No Power But of God, Part 1
What Chriſt hath delivered us from, and reſtored us unto.
Shall onelyonly ſpeak of two things more … briefly, viz.
Firſt, what we are delivered from by …hriſt.
Secondly, what we are reſtored unto.
Firſt, what are delivered from, and here… I might inſtance in many things; I ſhall …ely make mention of two.
Firſt, we are delivered from ſinne.
Secondly, from death the wages of ſin.
Firſt, we are delivered from ſinne, Iſa. …. 6. it was all laid upon him, and ſo we came free. Rom. 6. 18. & 22. verſes com…red together. 1 Pet. 2. 24. 2 Cor. 5. 21. …atth. 8. 17. Rom. 6. 11. Col. 1. 22. 1 Theſſ. … 13.
Secondly, thoſe, and onelyonly thoſe that …e in Chriſt are delivered from death the …ges of ſinne; O death, ſaith Chriſt, I will …thy death, Iſa. 25. 8. He hath ſwallowed up …th in victory. 1 Cor. 15. 55, 56, 57. O death …ere is thy ſting, O grave where is thy victory? …e ſting of death is ſinne, and the ſtrength of …e is the Law. But thanks be unto God who …eth us the victory through our Lord Jeſus …riſt, &c. So then by Chriſt a believer is …ed from the Law: Firſt, from the curſe. Secondly, from the condemning powe… Thirdly, from ſinne; and Fourthly, fro… death.
Secondly, let us a little conſider, as wh… we be delivered from, ſo what we are r… ſtored unto. I ſhall not undertake to … forth this in the heigth and breadth, dep… and length, but onelyonly give a hint to it, … I have ability and time, knowing that I a… ſtraitned in both:
Ye were ſervants, you be now friends … Chriſts, Joh. 15. 15.
And if that be too little, ye are Sonn… and Daughters.
If that be too little, are calls you his B… thren, and Siſters, Heb. 2. 11.
If that be too little, he calls you h… Choſen, Spouſe, and Wife, Rev. 21. 9.
If that be too little, he tells you that yo… be members of his own body, 1 Cor. 12. 12▪
If that be too little, he tells you that yo… be heirs with him, Rom. 8. 17.
If that be too little to expreſſe the abu… dantneſſe of his love to you, he tells yo… That the glory which the Father gave to him, … hath given to you, that you may be one, as … Father and he is one.
If that be too little, he tells you, Tha… you be joyned to the Lord, you are one ſpirit, 1 Co… 6. 17.
If this be too little, he tells you indeed, …hat all theſe things above-mentioned, are …t a taſte of what you ſhall ſhortly be, Joh. 3. 12.
Oh thou moſt noble overcomming Saint, …rvant of the moſt High God, heir of pro…iſes, and Son of Sion! Conſider what …ou art come from, and now by Chriſt …me to, Heb. 12. 22, 23, 24. But ye are come …to Mount Sion, and to the City of the living …od, the heavenly Jeruſalem, and unto an innu…erable company of Angels, to the general aſſem…y and Church of the firſt born, which are writ…n in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to …e ſpirits of juſt men made perfect, and to Jeſus …e Mediator of the new covenant, and to the …ood of ſprinkling that ſpeaketh better things then …at of Abel.
Now manifeſtly and truly mayeſt thou …ay, I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine. …e that toucheth me, toucheth the apple of his …ye. My Father is ſo tender of me, that he …akes all the wrongs done to me, as done …o him…elfe; he that perſecutes me, perſe…utes him, Act. 9. 4. And he that hath pity …nd compaſſion on me, the Lord takes it as …one to himſelf, Matth. 25. 40.
David ſaid, Who am I, that I ſhould be ſon in …aw to King Saul! but I may ſay, Who am I that I ſhould be Son and heire, yea cohei… to the King of Kings. I was a dry a… barren tree fit for nothing but burning, b… I ſhall flouriſh like a tree planted by t… rivers of water.
O how often did he call, how earneſt… did he knock, how powerfully did … ſtrive, how long did he wait upon me b… fore my ſtubborn heart would yeeld! If … had never loved me, I had never loved hi… If he had never drawn me, I had never r… after him: If he had never ſought me, … had been ſtraying in the wilderneſſe of in… quity, and feeding in the fields of vanity, … moſt are: but now he hath avouched himſelf to be mine, and I have avouched m… ſelf to be his, Hoſ. 2. 19. I will betroth thee … me; So I became the Bride, the Lamb… wife.
Firſt, Chriſt comes and woes me, 2 Co… 5. 20.
Secondly, he gets my good will, and became his, 1 Joh. 12.
Thirdly, he makes my ſoul fruitfull Joh. 15. 5.
Again, as he is a husband to all hi… people, in that he performs all offices o… love as a husband, he comes not ſhort i… one thing, but tranſcends and goes beyond a husband in every thing: as to in…ce, Death or poverty, impriſonment, …ke a ſeparation in part or in whole be…een a man and his wi…e; but none of …eſe can make a ſeparation between Chriſt …d my ſoul. Again, in other marriages a …n ſeeks to marry one that is rich, but …riſt ſeeks for no riches, but takes the …or to make them rich.
In other marriages a man looks for …auty, but Chriſt marries thoſe that are … their blood, that he may beautifie them …ith his own beauty. Again, in other …arriages, infirmities in a wife do many …mes abate the love of the husband to the …ife; it is not ſo with Chriſt to his Spouſe. …gain, if the wife play the harlot, the man …ill put her away, it is not ſo with Chriſt, … you may ſee, Jer. 3. 1. But thou haſt played …e harlot with many lovers, yet return unto me, …ith the Lord.
Well then, ſaith the ſoul, let friends for…ake me, let enemies deride me, let all …orldly comforts leave me; If I can but …njoy Chriſt for my husband, it is enough. …any more glorious things might be ſpo…en of the bleſſed ſt…te of a Chriſtian reſto…ed by Chriſt: but I leave it to thoſe that …ave greater enjoymen…s of it, and ſhall winde up all with this word of conſol… tion, Bleſſed, yea thrice bleſſed is the man, ſai… David, whoſe ſinne is covered: If Sathan ſe… for thy ſinne, and wicked men ſeek for th… ſinne to lay it to thy charge, Who ſhall lay … thing to thy charge, ſaith Paul. Thy fin… ſhall be ſought for, and ſhall not be fou… ſaith the Lord by the Prophet Jeremy, J… 50. 22.
Sinne may break thy communion, b… not thy union with God.