Consid. 9j. It is the great design of God In tlie gospel to exalt his Son, and to have all glory attributed and ascribed to him, " That in " all things he might have the pre-eminence," Col. i. 18. That Christ " might be all in all," Col. iii. 11. Hence no saint must have a self-sufficiency, or be trusted with a stock as Adam was, but Christ being filled with all the fulness of God, and made the 'rc^uirov hz-alixov, or first receptacle of all grace ; " For it pleased the Father, that in " him all fulness should dwell;" all the saints are therefore to go to him for supplies, and of his fulness to receive, John i. 16. This ful- ness being a mmisterial fulness, like that of the sun, or of a fountain,, intended to supply all our wants. And hence it is that faith, a self- emptying and denying grace, is appointed to be the instrument of fetching our supplies from Christ. All must be derived from him, that all the praise and glory may be ascribed to him, Phil. iv» 14. And this is a most wise and congruous ordination of God, for hereby not only are his people the better secured, but by this also the reproach that lay upon Christ is rolled away. He was reproach- ed on earth, as barren, empty, weak ; " Can any good come out of " Nazareth .? He was looked upon as a " Root springing out of a " dry ground," but by this shall his reproach be wiped away : So that unless you will go about to cross the great design of God, in the exaltation of his Christ, you must go out of yourselves, and liumbly and constantly rely upon supplies from Christ and his grace to help in the times of need.
Consid. 3. A Christian is constantly to depend upon Christ, not- withstanding all his own preparations and inherent qualifications: be- cause the activity even of inherent grace depends upon him. Inhe-
THE BEST WORK IN THE WORST TIMES. 69
rent o-race is beholden to exciting and assisting grace for all it is en- abled to do. You cannot act a grace without his Spirit, 1 Cor. xv. 10. 2 Cor. iii. 5. John xv. 5. It may be said of grace in us, as it was " of the land of Canaan, Deut. xi. 10, 11, 12. " It is not as the " land of Egypt, whence ye came out, where thou sowed st thy seed, " and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs : but a land of " hills and vallies, drinking water of the rain of heaven ; a land " which the Lord thy God careth for : his eyes are always upon it, " from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year." As the hfe and fragrancy of vegetables depend on the influences of hea- ven, so do our graces upon Christ. And hence he is called, (1.) A root, Isa. xi. 10. (2.) An head, Col. i. 18. (3.) A sun, Mai. iv. 2. (4.) A fountain, Zech. xiii. 1. All which comparisons do fully carry this truth in them.
Consid. 4. Lastly, In this life of dependence lies your security ; and indeed this is the great difference betwixt the two covenants. In the first, Adam's stock was in his own hands, and so his security or misery depended upon the unconstrained choice of his own mutable and self-determining will. But now in the new covenant, all are to go to Christ, to depend upon him for supplies, and are so secured against all destructive dangers, Jude 1. 1 Pet. i. 5. Should you go forth in your own strength against a temptation, either your grace would fail, and you fall in the conflict ; or if you obtain any victory over it by your own strength, yet it is a thousand to one but your pride would conquer you, when you had conquered it: Like him that slew an elephant, but was himself slain by the fall of that elephant which he slew. But now, by this way, as God hath secured you against the dangers without ; so also the frame and constitution of this new covenant is such as prevents the danger arismg from our own pride too. Not Ego et Deus mens : I and my God did this; as was once said by a profane mouth ; " but self is abased, and the " Lord lifted up in his own strength," 1 Cor. v. 7. And thus I have briefly evinced the necessity of this daily dependence.
But next it concerns you to know what this dependence we speak of is: this also I shall briefly open to you, laying down somewhat negatively^ and somewhat positively about it.
1. Negatively. It is not to deny the grace wrought in us by the Spirit; this were both injustice and ingratitude; we may know our own graces so as^ to be thankful for them, though not so as to be proud of them, 1 Cor. xv. 10.
2. Neg. It is not a lazy excuse from our duty : you do not depend^ but rather dishonour Christ, by so doing ; you must not say, because Christ must do all, therefore I must do nothing: but rather work out your salvation, because it is he that worketh both to will and to do, Phil. ii. 12, 13. These are not opposed, but suboi'dinated.
15 ut then positively, it lies in three things. 1- Positively. In seeing and acknowledging the infinite sufficiency
to PEEPARATIONS FOR SUFFERINGS; Oil,
and fulness that is in Christ : to acknowledge him to be all in all : not only by way of impefration procuring all, Heb. ix. 12. but also by way of application, bringing home to the soul all the blessings purchased by his blood, and settling us in the possession of it, John xiv. 3. And so from first to last to eye him as the author and fini- sher of our faith.
2. Posit In seeing the necessary dependence that all our graces have upon him. So that as you see the stream depending on the fountain, the beam upon the sun, the branch upon the root, the build- ing upon the foundation, even so do our graces upon Christ : on him they live, and cut off from him they die. " Our life is hid with " Christ in God," Col. iii. 3. When you see this, and also see that all your activity, and striving, is but as the hoisting up of the sails, in order to the motion of the ship, which can do nothing till there come a gale ; when you look upon your grace as a creature that must be upheld, fed, acted, and preserved by Christ, Col. ii. 19. then you are prepared for this act of dependence : As for instance, you can never depend upon Christ for the acting of that grace of hope, until you see Christ to be the prop and foundation of it, and that it depends upon him, as upon its cause, 1 Pet. i. 3. as upon its object, Heb. vi. 19. and as upon its Jbundation and ground work, Col. i. 27.
You can never depend upon Christ for your joy and comfort, until you see what a necessary dependence this also hath upon him, Phil. iii. 3. and that, both as to its being and acting, John xvi. 22.
You can never depend upon him, for strength in any duty, until you see how your duties depend upon Christ, not only for the strength by which they are performed, John xv. 4, 5. but also for acceptation when they are performed, 1 Pet. ii. 5. It were easy to instance in any other grace.