01.03b MYSTICAL UNION between Christ and Believers1
1. The preaching of the law is most necessary. He who would engraft, must needs use the pruning-knife. Sinners have many contrivances to keep them from Christ; many things by which they keep their hold of the natural stock; therefore, they have need to be closely pursued, and hunted out of their skulking holes, and refuges of lies.
2. Yet it is the Gospel that crowns the work: "The law makes nothing perfect." The law lays open the wound—but it is the Gospel that heals it. The law "strips a man, wounds him and leaves him half dead:" the Gospel "binds up his wounds, pouring in wine and oil," to heal them. By the law we are broken off—but it is by the Gospel we are taken up and implanted in Christ.
3. "If any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his," Romans 8:9. We are told of a monster in nature, having two bodies differently animated, as appeared from contrary affections at one and the same time; but so united, that they were served with the self-same legs. Even so, however men may cleave to Christ, "call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel," Isaiah 48:2, and may be bound up as branches in him, John 15:2, by the outward ties of sacraments; yet if the Spirit that dwells in Christ, dwell not in them, they are not one with him. There is a great difference between adhesion and engrafting. The ivy clasps and twists itself about the oak—but it is not one with it, for it still grows on its own root: so, to allude to Isaiah 4:1, many professors "take hold" of Christ, "and eat their own bread, and wear their own apparel, only they are called by his name." They stay themselves upon him—but grow upon their own root: they take them to support their hopes—but their delights are elsewhere.
4. The union between Christ and his mystical members is firm and indissoluble. Were it so that the believer only apprehended Christ—but Christ not apprehended him, we could promise little as the stability of such a union; it might quickly be dissolved: but as the believer apprehends Christ by faith—so Christ apprehends him by his Spirit—and none shall pluck him out of his hand. Did the child only keep hold of the nurse, it might at length grow weary, and let go its hold, and so fall away: but if the nurse has her arms about the child, it is in no hazard of falling away, even though it be not actually holding by her. So, whatever sinful intermissions may happen in the exercise of faith; yet the union remains sure, by reason of the constant indwelling of the Spirit. Blessed Jesus! "All his saints are in your hand," Deuteronomy 33:3. It is observed by some that the word Abba, is the same whether you read it forward or backward: whatever the believer’s case be, the Lord is still to him, Abba, Father.
5. They have an unsafe hold of Christ, whom he has not apprehended by his Spirit. There are many half marriages here, where the soul apprehends Christ—but is not apprehended of him. Hence, many fall away, and never rise again; they let go their hold of Christ; and when that is gone, all is gone. These are "the branches in Christ that bear not fruit, which the farmer takes away," John 15:2.
Question. How can that be?
Answer. These branches are set in the stock by a profession, or an unsound hypocritical faith. They are bound up with it, in the external use of the sacraments; but the stock and they are never knit: therefore, they cannot bear fruit. And they need not be cut off, nor broken off; they are by the Farmer only taken away; or, as the word primarily signifies, lifted up, and so taken away, because there is nothing to hold them: they are, indeed, bound up with the stock—but were never united to it.
Question. How shall I know if I am apprehended of Christ?
Answer. You may be satisfied in this inquiry, if you consider and apply these two things:
(1.) When Christ apprehends a man by his Spirit, he is so drawn, that he comes away to Christ, with his whole heart: for true believing is believing with all the heart, Acts 8:37. Our Lord’s followers are like those who followed Saul at first, men whose hearts God has touched, 1 Samuel 10:26. When the Spirit pours in overcoming grace, they pour out their hearts like water before him, Psalms 62:8. They flow unto him like a river, Isaiah 2:2, "All nations shall flow unto it," namely, to the "mountain of the Lord’s house." It denotes not only the abundance of converts—but the disposition of their souls in coming to Christ; they come heartily and freely, as drawn with loving-kindness, Jeremiah 31:3; "Your people shall be willing in the day of your power," Psalms 110:3, that is, free, ready, open-hearted, giving themselves to you as free-will offering. When the bridegroom has the bride’s heart, it is a right marriage: but some give their hand to Christ, whodo not give not their heart. Those who are only driven to Christ by terror, will surely leave him again when that terror is gone. Terror may break a heart of stone—but the pieces into which it is broken still continue to be stone; terrors cannot soften it into a heart of flesh. Yet terrors may begin the work which love crowns. The strong wind, and the earthquake, and the fire going before; the still small voice, in which the Lord is, may come after them. When the blessed Jesus is seeking sinners to match with him, they are bold and perverse: they will not speak with him, until he has wounded them, made them captives, and bound them with the cords of death. When this is done, then it is that he comes to them, and wins their hearts. The Lord tells us, Hosea 2:16-20, that chosen Israel shall be married unto himself. But how will the bride’s consent be won? Why, in the first place, he will bring her into the wilderness, as he did the people when he brought them out of Egypt, Hosea 2:14. There she will be hardly dealt with, scorched with thirst, and bitten by serpents: and then he will speak comfortably to her; or, as the expression is, he will speak unto her heart. The sinner is first driven, and then drawn unto Christ. It is with the soul as with Noah’s dove, she was forced back again to the ark, because she could find nothing else to rest upon: but when she returned, she would have rested on the outside of it, if Noah had not "put forth his hand and pulled her in," Genesis 8:9. The Lord sends his avenger of blood in pursuit of the criminal, who with a sad heart leaves his own city, and with tears in his eyes parts with his old acquaintances, because he dare not stay with them, and he flees for his life to the city of refuge. This is not all his choice, it is forced work; necessity has no law. But when he comes to the gates, and sees the beauty of the place, the excellency and loveliness of it charm him; and then he enters it with heart and good-will, saying, "This is my rest, and here I will stay;" and, as one said in another case, "I had perished, unless I had perished."
