beautiful Palace and Edifice And mark there is a diversity of Imployments Foundations Windows Gates Borders and there is a variety of Gifts expressed by the several kinds of Jewels Saphires Agats Carbuncles and pleasant Stones 4. God dispenseth his Gifts variously for the Beauty Order and Comeliness of the whole Universe of Mankind Variety is grateful Hills and Vallies make the World more beautiful so do the distinct Orders and Ranks of Men all Eye or all Belly is monstrous Difference with Proportion maketh Comeliness therefore one excelleth another and several Gifts and Ranks of Men there are for the more convenient Proportion of the whole as Labour Service Counsel Wit Wealth Strength c. Without this Variety it would be a Lump rather than a Body 5. That every one in the sight of his own Wants may be kept humble When we are singular for any or many Excellencies we are apt to grow proud and unsociable The Eye is apt to say to the Hand I have no need of thee or the Head to the Feet I have no need of you 1 Cor. 12.21 Therefore that we may have somewhat to commend us to the Respects of others and something to humble us God hath scattered his Gifts that one should need another that every one might have need of that Gift of which he hath not the Possession As every Man hath received the Gift even so minister the same to one another as good Stewards of the manifold Grace of God 1 Pet. 4.10 6. That there might be no Schism in the Body but the Members of it may maintain mutual Love and Amity Diversity of Gifts was not intended to dissolve the Bands of Union but to strengthen them rather Therefore the Apostle when he had reckoned up the Bands of Union he presently addeth But to every of us is given Grace according to the measure of the Gift of Christ Eph. 4.7 First he speaketh of what is one in all then of what is not one in all but divers in every one Every one hath his distinct Excellency to endear him to the rest Diversity of Gifts is an ordinary occasion of Division and Strife of Envy Pride mutual Disparagement but in it self it is one of the strongest Bands of Union whilst all in their way contribute to the good of the whole and have the use of that Excellency which they want themselves Divers Countries have divers Commodities one aboundeth in Gold another in Spices another with Wine Wool Corn Flax c. to maintain a Commerce between Mankind So here III. Vses 1. To quicken us to improve our several Talents for God and be faithful according to that Degree and Place we sustain in the Body 2. Those that have the greatest Gifts should not contemn those who have few or less There is none but hath need of another It is a base Spirit that would shine alone or set up one Gift to the prejudice of another All are yours whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas 1 Cor. 3.21 22. In veste varietas sed scissura non sit Let us mutually help one another and acknowledg the Wisdom and Goodness of God in all that we have and be humble in what we want 3. Let those that have few be content with the meanest Gifts You have no reason to repine at the Giver How little soever God hath given you it is more than he owed you If his Distribution had been a Matter of Justice and Debt you might have said Why has he not given to me as well as to another But it is the Act of a free Lord and he may do with his own as it pleaseth him Matth. 20.15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own Is thine Eye evil because mine is good And as you cannot repine against the Giver you should not envy the Receivers The Accounts are easier and the greatest Dealers are not always the safest Men. You that have received little shall account for little Doct. III. That whether we receive little or much all is in reference to an Account That is intimated in the words required asked Gifts are variously dispensed Some have Wit others Estate others Strength some have Offices Honour Authority but all must be called to an Account and those that have any Gifts must look to reckon for them This requiring and asking is represented to us in Scripture under the notion of certain Records Rolls or Books kept between God and the Creature concerning what we have received and returned Therefore I will prove 1. That there are Books of Account kept between God and the Creature 2. That at the Day of Doom these Books shall be opened 3. That all without exception shall be called to this Reckoning none so high as to be exempted from it none so low as to be neglected in it 4. That the Judgment shall pass upon all Men according to the Account then given 1 st That there are Books of Account kept between God and the Creature which is to be understood not properly but figuratively Not properly as if God who seeth all things with one infinite Act of Understanding did need Books as Men for the help of their Memories or to confirm the Truth and Equity of his Judgment by producing a Record but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the manner of Men and for our better Conception Men use Books in which they write those things which they have given out upon Trust and of which they expect a Return And in allusion to this because of God's exact and righteous Judgment the Scripture speaketh as if our Good and Evil were all upon record So Ier. 17.1 The Sin of Judah is written with a Pen of Iron and with the Point of a Diamond The Expression there is taken from Characters cut or carved with Iron and Steel or any strong Tool in Marble so as they cannot be defaced So again it is written before me Isa. 65.6 God did not