England Faithfully Watched, Lecture 8
Coloſſ. 1.14. In whom we have redemption [through his bloud.
THe way of grace is here conſiderable, life comes through death: God comes in Chriſt, and Chriſt comes in bloud to ſave. The choiſeſt mercies come through the greateſt miſeries; prime favours come ſwimming in bloud to us.
Through a red ſea Iſrael came to Canaan. Many a man loſt his life, and much bloud ſhed, the very land flowing with milk and honey, made to flow with bloud, ere Iſrael could inherit the promiſe: ſeven nations were deſtroyed ere the land of Canaan was divided to the Iſraelites, Acts 13, 19. Iſrael came to Canaan through bloud, and kept in Canaan through bloud, Samſon was ſtrangled in his own bloud, like Chriſt, to keep bloud and life in that bleſſed people. The harlot had her life by a ſcarlet thread, and ſo had the reſt of her faith. As the promiſed land, ſo the promiſed crown, came ſwimming to David in bloud; how many men died, and how near was David death many times, ere that promiſe of his honour did live. Joſephs garment was dipt in bloud, and he dead alive for ſo many years, and this was the way to his greatneſſe, and to the ſaving of the life of all the holy ſeed.
Sinne makes merciemercy ſo deadly hard in bringing forth, to criſten every precious child, every Benjamin Benoni, every ſonne of Gods right hand, a ſonne of ſorrow and death to her that brings him forth. Adam's ſweets had no bitter, till he tranſgreſſed Gods will, one merciemercy did not die to bring forth another till he died. One creature was a felicitie for another, and none a death to or for another; mercy generated mercy, and man fed upon the cream and top of all, and yet the bottom as ſweet as the top; mans felicitie, was no creatures miſery under him; they were happy in him, and he in them, and all in the preſence of God to each. I will rain bread from heaven, ſaith God to Moſes, and this was an extraordinary thing then, and yet ordinary to Adam before his fall, ſpiritually underſtood; he had all his proviſion without coſt or toil, his felicity deſcended from heaven upon him as dew, heaven and earth opened, and not any ones ſides or veins, and ſo mercy ſtreamed upon him: he had his felicity with no more hardſhip then Angels.
Man would have his pleaſure, and God would have his too: divine pleaſure hath turned the courſe of love. The ſea hath runne ſo many thouſand years in ſuch a channell, yet God can when he will turn it into another, though ſo broad and big an element. The ſea is bottomleſſe, but not boundleſſe, 'tis ordered by the pleaſure of God, and ſo is mercy; the will of God bounds it, orders it, keeps it in, and lets it forth, through what channells it will; life through death, heaven through hell. The firſt covenant was ſealed with life, the tree of life was the ſeal of Adams firſt grace and favour; the ſecond covenant is ratified with death; the tree of life muſt die, or elſe none could live by eating of it: 'tis not life out of life now, as out of the firſt covenant, but life out of death, and this neceſſarily, becauſe according to the will of God Verily, unleſſe a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alive, but if it die, it bringeth forth fruit, John 12.24. God hath taken counſell of his will, and turned the ſea of love into a new channell; the firſt covenant gave out all favours without bloud, but the ſecond through bloud, through Chriſts bloud and our own,Chriſts cup is called Gods will, and our cup is called Chriſts will. the will of God orders both theſe, and therefore is Chriſts cup, when full of bloud, ſaid to be Gods will, not my will but thine, &c. And our bloudy cup alſo called Gods will; if any ſuffer according to his will, &c. Great favours to come through great hardſhips, is the will of God.