(2.) When Christ apprehends a soul, the heart is disengaged from, and turned against sin. As in cutting off the branch from the old stock, the great idol self is brought down, the man is powerfully taught to deny himself; so, in apprehending the sinner by the Spirit, that union is dissolved which was between the man and his lusts, while he was in the flesh, as the apostle expresses it, Romans 7:5. His heart is loosened from them, though formerly as dear to him as the members of his body; as his eyes, legs, or arms; and, instead of taking pleasure in them as before, he longs to be rid of them. When the Lord Jesus comes to a soul, in the day of converting grace, he finds it like Jerusalem, in the day of her nativity, Ezekiel 16:4, drawing its fulsome nourishment and satisfaction from its lusts: but he cuts off this communication, that he may impart to the soul his own consolations, and give it rest in himself. And thus the Lord wounds the head and heart of sin, and the soul comes to him, saying, "Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit," Jeremiah 16:19.
V. The BENEFITS flowing to true believers from their union with Christ. The chief of the particular benefits which believers have by it, are justification, peace, adoption, sanctification, growth in grace, fruitfulness in good works, acceptance of these works, establishment in the state of grace, support and a special conduct of providence about them. As for communion with Christ, it is such a benefit, as being the immediate consequence of union with him, comprehends all the rest as mediate ones. For as the branch, immediately upon its union with the stock, has communion with the stock in all that is in it; so the believer, uniting with Christ, has communion with him; in which he launches forth into an ocean of happiness, is led into a paradise of pleasures, and has a saving interest in the treasure hid in the field of the Gospel—the unsearchable riches of Christ. As soon as the believer is united to Christ, Christ himself, in whom all fullness dwells, is his, Song of Solomon 2:16, "My beloved is mine, and I am his." And "how shall he not with him freely give us all things?" Romans 8:32. "Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours," 1 Corinthians 3:22. This communion with Christ is the great comprehensive blessing necessarily flowing from our union with him. Let us now consider the particular benefits flowing from it before mentioned.
1. The first particular benefit that a sinner has by his union with Christ, is
(1.) His sins are pardoned, the guilt of them is removed. The bond obliging him to pay his debt is cancelled. God the Father takes the pen, dips it in the blood of his Son, crosses off the sinner’s accounts, and blots them out of his debt-book. The sinner outside of Christ is bound over to the wrath of God; he is under an obligation in law to go to the prison of hell, and there to lie until he has paid the utmost farthing. This arises from the terrible sanction with which the law is guarded, which is no less than death, Genesis 2:17. So that the sinner, passing the bounds assigned him, is as Shimei in another case, a man of death, 1 Kings 2:42. But now, being united to Christ, God says, "Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom!" Job 33:24. The sentence of condemnation is reversed, the believer is absolved, and set beyond the reach of the condemning law. His sins, which were set before the Lord, Psalms 90:8, so that they could not be hidden—God now takes and casts them all behind his back, Isaiah 38:17. Yes, he casts them into the depths of the sea, Micah 7:19. What falls into a brook may be retrieved—but what is cast into the sea cannot be recovered. But there are some shallow places in the sea; true—but their sins are not cast in there—but into the depths of the sea; and the depths of the sea are devouring depths, from whence they shall never come forth again. But what if they do not sink? He will cast them in with force, so that they shall go to the bottom, and sink as lead in the mighty waters of the Redeemer’s blood.
They are not only forgiven—but forgotten, Jeremiah 31:34, "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." And though their after-sins do in themselves deserve eternal wrath, and do actually make them liable to temporal strokes, and fatherly chastisements, according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, Psalms 89:30-33—yet they can never be actually liable to eternal wrath, or the curse of the law; for they are dead to the law in Christ, Romans 7:4. They can never fall away from their union with Christ; neither can they be in Christ, and yet under condemnation at the same time, Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." This is an inference drawn from that doctrine of the believer’s being dead to the law, set forth by the apostle, Romans 7:1-6; as is clear from the second, third, and fourth verses of this eighth chapter. In this respect the justified man is the blessed man, unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity, Psalms 32:2; as one who has no design to charge a debt on another, sets it not down in his account-book.
(2.) The believer is accepted as righteous in God’s sight, 2 Corinthians 5:21. For he is "found in Christ, not having his own righteousness—but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith," Php 3:9. He could never be accepted by God, as righteous, upon the account of his own righteousness; because, at best, it is but imperfect: and all righteousness, properly so called, which can abide a trial before the throne of God, is perfect. The very name of it implies perfection: for unless a work is perfectly conformable to the law, it is not right—but wrong; and so cannot make a man righteous before God, whose judgment is according to truth. Yet if justice demand a righteousness of one that is in Christ, upon which he may be accounted righteous before the Lord, "Surely shall" such a "one say, In the Lord have I righteousness," Isaiah 45:24. The law is fulfilled, its commands are obeyed, its sanction is satisfied. The believer’s surety has paid the debt. It was exacted, and he answered for it.