forget or pass over but observe and remember Indeed there is a twofold Book The Book of God's Remembrance Mal. 3.16 A Book of Remembrance was written for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name whereby his notice is expressed The Sin that we commit or the Good that we do doth not die with the Action as if no further memory of it should remain but it is recorded The Book of our Conscience It is graven on the Table of their Hearts Jer. 17.1 It maketh a deep Impression on their Minds and Memories as cannot easily be razed out Nothing can scape the Eye of the Judg and not easily the notice of Conscience though one of the Books be in our keeping it is not easy to deface it and blot it out Now let us see what is written in these Books 1. What God doth for us or to us as Opportunities of Grace and Mercy These three Years I come seeking Fruit on this Figtree and find none Luke 13.7 John 4.54 This is again the
second Miracle that Iesus did when he came out of Judea into Galilee 2 Pet. 3.1 This second Epistle write I to you Tot convincor testibus quot Christianis Sermonibus me monuerunt I have so many Witnesses against me as I have heard Sermons So the same is true for Deliverances The Lord will set his Hand again the second time to recover the Remnant of his People that shall be left Isa. 11.11 So for Motions of his Spirit My Spirit shall not always strive with Man Gen. 6.3 it had done so long already So for God's Apparitions to Solomon 1 Kings 11.9 His Heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel which had appeared unto him twice So Jer. 25.3 From the thirteenth Year of Josiah the Son of Amon King of Judah unto this very Day that is the three and twentieth Year the Word of the Lord hath come unto you and I have spoken unto you rising early and speaking but you have not hearkened God's Expostulations in Scripture when he proceedeth to any particular Judgment are an Instance of what he will do in the general Judgment 2. On the other side is written all the Good and Evil that we do For Good the Apostle speaketh of Fruit abounding to their Account Phil. 4.17 The Prophet sheweth God taketh notice of our Faithfulness or owning God in an evil time Mal. 3.16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkned and heard it and a Book of Remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his Name So of the Conversion of any be they never so few Acts 17. ult Howbeit certain Men clave unto him and believed Kindness to his Servants Mat. 10.42 Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a Cup of cold Water only in the name of a Disciple verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his Reward 1 Kings 19.18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel all the Knees which have not bowed unto Baal and every Mouth which hath not kissed him On the other side Injuries done to his People are recorded he hath a Bottel for their Tears a Book for their Sorrows Psal. 56.8 Thou tellest my Wandrings put thou my Tears into thy Bottel are they not in thy Book So for all the Sins we have committed Is not this laid up in store with me and sealed up among my Treasures Deut. 32.34 Nay Iob 13.27 Thou lookest narrowly unto all my Paths thou settest a Print upon the Heels of my Feet Every Action leaveth a Mark behind it Nay in the Verse before Thou writest bitter things against me and makest me to possess the Iniquities of my Youth as if God had taken account of his old Sins Many in this Account shall hear of things long ago committed their Iniquities will find them out If a Man escape any remarkable Judgment for one Year or two he thinketh all is forgotten Ay but these Debts stand upon record against us till the Book be cancelled or crossed Thousands of vain Thoughts sinful Actions much mispence of Time abuse of Mercies will then occur to our view when our whole Lives shall be set in order before us Psal. 50.21 These things hast thou done and I kept silence thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thy self but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine Eyes Now these are the Accounts kept between God and us 2 dly At the Day of Doom these Books shall be opened Rev. 20.12 I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened God can forget nothing and Conscience shall be awakened to an exact review of all our Ways Security vanisheth Light is greater Judgment is nearer Circumstances of Conviction shall then be produced the Trial is to be open the Wicked are to be shamed the Righteous to be vindicated God shall be justified when he judgeth Psal. 51.4 That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest Impenitent Sinners are to be condemned for abusing the Law of Nature or despising the Grace of the Gospel 2 Thess. 1.8 Taking Vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ. 