thing it wil be of more use and comfort then al this world which passeth away comes to nothing Yea let us be thankfull sor that promised and assured victory which we may relie on without presumption as Saint Paul doth Thankes bee to GOD that hath given us victorie in Iesu Christ. See a slame in a spark a tree in a seed see great things in little beginnings Looke not so much to the beginning as to the perfection and so we shall bee in some degree joyfull in our selves and thankfull unto Christ. And let all this that hath beene spoken allure those that are not yet in state of grace to come under CHRISTS sweet and victorious government for though wee shall have much opposition yet if we strive hee will helpe us if we faile he wil cherish us if wee bee guided by him we shall overcome If we overcome wee are sure to be crowned And for the presēt state of the Church we see now how forlorne it is yet let us comfort our selves that CHRISTS cause shall prevaile Christ will rule till he hath made his enemies his footstoole not onely to trample up on but to helpe him up to mount higher in glory Babylon shall fall for strong is the Lord who hath condemned her Rev. 18. 8. Christs judgement not onely in his children but also against his enemies shall be victorious for hee is King of Kings and Lord of Lords GOD will not suffer Antichrist and his supports to revell and ruffle in the Church as they doe If we looke to the present state of the Church of CHRIST it is as Daniel in the midst of Lyons as a Lilly amongst thornes As a ship not onely tossed but almost covered with waves It is so low that the enemies thinke they have buried CHRIST in regard of his Gospel in the grave and there they thinke to keepe him from rising but CHRIST as he rose in his person so hee will roule away all stones rise again in his church how little support hath the Church and cause of CHRIST at this day how strong a conspiracie is against it The spirit of Antichrist is now lifted up and marcheth furiously things seeme to hang on a small and invisible thread But our comfort is that CHRIST liveth and raigneth and standeth on Mount Sion in defence of them that stand for him and when States and Kingdomes shall dash one against another CHRIST will have care of his owne Children and cause seeing there is nothing else in the world that he much esteemeth At this very time the delivery of his Church and the ruine of his enemies is in working we see not things in motion till CHRIST hath done his worke and then wee shall see that the Lord raigneth CHRIST and his Church when they are at the lowest are neerest rising his enemies at the highest are neerest a downefall The Iewes are not yet come in under CHRISTS banner but GOD that hath perswaded Iaphet to come into the Tents of Shem will perswade Shem to come into the Tents of Iaphet The fulnesse of the Gentiles is not yet come in but CHRIST that hath the utmost parts of the earth given him for his possession will gather all the sheepe his Father hath given him into one fold that there may bee one sheepfold and one shepheard The faithfull Iewes rejoyced to thinke of the calling of the Gentiles and why should not we joy to thinke of the calling of the Iewes The Gospels course hath hitherto been as that of the Sun from East to West and so in GODS time may proceed yet further West No creature can hinder the course of the Sun nor stop the influence of heaven nor hinder the blowing of the winde much lesse hinder the prevailing power of divine truth untill CHRIST hath brought all under one head and then he will present all to his Father these are they thou hast given unto me these are they that have taken mee for their Lord and King that have suffered with mee My will is that they bee where I am and raigne with mee And then hee will deliver up the Kingdome even to his Father and put downe all other rule and authority and power Let us then bring our hearts to holy resolutions and set our selves upon that which is good and against that which is ill in our selves or others according to our callings upon this incouragement that CHRISTS grace and power shall goe along with us What had become of that great worke of Reformation of Religion in the latter Spring of the Gospel if men had not beene armed with invincible courage to out-stride all lets upon this faith that the cause was CHRISTS and that he would not be wanting to his owne cause Luther ingenuosly confessed that he caried matters often inconsiderately and with mixture of passion but upon acknowledgement GOD tooke not advantage of his errors but the cause being GODS and his aymes being holy to promote the truth and being a mighty man in prayer and strong in faith GOD by him kindled that fire which all the world shall never bee able to quench According to our faith so is our incouragement to all duties therefore let us strengthen faith that it may