whose use and benefit it is: _I will raise up for them a Plant
of Renown_. Who these are, you will see by casting your eye on
the former part of this chapter; it is for the Lord’s flock, his
oppressed heritage, that are borne down by wicked rulers, civil and
ecclesiastic: _I will raise up for them a Plant of Renown_, and he
will be their deliverer.
The doctrine that naturally arises from this first clause of the
verse, is in short this, “That Christ is a Plant of Renown, of
God’s raising up, for the benefit and advantage of his people,
or for their comfort and relief in all their distresses; he is a
Renowned Plant of God’s raising up.”
Now, in discoursing this doctrine, if time and strength would
allow, I might,
_First_, Premise a few things concerning this blessed Plant.
_Secondly_, I might enquire, why he is called a Plant of Renown?
_Thirdly_, Speak a little to the raising up of this Plant.
_Fourthly_, For whom he is raised up.
_Fifthly_, For what end. And then,
_Lastly_, Apply.
As to the first of these, namely,
_First_, To premise a few things concerning this blessed Plant.
_First_, I would have you to know what is here attributed and
ascribed to Christ: It is not to be understood absolutely of him
as God, but officially as he is Mediator and Redeemer. Considering
him absolutely as God, this cannot be properly said of him, that
he was raised up: for he is God co-equal and co-essential with the
Father; But viewing him as Mediator, he is a Plant, as it were of
God’s training. You will see from the context, all that is said of
Christ has a respect to him as a Mediator, that he was to be God’s
Servant to do his work: In that consideration he is here called a
Plant, and a _Plant of Renown_. Hence, Zacharias, when speaking of
him, has a phrase much to the same purpose; “He hath raised up a
Horn of Salvation for us in the house of his servant David.” Again,
_Secondly_, Another thing I would have you to remark, is, That this
Plant is but small and little in the eyes of a blind world. He was
little looked upon when he sprung up in his Incarnation; and when
he was here in a state of humiliation, men looked upon him “as a
Root sprung up out of a dry ground; they saw no comeliness in him
why he should be desired.” And to this day, though he be in a state
of exaltation at the right hand of God, yet he is little thought
of, and looked upon, by the generality of mankind, and the hearers
of the gospel; _He is despised and rejected of men_. But then,
_Thirdly_, Another thing I would have you to remark, is, That
however contemptible this Plant of Renown is in the eyes of a blind
world, yet he is the tallest Plant in all God’s Lebanon, there is
not the like of him in it, “He is fairer than the children of men;”
and, “He is as the apple-tree among the trees of the wood,” If ever
you saw him, you will be ready to say so too, and with David, “Whom
have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon the earth that I
desire besides thee.” Again,
_Fourthly_, Another thing I remark, is, That this blessed Plant
of Renown, he was cut down in his death, and sprung up gloriously
in his resurrection; the sword of divine justice hewed down this
Plant upon Mount Calvary, but within three days he sprung up again
more glorious and more beautiful and amiable than ever; and “He was
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit
of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead.”
_Lastly_, I would have you to remark, that all the little plants in
the garden are ingrafted in this Plant of Renown: “I am the Vine,
ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit: For without me ye can do nothing--I
am a green fir tree, from me is thy fruit found.” If you be not
ingrafted firs, in this Plant, you will never grow; and all the
trees that are not planted in him, they are all but weeds. There is
a time coming when all the weeds will be plucked up, and therefore
take heed that you be ingrafted in him by a faith of God’s
operation. So much for the first thing I proposed.
The second thing was to shew, that he is a Renowned Plant. He is
renowned in heaven, and he is renowned on earth, and will be so,
_For his name shall endure for ever_, Psal. lxxii. 17. O he is
renowned!
For what, say you, is he renowned? I might here enter upon a very
large field; I shall only tell you,
1. That he is renowned in his Person. There was never the like of
him! The two natures, God and Man, are joined together in one, in
him: Did you ever see that? If you have not seen that, you have not
seen the Mystery of Godliness: He is the most renowned person in
heaven; but he is IMMANUEL, _God manifested in the flesh_.--Then he
is,
2. Renowned for his Pedigree: _Who can declare his Generation?_
Considering him as God, his eternal generation from the Father
cannot be told. We can tell you he is the only begotten of the
Father, but we cannot tell you the manner of his generation; it is
a secret that God has drawn a vail upon, and it is dangerous to
venture into a search of it; and they that have attempted it, have
commonly been boged into Arian, Arminian, and Sabellian errors.
