SERMON IX.

O Lord thou Son of David] The one word (O Lord) holdeth forth Christs Godhead, Page  91 the other (Son of David) holdeth forth his Man-hood; Here's the perfection of our Me∣diator, in that he is the substantiall Covenant, and Emanuel, God with us,* or God us in a per∣sonall union; the substantiall marriage and ali∣ance between the two houses of Heaven and Earth; God and clay: 2. He is not ashamed to call them brethren, Heb. 2.11. And why would he take part of flesh and blood, but be∣cause he would be a child of our house, vers. 14. 3. He would be of blood to us, not only come to the sick, and to our bed side, but would lie down and be sick, taking on him sick clay, and be in that condition of clay, a worm and not a man, that he might pay our debts; and would borrow a mans heart and bowels to sigh for us, mans eyes to weep for us, his Spouses body, legs and arms to be pierced for us, our earth, our breath, our life and soul, that he might breath out his life for us, a mans tongue and soul to pray for us; and yet he would remain God, that he might perfume the obedience of a High Priest with heaven, and give to justice blood that chambered in the veins and body of God, in whom God had a personall lodging.

1. Vse, O what love!* Christ would not in∣trust our redemption to Angels,* to millions of Angels, but he would come himself, and in per∣son suffer, he would not give a low and a base price for us clay, he would buy us with a great Page  92 ransom, so as he might over-buy us, and none could over-bid him in his market for souls; if there had been millions of moe believers, and many heavens without any new bargain, his blood should have bought them all, and all these many heavens should have smelled one Rose of Life; Christ should have been one and the same Tree of Life in them all; O we under-bid, and under-value that Prince of love, who did over-value us; we will not sell all we have to buy him, he sold all he had, and himself too, to buy us.

2. Vse. What an incomparable thing must the Mediator God-man be?* There's no fair creature,* no excellent one, but there's a peece of nothing, and creature-basenesse, and crea∣ture-vanity in it, even a thing of blood to the mother-nothing of the creation of God; there is no Rose, but it hath a Brier growing out of it, except the Rose of Sharon, that flower of the field, not planted with hands, the Son without a Father (and who shall declare his ge∣neration?) A Rose that should smell, and cast out odours for a mile of earth, or for ten miles could draw to it many beholders, but if it should smell for the bounds of the half of the earth, it should be more admirable, the flower that sprang out of the root of Jesse, spreads his beauty, and the odours of his myrhe through heaven and earth; could the darknesse of hell stand and look on the face of the Sun, black∣nesse Page  93 of darknesse should be better seen; but convene all the little pieces of the Creation summon before Christ, faire Angels, all the Troops of the sin-lesse, glorified spirits, the broad skies, fair heavens, lightsome stars, all the delicious Roses, Flowers, Gardens, Medows, For∣rests, Seas, Mountains, Birds, all the excellent Sons of Adam, as they should have been, in the world of innocency, and let them all stand in their highest excellency before Jesus Christ; the matchlesse and transcendent glory of that great All, should turn the worlds all into pure Nothing; what wonder then that this same Lord Jesus be the delight & heaven of all in it? Rev. 7.17. The Lamb hath his Throne in the midst thereof, Rev. 22.4. And they shall see his face: They do nothing else, but stare, gaze, & be∣hold his face for ages, & are never satisfied with beholding; suppose they could wear out their eyes at the eye-holes in beholding God, they should still desire to see more. To see him face to face, hath a great deal more in it, then is ex∣pressed; words are short garments to the thing it self: Your now sinfull face to his holy face, your piece clay-face to his uncreated soul-de∣lighting face is admirable. We do not praise Christ, and hold out his vertues to Men and Angels. The creatures, as the Heaven, Sun, Moon, are Gods debtors, and they owe him glory: but men who have understanding and tongues, are Gods Factors and Chamberlains to Page  94 gather in the rent of glory and praise to God; the heavens do indeed declare the glory of God; Ps. 19.1. but they are but dumb Musitians, they are the Harp, which of it self can make no Mu∣sick; the creatures borrow mans mouth and tongue to speak what they have been thinking of God and his excellency these five thousand years; now all the glory of God, and the glory of the creatures are made new by Christ, Rev. 21.5. And made friends with God, Col 1.20. and are in a speciall manner in the Mediator Christ; he is, Heb. 1.3. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉the irradiation or brightnesse of the glory, and the character or expresse image of his person: All creatures by Adams sin, lost their golden luster, and are now vanity-sick, like a woman travel∣ling in birth, Rom. 8.22. All the creatures by sin did lesse objectively glorifie God, then they should have done, if sin had never been in the world, and so they were at a sort of variance and division with God: And it pleased, Col. 1.20. the Father in Christ 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 to make friendship between God and all things, that is to confirme Angels, to reconcile man, to restore the creatures to be more illustrious ob∣jects of his glory: now the in-come of the rents of glory is more due to Christ, and the debt the greater, in that Christ hath made all things new, and why should we not in the name of Sun, Moon, Earth, Heaven, which are all loosed from the arrestment of vanity by Christ, Page  95 and in the name of Angels and of Saints redee∣med, hold forth the praises & the glory of God in Christ? Pa•, pay what you owe to Christ, O all creatures! but especially you redeemed ones.

