commits his holy word unto them, cauſeth it to dwell in them, and beſtowes his holy Spirit upon them, and works holineſſe within them; and as Chriſt who is the head of the Church, was according to the fleſh, conceived of the Holy-Ghost: ſo is the Church the myſticall body of Chriſt, ſanctified by the holy Spirit; and as the fulneſſe of the God-head dwelleth perſonally in the perſonall body of Chriſt: ſo dwell the three Perſons of the Trinity myſtically and ſpiritually in the myſticall body of Chriſt, and all the living members of the ſame; therefore as we profeſſe our ſelves to be the children of God, a God abſolutely and infinitely holy, ſo let us be holy in all manner of converſation, as he that hath called us is holy; as we profeſſe our ſelves to be the members of Chriſt, who is a holy head, ſo let us conforme our ſelves to Chriſt, as the members in the body naturall are conformed to the head; and as we are ſtiled the Bride of Chriſt, ſo let us feele in our hearts the ſweet and heavenly motion of the holy Spirit, the pledge of Chriſts love; and as the Bridegroome loveth, cloatheth, adorneth and defendeth his Bride, thus let us labour to diſcerne Chriſts ſhedding abroad his love into our hearts, cloathing us with his righteouſneſſe, adorning us with his graces, and defending us by his bleſſed power, and preſence; and as we are called children of light, ſo let the light of grace in us, like the light in the firmament, ſhine more and more unto the perfect day; the more we ſhine in holineſſe, the more ſweetneſſe ſhall we find in Gods Ordinances, the greater tranquillity ſhall we have in our owne conſciences, the more amiable ſhall we be in the eyes of Chriſt Jeſus, the more ſhall we beautifie the Church of Chriſt, whereof we are members; and as the veſſels of the tranſportative Tabernacle were at length tranſlated into Solomons Temple, ſo ſhall we after our ambulatory and mutable condition in the Church militant, be tranſlated to reſt, and reigne for ever in the Church triumphant.