strengthen all other graces This very beliefe that faith shall bee victorious is a meanes to make it so indeed Beleeve it therefore that though it bee often as smoaking flax yet it shall preuaile If it prevaile with GOD himselfe in tryalls shall it not prevaile over all other opposition Let us waite a while and we shall see the salvation of the Lord. The Lord reveale himselfe more and more unto us in the face of his Sonne Iesus CHRIST and magnifie the power of his grace in cherishing those beginnings of grace in the middest of our corruptions and sanctifie the consideration of our owne infirmities to humble us and of his tender mercy to incourage us And perswade us that since he hath taken us into the covenant of grace hee will not cast us off for those corruptions which as they grieve his Spirit so they make us vile in our owne eyes And because Sathan labours to obscure the glory◅ of his mercy and hinder our comfort by discouragements The Lord adde this to the rest of his mercies that since he is so gracious to those that yeeld to his goverment we may make the right use of this grace and not lose any portion of comfort that is layd up for us in CHRIST And hee vouchsafe to let the prevailing power of his Spirit in us bee an evidence of the truth of grace begun and a pledge of finall victory at that time when he will be all in all in all his for all eternity Amen FINIS Heb. 10. 7. 1 Th. s. 5 14 Hosea 2. 24. Rev. 22. 17. M◅ 11. 28 Esay 53. 1. 1 Ioh. 3. 23. Ioh. 16. 9. 2 Cor. 3. 20. Es. 5. 8. Hos. 11. 9. Eph. 3. 18. Es. 57.
no helpe in himselfe is carried with restlesse desire to have supplie from another with some hope which a little raiseth him out of himselfe to Christ though hee dareth not claime any present interest of mercy This sparke of hope being opposed by doubtings and feares rising from Corruption maketh him as smoaking flax so that both these together A bruised reed and smoaking flax make up the state of a poore distressed man such an one our Saviour Christ termeth Poore in spirit Math. 5. who seeth a want withall seeth himselfe indebted to divine Iustice no meanes of ◅uppie frō himselfe or the Creature and thereupon mournes and upon some hope of mercy from the promise exāples of those that have obtained mercy is stirred up to hunger thirst after it This bruising is required before conuersion that so the spirit may make way for it selfe into the heart by levelling all proud high thoughts and that wee may understand our selves to be what indeed we are by nature we love to wander from our selves and to be strangers at home till GOD bruiseth us by one Crosse or other and then wee bethinke our selves and come home to our selves with the Prodigall A marvellous hard thing it is to bring a dull and a shifting heart to cry with feeling for mercy Our hearts like malefactors untill they be beaten from all shifts never cry for the mercy of the Iudge Againe this bruising maketh us set a high price upon CHRIST the Gospell is the Gospell indeed then then the fig-leaves of morality will doe us no good and it maketh us more thankefull and from thankefulnesse more fruitfull in our lives For what maketh many so cold and barren but that bruising for sinne never indeered Gods Grace unto them Likewise this dealing of God doth establish us the more in his wayes having had knockes and bruisings in our owne wayes This is the cause oft of relapses apostasies because men never smarted for sinne at the first they were not long enough under the lash of the Law Hence this inferiour work of the Spirit in bringing downe high thoughts is necessary before conversion And for the most part the Holy Spirit to further the worke of conviction ioyneth some afflictiō which sanctified hath a healing purging power Nay after Conversion wee neede bruising that reedes may know themselves to be reedes not Oakes Even Reedes need bruising by reason of the remainder of pride in our nature and to let us see that we live by mercy and that weaker Christians may not be too much discouraged when they see stronger shaken and bruised Thus Peter was bruised when he wept bitterly This Reed til he met with this bruise had more wind in him then pith Though all forsake thee I will not c. The people of God cannot be without these examples The Heroicall deeds of those great worthies comfort the Church not so much as their falls and bruises doe Thus David was bruised until he came to a free confession without guile of spirit nay his sorrowes did rise in his owne feeling unto the exquisite paine of breaking of bones Psalm 51. Thus Hezekiah complaines that God had broken his bones as a Lion Thus the Chosen vessell S. Paul needed the messenger of Satan to buffet him lest hee should bee lifted up above measure Hence wee learne that wee must not passe too harsh judgment upon our selves or others when God doth exercise us with bruising upon bruising