3 dly That all without exception shall be called to this Reckoning none so high as to be exempted from it none so low as to be neglected in it I saw the Dead small and great stand before God Rev. 20.12 They all stand on the same level Magistrates must give an account of their Trust and so must meaner People 1 Pet. 1.17 If ye call on the Father who without respect of Persons judgeth according to every Man's Work God is an impartial Judg. Men are often biassed by the expectation of Benefit or terrified by the apprehension of Danger No Person no Action can escape his Judgment 4 thly The Judgment will pass upon all Men according to the Account then given If we have been faithful and fruitful in improving God's Talents it shall go well with us in the Judgment if negligent and careless it shall go ill Cast the unprofitable Servant into outer Darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth Mat. 25.30 Though not persecuting not riotous yet if unprofitable The barren Tree that bringeth not forth good Fruit is hewen down as well as the naughty Tree that bringeth forth bad Fruit. God reckoneth with us now but often doth not execute his Threatning or in the midst of Judgment remembreth Mercy Then the Doom is finally and irreversibly past without hope of Recovery and there is no temperament of Mercy at all to those that have lost their Season Vse To reflect the Light of these things on our Hearts Is our Account ready Most neglect or put off the Thoughts of it But do you take Occasion hence to reckon with your selves aforehand See every Day what you Receive and what you Return Consider every Day 's Mercies and every Day 's Work The profit of daily arraigning Conscience is exceeding great 1. It keepeth us sensible of our Duty which otherwise would be forgotten Heathens saw a necessity of this Reckoning with respect to growth in moral Vertue Men would not easily commit Evil nor omit Good or perform it so coldly if they did but say as the Town-Clerk of Ephesus did to still the Citizens We are in danger to be called in question for this day's Vproar Acts 19.40 2. It would make us often to have recourse to Grace when we observe our Sins Duties Mercies Comforts and how the one aggravate the other Surely we should every day make even with God deprecate the strict Judgment Psal. 143.2 Enter not into Iudgment with thy Servant for in thy sight shall no Man living be justified Get the Books cancelled Psal. 51.1 According to the multitude of thy tender Mercies blot out my Transgressions Augustus bought his Guilt who slept securely when he owed so
to see his Love in the Losses you have sustain'd and the Blessings you enjoy But were it worse with you as to outward Comforts yet the Foundation of God standeth sure having this Seal The Lord knoweth them that are his And certainly there is more in God and a Covenant-Relation to him to support your Joy than there can be in any outward Affliction to cause Grief and Sorrow of Heart And a due sense of God's afflicting Hand is not inconsistent with a holy rejoicing in him Now that God would fill you more and more with the Joys and Comforts of his Holy Spirit and multiply his Blessings upon your self and those that have descended from you is the Prayer of Honoured Madam Your Ladiship 's most obliged and most humble Servant WILLIAM TAYLOR February 9. 1692 3. SERMONS Preached upon Several Occasions SERMON I. LUKE xvi 30 31. And he said Nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead IT hath been a Question whether this is a Parable or an History A Parable surely for otherwise many incongruities would be asserted For it supposeth Body and Soul already in Hell ver 23. And in hell he lift up his eyes being in torment And it would suppose Charity and care of Conversion of others in Hell therefore it is not an History The scope of this Parable is to teach us three Lessons 1. To shew that the Godly-Poor are Blessed and the Unmerciful-Rich are in Everlasting Torments Desideravit guttam qui non dedit micam he desired a drop of Water that would not give a bit of Bread 2. The irreversible Estate of the Damned verse 26. Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot neither can they pass to us that would come from thence 3. That the Direction of the Holy Scriptures are the only Means to escape these Torments This latter is represented in a Dialogue between Dives and Abraham Dives would have one sent from the Dead to his Fathers House Supposing that would work on them to repent Christ's Parables do impersonate our Thoughts we alwaies dislike the present dispensation which God useth to reclaim us and would have extraordinary Means and then we presume we should believe and repent these are our thoughts But Abraham thinketh otherwise or rather Christ who is the Author of the Parable If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead By Moses and the Prophets are meant the whole Scriptures of the Old Testament and the New these are mentioned because these only were then written and received by the Iews and these include the rest the same Truth being carryed on in all the Books though more explicit in the latter Doct. That the word of God is a more conducible means to perswade us to Repentance than if one should come from the dead There are two wayes of Proof of this Doctrine And therefore let us see what may be said for and against one coming from the dead First If one coming from the dead be presumed to be a more Effectual Means to bring Men to Repentance and Conversion to God it must be either because he can bring a more necessary Doctrine or could urge better Arguments and more perswasively or propound these Truths with more certainty or could by his own strength convey a Power with his Words or rationally expect a greater concomitancy and co-operation of Grace than is ordinarily dispensed by the Word One or other of these things it must be or else the conceit is vain and frivolous But now proceeding from one consideration to another I shall shew you that the Word of God hath clearly the preheminence and is a far more accommodate instrument to work upon the hearts of Men than any extraordinary dispensation whatsoever 1. One coming from the Dead Angel or Man cannot bring a Doctrine more necessary there being in the Scriptures sufficient Direction about the way to true Happiness For which we have not only express Testimony but apparent reason and sensible experience 1. Express Testimony which should sway with Christians 2 Tim. 3.16 17. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness That the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto all good works A Man of God or Minister of the Gospel thoroughly furnished hath from the Scriptures full out enough to guide Man to the injoyment of God nothing is wanting for Information as to Doctrine Conviction Arguments of Quickning or Exhortation for Instruction or Directions concerning the whole Duty of Man And 2. Apparent Reason if God be a sufficient Teacher of Divine things and if we suppose him willing to inform the Creatures neither of which can be denyed without blasphemy then surely supposing the Scriptures to be the Word of God as all Christians do and in this Debate it is fit we should suppose then certainly we have enough in the Scriptures and need not that the rest of the dead should be discomposed that there may be a fit Messenger found out to invite us to return to God If it need proof who can teach us the way to Blessedness more than the Blessed God Psal. 119.12 Blessed art thou O Lord Teach me thy statutes Who more willing to shew Man what is good then the good God Psalm 119.6.8 Thou art good and dost good teach me thy statutes The Blessed God needeth not to envy us the perfection of Knowledge as the Devil insinuated Gen. 3.5 God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil Wherein is his Happiness lessened by our perfection And the good God who is so full of goodness and love to Mankind would give us a sufficient Direction especially since his Son appeared in Humane Nature and became his Messenger Would God reveal himself to any one from the Dead yea to an Angel more than to his own Son Oor could he see feel or hear more than God hath made known to Christ Or be presumed to have a greater Charity to Mankind than the Lord hath whose Creatures they are no No no it cannot be he hath shewed thee O man what is good Micah 6.8 Abide by that and thou hast enough But let us confirm it Compare the Provisions of the Word with your own necessities What! Would you have a Rule And see if you have it not in the Holy Scriptures Titus 2.11 12. For the grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world By the grace of God is meant the Gospel and what
as to assure our Hearts before him 3. Conscience is easily offended but not easily appeased As the Eye is easily offended with the least dust or mote which soon gets in but is not easily gotten out But then to appease it costs a great deal of trouble Therefore if we would as Paul keep a Conscience void of Offence there needeth much tenderness and watchfulness for by the Commission of deliberate and wilful Sins you may raise a Tempest that is not easily laid again as David felt broken bones after his foul fall Psalm 51.8 Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Before the Action Conscience sheweth what is to be done in the Action it guideth us in doing after the Action it censureth it as well or ill done And so either comforteth us with hopes of a Reward or terrifieth us with fear of Punishment As a Man acteth so Conscience is a Party as the Action is censured so Conscience is a Judge after the Action the force of Conscience is usually seen more than before the Fact or in the Fact because before and in the Action the Judgment of Reason is not so clear and strong the Affections raising Mists and Clouds to darken the Mind and trouble it and draw it on their side by their pleasing violence By the Treachery of the Senses and Revolt of the Passions the Mind is betrayed but as the Violence of the Affections ceaseth and is by little and little allayed guilt flasheth in the face of Conscience and Reason hath the greatest force to affect the Mind with grief or fear The Act being over and the Affection satisfied the Soul giveth place to Reason which was before contemned and when it recovereth the Throne it striketh through the Heart with a sharp Sentence and Reproof for obeying Appetite before it self and brings in Terrour and Trouble which causeth the Soul to sit uneasy Matth. 27.4 I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood Rom. 1.32 Knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death Therefore do not go like an Ox to the Slaughter nor a Fool to the Correction of the Stocks 4. Conscience is the best Friend and the worst Enemy It is the best Friend partly for its Comfort Prov. 15.15 He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast 2 Cor. 1.12 For our rejoycing is this the testimony of our conscience no Bird sings so sweetly as the Bird in the Bosome Partly for its nearness it is alwaies with us in Health and Sickness in Life and in Death Husbands and Wives who are most together yet because they live a distinct Life they are often apart Death looseth the Bond and Knot but this remaineth with us So it is the worst Enemy Partly for its universal nearness it is sad for a Man to be at odds with himself and fall out with his own Heart It is a Domestical Tribunal which alwaies remaineth with us and therefore Iob could bear the Reproaches of others but his own heart should not reproach him as long as he lived Iob 27.6 Partly because of the grievousness of the Wound and Stroak Prov. 18.14 A wounded spirit who can bear It is no less than the fear of the Wrath of the Eternal God A Man cannot run away from his Conscience no more than he can run away from himself and