The Fountain of Life
The Fountain of Life opened up: or, a display
of Christ in his essential and mediatorial glory
by John Flavel
The blessed Inheritance purchased by the
Oblation of
Christ, being the second Effect or Fruit of his Priesthood
"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem those who were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Gal. 4:4, 5
This scripture gives us an account of a double fruit of
Christ's death, namely, the payment of our debt, and the purchase of our
inheritance.
1. The payment of our debt, expressed by our redemption,
or buying us out from the obligation and curse of the law, which has been
discoursed in the last exercise.
2. The purchase of an inheritance for those redeemed
ones, expressed here by their receiving the adoption of sons, which is to be
our present subject. Adoption is either civil, or divine. Of the first, the
civil law gives this definition: that it is,
"A lawful act, an imitation of nature, invented for the
comfort of them that have no children of their own. Divine adoption is that
special benefit whereby God, for Christ's sake, accepts us as sons, and
makes us heirs of eternal life with him."
Between this civil and sacred adoption, there is a
twofold agreement, and disagreement. They agree in this, that both flow from
the pleasure and good-will of the adoptant; and in this, that both confer a
right to privileges, which we have not by nature: but in this they differ,
one is an act imitating nature, the other transcends nature; the one was
found out for the comfort of them that had no children; the other for the
comfort of them that had no father. This divine adoption is, in scripture,
either taken properly for that act or sentence of God, by which we are made
sons, or for the privileges with which the adopted are invested: and so it
is taken Rom. 8:23, and in this scripture now before us. We lost our
inheritance by the fall of Adam; we receive it, as the text speaks, by the
death of Christ, which restores it again to us by a new and better title.
The doctrine hence, is this,
DOCTRINE. That the death of Jesus Christ has not only
satisfied for our debts, but over and above purchased a rich inheritance for
the children of God.
"For this end, or cause, he is the Mediator of the New
Testament; that, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the first Testament, they which are called, might receive
the promise of the eternal inheritance," Heb. 9:15.
We will here, First, See what Christ paid. Secondly, What
he purchased. Thirdly, For whom.
First, that Christ paid. Our divines comprise the virtue
and fruits of the priesthood of Christ in these two things, namely, Solutio
debiti, et acquisitio haereditatis, payment and purchase. Answerable, the
obedience of Christ has a double relation, relatio legalis justitiae, the
relation of a legal righteousness; and adequate and exactly proportioned
price. And it has also in it ratio superlegalis meriti, the relation of a
merit over and beyond the law.
To object (as some do) "the satisfaction of Christ was
more than sufficient", according to our doctrine, "and therefore could not
be intended, for the payment of our debt," is a senseless cavil. For surely,
if Christ paid more than was owing, he must needs pay all that was owing to
Divine Justice. And truly it is but a bad requital of the love of Jesus
Christ, who, beside the payment of what he owed, would manifest his bounty
by the redundancy of his merit, which he paid to God to purchase a blessed
inheritance for us. This over plus of satisfaction (which was the price of
that inheritance I am now to open) is not obscurely hinted, but plainly
expressed twice in Rom. 5:15. "But not as the offence, so also is the free
gift: for if through the offence of one many be dead, 'pollo mallon', much
more the grace of God, and the gift of grace, which is by one man, Jesus
Christ, 'eperisseuse'" has abounded or flowed abundantly unto many." So ver.
17. "For if by one man's offence, death reigned by one, 'pollo mallon', much
more they which receive 'ten perisseian', the overflowing, or abundance of
grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ." In both which places Christ and Adam are compared as the two roots
or common heads of mankind, both agreeing in this property of communicating
their conditions to those that are theirs; yet there is a great deal of
difference between them! for in Christ the power is all divine, and
therefore infinitely more active and effectual: He communicates abundantly
more to his, than they lost in Adam; so that his blood is not only
sufficient to redeem all those that are actually redeemed by it, but even
the whole world also.
And were there so many worlds of men as there are men in
the world, it would be sufficient for them also; and yet still there would
be an over plus of value: for all those worlds of men would rise but to a
finite bulk; but this blood is infinite in its worth and dignity. Since then
there is not a whole world, no not half, but the far less part redeemed by
the blood of Christ, which was sufficient for so many; great must be the
surplusage and redundancy of merit? Here our divines rightly distinguish
between the substance and accidents of Christ's death and obedience.
