The Christians Portion

T He principal scope of the Apostle in this place, is to cut off faction, and over much dependence upon men, who had crept into the consciences of people, and set up themselves in steed of Christ: As that is the pride of false teachers to set up themselves in the conscience where Christ alone should be. The Apostle to prevent this, saith, let no man glory in man; do not glory in your teachers, they are but your servants, and Christ's servants, for all things are yours, all the teachers in the World are your servants and Christ's. Having set down this general, All things are yours, to discourage them from glorying in Man, he parcels that general into particulars, Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, or Life, or Death.

• 1 All persons are yours.
• 2 All things are yours.
• 3 All events are yours.

Persons. Paul, Apollo, Cephas.

Things. The World, or Life, or Death.

Events, whatsoever can come for the present or for time to come. All is yours.

For the persons. Paul, Apollo, Cephas are yours, therefore Peter is not the head of the Church; he is named here in the third place, among the rest and after the rest. Whether it be Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, he is yours. You know who ground all their Religion on this, Peter is the head of the Church, and they are the successors of Peter but Peter: is the Churches, and therefore cannot be the head and commander.

The World is yours.

What world is the Churches.

1 The World natural is the Churches, that is, the frame of Heaven and Earth, all things are made for man, and he is made for GOD. As the wise Philosopher could say, that man is the end of all things in a semi-circle, that is, all things in the World are made for him. He is made for God in whom all things end. As all things come from a point and end there again, so all things come from God and all end in God. We are Christ's, and Christ is God's, but the World is ours, and we are God's, all things in the World are our servants, for they mourn in black, as it were, for our miseries, since the fall. And in our restoring again they shall be restored, they wait for the day, as it is Rom. 8. 21. For the glorious liberty of the sons of God: they have their happiness and misery together with men.

But there is another World that is ours, take it in the worst sense, the World of wicked men; all their plots and the Prince of the World are the Churches.

How is this? He and all his instruments are under the command of him that turns all his designs contrary to his own intention, this is a hell to Satan, and one of the chief torments he hath, that as his malice is limited by this power, so his power is limited by God's power, who overshootes him in his own bow: what ever he designs against the head Christ, and against his members the Church, it is overturned for the good of the Church. In the primitive Church some were given over to Satan, that they might learn not to blaspheme. Its a strange thing that Satan should teach not to blaspheme who is the author of blasphemy. Yet by consequence he afflicting their bodies, thereupon they came to be wise, and seemed to be moderate and sober, and to be Christianly minded, and not to blaspheme. So the Prince of the World is ours in this, by an overcommanding power, that turns all to good against his intentions. For there is but one grand Monarch in the World. Every Kingdom is under a higher Kingdom, there is but one to whom all are subject, there is one grand Wheel that turns all the other, and therefore Satan himself is serviceable to God's end, whether he will or no.

And then for the World of wicked men, all their designs, though for the present they seem to be against the Church, yet they are serviceable to the Church: for wicked men are but the Launderers of the Church (as it were) to wash the Church, to purge the church, to do base services that God intends for the refyning of the Church, and all their hatred is for the good of the Church, for God suffers the World to hate his children. That his children might not love the World: for if the World did not hate his, they would love the World, and it would be a dangerous love. The Church is a strange corporation; it is such a corporation as hath the greatest benefit by enemies: The enemies of the Church are the promoters of the greatest good of the Church: the very World is the churches, take it in the worst sense, for the wicked World that lies in mischief: but I will not dwell upon that. To go on.

Or Life.

The life of others is the Churches.

Why doth God continue the life of good Magistrates and good pastors?

For the Church: as Paul saith, It were better for me to be with Christ, a great deal, yet for your sakes I must continue. I am content to be without the joys of Heaven a while for your good.

And therefore my life is yours, it is at your service, for you I shall continue still.

And so the life of good Magistrates, it is for the benefit of the Church; it were better for them to be in Heaven, the life of all that may be serviceable to the Church, till they have acted their part and served God in their generation, as it is said of David Acts 3. 36. He served GOD in his own Generation: so every Magistrate hath his generation, a time allotted, a generation to stand up in the Church and state, and to serve God in his turn, and then God takes him away.