therefore for a Man to please others and offend his Conscience what folly is that Or to please a Lust to wound his Conscience A Lust or vain Appetite is an unjustifiable thing and will soon appear so but the Fears of Conscience are justified by the highest Reason the Law of God the satisfaction of a Lust is a poor vanishing Pleasure but the observing and keeping a good Conscience breedeth a solid Joy which will stick by thee to the very last and when thou comest to dye will be a support to thee Isa. 38.3 Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight When thou must leave Riches Honours and Pleasures which are the Baits of thy Lust this will stick by thee 1 Iohn 2.17 The world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever Therefore now thou shouldest mortifie thy Lust and gratifie thy Conscience 5. Thy Conscience is the beginning of Heaven and Hell A good Conscience is the beginning of Heaven and Peace and Joy in believing is a foretast of that fulness of Joy and Pleasure which we shall have when we come into Gods immediate presence The glorified Spirits carry a good Conscience with them to Heaven their works follow them Rev. 14.13 And the damned carry their Stings and Convictions with them to Hell Mark 9.44 Their worm dyeth not and the fire is not quenched Oh think of this The Joys of the Spirit are an Antipast of Glory called often an Earnest in Scripture 2 Cor. 1.22 Who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts And the Horrors of Conscience are the Suburbs of Hell Oh therefore be sure to keep all quiet within and whatever be your Temptations do not offend Conscience but unfeignedly discharge your Duties to God and Men 6. If there be a crack and a flaw in your Conscience all your trading with Heaven is at a stand there cannot be any serious dealing with God nor Holy boldness in Prayer 1 Iohn 3.21 If our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence towards God When you have sinned away your Peace a strangeness and distance groweth between God and you Psalm 32.3 When I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long Gen. 3.8 And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden Adam run to the bushes Your hearts will grow shie of God and you cannot so comfortably look him in the face and so the sweetness of Holy Privacy and Communion with God will be lost Time was when you could go boldly and open your Hearts to God but now you are afraid of him and every Act of Commerce is a reviving of your Bondage the remembrance of God is a trouble to you 7. If Conscience speaketh not it writeth for it is not only a Witness but a Register and Book of Record Ier. 17.1 The sin of Iudah is written with a pen of iron and with the point of a diamond We know not what Conscience writeth being occupied and taken up with Carnal Vanities and carryed away with foolish and hurtful Lusts but we shall know afterwards when the Book of Conscience shall be opened Rev. 20.12 And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were
Guardian for our good All that God hath is forth coming for our use as all other things so his Almighty Power and Strength 3. Whatever his Will is or whatever God hath determined to do concerning us yet he would have us magnifie his Power and with Comfort cast our selves upon it Isa. 8.12 13. Fear not their fear nor be afraid sanctifie the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread You should set Power against Power that you may not be dismay'd Isa. 50.10 It is not meant Spiritually only but also in Temporal Cases Let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay upon his God You should Comfort your selves in the Power and All-sufficiency of God 4. Consider how angry God hath been with his Children for not resting upon his Power Nothing hath hindered the discovery of God's Power and the Manifestation of his Love to them so much as distrust of his Power Mark 6.5 He could there do no mighty work It is not said he would not but he could not do any mighty works there because of their Unbelief Unbelief doth put a Barr and Rubb in the way of God's Omnipotency And Ioh. 11.40 If thou wouldst beleive thou shouldst see the glory of God God doth not put forth himself because we do no more rest upon him and his Alsufficiency to help us See how angry God hath been on this account with his own Children and People with Moses and Aaron Mat. 20.12 Because ye believed me not to sanctifie me in the eyes of the Children of Israel therefore ye shall not bring this Congregation into the land which I have given them The believing of God's Power is not determining the Success but when we encourage our selves to Pray and Wait and to be Sincere and Faithfull upon the account of God's Power that God is able Many Troubles and Perplexities have befallen God's Children for not believing his Power Zacharias Iohn's Father was struck Dumb for not believing Luk. 1.20 Behold thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed because thou believest not my words which shall be fulfilled in their season And God let the Nobleman live to see himself confuted and then he was crushed to Death 2 Kings 7.2 Then a Lord on whose hand the King leaned answered the Man of God and said Behold if the Lord should make Windows in Heaven might this thing be And he said Behold thou shalt see it with thine eyes but thou shalt not eat thereof 3. Consider it is a notable Argument in Prayer to conjure the Lord by his Power As the Leper comes to Christ Mat. 8.2 Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clearn Do what thou