The Believer’s Fellowship with Christ

“Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” Psarm 45:7.

Tue method of grace in uniting souls with Jesus Christ has been shown; thus does the Spirit, whose office it is, make application of Christ to God’s people; the result and next fruit of which is communion with Christ in his graces and benefits. Our wnion with Christ is the very groundwork and foundation of our sweet, soul-emiching communion and participation of spiritual privileges: we are first engrafted into Christ, and then suck the sap and fatness of the root; first married to the person of Christ, then endowed and instated in the privileges and benefits of Christ. To this communion with Christ the portion of Scripture selected now calls our attention.

The words are a part of that excellent psalm, or song of love, wherein the spiritual espousals of Christ and the church are figuratively and very elegantly celebrated and shadowed. The subject of this psalm is the same as of the whole book of the Canticles, in which the spiritual espousals of Christ and the church are set forth and represented to us. Among many rapturous and elegant expressions in praise of this glorious bridegroom Christ, this is one: “God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows;” that is, enriched and filled thee in a singular and peculiar manner with the fulness of the Spirit, whereby thou art consecrated to thy office; and by reason whereof thou outshinest and excellest all the salits, who are thy fellows or copartners in these graces. So that in these words you have two parts; the saints’ dignity, and Christ’s preeminence.

1. The saints’ dignity, which consists in this, that they are Christ’s fellows. The Hebrew word is very full and copious, and is translated consorts, companions, copartners, partakers; that is, such as are partakers with him in the anointing of the Spirit; who do in their measure receive the same Spirit, being anointed with the same grace, and dignified with the same titles. 1 John 2:27; Rev. 1:6. Does the Spirit of holiness dwell in him? so it does in them too, Is Christ Aong and Priest? so are they by the grace of union with him. He ‘hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.” This is the saints’ dignity, to be Christ’s fellows, consorts, or copartners; so that whatever spiritual grace or excellence is in Christ, it is not appropriated to himself, but they share it with him; for indeed he was filled with the fulness of the Spirit for their sakes. As the sun is filled with light not to shine to itself, but to others, so is Christ with grace. But,

2. Whatever dignity is here ascribed to the saints, there is and still must be a preeminence acknowledged and ascribed to Christ: if they are anointed with the Spirit of grace, much more abundantly is Christ: ‘God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

By the oil of gladness understand the Spirit of holiness, compared here to oil, of which there was under the law a civil and a sacred use. It had a sacred and a solemn use in the inauguration and consecration of the Jewish kings and high-priests; it had also a civil and common use for anointing their bodies, to make their limbs more agile and nimble; to make the face shine, for it gave a lustre, freshness, and liveliness to the countenance. By the Spirit of grace poured forth upon Christ, he was prepared for and consecrated to his offices; he was anointed “with the Holy Ghost and with power.” Acts 10:38. And as this precious oil runs down from Christ the head, to the borders of his garments; I mean, as it is shed upon believers, so it exceedingly beautifies their faces and makes them shine with glory — it renders them apt and ready to every good work. It kindles and maintains the flame of divine love in their souls, and like a lamp, enlightens their minds in the knowledge of spiritual things.

And this oil is here called the oil of gladness, because it is the cause of all joy and gladness to them that are anointed with it. The anointing or instalment of sovereign princes is the day of the gladness of their hearts; and among the common people oil was liberally used at all their festivals, but never on their days of mourning. Whence it becomes excellently expressive of the nature and use of the Spirit of grace, who is the cause and author of all joy in believers. John 17:13.

With this oil of gladness is Christ said to be anointed above his fellows, to have a far greater share of the Spirit of grace than they; for to every one of the saints ‘‘is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Eph.4: 7.. But to him the Spirit is not given by measure. John 3:34. “It pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell,” Col. 1: 19, and ‘‘of his fulness we all receive grace for grace.” John1: 16. The saints partake with him and through him in the same Spirit of grace, for which reason they are his fellows; but all the grace poured out upon believers comes exceeding short of that which God hath poured out upon Jesus Christ. The words thus explained teach us that,

All true believers have a real communion or fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

From the saints’ union with Christ results naturally and immediately a most sweet and blessed communion and fellowship with him in graces and spiritual privileges: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.” In giving us his Son, he freely gives us all things. Rom. 8:32. So 1 Cor. 1: 30, “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.” And once more, “All are yours, and ye are Christ’s.” 1 Corinthians 3:22, 23.