Consider Christ's suffering, as to the substance of it, it was no more than
what the law required; for, neither the justice, nor love of the Father
would permit that Christ should suffer more than what was necessary for him
to bear, as our Surety; but, as to the circumstances, the person of the
sufferer, the cause and efficacy of his sufferings, etc. it was much more
than sufficient: a superlegale meritum, a merit above and beyond what the
law required; for, though the law required the death of the sinner, who is
but a poor contemptible creature, it did not require that one, perfectly
innocent, should die, it did not require that God should shed his blood: it
did not require blood of such value and worth as this was. I say, none of
this the law required, though God was pleased, for the advancement and
manifestation of his justice and mercy in the highest, to admit, and order
this, by way of commutation, admitting him to be our 'antipsuchos', or
ransomer, by dying for us.
And, indeed, it was a most gracious relaxation of the
law, that admitted of such a commutation as this; for hereby it comes to
pass, that justice is fully satisfied, and yet we live and are saved; which,
before, was a thing that could not be imagined. Yes, now we are not only
redeemed from wrath, by the adequate compensation made for our sins by
Christ's blood and sufferings, substantially considered; but entitled to a
most glorious inheritance, purchased by his blood, considered as the blood
or an innocent, as the blood of God, and therefore as most excellent and
efficacious blood, above what the law demanded. And this is the meaning of
Athanasius, when he says, "That Christ recompensed, or made amends for small
things with great:" he means not, that sin, considered absolutely, and in
itself, is small, O no, but compared with Christ's blood, and the infinite
excellency and worth of it, it is so. And Chrysostom, to the same purpose,
"Christ paid much more (says he) than he owed and so much more, as the
immense ocean is more than a small drop." So that it was rightly determined
by holy Anselm: "No man (says he) can pay to God what he owes him; Christ
only paid more than he owed him." By this you see, how rich a treasure lies
in Christ, to bestow in a purchase for us, above what he paid to redeem us;
even as much as his soul and body were more worth than ours, for whom it was
sacrificed; which is so great a sum, that all the angels in heaven, and men
on earth, can never compute and sum up, so as to show us the total of it.
And this was that inexhaustible treasure that Christ expended, to procure
and purchase the fairest inheritance for believers. Having seen the treasure
that purchased, let us next enquire into the inheritance purchased by it.
Secondly, This inheritance is so large, that it cannot be
surveyed by creatures: nor can the boundaries and limits thereof be
described, for it comprehends all things; 1 Cor. 3:22. "All is yours, you
are Christ's, and Christ is God's." Rev. 21:7. "He that overcomes shall
inherit all things". And yet I do not think, or say, that Dominium fundatur
in gratia, that temporal dominion is founded in grace: no, that is at the
cast and disposal of Providence. But Christ, by his death, has restored a
right to all things to his people.
But, to be more particular, I shall distribute the saints
inheritance, purchased by Christ, into three heads; all temporal good
things, all spiritual good things, and all eternal good things are theirs.
1. All temporal good things. 1 Tim. 6:7. "He has given us
all things richly to enjoy". Not that they have the possession, but the
comfort and benefit of all things: others have the sting, gall, wormwood,
baits and snares of the creature; saints only have the blessing and comfort
of it. So that this little that a righteous man has, is (in this among other
respects) better than the treasures of many wicked: which is the true key to
open that dark saying of the apostle, 2 Cor. 6:10. "As having nothing, and
yet possessing all things." They only possess, others are possessed by the
world. The saints utuntur mundi, et fruuntur Deo, "use the world, and enjoy
God" in the use of it. Others are deceived, defiled, and destroyed by the
world; but these are refreshed and furthered by it.
2. All spiritual good things are purchased by the blood
of Christ for them; as Justification, which comprises remission of sins and
acceptance of our persons by God: Rom. 3:24. "Being justified freely by his
grace, through the redemption that is in Christ." Sanctification is also
purchased for them; yes, both initial and progressive sanctification: for of
"God, he is made unto us, not only wisdom and righteousness, but
sanctification also," 1 Cor. 1:30. These two, namely, our justification and
sanctification, are two of the most rich and shining robes in the wardrobe
of free grace. How glorious and lovely do they render the soul that wears
them! These are like the bracelets, and jewels Isaac sent to Rebecca.