Thus the person united to Christ is justified. You may conceive of the whole proceeding herein, in this manner. The avenger of blood pursuing the criminal; Christ, as the Savior of lost sinners, does by the Spirit apprehend him, and draw him to himself; and he, by faith, lays hold on Christ: so the Lord our righteousness, and the unrighteous creature, unite. From this union with Christ results a communion with him in his unsearchable riches, and consequently in his righteousness, that white raiment which he has for clothing of the naked, Revelation 3:18. Thus the righteousness of Christ becomes his; and because it is by his unquestionable title, it is imputed to him; it is reckoned his in the judgment of God, which is always according to truth. And so the believing sinner, having a righteousness which fully answers the demands of the law, he is pardoned and accepted as righteous. See Isaiah 45:22-24; Romans 3:24; and Romans 5:1.
Now he is a free man. Who shall lay anything to the charge of those whom God justifies? Can justice lay anything to their charge? No; for it is satisfied. Can the law? No; for it has obtained all its demands on them in Jesus Christ, Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ." What can the law require more, after it has wounded their head, poured in wrath in full measure into their soul, and out of their life, and brought it into the dust of death, by doing all this to Jesus Christ, who is their head, Ephesians 1:22; their soul, Acts 2:25-27; and their life, Colossians 3:4? What is become of the sinner’s own handwriting, which would prove the debt upon him? Christ has blotted it out, Colossians 2:14. But it may be, justice may get its eye upon it again. No; he took it out of the way. But O, that it had been torn in pieces! may the sinner say. Yes, so it is; the nails that pierced Christ’s hands and feet are driven through it; he nailed it. But what if the torn in pieces be put together again? They cannot be; for he nailed it to his cross, and his cross was buried with him, and will never rise again, seeing Christ dies no more. Where is the face-covering that was upon the condemned man? Christ has destroyed it, Isaiah 25:7. Where is death, that stood before the sinner with a grim face, and an open mouth, ready to devour him? Christ has swallowd it up in victory, Isaiah 25:8. Glory, glory, glory to him that thus "loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."
2. The second benefit flowing from the same spring of union with Christ, and coming by the way of justification, is
Unbelievers may have troubled consciences, which they may get quieted again: but, alas! their consciences become peaceable before they become pure; so their peace is but the seed of greater horror and confusion. Carelessness may give ease for a while to a sick conscience; men neglecting its wounds, they skin-over again of their accord, before the impure matter is removed. Many bury their guilt in the grave of a poor memory: conscience smarts a little; at length the man forgets his sin, and there is an end of it; but that is only an ease before death. Business, or the affairs of life, often give ease in this case. When Cain is banished from the presence of the Lord, he falls a-building of cities. When the evil spirit came upon Saul, he calls not for his Bible, nor for the priests to converse with him about his case; but for music, to play it away. So many, when their consciences begin to be uneasy, they fill their heads and hands with business, to divert themselves, and to regain ease at any rate. Yes, some will sin contrary to their convictions, and so do get some ease to their consciences, as Hazael gave ease to his master by stifling him.
Again, the performance of duties may give some ease to disquieted consciences; and this is all which legal professors have recourse to for quieting their consciences. When conscience is wounded they will pray, confess, mourn, and resolve to do so no more: and so they become whole again—without an application of the blood of Christ by faith. But they whose consciences are rightly quieted, come for peace and purification to the blood of sprinkling. Sin leaves a sting behind it, which one time or other will create them no little pain.
Elihu shows us both the case and cure, Job 33:1-33. Behold the case which a man may be in, whom God has thoughts of love to. He darts convictions into his conscience; and makes them stick so fast, that he cannot rid himself of them, Job 33:16, "He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction." His very body sickens, Job 33:19, "He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain " He loses his appetite, Job 33:20, "His life abhors bread, and his soul dainty food." His body pines away, so that there is nothing on him but skin and bone," Job 33:21, "His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out." Though he is not prepared for death, he has no hope of life, Job 33:22, "His soul draws near unto the grave, and," which is the height of his misery, "his life to the destroyers;" he is looking every moment when devils, these destroyers, Revelation 9:11, these murderers, or manslayers, John 8:44, will come and carry away his soul to hell. O, dreadful case! Is there any hope for such? Yes, there is hope. God will "keep back his soul from the pit," Job 33:18, although he brings him forward to the brink of it.
Now, see how the sick man is cured. The physician’s art cannot prevail here: the disease lies more inward than his medicines can reach. It is soul trouble which has brought the body into this disorder; and therefore, the remedies must be applied to the sick man’s soul and conscience. The physician for this case must be a spiritual Physician; the remedies must be spiritual—a righteousness, a ransom, an atonement. Upon the application of these, the soul is cured, the conscience is quieted and the body recovers, Job 33:23-26, "If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness: then he is gracious unto him, and says, ’Deliver him from going down into the pit, I have found a ransom!’ His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s, he shall return to the days of his youth. He shall pray unto God, and he shall be favorable unto him, and he shall see his face with joy." The proper physician for this patient is a messenger, an interpreter, Job 33:23, that is, as some expositors, not without ground, understand it, the great physician, Jesus Christ, whom Job had called his Redeemer, Job 19:25. He is a messenger, the "messenger of the covenant of peace," Malachi 3:1, who comes seasonably to the sick man. He is an interpreter, the great interpreter of God’s counsels of love to sinners, Job 33:23, "One among a thousand," even "the chief among ten thousand," Song of Solomon 5:10. "One chosen out of the people," Psalms 89:19. One to whom "the Lord has given the tongue of the learned - to speak a word in season to him that is weary," Isaiah 50:4. It is he who is with him, by his Spirit, now, to "convince him of righteousness," John 16:8, as he was with him before, to "convince him of sin and of judgment." His work now is to show unto him his uprightness, or his righteousness, that is, the interpreter Christ’s righteousness; which is the only righteousness, arising from the paying of a ransom, and upon which a sinner is delivered from going down to the pit, John 16:4. Thus Christ is said to declare God’s name, Psalms 22:22, and to preach righteousness, Psalms 40:9. The phrase is remarkable: it is not to show unto the man—but unto man, his righteousness: which not obscurely intimates, that he is more than a man, who shows or declares this righteousness. Compare Amos 4:13, "He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth—the Lord God Almighty is his name." There seems to be in it a sweet allusion to the first declaration of this righteousness unto man, or, as the word is, unto Adam, after the fall, while he lay under terror from apprehensions of the wrath of God; which declaration was made by the messenger, the interpreter, namely, the eternal Word, the Son of God, called, the voice of the Lord God, Genesis 3:8, and by him appearing, probably, in human shape.