wilt but this I know that thou canst thou hast Power enough See how Moses insinuates Numbers 14.15 16. Now if thou shalt kill all this People as one Man then the Nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak saying Because the Lord was not able to bring this People into the Land which he sware unto them therefore he hath slain them in the Wilderness As if he should say Lord thou wouldest have the glory of thy Power seen in the Eyes of the Nations that they may know thee as a mighty powerful God now they will say the Lord was not able to bring them into Canaan 6. All our Courage and all the strength of our Comfort and Obedience and all the Blessings of Obedience depends upon the Belief and the Improvement of God's Power Look into the Book of God and you shall see all the generous Acts that worthy Men have performed came from hence Abraham the Father of the Faithful offered up his Son his only Son the Son of the Promise and that freely and why Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure Heb. 11.19 In such a Tryal what would support and bear us out So when the fiery Furnace was heated seven times hotter than ordinary burning and flaming exceedingly the three Children ventured into it upon this Principle Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery Furnace and he will deliver us out of thy hand O King Dan. 3.17 What is the reason we are so Cowardly and Dastardly we look to things sensible and visible and cannot set the Power of God against it or above them and consider how he can bring good out of evil and so Carnal Fears and Hopes draw us aside Why are we discouraged and turn from God in difficult Cases rather than in easie Cases but that we do not believe that he can do all things Paul believed therefore in the Face of Opposition he goes on in his Work unweariedly 1 Tim 4.10 Therefore we both labour and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the Saviour of all Men â—specially of them thâ—t believe This made him in the midst of Reproaches and all manner of Difficulties to go on with Courage 7. When we run to Carnal Shifts because we cannot trust this Power of God then we engage his strength that should be for us against us and it is just with God to blast us Ionah runs from his Work and God sends a Storm after him Ionah was afraid of the Ninevites but mischief will sooner or later overtake them that run from their Duty and they have worse Inconveniencies by their own Shifts Iacob would get the Blessing by a Wile but that cost him dear he was Banished from his Father's House upon it lest Esau should kill him Indirect Courses will certainly prove a loss though you may obtain your Purpose yet you plunge your selves into greater difficulties afterward and Obtain your Desires with more Trouble than if you had waited upon God 8. If the thing be not done for us which we need and desire when we trust upon the Power of God it is because it is not best for us He that trusts upon the Power of God cannot miscarry A Cross is best and a low Estate is best and Troubles are best It is not for want of Power and Love that we are afflicted of God he will deliver us and support us and turn it to the best Psal. 84.11 For the Lord God is a sun and a shield he will give Grace and Glory and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly Psal. 34.9 The young Lyons do lack and suffer hunger but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing If we want any thing we would have certainly it is not good for us 9. The less Power we have in our selves the more Experience we have of God's Power Isa. 40.29 He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increaseth strength So Deut. 32.36 The Lord shall judge his people and repent himself for his Servants when he seeth that their power is
written in the books according to their works These Books are the Book of Conscience and the Book of Gods Remembrance The Remembrance of our Actions shall be forced upon us Conscience is Gods Register and keepeth a Diary and sets down every thing This Book though it be in the Sinners keeping cannot be razed what Conscience writeth is written to Eternity unless it be blotted out by Repentance and a serious application of the Blood of Christ. Well then consider a sleepy Conscience will not alwaies sleep if we suffer it not to awaken here it will awaken in Hell where there is no Remedy for the present it sleepeth in many in regard of motion check or smiting but not in regard of Notice and Observation This secret spy is privy to more than it speaketh of it is laid up as matter for the Worm that never dyeth to feed upon 8. If the stings of an evil Conscience be not alwayes felt yet they are soon awakened by serious Thoughts of Death and Judgment to come and then forced upon us There is a fire smothering in our bosoms and it is soon blown up into a flame Sometimes by the word Acts 22.25 And as he reasoned of righteousness temperance and judgment to come Felix trembled Belshazars edge was taken oft in the midst of his carowsing Dan. 5.6 Then the kings countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loyns were loosed and his knees smote one against another Sometimes by some great Troubles Isa. 59.12 For our transgressions are multiplyed before thee and our sins testifie against us For our transgressions are with us and as for our iniquities we know them Therefore we roar like beasts and mourn like doves ver 11. In a Tempest that which is at the bottom cometh a top Or by Death whatever silence there be in Conscience before yet Death usually