Chapter X
, The uses of the foregoing doctrine. How we are to exercise faith on the
person of Christ, God-man.
Use 1. One end of mine in enlarging upon this head is to direct your
faith in your approaches and addresses to Christ, viz., to pitch your souls
upon his person of being God-man, and under the notion and apprehension
thereof, taken in and formed in your minds, still to act all the other several
exercises of your faith upon him. I do not say you have no true faith
unless you have explicit thoughts hereof in all such actings ; for foundations
(as this is one) firmly laid in the soul do implicitly work when they are
not in actu exercito, or explicitly thought upon, but an habitual appre hension thereof carried along in the soul may have a true and real efficacy in it ; yet the more you have of explicit, enlarged conceptions thereof, and
reflections thereupon, and the oftener they are renewed, you will find them
the more powerful and working ; for it being so great a truth, that in the
reality of the thing itself, his person in being God and God-man, is that
which gives the ground and foundation, influence and virtue, into all we
believe upon him for; then the explicit acting of faith hereon, and through the faith of it, upon all else he doth for us, must needs have a proportionable
effect in all. You all know and profess, as touching his person, that he is
God, Son of God, &c., and volant or flying thoughts thereof run through your minds at times, but do your hearts dwell upon the meditation of it as that
which puts life into your hearts in all you believe concerning him ? For
this his person is not only eternal life (taken abstractedly, as it shall be
possessed in heaven) in the sequel alone, but it is the life of your faith
exercised on his death for forgiveness of sins, for saving from wrath. Many in their judgments think that the doctrine of the Trinity, and the doctrine
OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [BOOK II.
that Christ is God, is but a matter of speculation and contemplation ; and though it is a truth, yet it is such as one might let lie by him, as that which will do them no hurt nor good. And most men in the practice of their faith make little more use of it than this comes to, whereas it is such a truth as thy life lies in it, even eternal life. And such the apostles and those believers accounted it, and did cleave to Christ accordingly through the faith of it, and of him under the contemplation of it. Christ having said he was the bread of life that came down from heaven, and it was his Godhead made him to be that living bread, John vi. 56, useth this phrase, He that eateth my flesh, &c., dwelleth in me, and I in him. As a man
first chews with delight, and then takes down his meat, and by its abiding, its dwelling in him, and his digesting it, it turns into his own^body, and so
gives life and strength to him, so must it be with our knowledge of Christ; he must dwell in us by faith, and we in him, and this will quicken you to purpose. Hath the Father thus taught and instructed thee to live upon him, and to come to him for life as such ? It is his participation of life from the Father, and so his being Son of the living God, that gives him
life, and so through him thou comest to have that life of the Father in thee, by dwelling in him, as the next verse, ver. 57, shews, As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father ; so he that eateth me, shall live by me.
Use 2. The next use is for information of the right state of this assertion I have been upon, that the person of Christ as God-man is the principal object of faith. You will ask me, Do all that truly believe on him come to him under that apprehension, simply for his person s sake, as moved there unto by the consideration simply of his person ? This is a spiritual pitch indeed ; but do all believers at first come to him under this apprehension, and cleave to him for it ?
I answer, that there are two scopes or purposes that I drive at in my having pressed this, that Christ s person is the object of faith.
1st. That the faith on his person as God-man is the foundation of all else we believe upon him for as he is our Saviour ; and as that is it which makes him able to take sins away, and to give us a righteousness to justify us, and which puts that power in force which his death hath to kill sin, and which himself hath to quicken us, so all that we have to deal with him
for, and all that our faith is carried out to him, and to God through him
for, is all in the virtue and force of this faith first begotten in you, that he
* Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ? And so in the force, and virtue, and strength of this, that Jesus is the Son of God, it
is God-man, the Son of God : 1 John v. 5,
is that we have victory over the world. It is remarkable, that when Christ had uttered these faithful sayings about himself, John xi. 25, 26, unto Martha,
* I am the resurrection and the life : he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this ? He then puts her faith strictly to it to answer to these particulars (as one puts a catechist to answer catechetical questions). Now we see that she doth not answer as one would have thought she should, directly and distinctly unto these par ticular points of faith in question put unto her, but seems to divert unto another head, unto the great article of faith. She saith unto him, ver. 27, Yea, Lord : I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. This answer she utters in full, and upon the whole matter, unto the question he had put, and though it was [not] in
CHAP. X.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 189
express terms, not in terminis, nor in the particulars, but yet fundamentally
it was a comprehensive answer, and most direct ; for therein she shews she
believed that that was the foundation of all these particulars, and of many more things that she believed of him, and indeed of whatever else that
* I believe, says she, that thou art the Son of God ; and this she conceived, and most rightly, to be a full answer unto
Christ might ask her.