Now, while he, by his Spirit, is the preacher of righteousness to the man, it is supposed that the man lays hold on the offered righteousness; whereupon the ransom is applied to him, and he is delivered from going down to the pit; for God has a ransom for him. This is intimated to him by the words, "Deliver him," Job 33:24. So his conscience being purified by the blood of atonement, is pacified, and sweetly quieted. "He shall pray unto God - and see his face with joy," which before he beheld with horror, Job 33:26; that is in New Testament language, "Having a high priest over the house of God," he shall "draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having his heart sprinkled from an evil conscience," Hebrews 10:21-22. But then, what becomes of the body, the weak and weary flesh? Why, "his flesh shall be fresher than a child’s, he shall return to the days of his youth," Job 33:25. Yes, "All his bones," which were chastened with strong pain, Job 33:19, "shall say, Lord, who is like unto you?" Psalms 35:10.
3. A third benefit flowing from union with Christ is
"In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye." Deuteronomy 32:10. Whoever pursues them, they have a refuge, Proverbs 14:26, "His children shall have a place of refuge." In a time of common calamity, they have chambers of protection, where they may be hid until the indignation is over and past, Isaiah 26:20. And he is not only their refuge for protection—but their portion for provision, in that refuge; Psalms 142:5, "You are my refuge, and my portion in the land of the living." They are provided for, for eternity, Hebrews 11:16, "He has prepared for them a city." And what he sees they have need of for time, they shall not lack. "So do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them." Matthew 6:31-32.
Seasonable correction is likewise their privilege as sons: so they are not allowed to pass with their faults, as others who are not children—but servants of the family, who at length will be turned out of doors for their miscarriages, Hebrews 12:7, "If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not?"
They are heirs of, and shall inherit the promises, Hebrews 6:12. Nay, they are heirs of God, who himself is the portion of their inheritance, Psalms 16:5, "and joint-heirs with Christ," Romans 8:17. And because they are the children of the great King, and heirs of glory, they have angels for their attendants, who are "sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation," Hebrews 1:14.
4. A fourth benefit is
There are indeed some graces, in every believer, which appear as top-branches above the rest: as meekness in Moses, patience in Job; but seeing there is in every child of God, a holy principle going along with the holy law, in all the parts thereof, loving and approving of it - as it appears from their universal respect to the commands of God - it is evident that they are endowed with all the graces of the Spirit; because there cannot be less in the effect, than there was in the cause.
Now, this sanctifying Spirit, whereof believers partake, is unto them,
(1.) A spirit of MORTIFICATION: "through the Spirit they mortify the deeds of the body," Romans 8:13. Sin is crucified in them, Galatians 5:24. They are planted together, namely, with Christ in the likeness of his death, which was a lingering death, Romans 6:6. Sin in the saint, though not quite dead—yet is dying. If it were dead, it would be taken down from the cross, and buried out of his sight: but it hangs there as yet, working and struggling under its mortal wounds. As, when a tree has got such a stroke as reaches the heart of it, all the leaves and branches begin to fade and decay: so, where the sanctifying Spirit comes, and breaks the power of sin, there is a gradual ceasing from it, and dying to it, in the whole man; so that he "no longer lives in the flesh to the lusts of men." He does not make sin his trade and business; it is not his great design to seek himself, and to satisfy his corrupt inclinations: but he is seeking for Immanuel’s land, and is walking in the highway to it, the way which is called the way of holiness; though the wind from hell, which was on his back before, blows now full in his face, makes his traveling uneasy, and often drives him off the highway.