Adoption into the family of God is purchased for us by his blood; "For you
are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ," Gal. 3:26. Christ, as
he is the Son, is haeres natus,, "the heir by nature;" as he is Mediator, he
is haeres constitutus, "the heir by appointment," appointed heir of all
things, as it is, Heb. 1:2. By the Sonship of Christ, we being united to him
by faith, become sons; and if sons, then heirs. "O what manner of love is
this, that we should be called the sons of God", 1 John 3:1. That a poor
beggar should be made an heir, yes, an heir of God, and joint heir with
Christ! Yes, that very faith, which is the bond of union, and consequently,
the ground of all our communion with Christ, is the purchase of his blood
also:2 Pet. 1:1. "To them that have "obtained like precious faith with us,
through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ." This most
precious grace is the dear purchase of our Lord Jesus Christ; yes, all that
peace, joy, and spiritual comfort, which are sweet fruits of faith, are with
it purchased for us by this blood.
So speaks the apostle in Rom. 5:1, 2, 3. "Being justified
by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ," etc.
Moreover the Spirit himself, who is the author, fountain, and spring of all
graces and comforts, is procured for us by his death and resurrection: Gal.
3:13, 14. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a
curse for us; for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree:
that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." That
Spirit that first sanctified, and since has so often sealed, comforted,
directed, resolved, guided, and quickened your souls, had not come to
perform any of these blessed offices upon your hearts, if Christ had not
died.
3. All eternal good things are the purchase of his blood.
Heaven, and all the glory thereof is purchased for you that are believers,
with this price. Hence that glory, whatever it be, is called "an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for
you": To the lively hope whereof you are begotten again, "by the
resurrection of Christ from the dead," 1 Pet. 1:3, 4. Not only present
mercies are purchased for us, but things to come also, as it is, 1 Cor.
3:22. Man is a prudent and prospecting creature, and is not satisfied that
it is well with him for the present, unless he have some assurance it shall
be well with him for time to come. His mind is taken up about what shall be
hereafter; and from the good or evil things to come, he raises up to himself
vast hopes or fears.
Therefore to complete our happiness, and fill up the
uttermost capacity of our souls, all the good of eternity is put into the
account and inventory of the saints estate and inheritance. This happiness
is ineffably; it is usually distinguished into what is essential, and what
is accessory to it. The essentials of it, as far as we in our embodied state
can conceive, is either the objective, subjective, or formal happiness to be
enjoyed in heaven.
The objective happiness is God himself, Psalm. 73:25.
"Whom have I in heaven but you?" If it could be supposed (says one) that God
should withdraw from the saints in heaven, and say, Take heaven, and divide
it among you; but as for me, I will withdraw from you; the saints would fall
a weeping in heaven, and say, Lord, take heaven, and give it to whom you
will; it is no heaven to us, except you be there: Heaven would be very
Bochim to the saints without God. In this, our glory in heaven consists, to
be ever with the Lord, 1 Thess. 4:17. God himself is the chief part of a
saint's inheritance; in which sense, as some will understand, Rom. 8:1. they
are called heirs of God.
The subjective glory and happiness is the attemperation
and suiting of the soul and body to God. This is begun in sanctification,
and perfected in glorification. It consists in removing from both all that
is indecent, and inconsistent with a state of such complete glory and
happiness, and in superinducting and clothing it with all heavenly
qualities.
The immunities of the body are its freedom from all
nature infirmities; which as they come in, so they go out with sin.
Thenceforth there shall be no diseases, deformities, pains, flaws,
monstrosities; their good physician death has cured all this, and their vile
bodies shall be made like unto Christ's glorious body, Phil. 3:21. and be
made a spiritual body, 1 Cor. 15:44. For agility, like the chariots of
Aminadab; for beauty, as the top of Lebanon; for incorruptibility, as if
they were pure spirits.
The soul also is discharged and freed from all darkness
and ignorance of mind, being now able to discern all truths in God, that
crystal ocean of truth. The leaks of the memory stopped forever; the roving
of the fancy perfectly cured; the stubbornness and reluctance of the will
forever subdued, and retained in due and full subjection to God. So that the
saints in glory shall be free from all that now troubles them; they shall
never sin more nor be once tempted so to do, for no serpent hisses in that
paradise; they shall never grieve nor groan more, for God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes. They shall never be troubled more, for God will
then recompense tribulation to their troublers, and to them that are
troubled, rest; they shall never doubt more, for fruition excludes doubting.