There must bee a conformitie to our head Christ who was bruised for us that wee may know how much wee are bound unto him Profane spirits ignorant of Gods wayes in bringing his children to Heaven censure broken hearted Christians for desperate persons when as GOD is about a gratious good worke with them It is no easie matter to bring a man from Nature to Grace and from Grace to Glory so unyeelding and untractable are our hearts The second point is That Christ will not breake the bruised Reed Physitians though they put their Patients to much paine yet they will not destroy nature but raise it up by degrees Surgeons will launce and cut but not dismember A mother that hath a sicke and froward Child will not therfore cast it away and shall there bee more mercy in the streame then in the spring shall wee thinke there is more mercy in our selves then in GOD who planteth the affection of mercy in us But for further declaration of Christs mercy to all bruised Reedes Consider the comfortable relations hee hath taken upon him of Husband Shepherd Brother c. which hee will discharge to the utmost for shall others by his grace fulfill what hee calleth them unto and not he that out of his love hath taken upon him these relations so throughly founded upon his fathers assignement and his owne voluntary undertaking Consider his borrowed Names from the mildest Creatures as Lambe Henne c. to shew his tender care Consider his very name Iesus a Saviour givē him by GOD himselfe Consider his Office answerable to his name which is that he should heale the broken hearted Esay 61. 1. At his Baptisme the Holy Ghost sate on him in the shape of a Dove to shew that he should be a Dove-like gentle Mediator See the gracious manner of executing his Offices as a Prophet he came with blessing in his mouth Blessed be the poore in spirit c. and invited those to come to him whose hearts suggested most exceptions against themselves Come unto me all yee that are weary and heavy laden how did his boweis yearne when hee saw the people as sheepe without a Sheepherd he never turned any backe againe that came unto him though some went away of themselves Hee came to dye as a Priest for his enemies In the dayes of his flesh hee dictated a forme of prayer unto his Disciples and put Petitions unto GOD into their mouthes and his Spirit to intercede in their hearts and now makes intercession in heaven for weake Christians standing betweene Gods anger and them and shed teares for those that shed his blood so he is a meeke King he will admit mourners into his presence a King of poore and afflicted persons as hee hath beames of Majesty so hee hath bowels of mercies compassion A Prince of peace Why was hee tempted but that hee might succour those that are tempted What mercy may we not expect from so gracious a Mediatour that tooke our nature vpon him that hee might bee gracious hee is a Phisitian good at all diseases especially at the binding up of a broken heart that hee might heale our soules with a plaster of his owne blood and by that death save us which we were the procurers of our selves by our owne sinnes and hath he not the same bowels in heaven Saul Saul why persecutest thou me cryed the Head in heaven when the foot
prevaile against CHRIST or those that relye upon his power therefore his study is how to keepe us in our selves and in the creature but we must cary alwayes in our minds that that which is begun in self-confidence will end in shame The manner of Christs bringing forth judgement to victory is by letting us see a necessity of dependance upon him hence proceed those spirituall desertions wherein he often leaveth us to our selves both in regard of grace and comfort that we may know the Spring-head of these to be out of our selves Hence it is that in the Mount that is in extremities God is most seen Hence it is that we are saved by the grace of faith that carieth us out of our selves to relye upon another and that faith worketh best alone when it hath least outward support Hence it is that wee often faile in lesser conflicts and stand out in greater because in lesse we rest more in our selves in greater wee fly to the rock of our salvation which is higher then we Hence likewise it is that wee are stronger after foyles because hidden corruption undiscerned before is now discovered and thence wee are brought to make use of mercy pardoning and power supporting One maine ground of this dispensation is that wee should know it is Christ that giveth both the will and the deed and that as a voluntary worker according to his owne good pleasure And therefore we should workout our salvation in a jealous feare and trembling lost by unreverent and presumptuous walking wee give him cause to suspend his gracious influence and to leave us to the darknesse of our owne heart Those that are under CHRISTS governmēt have the spirit of Revelation