(2.) This Spirit is a Spirit of VIVIFICATION to them; for he is the Spirit of life, and makes them live unto righteousness, Ezekiel 36:27, "And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes." Those who have been "planted together," with Christ, "in the likeness of his death, shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection," Romans 6:5. At Christ’s resurrection, when his soul was reunited with his body, every member of that blessed body was enabled again to perform the actions of life: so the soul, being influenced by the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, is enabled more and more to perform all the actions of spiritual life. And as the whole of the law, and not some scraps of it only, is written on the holy heart; so believers are enabled to transcribe that law, in their conversation. Although they cannot write one line of it without blots—yet God, for Christ’s sake, accepts of the performance, in point of sanctification; they being disciples to his own Son, and led by his own Spirit. This sanctified Spirit, communicated by the Lord Jesus to his members, is the spiritual nourishment the branches have from the stock into which they are engrafted; whereby the life of grace, given them in regeneration, is preserved, continued, and actuated. It is the nourishment whereby the new creature lives, and is nourished up towards perfection. Spiritual life needs to be fed, and must have supply of nourishment: and believers derive the same from Christ their head, whom the Father has appointed the head of influence to all his members, Colossians 2:19, "And not holding the head, from which all the body, by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered, or supplied," etc. Now this supply is "the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ," Php 1:19. The saints feed richly, "eating Christ’s flesh, and drinking his blood," for their spiritual nourishment: yet our Lord himself teaches us, that "it is the Spirit who quickens," John 6:63, even that Spirit who dwells in his blessed body. The human nature is united to the divine nature, in the person of the Son; and so, like the bowl in Zachariah’s candlestick, Zechariah 4:1-14, lies at the fountain-head, as the glorious means of conveyance of influences from the fountain of Deity. He receives not the Spirit by measure—but ever has a fullness of the Spirit, by reason of that personal union. Hence believers, being united to the man Christ, as the seven lamps to the bowl, by their seven pipes, Zechariah 4:2, his flesh is to them food indeed, and his blood drink indeed: for, feeding on that blessed body, that is, effectually applying Christ to their souls by faith, they partake more and more of that Spirit, who dwells therein, to their spiritual nourishment. The holiness of God can never admit of an immediate union with the sinful creature, nor, consequently, an immediate communion with it: yet the creature could not live the life of grace without communion with the fountain of life. Therefore, that the honor of God’s holiness and the salvation of sinners might jointly be provided for, the second person of the glorious trinity took into a personal union with himself a sinless human nature; that so this holy, harmless, and undefiled humanity, might immediately receive a fullness of the Spirit, of which he might communicate to his members, by his divine power and efficacy.
Suppose there were a tree, with its root in the earth, and its branches reaching to heaven; the vast distance between the root and the branches would not interrupt the communication between the root and the top branch: even so, the distance between the man Christ, who is in heaven, and his members, who are on earth, cannot hinder the communication between them. What though the parts of mystical Christ, namely the head and the members, are not adjoining, as joined together in the way of corporal union; the union is not therefore the less real and effectual. Yes, our Lord himself shows us, that though we eat his flesh in a corporeal and carnal manner—yet it would profit nothing, John 6:63; we would not be one whit the holier thereby. But the members of Christ on earth are united to their head in heaven, by the invisible bond of the self-same Spirit dwelling in both; in him as the head, and in them as the members. The wheels in Ezekiel’s vision were not adjoining to the living creatures—yet were united to them by an invisible bond of one Spirit in both; so that, "when the living creatures went, the wheels went with them, and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up," Ezekiel 1:19; "for," says the prophet, "the Spirit of the living creature was in the wheels," Ezekiel 1:20.
Hence we may see the difference between true sanctification, and that shadow of it—which is to be found among some strict professors of Christianity, who yet are not true Christians, are not regenerated by the Spirit of Christ, and is of the same kind with what has appeared in many sober heathens. True sanctification is the result of the soul’s union with the holy Jesus, the first and immediate receptacle of the sanctifying Spirit; out of whose fullness, his members do, by virtue of their union with him, receive sanctifying influences. The other is the mere product of the man’s own spirit, which, whatever it has, or seems to have, of the matter of true holiness—yet does not arise from the supernatural principles, nor to the high aims and ends thereof: for, as it comes from self, so it runs out into the dead sea of self again; and lies as wide of true holiness, as nature does of grace. They who have this species of holiness, are like common boatmen, who serve themselves with their own oars: whereas the ship bound for Immanuel’s land, sails by the blowings of the divine Spirit.
How is it possible there should be true satisfaction without Christ? Can there be true sanctification without partaking of the Spirit of holiness? Can we partake of that Spirit—but by Jesus Christ, "the way, the truth, and the life?" The falling dew shall as soon make its way through the flinty rock, as the influences of grace come from God to sinners, any other way than through him whom the Father has appointed the head of influences, Colossians 1:19, "For it pleased the Father, that in him should all fullness dwell:" and, chapter 2:19, "And not holding the head, from which all the body, by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered and knit together, increases with the increase of God." Hence see how it comes to pass, that many fall away from their seeming sanctification, and never recover: it is because they are not branches truly knit to the true vine. Meanwhile, others recover from their decays, because of their union with the life-giving stock, by the quickening Spirit, 1 John 2:19, "They went out from us—but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us."
5. A fifth benefit is
First, There is a great difference between the Christians growing simply, and his growing at all times. All true Christians do grow—but I do not say that they grow at all times. A tree, that has life and nourishment, grows to its perfection—yet it is not always growing; it grows not in the winter. Christians also have their winters, wherein the influences of grace, necessary for their growth, cease, Song of Solomon 5:2, "I sleep." It is by faith the believer derives gracious influences from Jesus Christ; as each lamp in the candlestick received oil from the bowl, by the pipe going between them, Zechariah 4:2. Now, if that pipe is stopped up, if the saint’s faith lies dormant and inactive, then all the rest of the graces will become dim, and seem ready to be extinguished. In consequence whereof, depraved nature will gather strength, and become active. What, then, will become of the soul? Why, there is still one sure ground of hope. The saint’s faith is not as the hypocrite’s, like a pipe laid short of the fountain, whereby there can be no conveyance: it still remains a bond of union between Christ and the soul; and therefore, because Christ lives, the believer shall live also, John 14:19. The Lord Jesus "puts in his hand by the hole of the door," and clears the means of conveyance; and then influences for growth flow, and the believer’s graces look fresh and green again, Hosea 14:7, "They that dwell under his shadow shall return: they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine." In the worst of times, the saints have a principle of growth in them, 1 John 3:9, "His seed remains in him." Therefore, after decays, they revive again: namely, when the winter is over, and the Sun of righteousness returns to them with his warm influences. Mud thrown into a pool may lie there at ease; but if it be cast into a fountain, the spring will at length work it out, and run as clear as formerly.