Means carry proportion to their end; death to make death; the death of Chriſt, to make the death of the ſerpent; bruiſing to bruiſe, it was ſo proportioned by God. It ſhall bruiſe thine head, and thou ſhalt bruiſe his heel. Nature hides her choiſe things cloſeſt, and bids art uſe pains ſutable to priſe, to obtain them; and ſo doth grace, ſhe hides life in death: our life is hid, ſaith the Apoſtle, where? In bleeding dying Chriſt. Wiſdome orders great things, to be obtained with great pains; grace, and glory, in bloud, in Chriſts bloud and our own. Chriſt gets heaven by ſuffering, and all that will live godly with him ſhall ſuffer too. Means are generally proportioned to their end, ſo by God to Chriſt, and ſo by Chriſt to us. This world is thrown upon men; which is providence diſpoſing, ſutable to things diſpoſed: this world is worth nothing, and comes for nothing; but the world to come is invaluable, and the way to it proportionable, the bloud of Jeſus Chriſt, and the bloud of his people, the one per modum meriti, the other, per modum congrui.
Things are priſed rather as they come, then as they are, farre fetched and dear bought, makes all the priſe, and gives all the worth with us weak creatures: upon this ground the Scripture when it ſpeaks of our great fortune, tells the great priſe it coſt, as eying our weakneſſe, who look more at what things coſt, then at what things are, and as knowing if any thing will work and take with us, this will. To him that loved us and waſhed us from our ſinnes [in his own bloud, Rev. 1.5. Man is a legall creature. and looks much at what is given for a thing, and priſes this more then that which comes for little; he values things more under a notion of priſe, then under a notion of freeneſſe. What did this coſt? why it coſt Chriſts own bloud. Fancie works fooliſhly in weak brains, colour is more then the cloth; and ſcarlet colour a generall taking colour, and therefore is Chriſts garment dipt in bloud, and he admired in this habit. Who is this that comes from Edom? with garments died red from Bozra?
Uſe. Let no man be offended if mercy come any way to ſinners, though through never ſo much bloud and miſery. Sinne had totally and finally cloſed up every wombe of grace, and it could not enter into the imagination of any creature, that ever any dramme of mercy ſhould find any way to them: that the earth opens after much ſweating and labouring, and that heaven opens after much ſweating and bleeding, to ſend forth favours to ſinners, is beyond the expectation of men and Angels. Mercy lay buried under impoſſibility of reſurrection; impoſſibilities reduced to difficulties, and grace become feſable, though with much coſt, is admirable. Deadly ſentence was with redoubled ſtrength paſſed, and not with a ſyllable of revocation, for any loſt creature to make the leaſt gueſſe at any reſtauration. By dying thou ſhalt die, &c. Here is the grave of a whole world of felicity, and a ſtone rolled upon it, daring all powers in heaven and in earth, to open it if they can; and that grace notwithſtanding ſo buried, ſhould riſe and become atainable, is admirable. I wonder that all the world is not bleeding and howling in hell, and every one catching his bloud as it falls, and writing out his fall in capitall letters, to the glory of juſtice to all eternitie., 'tis wonderfull to me, that it is not the whole imployment of all the creatures in this world, to drown one another in bloud, to ſtab, tear, and rend one another in pieces without any ceaſing, as that world below doth; that there are not two hells, a higher and a lower, an upmoſt, and a nethermoſt, and that this is not as bad as that; that all of this ſide heaven, is not hell out-right.
Murmuring ſpirits be patient, you think much to ſee ſo much ſpoil and bloudſhed in the land, 'tis the way of God to bring great things to man; through the bloud of prime brave perſons, are brave things brought forth. Is there a braver perſon then Chriſt in the land, or in any land? and yet through his ſides and through his bloud, muſt great and gallant favours come. You eye your pain, and not Gods pleaſure, his way is in the deep, the Leviathan tumbles there, in the ſea, in the red ſea, in bloud and death; to life and glory; do ye think to juſtle God out of his wayes as ye juſtle a man? Murmuring, is ſpirit juſtling againſt ſpirit, a bad againſt a good, and the worſt will have the worſt; for God treads ſuch to death, as will not give him his way. You know that God fell out with his own people deadly; when they diſliked the way of hardſhip, which he had caſt them into to humble them, and to do them good under heathen princes. Let a wiſe man propoſe ſuch an end, and ſuch a way to it, let it be what it will, red or white, fair or foul, you honour him in all, and with joy look for good in this way: give God this honour. Wiſdomes way to great things is in bloud, in the bloud of ſome prime perſons, to the life and welfare of many.
