England Faithfully Watched, Lecture 85
COL. 1.28.
Teaching every man.
DIſcipline is ſuted to the ſtate of ſinners; ſome are obſtinate unruly, in thy filthineſſe is [lewdneſse] Ezek. 24.13. to ſuch belongs warning, that is, Blaming: Warne the unruly, ſaith the Apoſtle. Obſtinacy is not a firſt, but a laſt growth of ſinne, it notes a ſinner of ſo long ſtanding; a ſenior in ſin, one almoſt ripe for wrath. The Word muſt be ſharpe and keene when hearts are hard, to make their owne way, becauſe the heart will not yeeld and give way. Reprehenſion is not to goe alone without inſtruction; whom we warne we are to teach. Men are obſtinate, becauſe ignorant; as reprehenſion is proper to men as unruly; ſo is inſtruction proper to them as ignorant: the one doth but lop ſinne, the other doth grub it up by the rootes. Chriſt aimes in the Diſcipline he uſes, at the rooting up of ſinne: he hath a double property in his breath, he doth blaſt, and then bleſſe; blaſt by reprehenſion, and then bleſſe by inſtruction, by breathing in right principles.
The nature of a Chriſtians cleanſing I am to ſtand upon. Goſpell-purification is full: Doct. 1 Chriſt doth foreign, expurgare, purge out filth; filth is not detected and then cloakt and hid againe, duſt is not ſwept together, and then laid behinde the doore, but throwne out. The eternall God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlaſting armes, and [he ſhall thruſt out the enemy from before thee, and ſhall ſay deſtroy. Their enemies in Canaan ſhadowed the enemies in our heart, which Chriſt did not onelyonly detect, but thruſt out; he ſaies to his Spirit and to ours, thruſt out ſin, purge out therefore the old Leaven, kill and carry out the dead, and 'tis ſo; Chriſts words are actions; what he bids, what he commands his Spirit and our ſpirits to do, they doe; oppoſition is ſtrong between Chriſt and Satan, and yet the ſpirit of Juſtice guides him in all that he doth to the moſt unjuſt and curſed things in the world: Chriſt doth no other to Satan and ſinne, than they would doe to him; they have killed Chriſt, and thruſt him out of the world, out of the great world, and they would doe ſo alſo to him in order to the little world. they would kill him and thruſt him out of the heart. This, and no leſſe, is in the nature of ſinne, and without poſſibility of any thing elſe; and therefore compared to Thornes, and in a type named children of Belial, ſeeking to de-throne David: yea to take away the life of David, (i.) Chriſt, and therefore are but juſtly ſerved ſo themſelves. But the ſons of Belial ſhall all of them as thornes be thruſt away, becauſe they cannot be taken away with hands, 2 Sam. 23.6. Belial ſignifies perverſeneſse, ſine jugo, non aſcendens, things that are without yoak, or things that will not aſcend, ſuch things Chriſt do's make to deſcend.
Chriſt doth foreign, repurgare, he doth purge out, and then repeat this act for perfection ſake. 'Tis in grace as tis in nature: there is in nature an expulſive power, and this can repeat it ſelfe till all that offend be throwne out, and nature fully quiet and at reſt. Grace can doe thus, it hath an expulſive power to throw out ſinne, and it can repeat this act, till all be throwne out, and Chriſt quiet and at reſt in the ſoule;Veeſtroph. therefore is Goſpell cleanſing called repurgation, Eſay 1.25. I will turne my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy filth. The word is repurgabo, I will purge and purge againe, till I have taken away all filth, and made all pure, and therefore tranſlated purely purging: I will warne and warne againe, warne and teach, line upon line, precept upon precept, till all bee out that Chriſt diſlikes, and all in that Chriſt loves, till darkneſſe be quite diſpelled, and the ſonne of righteouſneſſe riſen. Righteouſneſſe for the nature of it, is as the Sun, pure, and making the minde and the ſoule ſo; and therefore doth the Apoſtle Peter uſe this phraſe, to ſtirre up your pure mindes, foreign, 2 Pet. 3.1. mindes as pure as the Sunne, ſo the word ſignifies, which is by much purging: the widdowes childe that was brought to life neſes ſeven times: and Naaman the Leper, he waſht him ſeven times, and their legall ſprinklings were ſeven times, all pointing at this, that grace in its courſe, doth double it ſelfe; warne and teach, make cleane and perfect work.