reviveth these fears 1 Cor. 15.56 The sting of death is sin Men are wise and more serious as they are entring on the Confines of Eternity near things affect us the baits of the Flesh have then lost their allurement the Devil that was before a Tempter will then be a Tormentor things overlooked before are then seriously considered then the stings of Sin work most sensibly and in a lively manner and the deluded Sinner begins to see what he would not take notice of before 9. If Conscience do not speak to you you must speak to it and call upon it to do its Office Call your selves to an account for the Expence of your Time and Employment Psalm 4.4 Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still Psalm 77.6 I commune with mine own heart and my spirit made diligent search Take a time to parley with your selves and consider how matters stand between you and God When the Clock striketh not it is a sign the Plummets are down and we must wind them up again Every day we must do something as Iob sacrificed for his Sons day by day Iob 1.5 It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts And God himself reviewed every dayes work and saw that it was good Gen. 1.4 10 12 c. So should we review every dayes work and cast up the account at the foot of every page Short reckonings prevent mistakes Pythagoras taught his Scholars that they should never give way to sleep till they had posed themselves with these Questions Quid feci c. What have I done What good have I omitted Wherein have I transgressed Conscience What hast thou to say to me And Seneca telleth of his Friend Sextius that before he would betake himself to rest he would ask his Soul Quod hodie malum tuum sanasti cui vitio obstitisti qua parte meliores What evil hast thou got rid off to day What Sin hast thou resisted Wherein art thou better than thou wert before And he saith of himself Quotidie apud me causam dico toâ—um diem mecum scrutor dicta facta mea remetior that he scanned all his Actions and Speeches in the day Shall Heathens be more serious and shall Christians who are acquainted with Eternity never take time to set Conscience awork Oh let us be ashamed of our slightness and negligence 10. We can never have a sound Conscience till we be sincere with God in a constant uniform course of Self-denying-Obedience 1 Iohn 3.19 Hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him and this is described in the Text by keeping a conscience void of offence both towards God and towards men So 2 Kings 20.3 I beseech thee O Lord remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is good in thy sight And this not in an Act or two but in a Mans whole Course Psalm 106.3 Blessed are they that keep judgment and he that doth righteousness at all times Not by starts and good moods only but constantly and at all times And our Obedience must be self-denying as well as constant and uniforme that Religion is worth nothing that costs nothing 2 Sam. 24.24 I will not offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing When we value Gods Interest above our own and we can deny our selves upon the hopes of Glory then is our sincerity most evidenced But if we embrace only the safe cheap and easie part of Religion and cannot deny our Ease Profit and Honour we do not set up Christs Religion but a Christianity of our own making Matth. 16.24 Then said Iesus unto his disciples if any one will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me 11. If we would have Conscience to do its Office there must be great heed and watchfulness for it is corrupt as well as other Faculties and from a Judge it may become an Advocate excusing the partialities of our Obedience To evidence this more fully with respect to Conscience Men may be considered three wayes as acting without Conscience or according to Conscience or against Conscience 1. A Man may act without all Conscience so a Man may do either good or evil 1. Good as those that act rashly inconsiderately or customarily As when Men pray give Almes go to Church Conscience did not send them thither but Custom inducement of Friends perswasions of Parents or the like These do that which is good but they do it not well Luke 8.18 Take heed how you hear Conscience doth not put them upon it To this first sort may be reckoned those that intended to do evil but by accident do that which is good as Iosephs Brethren Gen. 50.20 But as for you ye thought evil against me but God meant it unto good And those that performe the Duties of Christianity so far as the interest of the flesh will give them leave for the flesh it self will command you to
this mutual bond to precede that he and his creatures might come near to each other with the greatest familiarity and bind themselves to each other by reciprocal ingagements and consents II. That no Covenant can be made with God without the interposing of and respect unto a sacrifice 1. In the old Church when Israel entred into Covenant with God there were solemn sacrifices The manner you have described Exod. 24. from vers 4. to the 10 th And explained by the Apostle Heb. 9.19 20. When Moses had spoken every Precept unto all the People according to the Law he took the blood of Calves and of Goats with Water and scarlet Wool and Hyssop and sprinkled both the Book and all the People saying This is the Blood of the Testament which God hath enjoined unto you In this Action you may observe that after the writing of the Law Moses built an Altar under the Hill and twelve Pillars according to the Twelve Tribes of Israel Exod. 24.4 The Altar represented God