these particulars ; for she saith, Yea, Lord, I believe them all, I believe all
that thou hast asked me, by believing this one thing of thee, that thou art
the Christ, the Son of God, and so art the cause of all these, and of what
ever else is attributed unto him that is the Christ, in the prophecies of
him, that he should come into the world. In the virtue and strength of
this she believed he was the resurrection of souls dead in sins and tres
passes, and of souls that had begun to believe on him ; and then of their
bodies at the resurrection, and that he was eternal life, so as they that
believe on him shall never perish, and their souls shall never die, whatever
their bodies for a while did. And she believed all in the strength of this, that he was the Son of God ; so that the believing of this is fundamentally
necessary for every Christian to know.
Only I add this, that foundations, though they bear up the whole build
ing, yet oftentimes lie hid under ground after they have been first laid ; and so it is in our faith of principles and foundations, though they remain
in the heart, and bear up all of our faith else about what we do believe, yet they are not always drawn out in our thoughts into formed-up propositions, though at first they were inlaid as such. They bear the weight of all, and
to have the faith of them is common to all believers, and is universally assented to as a foundation : 1 Tim. iii. 16,
* This is the great mystery of
godliness (that is, the great ground of all godliness, the pith of it) God manifested in the flesh, believed on in the world. And Eph. iv. 13, they
all come to the unity of the faith, that shall be saved through all ages ;
all that either are now converted, saith the apostle, or that are to be con
verted (take the lowest Christian) and have these things in their faith about
Christ s person, that he is God, and the Son of God.
So that, 1, in coming to him for that which will save them, they come
to his person in so doing. They would not have his righteousness and
blood, and the fruits of either, pardon of sin, &c., without having himself
also; and so it is his person they believe on for their salvation.
Yet, 2, they may be at present moved rather with that in his person which will save them, than with his person himself.
And yet withal, 3, even that also, to come to his person for itself, as the
principal motive wherewith to close, is in radice, in semine, in the bud, but not in the blossom. There is that in the heart (if drawn out) which is pre pared to it, disposed to it, and suited to it.
2dly, A second end and purpose for which God first inlays in the heart
the knowledge of Christ s person, and the fulness of the Godhead dwelling
personally in our nature, and for which end also I have pressed it, is, that
first or last it should become the greatest motive and inducement of our
coming to Christ, and to close with him, and cleave to him as such, rather than as a Saviour ; that the thought of it should be above that of Saviour,
yea, and abstracted in the consideration of it from that of Saviour ; and
this explicitly, the heart being drawn to him upon that account, and accom
panied with affection answerable.
Those that will urge that either this is the first inducement, or the more common inducement, to come to him, principally to have his person, con-
190 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [BOOK II.
sidered in itself and for itself, do press too hard upon weak believers, and urge that to be at first which they are growing up to all their days, and per haps attain it not in this life. Alas ! at first our hearts are taken up with the thoughts of sin, and with Christ as the remedy and Saviour from sin. John s ministry began there in the hearts of his disciples, and he called upon them to behold the Lamb of God, that took away the sins of the world. And the great apostle pronounceth this to be the most faithful
saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ came into the world to save sinners. And I am induced to think that in his proposing of it in that place, where he speaks of his own conversion, he had an intent to insinuate that himself had that sentence in his eye at his first conversion
chiefly or mainly. Dr Preston s similitude is the best to express this by (I mention him, for I think he was the first that used it of any other), that as when a marriage is proposed unto a woman, that which may move her at first to listen to it may be the hearsay of an estate, and paying her debts with which she is encumbered ; these may persuade her to view and see the person, and to entertain a visit from him, and to acquaint herself with him ; but after some long converse, her heart is so taken with his person, that if he had nothing, she could beg with him all the world over, for she
is satisfied with his person alone. And thus it is between our souls and Christ : we come to Christ at first, as the Lamb of God that takes away our
sins, that will save us from wrath, and pay our debts (and the truth is, we must always come so to him, to cleanse us from sin every day). But through acquainting ourselves with him (as the phrase in Job is), there often appears that to us in his person which takes our hearts more than his being a Saviour to us : est aliquid in Christo formosius Salvatore, there
is something in Christ more beautiful than a Saviour, and our hearts in time may rise up to this. The best composition of this matter is that in the prophet Isaiah, which takes in both, which speaks the hearts of con verts from whom the veil was taken off, chap. xxv. 7, who thereupon (in that verse 9) are brought in saying and uttering the bottom of their hearts,
Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us. They looked at Christ, and received him both as God and as their Saviour (for of Christ it is spoken, compare 2 Cor. iii. 16-18); and it follows, We will rejoice in his salvation. God allows us we should aim at, and hope for, and rejoice in our salvation by Christ, and come to him upon that
account, as well as on the account of his being our God, and Son of God. God and Christ love us so well, as they love we should love ourselves in coming to the Son, and therefore would have us come to him as a Saviour as well as for his person ; yea, and to be glad, and rejoice in his salva tion. And truly there is good reason that we should do so, both on our
part and on his also, for it cost Christ s person something to save us; for he humbled his person, and gave away himself, for he gave away the pre sent glory of his person due to him, that he might save and redeem us, and no less would have done it. And he hath no reason to have his love herein lost or forgotten, or swallowed up only in his person.