That the scope of this discourse be not mistaken, let the reader observe that I am not here treating of the saint’s communion or fellowship with God in his duties, as in prayer, hearing, the ordinances, etc., but of the interest which believers have in the good things of Christ, by virtue of the mystical wnion between them through faith.

There is a fellowship or communion the saints have with Christ in holy duties, wherein Christians let forth their hearts to God by desires, and God lets forth his comforts and refreshments again into their hearts; they open their mouths wide, and he fills them: this. communion with God is the joy and comfort of a believer’s life, but I am not to speak of that here. It is not any act of communion, but the state of communion, from which all acts of communion flow, of which I am now to treat. Between Christ and his people there is a fellowship, or joint interest, on which ground they are called coheurs with Christ. Rom. 8:17. In the explication of this point, I shall show in what Christ and believers have fellowship; by what means they come to have this fellowship; and the dignity to which it raises them.

I. In waar do Christ and believers have fellowship. And here I remark negatively, that the saints have no felowship with Christ in those things that belong to him as God; such as his consubstantiality, coequality, and coeternity with the Father. Neither men nor angels partake in these things; they.are the proper and incommunicable glory of the Lord Jesus. Nor have the saints any communion or fellowship in the honor and glory of his mediatorial work, his sanctification to God, or redemption of his people. It is true, we have the benefit and fruit of his mediation and satisfaction: his righteousness is imputed to us for our personal justification; but we share not in the least with Christ in the glory of this work; nor have we an inherent righteousness in us, as Christ has; nor can we justify and save others, as Christ does: we have nothing to do with his peculiar honor and praise in these things. Though we have the benefit of being saved, we may not pretend to the honor of being saviors as Christ is to ourselves or others. ‘‘ Christ’s righteousness,” says Bradshaw, ‘is not made ours as to its universal value, but as to our particular necessity; nor is it imputed to us as causes of salvation to others, but as subjects to be saved by it ourselves.” But there are many glorious and excellent things which are in common between Christ and believers, though in them all he hath the preéminence; he shines in the fulness of them as the sun, and we with a borrowed and lesser light.

1. Believers have communion with Christ in his names and titles; they are called Christians from Christ, from him the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Hph. 3:15. This is that worthy name the apostle speaks of, James 2:7. He is the Son of God, and they also, by their union with him, have power or authority to become the sons of God. John 1:12. He is the heir of all things, and they are joint-heirs with him. Rom. 8:17. He is both King and Priest, and he hath made them kings and priests. Rev. 1: 6.

2. They have communion with him in his righteousness, the righteousness of Christ is made theirs, 2 Cor. 5: 21; he is “the Lord our righteousness.” Jer. 28:6. True, the righteousness of Christ is not inherent in us as it is in him; but our union with him is the ground of the imputation of his righteousness to us. 2 Cor.5:21. We are made the righteousness of God in him. Phil. 8: 9.

This is a most inestimable privilege, the very ground of all our other blessings and mercies. O what a benefit is this to a poor sinner that owes to God infinitely more than he is ever able to pay by doing or suffering, to have such a rich treasure of merit as lies in Christ to discharge, in one entire payment, all his debts to the last farthing. “Surely shall one say, In the Lord haye I righteousness,” Isa, 45: 24, even as a poor woman that owes more than she is worth, in one moment is discharged of all her obligations by her marriage to a wealthy man.

3. Believers have communion with Christ in his holzness or sanctification, for of God he is made unto them not only righteousness, but sanctification also; and as in the former privilege they have merit in the blood of Christ to justify them; so here they have the Spirit of Christ to sanctify them, 1 Cor. 1: 30; and therefore we are said of his fulness to receive “grace for grace,” John 1:16; that is, Say some, grace upon grace, manifold graces, or abundance of grace; or grace answerable to grace, as in the seal and wax there is line for line and cut for cut exactly answerable to each other; or grace for grace, that is, say others, the free grace of God in Christ for the sanctification or filling of our souls with grace: be it in which sense it may, it shows the communion believers have with Jesus Christ in grace and holiness. Now, holiness is the most precious thing in the world, it is the image of God and chief excellency of man: it is our evidence for glory, yea, and the first fruits of glory. In Christ dwells the fulness of grace, and from him our head it is derived and communicated to us; thus “he that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one.” Heb. 2:11. More particularly,

4, Believers have communion with Christ a his death; they die with him: “I am crucified with Christ,” Gal. 2:20; that is, the death of Christ has a real killing and mortifying influence upon the lusts and corruptions of my heart and nature. True it is, he died for sin one way, and we die to sin another way: he died to ezpiate it, we die to it when we mortify it. The death of Christ is the death of sin in believers; and this is a very glorious privilege; for the death of sin is the life of your souls; if sin do not die in you by mortification, you must die for sin by eternal damnation. If Christ had not died, the Spirit of God, by which you now mortify the deeds of the body, could not have been given unto you: then you must have lived vassals to your sins, and died at last in your sins: but the fruit, efficacy, and benefit of Christ’s death is yours for killing those sins in you which else had been your ruin.

