waves will continue; it will be so with the children of God; though there be a calm, yet there will be some remainders of a storm. Again, they are in travail, and that is a painful thing: "My little children with whom I travail." They have the pangs of the new birth, and it is a good while before they can find that quietness their heart doth long for. Again, God purposely doth, though he be friends with them, take away from them the sense of peace, because he takes delight to find that strength of faith: Faith is manifest that way, faith is most strong when there is least sense. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" the less sense, the faster the hold; and God loves this at life, that when he spurns and frowns, he will not let go, nor be put off; let him kill me, he shall kill me with Christ in my arms, I will not let go my hold; God cannot fail, he hath given me his word, and therefore I will not let go. Such a strong faith had Abraham, contrary to reason; God's word is true, he gives me his word, and I will trust him: so a child of God will not be put off; though God write bitter things against him, he will not forego him. We have an excellent example in the woman of Canaan; the end of it is, "Om woman, great is thy faith." But how doth the greatness of it appear? "Lord, have mercy upon me, my daughter is grievously afflicted:" Why not rather, Lord, have mercy on my daughter? the reason is because she was afflicted in her daughter's affliction. By the way, we may hereby understand the meaning of the commandment, where it is said, "he will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him." But why to the third and fourth generation? because, I may see the third and fourth generation, and may see the judgment of God on them, and may remem Gal. chap. 4. ver. 19. I Psalm 22. ver. 1. ber my sin, for which they are plagued; the case is mine, and not theirs only: "Lord have mercy upon me, for my daughter is diseased:" I see my own sin is punished by the judgment on her in my sight. Poor woman, Christ will not hear her; she might have been dashed out of countenance, the disciples were weary of her clamorous cries, and say, "Send her away, for she troubleth us:" What, saith Christ? "Is it fit to take the children's bread, and cast it unto dogs?" This was enough to dash her quite; before she was discouraged by silence, but to be called dog, it were enough quite to discourage her: but see the fruit of faith; she seeks comfort of that which would have undone another: What, am I a dog under the table? there I shall get a crumb; others of the children that are better, let them have the loaves: I account myself happy if I may but get a crumb; "O woman, great is thy faith" this is great faith when it goes contrary to all sense; that when God calls me dog, when he spurns at me, and frowns on me, I will not be put off. Faith is of the nature of the vine, if it have but the least hold on the wall, it makes use of it, and climbs higher and higher so out of the least thing that drops from her Saviour's mouth, she raiseth her faith higher: so, though we have this peace with God, yet oft times he withholds the notification of it to us. : 3. The last thing is to note the difference between the peace of a carnal and a spiritual man; spiritual man; carnal peace is mixed with a great deal of presumption and pride; but the more spiritual peace thou hast, the more thou art dejected in thyself, the more cast down: see it in Ezekiel : "In will establish with thee an everlasting covenant; then shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thy elder and thy younger; and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant: and I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, that thou mayest remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth Ezek. chap. 16. ver. 60, 61, 62, 63. any more, because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee, for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord." When God is pacified, yet they hold down their heads, and are ashamed; when a man knoweth that God hath pardoned his sins, he is ashamed that he hath carried himself so wickedly against God, of whose mercy he hath now such experience: when God is pacified, a man remembers his former sins, and is confounded; as it is in Ezekiel : "Then shall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and shall loath yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities, and for your abominations in that time when I am pacified toward you." That which would work in a carnal man security and pride, (for he never thinks himself better than when-there is peace within) will work in the child of God the grace of humiliation. In the last chapter of Job, God had manifested himself wonderfully to Job; and however before he had very sharp afflictions, his sufferings in soul were next to the sufferings of Christ. I believe never any man suffered so much as Job did, insomuch that "the arrows of the Almighty stuck in him, the poison whereof," saith he, "drinketh up my spirit." This was the case of Job, and he stood upon terms of justification; he wished that God would dispute with him, that God would either be the opponent or the answerer. If God would answer, he would oppose; or if God would oppose, he would an swer. God comes as he would have him, and Job is not at that point that he was before; when God draws nigh unto him, he saith: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye seeth thee." Well, this may make thee a proud man, and elevate thee: no, saith he, "now I abhor myself in dust and ashes." The nearer God draws unto us, and the more merciful he is unto us, by that light we the more discern our own abominations. That which would make another man proud, brings Job to the knowledge of his vileness. "Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." • Ezek. chap. 36. ver. 31. P Job, chap. 6. ver. 4. 3. Now another thing is, who is this peace-maker? This I shall but touch: "we have peace with God:" but how?" through our Lord Jesus Christ;" he is our peacemaker, and interposeth between his Father's wrath and us, "For he is our peace; who hath made both one, and hath broken down that partition wall between us;" we have not only peace with God through Christ, but Christ is the very peace; not only the peace-maker, but the peace. There was a middle wall of partition between the Jews, and the Gentiles; and between God, and us; Christ breaks it down; sin shall no longer be a wall of partition. "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross." There was hatred between God and us. Christ hath crucified that hatred with the nails wherewith he was fastened to the cross; he hath killed it by his crucifixion, and now enmity being slain, peace must needs be alive; there is peace and reconciliation made. "You are come," saith the apostle, "to the blood of sprinkling;" whereas the blood of Abel cried for vengeance against Cain the murderer: this blood cries for peace, it outcries all our sins; sin hath a voice; it is said, "the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah went up into the ears of the Lord;" every sin thou committest hath a voice to cry, but the blood of Christ hath a shriller voice, and outcries the cry of thy sins; it is so preeminent, it speaks for peace, and doth outcry the voice of our sins; the high priest was a type of Christ; "Het must have on his frontlet Holiness to the Lord;" as one which bears the iniquity of the holy things of the children of Israel representing the Holy One of the Lord and standing in the person of Christ; Moses saith (when there was wrath gone out from the Lord) unto Aaron, "Take" a censer and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for Ephes. chap. 2. ver. 14. t Numbers, chap. 16. s Heb. chap. 12. ver. 24. them, for there is wrath gone out, the plague is begun;" so when the wrath is gone out, the high priest comes and offers up himself a sweet incense acceptable unto God. "And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and came into the midst of the congregation, and behold the plague was begun among the people, and he put incense and made an atonement for the people." When wrath is come out from the Almighty, and his army is sent out for to destroy the rebels, now our high priest stands between the living and the dead, and offers up himself an oblation to Almighty God to make peace: look to the case of Balaam; when the people had committed fornication, Phinehas executed judgment; wherefore the Lord saith, "Phinehas" hath turned away my wrath from the people;" and if that one act of Phinehas, his zeal for the Lord in killing the fornicators before the congregation, if this, I say, appeased God's wrath for the whole congregation; how much more doth our Phinehas, who hath fulfilled all righteousness, whom the zeal of God's house had eaten up? He is nothing but zeal itself, and all that he doth in our name unto his Father, is for our good. How much more shall Christ pacify God's wrath, who hath received the gash of God's sword upon his own body, and would not have himself spared, that he might do it? "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth." There is a mighty storm, and Jonah is cast out into the sea, presently the storm ceaseth; so Christ having suffered for us, there is peace, the storm is over. Now follows in the next place in the text; "By whom we have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." These are the two privileges that a justified man hath; he hath a gracious access unto God; suppose he be in fault, (as who is not?) "if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. "These things have I written," saith the apostle, "that you sin not; but if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father." |