One or two things may make us give God▪ the honour of his way to ſuch an end, let his way be never ſo ſad in our eye. God alwayes makes his way▪ moſt juſt, to what end ſoever he bends: mercy comes clothed, but like your ſinne, when it comes clothed in ſcarlet, your ſinnes are crimſon ſcarlet ſinnes: you die mercies red and bloudy, 'tis not God. Juſtice treads upon ſinne properly, upon man accidentally, as he lies under it; if no body did ly under ſinne, juſtice would tread no body to death, to bring life into the world, nor ſhed a drop of any ones bloud, to bring the greateſt bleſſings to us. God goes after man, becauſe man will not go after God; juſtice follows ſinners, becauſe ſinners will not follow righteouſneſſe; God doth not ſtep a ſtep in a way of puniſhment, but as you lead him, and to trace you in your wayes of ſinne; all wayes of bloud and death, you chalk out to him; you lead love out of his way, and make him become bloudy. God is love, fury is not in him naturally, but love, he delights not in the death of any; God is nothing but life, and ſo is his motion naturally, and therefore called a fountain of life, nothing runnes from him naturally but life; if death runne out of the fountain of life, 'tis becauſe of poyſon caſt in by you. Generation in bloud, one mercy to die to bring forth another, is ſuch a generation as was not known in the beginning, God never appointed things thus to generate; but life to bring forth life, and ſuch a happy creature, to bring forth ſuch a happy creature, & all happineſſe to live, each ſpeak out fully the vaſtneſſe of the fountain, and the ſimilitude of the ſtream to it. The ſinne of the firſt Adam, coſt the bloud of the ſecond, and all the bloud that ever ſince hath been ſhed, to keep any good alive in the world. Murmuring ſouls you are blind, juſtice ſteres the ſhip, when it ſails in bloud with jewels to you: you would never open your mouths, at all the bloud that is ſhed in the land, no nor at all the bloud that ever hath been ſhed in the world, if your eyes were but open to ſee this firſt thing.
God makes his way moſt ſure to ſuch an end, let the means propoſed to it, be what they will; through bloud and death, or hell, I will ſurely do thee good, ſaith God to Abraham, and yet they muſt into hardſhip ſo much, and ſo long; and yet ſtill the end ſure, and this hart-bleeding condition, the onelyonly ſure way to it, and no other way would have been ſure to ſuch an end. Certainty of an end with us, depends upon the ſtanding or falling of ſuch a thing; but the certainty of Gods end which he propoſeth, doth not ſtand upon the ſtanding or falling of this or that, but upon the reſolution of his will, I will certainly do thee good. One may die, another may die, and yet whileſt the will of God remains reſolute to ſuch an end, the end will live, and the dying of ſuch prime perſons is onward to it, and without which it could not be. Heaven and earth ſhall paſſe away, but not one tittle of Gods will ſhall fall to the ground. The certainty of Gods intention you ſee, depends upon his will: heaven and earth may die, which are greater bodies then man, and yet Gods intention live, becauſe his will lives. I muſt ſay again, that murmuring ſpirits are blind, they can ſee nothing certain in theſe uncertain times, they think that all that God intends, muſt bleed and die, becauſe all that men intend bleed and die, and the very men too. Blind creatures, the certainty of what God intends, doth not depend upon any of theſe; when all is in bloud and dead, God is alive, and on in his way to his end, the unſpeakable good of many.
