Corollary 1. Learn hence, The exceeding preciousness of souls, and at what a high rate God values tliem, that he will give his Son, hitt only Son out of his bosom, as a ransomfor them. Surely this speaks their preciousness : God would not have parted with such a Son for small matters : all the world could not redeem them ; gold and
• Cfiristus et ccelum nonpatinntur hyjyerbQlen. Christ and heaven can suffer no hyperbole.
SERM. IV. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 69
silver could not be their ransom ; so speaks the apostle, 1 Peter i. 18. " You were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver " and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ." Such an es- teem God had for them, that rather than they should perish, Je- sus Christ shall be made a man, yea, a curse for them. Oh then, learn to put a due value upon your own souls : do not sell that cheap, which God hath paid so dear for i Remember what a trea- sure you carry about you ; the glory that you see in this world is not equivalent in worth to it. Matth. xvi. 26. " What shall a " man give in exchange for his soul ?"
Corollary 2. If God has given his own Son for the world, then it follows, that those for whom God gave his own Son, may warrant- ably expect any other temporal merciesfrom him. This is the apostle's inference, Rom. viii. 32. " He that spared not his own Son, but " delivered him up for Us all ; how shall he not* with him, free- " ty giye us aU things ?" And so 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22. " All is yours, " for ye are Christ's." i. e. They hold all other things in Christ, who is the capital, and most comprehensive mercy.
To make out the grounds of this comfortable deduction, let these four things be pondered, and duly weighed in your thoughts. (1.) No other mercy you need or desire, is, or can be so dear to God, as Jesus Christ is : he never laid any other thing in his bo- som as he did his Son. As for the world, and the comforts of it, it is the dust of his feet, he values it not ; as you see by his provi- dential disposals of it ; having given it to the worst of men. " All the Turkish empire," saith Luther, " as great and glorious as it is, is but a crumb which the master of the family throws to the dogs.'" * Think upon any other outward enjoyment that is valua- ble in your eyes, and there is not so much comparison betwixt it and Christ, in the esteem of God, as is betwixt your dear children and the lumber of your houses, in your esteem. If then God has parted so freely from that which was infinitely dearer to him than these ; how shall he deny these, when they may promote his glo- ry, and your good ? (2.) As Jesus Christ was nearer the heart of God than all these ; so Christ is, in himself, much greater and more excellent than all of them : Ten thousand worlds, and the glory of them all, is but the dust of the balance, if weighed with Christ. These things are but poor creatures, but he is over all, God blessed for ever, Rom. ix. 5. They are common gifts, but he is the Gift of God, John iv. 10. They are ordinary mercies, but he is The mercy, Luke i. 72. As one pearl, or precious stone is greater in value than ten thousand common pebbles. Now, if
* Totum Turcicum imperium, quantum quantum est, mica tantwn est, quam fakr* familias projictt cfhibus. Luther.
70 THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE* SERM. IV.
God has so freely given the greater, how can you suppose he should deny the lesser, mercies ? Will a man give to another a large inhe- ritance, and stand with him for a trifle ? how can it be ? (3.) There is no other mercy you want, but you are entitled to it by the gift of Christ ; it is, as to right, conveyed to you with Christ. So, in the fore-cited 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22, 23. " the world is yours, " yea, all is yours ; for ye are Christ's.1' So 2 Cor. i. 20. " For " all the promises of God in Christ, in him they are yea, and in him, amen." With him he hath given you all things, g/g avoXavtiv, 1 Tim. vi. 17. rich!?/ to enjoy : the word signifies rem aliquam cum Icetttia percipere, to have the sweet relish and comfort of an enjoy- ment. So have we in all our mercies, upon the account of our title to them in Christ. (4.) Lastly, If God has given you this nearer, greater, and all-comprehending mercy, when you were ene- mies to him, and alienated from him; it is not imaginable he should deny you any inferior mercy, when you are come into a state of reconciliation and amity with him. So the apostle reasons, Rom. v. 8, 9, 10. " For if, when we were enemies, we were recon- " ciled to God, by the death of his Son ; much more being recon- " ciled, we shall be saved by his life." And thus you have the second inference with its grounds.
Corollary 3. If the greatest love hath been manifested in giving Christ to the world, then it follows, that the greatest evil and wick- edness is manifested in despising, slighting, and rejecting Christ. It is sad to abuse the love of God manifested in the lowest gift of pro- vidence ; but, to slight the richest discoveries of it, even in that peerless gift, wherein God commends his love in the most taking and astonishing manner; this is sin with a witness. Blush, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth ; yea, be ye horribly afraid ! No guilt like this. The most flagitious wretches among the bar- barous nations are innocent, in comparison of these. But, are there any such in the world ? Dare any slight this gift of God ? Indeed, if men s words might be taken, there are few or none that dare do so ; but if their lives and practices may be believed, this, this is the sin of the far greater part of the christianized world. "Witness the lamentable stupidity and supineness >• witness the con- tempt of the gospel ; witness the hatred and persecution of his image, laws and people. What is the language of all this, but a vile esteem of Jesus Christ ?
And now, let me a little expostulate with those ungrateful souls, that trample under foot the Son of God, that value not this love that gave him forth. What is that mercy which you so contemn and undervalue ? is it so vile and cheap a thing as your enter ain- ment speaks it to be ? is it indeed worth no more than this in your eyes ? Surely you will not be long of that opinion ! Will you be of
»ERM. IV. *THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. *71