England Faithfully Watched, Lecture 54
COLOSSIANS 1.22. In the body of his fleſh [through death.]
IN ſeverall verſes foregoing, the extremitie of Chriſts ſufferings is mentioned, and yet here againe. In whom we have redemption through his bloud, verſ. 14. This is repeated and amplified, ver. 20. where 'tis call'd the bloud of his croſſe. Here is the ſame thing repeated, but with variation of termes, what before was called bloud, and bloud of the croſſe, is here called death. Chriſt did bleed to death for ſinners. Chriſt underwent much, but it workes but little upon us. Often repetition of the ſame thing, is for energies ſake, that what is not laid to heart at once ſpeaking, may be at ſecond; often repetition of Chriſts ſufferings, ſpeaks lowdly this; That 'tis a hard thing to be kindly and throughly affected, with what others undergoe for us.
Doctr. Jacob underwent much for Laban, ſo did David for Nabal, heat and cold, but both coldly remembred, ſuch cold carnall wretches they were both. Earth hath no ſenſe; this is the ſtate of our ſoules naturally. Can a ſtone lay any thing to heart? Such was …abals heart, and ſuch is ours, ſtones as wee came from the rocke from whence wee were digd. Affections follow ſenſe: where nothing makes impreſſion, there can be no compaſſion. Wee are dead in treſpaſſes and ſin: dead folkes conſider not who mourne for them, who die with griefe for them. Faculties hardened, the childe will throw aſide what the mother which bore him, underwent; the pangs, the ſcreeches, the teares of her that traveld in birth with him. Abilitie to dutie, ſprings not ſo much from things without, as from things within: as the ſoule is diſpoſed, not as the man is ingaged, ſo the partie moves. I will demonſtrate to you, that diſpoſition to this dutie of being throughly and kindly affected, with what others undergoe for us, is hardly attain'd.
It ſprings from goodneſſe purely contemplated; this is a very high thing to doe. Such a one did much for me, I did as much for him, or I may doe. If ſuch be out in fleſh, I am in purſe. Now is others goodneſſe kild with our owne; now is not the love of God, nor the love of man thought of, and how is it poſſible that either ſhould be beautifull in my eye: In ſuch a ſpirit, love hath her wings cut, and no matter to worke upon, which is that that gives diſpoſition to the ſoule, to keepe him alive for ever in my breaſt, which hath done any good for me. We can doe nothing for Chriſt, nor his people, and yet all that is done for us by either, we thinke to be deſerved. 'Tis certain, that infinite love moulders to nothing in our breaſt, under the notion of our owne merit, one way or other, though we obſerve it not. If a man loſe his ſtate, his arme, his life for me, if I thinke he was bound to it by any thing of mine, the life of the action dyes, the memory of the man and his kindneſſe cannot live long: Not an act that Chriſt doth, but we daſh it to death, againſt ſome induſtry of our own. That any creature loves me, is all love: that any one ſhews mercy to me, whether God or man, 'tis all mercy. I am vilder then the earth, below all deſert, deſire, as far as hell is below heaven: a heart at this height, ſtoopes and takes up kindneſſe fully, ſweetly, and keepes it in memory firmely. Things taken up as meere love, ſtick; otherwiſe not: This is a high and hard thing. I may inſtance this to you in God; he merits every thing at our hands we doe, and more then we can doe, and yet he takes up all under the notion of kindneſſe and love, and this makes him to remember all we doe, and all we ſuffer, exactly. I remember the kindneſſe of thy youth, and the love of thine eſpouſalls. All is kindneſſe and love, which man ſhews to God. And when I was hungry, yee did [give] me this, and give me that; God looking upon all that we doe for him as gift, and as kindneſſe, this makes him to remember it alwayes; 'tis hard to get to that pitch, which God moves at.