Considering him as man, he is sprung of a race of ancient Kings,
a famous catalogue of them you read of in first of Matthew.--And
who can declare his generation even as man? For he was born of a
Virgin, and conceived by the overshadowing power of the Highest.
Then,
3. He is renowned for his name.--“He hath a Name above every name
that can be named, whether in this world or that which is to come.”
4. He is renowned for his Wisdom.--For, “All the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge are in him.”
5. He is renowned for his Power.--For he is not only _the Wisdom of
God_, but _the Power of God_. He is “the Man of God’s right hand,
even the Son of Man, whom he hath made strong for himself.”
6. He is renowned for his Veracity and Fidelity. For, “Faithfulness
is the girdle of his loins.” Have you got a word from him? Depend
upon it, it is a sicker word, it does not fail: _The word of the
Lord endures for ever_, when heaven and earth shall pass away.
7. He is renowned for his Righteousness. For, “He hath brought
in an everlasting Righteousness, whereby the Law is magnified
and made honourable;” and by the imputation of which, the guilty
transgressors are acquitted: “He was made sin for us, who knew no
sin, that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him:” That
is His name, _The Lord our Righteousness_.
8. He is renowned for his fulness.--For, “All the fulness of the
Godhead dwells bodily in him:” He is _full of grace and truth_;
full of all created and uncreated excellencies.
9. He is renowned for his Love.--What but love brought him out of
the bosom of the Father to this lower world? What but love made him
lay down his life for his people?
10. He is renowned for his Liberality. He has a full hand and
a free heart, as we use to say; he gives without money, and he
invites all to come and share of his fulness.
11. He is renowned for his Constancy. He is “Jesus Christ, the same
to-day, yesterday and for ever.” The best of men, will fail us when
we trust them; they will run like splinters into our hands, when we
lean upon them: But, sirs, you will find Christ always the same,
to-day, yesterday and for ever. And then,
12. He is renowned for his Authority and Dominion. It is great,
and extends far and wide, whether in heaven above, or in the earth
beneath: And his dominion reaches “from sea to sea, and from the
river unto the ends of the earth:” And all the kings of the earth
are but his vassals.
Thus, I say, Christ in every respect is renowned.
But here, to keep by the phraseology of the text, He is a renowned
Plant: Wherein is he renowned?
_First_, I say he is renowned for his Antiquity: “I was set up from
everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was,” &c. All
the plants in the higher and lower gardens of God, they are but
just upstarts in comparison of him: Angels and Arch-angels, and the
greatest Seraphims are but of yesterday, in comparison of this
Plant. He is renowned for his Antiquity, for he is, “The Ancient of
days, and the Everlasting Father,” Isaiah, 9th chapter.
_N.B.--Here he was desired to conclude his Discourse, in respect
the Work in the Church was over, and that he might give way to
another Minister that was to preach the Evening Sermon._
SERMON II.
EZEKIEL, xxxiv. 29.
_And I will raise up for them a Plant of Renown._
I had occasion, upon a solemnity of this nature, not long ago, to
enter upon these words, but had not time to go far into the import
of them. After I had traced the connection of the words a little, I
took them up in the few following particulars.
1. We have here a great blessing promised unto the church; and that
is none other than Christ, under the notion of a Prince, and _A
Plant of Renown_.
2. We have the Party by whom this promise is made, in the pronoun
_I_,--I JEHOVAH, the Eternal GOD, _I will raise up for them a Plant
of Renown_.
3. We have the way how this _Plant of Renown_ is raised; _And I
will raise him up_. I that am the great Husbandman of the vineyard,
_I will raise up for them_, &c. Then,
4. I noticed the persons to whom the promise is made, _I will raise
up for them_; that is, for his Church, for his people that are
brought into a very low condition; as you will see by reading the
preceding part of the chapter. The flock of Christ were scattered
by the shepherds of Israel; they were torn, they were devoured, and
under manifold trials; Well, what will the Lord do for his flock
in that condition? He says, _I will raise up for them a Plant of
Renown, and they shall hunger no more_.