5. Believers have communion with Christ in jis life and resurrection from the dead; as he rose from the dead, so do they, and that by the power and influence of his vivification and resurrection. It is the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus that makes us free from the law of sin and death. Rom. 8:2. Our spiritual life is from Christ: “You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins,” Eph. 2:1; and hence Christ is said to live in the believer: ‘‘I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,” Gal. 2: 20; and it is no small privilege to partake of the very life of Christ, which is the most excellent life that any creature can live; yet such is the happiness of all the saints, the life of Christ is manifest in them, and such a life as shall never see death.

6. Believers have fellowship with Jesus Christ a his glory, which they shall enjoy in heaven with him: they “shall be ever with the Lard,” 1 Thess. 4:17; and that is not all — though, as one saith, it were a kind of heaven but to look through the keyhole and have but a glimpse of Christ’s blessed face — but they shall partake of the glory which the Father hath given him; for so he speaks, John 17: 22, 24; and more particularly, they shall sit with him in his throne, Rev. 3:21; and when he comes to judge the world, he will come to be glorified in the saints. 2 Thess. 1: 10.

Thus you see what glorious and inestimable things are and will be in common between Christ and the saints — his titles, his righteousness, his holiness, his death, his life, his glory. I do not say that Christ will make any saint equal with him in glory; that is impossible; he will be known from all the saints in heaven, as the sun is distinguished from the stars; but they shall partake of his glory, and be filled with his joy.

II. I would show tar way anp means by which we come to have fellowship with Jesus Christ in these excellent privileges; and this I shall do briefly in the following positions.

1. No man has fellowship with Christ in any special saving privilege by nature, howsoever it be cultivated or improved, but only by fash wnting him to the Lord Jesus Christ; it is not the privilege of our first, but second birth. This is plain from John 1:12, 13: “But to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” We are by nature children of wrath, Eph. 2:38, we have fellowship with Satan in sin and misery: the wild branch has no communication of the sweetness and fatness of a more noble and excellent root until it be ingrafted upon it, and have immediate union with it. John 15:1, 2.

2. Believers themselves have not an equal share one with another in all the benefits and privileges of their union with Christ, but in some there is an equality and in others an inequality; to every one according to the measwre and gift of Christ. In justification they are all equal: the weak and the strong believer are alike justified, because it is one and the same perfect righteousness of Christ which is applied to the one and to the other; so that there are no different degrees of justification, but all that believe are justified from all things, Acts 13:39; and “there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,” Rom. 8:1, be they never so weak in faith or defective in de-Method. 8 grees of grace. But there is difference in the measures of their sanctification; some are men, and others babes in Christ. 1 Cor. 3:1. The faith of some flourishes and grows exceedingly, 2 Thess. 1:3; the things that are in others are ready to die. Rev. 3:2. It is a plain case, that there is great variety in the degrees of grace and comfort among them that are jointly interested in Christ, and equally justified by him.

3. The saints have not fellowship and communion with Christ in the forementioned benefits and privileges by one and the same medium, but by vartows mediums and ways, according to the nature of the benefits in which they participate. For instance, they have partnership and communion with Christ, as has been said, in nis righteousness, holiness, and glory, but they receive these distinct blessings by divers mediums of communion: we haye communion with Christ in his righteousness by the way of imputation; we partake of his holiness. by his imparting it to us, and of his glory in heaven by the beatifical vision. Our justification is a relative change, our sanctification a real change, our glorification a perfect change by redemption from all the remains both of sin and misery. Thus hath the Lord appointed several blessings for believers in Christ, and several channels of conveying them from him to us: by imputed righteousness we are freed from the guilt of sin; by imparted holiness we are freed from the dominion of sin; and by our glorification with Christ we are freed from all the remains both of sin and misery brought in by sin upon our natures.