It ſprings from love, ſtrongly warm'd; the heart muſt lie very neere God, which hath this benefit: God hath but few that lie neere him. Things of life, will not live in a dead ſea: the acts of God which he doth, they are very lively, and yet theſe will die, if the ſoule be not ſuitable which obſerves them. Every degree of divine life, is not enough to keepe favours done for us ſo divinely alive, as they ſhould be. 'Tis more then hinted in the text. Theſe Coloſſians had their Chriſtian life, but yet not ſo, as to remember the love of Chriſt, to the life: alas, who have! 'Tis hard to melt ſome things, much fuell, much blowing and paines uſed, and yet all this muſt be, to diſpoſe the matter, fitly to receive a laſting ſtamp and forme upon it. A heart melted with love, layes to heart the leaſt paines and kindneſſe ſhew'd to it. Whence is this, to me, that the mother of my Lord ſhould come to me, ſaid Elizabeth to Mary.
Ʋſe. As our hearts are below any duty, it ſhould humble us, but as they are below things which are very weighty, it ſhould humble us much more. The doctrine in hand, beats hard upon us for melting hearts. Chriſt ſuffers much for us, man ſuffers much for us, but neither conſidered by us. What any Chriſtian ſuffers for you, you are to account it as Chriſt ſuffering, he makes men willing to die for you; to preach themſelves dead, to pray themſelves dead, to fight themſelves dead; and all theſe dyings, the dyings of the Lord Jeſus. O that there ſhould be ſo many perſons, bleeding in the fields for us, and ſo few hearts bleeding at home for them, and for our ſelves! The ſtrokes of God are various; they are moſt mortall which kill the ſoule. Our bodies are turned to duſt apace, and our ſoules into ſtones as faſt. Ah Lord! how brawnie, how bowelleſſe, how hard-hearted is England become, ſince a ſeate of war! Huſbands loſe armes, legs, lives abroad, and wife and children let ſtarve at home. Our war is very bloudy: conſcience in every man ſlaine: not a tender heart ſcarce amongſt us, to conſider the condition of the greateſt ſufferers for us in the Land. Naball had his eaſe at home, his quarters quiet and plentifull; but what David underwent abroad, to make it ſo at home, did not move, did not, nor would not Nabal conſider. 'Tis your caſe, Londoners: During all theſe bleeding times, Chriſt hath been Quarter-maſter for you, and ſo appointed your quarters, that you have been very quiet, very bleſſed in peace and plenty; but what your brethren undergoe abroad, to procure all this for you at home, which of you doth lay to heart? Ʋriah refuſed reſt and ſolace at home, becauſe of the ſufferings and hardſhip, which the Armies of the Lord were in abroad. The backes and bellies of thouſands of you, ſpeake no ſuch thing: Ah Lord! what will cure the pride and wantonneſſe of this wicked Citie! Drunkenneſſe and ſurfeiting now? Can you laugh when your brethren mourne, and when God frownes? yee Epicures, Can yee drinke wine in bowles, and the bloud of your brethren in bowles? You ſhould at all your exorbitant meetings, thus ſet fancy at worke; The cup at my noſe, is the bloud of the ſlaine: My curious napkins and table-clothes, are the skins of Chriſtians: my gueſts the ghoſts of the ſlaine: my mad laſcivious ſongs, the groanings, gaſpings, and ſhreechings of the wounded and dying. Canſt thou not thinke thus, when thou art in the midſt of thy jovall ſociety? O, no; 'twould ſpoyle all my mirth, 'twould be like the hand-writing on the wall, to Belſhaſar. Doſt thou tender more the ſpoyling of thy carnall mirth, then the ſpoyling of thy eternall ſoule? The guilt of all the bloud that is ſlaine, will fall upon thee, as an unſenſible ſoule. Hadſt thou rather howle for ever, then forbeare mad-mirth a little while? If thou wilt not turne ſinful mirth into mourning, God will turne it into howling. God loves not revenge, yet what he is exemplarily eminent in, he cannot endure that men ſhould altogether ſlight. God layes to heart all that we undergo for him; in all our afflictions, he is afflicted: ſo ſhould we lay to heart, all that he and his undergoe for us. 