Things that are excellent in themselves will be loved for themselves; but they become the more suitable object of affection, if they have withal some suitableness and conveniency to us. Yet neither the excellency nor conveniency of the object is sufficient to engage the heart, if there be not something in the mind too, suitable to the object; that is, the apprehension of that reality and good that is in it. For, as there is a certainty in the object, that makes it a real, not imaginary thing, so there must be a certainty in the subject, whereby the thing is apprehended to be true, good, and excellent, and then the object of affection is completed. Some things there are in nature, excellent in themselves, but they rather beget admiration than affection, because they are not suitable to our necessities. Other things of a more ordinary purchase have some conveniency to supply our wants, and though they be less worth in their own nature than precious stones and such like, yet they are more desired. But there is this lamentable disproportion betwixt our apprehensions and the things themselves, which is the ground of much disappointment, and so of vexation. The things of this world having nothing of that solid excellency, or true worth, and conveniency to our souls nothing suitable to our immortal spirits, but being empty vain shadows, and windy husks, instead of substantial true food, yet there are high apprehensions, and big conceits of them, which is a kind of monstrous production, or empty swelling of the mind, which because it hath no bottom of solidity, it will fail and vanish. Again, take a view of spiritual things, holden out in the gospel, and there is as incongruous and unproportioned carriage of our hearts toward them. They have a certainty and reality and subsistence in themselves, they alone are excellent, and suitable to our spirits. Notwithstanding, the mind of man is most hugely misshapen towards them by unbelief, and hath nothing in his apprehension suitable to the things themselves. They are represented as far below in the true worth, as things temporal above their just value, and therefore men are not enamoured with them, souls are not ravished after that beauty that is in them.

Now the end of these words read is, to reform this irregular, disorderly posture of our minds, to hold out to you things truly excellent, and exceedingly convenient,—things good and profitable, in the most superlative degree, in the highest rank that your imaginations can suppose, and then to persuade you, that you are not deceived [pg 279] with vain words, or fair promises, but that there is a certain truth, and an infallible reality in them, that you being ascertained in your souls, according to the certainty of the thing presented, you may then freely, without any reserve, give your hearts to love, embrace, and follow them. O that there might be such a meeting between your hearts and this eternal Life, that as he hath come near to us, to be suitable to us, your apprehensions might draw near to be suitable to him, and by this means, your souls might meet immediately with that Word of life, and have that constant fellowship with him that is spoken of verse 3! So your joy should be full,—for joy is but the full peace of the desires. Fill up all the wants of the heart, and then it is full of joy. And so, when such a satisfying object is pitched on, as doth exactly correspond, and answer the inward apprehensions of the mind, then there is no more room in the heart for any other thing,—as if two superficies were exactly plain and smooth, they could join so closely together, that no air could come between them, and then they could hardly be pulled asunder.

We spoke something of the excellency of that “Word of life” in himself, and it is but little that is said, when all is said, in respect of that which he truly is. But I fear we speak, and ye hear more of these things, than either of us lively and affectionately apprehend, or lay up in our hearts I fear, that as we say less than is, so more than we think, I mean, seriously think upon. But we shall proceed. Such an everlasting glorious person, though he have life in himself, though he be never so excellent as “the Son of God,” yet what is that to us? It seems he is never a whit nearer us, or not more suitable to restore us, than the very Majesty that we offended. How far is he without our sight, and without our comprehension? He is high as heaven, who shall ascend to bring down that eternal Life to us? But stay and consider that he is not only so glorious in himself, but so gracious to us, he is not only invisible, as God, but manifested to our senses, as man: not only hath life in himself, but is an everlasting spring of life to us; not only hath his throne in heaven with his Father, but hath come down to the world, to bring that eternal life near us even in our mouths and hearts,—to preach it, to purchase it, to seal it, and to bestow it, and the life was manifested,—the life, and that eternal life, words of force, that have some emphasis in them. The life is much, that eternal life is more, and yet these had been little to us, if not manifested to us. Life might have remained hid in God, eternal life might have resided in Christ, the fountain, for all eternity, and nothing diminished of their happiness if these had never sprung out and vented themselves. If that life that was with the Father from the beginning had never come down from the Father, we would have missed it, not they, we alone had been miserable by it. Well then, there is a manifestation of life in Christ's low descent to death, there is a manifestation of the riches of love and grace in the poverty and emptiness of our Saviour, and thus he is suited to us and our necessities every way fitly correspondent. And now it is not only, “as the Father hath life in himself, so the Son hath life in himself,” but there is a derivation of that life to man. That donation of life to the Son, John v. 26, was not so much for any need he had of it, as by him to bestow it on us, that it might be, “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eats me, even he shall live by me,” John vi. 57. As parents that retain affection to their children, albeit they have committed great injuries, for which they are driven out of their houses, yet they will, as it were, underhand bestow upon them, and exercise that same love in a covered way, by a third person, by giving to them, to impart to their children. Notwithstanding this halts too much, for our Father dissembles not his love, but proclaims it in sending his Son, not doth Christ hide it, but declares, that he is instructed with sufficient furniture229 for eternal life, that himself is the bread of life sent from heaven, that whosoever receiveth it with delight, and ponders, and meditates on it in the heart, and so digests it in their souls, they shall find a quickening, quieting, comforting, and [pg 280] strengthening virtue in him. Nay, there is a strait connection between his life and ours, “because I live, ye shall live also;” as if he could no more want us, than his Father can want him, (John xiv. 19.) and as if he could be no more happy without us, than his Father without him. And whence is it come to pass, but from his manifestation for this very end and purpose? How should such strange logic hold? Whence such a because, if this had not been all his errand into the world, for which his Father dispensed to want him as it were, and he did likewise condescend to leave his Father for a season? And now this being the business he came about, it is strange he appeared in so unsuitable and unlikely a form, in weakness, poverty, misery, ignominy, and all the infirmities of our flesh which seemed rather contrary to his design, and to indispose him for giving life to others whose life was a continued death in the eyes of men. And the last act of the scene seems to blow up the whole design of quickening dead sinners, when he who was designed Captain of salvation, is killed himself. For if he save not himself, how should he save others? And yet behold the infinite wisdom, power, and grace of God, working under ground, giving life to the dead by the death of life itself, saving those that are lost by one that lost himself, overcoming the world by weakness, conquering Satan by suffering, triumphing over death by crying. Like that renowned king of the Lacedemonians, who, when he heard of an oracle, that if the general were saved alive, the army could not be victorious, changed his habit, and went among the camp of his enemies, and fought valiantly till he was killed, whom when the armies of the enemies understood to be the king and general, they presently lost their hearts, and retired and fled.230 So our Saviour, and captain of our salvation, hath offered himself once for all, and by being killed hath purchased life to all that believe in his death, and that eternal life. Therefore, he is not only the Word of life in himself, and that eternal life in an essential manner, but he alone “hath the words of eternal life, and is the alone fountain of life to us.”