And then the life of every particular Christian is theirs, for God suffers them to enjoy it so long as life may be a benefit to gather the more assurance of salvation, and to do their work that he hath given them to do here, and when they have done their work they are gathered to their Fathers: so that life is the Churches. And indeed life is a special benefit, Because bythe advantage of life we further our reckonings, a good Christian, the longer he lives, the larlarger good accounts he hath, all his sins are wiped away, they shall not be laid to his charge, all his deeds, to a cup of cold water, shall be set on the score, And he shall be rewarded: there is not a sigh, not a tear, but it is regestred: the longer a man liveth, if he should live Methushelah his days, the richer he should be in good works, and the more rich he is in good works, the more he shall have his part and share in glory after, and therefore Life is yours. The longer he lives the happier, the time in which he lives is for his good, and he makes the time happy, and it is happier for himself: the more rich he is in good works, the more rich he shall be in glory after. These things being so, we should be very thankful that God yields to us this life, for besides an advantage of doing good, It is a preparative to a better. This life is (as it were) the seminary of Heaven; Heaven indeed is the true Paradise of all the Plants of God, but they must have a seminary to be planted-in first, and therefore the Church is called the Kingdom of Heaven, because we are first planted here. Now this life is an advantage, we are planted here in the Church, to grow a while until we be taken from your semina ry the Paradise of the Church, to the Paradise in Heaven. So Life is ours for that end. I will not further enlarge the point, it is clear.

Or Death.

As life is ours, So death is ours. It is astrange thing that death should be ours, that is a destroying hostile thing to nature, The King of fears as the Scripture calls it and that terrible of all terribles, as the Philosopher, the last enemy as Paul saith; that death should be ours. Death is ours many ways, you see here it is a piece of our jointure, for these words contain the jointure of the Church. The Church is Christ's Spouse, all things are Christ's, and therefore all things are the Spouses: and among other particular gifts given to the Church, death is ours. It is a strange thing that death should be given to the Church, and yet so it is, and we shall see this, if we consider how death in the Gospel is turned into another thing, it is a harmless thing in the Gospel the sting is pulled out, it hath lost all its venom in Christ. now death is a passage to another World, it is the gate of glory, death nothing but divests us of these rayments that we have here on our bodies, and puts us into garments of glory, it puts off these rags, and puts us into a better condition, that is all the hurt it doth, it ends all that is ill, and all is determined in death, it is the last evil, and it is the beginning of all that is good, that is everlastingly good, that is spiritually good & eternally good, for by death we are freed, both from the labor of sin which is a labor irksome to God's people, by reason of a principle of corruption which they have in them, that accompanies them till they be in their grave: death is the accomplishment of mortification, in death there is an end of the labor of sin, and of all other labors whatsoever, for death is a sleep, and all labors end in sleep: & as after sleep the spiritts are refreshed, so after death we shall be more refreshed, then we can conceive now: so death is ours, It ends all labors of sin, and all labors of the body, and it frees us from all contagion of wicked men, and from all grief from wicked men, and it sets us clear out of Satan's reach; Satan hath nothing todoe with us when we are dead once; because here the World is the Kingdom of Satan, but when we are gone hence, Satan hath nothing to do with us; and that is a great privilege, so death is ours, it frees us from all that is evil, our death is our birth-day: indeed we never live till wedie, for what is your life? alas it is a dying life. Every day we live, a part of our life is taken away, we die every day▪

The more we have lived the less of our life we have to live, this is but a dying life.

There are three degrees of life.

The life in▪

• 1. The Mothers Wombe.
• 2. The World.
• 3. Heaven.

The life in Heaven begins at death; death is the birth-day of that life. Deaths day is the birth-day of imimmortality. When Christ came to die to purchase life, he came not to die, to purchase a sorry life on earth: but he came to die to purchase immortal glory, that is the life that Christ came to die for, and to purchase. The day of death is the first birth-day of that life; and for our bodies, they are but refined by death, and fitted as Vessells cast into the fire to be molded and fashioned to be most glorious Vessells after, so our bodies are fitted by the grave, till body and soul be forever happy at the day of Resurrection, so that death is ours, and here upon it is that the Wiseman saith, that The day of death is better, then the day of birth, When we are borne we come into misery, When we die we go out of misery: It is better to go out of misery then to come into misery. If the day of death be better then the day of birth to a Christian, certainly then death is theirs, and blessed are those that die in the Lord saith the Spirit: A voice from Heaven saith so, and therefore write, saith he, it may be written; if the Spirit saith it, it is testimony and argument enough; Blessed are those that die in the Lord, they rest from their labors, and their reward follows them. They rest from all that is evil and their reward follows them; all that is good, their works follow them, so that if all evil cease and all good follows, I hope death may well be said to be ours. Death is ours, it is our preferment: why should we be afraid of that, that is a part of our portion? as the Apostle saith here.