The observation is much the same with the words themselves, namely,
“that our Lord Jesus Christ is a Plant of Renown of his Father’s
upbringing:” _I will raise up for them a Plant of Renown_. In
prosecution of this doctrine, I proposed to observe the order and
method following.
_First_, To premise a few things concerning this blessed Plant.
_Secondly_, To shew that indeed he is a _Plant of Renown_. And then,
_Thirdly_, To speak a little concerning the raising up of this
Plant.
_Fourthly_, For whom he is raised up.
_Fifthly_, For what good, or for what benefit and advantage he is
raised up. And,
_Lastly_, To apply the whole.
As to the first, I spoke to it, and premised a few things
concerning this blessed Plant; therefore I shall not stay to resume
what was said on that Head. I likewise entered upon the second, and
shewed that Christ is _A Plant of Renown_ in several respects: I
mentioned eleven or twelve particulars wherein Christ is renowned,
but I shall not resume these neither: I shall only tell you a few
things wherein this blessed Plant is renowned.
1. In the first place, this blessed Plant, he is renowned for his
antiquity. There are many other plants in God’s garden, as angels,
seraphims, cherubims, saints militant and triumphant, they are all
but upstarts in comparison of him; for he was set up before ever
the earth was. You will see that one name of this Plant of Renown
is, _The Everlasting Father_, or, “The Father of Eternity,” as it
may be rendered.
2. As he is renowned for his antiquity, so for his Beauty: he is
the most beautiful Plant in all the garden of God; “I am the Rose
of Sharon, and the Lily of the valleys.--He is the apple-tree among
the trees of the wood.” He is renowned I say, for his beauty and
his glory; for the glory of a God is in him. Is there any glory
in his eternal Father? Why, that glory shines in our IMMANUEL, in
the very brightness of it, Heb. i. 3. “He is the brightness of the
Father’s glory, and the express image of his person.” Now, sirs,
if ever your eyes were opened by the Spirit of God, to take up the
glory of this Plant, his glory has just dazzled your very eyes! You
that never saw any glory in him, you never saw him to this very
day: Pray that the light of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus
Christ, may yet shine into your hearts. It would make a heartsome
Sacrament, if this Plant were displayed in his glory among us.
Sirs, have you come to see him in his glory? O give God no rest
till he make a discovery of himself to your souls. Then,
3. He is renowned for his verdure, for his perpetual greenness.
Other plants are fading; you and I are fading plants; “All flesh
is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of
the field:” He is a Tree ever green, he never fades, summer nor
winter, and shall be ever a green Plant to the Saints as it were
to eternity! When millions of ages, yea, myriads of ages are past
in heaven, he will be as fresh and green to the believer, as when
he first saw him, or the first moment the saint entered glory:
therefore it is, that the songs of the redeemed in glory are always
new; and throughout eternity, will be new, because they will
constantly see matter of a new song; and the more they see, they
will wonder the more at him throughout eternity! Again,
4. This Plant is renowned not only for his verdure, but for his
virtue. We read, Rev. xxii. “That the leaves of the Tree of Life
were for the healing of the nations.” That Tree of Life is the very
same with this Plant of Renown; the leaves of this Plant are for
the healing of the nations; and we that are ministers are come this
day to scatter the leaves of this Tree of Life, of this _Plant of
Renown_; try if you can get a leaf of it applied and set home upon
your souls. Depend upon it, there is virtue in every word of his.
