being every where obvious So John the Baptist Christ's harbinger and forerunner and afterward Jesus Christ himself whose great business in their preachings was no other then that sinners might be sav'd and that it might be well with them what did they preach it was Repentance And so when he sent forth the twelve it is said they went out and Matth. 3. 2. 4. 17. preached and what did they preach why that Mark 6. 12. men should repent Now had there been any more effectual way or course to have been taken for furthering the good of these they went or were sent to preach to surely they would have taken it but they taking this course and going this way clearly demonstrates that this is indeed the way R. 7. Because true repentance sound Evangelical conversion does presuppose faith yea and Poenitentia ad desperationem trahit nisi fulciatur verá fide de remissione peccati ut est videre in Caino Judâ Saule c. Aretius is a happy fruit and effect thereof faith being that which dissolves and melts the heart into kindly sorrow and grief for former sins and rebellions whereby so good a God hath been grieved and makes the soul to hate and abominate and resolve against them for the future And now true faith is every where held forth as saving He that believeth shall be saved and Mark 16. 16. believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt Acts 16. 31. Ephes 2. 8. Heb. 10. 39. 1 Pet. 1. 9. be saved and we are of them that believe to the saving of the Soul so receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls c. And now true conversion must needs be the onely effectual way for a people to be sav'd because where this is faith is yea in order of nature as I said before faith precedes it as the ground and root thereof Indeed in order of time they are both together and so neither of them is one before the other but in the manifestation of them Repentance is first As the Thunder and Lightning are both at one and the same time yet is one discerned before the other and so is repentance both to a man's self and also to others sooner discerned and discovered than faith one as the sap lying hid within but the other as the bud springing forth and shewing it self without but in order of nature faith is first for 1. God's favour is first apprehended and remission of sins upon repentance believed and then upon that comes repentance and conversion and alteration of heart and life And 2. true repentance being a grace and being repentance unto life Zach. 12. 10. whence should it be had but from the fountain thereof and how should it be had thence but by faith union being the ground of communion and interest of influence So that Jesus Christ must first be received himself before saving conversion or any grace can be received hence our Saviour tells us without him we can John 15. 5. do nothing or severed from him much less so great a thing as to repent and turn to God Some preparations to repentance and preparatory Fides nisi praeluceat nulla vera 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esse potest licèt adsit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 qualis fuit in Juda. Tossanus beginnings and introductions there are indeed before faith as Legal fears and terrors but no true Evangelical repentance for 3. that is pleasing and acceptable to God and therefore cannot be without faith for without faith it is impossible to please God or that any work should please him that does not arise thence And besides Sine fide omnis poenitentia non solum ociosa est sed expeditum iter ad desperationem Mentzerus 4. without faith we are spiritually dead for the just do live by faith Heb. 2. 4. and repentance is the work of the living But if repentance be after faith how is it may some say that we find repentance put before it as Mark 1. 15. Repent ye and believe the Gospel and Acts 20. 21. To this I answer that the placing of things in Scripture is not always according to Credendo in Christum convertuntur quia fides est praevia conversionis nec ulla est vera conversio sine fide Tossanus in locum the order of nature but sometimes the cause is placed after the effect to shew how we should obtain the effect as 1. repent and then that ye may repent believe Again 2. in other places we find it put after faith as Acts 12. 21. And a great number believed and turn'd to the Lord. Thus the goodness of God and remission of sins by Jesus Christ being apprehended and imbraced by faith this brings on conversion And His duobus summa doctrinae Evangelicae comprehendi solet Non hîc praeponitur poenitentia fidei quasi prior dignitate vel tempore hence these two are made the summe of the Gospel and of Christian doctrine and the Apostles preaching Acts 20. 20. And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you v. 21. Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and this he calls v. 27. the whole counsel of God viz. which God hath revealed and manifested as concerning our salvation and how we may come to obtain it And this by the way may comfort all true converts as concerning their having had some tasts and particular apprehensions of the mercy of God in Christ and so some measure of faith this being an evident sign thereof and an happy effect which flows therefrom and therefore this must needs be the soveraign way for a people to be saved for God to turn them again it presupposing always this true saving faith R. 8. That this is the onely way for a people to be saved for God to turn them again and cause his face to shine appears from the nature excellency and happy effects of these and from what follows upon these As 1. as to conversion and being turn'd again this must needs be the way to be sav'd yea everlastingly sav'd For 1. such as are indeed turn'd again are turn'd from that which is and indeed onely is destructive which alone does and can indeed destroy and that is sin and iniquity and being turn'd from that which is alone destructive they must needs be in the way to be sav'd he indeed that pursueth Prov. 11. 16. evil pursues it to his own death to his own eternal ruine but now the true convert he turns from it and forsakes it and how then should it be his ruine And hence says the Lord God to Ezek. 18. 30. the house of Israel repent and turn your selves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruine For you are now turn'd from that which else would and indeed onely could have been your ruine there being