the first and chief party in the Covenant And the twelve Pillars of stone represented the other confederate Party the People of Israel who were to come before the Lord as his obedient People Now both the parties were not only thereby dead representation or in Image and Figure but there were also lively Types of the Glory and Presence of the God of Israel for it is said vers 10. They saw the God of Israel and there was under his feet as it were a paved Work of a Sapphire Stone and as it were the Body of Heaven for clearness God was there in great Majesty to Solemnize the Covenant You know Heaven is his Throne and the Church his Foot-stool Therefore when the Church was desolate it is said Lam. 2.1 God remembred not his footstool in the day of his Anger On Israels part there were present Moses and Aaron and Nadab and Abihu and Seventy of the Elders of Israel and they were to worship afar off vers 1. To express their reverence to this great God who was to enter into Covenant with them Moses alone was to come up to Iehovah but the Elders went up but half way Moses went up unto the top of the Mount in a Dark Cloud as the Mediator and the People abode beneath at the foot of the Mount and the Elders went up but half way Well then the Covenant is propounded to the People Moses came and told the People all the words of the Lord and all the judgments And they make Answer All the words which the Lord hath said will we do vers 3. But before the full confirmation of his Covenant you read that Moses sent the Young men of the Children of Israel who offered Burnt-offerings and sacrificed Peace-offerings of Oxen unto the Lord v. 5. The Young men that is the first-born who had the right of Priest-hood before the Levites were chosen and taken instead of the first-born of Israel Numb 3.41 And by their Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings it was declared that we cannot enter into Covenant with God without sacrifices These sacrifices did Figure the Death of Christ and the benefits thence accrueing to us There were Burnt-offerings to shew the means of their propitiation with God and Peace-offerings to shew their thankfulness for the peace and Salvation which by it they obtained The next thing in this Action was that Moses took half the blood and put it in basons and half the blood he sprinkled on the Altar vers 6. And then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the Audience of the People and they said All that the Lord hath said will we do and be obedient vers 7. Then he took the rest of the blood and sprinkled it on the People He sprinkled it on the Altar to shew that God took upon him an obligation to bless And the reading of the Book of the Covenant in the Audience of the People sheweth That those that will enter into Covenant with God should understand their Duty and be ready to fullfil it Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the People and said Behold the blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words vers 8. The blood sprinkled on the People may be meant of the twelve Pillars set up to represent the People They take an obligaâ—â—â—n to obey One Party is not bound and the other free but both bound to each other Thus the first Covenant was not dedicated without the blood of a sacrifice Well then God is the principal Party covenanting and binding himself to the People by his Promises And the People binding themselves to his precepts that they might avoid the penalty threatned and obtain the blessings promised And this Covenant was confirmed by blood and this blood sprinkled and so made inviolable There is but one circumstance more and that is Vers. 11. And upon the Nobles of the Children of Israel he laid not his hand also they saw God and did eat and drink That is these select and chosen men the Elders spoken of before were not hurt and affrighted by God and did feast in his presence in token of their reconciliation with him and joy in his grace This was the way of entrance by the Jewish Church all which are Mysterious and Typical God that otherwise driveth a sinner from him is made propitious to us that we need not be afâ—righted at his presence yea may hope for all good things from him yea we mâ—y feast chearfully in his presence 2. The Christian Church doth also make a covenant with him by sacrifice This will appâ—ar in three things 1. thaâ— Christs death hath the true notition and vertue of a sacrifice 2. That this sacrifice hath respect to the covenant of Grace 3. That our manner of entering into Covenant with God is by the same moral acts by which they were to be Conversant about a sacrifice 1. That Christ's Death hath the true Notion and full vertue of a Sacriâ—â—ce 1. The true notion Ephes. â— 2. He hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour His death is a mediatory sacrifice a propitiatory sacrifice for the expiation of the sins of his People In all the sacrifices of the Law there was shedding of blood without which was no remission of sins All were killed â—layed Some were burnt some rosted some fryed on coals some seethed in pots All which were but shadows of the painful sufferings of our Lord Christ which he indured for our sins Christ is the only true and real sacrifice wherein provoked justice doth rest satisfyed Christ in this sacrifice was the Priest who as God did offer up himself Heb. 9.14 Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God As man he was the sacrifice Heb. 10.10 By which will we are Sanctified through the offering of the Body of Iesus Chrâ—st once for all We may add