God alwayes makes his way moſt honourable to ſuch an end, let difficulties in the way, be what they will; though God may caſt much hardſhip upon us, yet he caſteth no diſgrace upon himſelf, nor upon his way. His way is honourable, and glorious, ſaith the Pſalmiſt; all his wayes are ſo when he goes in bloud, (for he ſpeaks of the execution of juſtice there) when he goes in the death of one thing, to the life of another, he goes in in ſtate and glory; God is alwayes tender of his name, when he ſeems not tender of any perſon: his ſonne, his onelyonly ſonne, ſcoffed, crowned, hanged, uſed in all the cruelleſt and baſeſt manner that men and devils could deviſe, and yet this ſonne ſo uſed by men, was ſo managed by God and all his hardſhip, that the name of God was made wonderfull honourable in all. Noble perſons ſtand not upon loſſe, but upon their honour, they value not life, they will ſtep every ſtep in bloud, rather then proſecute their deſignes baſely. An honourable ſpirit is naturall to God, he bringeth nothing about baſely, he eyes not the bloud of men, nor the bloud of his ſonne, nor the braveſt bloud that ever ran in bloud veſſels; but what he eyes is the accompliſhment of his will honourably. Murmuring ſpirits! you are blind, and you are baſe, ſo you may but have your own ends, the fafety of your lives and ſtates, you care not how God brings this about, whether honourably or diſhonourably. Unruly hearts are unfit to order weightie matters, ſuch ſpirits muſt be guided by better then their own; what is done with diſhonour to God, ſaves a little bloud and forfeits a great deal. God will manage his way with honour, though he drown and burn worlds, and turn all the creation into bloud. Our ſpirits ſhould move like Gods; that his will may be done by me to his honour. What is my bloud? What iſ God break my back with ſtanding upon it, and ſqueez out my bloud, ſo that it may but colour his garments ſcarlet, and honourable.
Finally, God makes his way moſt beneficiall, when moſt bloudy and difficult: Who can expreſſe the benefit that redounds to the Church by the bloud of Chriſt? the like I may ſay of the bloud of Chriſtians, the benefit which redounds to God and to man, is not to be expreſſed. The like I may ſay of the bloud that is now ſhed in England. Truth by fiery trialls is made famous, Chriſt is clothed with ſcarlet, and crowned with glory here; a mans life is his glory, and this given to Chriſt in flames, is double glory put upon Chriſt; a mans bloud veins, are the lowdeſt trumpets on earth, to ſound out any thing. What a noiſe hath Chriſts bloud made all the world over! And ſo the bloud of Martyrs, is it dried up yet? What virtues and graces ſmell ſo ſweet, and look ſo glorious, as thoſe that are died roſe-colour, with bloud, with the bloud of that earthen breaſt, in which they grow? Bloud hath a very crying voice, it cries up guilt to heaven, and ſo it cries up grace in heaven and earth; it makes Chriſt terrible, holineſſe immortall, truth eternall; what is written in bloud never goes out, and all that reade wonder.
I have but one thing more to ſay, and that is for as much as great things come in a way of hardſhip to fallen man, that you would all prepare for hardſhip. London doſt thou not ſee? England, doſt thou not feel that thy mercies come in bloud? that thy redemption is likely, if ever, to be through much bloud, but through much more then yet is ſhed, who can ſay? Men die dayly, bloudy clouds go up and down, and fall upon this citie and that, and ſhalt thou London eſcape the ſtorm? Londoners, Londoners, are you prepared to welcome in your mercies in bloud? You have had a Thames of water bringing in wealth to you for a great while, are you prepared to have a Thames made of your bloud, to bring in brave wealth to you for another while? God hath ſtirred up ſome brave ſpirits amongſt you, I would all were ſuch, and yet I ſee many unworthy ſpirits amongſt you; tell ſuch from me, their doom is coming: your bloud is dear, your money dear, but how dear? Dearer to you then Chriſt? then Chriſt will trample upon both. Chriſt is laviſh, becauſe we are nigardly, he ſpoils all, money▪ goods bloud, becauſe men have no heart to offer all, to bring him in all, to this blind land; yet this men will not do, this men cannot do, till better qualified in heart. The heart muſt have precious principles, ere it will part with its bloud like Chriſt, to bring great favours into the world for others. How noble ſpirited was Chriſt! he had principles, which if you labour after, will make you as he, ready and able to part with your bloud, to bring more of truth into the world: he onelyonly eyed and magnified the truth of God, and the glory of God: he ſought not his own will, nor his own glory; and therefore ſo eaſily parted with all that was his own, to bring in God and his love to us; let him be your pattern in this, and you will do likewiſe.