Death is yours.

I beseech you therefore, let us lay up this against those dark times wherein death will be represented to us as an ugly and grim thing, it is so to nature indeed, but to faith death is my friend, it is become amyable: indeed there is nothing in the world that doth us so much good as death, for its the best Physician, it cures all diseases whatsoever of soul & body, it frees us from all. And indeed (to shut up all this point) death is the Death of death, it is the destruction of it self, forafter death there is no more death, so it consumes it self; by death, we overcome death. We can never die more, we are freed from all death; to be afraid of death is to be afraid of life, to be afraid of victory: For we never overcome death, till we die. Lay up these considerations against the time of need, the diseases of the body, the guilt of sin, the loss of employment, the stripping of us of all earthly comforts, they will all meet in a cen ter, in a point, at death; a man had need to gather the greater comfort against that hour, and can we have a greater comfort then this that now it is become our friend, that it is ours? now Blessed be GOD, for Jesus Christ, that hath made in him, even death the bitterest thing of all to be sweet unto us.

Or things present.

Whatsoever is present serves us, whatsoever it be; good or evil, all is yours but the most difficult is in

Things to come.

For what assurance have we of things to come? Things to come are ours, whether they be Good, or Evil.

For good; Death is to come, and that is ours; and for judgment, that is ours, for our Head, our Savior, and our husband he shall be our judge: And at the Day of judgment, we shall judge the World, and thenafter judgment, Heaven is ours, immortality is ours, happiness is ours, all is ours then.

Indeed the best is to come, this is the best part of the portion, for if we had nothing but what we have in this World, we were of all men most miserable, alas what have we, if things present only are ours? but things to come also are ours, and the best is behind, that for which CHRIST came into the World, is behind, that which he enjoys in Heaven is ours, he will take his Spouse where Himself is, into his own House, and he will finish the marriage, which is begun in contract, and then we shall be forever with the Lord. The things to come are the main things, that which our Faith lays hold of, that which we raise ourselves and comfort ourselves by; are especially things to come, neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, nor hath ever entered into the heart of man to conceive those things that GOD hath prepared for his children, indeed its a part of Heaven to know them, and therefore the full knowledge of them is deferred for that time.

The very judgment of the wicked and the eternal sentence of them, it is the Churches, why? It adds a luster to God's mercy in advancing his own, as it is Rom. 9. 23. God magnifies his mercy to the Vessells of mercy by this, by punishing a company of Reprobates in whom he hath no delight, by reason of their sins; his mercy much appears by that, even by the eternal sentence and punishment of wicked men. So all serves to set out the glory and excellency of God's people. St. Paul in Rom. 8. (that Heavenly discourse of his) towards the later end of the Chapter saith triumphantly, Nothing shall separate us from Christ, neither Life, nor Death, nor things present, nor things to come, Its a great comfort that nothing to come can do us hurt, but this is a degree of comfort higher, that all things to come are ours, so then this Text affords an exuberancy of comfort above that, it is excellent comfort that nothing shall separate, no not Death it self: but this is more, death is ours, and in being so, it shall not only not separate us from Christ, though it separate soul and body, but join us to him, I beseech you take it as a Notion that may heple against the terror of that separation that is a means of conjunction, the doleful separation of soul and body. Two old friends join better friends together, the soul and Christ, so things to come are ours, even all things taken in the largest sense, the bitterest of all things, even death it self, is ours. There are several Uses but the grand Use which the Apostle manely intends, is.

That a Christian is as sure of the time to come, as of the time past, or present: we are sure of what we have had, and what we have, but a Christian is in soe firm a condition and state; that he may be as sure of what is to come, as of what he hath, because God and Christ are not only Alpha but Omega also. Christ is not only he was, and is, but is to come, he is Jehovah, the same forever. And therefore as things past could not hurt us from being elected and called, and things present cannot hurt us, but they are ours, so are things to come, because God and Christ who is the Mediator under GOD hath the command of all things to come, and therefore we may be as sure of things to come as of things present; what comfort is this to a Christian; what should become of me if times of trouble and public calamity should come, or personal to myself? what idle forecasts are these, why things to come? come what will come, all shall be for the best, all things to come are ours even all things to come are ours whatsoever.