4, Christ imparts to all believers all the spiritual blessings that he ws filled with, and withholds none from any that have wumon with him, be these blessings never so great, or they that recerve them never so weak and contemptible in outward respects. Ye are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Gal. 3:26. The salvation that comes by Jesus Christ is styled the common salvation, Jude 8, and heaven the inheritance of the saints in light, Col. 1:12. ‘There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all.” Col. 3:11. As if the apostle had said, there is no privilege in the one to commend them to God, and no want of any thing in the other to debar them from God; let men have or want outward excellences, as beauty, honor, riches, nobility, gifts of the mind, sweetness of nature, and all such ornaments, what is that to God? He looks not at these things, but respects them, and communicates his favor to them as they are in Christ: He is all, and in all. The gifts and blessings of the Spirit are given to men as they are in Christ, and without respect to any external differences made in this world among men: hence we find. excellent treasures of grace in mean and contemptible persons in the world; poor in the world and rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom; and as all believers, without difference, receive from Christ, so they are not debarred from any blessing that is in Christ: ‘“All is yours, for ye are Christ’s.” 1 Cor. 3:22, 23. With Christ, God “freely gives us all things.” Rom. 8:32.

5. Lhe commumon believers have with Christ in sprritual benefits is a very great mystery, far above the understandings of natural men. There are no footsteps of this thing in all the works of creation; therefore the apostle calls it “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Eph. 3:8. The word signifies that which has no footsteps to trace it by; yea, it is so deep a mystery that the angels themselves stoop to look into it. 1 Pet. 1:12. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him; but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.” 1 Cor. BO LO:

III. I.am to show THE DIGNITY AND EXCELLENCE of this fruit of our union with Christ, and that a greater glory and honor cannot be put upon man than to be thus in fellowship with him. “The glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one.” John 17:22. Let it be considered, -

1. “With whom we are associated, even the Son of God; with him that is ‘over all, God blessed for ever.” Our association with angels is a high advancement, for angels and saints are fellow-servants in the same family, Rev. 19:10, and through Christ we are come to an innumerable company of angels, Heb. 12:22. But what is all this to our fellowship with Jesus Christ himself, and that in another manner than angels have? For though Christ be to them a head of dominion, yet not a head of vital influence, as he is to his mystical body the church; this therefore is to them a mystery, which tuey greatly desire to study and pry into.

2. What we are that are dignified with this title, the fellows or copartners with Jesus Christ: not only dust by nature, but such wretched sinners by nature and the sentence of the law, as ought to be associated with devils and partakers with them of the wrath of Almighty God to all eternity.

3. The benefits we are partakers of, in and with the Lord Jesus Christ; and indeed they are wonderful and astonishing so far as they do already appear, and yet we see but little of them compared with what we shall see. ‘Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2. Oh, what will that be, to see him as he is, and to be transformed into his likeness!

4. The manner in which we are brought into this fellowship with Christ; which is yet more admirable. The apostle gives us a surprising account of it in 2 Cor. 8:9: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich;” he empties himscif of his glory, that we might be filled; he is made a curse, that we might enjoy the blessing; he submits to be crowned with thorns, that we might be crowned with glory and honor; he puts himself into the number of worms, Psa, 22:6, that we might be made equal to the angels. Oh, the inconceivable grace of Christ!

5. The reciprocal nature of the communion which is between Christ and believers. We do not only partake of what is his, but he partakes of what is ours: he has fellowship with us in all our wants, sorrows, miseries and afflictions; and we have communion with him in his righteousness, grace, sonship, and glory: he takes part of our misery, and we take part of his blessedness; our sufferings are his sufferings. Col. 1:24. Oh, what an honor is it to thee, poor man, to whom a great many would not turn aside to ask how thou doest; to have a King, yea, the Prince of all the kings of the earth, pity, relieve, sympathize, groan, and bleed with thee, sit by thee in all thy troubles, and give thee his cordials; say thy troubles are my troubles, and thy afflictions are my afflictions; whatever toucheth thee, toucheth me also. O what name shall we give unto such grace as this?