Secondly, Christians may MISTAKE their growth, and that two ways.
(1.) By judging of their case according to their present feeling. They observe themselves, and cannot perceive themselves to be growing; but there is no reason thence to conclude they are not growing, Mark 4:27, "The seed springs and grows up—he knows not how." Were a person to fix his eye ever so steadfastly on a growing tree, he would not see it growing; but if he compares the tree as it now is, with what it was some years ago, he will certainly perceive that it has grown. In like manner may the Christian know whether he be in a growing or declining state, by comparing his present with his former condition.
(2.) Christians may mistake their case, by measuring their growth by the advances of the top only, not of the root. Though a man be not growing taller, he may be growing stronger. If a tree be uniting with the ground, fixing itself in the earth, and spreading out its roots, it is certainly growing, although it be not higher than formerly. So, although a Christian may lack the sweet consolations and flashes of affection which he had; yet, if he is growing in humility, self-denial, and sense of needy dependence on Jesus Christ, he is a growing Christian, Hosea 14:5, "I will be as the dew unto Israel, he shall cast forth his roots as Lebanon."
Question. "But do hypocrites grow at all? And if so, how shall we distinguish between their growth, and true Christian growth?"
Answer. To the first part of the question, hypocrites do grow. The tares have their growth, as well as the wheat: the seed that fell among thorns did spring up, Luke 8:7. Only it brought no fruit to perfection, Luke 8:14. Yes, a true Christian may have a false growth. James and John seemed to grow in the grace of holy zeal, when their spirits grew so hot in the cause of Christ, that they would have burned a whole village, for not receiving their Lord and Master, Luke 9:54, "They said, Lord, command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did!" But it was, indeed, no such thing; and therefore, he turned and rebuked them, Luke 9:55, and said, "You know not what manner of spirit you are of." To the second part of the question, it is answered, that there is a peculiar beauty in the true Christian growth, distinguishing it from all false growth: it is universal, regular, proportionable. It is a "growing up into him in all things, which is the head," Ephesians 4:15. The growing Christian grows proportionably, in all the parts of the new man. Under the kindly influences of the Sun of righteousness, believers "grow up as calves of the stall," Malachi 4:2.
You would think it a monstrous growth, in any creatures—if you saw their heads grow, and not their bodies; or if you saw one leg grow, and another not; if all the parts do not grow proportionably. Yes—but such is the growth of many in religion. They grow like rickety children, who have a big head—but a slender body; they get more knowledge into their heads—but no more holiness into their hearts and lives. They grow very hot outwardly—but very cold inwardly; like men in a fit of the ague. They are more taken up about the externals of religion than formerly; yet as great strangers to the power of godliness as ever.
If a garden is watered with the hand, some of the plants will readily get much, some little, and some no water at all; and therefore, some wither, while others are coming forward: but after a shower from the clouds, all come forward together. In like manner, all the graces of the Spirit grow proportionably, by the special influences of divine grace. The branches engrafted in Christ, growing aright, do grow in all the several ways of growth at once. They grow inward, growing into Christ, Ephesians 4:15, uniting more closely with him; and cleaving more firmly to him, as the head of influences, which is the spring of all other true Christian growth. They grow outward in good works, in their life and conversation. They not only, with Naphtali, give goodly words; but, like Joseph, they are fruitful boughs. They grow upward in heavenly-mindedness, and contempt of the world; for their conversation is in heaven, Php 3:20. And finally, they grow downward in humility and self-loathing. The branches of the largest growth in Christ, are, in their own eyes, "less than the least of all saints," Ephesians 3:8; "the chief of sinners," 1 Timothy 1:15; "more brutish than any man," Proverbs 30:2. They see that they can do nothing, no, not so much as "think anything, as of themselves," 2 Corinthians 3:5; that they deserve nothing, being "not worthy of the least of all the mercies showed unto them," Genesis 32:10; and that they are nothing, 2 Corinthians 12:11.
6. A sixth benefit is
Thus the branches in Christ are full of good fruits. And those fruits are a cluster of vital actions, whereof Jesus Christ is the principle and end. The principle: for he lives in them, and "the life they live is by faith in the Son of God," Galatians 2:20. The end: for they live to him, and "to them to live is Christ," Php 1:21. The duties of true piety are in the world, like fatherless children, in rags: some will not take them in, because they never loved them nor their Father; some take them in, because they may be serviceable to them. But the saints take them in for their Father’s sake, that is, for Christ’s sake: and they are lovely in their eyes, because they are like him. O! whence is this new life of the saints? Surely it could never have been hammered out of the natural powers of their souls, by the united force of all created power. In eternal barrenness would they have continued; but that being "married to Christ, they bring forth fruit unto God," Romans 7:4.