The formal happiness is the fullness of satisfaction
resulting from the blessed sight and enjoyment of God, by a soul so
attempered to him, Psalm. 17:15. "When I awake I shall be satisfied with
your likeness." This sight of God, in glory, called the beatifical vision,
must needs yield ineffable satisfaction to the beholding soul, inasmuch as
it will be an intuitive vision. The intellectual or mental eye shall see
God, 1 John 3:2. The corporeal glorified eye shall see Christ, Job 19:26,
27. What a ravishing vision will this be! and how much will it exceed all
reports and apprehensions we had here of it! Surely one half was not told
us. It will be a transformative vision, it will change the beholder into its
own image and likeness. "We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he
is," 1 John 3:2. As iron put into the fire, becomes all fiery; so the soul,
by conversing with God, is changed into his very similitude. It will be an
appropriative vision; "Whom I shall see for myself," Job 19:26, 27. In
heaven interest is clear and undoubted, fear is cast out: no need of marks
and signs there; for what a man sees and enjoys, how can he doubt of? It
will be a ravishing vision; these we have by faith are so, how much more
those in glory? How was Paul transported, when he was in a visional way
enrapt up into the third heaven, and heard the unutterable things, though he
was not admitted into the blessed society, but was with them, as the angels
are in our assemblies, a stander by, a looker-on. If a spark do so inflame,
what is it to lie down like a Phoenix in her bed of spices! Like a
Salamander to live and move in the fire of love! It will also be an eternal
vision; vacabimus et videbimus, (as Augustinus said) we shall then be at
leisure for this employment, and have no diversions from it forever. No
evening is mentioned to the seventh day's sabbath; no night in the new
Jerusalem. And therefore,
Lastly, It will be a fully satisfying vision: God will
then be all in all. "Curiosity itself will be satisfied." The blessed soul
will feel itself blessed, filled, satisfied in every part. Ah, what a
happiness is here! to look and love, is drink and sing, and drink again at
the fountain head of the highest glory! And if at any time its eye be turned
from a direct to a reflex sight upon what it once was, how it was wrought
on, how fitted for his glory, how wonderfully distinguished by special grace
from them that are howling in flames, while himself is shouting aloud upon
his bed of everlasting rest; and this will enhance the glory.
And so also will the accessories of this blessedness be;
The place where God is enjoyed, the empyrean heaven, the city of God, where
Christ ascended, where the great assembly are met. Paradise and Canaan were
but the types of it; more excelling and transcending the royal palaces or
earthly princes, than they do a pigeon-hole. The company also with whom he
is enjoyed, adds to the glory. A blissful society indeed! store of good
neighbors in that city. There we shall have familiar converse with angels,
whose appearances now are insupportable by poor mortals. There will be sweet
and full closings also between the saints; Luther and Zwinglius are there
agreed. Here they could not fully close with one another, and no wonder, for
they could not fully close with themselves. But there is perfect harmony and
unity; all meeting and closing in God, as lines in the center. This is a
blessed glimpse of your inheritance.
Thirdly, All this is purchased for believers: hence it is
called, "the inheritance of the saints in light," Col. 1:12. "All is yours,
for you are Christ's," that is the tenure, 1 Cor. 3:23. So Rom. 8:30. "Whom
he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also
justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Only those that
are sons, are heirs, Rom. 8:17. The unrighteous shall not inherit, 1 Cor.
6:9. "It is the Father's good pleasure, to give the kingdom to the little
flock," Luke 12:32.
INFERENCE. 1. Has Christ not only redeemed you from
wrath, but purchased such an eternal inheritance also by the overplus of his
merit for you? O how well content should believers then be with their lot of
providence in this life, be it what it will! Content did I say? I speak too
low; overcome, ravished, filled with praises and thanksgivings; how low, how
poor, how afflicted soever for the present they are. O let not such things
as grumbling, repining, fretting at providence, be found, or once named
among the expectants of this inheritance! Suppose you had taken a beggar
from your door, and adopted him to be your son, and made him heir of a large
inheritance, and after this he should contest and quarrel with you for a
trifle; could you bear it? How to work the spirit of a saint into
contentment with a low condition here, I have laid down several rules in
another discourse, to which, for the present I refer the reader.
INFERENCE 2. With what weaned affections should the
people of God walk up and down this world, content to live, and willing to
die? For things present are theirs if they live, and things to come are
theirs if they die. Paul expresses himself in a frame of holy indifference,
Phil. 1:23 "Which to chose I know not." Many of them that are now in
fruition of their inheritance above, had vitam in patientia, mortem in
desiderio, "Life in patience, and death in desire," while they tabernacled
with us. "O (cried one) what would I give to have a bed made to my wearied
soul in Christ's bosom? " - I cannot tell you what sweet pain and delightful
torments are in his love; I often challenge time for holding us asunder; I
profess to you, I have no rest until I be over head and ears in love's
ocean. If Christ's love (that fountain of delights) were laid open to me as
I would wish, O how overcome would this my soul be! I half call his absence
cruel; and the mask and veil on his face a cruel covering, that hideth such
a fair, fair face from a sick soul. I dare not challenge himself, but his
absence is a mountain of iron upon my heavy heart. O when shall we meet! How
long is the dawning of the marriage-day! O sweet Lord Jesus, take wide
steps! O my Lord, come over mountains at one stride! O my beloved, flee like
a roe, or young hart upon the mountains of separation! O if he would fold
the heavens together like an old cloak, and shovel time and days out of the
way, and make really in haste the Lamb's wife for her husband! Since he
looked upon me, my heart is not mine own."