6. Consider the perpetuity of this privilege. Your fellowship with Christ is interminable, and abides for ever. Christ and the saints shall be glorified together, Rom. 8:17; while he hath any glory they shall partake with him. It is said indeed, that there shall be a time when Christ will deliver up the kingdom to the Father, 1 Cor. 15: 24; but the meaning is not, that he will ever cease to be the Head of his saints, or they cease to be his members: no, the relation never ceases; justification, sanctilication, and adoption are everlasting; no enemy can despoil us of them,

Inrerence 1. Are the saints Christ’s fellows? What honorable persons then are they; and how should they be esteemed and valued in the world, If a king, who is the fountain of honor, do but raise a man by his favor, and dignify him by bestowing some honorable title upon him, what respect and deference is presently paid him by all persons. But what are all the vain and empty titles of honor to the glorious and substantial privileges with which believers are dignified and raised above all other men by Jesus Christ? He is the Son of God, and they are the sons of God also; he is the Heir of all things, and they are joint-heirs with Christ; he reigns in glory, and they shall reign with him; he sits upon the throne, and they shall sit with him in his throne. O that this vile world did but know: the dignity of believers; they would never slight, hate, abuse, and persecute them as they de. And Oh that believers did but understand their own happiness and privileges by Christ; they would never droop and sink under every small trouble as they now do.

2. How abundantly has God provided for all the necessities and wants of belevers! Christ is a storehouse filled with blessings and mercies, and it is all for them; from him they ‘‘receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness.” Rom. 5:17. ‘Of his fulness they all receive grace for grace.” John 1:16. All the fulness of Christ is made over to them for the supply of their wants: “My God shall supply all your need according to his. riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19. If all the riches of God can supply your needs, then they shall be supplied. Say not, Christ is in the possession of consummate glory, and I am a poor creature struggling with many difficulties, and toiling in the midst of many cares and fears in the world; for care is taken for all thy wants, and orders given from heaven for their supply: “My God shall supply all your need.” O say with a melting heart, I have a full Christ, and he is filled for me: I have his pure and perfect righteousness to justify me, his holiness to sanctify me, his wisdom to guide me, his comforts to refresh me, his power to protect me, and his all-sufficiency to supply me. O be cheerful, be thankful; you have all your hearts can wish: and yet be humble; it is all from free-grace to empty and unworthy creatures.

3. How absurd, disingenuous, and wnworthy of a Christran is ut, to deny or withhold from Christ any thing by which he may be served or honored. Doth Christ communicate all he hath to you, and can you withhold any thing from Christ? On Christ’s part it is not mine and thine, but ours, or mune and yours: “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God’ John 20: 17. But Oh this cursed idol self, which appropriates all to its own designs and uses. How liberal is Christ, and how penurious are we to him! Some will not part with their credit for Christ, when yet Christ abased himself unspeakably for them. Some will not part with a drop of blood for Christ, when Christ spent the whole treasure of his blood freely for us; yea, how loath are we to part with a shilling for Christ to relieve him in his distressed members, though ‘‘we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich!” O ungrateful return! O base and disingenuous spirits! The things Christ gives us are great, and the things we deny to him are small: he parts with the greatest, and yet is denied the least. The things he communicates to us are none of ours, we have no right nor title by nature, or any desert of ours, to them; the things we deny or grudge to Christ are by all titles his own, and he has the fullest and most unquestionable title to them all: what he gives to us, he gives to them that never deserved it; what we withhold from him, we withhold from one who has deserved that and infinitely more from us than we have or are.

He interested you freely in all his riches when you were enemies; you stand upon trifles with him, and yet call him your best and dearest friend: he gave himself and all he has to you, when you could claim nothing from him; you refuse to part with these things for Christ, who may not only claim them upon the highest title, his own sovereignty and absolute property, but by your own act who profess to have given all in covenant to him. On what he gives, you return no profit to him; but what you give or part with for him is to your greatest advantage. O that the consideration of these things might shame and humble your souls.

4. Certainly no man is or can be swpposed to be a loser by conversion, seeing from that day whatever Christ is or has becomes his. O what an inheritance are men possessed of by their new birth! Some men cry out, Religion will undo you; but with what eyes do these mon see? Surely you could never so reckon, except your souls were so worldly as to reckon pardon, peace, adoption, holiness, and heaven for nothing; that invisibles are nonentities, and temporals the only realities. It is true, the converted soul may lose his estate, his liberty, yea, his life for Christ; but what then? Are they losers that exchange brass for gold; or part with their present comforts for a hundred-fold advantage? Mark 10:29, 30. So that none need be frightened at religion for the losses that attend it, while Christ and heaven are gained by it: they that count religion their loss, have their portion only in this life.