3. Vse.* If Christ the Mediator be so excel∣lent a person we are to seek our life the Gospel-way in Christ; we often conceive Legall or Law-thoughts of Christ, when we conceive the Father just, severe, and Christ his Son to be more meek and mercifull; but the Text calleth him Lord, and so that same God with the Fa∣ther; nor hath Christ more of Law, by dying to satisfie the Law, nor is he more mercifull then the Father, because he and the Father are one; there are not two infinite wills, two infinite mercies, one in the Father, another in the Son; but one will, one mercy in both, and we owe alike love and honour to both, though there be an order in loving God, and serving him through Christ.

4. Vse. Infinite love, and infinite majesty,* concur both in Christ; love and majesty in men, are often contrary to one another, and the one lesseneth the other; In Christ, the infinite God breatheth love in our flesh, 1. And we see but little of Christ, we know not well the Go∣spel-spirit, we rest much on duties to go civill Saints to Heaven; but the truth is, there be no Morall men and Civilians in Heaven, they be all deep in Christ who are there; we are stran∣gers to Christ and believing. 2. The spirit of Page  96 a redeemed one can hardly hate a redeemed one, or be bitter against them; Christ in one Saint, cannot be cruell to Christ in another Saint. 3. Christ cannot lose his love, or cast it away, the love of Christ is much for conque∣ring hearts; his chariot is bottomed and paved with love; duties bottomed on Christs love, are spirituall; as the Father accepteth not du∣ties, but in Christ, so cannot we perform them aright, when the principall and fountain cause is not the love of Christ, Ioh. 21.15.

*5. Vse. The Ancient of dayes, the Father of Ages taketh a stile from his new House, The Son of Man; he hath an old House, from whence he is named, The Son of God; he must affect us, and his delight be with the sons of men, when he taketh a name from us, we should affect him, and affect a communion with him, and strive to have Christs new name, as he ta∣keth our new name, The Son of man, of David.

*Son of David, have mercy on me:] The se∣cond Article of her prayer is conceived under the name of Mercy:* Why? Gods mercy is a spirituall favour: deliverance to her daughter, is but a temporary favour, that may befall a Re∣probate: The Devil may be cast out of the Daughters body, and not out of the Mothers soul. Yea, but to the Believer, all temporall favours are spiritualized, and watered with mercy.

[ 1] 1. They are given as dipped in Christs bowels Page  97 and mercy, wrapt about the temporary favour, Mar. 1.41. Jesus cured the Leper: but how? Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him: So is the building of the Temple given, but oyled with mercies, Zach. 1.16. Therefore thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; my House shall be builded in it. Epaphroditus re∣covered health, but with it, some of Gods heart and bowels also, Phil. 1.27. For indeed he was sick neer to death, but God had mercy on him,

2. The ground of it is Gods mercy; the two [ 2] blinde men, Mat. 20.30. put this in their Bill, they cry, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. They will not have seeing eyes, but under the notion of mercy: David pained with sore sicknesse, as some think, or under some o∣ther rod of God, desireth to be healed, upon this ground, Psal. 6.2. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak.

3. Faith looketh to temporall favours,* as Faith with a spirituall eye, as Christ and his merits goeth about them, Heb. 11.22. By faith, Joseph when he dyed made mention of the chil∣dren of Israels departure. 23. By faith, Moses come to age, refused to be called the son of Pha∣raohs daughter. Why? and that was but a ci∣vill Honour. Moses his faith lookt at it in a spirituall manner.