Nay, further, led me add, you, being sinners, cannot come to rejoice in his person, or to think with yourselves what a husband you have of him in
himself, till you believe on him for pardon of your sins and the salvation of your souls (and therefore faith for justification is in that Epistle to the Romans pressed first) ; and after you have seen yourselves lost by reason of sin, then you are directed to come to Christ as a propitiation for sin. This he doth discourse in chap, iii., from ver. 21, and in chap, iv., and we
CHAP. X.J OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 191
must have peace with God as sinners, being justified by faith, Kom. v. 1,
ere we can rejoice in God. But then to rejoice in God is made a further
attainment and fruit of this faith in the issue in these words, ver. 11, But we joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet still take this along with you, that if you come to him as to a Saviour, you may and must come
to him as God, and the Son of God, and believe on him as the person who,
as such, is your Saviour, and is the foundation of your whole faith on him
for your salvation. Yea, and though you come p.s moved chiefly because
he is Saviour, as that for which you come at first, and, in doing so, are
accepted of God, and justified and pardoned, yet, let me tell you, you will
be more accepted by God after your faith riseth up to take his person as in
itself, and as moved to love him from what you see in his person alone, or
chiefly considered. God the Father loves it more that you should love the
person of Christ in and for himself: John xvi. 27, The Father loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God ; which is all one as to say, You have believed on and loved me, because I am his dearly and only beloved Son ; than which nothing can endear you more unto him, nor be a higher exercise of faith in you. Some strains of
such thoughts and affections as these, though but in the bud, have, as was
said, some puttings forth intermingled in weaker believers, that are drawn
to him by the faith and hopes of his being their Saviour. Such spirits may run in the veins of your hearts, whilst yet you are most eager to seek sal
vation; but then they are but as in the bud, they are not fully blossomed. A soul may find he hath some such things offering to rise, and mix them
selves with his faith and hopes for salvation ; and this will make your
prayers accepted wonderfully, as the words before speak in that John xvi.
26, 27, At that day ye shall ask in my name ; and I sa}^ not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you ; for the Father himself loveth you, because you have loved me. And this will more obtain with God, than
your faith that your sins are pardoned, and that Christ died for you
: yea, far above it. I use to say Christ s love in suffering is more to be valued
by you than his suffering, or the fruits of it ; but his person more than all
of them. You must know that it is his person you must ultimately abide
by ; for in the enjoyment of him in his person will be the top and height of your eternal life, and so, consequently, you have to do with him for ever more ; and therefore to have him so revealed to you as to have your hearts
taken therewith at present in some lesser tastes and glimpses, is the most
spiritual teaching by the Father of all other. And this is attainable in
this life, for it is in grace as in the root, and will be drawn out and ripened by the Father. And surely the disciples had the seeds of such dispositions in their hearts, that did look forth sometimes into actual exercises, as
appears in that speech that Christ useth of them, The Father loveth you, because you have loved me. And sure some such thing was in Peter s
heart when he said, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee ; and that
because he was the Son of God ; for that is the main thing they expressed why they cleaved to him, as was said before. And the imperfection of this, and that it abounded no more in them, made Christ complain that they should mourn for themselves, because of his departure from them to
heaven; whereas, says he, if you had loved me (that is, my person itself,
* you would rejoice, because I go to my Father.
as the next words shew),
I put this gloss upon that text ; for it is all one as if he had said, If you loved my person for itself, you would love my personal good and happiness more than your own, and so have rejoiced more for this than have mourned
192 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [BOOK II.