Sirs, mingle faith with a word, and you will find that it will
have the same efficacy with you as it had with the poor woman with
the bloody issue, that was healed with a touch of the hem of his
garment, who had spent all her living on doctors. O see if you can
find him! I assure you he is here; he is behind the door of every
man’s heart: “Behold I stand (says he,) at the door and knock! If
any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him,
and sup with him, and he with me.” And O let him in! there is
virtue in him for curing you all, though there were ten thousand
millions of you more than there are; there is virtue in him for
healing every one of you. But then,
5. This blessed Plant is not only renowned for his virtue, but
likewise for his fertility. He is not a barren Plant; he would
not be renowned if he were barren: He brings forth all manner of
fruit every month; yea, I may add, every day, every moment. You
read in Rev. xxii. of the Tree of Life that brings forth twelve
manner of fruits every month; that is to say, he brings forth all
fruit that is necessary for a poor soul: whatever thy soul stands
in need of, is to be found in him; see then and gather, see if you
can gather some of it. There is the fruit of his incarnation; there
is the fruit of his death; there is the fruit of his resurrection;
there is the fruit of his ascension; there is the fruit of his
intercession, and sitting at the right hand of God; there is the
fruit of his prophetic office; there is the fruit of his priestly
office; there is the fruit of his kingly office; there is the fruit
of his appearing within the vail; there is the fruit of what he did
without the vail, and without the camp. O what fruit is here! Here
is wisdom for fools; here is justification for the condemned soul;
here is sanctification for the polluted soul, and clothing for the
naked; riches for the poor, bread for the hungry, drink for the
thirsty. All manner of fruit is here, and we are trying, sirs, to
shake the Tree of Life among you; and blessed be God, they may be
gathered: O sirs! they are dropping among you; O gather, gather,
for salvation is in every word that drops from him; for his words
are the words of eternal life. But, in the
6. Place, this blessed Plant is renowned for his scent and pleasant
savour. O sirs! there is such a blessed savour in this Plant of
Renown, as has cast a perfume through all the Paradise above! He
has cast a perfume through the church militant, which in Isaiah
v. is called God’s vineyard. O sirs! do you find any thing of the
scent of this Plant? I can tell you, if ever you have been made
to know him, it will be so: “because of the savour of thy good
ointment, thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the
Virgins love thee.” The believer he finds a scent about him, he
draws a savour from him. What is the design of us ministers, but
to cast abroad his scent, and it is by this we win souls; and they
that cast out and drop the Plant of Renown out of their sermons,
no wonder their sermons stink, and they shall stink to eternity,
that throw Christ out of their sermons. The great business of
ministers is to cast forth the scent of Christ to the people. I
shall read you a word to this purpose, in 2 Cor. ii. 14--16. “Now,
thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.”
The apostle triumphs in him, and all other honest ministers will
triumph in him too; and all Christians that know him, triumph in
him. “And maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in
every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour in Christ, in them
that are saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the
savour of death unto death; and to the other, the savour of life
unto life; and who is sufficient for these things?” Who is able to
tell the sweet savour that is in him? Again,
7. This blessed plant in my text, is not only renowned for his
savour, but likewise for his shadow. Song, i. 3. “I sat down under
his shadow with great delight;” the shadow of the Plant of Renown.
You are all sitting there or standing, but are you sitting under
the Plant of Renown? Jonah’s gourd did him service against the
scorching heat of the sun, that was like to take away his life;
but alas! that soon failed him, for God sent a worm and smote it
that it withered; and the worm of death will soon smite and wither
you and me: O get in under the shadow of this Plant of Renown, and
ye are secured against death and vindictive wrath for ever. Get
in under his shadow; the shadow of his intercession,--the shadow
of his power,--the shadow of his providence,--the shadow of his
faithfulness: O sit under his shadow, and you will find shelter
there against all deadly; whatever blasts come, you will find
safety there. Would you be shadowed from the king of terrors? Death
is a terror to many, O if you be shadowed against the awful terrors
of death and God’s vengeance, get in under this shadow, and you are
safe.
8. This Plant is renowned for his stature. He is a high Plant, he
is a tall Plant: you see the heavens above you, but they are but
creeping things in comparison of him; for this glorious Plant is,
_The high and lofty One that inhabits eternity_. You can never see
his height; your eye will look high, and your thought will reach
higher, but neither your eye nor thought will reach unto him; he
is taller than all the cedars in the Lebanon of God: “Eye hath not
seen, nor hath ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of
man,” to think of the height and glory of this Plant of Renown! And,
_Lastly_, This Plant is renowned not only for his stature, but for
his extent also: he is a broad Plant, he was planted in the first
promise in Paradise; he spread through the old testament church;
he came the length of filling the land of Judea; and, at length,
this Plant has spread itself among us: And O that I could open the
leaves of this Plant to take you in; he is a broad Plant, he will
serve you all. We read of the Tree of Life being on every side
of the river: there is a great river betwixt us and heaven, and
that is death; and we are all running into this river of death. As
one well observes on the place, this Tree is in the middle of the
river; he is on this side of time, and he is on that side of time.