4. That same ground that moveth God to give Christ, is enough to move him to give all [ 4] Page  98 other things with Christ;* as by what right, even the right of a Son; a Father giveth the Inheri∣tance to his Son, by that same he giveth him food, rayment, protection, physick; there be not two Parents here, but by one and the same covenant, Ezech. 36.25, 26. The Lord giveth to his people remission of sins: and v. 30. He multiplieth the fruit of the Trees, and remov∣eth Famine. In the same spirituall capacity of sons we pray, that Our father would forgive us our sins, and give us our daily bread. Get Christ first, the great ship, and then all other things, the cock-boat saileth after him, with the same motion and wind: they be not two tides and two winds, that carry on the Ship and the Boat: Christ injoyed by Faith, traileth after him death, life, the world, things present, and things to come: if God give you Christ, in the same Charter all things are yours, because yee are Christs, and Christ Gods, 1 Corinth. 3.21. Christ watereth with his blessing all things, if all that a Saint hath be blessed, and every thing (to speak so) mercied, and christianed, even his basket & his dough, Deut. 28.5. His inheritance must be blessed, much more all Christs inheri∣tance must be blessed, because he is the seed, the Spring, & abstract of blessings. Now Christ, Heb. 1.2. is appointed the heir of all things: then he is the heir of a draught of water, of brown bread, of a straw-bed on the earth, and hard stones to be the pillow: to the Saints, to the Page  99 children of God, hell (to speak so) is heaven'd, sorrow joyed, poverty riched, death inlivened, dust and the grave animated and quickned with life and resurrection. God save me from a draught of water without Christ: peace and deliverance from the sword without Christ and the Gospel, are linked and chained to the curse of God; alas, if men have the single creature, they make no account how other things go: Give us Peace upon any terms (say they) you may have the earth, peace, and the creature, and the Devil to salt them to you with the curse of God. Judas had the bag at his girdle, but withall, the Devil in his heart, the creature wanteth life and blood without Christ.

2. All mercy, that is, graced mercy is to be sought in Iesus Christ; every mercy is mercy, because its in Christ, every stream is water, be∣cause its of the element of water: every thing in its own element and nature is most copious; water is no where so abundant as in the sea, so in Christ the great treasure of heaven, there is fulnesse, Ioh. 1.16. but Col. 1.18.* There's a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a fulnesse in Christ, but 2. A 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, fulnesse, that fulnesse, that all fulnes. And 3. that all fulnesse is not in Christ, as a stranger in an Inne, coming in, and going out: but it pleased the Father 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 that it should dwell and remain in him; The grace and mer∣cy that is in Christ must be sought, and no o∣ther, upon these grounds: 1. Its a speciall [ 1] Page  100 choice mercy that is in Christ, For 1. No per∣son could serve Gods ends in such a way as [ 2] Christ did, being so compleat as he is. •. God out of the deep of his wisdom found out such a Mediator, and so graced; Isaac should have been undutifull, if he had refused a wife of his fathers choosing, for both out of love and much wisdom he choosed her; now when God out of infinite love and deep wisdom hath chosen to us an husband, an head, such a head, such a Captaine, and Leader in whom there is such fulnesse, shall we refuse him, and shall we not seek the best things in him? Now Christ is a husband of Gods choosing, Isa. 42.1. Behold my chosen one in whom my soul delighteth: 2. Its not from God, that we now receive mercy immediately, but from Christ, God in the Me∣diator, though Grace and Mercy be every way free; yet now mercy is a flower that groweth in our land, in him who is our blood-friend; so now we have mercy by nature, as well as by good will, we must have it by an act of the man Christs will, and when our Writs are waxen old, why seek we not that which God hath laid by for us? Grace is more connaturall to us now, in that it is in the bosome of our brother, and ours by derivation. 3. There's a difference be∣tween [ 3] mercy, and purchased mercy, its payed for mercy that we receive, and so more excel∣lent then Angel mercy: As some waters that run through mettals, hath a more excellent Page  101 vertue then those that spring from pure earth; mercy is so much the more desirable, that its a River issuing through that more then golden and precious Redeemer; and so to us its twice mercy, to the Angels its but once mercy: E∣ven as the Bee gathers sweetnesse out of vari∣ous and diverse flowers; yet its so composed, that the liquor resulting out of them all, hath not any particular taste from the sundry flow∣ers, the Violet, the Pink, the Rose, the Woodbine, the Claver, but it tastes of hony only; so we all have meeting in Christ, Wife, Children, Houses, Lands; honour to the Saints have not their own naturall taste, but out of all there's in them a spirituall resultance of some heavenly composure of Christs sweet∣nesse, and are so sprinkled, and dipt in Grace and Mercy, that as fresh Rivers do borrow a new taste from the Sea, when they flow in to its bosome, so all earthly favours borrow a new smell and relish from the fountain Christ: What doe they say then, that teach that a man may have all Graces; yea, and poverty of spirit, and yet want Christ? As if these could be separated: he that believeth hath the son, Grace and Christ cannot be se∣parated, Ephesians 1.2. Galatians 1.3. Iohn 1.11. These by-ways sunder souls and the foundation Christ.