'Tis the grand medium of converſion, this that I touch: What will melt the heart, if that love which bleeds to death for us, be forgotten. Sinners, Chriſt hath ſuffered the wrath of God for you; he left more wealth then this world is worth, and became poore; he left a manſion in glory, and took a body of fleſh, a houſe of clay, and in this houſe dyed, and left you all, that you might live for ever in the fruition of all. Is all this nothing? Will you regard your ſinnes, more then this Chriſt? Shall your luſt live, though Chriſt have dyed? The death and bloud of the Lord Jeſus, will be upon you. Can you looke upon pierced Chriſt, and not mourne? He will ſhew you your owne hardneſſe of heart, in a like carriage; he will looke upon the wounds and torments of your conſciences, in the houre when you make your will, and not be affected. When mercy cannot bring forth, juſtice becomes the mid-wife, and this cryes ſave the womb, ſave the womb, let what will become of the childe; if this childe die, and bee puld to pieces between the legges, yet another may live, if the womb be preſerved. God much eyes the meanes he uſes to doe us good, he will preſerve the honour of theſe, though thouſands die which trample upon them. What Chriſt hath ſuffered for us, ſhall gain and ſave thouſands, though it deſtroy you; though you lay not Chriſts love to heart, yet Chriſt will have a great many to do it: When I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. Chriſt makes means, and then bleſſeth them to their end; men eye not this, and ſo die without the benefit of them. What Chriſt hath ſuffered for us; he hath promiſed ſo to order, as to make it drawing and winning of us; that his lifting up upon the croſſe, and from thence to heaven; ſhall lift up our ſouls from ſins, and from thence to him, and to the place where he is. Theſe words ſhould be believingly urged, and then the work of our welfare would go on an end. As mercy ſtoops loweſt, it takes up us; for God to make means and bleſſe them, is mercy ſtooping very low, to take up them that are quite down.
Doct. There is one point more I would willingly touch, ere I part from theſe words, and that is, The mortality of all earthly and fleſhly things. Death paſſeth over all now. The body of beaſts fleſh, the body of our fleſh, the body of Chriſts fleſh, dies; In the body of his fleſh through death.
Some worms are ſmall to look upon, and yet will penitrate and conſume an Oak: Sin is ſuch a thing, ſmall in the account of men, and yet gnawes aſunder the ſtrongeſt ſinews. the body of Chriſt, tranſcendently compacted, not of this creation, foreign, Heb. 9.11. as the Author to the Hebrews ſpeaks, and yet ſin diſſolves & moulders this ſtately fabrick. From the greater to the leſſe, we may argue ſafely: If the body of Chriſt cannot live, in reſpect of ſin, ſurely no body elſe can. The body of Chriſt would have born more then all the world, and not have cracked: Vanity of vanity, all is vanity; the body of Chriſt dies; the body of all other things die, which ſtand further off from ſin then the body of Chriſt, and the body of man do: The body of Chriſt and the body of man ſtand in a more immediate relation to ſin, and the fruit thereof, then other things of the creation do, and yet ſin eats out every body of the creation, thoſe that ſtand furtheſt off from it: the whole world waxeth old, waxeth languiſhing, 'thath made its will, 'twill die in a moment, the glory of this world paſſeth away; the forehead of this world, to wit, the heavens, will become wrinckled, and wax old.
Wiſdome will have no heaven here: Death ſhall gnaw the greeneſt goard, the ſtrongeſt mans body, and every body that bears reſpect to it. We and our beſt friends die; [your fathers] where are they? My father, my father, the chariots and horſemen of Iſrael, &c. and yet this would not hold him, his deareſt friend in the world muſt be gone. It ſhadowed out Chriſt, he is our Father, our Father, twice as good and as dear as all other friends; that is, he is the deareſt friend man hath in all the earth, and yet a fiery chariot fetches up this Father from his children here: Chriſt goes away, [I] go away, and yee ſhall ſee [me] no more. So ſaid Paul to his ſpirituall children, and it did cut to the quick.