The Apostle goes on and wrappes up all (as it is the manner of inductions) to save labor; for it is in vain in that manner of reasoning that we call inductions, to go over all particulars, because there is the same reason in all; as if he should say Paul, and the World, and all things are yours; what should I say more? I should but trouble you and myself to name particulars All things are yours.

But yet we must understand this with some limitts, we must therefore unloose some knotts, and answer some cases of conscience, first, It may seem there is no distinction of properties, if all be a Christians, and if every Christian may say, all is mine, then what is one man's, is another's, and there will be no propriety.

I answer, undoubtedlie there is a distinction of properties in the things of this life, though all be ours, because it is spoken of in another sense, all is ours, to help us to Heaven; all is ours in an order to comfort and happiness, but for propriety, so all things are not ours; for you know the distinction, some things are common jure naturae by the Law of nature, as the Sun and air, and many such like things, and some jure gentium, by the Law of nations, it is but some things are common jure gentium, but then there are some that by particular municipal Laws are proper.

The distinction is established both by the Law of God, and the Law of man; Now not to stand long in answering this question, though there be some frantic people that are a little troubled with those things, Anabaptists and the like, we see in Scripture a distinction of estates. Religion takes not away the distinction of Master and Servant, and therefore it takes not away distinction of goods which is less. It is a great burden to be a servant, but the Scripture stablisheth the distinction of Master and Servant, and therefore it establisheth distinction of goods. The Scripture stablisheth Bounty and Alms, If there be not a distinction of property where were Alms? Saloman saith, the Rich, and Poor meet together, God is the maker of both, Pro. 22, 2. Vers. He means not, as men, but as Poor and Rich.

If Riches be of God, then distinction of properties is of God; for what is Riches but a distinction of properties, if God make Poor, and Rich, then there must be Poor and Rich. The Poor you have always with you, Mat. 26, 11. Therefore the meaning is all is yours, that is all, that we possess, and all that we need to help us, is ours, in that order and carriage of things that may help us, to Heaven, And so the want of things is ours, as well as the having of them; the very things which a Christian wants, are his, not only the grace of contentment to want but when God takes away those things that are hurtful for him, that may hinder him in his course to Heaven, that is his; it is his, a part of his Fortion, not to have things if God see it good; the want of things is a part of this Law. That which is commonly alleged to the contrary is that in the Acts 2. 44. All things were common.

To which I answer, first, it was partly upon necessity, if all things had not then been common, they had all been taken from them.

And then it was, secondly, arbitrary also, was it thine own? saith Peter Acts 5. 4 Thou mightest not have parted with it if thou wouldst, it was arbitrary, though it was common.

And then, thirdly, all things were not common, some good men kept their houses, Acts 12. Mary had her House, Acts 12. 12. Vers.

And then fourthly, all things were common, but How? to distribute as they needed, not to catch who would and who can; but they were so common, as they had a care to distribute to everyone that which they needed

Another case is this, All is the Churches; all is good people's, and therefore if a man be naught, nothing is his. There is a great point of Popery grounded upon this mistake.

For therefore if Kings be naught, say the Jesuited Papists, the Pope may excommunicate Princes in order to spiritual things, he is the Lord and Monarch of all, because they are evil governors, and all is the Churches.

But we must know, that political government is not founded upon Religion, that if a Prince be not religious he is no King: but it is founded upon nature, so that the Heathen that have no Religion, yet they may have a Lawfull government, and governors; because it is not so built upon Religion, but where that is not, yet this may be, and God's appointment to uphold the World, so that let the King be any thing or nothing for Religion, he is a lawful King.

But its further objected, That they succeed Christ. &c. and he was the Lord of the World, and they are the Vicars of CHRIST, and therefore they may dispossess and invest whom they will.

But you must know Christ as man had no government at all, but Christ as God-man, Mediator, and so he hath no successor. That is incommunicable to the creature: CHRIST as man had no Kingdom at all, for he saith my Kingdom is not of this World, and S ^t Austin saith well, surely he was not King that feared he should be a King, for When they came to make him King he withdrew himself and went away, John 6. 15. undoutedly he was no temporal King that fled away, because he would be no King. And now Christ governs • ll Kings in the Church; How? as God mediator, as god-man, not as man, in which respect he hath substitutes; but not as God-man, so he hath none. They are all vain impudent allegations, as if all were theirs, because all is the Churches to dispose, and the Pope takes himself virtually to be the whole Church.