of their Prayer so the great importance excellency and necessity of the things prayed for that they were infinitely concern'd in them and that the want of them as to their being saved could not be dispens'd with namely God's turning them again to himself and causing his face to shine So that these words are not onely the burden but the very beauty and blessing of the Psalm It s very marrow and sweetness consists and is concentred in them and hence do they so often repeat them not knowing how to be denied what is contained in them viz. God's turning them again and causing his face to shine but beg them again and again and make them their fixed petition and importunate prayer in which prayer take notice of these three things 1. The person whom they direct their prayer to and that is God to whom alone all prayer is to be directed and him they stile here the Lord God of Hosts and so though their case was dark and seem'd even desperate yet looking to God's power as being the Lord God of Hosts this gives them light and hope of relief for what is or can be too hard for him to do 2. The subject matter of their prayer and that is 1. that God would turn them again and 2. cause his face to shine and then 3. we have here the blessed fruit and happy effect which they promise to themselves upon audience and that is that they shall be saved Turn us again O Lord God of Hosts cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved This prayer is but short but exceeding sweet the words few but very full For we have contained in them 1. The great Gospel-blessing and that of Jesus being raised up by his Father which is the turning of us away from our iniquities Act. 3. 26. Vnto you first God having raised up his son Jesus sent him to bless you but how in turning away every one of you from his iniquities 2. We have contain'd in them man's chief happiness and his true and onely felicity viz. God's favour the light of his countenance for God to cause his face to shine 3. Man's being saved which is very comprehensive and does denote not onely freedom from Enemies and evils of all sorts though that most properly but fruition also of all good CHAP. II. The Explication of the Words Turn us again or convert us i. e. from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Converte nos our sins and iniquities to thy self from our own wayes which have not been good to thine from which we have turned aside and gone astray And well do they begin and continue so earnest for this for as all our misery did at first and does still come in by our Apostacy and turnings aside and turning away from God so our happiness cannot be recovered again but in our returns to him Look as that was and is the very spring and foundation of all our woe so this of our weal and in all our miseries and calamities the very first step to our cure and recovery begins here and hence is it that the Church and people of God are here so urgent upon this again and again yea and hence is this held forth as the great business and design of Christ in suffering for our sins that he might bring us to God for otherwise we could never have been brought again to be happy 1 Pet. 3. 18. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God c. This turning again may refer either to those of them that were never as yet turned or to those who being once turn'd had in some measure at least turn'd again aside made some defection as indeed the best are very prone to do Hos 11. 7. My people are bent to backsliding from me and Exod. 32. 8. They have turn'd aside quickly out of the way c. And thus they here beg of God to turn them again and to heal their backslidings and though this is and ought to be our endeavour yet it being God's work as unable to turn themselves they apply themselves to him and this turn we ought to endeavour and to pray for still more and more it being the work and business of our whole lives to turn to God more and more the last step of repentance being the first step of Glory and the last step of turning the first step of triumphing Some indeed do render this turn us again return us or restore us recover us i. e. say they from our Captivity to our former state c. And many go this way but surely it is more than such a turning that the Church here is so importunate for viz. a spiritual and gracious Kimchi idem esse dicit quod dirige corda nostra ad te hanc lectionem our rejicere mus non apparu it â—lla ratio Musc turn a saving conversion a turning from sin to God that God would make them true Penitents sound converts new men they pray for amendment as the very essence of repentance and without this what would the other signifie or avail or what true comfort could it afford to have their outward condition turn'd and hearts unturn'd or how unless they were turned by repentance could they ever expect that the Lord should shew them the evidence of his favour and besides as to their recovery from their present miseries and calamities that they had prayed for in other verses in this Psalm and in praying for these first they therein take the readiest and most effectual course for the other and therefore this turning here again we are mainly and chiefly to understand of turning to God by repentance as we find the same word elsewhere understood and taken as Lament 5. 21. Turn thou us unto thee O Lord c. and Jer. 31. 18. Turn thou me and I shall be turned c. and so frequently elsewhere the same word is made use of and thus several Expositors carry it and this says a Learned Interpreter is the special petition here insisted upon that God by giving repentance would reclaim them from their Apostacy and grant the evidence of his favour unto them and so deliver and save them So that Repentance Reconciliation and Salvation is that which is here prayed for that God would turn their hearts by unfeigned repentance that so they might be fit for deliverance O Lord God of Hosts Thus they stile God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dominus Deus exercituum and under this notion eye him and consider him the more to strengthen their faith and hope as concerning the things they prayed for and for gaining the more firm assurance of obtaining them In the 3. v. they pray O God in the 7. O God of Hosts and then here in this verse O Lord God of Hosts Thus by degrees they rise higher and higher and get more and more ground for the strengthning of their faith What
Psalm 14. 3. 58. 3. Rom. 3. 12. Isa 53. 6. where holds forth and hence by nature we are said to be without God in the world Ephes 2. 12. and Christ is said to suffer for sins upon this account to bring us to God 1 Pet. 3. 18. yea and this the Scripture holds forth as the great Luke 1. 17. Acts 26. 18 19 20. work of his Ministers to turn people to him And now briefly by way of Application Use 1. This it speaks our sin that we are and do still turn aside and go away from God forsake him thou hast forsaken me saith the Lord thou art gone backward c. they have Jr. 15. 16. 2. 27. Is 1. 4. turn'd their back unto me and not their face And what a slighting is this of God and what scorn and contempt does it put upon him for it is an action of scorn and disdain among men to turn the back upon one and to offer scorn and contempt to God for a poor vile creature to turn the back upon him whom the Angels adore Daniel 7. 10. Matth. 18. 10. and to behold whose face it is their highest honour and felicity Our sinfulness and great iniquity herein will the better appear if we do but consider these three things 1. What a God it is that we have and do thus forsake and turn aside and go away from As 1. the living God Jer. 10. 10. c. yea the fountain of living waters Jer. 2. 13. the very spring and sole and soveraign Author and original of all true happiness help comfort and support here and of eternal life and felicity hereafter and this is such an evil as the Lord calls the very Heavens to be astonish'd at Jerem. 2. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 horrere horrescere horâ—â—re Be agonish'd O ye heavens at this and be horribly afraid properly let the hair stand straight up that is be horribly afraid or terribly afrighted with horrour and great fear because in extremity of horrour the hair does shew it by standing as it were straight up through great fear And if the heavens are called upon to be thus horribly affrighted because of this how much more should sinners be so who have done and do this it follows and be ye desolate saith the Lord that is by withdrawing or by the loss of your Heavenly light and why all this v. 13. for my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hewed them out cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water 2. A great God yea and a great King above Psalm 95. 