Chriſt doth purifie to and for himſelfe, this neceſſitates full purification; when he takes any ſoule to refine, the patterne to which he workes is himſelfe. Warning will not doe it, to make us like ſuch a patterne; there muſt bee warning and teaching; a throwing out of filth, and a bringing in of grace; ſingle action will not make the ſoule like Chriſt. The force of reprehenſion drives onelyonly at negative grace; warning catries the ſtrength of prohibition, forbids ſome evill; when this is laid downe, I am not like Chriſt; hee was not onelyonly negatively good, but poſitively; he had no guile in his mouth to be warned of; but this was not all; to ſay that his lips were not foule, or were not ſore, will not expreſſe their glory; they were as a thred of Scarlet, as the expreſſion in the Canticles is, they had a poſitive glory and beauty, Grace was powred into his lips, Pſal. 45.2. And therefore not only warning but teaching alſo is neceſſary, to ſute our ſtate to his, to make us like him: ſome acts to caſt out, and others to bring in; we are cloathed with [change of raiment; 'tis a brave expreſſion, Zach. 3.4. Iniquity is made to paſſe away, and then ſomething is brought in the ſtead of it: and unto him he ſaid, behold, I have cauſed thine iniquity to paſse from thee, and I will cloath thee with [change of raiment. Warning and Teaching are change of raiment, they ſpeak the complement of a Chriſtian, full purity, ſinne removed and grace in the place of it, and this neceſſary, becauſe wee are ſhapt to ſuch a patterne, to wit, Chriſt; Wee are renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created us. Col. 3.10. The mould according to which things are made ſpiritually new, is the exacteſt of all. Chriſts owne image was the patterne in the firſt creation, and this is the patterne in the ſecond creation; if 'twere any patterne elſe, our purity might abate of fulneſſe, and yet anſwer the authors intention. Chriſt doth purifie to and for himſelf; but this later I will not touch.
Ʋſe. Saints are ſad ſinne is ſo lively; deformity ſeen is humbling; and this is good: 'tis alſo dejecting in ſome ſoules, and this is bad. I am ſo filthy I ſhall never be made cleane; ſo black, ſo ugly, that God will not know me; God knows who are his, when they themſelves do not. Corruption in us deſtroyes not knowledge nor love in God; he knows and boſomes a Lazarus, a man regarded of none, ſo diſeaſed as curable by none, & yet hath both from Chriſt, favour & cure. Chriſt can love where none elſe can; heal, where none elſe can nor will. Power nor wil are not diſproportionable in Chriſt, though ought ſo in us, in order to many particulars; let one lead, t'other followes alwayes. Hath grace begun with thee? 'twill finiſh; the love of God in order to ſuch an end, hath the power of God wrapt up in it to accompliſh it; the word of grace, or the word making grace, is the power of God, till grace be perfected, 'tis the power of God to ſalvation; as the leaſt ſeed by divine concurrence hath a vertue in it that will carry it on to maturity. Mourning hearts, think of the nature of Goſpel-purification; 'tis full, but know how 'tis carried on to this fulneſſe, by multiplication of acts, warning and teaching, and this multiplication continued; warning and teaching, Participles of the preſent tenſe, which note continued acts: there is purgatio, and repurgatio, a courſe of Phyſick, purging and purging againe, things are not refined preſently; fire muſt riſe to ſuch a ſtrength, and then continue ſuch a length, and this exactneſſe of order, to prevent miſcarriage, that the precious metall deſired may be fully attained, and not done to burn and conſume it. Is thy ſoule long a cleanſing? call it mercy, not miſery; God tenders thy frailty, and the preciouſneſſe of the mettle, he is drawing out of the Ore; he would loſe neither thy perſon, nor his work; the refining fire is as hot as thou canſt beare it; thy purges are as ſtrong, and as oft repeated as thy ſtrength will endure, unleſſe he ſhould purge away life and all.