for your own supposed loss and want of present comfort in me. And many
of those primitive Christians had such goings forth of spirit towards the
person of Christ as those had whom Peter wrote to : 1 Pet. i. 8, On whom
believing, though you see him not, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and
full of glory. This must be chiefly in and for his person ; for his person
it is whom we shall one day see, and rejoice in glory with him ; and it is
faith in the mean time rising to such a pitch as supplies the room of the
si<*ht of him with a joy springing from something which is answerable to
that sight. And sure Paul had it, who, above all, and in the first place,
expresseth his desires to be to win Christ, that is, Christ himself, his per
son, and to be found in him, and then to have his righteousness, and the
power of his death, &c. And I have been induced to think that some such
strain of heart was somewhat more prevalent in that eunuch, Acts viii.
The man was truly godly before, and therefore he came to worship ; and
you read his devout employing of himself whilst he was a-travelling. He
had the 53d of Isaiah preached over to him by Philip, for the words of the
chapter he gave Philip for his text to preach on. And in that chapter we
read how that God laid upon Christ the iniquity of us all, and made his
soul an offering for sin; and that he was led as a sheep to the slaughter,
to take our sins away, as the Baptist had interpreted it. And so Philip
preaching to him Jesus, as the text hath it, it lay in his way principally to
set out Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for sins ; and surely Philip did keep to
his text. There is but one passage in the chapter, and in the words which
the eunuch read, that gave occasion to him to preach his person to be the
Son of God, and that is those words, Who shall declare his generation? Yet we read that when he desired to be baptized, and Philip said to him,
* If thou believest with thy whole heart, &c. (as if he had said, What is
there in thy heart, which thy heart most closeth with, concerning this Christ
that I preached to thee?), the eunuch says, I believe that Jesus is the
Son of God, so as he pitcheth upon that as that which his heart was most
on. And though he closeth with him as a Saviour, according to Philip s
preaching, yet that is not mentioned by him, but this, that he was the Son
of God; and so it is said he went away rejoicing, being baptized into Jesus
Christ, upon that account.
But though this is attainable, yet Christians are a-growing up to it ordi
narily, but by degrees ; for, poor creatures as we are, we learn Christ by
piece and piece, as when we look upon the moon through a telescope, it
appears so big, and vastly great, beyond what we can take in at once, that
we must travel over it with our eyes, first taking a view of one part, and
then removing the glass to another, and see, perhaps, but a quarter of it
at once. And thus it is with our knowing Christ ; that is, with such a
knowledge as affects us and draws our hearts to him ; with such a know
ledge we\now one thing of him in one year, and another in another. For
stage of our lives our hearts run after him for his blood to wash away
one
our sins , and for his righteousness to cover us in the presence of God. In
another stage we pursue after holiness to be had from him, for the subduing
corruption through the power of his death, and quickening our hearts with
his life ; and, in another way* we pursue after him for the loveliness of his
person ; and it is that we should make the top of our desires, why we should
desire him (as the prophet Isaiah speaks unto believers), we are perhaps
a-growing up to this all our life long, and attain it not till we come to the
being of a more perfect man, and to the fulness of our stature in Christ, * Qu. stage ? -Eo.
CHAP. X.J OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 193
which we shall have in this life in the knowledge of him as the Son of God; whereof the apostle there speaks, Eph. iv. 13. Yet this let me add, that faith of recumbence may be capable of this, and yet remain in the course of a faith of recumbence ; that is, want settled assurance that sins are par doned ; and they may remain such to whom Christ hath not yet said, Your sins are forgiven, and thou art the person that I died for : and so they have not an assurance that he is their Saviour, though they continually exercise faith on him, to be saved through his death ; yet their souls in this posture or dispensation are capable of being raised up under this faith, to cleave to him, and follow after him for his person more than as a Saviour. And the reason is, not only because God often works one way, and discovers one thing more to take the heart than he doth another, according to his good pleasure, and so he may give a beam of the knowledge of Christ in his promise, 2 Cor. iv. 6, more bright to inflame their hearts towards him than the apprehension that he is a Saviour. There is not only this reason of it, but God also deals thus with them, that such may be assured, with a clear and certain light, that his person is thus amiable, and glorious, and
lovely in himself, which causeth them to cleave to him so as they would not part with him, no, not with his person, for ten thousand worlds; when
yet, whether he died for their sins, or will pardon them, is doubtful to them. But the other truth they may have no doubt of, but a discovery of
it, and the notion of it lieth more open to such a spirit than the attainment of the assurance of the pardon of his sins.
VOL. VIII.
191 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [BOOK III.