3. 145. 3. all Gods whose greatness is unsearchable and for him to be turn'd aside from and to turn our backs upon and so to be despised how sad must this needs be I am small says David and despised Psalm 119. 141. and Matth. 18. 10. Take heed says our Saviour ye despise not one of these little ones but for such as we to despise a God so infinitely great O how sinful is it 3. A glorious God yea the God of Glory the father of glory one who is cloathed with Majesty and glory Psal 104. 1. he whom the Angels adore and before whom the Devils are forced to tremble and such a God to be forsaken 4. A good God abundant yea infinite in goodness for how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty Zach. 9. 17. Yea goodness it self and good to all having made them preserving them and continually providing for them and so the God to whom they are so infinirely and so many wayes ingaged and obliged 5. The blessed God yea blessed for ever Rom. 1. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shaddai is as much as who is sufficient or all-sufficient having in himself and for others an abundant sufficiency 6. An all sufficient God as he told Abraham Gen. 17. 1. The Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him I am the Almighty God or God All-sufficient walk before me and be thou perfect that is upright sincere The word in the Hebrew which we render Almighty signifies not onely one that hath great power yea all power but also one that hath an all-sufficiency in himself and that both for himself Qui sibi suffici nullius indigens omnibus creaturis omnis boni existens fons sufficientia Pareus and others and thus the Lord is such a God as does everlastingly independently and unchangeably possess an infinite all-sufficiency in himself and for himself and a full and overflowing all-sufficiency for the creature So that there is no need nor any cause to go from him for any good no there is more need to go from the Sea for water from the Sun for light from the Sea shore for sand from the fire for heat Psalm 84. 11. For the Lord God is a Sun and shield the Lord will give grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly And God is able to make all grace abound towards you that ye always having all-suffficiency in all things may abound to every good work 2 Cor. 9. 8. Some derive the Hebrew Shaddai from Shad a dug or breast it being he indeed that suckles feeds and provides for all creatures c. And O how easily and quickly can that full Ocean fill such poor empty scanty vessels as we are and now to forsake and turn aside and depart from such a God how evil a thing is it and how sad must it needs be Paul complains of the turning away of some from him and forsaking him 2 Tim. 1. 15. 4. 10 16. but what is it then to turn away and forsake God and such a God we may well cry out with the Prophet Jeremy 17. 13. O Lord the hope of Israel all that forsake thee shall be ashamed and they that depart from thee shall be written in the earth because they have forsaken the Lord the fountain of living waters 2. The sinfulness of this will the more appear if we do but consider that this forsaking of God and turning aside and going away from him is without cause and without all colour of true reason or ground as the Scripture does most pathetically express it as Jer. 2. 5. What iniquity says the Lord have your Fathers found in me that they are gone far from me and have walked after vanity and are become vain As if the Lord had said What cause or ground have I given you or what colour of reason can ye pretend that you should thus go away from me if you have any alledg it produce it And v. 31. Have I says the Lord been a wilderness to Israel a land of Darkness c. No what he was to them and did for them he tels them v. 6 7. so Micah 6. 3. O my people what have I done unto thee and wherein have I wearied thee testifie against me c. Surely darkness may sooner proceed
from him 1. There being no iniquity in him nor ever any injury done unto us by him What iniquity have your fathers Jer. 2. 5. Micah 6. 3. found in me O my people what have I done unto thee wherein have I wearied thee c. 2. There being no want of any good in him so that there is no need to go from him he being all-sufficient hence the Lord reasons the case with David when he had revolted and tels him I did so and so for thee and I gave such and such things to thee and if that had been too little 2 Sam. 12. 7. says the Lord I would moreover have given thee such and such things and wherefore then hast thou despised the commandement of the Lord c. what cause or ground was there for it what hast thou to say or what canst thou alledge So we find that the children of Israel disobeying the voice of the Lord the Angel of the Lord that is the Son of God he pleads with them I have done so and so for you why then Judges 2. 4. have ye done this and there being no true cause nor ground for it they answer with tears for it is said that they lift up their voice and wept 3. Can we mend or better our selves and who would change but for the better But to be sure if we go from God it will be for the worse When many that profest themselves the disciples of Christ went back and Christ said to John 6. 68. the twelve Will ye also go away you know what Simon Peter answered the Lord To whom should we go thou hast the words of eternal life As if he had said Lord where can we mend our selves to whom shall we go to be better This was the Argument that Samuel made use of to keep the people from turning aside to follow the Lord. And turn ye not aside for then should you go after 1 Sam. 12. 21. vain things which cannot profit nor deliver for they are vain It is as if a man for warmth should go from the Sun to the shade or for water from the fountain to the broken cistern or from the spring to the puddle or as if a man for fresh air should leave the open field and sweet refreshing gales in a garden to go to a smoaky cottage But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit and they Jer. 2. 11. are gone far from me and walked after vanity Will a man leave the pleasant cooling snow of Jer. 18. 14. mount Lebanon for a dry bare rock of of the field or shall the cool flowing waters be forsaken 4. Let 's consider what respect God has for such as abide with him and turn not aside from him Noah was upright in his generation and Gen. 6. 8. walked with God when all flesh had corrupted their way and it is said Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. So my servant Caleb because Numb 14. 24 he had another spirit with him and hath followed me fully him will I bring into the Land c. And ye are they says Christ which have continued Luke 22. 28 29. with me in my temptations and I appoint unto you a kingdom c. Rev. 3. 5. 5. What a comfort will this be in the evil day and at the hour of death if we have not turned back from God as it has been to the people of God formerly Ps 44. 17 18 19. Job 23. 11 12. and Is 38. 3. c. 6. The Lord doth not turn away our prayers nor himself nor his mercy from us and why Psal 66. 20. Jer. 32. 