This you may be aſſured, that how filthy ſoever you are, your purification ſhall be full, the unction ſhall bee as the conveighance through which its made, your ſpirits ſhall be as the Word of God that cleanſeth it; and what purer thing than the Word of God? You ſhall be cleane through the Word, and cleane as the Word, pure as he is pure; this is bravely ſet out in a Metaphor of gold by the Prophet Zachary, the Pipe gold, and the Oile conveighed in it gold too. What be theſe two Olive branches, which through the two golden Pipes, empty the golden oyle out of themſelves? Zach. 4.12. Golden Pipes, and theſe have golden oyle out of themſelves: that which Chriſt doth give out of himſelfe, out of his Word, and out of his Spirit, 'tis as himſelfe, as pure, and as glorious in the nature of it, and at laſt in the degree of it, according to externall view, ſo as that the one is called by all that look upon it gold, pure and glorious, ſo ſhall the other.
This you may be further aſſured, that this ſhall be done freely; the utmoſt benefit, & not the leaſt coſt; look to the wounded man ſaith Chriſt, let all his wounds have Wine and Oyle, warning and …eaching, cleanſing and healing, and I will pay all Joſiah's filthy garments are taken away from him by another, he is not at coſt, no nor at paines to doe it himſelfe; he gives nothing nor doth nothing. Our doing in our cleanſing is defiling: if there do any thing appear in us tending to put away our filth, 'tis not of us, 'tis not we, but Chriſt in us that doth it; he is all in all, as well as all for all. He bids this and that be done, and 'tis ſo, his words waſh us. Take away the filthy garments from him, ſet a faire Mitre on his head, Zach. 3. Chriſt lays out all, and demands nothing, which is admirable. Behold; I have refined thee, but not for ſilver, Eſay 48.10. I choſe thee in the furnace of affliction, &c. If one referre this Text to Egypt or to Babylon, 'tis of much life. When I did good to you in Egypt and owned you, it could not be for gaine and wealth, for yee had none, 'twas a furnace of affliction, a ſtate of oppreſſion and bondage; for my owne ſake I ſaved you there, and ſo I will in Babylon; and ſo he doth every ſinner: that Chriſt doth good to any ſinner, purifie, cleanſe, and cloath him, cannot be for any thing in him; becauſe he chuſeth us, as the Text ſaith, in a Furnace of affliction, in a ſtript condition, in a ſtate of captivity. Captives have not ſtore of treaſure to ranſome themſelves: this well deſerves a note of admiration in the front, Behold I have refined thee, but not for ſilver, I have choſen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Finally, this may be aſſured thee, that Chriſt will compleat thy purification ſpeedily, take ſpeed as the Goſpell doth. The heart is deep, nothing in the world like it; things of depth are not emptied nor filled preſently, as men call preſently, but allow Chriſt the liberty of his own Idiome and dialect in ſpeaking, and ſo he is not ſlack, nor long a conſummating the acts of mercy, no he is not long in conſummating the acts of Juſtice, though he be longer ere he accompliſh this then that a great deale. The Lord is not ſlack as men call ſlackneſſe, ſaith Peter; and yet hee ſpeaks there about wrath, conſuming wrath; and yet he goes a great deale ſlower about this, being as I may ſay unnaturall to him, then about kindnes and mercy, being things in which he delights. If God be not ſlack as men count ſlackneſſe, in conſumamting juſtice upon wicked men, ſurely he is not ſlack, as you poor ſinners count ſlackneſſe, in conſummating grace and mercy: impatient Creatures think a little time a great while; unbeleeving Saints do this, as well as unbeleeving ſinners. Doe but allow God ſo much time in order to all thine enemies internall, as Jerome of Prague did, in order to all his enemies externall, and I will aſſure thee in ſuch a compaſſe of time thou ſhalt triumph over them all, & cito vos omnes, vt reſpondeatis mihi poſt centum annos, &c. thy ſtrongeſt enemy cannot live above an hundred yeares: once in a hundred yeare, men, devils, ſins, vos omnes, as he ſpeaks, they ſhall all anſwer to you, for all the in…ury they have done to you, you ſhall judge and burne them which have burnt you ſo long.