Who can be blamed for desiring to see that fair
inheritance which is purchased for him! But, truly, should God hold up the
soul by the power of faith, from day to day, to such sights as these, who
would be content to live a day more on earth! How should we be ready to pull
down the prison walls, and not have patience to wait until God open the
door! As the Heathen said, "Victurosque dii celant, ut vivere durent." And
truly the wisdom of God is in this specially remarkable, in giving the new
creature such an admirable crisis, and even temper, as that scripture, 2
Thess. 3:5. expresses, "The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and
patient waiting for Christ." Love inflames with desire, patience allays that
fervor. So that fervent desires (as one happily expresses it) are allayed
with meek submission; mighty love with strong patience. And had not God
twisted together these two principles in the Christian's constitution, he
had framed a creature to be a torment to itself, to live upon a very rack.
INFERENCE. 3. Hence we infer the impossibility of their
salvation that know not Christ, nor have interest in his blood. Neither
Athens, nor merely nominal Christians, can inherit heaven. I know some are
very indulgent to the Heathen, and many formal Christians are too much so to
themselves: but union by faith with Jesus Christ, is the only way revealed
in scripture, by which we hope to come to the heavenly inheritance. I know
it seems hard, that such brave men, as some of the Heathens were, should be
damned: but the scripture knows no other way to glory, but Christ put on,
and applied by faith. And it is the common suffrage of modern sound divines,
that no man, by the sole conduct of nature, without the knowledge of Christ,
can be saved. There is but one way to glory for all the world, John 14:6.
"No man comes to the Father but by me." Gal. 3:14. "The blessing of Abraham
comes upon the Gentiles through faith." Scripture asserts the impossibility
of being or doing, anything that is truly evangelically good, out of Christ,
John 15:5. "Without me you can do nothing." And Heb. 11:6. "Without faith it
is impossible to please God."
Scripture everywhere connects and chains salvation with
vocation, Rom. 8:30. and vocation with the gospel, Rom. 10:14. To those that
plead for the salvation of Heathens, and profane Christians. we may apply
that tart rebuke of Bernard, that while some labor to make Plato a
Christian, he feared they therein did prove themselves to be Heathens.
INFERENCE. 4. How greatly are we all concerned to clear
up our title to the heavenly inheritance! It is horrible to see how
industrious many are for an inheritance on earth, and how careless for
heaven. By which we may plainly see how vilely the noble soul is depressed
by sin, and sunk down into flesh, minding only the concernments of the
flesh. Hear me, you that labor for the world, as if heaven were in it; what
will you do when at death you shall look back over your shoulder, and see
what you have spent your time and strength for, shrinking and vanishing away
from you? When you shall look forward, and see vast eternity opening its
mouth to swallow you up; O then what would you give for a well-grounded
assurance of an eternal inheritance!
O, therefore if you have any concernment for your poor
souls; if it be not indifferent to you what becomes of them, whether they be
saved, or whether they be damned, "give all diligence to make your calling
and election sure," 2 Pet. 1:10. "Work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling; for it is God that works in you both to will and to do of his own
good pleasure," Phil. 2:12. Remember it is salvation you work for, and that
is no trifle. Remember, it is your own salvation, and not another's. It is
for your own poor soul that you are striving; and what have you more?
Remember, now God offers you his helping hand; now the
Spirit waits upon you in the means, but of the continuance thereof you have
no assurance; for it is of his own good pleasure, and not at yours. To your
work, souls, to your work. Ah, strive as men that know what an inheritance
in heaven is worth.
And, as for you that have solid evidence that it is
yours; O, that with hands and eyes lifted up to heaven, you would adore that
free grace, that has entitled a child of wrath to a heavenly inheritance!
Walk as becomes heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. Be often looking
heavenward when wants pinch here. O look to that fair estate you have
reserved in heaven for you, and say, I am hastening home; and when I come
there, all my grants shall be supplied. Consider what it cost Christ to
purchase it for you; and with a deep sense of what he has laid out for you,
let your soul say, Blessed be God for Jesus Christ!