Juſtice doth retaliate. We killed God in all, and ſo doth he us: we did run away from God, and left him ſolitary, and he makes every thing run from us, husband, wife, children, one dearer then all, Chriſt, and leaves us alone. The ſpirit of the Angels which fell, was in us when we fell; pride and malice would have puld down God; we ſhew'd our will, but could not accompliſh it upon God, but he hath upon us; not we, nor any thing in our ſimilitude can live; if God ſee but our ſhadow and Image, he ſtrikes at it, as we did at his: Chriſt fared the worſe for us, he dyes for having to do with us.
Ʋſe. What God means in all this, ſhould be inquired into. What every carnall thing dying, and yet carnall affection alive? There is demonſtration enough without, of the mortality of all things, but no demonſtration of this within us; our inward thoughts are, that our habitation ſhall indure for ever. England all over is a demonſtration of this point, that all things are bleeding and dying. Chriſt had rather that a thouſand thouſands of bodies ſhould die, then one ſoul: one thing is aimed at, that all things die, to wit, the death of your luſt, the life of faith; and this is your leſſon from this Doctrine. Can you receive it? Every thing ſhall live for ever, when you can love all in Chriſt, and admire all in Chriſt, and make an advantage of love by all, to Chriſt. All the ruines you behold in this kingdom, or in the whole creation, all the ſeas of blood wherin the world is at this day, are but to waſh our hearts; that's very foul, which muſt have all without, even Chriſt himſelf turn'd into blood, to cleanſe it. 'Tis long ere carnall affections be ſlain; every thing muſt die, and its blood be thrown in the face of conſcience, ere the man will ſpit out what offends God. The ſtability of all about you, bears much upon the rectitude of your affection. Take heed how you love husband, wife, children, you may hug them to death with a ſinfull love: You complain of Cavalleers for killing your eſtates, trades, friends, but your own luſt did all this ſpoile; could the Word, or any leſſer rod have killed your affection to the world, the good things thereof would have been all alive, and in your hand at this day.
Poore Chriſtians ſhould cheare themſelves from this point. Thou haſt nothing in this world, no wealth, no honours, no friends; thy gay clothing, is thy skin; thy lands, thy hands; thy wealth, thy health; 'twill be the caſe of all; all is dying, to them that have it: naked came every one out of the wombe, and naked ſhall they thither return; every thing ſhall die from him that hath moſt: thou wilt have as much in the grave, as he that hath moſt out. The rich and the poor ſhake hands in the duſt. There is danger in rich mens joy, and poor mens ſorrow, about worldly things; The Doctrine in hand would cure both, if ſtudied well; that all dies, me thinks, ſhould make one not love much what one had, nor grieve much for what one has not, but in both, to look out after another ſtate.
All things are dying here, but all things are ever living and everlaſting above, O that I were there! Were I in heaven, I ſhould heare no more knels, nor paſſing-bels, no noiſe of warre. In the boſome of Chriſt, all is quiet; there be a great many there, and yet they do not fight, nor kill one another, nor never wil. They are rivers of pleaſure, which they drink of above; many going to drink at a river, fall not out, becauſe there is water enough, and ſpace enough; but many thirſty creatures going to a bottle to drink, fight and pull it out of one anothers hand; I cannot drink, ſaith one, 'twill be all drunk up, ſaith another; ſuch a one drinks ſo much: none of all theſe complaints when perſons drink at a river, though thouſands there, they drinke all together quietly, becauſe a river is a large cup, and hath ſprings at bottome: ſo is the breaſt of Chriſt, 'tis a river of pleaſure, yea 'tis rivers of pleaſure; thouſands and thouſand of thouſands drink there all together, and no falling out, for want of convenience to drinke, or for feare of want of water, becauſe there be ſprings at bottome. 'Twere better to enjoy theſe things, then talke of them, one can but ſpeake ſo brokenly of them.