PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Complete Works of Thomas Manton — Volume 11
Thomas Manton · 316,591 words · 316 reading sections
Section 61
94 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XLI. Fourthly, The next thing is the matter of the request. Presence, and the beatifical vision, as the fruit of that presence. First, ' That they may be where I am ;' that is, wliere I am accord- ing to my humanity presently to be ; for he doth not speak of the earthly Jerusalem, whe…
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2. Completely at the resurrection. Believers consist of body as well as soul. Now it is said, ' That they may be there ;' that is, their whole self shall be there where Christ is. And so it proveth the resurrection, and the translation of our glorified bodies into heaven. So our Lord showeth that our being there where …
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VkR. 24.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 97 for a few days, he is not always abiding witli us ; then we shall never be glutted, God. is always fresh and new to the glorified saints. Use 1. To show us the love of Christ ; his heart is not satisfied till we be in like condition with himself : Luke xxii. 30, ' Ye shall eat and…
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Observe, secondly,' Christ taketh great delight in his people's com- pany and fellowship. His heart is much set upon it. 1. I shall give you some demonstrations and evidences of it. 2. Keasons. First, Evidences. 1. His longing for the society of men before the creation of the world: Prov. viii. 31, * I rejoiced in t…
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Secondly, Reasons. 1. Negatively ; there is not any want in himself, nor any worth in us. We are worthless and wretched ; Ps. xiv. 3, ' They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy, there is none that doeth good, no not one ; ' Titus iii, 3, * For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, de…
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[2.] Solemn and special, in holy ordinances. Our souls should run upon this, how we may find Christ there ; as the spouse sought her beloved throughout the whole city : Cant. iii. 2, 3, ' I will arise now, and go about the city, in the streets, and in the broad ways ; I will seek him whom my soul loveth. I sought him, …
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Here I shall show — (1.) What is this glory ; (2.) What it is to be- hold this glory ; (3.) Why our happiness lieth in it. First, What is this glory ? 1. The excellency of his person. The union of the two natures in Christ's person is one of the mysteries that shall then be unfolded : John xiv. 20, ' At that day ye s…
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[2.] Mental vision maketh way for likeness and conformity to God. Knowledge in this life changeth us : Col. iii. 10, ' And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.' Much more are we sanctified and made holy by the light of glory. The sight that we have of Christ in…
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Use 1. To ravish your hearts with the contemplation of this happi- ness. Oh 1 what an affective sight is Christ's glory ! 1. The sight itself is a privilege. 2. That we shall be able to see it with comfort. 1. The sight itself is a privilege. Abraham had a sight of his incarnation, when it was a thing long after to …
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2. They that begin their happiness here make it their study to know Christ : John xvii. 3, ' This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent;' there is the foundation and the beginning of it. Study Christ in his natures, person, offices ; this is fit work for saints. Saith Mos…
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1. Of the last clause; the glory given to Christ is a fruit and evi- dence of God's eternal love to him as mediator ; for so he is considered here ; for whatever was given to Christ was given to him as mediator, for to the divine nature nothing can be given ; though the Father be the fountain of the godhead, yet he is …
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2. His love to Christ, which is the ground of his love to us. It is the wisdom of God that the reasons why man sliould be loved should be out of man himself, in and among the persons of the godhead. The Son loveth us, because the Father requireth it ; and the Father loveth us, because the Son merited it ; and the Holy …
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Use 4. It teacheth us to disclaim merit. 1. God's love was before our being and acting. Paul, out of a less circumstance, concludeth election not to be of works : Rom. ix. 11, ' For the children being yet unborn, neither having done good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works,…
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1. By the scope and aim of your lives and actions. Do you labour for another world ? 2 Cor. iv. 18, ' While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen : for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal,' /x^ (tkottovvtwv r]fioiv. What is your …
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1. Because God hath done enough ; God is aforehand with them ; they have more means than they use well. The Gentile world had light enough from the creatures to convince them of the true God : Eom. i. 19, 20, ' Because that which may be known of God is mani- fest in them, for God hath showed it unto them. For the invis…