40. should we turn away from him yea he hath made an everlasting covenant with us that he will not turn away from us to do us good c. 7. If ever he do turn away from us for a time it is not till we first turn away from him He is first in coming but last in going he is ever with us while we are with him as the Prophet told Asa 2 Chron. 15. 2. but if we forsake him and turn away from him he will turn away from us yea against us as the Church complains Lam. 3. 3. Surely against me is he turned he turneth his hand against me all the day 2. Let us be 1. vigilant and very circumspect else if we be careless negligent and secure we shall be in great danger to miscarry 1 Cor. 10. 12. wherefore let him that thinketh he stands take heed lest he fall None are likelier to fall than such as are most self confident and secure and therefore let us carry a holy jealousie continually over our selves how many caveats have we in Scripture to this purpose Matth. 26. 41. Luke 21. 36. Heb. 3. 12. c. 3. Let us be much in prayer that the Lord would keep us for if he leave us we shall soon Jude 24. leave him Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling c. he alone is able and therefore we must watch and pray both c. 4. Let us remember and urge the Lord with his promise viz. that he will put his fear in our Jer. 32. 40. 3. 19. hearts that we shall not depart from him and that we shall not turn away from him 5. Let us exhort one another daily c. This the Apostle prescribes as a good help to keep us from departing from God Take heed brethren Hebr. 3. 12 13. lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God but exhort one another daily while it is called to day lest any of you be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin and Heb. 10. 25. Not forsaking the assembling of our selves together but exhorting one another c. 6. Let us in the strength of Christ and begging help of God take up strong settled and sincere resolutions of heart to cleave to the Lord and to continue and abide with him who ever turn aside from him as Joshua but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord this that Joshua 24. 15. good man Barnabas exhorted those to that believed and turned to the Lord that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. And when Acts 11. 23. at any time we have or do turn aside as we are very prone to do let us never rest till we return again as these here how earnest are they upon this they thrice importune Turn us again c. O should not a people return to their God the spouse to her husband children to their father The Prodigal as soon as ever he came to himself Luke 15. 17 18. he resolves I will arise and go to my father Turn O back-sliding children saith the Lord Jer. 3. 14. why for I am married unto you And it can never be well with us indeed till we do this he being the rest
31. 23. God was a terrour to me and by reason of his highness I could not endure So for God to frown or hide his face from a people or a person and set it against them must needs be the way for a people to be destroyed and to have it ill with them and to be miserable as the Scripture abundantly evidences For we are Psal 90. 7 11. consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath are we troubled who knoweth the power of thine anger even according to thy fear so is thy wrath When he giveth quietness who then can make trouble Job 34. 29. and when he hideth his face who then can behold him whether it be against a Nation or against a man onely The Lord said I will hide my face from them I will see what their end shall be O Deut. 32 20. how sad how dismal must their end be that the Lord hides his face from and that his soul has no pleasure in Surely the world is not so sad without the Sun the earth without rain the body without the soul as the soul without God and his favour and as all mercies then go so all judgments then break in I will set my face against them they shall go out from one fire and Ezek. 15. 7. another fire shall devour them c. And I will Deut. 31. 17. hide my face from them and they shall be devoured and many evils and troubles shall befall them c. 4. If this be the only way for a people to be saved and everlastingly saved then are there but few which are like to be saved why because there are but few who are turned again and on whom God causes his face to shine but are rather under his frowns and displeasure And 1 Joh. 5. 19. we know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness that is the most and greatest part of the world the whole unregenerate world lieth in wickedness is not turned from it but continues in it and is under the power and command of it and set upon it and so like to perish for ever in it Thus the greatest part of the world is in a perishing condition because they persist in sin Many walk says the Apostle but they so walked as that he could not tell of them without weeping for in stead of turning to God they made their belly their God and in Phil. 3. 18 19. stead of turning from that which was matter of shame they rather gloried in it and what could the end of such be but destruction And this is like to be the end of most because they turn not to God nor his ways from which they have turn'd aside and gone astray The Lord looked Psalm 14. 2. down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God for these are they and onely they that God regards and looks after But what report does God give of the matter it follows v. 3. They are all gone aside or turn'd away from God and his ways gone out of the way of holiness and happiness they are altogether become filthy there is none that doth good no not one that is very few none by nature and few are brought to do it by grace My people are bent Hos 11. 7. to back-sliding from me though they called them to the most high none at all would exalt him They who the Prophets for this is their great Subintelligendum est Prophetae Zanch. work to call people to the most high to seek and turn and conform to him to devote themselves to him whom yet he being so high and glorious in himself hath no need of but sends his Prophets to do this for their own advantage viz. that coming of from such poor mean low and base things they should come to him who is the most high but yet though they called them to the most High and that with greatest importunity and upon every opportunity yet none at all would exalt him or but very few Non aspirant ad Deum hoc sit uno consensu quasiomnes conspirassent in unâ â— eâdem malitiâ Calv in locum none in comparison and so most people though God be the most High yet in not turning to him nor seeking of him they do not exalt him but rather debase him preferring mean and contemptible things before him to which turning away and turning aside from him they betake themselves to The wicked through the pride of Psal â—0 4. his countenance will not seek after God God is not in all his thoughts He will seek after vanity and leasing and so exalt these but not after God There be many that say who will shew us 4. 6. any good but few mind or regard or look after the chief good God and his favour and the light of his countenance none saith where is Job 35. 10. God my maker c. They hold fast deceit they Jerem. 8. 