whereby they see and feel a divine power sweetly strongly inabling thē for to preserve faith when they feele the contrary hope in a state hopelesse and love to GOD under signes of his displeasure and heavenly mindedness in the midst of worldly affaires alluremets drawing a contrary way they feel a power preserving patience nay joy in the midst of causes of mourning inward peace in the midst of assaults To make so little grace so victorious over so great a masse of corruption this requireth a spirit more then humane this is as to preserve fire in the sea and a part of heaven even as it were in hell Here wee know where to have this power and to whom to returne the praise of it And it is our happinesse that it is so safely hid in CHRIST for us in one so neere unto GOD and us Since the fall GOD will not trust us with our owne salvation but it is both purchased and kept by CHRIST for us we for it through faith wrought by the power of GOD and laying hold of the same which power is gloriously set forth by Saint Paul I to be a great power 2 an exceeding power 3 a working and a mighty power 4 such a power as was wrought in raising Christ from the dead That grace which is but a perswasive offer and in our pleasure to receive or refuse is not that grace which brings us to heaven but Gods people feel a powerfull work of the Spirit not onely revealing unto us our misery and deliverance through Christ but emptying us of our selves as being redeemed from our selves and infusing new life into us and after strengthning us and quickning of us when we droop and hang the wing and never leaving us till perfect conquest The fift conclusion is that this prevailing Government shall not bee without fighting there can be no victory where there is no combate in Esay it is said hee shall bring judgment in truth here it is said he shall send forth judgment into victory The word send forth hath a stronger sense in the originall to send forth with force to shew that where his government is in truth it will be opposed untill he getteth the upper hand Nothing is so opposed as CHRIST and his government both with in us and without us And within us most in our first conversion though corruptiō prevailes not so farre as to make voyd the powerfull worke of grace yet there is not onely a possibility of opposing but a proannesse to oppose and not onely a proanness but an actuall withstanding the working of CHRISTS Spirit and that in every action but yet no prevailing resistance so far as to make void the worke of grace but corruption in the issue yeelds to grace There is much adoc to bring CHRIST into the heart and to settle a Tribunall for him to judge there there is an army of lusts mutiny against him The utmost strength of most mens indeavours and parts is to keepe CHRIST from ruling in the soule the flesh still laboureth to maintaine its owne regency and therefore it cryes downe the credit of whatsoever crosseth it as Gods blessed ordinances c. and highly prizeth any thing though never so dead and empty if it give way to the liberty of the flesh And no marvaile if the spirituall government of CHRIST be so opposed 1 because it is governmēt that limits the course of the will and casteth a bridle upon its wanderings every thing naturally resists what opposeth it so corrupt will labours to beare downe all Lawes and counteth it a generous thing not to be awed and an argument of a low spirit to feare any even GOD himselfe untill unavoydable danger seizeth on men and then those that feared least out of danger feare most in danger as we see in Balthazar 2 It is spiritual government and therefore the lesse will flesh indure it Christs government bringeth the very thoughts desires which are the most immediate and free issue of the soule into obedience though a man were of so composed a cariage that his whole life were free from outward offensive breaches yet with Christ to bee carnally or worldly mindeded is death he looketh on a worldly mind with greater detestation then any one particular offence But Christs Spirit is in those who are in some degree earthly minded True it is but not as an allower and maintainer but as an opposer subduer and in the end as a Conquerour Carnall men would faine bring Christ and the flesh together and could bee content with some reservation to submit to Christ but Christ will be no underling to any base affection and therfore where there is allowance of our selves in any sinsull lust it is a signe the Keyes were never given up to Christ to rule us 3 Because it is judgement and men love not to be judged and censured Now Christ in his truth arraigneth them giveth sentence against them and bindeth them over to the latter judgement of the great day And therefore they take upon them to judge that truth that must judge them but truth will bee too good for them Man hath a day now which Saint Paul calls mans day