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Object. Ay ! but they have good meanings, and surely God will not deal in justice and rigour with them: we are ignorant, but our heart is good. Ans. Prov. xix. 21, ' Without knowledge the heart is not good.' Ignorance is so far from being the mother of devotion, as the Papists say, that it is the great hindrance of it…
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Use 1. See how careful God is to preserve the honour and the awe in us of his justice, even in his rewards of grace. God will be just ; lie is very careful to preserve the notions which the creature hath of liis own essence inviolable. He will not exercise mercy to the preju- dice of his justice ; there must be some wa…
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2. There is no serving or enjoying of God but by knowledge. I do not plead for a naked knowledge, and an inactive speculation, but such as is accompanied with faith, love, and obedience, otherwise it is no true knowledge. No knowledge, no faith : Kom. x. 14, ' How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard ?…
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VeR. 25.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 121 else but an artificial speculation, a naked model of truth in the brain, which, as the winter sun, shines but warms not. But what is true knowledge ? How shall we discover it ? I answer — 1. It must be a serious prudent knowledge, &c. [See on ver. 8.] I now come to speak to the i…
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Use 1. Information. 1. That true zeal is not seen so much in fighting with antiquated errors, as in being ' established in the present truth,' 2 Peter i. 12, iv Tfi irapovar) aXr)6e[a. The present truth of that age was to acknow- ledge Christ to be the Messiah. When truths are upon the stage, then to give our testimon…
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124 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [Seh. XLIII. Doubts smothered make way for atheism or hardness of heart. Therefore, in cases of anxiety, it is good to bring things to an issue. Smoke maketh way for flame. [3.] In your choice, be not swayed with interests, nor vulgar pre- judices, nor vile affections. (1.) Not with inter…
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2. Experience shows it. Take mere nature itself, and, like plants neglected, it soon runneth wild ; as the nations that are barbarous, and not polished with arts and civility, have more of the beast than of the man in them : Jude 10, ' What they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.'…
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Use. It informeth us — 1. Of our misery by nature. For as the reprobate lost world are, so are we all by nature ; we have no knowledge of the true God : Job VeR. 25.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 127 xi. 12, 'Vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt' We are apt to think ourselves angels, but we a…
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2. None else can give us a capacity to learn. Jesus Christ is such a teacher, that he doth not only give the lesson, but the wit and skill to learn : 1 John v. 20, ' We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true.' No matter what the scholar is, when we have s…
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VOL. XI. I 130 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR, XLIII. ' I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.' God can give to shallow and weak people great under- standing in spiritual things, as he cured him that was born bli…
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' Qu. ' in the eecond, what, &c. ' ? — Ed. 132 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XLIV. askest tliou thus after my name, seeing it is secret ?' There was little known of the Trinity, of the Son of God, the incarnation of the Son of Grod, &c. First point, That one great privilege of the gospel is to know God by his right …
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Second point. That none can discover this name of God but Christ, none authoritatively, none perfectly. 1. None authoritatively can fix his name by which he shall be known among the creatures. The imposition of names implieth supe- riority ; the less is named of the greater. Adam had this favom* to name the beasts, as…
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Use 1. Comfort against present defects. Though you are ignorant of some mysteries of religion, do not despond ; Christ doth not give you all at once. There is a double comfort ; God will accept our weakness, and we have a head in whom is all fulness. As our life is VeR. 26.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 135 hidden in Chri…
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[2.] That we have not only the blessings and benefits, but the love itself: 1 John iii. 1, ' Behold what manner of love is this that the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God ! ' Not showed us, but bestowed upon us. We have blessings from his heart, as well as his hand ; by his blessing…
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138 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XLIV. shut up in a box, till it was poured out ; so God's love, while it is kept secret, it yieldeth no reviving fragrancy. These two differ, for many have the effects of God's love, but not the sense ; and the effects of love do always abide, for it is an immortal seed ; but the sens…