5 6. refuse to return I hearkned and heard but they spake not aright no man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done every one turned to his course as the horse rusheth into the battel Thus most people live in a neglect of God they refuse to turn to him or to seek him or his face and so most are like to perish and be destroyed for ever 5. If this be the onely way for a people to be saved this then gives us to see the true reason and ground why the Lord is so exceeding earnest and intent upon this and does so often and earnestly call and invite people to this and press upon them this that they would turn again unto him and seek him and his face and favour Why it is because this is the very way and the onely way for them to be saved and is not there then good cause for it that he should be so earnest as the Scripture indeed every where declares him to be O how often does the Lord there call upon people to turn unto him and to seek him and his face Yet return again unto me Jer. 3. 1. v. 12. 14. saith the Lord and return thou back-fliding Israel and Turn O back sliding Children c. So I have sent also unto you all my servants the Jer. 35. 15. Prophets rising up early and sending them saying Return ye now every man from his evill way c. And Thus saith the Lord to the house of Amos 5. 4 6. Is 55. 6. Israel seek ye me and ye shall live and seek the Lord and ye shall live and seek ye the Lord while he may be found c. And seek the Lord Psalm 105. 4. and his strength seek his face evermore c. And so I might give you multitudes of places more which let us see how earnest and intent the Lord is upon this and it is because this is
the onely way for people to be saved to be blessed and happy and have it well with them and because else they perish and are ruined and undone and it will certainly be ill with them for ever And hence it is that the Lord makes use of such pathetical and affectionate expressions Say unto them as I live saith the Lord I have Ezek. 33. 11. no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye dye O house of Israel How vehemently does the Lord here expostulate and press this upon them Turn ye turn ye which denotes the height and vehemency of his affection and desire how much his heart was upon it and is there not good reason for all this why they dye and are undone and perish else for why will ye dye life and death are in these things in turning or not turning to God as life is the happy effect of the one so death and damnation is the fruit of the other And is it any wonder the Lord is then so earnest and importunate when our weal or our woe when it being well or ill with us when our happiness or our misery our being saved or eternally destroyed depends upon this And hence the Lord is not content to speak it once but speaks it again calls for it twice because it was of such absolute and indispensable necessity and not a small matter nor a business of indifferency And what infinite cause have we then to bless the Lord that he should be so intent upon this so frequently and earnestly invite us to this again and again wherein our own good is so much concerned and which is of such indispensable necessity that we cannot otherwise but perish and what can we indeed do better or wherein can we be more happy than in turning to him 6. This informs us and gives us to see whence it is that God's Prophets formerly and his Ministers alate have been and still are so frequent and earnest in preaching and pressing of this why is it because so much depends on this because they know it cannot else be well with them neither can they be saved or be happy nay they know it cannot else but be ill with them and they must else perish and be undone for ever and therefore have they and do they still so much urge and press this not onely speak but cry Be ye not as your fathers unto whom Zach. 1. 4. the former Prophets have cried thus saith the Lord of hosts turn ye from your evil ways and from your evil doings c. They do not onely call but cry yea cry out proclaim so as the rather to be heard and more to be heeded they were zealous and earnest therein why because the matter was of such importance and the danger was so great if they did not hearken And hence is it that Ministers still are so pressing and importunate as to this they pray and beseech yea and if ye will not hear saith the Prophet Jeremy Jerem. 13. 7. My soul shall mourn in secret for you and mine eyes weep sore and run down with tears c. The voice of one crying in the wilderness c. Luke 3. 4. Thus the Prophets and the Apostles cryed and Jesus Christ himself he cryed John 7. 37. In the last day that great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink O for poor sinners to come to Christ to believe on him and repent and turn to the Lord is a matter of great consequence of infinite importance not a thing of indifferency but of absolute necessity and hence Jesus Christ is so earnest and intent upon this as appears by his posture he stood up by his vehement speaking he cried he spake with a lowd voice which shewed the fervour and ardency of his Spirit So it is said of Paul that great Apostle that he shewed first unto them of Damascus and Acts 26. 20. at Jerusalem and through all the Coasts of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God c. It was Paul's great work and main business to have it well with all he came among his hearts desire was that they might be saved and therefore was he so intent upon this where ever he came that they might repent and turn to God as the onely soveraign way of it and as knowing it could not else be well with them Hence it was that that holy Martyr Mr. Bradford when he came to the stake cryed out so earnestly and affectionately O England England repent of thy sins repent of thy sins he knew it was the onely way of Englands weal then as it is now and therefore whatever is the zeal and fervency of God's Ministers herein so as that some it may be may think them besides themselves as some did Paul 2 Cor. 5. 13. yet this being the onely way of their being sav'd and they being else und one this gives sufficient reason and ground thereof 7. This lets us see the reason why the Church and People of God have been so fervent and frequent in their Prayers for this that God would turn them again and cause his face to shine as here in one Psalm they instance it no less than thrice v. 3. v. 7. and v. 19. and can ye blame them or was there not good reason for it when as this was the only way for them to be saved to be happy and to have it well with them and how earnest have others also been as to these as David how often and how exceeding earnestly does he beg that Psalm 119. 58. God would make his face to shine upon him and I entreated thy favour or I have earnestly besought thy face so the Dutch with my whole heart or with all my heart and good cause his very happiness and felicity consisting thereon and flowing therefrom c. Poenitentia Angelorū delectatio hilacritas gaudent societati suae restitutos esse quos in tenebris inferni ac Satanae potestate constitutos viderant Gerhard 8. This lets us see whence it is that there hath been and is still such great joy when a sinner turns to God and that both in heaven and earth as the Scripture declares Luk. 15. 7. I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth c. and v. 10. Likewise I say unto you there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth c. the repenting and turning though but of one sinner makes all heaven merry as it Heus tu peccator bono animo sis vides ubi de tuo gaudetur c. Tertull were it causes joy all heaven over it puts harps as it were into the Angels hands and songs into their mouths c.