Now for the certainty of this manifestation of the Word of life in our flesh, both that he was man, and that he was more than a man, even God, this, I say we have the greatest evidence of that the world can afford, next to our own seeing and handling. To begin with the testimony set down here, of those who were ear and eye witnesses of all, which, if they be men of credit, cannot but make a great impression of faith upon others. Consider who the apostles were, men of great simplicity, whose education was so mean, and expectations in the world so low that they could not be supposed to conspire together to a falsehood, and especially when there was no worldly inducement leading them thereto, but rather all things persuading to the contrary. Their very adversaries could never object any thing against them, but want of learning, and simplicity which are furthest from the suspicion of deceitfulness. Now how were it possible, think you, that so many thousands every where, should have received this new doctrine, so unsuitable to human reason, from their mouths, if they had not persuaded them that themselves were eye witnesses of all these miracles that he did, to confirm his doctrine, and that this testimony had been above all imaginable exception? Yea, so evident was it in matter of fact, that both enemies themselves confessed, the Jews and Gentiles that persecuted that way, were constrained, through the evidence of the truth, to acknowledge, that such mighty works showed forth themselves in him, though they out of malice imputed it to ridiculous and blasphemous causes. And besides, the apostle used to provoke231 to the very testimony of five hundred, who had seen Jesus rise from death, which is not the custom of liars, neither is it possible for so many, as it were, of purpose, to conspire to such an untruth, as had so many miseries and calamities following on the profession of it, 1 Cor. xv. 6.

But what say they? That which we have heard of, not only from the prophets, who have witnessed of him from the beginning, and do all conspire together to give a testimony that he is the Saviour of the world, but from John, who was his messenger, immediately sent before his face, and whom all men, even Christ's enemies, [pg 281] acknowledged to be a prophet, and therefore his visible pointing out the Lamb of God, his declaring how near he was, and preferring of him infinitely before himself, who had so much authority himself, (and so likely to have spoken the truth, being misled with no ambition or affectation of honour,) his instituting a new ordinance, plainly pointing out the Messiah at the doors, and publishing constantly that voice, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,”—these we, and all the people have heard,—and heard, not with indignation, but with reverence and respect. But above all, we heard himself, the true prophet and sweet preacher of Israel, since the first day he began to open his mouth in the ministry of the gospel, we have with attentive ears, and earnest hearts, received all from his mouth, and laid up these golden sayings in our hearts. He did not constrain them to abide with him, but there was a secret power that went from him, that chained them to him inevitably, “Lord, whither shall we go from thee, for thou hast the words of eternal life?” O! that was an attractive virtue, a powerful conserving virtue, that went out of his mouth. We heard him, say they, and we never heard any speak like him, not so much for the pomp and majesty of his style, for he came low, sitting on an ass, and was as condescending in his manner of speech as in his other behaviour, but because “he taught with authority.” There was a divine virtue in his preaching. Some sparkles of a divine Spirit and power in his discourses broke out from under the plainness and simplicity of it, and made our souls truly to apprehend of him what was sacrilegiously attributed in flattery to a man “the voice of God, and not of man.” We heard him so many years speak familiarly to us, and with us, by which we were certainly persuaded he was a true man and then we heard him in his speeches open the hidden mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, revealing the will of the Father, which no man could know, but he that was with the Father, and came down from him. We heard him unfolding all these shadows and coverings of the Old Testament, expounding Moses and the prophets, taking off the veil, and uncovering the ark and oracles and “how did our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us and opened to us the scriptures?” We heard him daily in the synagogues expound the scriptures, whereof himself was the living commentary. When he read them, we saw the true exposition before our eyes.

Now, my beloved, you may be admitted to hear him too for the sum of the living words that came from the “Word of life” are written. His sermons are abridged in the evangelists, that you may read them and when you read them, think within yourself, that you hear his holy mouth speak them. Set yourselves as amongst his disciples that so ye may believe, and believing, may have eternal life, for this end are they written, John xx. 30, 31.