5. The object and root of this spiritual life is, faith in the Son of God,
2. That it is a better and more excellent life than that he formerly lived; as if he had said, Now, since I have seen the misery of my former natural estate, and the excellency of a spiritual life by faith in the Son of God, I esteem my former life to have been wretched, not worthy of the name of life, compared with that which I live now, as being founded in a better root than the 'first Adam.'
3. The spring of this life is the Son of God. God is life naturally, and we have life no otherwise than from him who quickeneth all things.
4. The conveyance of this spiritual life is by faith. Water springs not without a conduit to carry and spread it. The sun warms not without beams, and the liver conveys not blood without veins. So faith is that vessel which conveys this spiritual life, that conduit wherein all spiritual graces run, for the framing and working of spiritual life, conveying all, to pitch upon those excellencies of the Son of God.
5. The object and root of this spiritual life is, faith in the Son of God, loving him, and giving himself for him.
So there is a life besides the natural life, and the root of it is Christ, who is our life. Life is the best thing in the world, most esteemed of us; as the devil said concerning Job, 'Skin for skin, and all that a man hath will he give for his life,' Job 2:4. Life is the foundation of all comforts; life is the vigour proceeding from soul and body, So the spiritual life is nothing else but that excellent vigour, and strong connected strength of the soul and body renewed, grounded on supernatural reasons, which makes it follow the directions of the word, over-master the flesh, and so by degrees be transformed into the image of Christ, consisting in holiness and righteousness.
Doct. The first point then is, that there is a better life than a natural life, because there is somewhat in a man which aspires and looks to a
better estate. A child in the mother's womb hath life and senses in that dark place, but it is not contented therewith, but is restless as in a prison, tumbles and turns up and down; for this life that it hath is not to dwell there, but a beginning-life to fit it to live in the more open and spacious world, whither it must shortly be sent forth. So in this dark life of ours there is a divine instinct, power, and faculty in men, that nothing here can suffice; which shews, that there is a place to satiate the will and the understanding, and fill the affections; that there is a condition which shall make a man fully happy. That there must be a better life, which is this spiritual life; for this life which we live in the flesh is a thing of nothing. Our little life we live here, wherefore is it? To live a while, to eat and drink and enjoy our pleasures, and then fall down and die like a beast? Oh no, but to make a beginning for a better life. If this life be such a blessing, what is then that most excellent spiritual life we speak of? It holds out beyond all. By this spiritual life, when one is most sick, you shall see him most lively and spiritual. When sense, and spirit, and sight, and all fail, yet by reasons drawn from spiritual life he comforts himself in Christ, the glory to come, and what he hath done for him. So the apostle shews the aim of a Christian is to be in sufferings of this life for the increase of a better, 2 Cor. 4:10, saith he, 'Always bearing about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.' When the body is weakest, the spirit is strongest. Take a man who hath not this spirit and hope, he is à la mort* at the apprehension of death, because he hath no faith, no knowledge, no quickening life, no sense or taste of more excellent things; he knows not whether there be a Holy Ghost or not: or if he be convinced in conscience, yet he is taken up with horrors, and fears condemnation at hand for evermore. Oh what are we without this life? Otherwise an heathen or an infidel were as happy as we.
A Christian furnished with this spiritual life can see Christ and glory, beyond all the things of this life; he can look backwards, make use of all things past, see the vanity of things so admired of others; he can taste things nature doth not relish; he hath strength of reasons beyond all the apprehensions of reason; he is a man of a strong working. This should stir us up above all things to get this spiritual life in us, lest, like St Paul's living dead widow, we be dead whilst we be alive, 1 Tim. 5:6. Therefore, unless we will be dead creatures, labour we must for a spiritual life, for there is another death which follows the first death. We not only lose God and Christ, life and glory, eternal life, communion with saints and angels, but also we come to eternal torments with the devil and his angels. Therefore above all things go we to Christ, that we may live in his sight.
What is the reason we seek not more for this spiritual life? Because, when the conscience is not awakened, we think there is no such thing: like Judas, walking on in the state of nature, in drunkenness, voluptuousness, covetousness, and the like, until we perish suddenly.
If the conscience be awakened, oh then it is easy to work upon such a one who sees his misery and desires the remedy. It was easy to persuade Jacob to send for corn into Egypt, when a famine was in the land of Canaan. It is easy to persuade men hungry and thirsty to eat and drink; easy to persuade a laden, weary man to lay down his burden and rest. So it is with us. If the conscience be awakened to have a sense of sin, and that intolerable wrath and eternal punishment due thereunto, we should and would long for this spiritual life.