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Use 2. Examination, whether you have gotten benefit by the gospel. Is God's love in you? Have you any fruits or feeling of his love? Can you say God loveth you ? All God's children cannot feel his love ; but have you the fruits of his love ? The feeling of his love is to be improved immediately to thankfulness, and the…
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2. His work. Have you the work of the Spirit ? What is that ? The work of the Spirit is to sanctify and cleanse : Eph. v. 25, 26, ' Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it.' It is the greatest sign of God's anger and wrath that can be to live and die under the power of si…
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2. It is not a congregation, as things may be gathered together ; as stones in a heap, they are united, or gathered into one heap, but they do not act one upon another. And therefore the Holy Ghost doth not resemble our union with Christ by stones in a heap, but by stones in a building, that afford mutual strength and …
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144 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [SeR. XLV. 9. It is not a mixture, as if Christ and we were confounded, and mingled our substances together. That is a gross thought, and suiteth with the carnal fancies of a corporeal eating his flesh and drinking his blood. We are not mixed, his substance with ours, and ours with his ; he…
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2. What is that act of faith by which we close with Christ ? I answer — The apprehending, embracing, taking hold of Christ : * To as many as received him,' &c., John i. 12, trusting him with our souls ; that is the faith that gives us an interest in gospel privileges. But what is this receiving Christ? I answer — Eecei…
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VeB. 26.] SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. 147 Christ openly, and then live in constant communion with him. This is to receive Christ ; and is this easy? Can all this be done till God enlarge the heart ? 0 my Lord ! I am willing to receive thee ; do thou open and enlarge my heart so to do. Again, it is expressed by apprehendi…
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Use 2. Examination. 1. Is Christ in you ? Who livetli there, and worketh, Christ or Satan ? These two divide the world between them, the strong man, and the stronger than he. The heart of man is not a waste. Christ ruleth in the church, and the devil in the world ; and yet all that are in the church are not in Christ …
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SERMONS SIXTH CHAPTER OF THE ROMANS. SERMONS UPON ROMANS VI. SERMON I. What shall lue say then ? shall loe continue in sin, that grace may abound ? God forbid ! Hoio shall lue, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? — Rom. VI. 1, 2. The drift of the apostle in this chapter is to show that free justificatio…
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Doct. That to take occasion to live in sin from free grace, or God's mercy to sinners in Christ, is an inference most unjust, absurd, and blasphemous, and that which all christians' hearts should abominate. Here in the text such an inference is mentioned with a denial joined with a detestation of the thing denied ; the…
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3. This conceit is strengthened in us, because many that profess Christianity live licentiously. All sins propagate their kind, and among others, abuse of grace. We see others have great hopes and confidence in Christ, notwithstanding their carnal and worldly course of living, and self-love prompteth us that we may hop…
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[2.] There is a difference between the remission of sins past, and allowance of sin future. Our fixed purpose must be not to sin, but if we sin, we have the use of God's remedy : 1 John ii. 1, ' My little children, these things I write unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, …
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[2.] It is against repentance, which implieth a sorrow for sin, with a serious purpose to forsake it. (1.) There is in it godly sorrow, 2 Cor. vii. 10. This is requisite to check the sensual inclination, or love of pleasure, which is the heart, root, and life of all sin : it dies when our affection to it dies. In re- …
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Vers. 1, 2.] sermons upon romans v^r. 161 2. They prevent the highest institution in the world for the recovery of men to God : Jude 4, ixeraridevTe^, ' turning the grace of God into wantonness.' The gospel is the only way of taking away sin ; you make it the only way to countenance sin. Grace is there taken for objec…
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SEEMON II. Know ye not, that so many of us as loere baptized into Jesus Christy ivere baptized into his death f — Rom. VI. 3. In the former verse the apostle confuteth the preposterous inference, which some drew, or might draw, from free justification, or God's mercy to sinners in Christ, by this argument — It cannot…
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Secondly, That the sacraments are a solemn means of this commu- nion. Here are three things : — 1. That union with Christ is the ground of our communion with him. 2. This union and communion is signified and sealed by the sacra- ments. 3. That both the sacraments do chiefly refer to Christ's death. 1. That union wi…
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166 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VI. [SeR. II. 3. The sacraments do chiefly relate to our communion with Christ's death, as appeareth — [1.] By the interpretation of both in scripture. Baptism is explained in the text ; tlie chief thing represented is his death ; and by what is said, 1 Cor. i. 13, ' Is Christ divided? was Pau…