All are ours, doeth not this hinder bounty? It is mine and therefore I do not owe any bounty to others, it is mine own.

Noah, all things that we possess in this World are ours for the service of the Church, and when Christ calls for anything that is ours, we must give it: and if we were not liable to human Laws, if we do not, yet we are liable to God's Law; and Alms, mercy, is Justice in God's account, for we ought to be merciful to Christ's. And in the Royal Law, the works of love and Mercy are Justice, and we with hold good from the owners, if we be not merciful; for in Religion the poor that by GOD'S providence are cast on us to provide for, they have a right, though not in Law to challenge it, yet in Religion: that which we detayne from them is theirs, we with-hold good from the owners, when we give not: And therefore as Ambrose saith very well, if thou hast not nourished one, howsoever in the Law thou art not a murderer, yet before GOD thou art, it is a breach of the Law thou shalt not steal. Not to relieve, the very denial of comfortable Alms, is stealth in God's esteem. And therefore though all be ours, yet it is so ours, as that we must be ready to part with it, when Christ in his members calls for it; for then it is not ours.

Again here is another question, If all be ours, we may use a liberty in all things, what and how we list, because all is ours.

I answer, the following are good consectaries hence, all is ours, and therefore with thankefullnes we may use any good Creature of God. All is ours, and therefore we should not be scrupulous in the creatures, we should not superstitiously single out one creature from another, as if one were holier then another. All is ours, and therefore with a good conscience we may use God's bounty; but hereupon we must not take upon us to use things as we list, because all is ours, there is difference between right and the use of that right.

And God's children have right to that which God gives them, but they have not the use of that right at all times, at least it may be suspended. As for example, in case the Laws forbid the use of this, or that which we have a right to, and so in case of scandal a man hath right to eat or not to eat, but if his eating offend his brother, he must suspend the use of his right. 1 Cor. 10. 9. So all things are ours in right, not in the use of that right, for then it is ofttimes a scandal to the weak brethren, there is an excellent place for this in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, where he gives directions. Whatsoever is sold in the Shambles that eat asking no question, that is, freely take all the creatures of God without scruple, for the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Psal. 24. 1. GOD out of his bounty spreads a Table for all creatures, for men especially, the eyes of all things look up unto thee, and thou givest them Meat in due season, Psalm 145. 15, 16.

The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, make no scruple therefore: but mark in Verse 28. He restraynes the Use of that liberty upon the same Text of Scripture Psalm 24. But if any man say this is offered to an Idol, and take offense, eat not for his sake that shown it, and for conscience sake, till he be better satisfied, for the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.

Can the same reasons be for contraries?

Yes, that is for thyself, when thou art alone, take all things boldly, God envies not thy liberty, take any refreshment, yet needest thou not to eat to offend thy brother; GOD having given thee variety of creatures even in abundance, and hath not limited thee, or that creature, so that the same reason answereth both. The Earth is the LORD'S and the fullness thereof, Use it then alone, and not to the scandal of thy Brother, for the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, why shouldst thou use this creature as if there were no more but this? and therefore in case of scandal and offense, we should suspend our liberty, though all be ours.

Again though all be ours, yet notwithstanding we have not a sanctified Use, but by the Word and Prayer, as it is. 1 Tim. 4. 4. Every Creature of GOD is good, &c. his meaning is this, though we have a right to all things to our comfort, to help us to Heaven, to cheer us in our way, to be, as it were, Chariotts to carry us, yet in the use of that right we must sanctify all by Prayer; we must do it in faith that we may apprehend our right, that we do not use them with a scrupulous conscience, and then we must sanctify it with Prayer, we must take it with GOD'S leave, for though we have a right in the use of it, we must take it at his hand.

And for instance. A father gives all to his son that he needs, and promiseth his son that he shall want nothing, but he will have his Son write a Latter before he have a particular right to anything, he will have his Son acknowledge his homage: you shall have all, but I will hear from you first, you shall have all but I will reach it to you from my hand: soe GOD deals with his children, they have a right to all, but he reacheth it to them in the use of the means, we must have a civil right by labor or by conctract, &c. And then we must have a religious right sanctified by Prayer; we must not pull GOD'S blessings out of his Hands, for though he gives us a right in the thing, yet in the use of that right, he will have us holy men.