I beseech you, let us believe there is such a life. Look 1 Pet. 1:3. There he blesses God, 'who hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.' None can go to heaven but they who are begotten again here. The main help is the use of the
means. This is that pool of Bethesda, at which if we lie the angel of the covenant will put us in to be healed. Never rest then till this life be gotten in us. When we find such an antipathy betwixt our spirits and sin as is between poison and them, then there is a beginning of the work. So we should hate sinful persons, whose conversations hinder the progress and increase of our spiritual life. Those who venture on all occasions, no wonder they do fall in sinful courses.
What is all their care and endeavour but to draw one into sin? They care for their lusts, and never think of any more. A Christian will care most for the nourishing of his best life, knowing that good and bad company do, the one quicken, the other dead him.
Christ is called life, the bread of life, tree of life, and he gives us living water to refresh our souls, not that he is so essentially bread, or a tree, but by the efficacy of his working in us. For God is life in himself. Therefore he swears by it: 'As I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death of a sinner,' Ezek. 33:11. We consider not here of life so high, though this life must be derived from him principally. It is so naturally. The Son is the fountain of life, because he is God, who is radically, fundamentally, and essentially life.
But before Christ be fitted to be life for us, he must be man first, as John 6:55, 'For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.' And the reason why he so quickens is, because he is also
God, being that bread which came down from heaven, of which 'whose eateth shall live for ever.' Now this great work of our salvation being of necessity to be performed by an infinite person as God, who could not die, he therefore took upon him a mortal nature, to open a current to mercy and justice. Therefore his flesh is meat indeed; but the flesh profiteth nothing without the Spirit which quickens; for there must be a Spirit to seal up all this unto us. As without shedding of blood no forgiveness of sins, so without the Spirit sealing these
things unto our souls, we can have no comfort of them. When we speak of spiritual life, he it is that we live for; by him, and in him, and through him we live. Therefore, 1 Cor. 15:45, 'the last Adam is called a quickening Spirit,' because by that Spirit he quickened himself, and quickens us now to live the life of grace, and shall hereafter quicken our dead bodies at the resurrection. So he is called 'the Sun of righteousness,' for light and heat, because, as the sun lightens and warms, so he is the light of the world, as John speaks, 'lighting everything which cometh into the world,' John 1:9, warming also and cherishing the mass of things, and therefore is called light and life.
Thus have we seen briefly there is another life than the life of nature; that this is a most excellent life; and that the root and spring of it is the Son of God. Now the way of conveyance of this life is 'by faith.' A fountain is not sufficient to send forth water abroad; there must be pipes to convey it for use. So from the heart and liver there must be arteries and veins for the maintenance of life and conveyance of blood through all the body. Christ is the heart and liver of all spiritual life; but there must be a conveyance to bring it to us, and this is faith. But why is faith the grace to convey life to us?
(1.) Because we are saved now out of ourselves by another. Therefore that grace which brings us to this great good must lead us out of ourselves. This faith doth, which is the hand of the soul, to lay hold of all the graces, excellencies, and high perfections of Christ.
(2.) Because faith gives all the glory to the party* on whom it relies on and trusts, as Rom. 3:26. Paul shews why works were excluded; and such a righteousness was brought in, saith he, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth; and then he adds,
'Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith.' If by love it had come, or humility, patience,
or anything in us, some boasting might have been; but this looks another way, lays hold upon another's riches. Faith acknowledgeth nothing to be at home; therefore it goes to another to fetch it, which else it would not do.
(3.) Because we must be brought back again to God by a contrary way than that we were lost by; for the same way we could never have recovered. The serpent, we know, shaked Eve's faith in believing the threatening.
Whilst they kept the word and feared the commandment, they kept their life; but, losing this awful respect, they lost communion with the fountain of love. So we fell by infidelity, and must return again by faith in the righteousness of another.
By this time we are come to the main thing intended, how we live by the faith of the Son of God. We shall not haply reach the depth of so profound a mystery; only I will endeavour to give you some few heads, wherein faith principally exerciseth her powers and functions.
1. The life of faith is exercised in our effectual calling.
2. In the state of justification, whence comes reconciliation.
3. In a vigorous life, arising on the comfort of our justification.
4. In our sanctification; in those supplies faith finds out to make up the imperfection thereof.
5. The life of faith in glorification.
6. We live by faith in all the several passages of this life, as we shall see when we come to them.