deem them why because Singulare beneficium cruce quasi spinis occludi viam peccandi God makes use of them many times to further and help forward this blessed turn and this being the onely way for sinners to be saved and to have it well with them this speaks well of afflictions Thus Manasseh who was so grievous a 2 Chron. 33. 12. sinner yet being in affliction he sought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly c. and Luk. 15. â—7 18. when the prodigal suffered hardship and was ready to perish with hunger then he resolv'd to arise and go to his father and when God hedged up Israel's way with thorns sent troubles and Hosea 2. 6 7. distresses upon them then she resolves to go and return to her first husband not as if they effected this of themselves but by the Spirits working in them and by them But whiles sinners live in jollity and prosperity and have no troubles nor changes they never think of changing their way nor returning to God and thus the prosperity of fools destroys them whereas adversity might be Prov. 1. 32. a means to save them but by the other they are hardened and encouraged to go on still in a course of sin without returning Because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed Eccles 8. 11. Psalm 73. 5 6. 50 21. therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil They are not in trouble as other men therefore pride compasses them about c. These things hast thou done and I kept silence Psal â—0 21. thou thoughtest I was such a one altogether as thy self So Thou art wearied in the Is 57. 10. See also Ps 55. 19. Jer. 5. 28. 22. 21. c. greatness of thy way yet saidst thou not there is no hope and why thou hast found the life of thine hand therefore thou wast not grieved that is thou hast found comfort by the Assyrians and they promise to strengthen thy hand with help and therefore thou art incouraged to go on still in thy way and therefore 't is a great mercy to such for God to afflict them and give them trouble and grief that so the ways of sin may be wearisome and troublesome and so they may think of returning from them when in some measure they feel the weight and burden of them and happy affliction that works to conversion happy troubles that further a sinner's peace by furthering his turning to God and putting a stop to him in his sins that cause sinners to seek the Lord whom before they forgot and lived without And how may this help to sweeten and alleviate the bitterness of afflictions and though bitter yet render them better than the sweetest pleasures of sin Blessed is the man whom thou châ—stenest O Lord and Ps 94. 12. teachest him out of thy Law c. Blessed blacks that are a means to turn us white and happy darks that are a means to turn us to light But 2 Chron. 15. 4 Is 26. 16. when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord c. Lord in trouble have they visited thee c. In their affliction they will seek â—e verly c. Hos 5. 15. But while sinners go in 〈◊〉 their greatest affliction and punishment is not to 〈◊〉 afflicted their greatest crosâ— and 〈…〉 crost for such are like to go on still in their sins And thus that which many sinners count their greatest felicity to prosper and be without trouble and affliction in their evil ways they go on in it is their greatest misery and that which they count their greatest priviledg is their greatest plague and proves their greatest detriment there being nothing sadder than a sinner prospering in an evil course and God not afflicting him and thus the Lord threatens it I will not punish your daughters when they commit Hos 4. 14. whoredom nor your spouses when they commit adultery c. And this is the greatest punishment the forest wrath the highest displeasure the furnace is heated here seven times hotter than ordinary for such are like to go on to commit whoredome and adultery still God withholding those punishments whereby they might be restrain'd and letting them go on without controule to their own utter confusion and destruction not taking any more pains with them by corrections to restrain their courses in sin but letting them go on still in the full career of their lusts and be as vile as they will and this is the heaviest judgment and argues the hottest displeasure it is next door to hell and such are within one step of being as miserable as they Vis indignantis Dèi terribilem vocem audire c. Orig. can be Wilt thou says one hear the terrible voice of a provoked God hear it here I will not punish c. So v. 17. and Matth. 15. 15. Bernard calls it a mercy more cruel than all Misericordia omni indignatione crudelior indignation a killing courtesie a cut-throat kindness yet how many are ready to bless themselves and think it a fine world to go on in their own ways without trouble whereas there cannot a greater plague befall them which made Luther cry strike Lord strike spare not and Feri Domine feri c. Jeremiah 10. 24. O Lord correct me but with judgment c. And this makes afflictions a great priviledge a choice mercy when they further our repentance and make us change our purpose and resolve to turn to God CHAP. X. The second Vse of the point in general by way of Exhortation and first to seek this by Prayer THE onely way for a people to be saved Use 2. of Exhortation is it for God to turn them again and cause his face to shine O as ever then we would be saved saved our selves or have others saved ours saved the Kingdom saved Church saved City countrey towns families friends relations little ones bodies souls religion lives liberties estates Gospel or whatever else is near or dear to us and as ever we would be sav'd indeed sav'd to purpose sav'd in mercy so as to be blessed and happy in being sav'd and have it well with us and all happily succeed to us here and be everlastingly saved hereafter let us all in the name and fear of God be exhorted excited and stirred up to seek this beseech this earnestly to intreat and importune this O that the Lord God of hosts would turn us again and cause his face to shine let this be our frequent and our fervent our often and our earnest prayer unto him and let us continue thus praying asking seeking begging beseeching intreating importuning knocking 'till the Lord is pleased to give us a gracious answer let us resolve with Jacob not to let him go except he thus bless us for nothing can avail us as to our happiness as to our weal as to the having
Story converted of his Atheism so though repentance seem never so difficult at first to corrupt nature yet frequently occasioning your hearts that way might much help you if you would but be still haunting your hearts with what might further it as with precepts promises threatnings judgments mercies Law Gospel c. and never giving over 'till something comes of it for occasions are to be prest and urg'd to the utmost and throughly to be improv'd as it is said of those Jews I do but allude to it that they said unto Nehemiah and the Premenda est occâsio rest that were building ten times that is very often in all ways that ye passe to and again the Nehem. 4. 12. enemy will be upon you and thus still haunting them with warnings at length they looked about and set guards in every place And so deal with your hearts and warn them often again and again tell them O! if you do not repent the enemy will be upon you the wrath and curse of God will be upon you hardness of heart will be upon you all those judgments threatened will be upon you but if you repent the blessing and favour of God will be upon you grace and mercy and peace will be upon you all the good promised will be upon you yea God himself will dwell in you and his Angels will guard you and minister unto you c. and tell your hearts such and such things often yea never give over 'till you have brought it to some good issue Thus as others occasion their hearts sin-ward hell-ward vanity-ward world-ward so do you grace-ward heaven-ward repentanceward conversion-ward and so salvation-ward 7. Remember God of his promises and in your prayers plead and press and urge the same Lord hast thou not in thy Word of free grace made promises not only to grace but of grace and do Lord as thou hast said be as good as thy word O remember thy promise Thus turn promises into prayers as these and the like Turn you at my reproof behold I Prov. 1. 