If you ask me,
(1.) Make sure work, as to your knitting with the stock by sincere faith; and beware of hypocrisy: a branch that is not sound at the heart will certainly wither. The trees of the Lord’s planting are trees of righteousness, Isaiah 61:3. So, when false professors fade—they continue to bring forth fruit. Hypocrisy is a disease in the vitals of religion, which will consume all at length. It is a leak in the ship, which will certainly sink it. Sincerity of grace will make it lasting, be it ever so weak: as the smallest twig, which is sound at the heart, will draw nourishment from the stock and grow; while the greatest bough that is rotten can never recover, because it receives no nourishment.
(2.) Labor to be steadfast in the truths and way of God. An unsettled and wavering judgment is a great enemy to Christian growth and fruitfulness, as the apostle teaches, Ephesians 4:14-15, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things into Christ—who is the head." A rolling stone gathers no moss, and a wavering judgment makes a fruitless life. Though a tree be ever so sound—yet how can it grow, or be fruitful, if you be always moving it out of one soil into another?
(3.) Endeavor to cut off the suckers, as gardeners do, that their trees may thrive. These are unmortified lusts; therefore, "mortify your members which are upon the earth," Colossians 3:5. When the Israelites got food for their lusts, they got leanness to their souls. She that has many hungry children about her hand, and must be still putting into their mouths, will have much ado to get a bit put into her own mouth. They must refuse the cravings of inordinate affections, who would have their souls to prosper.
(4.) Improve, for these ends, the ordinances of God. It is in the courts of our God where the trees of righteousness flourish, Psalms 92:13. The waters of the sanctuary are the means appointed of God, to cause his people to grow as willows by the water courses. Therefore, drink in with "desire, the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby," 1 Peter 2:2. Come to these wells of salvation: not to look at them only—but to draw water out of them. The sacrament of the Lord’s supper is in a special manner appointed for these ends. It is not only a solemn public profession, and a seal of our union and communion with Christ; but it is a means of most intimate communion with him, and strengthens our union with him, our faith, love, repentance, and other graces, 1 Corinthians 10:16, "The cup of blessing, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" And, 1 Corinthians 12:13, "We have been all made to drink into one Spirit." Give yourselves unto prayer; open your mouths wide, and he will fill them. By these means the branches in Christ may be farther nourished, grow up, and bring forth much fruit.
7. A seventh benefit is,
There is no grace planted in the heart—but there is a weed of corruption near by its side, while the saints are in the lower world. Their very sincerity is not without a mixture of deception or hypocrisy, Galatians 2:13. Hence there are defects in the exercise of every grace; in the performance of every duty; depraved nature always drops something to stain their best works. There is still a mixture of darkness with their clearest light. Yet this does not mar their acceptance with God, Song of Solomon 6:10, "Who is she that looks forth as the morning?" or, as the dawning? Behold how Christ’s spouse is esteemed and accepted of her Lord, even when she looks forth as the dawn, whose beauty is mixed with the blackness of the night! "When the morning was looking out," as the word is, Judges 19:26, that is, "In the dawning of the day," as we read it. So the very dawning of grace, and good will to Christ, grace peeping out from under a mass of darkness in believers, is pleasant and acceptable to him, as the break of day is to the weary traveler.
Though the remains of unbelief make the hand of faith to shake and tremble; yet the Lord is so well pleased with it, that he employs it to carry away pardons and supplies of grace, from the throne of grace, and the fountain of grace. His faith was effectual, who "cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help you my unbelief!" Mark 9:24. Though the remains of sensual affections make the flame of their love weak and smoky; he turns his eyes from the smoke, and beholds the flame, how fair it is, Song of Solomon 4:10, "How fair is your love, my sister, my spouse!" "The smell of their" under "garment" of inherent holiness, as imperfect as it is, "is like the smell of Lebanon," Song of Solomon 4:11; and that because they are covered with their elder brother’s clothes, which makes the sons of God to "smell as a field which the Lord has blessed." Their good works are accepted: their cups of cold water given to a disciple, in the name of a disciple, shall not lack a reward. Though they cannot offer for the tabernacle—gold, silver, and brass, and onyx stones—let them come forward with what they have: if it were but goats’ hair, it shall not be rejected; if it were but ram’s skins, they shall be kindly accepted; for they are dyed red, dipped by faith in the Mediator’s blood, and so presented unto God. A very ordinary work done in faith, and from faith, if it were but the building of a wall about the holy city, is a great work, Nehemiah 6:3. If it were but the bestowing of a box of ointment on Christ, it shall never be forgotten, Matthew 26:13. Even "a cup of cold water only given to one of Christ’s little ones, in the name of a disciple, shall be rewarded," Matthew 10:42. Nay, not a good word for Christ shall drop from their mouths—but it shall be registered in God’s "book of remembrance," Malachi 3:16. Nor shall a tear drop from their eyes for him—but he will "put it in his bottle," Psalms 56:8. Their will is accepted for the deed; their sorrow for the lack of will, for the will itself, 2 Corinthians 8:12, "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man has, and not according to that he has not." Their groanings, when they cannot well express their desires, are heard in heaven; the meaning of those groans is well known there, and they will be returned like the dove with an olive branch of peace in her mouth. See Romans 8:26-27. Their mites are better than other men’s talents. Their lisping and broken sentences are more pleasant to their Father in heaven, than the most fluent or flourishing speeches of those who are not in Christ. Their voice is sweet, even when they are ashamed it should be heard; their countenance is lovely, even when they blush, and draw a veil over it, Song of Solomon 2:14. The Mediator takes their petitions, blots out some parts, rectifies others, and then presents them to the Father, in consequence whereof they are accepted in the court of heaven.