5. How securely as the saints’ inheritance settled wpon them, seeing they are in common with Jesus Christ. Christ and his saints are joint-heirs, and the inheritance cannot be alienated but by his consent: he must lose his interest, if you lose yours. Indeed, Adam’s inheritance was by a single title, and moreover it was in his own hand, and so he might, as indeed he soon did, divest himself and his poss terity of it; but it is not so between Christ and believers: we are secured in our inheritance by Christ our cohcir, who will never alienate it, and therefore it was truly observed that Job was happier upon the dunghill than Adana

FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST. sli Girg

was in paradise. The covenant of grace is certainly the best tenure: as it has the best mercies, so it gives the fullest security to enjoy them.

6. How rich and full is Jesus Christ, who communicates abundantly to all the saints, and yet has still infinitely more in himself than has ever been received by them all! Take all the faith of Abraham, all the meekness of Moses, all the patience of Job, all the wisdom of Solomon, all the zeal of David, all the industry of Paul, and all the tender-heartedness of Josiah; add to this all the grace that is poured, though in lesser measure, into all the elect vessels in the world, yet still it is far short of that which remains in Christ: ‘He is anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows;” and in all things he hath and must ever have the preéminence. There are many thousand stars glittering above our heads, and one star differs from another star in glory, yet there is more light and glory in one sun than in many thousand stars. Grace beautifies the children of men exceedingly, but still it is true of Christ, “Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into thy lips.” Psalm 45:2. For all grace is secondarily and derivatively in the saints, but it is primitively and originally in Christ. John 1:16. Grace is imperfect and defective in them, but in him it is in its most absolute perfection and fulness. Col. 1:19. In the saints it is mixed with abundance of corruption, but in Christ it is altogether unmixed and exclusive of its opposite. Heb. 7:26. So that as the heathen said of moral virtue, I may much more say of Christ, that were he to be seen with mortal eyes, he would compel love and admiration from all men, for “he is altogether lovely.” Song 5: 16.

1. What delight and singular advantage must there be in the communion of the saints, who have communion with Jesus Chrast an all is graces and benefits. “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the

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Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3. O it is sweet to have fellowship with those that have fellowship with God in Jesus Christ. Christ has communicated graces to the saints in different measures and degrees; and as they all receive from Christ the fountain, so it is sweet and most delightful to be improving themselves by spiritual communion one with another. Yea, one is furnished with one grace more eminently than another for this end, that the weak may be assisted by the strong, as Mr. Torshell well observes. Athanasius was prudent and active, Basil of a heavenly sweet temper, Chrysostom laborious without affectation, Ambrose resolved and grave, Luther courageous, and Calvin acute and judicious. ‘Thus every one has his proper gift from Christ, the fountain of gifts and graces. 1 Cor.7:7. One has quickness of parts, another solidity of judgment; one is zealous, another wellprincipled; one is wary and prudent, another open and plain; one is trembling and melting, another cheerful and joyous; one must impart his light, another his heat. The eye, the knowing man, cannot say to the hand, the active man, I have no need of thee.. And Oh, how sweet would it be if gifts, graces, and experiences were frequently and humbly imparted. But idle notions, earthly-mindedness, self-interest, and want of more communion with Christ, have almost destroyed the comfort of Christian fellowship in the world.

8. In a word, those only have grownd to claim interest in Christ who do really partiapate of his graces, and in whom are found the effects and fruats of their union and communion with hum. If you have interest in Christ, you have communion in his graces and benefits; and if you have such communion, it will appear in your maintaining daily actual communion with God in duties, by which will be produced the increase of your sanctification by fresh participations from the fountain. As cloth which is often dipped into the vat receives the deeper dye and livelier tincture, so will your souls by assiduous communion with God. It will also be discerned in your deeper humiliation and spiritual sense of your own vileness: the more any man partakes of God, and is acquainted with him, and assimilated to him, the more base and vile in his own sight he still grows. Job 42:5, 6; Isa. 6:5. It will appear in your more vehement longings after the fuil enjoyment of God in heaven, 1 Pet. 1:8, and Rom. 8:23. You that have the first-fruits will groan within yourselves after the full harvest and satisfying fruition; you will not be so taken with things below as to be content with the best lot on earth for your everlasting portion. Oh, if these communicated drops be so sweet, what is there in Christ the fountain!

Thus I have shown the method of grace in bringing home Christ and his benefits to G’od’s people by wnion vn order to communeon with ham.

Thanks be to G’od for Jesus Christ.