If you ask what is the reason that good men oft fall to decay, and have a great many crosses in the World.

Why surely (not to enter into God's Mysteries, what the secret cause of this may be) one among many is, when they have God's blessings, they sanctify them not with Prayer, they pray not for a blessing, they use them not religiously and holily, and they venture upon their right with scandal and offense to others.

Well thus we see how all things are ours, with Answers to such Objections as might be moved, all things are ours, that is, howsoever we have a right to the thing yet we must have also a right in the thing.

To make some use of all, and so an end of this Point All things are ours, in regard of right to all things, if it be for our good, whether Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas; here we see then the Rich jointure of a Christian, that all things are his, that is, they are so far his as shall further his journey to GOD; for though he have a Jus, as I said before, to allthings, he shall have in particular nothing conveyed to him, but that, that may help him to Heaven, if a man say, why have I not the use of such things, GOD in Wisdom sees that it is not fit to bring him to Heaven.

If poverty be good, I shall have it.

If disgrace be good, I shall have it.

If the order of evil things will help me to Heaven, I shall have them.

If cross winds will blow me to Heaven, I shall have them.

For I said before, the World and the miseries of the World, the persecutions and afflictions all are ours, that is the worst things are commanded to serve for our main good.

And is not this a wonderful prerogative that a Christian hath; that turn him to what condition you will, kill him or spare his life, you hurt him nothing either ways? If you spare his life, life is his, GOD sees his life is good for the Church; if you kill him, Death is his; kill him, save him, enrich him, beggar him, his happiness is not at your command; there is a commanding Power to rule all things, for the good of God's people that is not at the devotion of any creature in the World, either devils or men.

And therefore let us comfort ourselves in this, in regard of the large jointure that we have, we have all things to be ours. And therefore when a Christian comes to be religious, to be a true Christian indeed, a Member of CHRIST, what doth he loose, he looseth nothing, all things are his, because Christ is his. But to go on, in the second Branch saith he.

You are Christ's.

There is the Tenure we hold all things by, because we are Christ's, whatsoever the tenure in capite be amongst men (which you are better acquainted with then myself) I know not, I am sure it is the best tenure in Religion. All is ours, because we are Christ's, we hold all in that tenure, if we be not Christ's, nothing is ours comfortably, we are Christ's and therefore all is ours.

Those that are not Christ's are not the things theirs that they have, because they are not Christ's? have not wicked men title to what they have?

I answer they have, and it is rigor in some, that say wicked men are usurpers of that they have, they have a Title, both a civil Title, and a Title before God. God gave Nebuchadonessar Tirus as a reward, and God gives wicked men a Title of that they have, and they shall never be called to account at the day of judgment for possessing of what they had, but for abusing that possession, and therefore properly they are not usurpers in regard of possession, but they shall render an account of the abuse of that bounty.

It is in this, as it is in the Kings carriage to a Traitor: when a King gives a Traitor his life, he gives him meat and drink that may maintain his life by the same right that he gives him his life; GOD will have wicked men to live so long, to do so much service to the Church; for all are not extremely wicked that are not CHRIST'S Members, that go to Hell, but there are many of excellent parts, and endowments that God hath appointed to do him great service, though they have an evil eye, and intend not his service, but to raise themselves in the World, yet GOD intends their service for much purpose, and he gives them encouragement in the World, as he will not be behind with the worst men, If they do him service, they shall have their reward in that kind, Psalm 62. 12. If it be in policy of state, they shall have it in that, and they shall have commendations and applause of men; if they look for that: and if he give them not Heaven, they cannot complain, for they cared not for that, they did it not with an eye for that; now if God use the labor, and the industry, and the parts, and endowments of wicked men for excellent purposes, he will give them their reward for outward things, Verily you have your reward, saith Christ, Math. 6. 2. when he gives them life he gives them outward liberties, and therefore they are no usurpers in that regard, yet those have not so full a Title as a Christian hath, to that they have.

Now to come more directly to the Second Branch and to show; how we are Christ's. I have unfolded that Poynt upon another Text, and therefore I will but touch it here, because there be divers here that did not hear the unfolding of that Text. My beloved is mine and I am his, Can. 6. 3.