23. Is 44. 3. will pour out my Spirit unto you c. and I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and not onely so but floods upon the dry ground that is my Spirit upon barren and fruitless hearts that have neither saving knowledg nor are able to perform any good work I will pour my Spirit upon thy Is 35. 5 6 7. seed and my blessing upon thy off-spring Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened c. and in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desart that is the Spirit shall be abundantly poured out upon all sorts even upon such as were as a wilderness and as a dry and barren heath And the parched ground shall become Ezek. 36. 25 26 27. a poole and the thirstly land springs of water in the habitation of Dragons where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your Idols will I clense you A new heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments Jer. 3. 19. and do them But I said how shall I put thee among the children and give thee a pleasant land c. that is being spoken of God after the manner of men I thus thought and considered with my self how shall I put thee among the children c. How shall I make such as you my people who are so vile and unworthy and adopt you to be my children and so make you heirs of that heavenly and glorious Canaan of which the other was but a type Now to this God himself makes answer within himself and the more to express the greatness of his mercy and the riches of his free grace against their unworthiness he says Thou shalt call me my father and shalt not turn away from me that is I will by my Spirit being a Spirit of conversion and adoption cause thee to return and to cry unto me in faith Abba father and thou shalt not depart from me Now remember God of these and the like promises and press them and plead them and urge them turn them into prayers 'till God turn them into performances So I might mention others I will heal their back-sliding I will love them freely and they shall return to me with their whole heart and Hos 14. 4. Jer. 24. 7. Psalm 22. 27. all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord c. And because knowledg and understanding is as I said initial and so influential as to conversion urge the promises thereof as these and the like For the earth shall be full of the knowledg of the Lord as the waters Is 11. 9. cover the Sea and They shall all know me from Jer. 31. 34. the least of them to the greatest c. and they shall be all taught of God Is 54. 13. Joh. 6. 45. c. 8. Follow after faith labour to believe for Non rectè possit agere poenitentiam nsi qui speraverit indulgentiam true kindly Evangelical repentance and saving conversion does as I said arise and flow from faith and is an happy effect and fruit thereof and faith at least in some measure must go before it as the ground and root thereof A true repenting sinner is a believing sinner that hath had some apprehensions and perswasions of the mercy of God in Christ and of forgiveness of sin in and through him to such as are penitent And without the root how should you partake of the fruit or without the cause of the effect it is said A great number believed and turned to Acts 11. 21. the Lord if ever we would turn to the Lord indeed we must first believe which should make us therefore the more to study and endeavour by all possible ways and means to obtain that precious grace of faith as the Apostle Peter calls 2 Pet. 1. 1. it precious indeed for what is there that is precious but faith brings us to obtain it and this we must in some measure have if ever we repent and turn to God to purpose for an unbelieving Conversio ad Deum complectitur praecipuè fidem quâ homo in solo vero Deo fiduciam collocat c. Winckelm heart is ever an hard evil and impenitent heart Paul speaking of such as live godly and so are true converts he speaks of them as being in Christ Jesus that is interested in him united to him by faith as branches into the Vine members to the head and such must all be that Joh. 15. 5. live godly for
none among them to call and invite them to better but suffer'd them to walk in their own ways and to go to hell in their Acts 14. 16. Idolatries God did not manifest his will to to them as he did to the Jews and thus the old Translation has it God regarded not Dutch reads it overlooked or disrespected lightly and slightly past them by his eye was not upon them for good so as to provide for them and send amongst them those that should call and invite them to repentance as he does now The word is the same that is used Acts 6. 1. and it signifies to despise neglect look over or besides because their widows were neglected So that to have an eye upon a place or person it being to manifest kindness and respect this winking seems to be Psal 33. 18. 34. 15. opposed to favour rather than justice viz. that God disregarded them overlooking them or besides them and not at them in mercy And de Dieu upon the place shews that it signifies God's anger and displeasure against them and therefore hid the means of salvation from them so that here not onely is God's command of repentance made known but the goodness of God in pressing the same c. And truly it is very sad in this sense for God to look over or look besides a place or people not so to regard times and shew that care of them and respect towards them as to send those among them that should call and invite them to repentance But England has nothing to charge God with as to this if this be to manifest respect to a people never had Nation clearer nor fuller demonstrations thereof then we have had And this sense and interpretation of the words does best agree with the sequel but now commandeth all men every where to repent and therein manifests more grace and favour he does not now leave nor let men alone to go on in their sins and walk in their own ways as formerly but many are now sent forth to call and invite them to repentance to reclaim sinners and to reduce wandering prodigals crying Turn ye turn ye and return return Repentance and remission of sins is now preached in Christ's name and many shew here and there and where ever they come that men should repent and turn to God c. So that now the great God does not onely command all men every where to repent but the holy Ghost specifies it here as a choice mercy and singular favour and priviledg that he does so and that beyond what he vouchsafed to former ages and the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men every where to repent and truly next to true repentance and saving conversion it self this is the choicest mercy and greatest and highest priviledg that God can betrust a place or people with and this is the clearest and amplest demonstration of God's regard and respect to times that he can give for God to send his messengers up and down here and there in his name to command and invite and call upon people to repent and turn to God to cry as those Prophets of old Thus saith the Lord of hosts turn ye now from your evil ways Zach 1. 4. and from your evil doings c. and Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye dy and as that blessed Martyr Repent O England repent repent this is the fruit of God's compassion 2 Chr. 36. 15. on a people and in this the tender mercy of Luk. 1. 77 78 79 God yea the very bowels of his mercy do break forth and display themselves and to despise and reject such mercy to kick against such bowels causes the wrath of the Lord to arise against a people till there is no remedy for if says 2 Chron. 36. 16 17. Christ I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had sin that is in comparison their sin Joh. 15. 