Christ, ' for the meat that perishetb, but for that which endiireth to everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you : for him hath God the Father sealed.' God the Father hath sealed Christ ;^ he hath designed Christ, he hath set Christ apart for this very work, that he might give grace unto us. God hath ordained to convey all fulness of light to the air by the sun, and therefore hath put a greater fulness of light into the sun. God hath ordained all fulness of nourishment to the branches by the roots, and therefore hath put a fulness of juice into the roots. So the Lord hath ordained that all the riches of grace, of peace, of glory, &c., that believers shall enjoy here and in heaven, they shall have from the Sim of righteousness, from this blessed root the Lord Jesus Christ ; and therefore the Father hath filled this Sun with light, this root with heavenly juice, because he is by divine ordination to convey all spiritual and glorious riches into the hearts of his chosen and beloved ones, John xv. 21, 22.
[3.] To take aioay all excuse from ungodly and wicked men, and that they may be found speechless in the day of vengeance, when the Lord shall come to reckon with them'
Ah, sinners ! how will you that have turned your backs upon Christ, who is thus rich, be able to answer it in the day when God shall reason the case with you ? When Go<.l shall say, Sinners, hath it not been often told you that Christ is rich in mercy, and rich in goodness, and rich in grace, rich in pardons, rich in loves, and rich in glory, rich in spirituals, rich in temporals, and rich in eternals, and yet you have shghted this Christ, you have turned your backs upon this Christ, you have preferred your lusts, and the world, and the service of the devil, above this Christ. Oh ! how dumb, how speechless will sinners be, when the Lord shall thus plead with them. Oh L how will their countenances be changed, their thoughts troubled, and their joints loosed, their consciences enraged, and their souls terrified, when they shall see what a rich match they have refused, and thereupon how justly they are for ever accursed, &c.
[4.] Lastly, It is upon this account,
Tltat he may he a eoinplete Redeemer to us, and that nothing may hinder our souls closing with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We stand in need of one that is rich ; rich in grace to pardon us, rich in power to support us, and rich in goodness to relieve us, and rich in glory to crown us. There is none but such a Christ can serve our turns. We stand in need of one that is rich, that is generally rich, one that is rich in money to pay all our debts. We have run much upon the score with God, and none can pay this score but Christ. Our sins are debts that none can pay but Christ. It is not our tears but his blood, it is not our sighs but his sufferings, that can satisfy for our sins. We are much in debt to God for the ground we tread on, the air we breathe in, the beds we lie on, the bread we eat, the clothes we wear, &c. ; and none can pay this debt but Christ. Angels and saints
' Sealed, that is, made his commission authentical, as men do their deeds by their seal.
* Sirens are said to sing curiously while they live, but to roar horribly when they die. So will all those that have rejected so rich a Jesus ua hath boeu tendered to them, when the Lord Jesus shall plead with thum, &c.
EpH. III. 8.] RICHES OF CHRIST. 157
may pity us, but they cannot discharge the least debt for us, &c. Christ must pay all, or we are prisoners for ever, &c.^ We stand m need of one that is rich in goodness. We are a needy people, and are still in want. Christ must be still a-giving, or we shall be still a-lan- guishing. If he shut his hand, we perish and "return to dust. Our temporal wants are many, our spiritual wants are more, and if Christ do not supply them, who will ? who can ? Nay, our wants are so many and so great, that Christ himself could not supply them, were he not very, very rich.
And thus I have given you a brief account of the reasons of the point, why the Lord Jesus is held forth by the Scripture to be so very rich. .
We shall now come to the third thing proposed, and that is,
III, The excellency of the riches of Christ above all other riches in the world.
I shall briefly run over this third branch, and so come to the apphca- tion, which is most in my eye, and upon my heart.
[1.] First, The riches of Christ are incomparable riches : Prov. iii. 13-15, 'Happy is the man that findeth Wisdom,' that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, 'and the man that getteth understanding; for the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies : and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.' One grain of grace is far be- yond all the gold of Ophir and all the silver of the Indies, which are but the guts and garbage of the earth. We may say of the riches of this world, compared with the riches of Christ, as Gideon sometime said of the vintage of Abiezer, ' The gleanings of Ephraim are better than the vintage of Abiezer.' So the gleanings, the smallest gatherings of the riches of Christ, are far better, more excellent, more satisfying, more contenting, more ravishing than all the riches of this world.^
' The whole Turkish empire,' saith Luther, ' is but a crust that Go'd throws to a dog.' The wise merchant, Mat. xiii. 44, 45, parts with all to gain this pearl of price ; the truth is, other riches are but a burden. Gen. xiii. 2, ' Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. The Hebrew word chabbedh is, * He was very heavy in cattle, in silver, and in gold ' ; to signify, that riches are but heavy burdens. A little will serve nature, less will serve grace, but nothing will serve men's lusts.
Pheraulus, a poor man, on whom Cyi'us bestowed so much, that he knew not what to do with his riches, being wearied out with care in keeping of them, he desired rather to live quietly, though poor, as he had done before, than to possess all those riches with discontent ; there- fore he gave away all his wealth, desiring only to enjoy so much as might supply his necessities.* Let worldly professors think seriously of this story and blush, &c.
[2 ] Seconclly, The riches of Christ are inexhaustible Hches. As I have shewed you, Christ can never be drawn dry.*
1 We may say of Christ, as writers say of the jasper, it is easier to admire than declare it, and far more easier to say what he is not than what he is.
2 Riches are called thick clay, Hab. ii. 6, which will sooner break the back than lighten the heart, &c. ^ Xenophon, Cyrop. ii. 3, sec. 7, and viii. 3. — G.
* Earthly riches are true gardens of Adonis, where we can gather nothing but trivial
158 ' THE UNSEARCHABLE [EPH. III. 8.