Every true Christian is a temple to God. If you look for sacrifices, they are not lacking there; they offer the sacrifice of praise, and do good. With such sacrifices God is well pleased, Hebrews 13:15-16. Christ himself is the altar which sanctifies the gift, Hebrews 13:10. If we look for incense, it is there too. The graces of the Spirit are found in their hearts: and the Spirit of the crucified Christ fires them, and puts them in exercise; as the fire was brought from the altar of burnt-offering, to set the incense in flame: then they mount heavenward, like pillars of smoke, Song of Solomon 3:6. But the best of incense will leave ashes behind it; yes, indeed: but as the priest took away the ashes of the incense in a golden dish, and threw them out; so our great High Priest takes away the ashes and refuse of all the saint’s services, by his mediation in their behalf.
8. An eighth benefit flowing from union with Christ, is
Sometimes a stormy wind of temptation blows from hell, and shakes the branches in Christ, the true vine: but their union with him is their security; moved they may be—but removed they never can be. The Lord "will with the temptation, also make a way of escape," 1 Corinthians 10:13. Calms are never of any continuance; there is almost always some wind blowing; and therefore, branches are rarely altogether at rest. But sometimes violent winds arise, which threaten to rend them from off their stock. Even so it is with saints; they are daily put to it to keep their ground against temptation: sometimes the wind from hell rises so high, and blows so furiously, that it makes even top branches to sweep the ground; yet being knit to Christ their stock, they get up again, in spite of the most violent efforts of the prince of the power of the air. Psalms 94:18, "When I said, my foot slips, your mercy, O Lord, held me up." But the Christian improves by his trial; and is so far from being damaged, that he is benefitted by it, as it discovers what hold the soul has of Christ, and what hold Christ has of the soul. Look—as the wind in the bellows, which would blow out the candle, blows up the fire; even so it often comes to pass, that such temptations enliven the true Christian, awakening the graces of the Spirit in him; and by that means, discover both the reality and the strength of grace in him. And hence, as Luther, that great man of God, says, "One Christian, who has had experience of temptation, is worth a thousand others."
Sometimes a stormy wind of trouble and persecution from the men of the world, blows upon the vine, that is, mystical Christ; but union with the stock is a sufficient security to the branches. In a time of the church’s peace and outward prosperity, while the angels hold the winds, that they blow not, there are a great many branches taken up and put into the stock, which never knit with it, nor live by it, though they are bound up with it by the bonds of external ordinances. Now, these may stand a while on the stock, and stand with great ease while the calm lasts; but when once the storms arise, and the winds blow, they will begin to fall off one after another; and the stronger the wind rises, the greater will the number be, which fall. Yes, some strong boughs of that sort, when they fall, will, by their weight, carry others of their own kind, quite down to the earth with them; and will bruise and press down some true branches in such a manner, that they would also fall off—were it not for that fast hold which the stock has of them. Then it is that many branches, which before were high and eminent, are found lying on the ground withered, and fit to be gathered up and cast into the fire, Matthew 13:6, "When the sun was up, they were scorched: and because they had no root, they withered away." John 15:6, "If a man abides not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." But however violently the winds blow, none of the truly engrafted branches which are knit with the stock are found missing, when the storm is changed into a calm, John 17:12, "Those whom you gave me, I have kept, and none of them is lost." The least twig growing in Christ shall persevere; when the tallest cedars growing on their own root, shall be laid flat on the ground, Romans 8:35, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" See Romans 8:36-39. However severely spiritual Israel is "sifted—yet shall not the least grain," or, as it is in the original language, a little stone, "fall to the ground," Amos 9:9. It is an allusion to the sifting of fine pebble stones from among heaps of dust and sand: though the sand and dust falls to the ground, be blown away with the wind, and trampled under foot; yet there shall not fall to the ground so much as a little stone, such is the exactness of the sieve, and the care of the sifter. There is nothing more ready to fall on the earth than a stone: yet, if professors of religion be living stones, built on Christ, the chief corner-stone, although they be little stones, they shall not fall to the earth, whatever storm beats upon them. See 1 Peter 2:4-6.
All the good grain in the church of Christ is of this kind: they are stones, in respect of solidity; and living stones in respect of activity. If men are solid, substantial Christians, they will not be like chaff tossed to and fro with every wind. And if they are lively Christians, whose spirits will stir in them, as Paul’s did, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry, Acts 17:16, they will not lie like stones, to be turned over, hither and there, cut and carved, according to the lusts of men; having so much of the stone, as leaves nothing of liveliness in them. Our God’s house is a great house, wherein are not only vessels of gold—but also of earth, 2 Timothy 2:20. Both these are apt to contract filthiness; and therefore, when God brings trouble upon the church, he has an eye to both. As for the vessels of gold, they are not destroyed; but purified by a fiery trial in the furnace of affliction, as goldsmiths refine their gold, Isaiah 1:25, "And I will turn my hand upon you, and purely purge away your dross." But destruction is to the vessels of earth; they shall be broken in shivers, as a potter’s vessel, Isaiah 1:28, "And the destruction," or breaking "of the transgressors, and of the sinners, shall be together." It seems to be an allusion to that law, for breaking the vessels of earth, when unclean; while vessels of wood, and consequently vessels of gold, were only to be rinsed, Leviticus 15:12.