3. Again, When Christ came, and was discovered to the Gentiles, yet it is a mystery even in the church, to carnal men, that hear the gospel, and yet do not understand it, that have the veil over their hearts. It is ' hid to them that perish,' 2 Cor. iv. 3, though it be never so open of itself to those that believe.
4. In the fourth place, It is a mystery, because though we see some jiart and parcel of it, yet ice see not the whole f/ospel. We see not all, nor wholly. ' We see but in part, and know but in part,' 1 Cor. xiii. 9. So it is a mystery in regard of the full accomplishment.
5. Yea, and in the next place, it is a mystery, in regard of what we do not know, hut shall hereafter know. How do we know divine truths now ? In the mirror of the word and sacraments. We know not Christ by sight. That manner of knowledge is reserved for heaven. So here we know as it were in a kind of mystery. We see divine things wrapped up in the mirror of the word, and the mysteries of the sacraments. Indeed, this comparatively to the Jewish church is to * see the face of God in Christ,' 2 Cor. iv. 6 — a clear sight, but compared to that we shall have, it is to see in a glass, or mirror. If we look back, it is a clear sight ; if we look for- ward, it is a sight as it were in a mystery. Even that little that we do know, we do not know it as we shall know it in heaven.
Quest. But is the doctrine of the gospel itself only a mystery ?
Ans. No. All the graces are mysteries, every grace. Let a man once know it, and he shall find that there is a mystery in faith ; that the earthly soul of man should be carried above itself, to believe supernatural truths, and to depend upon that he sees not, to sway the life by reasons spiritual ; that the heart of man should believe ; that a man in trouble should carry himself quietly and patiently, from supernatural supports and grounds, it is a mystery. That a man should be as a rock in the midst of a storm, to gtand unmoveable, it is a mystery. That the carriage of the soul should be turned universally another way ; that the judgment and afiections should be turned backward, as it were ; that he that was proud before should now be humble ; that he that was ambitious before should now despise the vain world ; that he that was given to his lusts and vanities before should now, on the contrary, be serious and heavenly-minded : here is a mystery indeed when all is turned backward. Therefore we see how Nicodemus, as wise as he was, it was a riddle to him when our blessed Saviour spake to him of the new birth, that a man should bo wholly changed and new- moulded ; that a man should be the same and not the same ; the same man for soul and body, yet not the same in regard of a supernatural life and being put into him, carrying him another way, leading him in another man- ner, by other rules and respects, as much different from other men as a man
464 THE FOUNTAIN OPENED.
diflors from a beast. A strange mystery, that raiseth a man above other men, as much as another man is above other creatures. For a man to be content with his condition, in all changes and varieties, when ho is cast and tossed up and down in the world, to have a mind unmovcable, it is a mystery. Therefore St Paul saith, Philip, iv. 11, 12, ' I have entered into religion,' as it were, ' I have consecrated myself.' The word is wondroua significant. ' I have learned this mystery, to be content.' It is a mys- tery for a man to be tossed up and down, and 'yet to have a contented mind. ' I can want, and I can abound ; I can do all through Christ that strcngtheneth me.' Why ? I have consecrated myself to Christ and reli- gion, and from them I have learned this point, to be content. Therefore in the text here, — as we shall see afterwards, — not only divine truths are a mystery — ' great is the mystery of godliness' — but he insists on particular graces, ' preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world :' these are mysteries.
In Christ, all is mysteries : two natures, God and man, in one person ; mortal and immortal ; greatness and baseness ; iufiniteuess and finiteness, in one person.
The church itself is a mystical thing. For under baseness, under the scorn of the world, what is hid ? A glorious people. The state of the church in this world, it is like a tree that is weather-beaten. The leaves and fruit are gone, but there is life in the root. So, what is the church ? A company of men that are in the world without glor}^ without comeliness and beauty ; yet notwithstanding, they have life in the root, a hidden life : ' Our life is hid with Christ, in God,' Col. iii. 3. The church hath a life, but it is a hidden mystical life, a life under death. They seem to die to the world, but they are alive. This is excellently and theoretically followed by St Paul : ' As dying, and yet we live ; as poor, yet making many rich,' 2 Cor. vi. 9. A strange kind of people ; poor and rich, living and dying, glorious and base. Yet this is the state of the church here in this world. They are an excellent people, but they are veiled under infirmities of their own, and the disgraces and persecutions of the world. So we see both the doctrine itself, and the graces, and the head of the church, and the church itself, are nothing but mysteries.