Not to speak of creation, he made all things, but we are Christ's by his redemption and purchase, he purchased his Church with his own blood, Acts 20. 28.

And secondly, we are Christ's by spiritual marriage, for we are his, and Christ is ours, in all sweet relations he is ours, he hath purchased us to be his in all the sweet terms of relation, name what you will, we are Christ's; we are his subjects, as he is a King; we are his servants, as he is a Lord, we are his Scholars, as he is a Prophet; we are his Spouse, as he is a husband; we are Members, as he is an Head; you cannot name any degree of subjection, if it be a sweet subjection and subordination, but we are that to Christ, and Christ is that to us, so that Christ is ours, and we are Christ's in all the sweet relations that can be, we are his Members, we are his Spouse, we are his Children, for he is the everlasting Father Isa. 9. 6. He is all that can be to us, and we are all that can be to him that is lovely and good, we are Christ's, and therefore all things are ours, because we are Christ's, so that we see from this, that Christ comes in between GOD and us. GOD is a pure and holy GOD, A consuming fire, and we as chaff and dust, and therefore CHRIST comes between, you are Christ's.

Why?

Because God is a consuming fire of himself, there must be a Mediator, to come between, who is a friend to both sides, to us as man, to him as GOD, So must be a means of conveying all things from GOD; all things come originally from the Fountain of all, God, they are God's, and in God you know the three Persons meet in one nature, in GOD the Father, Son, and holy Ghost, I but the holy GOD in three Persons doth not convey immediately good things to us, but by the mediation of Christ, Mediator. All things are ours, and therefore we are Christ's, and Christ is God's; for GOD would have it thus since the fall, that having lost all we should recover all again by the second Adam, that should be a public person; a Mediator between Him and Vs, and so through CHRIST we should have access, and entrance to the Father by Him, and that by Him we should have boldness, and that God again down-ward might do all things with due satisfaction to his justice, because we are as stuble, and God a consuming fire, were not Christ in the middle what intercourse could there be between the Lord and us? no other than between the fire, and the stuble, Majesty on his side, and Misery and sin on ours, there must be a Mediator, to bring these two contraries together. And therefore all is ours, because we are Christ's, and Christ is God's; so all comes downward through Christ, from God to us, God doth all in Christ to us, he chooseth us in Christ and sanctifyes us in Christ, he bestows all spiritual blessings on us in Christ, as Members of Christ, he conveys all through Christ. To Christ first, he hath put fullness in him, and of his fullness we receive grace for grace, for Christ is complete, and in him we are complete.

Now all things come downward from GOD through Christ, so from us to God upward, all is ours, and we are Christ's, and Christ is God's, and therefore we have no intercourse with that great God, who is a consuming fire, if we be to deal with him in himself, but through Christ, and therefore we ask all in Christ's name. Whatsoever you ask the Father in my Name, &c. Joh. 14. 13, 14. and do all in the Name of Christ. Col. 3. 17. For it were presumptious arrogance and fruitless, if we should go to God in our own name; but we go in the name of Christ, considering that he is the middle that knitts God and us together, and therefore Lord we come not to thee in our own name, and in our own worth, and in our own desert, which is none at all, we come to thee in the merits of Christ, in the mediation of Christ, in that love thou bearest him, and that, for his sake, thou bearest to us, that are his Members, that is the way of intercourse between God and us, not to think of God absolutely out of Christ, that is a terrible thought, nothing more terrible than to think of God out of the Mediator, but to think of God in Christ nothing more sweet, for now the nature of GOD is lovely coming to us in Christ, and the majesty and justice of God are lovely coming to us from Christ.

As the waters of the Sea, though they be salt of themselves, when they are strayned through the Earth are sweet in the rivers, so though the justice of God be a terrible thing, yet when it comes through Christ to be satisfied, it is sweet, for Lord thou wilt not punish the same sin twice, and the Majesty and greatness of God is comfortable, whatsoever is God's is ours, because Christ is ours, God in his greatness, in his justice, in his power, all things being derived and passing through Christ are sweet, and comfortable to us: and therefore from excellent Wisdom, the Apostle inserts the Mediator between All things are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ's is God's.

Imprimatur Tho. Wykes R. P. Epis. Londi. Capell. Domest.