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1 68 SERMONB UPON ROMANS VI. [SeR. II. as Athanasius expoundeth it, and many others interpret it as a simi- litude of Christ's death for three days. So for the Lord's supperi Luke xxii. 19, 20, ' He took bread, and brake it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you ; this do in remem- branc…
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(1st.) Baptism, that our consent to depend upon God for the benefits of the new covenant, and perform the duties thereof, may be more solemn and explicit ; for all the sincerity of our after-obedience doth very much depend upon the seriousness of our first consent ; therefore it is meet that we should be strengthened w…
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(1.) It is dearly purchased, by the death of Christ ; that was the price paid for our ransom, which both commendeth his love — Kom. v. 8, ' But God commendeth his love to us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us' — and assureth our confidence : Rom. viii. 32, ' He that spared not his own Son, but delive…
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2. The conformity, or similitude on our part, ' Even so we should walk in the newness of life.' First, In the pattern propounded you may observe two things : — 1. Christ's state after his burial, ' He was raised up from the dead.' 2. The efl&cient cause, ' By the glory of the Father ; ' that is, by his glorious powe…
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174 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VI. [SeR. III. him ; and the expression of it without is the exercise of grace according to the direction of God's word. Yea, these two branches are not only seen at first, but every step of the new life is a dying to sin, and a rising to newness of life, a retiring from the world to God. 3. A…
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1. What it representeth, primarily and principally the death of Christ, and secondarily his resurrection, the one in order to the other. [1.] The death of Christ, which is the meritorious cause of all the grace and good which is communicated to us in this or any other sacrament or mystery of the gospel. We are told, 1…
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VeR. 4.] SERMONS UPON ROMANS VI. 177 resurrection we obtain this new life, and both are the causes of our dying to sin and living to God. 2. What it sealeth or confirmeth. The new covenant, wherein God hath promised the gift of the Spirit, to renew, sanctify, and heal all those that enter into it. We have the grace t…
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(2.) So for Christ's resurrection. In this ordinance we profess to rise again with Christ, and therefore should not only put off the old man, or body of sin, but have an earnest impulsion within ourselves to the duties of holiness, and be breathing after, and pressing on yet more and more to the purity and perfection o…
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Use 2. To persuade you to make conscience of your baptismal vow, and to observe and perform it with all good fidelity, and tliat in both jiarts of it. L L)yitJg to sin ; you are not only dead, but buried. Oh ! do not 180 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VI. [SeR. Ill* neglect the mortifying of your sins. You think it hard to ren…
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In the words — (1.) A supposition; and (2.) An inference. 1. The supposition proceedeth on two grounds. One is taken from the general nature of sacraments, that they signify and seal our union and communion with Christ. The other from their direct and imme- diate use, our communion with his death. 2. The inference an…
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1. Let ns take notice of the difference and dissimilitude. [1.] In ordinary engraffings the stock is base when the plant is noble and generous, as when the branch of a choice apple-tree is planted into a crab-stock. But the case is quite otherwise here ; all the goodness is in the stock or root ; we were * branches of…
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1. Of baptism, which inferreth an obligation. All those that profess faith in Christ, and an interest in him, are by baptism taken into the number of his disciples, and visibly joined into his church : Acts ii. 41, ' Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the VeR. 5.J SERMONS UPON ROMANS VI. 185 s…
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3. The sameness of the Spirit in head and members doth evidence this. For the Spirit worketh uniformly in both : Rom. viii. 9, ' But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of Grod dwell in you.' The sap of the stock doth all. Now, if the stock be the good vine, the fruit must be as the sap is, …
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[2.] As the thing purchased on the price. All Christ's actions have an aspect on his merit. The foundation was laid in his death. This resurrection evidenceth that this purchase holdeth good in heaven, and that his merit, ransom, and satisfaction are perfect : Rom, iv, 25, ' Who was delivered for our offences, and rose…
916 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1870); OCR text from Internet Archive. OCR may contain scanning/transcription errors. Verify quotations against page images when precision matters.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.