22. had not been so grievous as now it is but they might have had some excuse because of their ignorance but now they have no cloak or pretence for their sin Thus that the great and most high God commands us to repent not only should his soveraign authority therein awe us and have a strong influence upon us to obey but the regard and respect also which therein he manifests to us and the care which he shews he has therein of our souls and this is here subjoyned as one reason why he now commands all men every where to repent v. 31. because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judg the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance to all men in that he hath raised him from the dead There is a day of judgment set a great and terrible day in which God will judg the world and he hath given assurance thereof to all men and now God would have it well with men at that day that they might be found then in peace and that it might be a day of refreshing to them and to that end he now commands them all every where to repent and to turn to him without which he knows it will be a sad day to them a day of perdition and destruction and therefore is he still long-suffering towards us not from slackness but from a willingness that none of us should perish but that we should all come to repentance and so be saved And what a great mercy and singular kindness is it that God has put us into a capacity of finding good by repentance by giving his Son to shed his bloud and to lay down his life for our sins without which all our repentance could have avail'd us nothing And shall not now God's authority nor clemency his soveraignty nor sweetness in commanding us to repent prevail with us but shall we despise both his greatness and his goodness his Majesty and his mercy what will this be but after our hardness and impenitent Rom. 2. 5. hearts to treasure up to our selves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God 2. There is a necessity as a way and means of our happiness and 2. Necessitas medii Nisi agnitis peccatis seriâ cordis contritione pungamini verâ fide á deo irato ad eum propitium in filio placatum conversi fueritis vitamque emendáveritis omnes simul peribitis Winckel weal as that without which it cannot be but we must perish and this Jesus Christ himself who is the Amen the faithful and true witness yea truth it self hath twice averred Luk. 13. 3 5. I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish And again I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish I tell you who know full well who shall be saved and came to save that except you repent
can God withhold from those he loves Surely those his heart is set upon his hand cannot but be open to Ps 84. 11. The Lord God is a Sun and shield the Lord will give grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly and why not from them why is his hand so open to them because they have his heart the Lord loves them his countenance beholds them Ps 85. 1. Lord thou hast been favourable to thy land says the Psalmist and what then thou hast brought back their captivity forgiven their iniquity covered their sin taken away thy wrath c. The father loveth the Son and hath given Joh. 3. 35. Is 43. 4. all things into his hands I have loved thee therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life c. Moses had asked very much of Exod. 33. 16. God and yet goes on to ask more And what says the Lord I will says he do this thing v. 17. also that thou hast spoken As if the Lord had said I can indeed deny thee nothing I have done it is true much already but I will do this also why for thou hast found grace in my sight and I know thee by name that is I have taken special and particular notice of thee and thy name as one whom I singularly favour and I will v. 19. make all my goodness pass before thee c. O what will not God do for such Hence Moses Exod. 33. 13. 34. 9. often makes use of this argument if I have found grace in thy sight c. The favour of God is all good every mercy radically as the displeasure of God is every judgment that is it is productive of all good of each mercy when a soul has this good which is the chief good it has that good from which all others spring and therefore may write under it and cut out from it any other whatsoever all particular mercies and goods being but the favour of God as it were specificated and brought as it were into this or that particular mercy or good so that such a soul may say of all its other mercies and goods this and that and the other is the favour of God So that the Soul that has it has all good all mercies in the fountain and root and well-spring of them it has that which produces and procures all good and remedies all evils Hence says the Angel to Mary Fear not Mary for Luk. 1. 30. thou hast found favour with God there is no cause why such a soul should fear either the want of any good or the feeling of any evil the favour of God being as a Sun in reference to the one so as a shield in reference to the other and so every way sufficient 5. How necessary it is indeed the one thing needful is life necessary this is life yea better than life and all true life is so much in it that a Soul is but dead without it it being more the life of the soul than the soul is of the body The Sun is not so necessary to the world rain to the earth as the favour of God to the soul the displays whereof are as the morning and as the rain the former and the latter rain unto the Hos 6. 3. earth Is to be happy necessary the favour of God is our happiness and look as we cannot but be happy with it whatever our state otherwise is so we cannot but be miserable without it As it cannot but be day when the Sun ariseth though the Stars disappear but it cannot but be night though they do appear if the Sun be set so it is as to the displayings or withdrawings of God's face and favour Thine absence was my hell And now thou art returned I am well Herbert And hence for this cause the Angel salutes Mary as being blessed because highly favoured Luk. 1. 28. Hail thou that art highly favoured the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women In a word if to be truly happy so far as we are capable here and to be fully happy hereafter be necessary then this is so as that wherein consists both happiness in its initiation here and in its full consummation in heaven CHAP. XVIII To endeavour the Conversion of others THere is onely one thing further I have to adde and then I shall conclude viz. that this turning again being of such infinite concern unto all that being turn'd again our selves we would indeavour our utmost to be instrumental therein to others and the rather that thereby we may shew our gratitude for God's vouchsafing so great a favour to us And truly next to the conversion and salvation of our own souls we cannot busie our selves to better purpose not onely as to their and our own comfort and benefit but the good of the whole so that this is every ones concern for as one sinner still going Eccl. 9. 18. on in his sins may much hinder so one sinner being turn'd again may much further the Gen. 13. 32. good of the whole And who knows whether one or a few sinners more being turn'd again may not help to make up that number which being found God may be pleas'd for their sakes to spare the whole But the great argument I shall chiefly make use of at present is that of the Apostle James which is somewhat the same indeed with that in the Text but more amplified Brethren if any of you do erre from the truth Jam. 5. 19 20. i. e. in opinion or practice in faith or manners and one convert him that is prove instrumental therein making use of all ways and means subservient thereunto and here that is ascrib'd to the instrument and means which is properly God's work because God in and by those means Verbum servandi ad homines transfertur non quod authores sint salutis sed Ministri Calvin works and conveys a blessing And any one c. for this work is not limited to Ministers onely but belongs to others in their places and stations yea to all who some way or other may be helpful therein The Apostle Peter speaks of husbands being won by the conversation of their wives 1 Pet. â— â— now here 's the duty and then follows the dignity and commodity v. 20. Let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the errour of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins What weight is there here in every word even such as may quicken our desires and raise our endeavours to the highest pitch and it is observable that with this golden sentence the Apostle shuts up his whole Epistle there being no work as more excellent in it self so more acceptable to God nor profitable to our selves nor others for whoever is instrumental therein 1. He shall save and that 's a Animam per Synecdochen