-464 SERMON UPON JOHN III. 14, 15.
' There shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people ; to it shall the gentiles seek ; ' Isa, xlix. 22, ' Behold, I will lift up my hand to the gentiles, and set up my standard to the people ; and they shall bring thy sons in their arras, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.' Christ is lifted up in the ministry of the word as a sign of salvation to draw people to him, so to see him as to follow him, and as to submit to him. If David prayed God to ' open his eyes to see the wonders of his law,' Ps. cxix. 18, we may much more pray to God to open our eyes to see Christ, and own him in the gospel, and to see him crucified in the symbols of bread and wine for our comfort.
(2.) "We have showed you what is to be seen by faith, now what kind of sight faith is. Not a bare speculation, but such as was the look of the Israelites on the brazen serpent, serious, applicative, aJOfectionate, engaging to thankfulness and obedience, when they went away and were healed.
(1st.) Serious ; not a glance, but a fixed eye. A stung Israelite would not cast a careless glance on the sign of salvation and health, neither should we upon Christ. Ponderous thoughts take hold of the heart ; musing maketh the fire to burn, and a steady sight hath the greatest influence upon us.
(2d) Applicative. So Job v. 27, ' Hear it, and know thou it for thy good.' The Israelite came for the cure of his own wounds ; so must we look upon Christ as our own Saviour, with application to ourselves : John XX. 28, ' My Lord and my God.'
{3d.) Affectionate, with desire and trust. With desire longing for cure ; there must be hearty groans and desires : ' Our eyes are upon thee,' 2 Chron. xx. 12. The having our eyes to anything noteth our desire: Ps. cxxi. 1, 'I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from w^hence cometh my help.' Earnestly desire to be partaker of these benefits by Christ : 1 Peter i. 7, ' To them that believe he is precious ;' and with trust : Isa. xvii. 7, ' At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel ; ' that is, he shall seek to him, trust in him, depend upon him, because what men trust to they are wont frequently and wistly to look after, and to have their eyes fixed upon : Ps. cxxiii. 2, ' Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress ; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, till he have mercy on us ; ' Ps. xxxiv. 5, ' They looked to him, and were lightened ; ' that is, comforted in the midst of their darkness and trouble; Ps. cxli. 8, 'Mine eyes are unto thee, 0 God the Lord; in thee I trust.'
(■ith.) Engaging; we need to get open eyes to see him and contem- plate him, till we see beauty in him that may allure us to love him, and esteem him as the fairest of ten thousand, to renounce ourselves and the vanities of the world, and betake ourselves to his discipline, to see all is nothing in comparison of his excellency: Phil. iii. 8, 'Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.' A true knowledge of Christ is called €7rlyv(ocrt^, Eph. i. 17, which is elsewhere rendered ' acknow- ledging,' so as to give due honour, respect, and reverence to him. We
SEEMON UPON JOHN III. 14, 15. 465
may know strangers, and those whom we contemn and despise, but we do not acknowledge them.
Use. Let us look upon the Lord Jesus for cure. He calleth upon us in his word. ' Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth,' Isa. xlv. 12. It is little that we can afford Christ if we cannot afford him a serious look. It may be you will think that this is so slight a w^ork that it will not produce any great effects in the soul ; that a look should heal is strange. Surely, you will say, this is not a full notion of faith, nor an act that will do us any good. I answer — Indeed it will not if it be done slightly. Therefore let me tell you that there are several notions of faith, which all have their use. Some notions are fitted for soul-examination, as faith that worketh by love, that conquereth the world, that purifieth the heart; these do best for a deliberate search, and the stating of our interest. Some for anxious thoughts at the first awaking of the soul out of the sleep of sin, as coming, running, flying, and seeking. When the soul is under trouble, and hangeth off from the grace offered, we press them to come ; as our necessities are great, we press them to run. A soul deeply pressed with a sense of its necessity and danger is always in haste, so we press them to fly for refuge. When comfort appeareth not presently, we press to seek, and to a diligent attendance on the appointed means. Some for agonies of conscience after some former manifestations of God's love ; these we exhort to staying and resting : Isa. 1. 10, ' Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light ? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.' We press recum- bency and adherence : Isa. xxvi. 3, ' Thou wilt keep him in perfect l)eace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.' Some for agonies of death; and great and imminent dangers, when long debates are not so seasonable, these we press to committing : 2 Tim. i. 12, ' I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day ; * 1 Peter iv. 19, ' Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.' Jesus Christ himself did so : Luke xxiii. 46, ' Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit , ' and David : Ps. xxxi. 5, ' Into thine hand I commit my spirit,' Some for holy duties, as word, prayer, Lords supper ; we press to acceptance of Christ in the word, to coming to Christ, or to God by Christ in prayer ; we accept him from God in the word of promise, we present him to God in prayer as the ground of our confidence and hope for the mercies prayed for. In the Lord's supper, as religion is made visible, and we are to make use of the help of sense, eye, taste, and hand, so we press you to take, eat, and look ; this is a notion for this use when Christ is crucified as it were before our eyes. Well, then, this is one great work, to look to Jesus, the author and dedicator of our faith, to spy out Christ under his memorials ; here he is set forth dying and hanging on a tree. Pilate, when he had scourged him, brought him forth and showed him to the Jews ; he said, ' Behold the man ! ' John xix. 5. We say, to you in God's name, Behold your dearest Kedeemer bleeding and dying. VOL. XVII. 2 a