Now, this Plant is on both sides of the river; though you were
going to the wastes of America, you will find him there as well as
here, if you have but the art of improving him. And this Plant will
spread himself through all kingdoms, “The earth shall be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord, just as the waters cover the sea.”
He will not only fill the earth, but the whole heavens throughout
eternity! O but he is a broad Plant, that will extend himself both
to heaven and earth! And this shall serve for the second thing
proposed, namely, To show that this Plant is indeed a most Renowned
Plant.
The third thing I proposed in the prosecution of this doctrine,
was, concerning the raising or upbringing of this Plant. You see it
is no other than the Great GOD, that raised up this Plant. I find
the Great JEHOVAH glorying in his skill and wisdom in the raising
up of this Plant for the use of the church. In Psalm lxxxix. 19.
says the Lord, “I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have
exalted one chosen out of the people; I have raised up David my
servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him.” Here he glories in
it that he had raised up this glorious Plant of Renown.
I will tell you a few things with reference to the raising up of
this blessed Plant.
1. He was raised up in the counsel of God’s peace from eternity.
The Trinity sat in council anent the upbringing of him; “The
counsel of peace was between them both,” Zech. vi. 13. The Father
and the Son agreed upon it, that in the fulness of time the Son
should come into the world.
2. He was raised up in the first promise to Adam and Eve. Till this
Plant was discovered to them, they were like to run distracted: And
indeed, sirs, if Christless sinners saw where they were, and the
wrath of God that is hanging over their heads, they would be ready
to run distracted, till a revelation of Christ was made to them.
All the promises, all the prophecies, all the types, and all the
doctrines of the old testament, they were the gradual springings of
this Plant: but it was under ground until,
3. His actual manifestation in the flesh, when, in the fulness of
time he appeared: “In the fulness of time, God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman, &c.”
4. This Plant was raised up even in his death and resurrection,
by which he was declared to be the Son of God with power, by the
spirit of holiness. And,
_Lastly_, This Plant of Renown will be raised up in the songs of
the redeemed through endless eternity. Thus you see, Christ is a
Plant of Renown, and what way he is raised up.
The next thing I proposed was, for whom is it that this Plant is
raised up? O! may some poor thing say, Was he ever raised up for
me? I tell you, sirs, he was never raised up for the fallen angels;
“For he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him
the seed of Abraham.” Our nature was highly honoured at first,
but it soon sunk below the beast that perisheth; but the second
Adam took our nature upon him, and raised it to a higher dignity
than the very angels; for to which of the angels did this honour
appertain, to be united to the eternal Son of God? So that, I say,
this Plant of Renown is raised up for mankind-sinners, not for
angel-kind sinners; and every mankind-sinner that hears tell of
him, they should lay claim to him, as in Isaiah, ix. 6, “To us a
Son is given, to us this Child is born; and the government shall
be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of
Peace.” To us he is given, unto us he is born.
I thought to have gone through what I designed on this subject, but
time will not allow. The Lord bless his word.
A DYING CHRISTIAN’S PRAYER.
“Receive my spirit,” was the prayer of Stephen to Jesus Christ, to
receive his departing soul; and, brethren, I think you will feel in
a dying hour, that your departing soul _needs_ a Divine Saviour.
You have one in Jesus Christ. You may call upon him then, even as
now. _His_ ear will not be heavy, though _yours_ may, when death is
sealing up your faculties. _His_ eye will not have lost its power
of gazing affectionately on you, when _yours_ is becoming dim and
closed. His hand will not be shortened, in the hour when yours will
have become tremulous and feeble. But lift up the hand, the heart,
the eye, the soul, in prayer to him then, and you will find him a
very near and present help in that your time of trouble.
Brethren, a Christian should die _praying_. Other men die in
different ways, according to their character and temper. Julius
Cesar died adjusting his robes, that he might fall gracefully.
Voltaire, with mingled imprecations and supplications; Paine, with
shrieks of agonizing remorse. Multitudes die with sullenness, some
with blasphemies faltering on their tongue. But, brethren, the
humble Christian would die praying. Well says the poet: