THE FOUNTAIN OPENED. 529
eartli ? Must Christ come down in his body to us, or else he can do us no good ? Must there be a corporeal descent, or else we can receive no influence from him ? There may be a derivation of virtue from Christ though his person be in heaven ; where he shall remain till the last day, when he shall come to be ' glorious in his saints.' The sun doth more good being in heaven, than he could do if he were on the earth. If the sun were lower, what would become of the earth ? But being so remote, and so far above, he hath opportunity to shine over the greatest part of the earth at once ; being greater than the earth, he shineth over more than half the earth at once. Christ being in heaven, as the ' Sun of righteousness,' he shines more gloriously over all ; and we have more comfort, and benefit, and influence from Christ, now in heaven, than we could if he were on earth. Must we needs make him bodily present everywhere, as the papists do, and other heterodox strange conceited men in Germany ?* What need we do thus when there may be influence from Christ, now in heaven, to us on earth, — as we see in other things, — without confusion of his divine pro- perties to his body, or making his body as his Godhead is ? Therefore seek him not bodily anywhere but in heaven. Those opinions overthrow three articles of our faith at once : ' He ascended into heaven ;' * He sitteth at the right hand of God ;' and, ' He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.' And where is his body in the mean time ? in the sacrament ? No. He is ' received up in glory.' Therefore we must have our thoughts in heaven when we are about that business. We must ' lift up our hearts,' as it is in our liturgy, which is taken out of the ancient liturgy, ' We lift them up unto the Lord.' We must have holy thoughts raised up to Christ in heaven.
Use 2. Again, Is Christ * received up to glory' ? Here is sbuiular comfort, considering what I said before, that he is ascended as a public person, in cm* behalf, in our nature, for our good. Therefore, when we think of Christ in heaven, think of our husband in heaven, think of ourselves in heaven : ' We are set together in heavenly places with Christ,' as the apostle saith, Eph. i. 20. We have a glorious life, but it is hid with Christ, in heaven. When Christ himself shall be revealed, our life shall be revealed. Though we creep upon the earth as worms, yet notwithstanding we have communion and fellowship with Christ, who is joined with us in the same mystical body ; who is now ' at the right hand of God ' in heaven ; and he that hath glorified his natural body in heaven, that he took upon him, he will glorify his mystical body ; for he took flesh and blood, his natural body, for the glory of his mystical body, that he might bring his church to glory. There- fore, we ought as verily to believe that he will take his mystical body, and every particular member of it, to heaven, as he hath taken his natural body, and hath set it there in glory.
It is a comfort, in the hour of death, that we yield up our souls to Christ, who is gone before to provide a place for us. This was one end of his taking up to heaven, to provide a place for us. Therefore, when we die, we have not a place to seek. Our house is provided beforehand. Christ was taken up to glory to provide glory for us. Even as paradise was pro- vided for Adam before he was made, so we have a heavenly paradise provided for us. We had a place in heaven before we were born. What a comfort is this at the hour of death, and at the death of our friends, that they are gone to Christ and to glory ! We were shut out of the first para- dise by the first Adam. Our comfort is, that now the heavenly paradise * The reference is evidently to the Lutheran doctrine of consubstantiation. —Ed.
VOL. V. L 1
530 THE FOUNTAIN OPENED.
in Christ is open : ' Tliis day shalt thou be with mo in paradise,* eaith Christ to the good thief, Tjuko xxiii. 43. There was an angel to keep paradise when Adam was shut out ; but there is none to keep us out of heaven ; nay, the angels are ready to convey our souls to heaven, as they did Lazarus, and as they accompanied Christ in his ascension to heaven, so they do the souls of his children.
Likewise, In our sins and infirmities. When we have to deal with God the Father, whom we have oftcndcd with our sins, let us fetch comfort from hence. Christ is ascended into heaven, to appear before his Father as a mediator for us ; and, therefore, God turns away his wrath from us. Wo have a friend, a favourite in the court of heaven, the Son of God himself, at his Father's ' right hand :' he makes intercession for us. As Jonathan appeared in Saul's court to speak a good word and to plead for David, so our Jonathan, Jesus Christ, but with f\ar better success, appears in the court of heaven for us, continuing our peace with God in our daily breaches, perfuming our prayers. And there is no danger of his death, for ' he is a priest for ever at the right hand of God,' to make intercession for us ; his very presenting himself in heaven speaks for us. As if he should say, These persons that ask in my name, they are such persons as I was born for ; such as I obeyed for ; such as I died for ; such as I was sent into the world to work the great work of redemption for ; for he wrought our redemption in his abased estate ; but he applies it as he is exalted. Appli- cation is as necessary as merit. We have no good by the work of redemp- tion, without application : and for that end he appears in heaven for us and pleads for us. For even as there is speech attributed to Abel's blood — it cried, * Vengeance, vengeance !' — so Christ appearing now in heaven for us, his blood cries, ' Mercy, mercy ! These are those I shed my blood for ; Mercy, Lord ! ' The very appearing of him that shed his blood, it cries for mercy at the throne of mercy, which is therefore a throne of mercy because he is there. He shed his blood to satisfy justice, to make way for mercy.